Photos
Right-click [Mac Control-click] to open full-size image:
Gladys is standing front right
Iris, Gladys (in back) and Elda Tomney
Gladys Perkins and Albert R. Lyman
Gladys Perkins
Birth: 5 Jun 1888 at Teasdale, Wayne Co, Utah, USA
Parents: Benjamin Perkins and Sarah Williams
Married: (1) Michael Philip Tomney 21 August 1912 at Monticello, San Juan, Utah, USA
(2) Albert Robison Lyman 04 Jul 1939 at Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, USA
Death: 10 Apr 1972 at Blanding, San Juan, Utah, USA
LIFE SKETCH OF GLADYS PERKINS TOMNEY LYMAN
By David L. Walton from a note by Otis, Iris and Elda TomneyGladys Perkins was born in Teasdale, Wayne County, Utah, just a few months before her father was taken to the territorial for practicing polygamy. Teasdale was on the trail between Cedar City and the "Dandy crossing" of the Colorado River near Hanksville/Hite. The Perkins used this road for travel between Cedar City and Bluff many times. About 1887 Ben moved his wives to Teasdale and nearby Grover, perhaps to evade arrest. Both wives gave birth to children while residing there, and Gladys' half-sister, Mary Jane met her husband, Heber Wilson, at Teasdale, while she attended school there. Just after Mary Jane's marriage to Heber Wilson, the marshall arrested Ben. The families remained there while he served his sentence.
After his release in late spring, 1889, Ben returned to Teasdale with a plan to take his families to Mexico, where many polygamists were headed at that time. His little group got to Bluff, and Ben decided to join the new community of Monticello, instead, moving Sarah's family to Mancos, Colorado, where his brother, John, was living, and began establishing himself and Mary Ann in Monticello. After Mary Ann was moved to Monticello, Sarah and her family were moved back to Bluff.
In 1907 or 1908, her father moved Sarah's family to Monticello. Michael Philip Tomney was working on a neighbor's farm. Here she met and fell for this man. After their marriage in 1912, they remained for a time in Monticello, and established a ranch, where Gladys bore her first child, Philip Otis (1913). In late January 1915, Gladys and Philip went into Monticello, and while returning to their ranch, Philip was seriously wounded in an accidental shooting. The the young boy behind the .22 rifle was warned by Gladys to NOT point the gun toward people, but he did and the rifle went off, striking Philip in the chest. Philip was taken to Dan Perkins home and a doctor sent for. Philip survived.
Following the birth of Iris later in 1915, the family moved to Montrose, Colorado, where Philip established a ranch and farm. Here, another daughter, Elda, was born in 1918.
Philip Otis, Elda and Iris wrote: "Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of our mother was her love and concem for family, and passing that caring on to her children. Although we lived far from any relatives, because of her we felt we knew them well and listened eagerly as she told us stories about them.
"She loved the gospel, good books and music—enjoyed singing, and wished she could have had instmction in that area.
"She read voraciously and remembered well.
"Watching a basketball game was a thrill to her up until the last years of her life.
"Doing for others, whether family, Navajo, Ute or friend was happiness to her.
"When younger, she was a champion cherry picker; could carry a full five-gallon can of milk in each hand after having milked twenty-five or thirty cows! She could (and often did) outrun any of her kids or an escaped calf.
"In her 81st year she climbed a tree!
"She could teach great lessons in Relief Society or school, beat most folks in solving puzzles and playing games, and croon a tender lullaby.
"Yes, love, understanding, humility and service were her special traits, and we will ever treasure her memory, pay tribute to her and to her mother, dear little Grandma Perkins."
Michael Philip Tomney died 7 September 1938 following surgery at L.D.S. Hospital in Salt Lake City. His death certificate indicates he was a retail dairyman when he passed away.
Gladys' sister, Lell, instructed her husband, Albert R. Lyman, that should she pass away, that Albert was to marry Gladys. Lell died 13 May 1939, and Albert married Gladys just seven weeks later on 4 July 1939.
(Note. Pages could be written about her life with Albert -— their missions to the Indians, their compassionate service to them at all times, their world-wide studies and travels, Gladys's help with Albert and Lell's families, and always her neighbors, and the fantastic help she was to her mother in seeking out family records. She was one remarkable lady!)
Sources:
1. O'Brien, Alberta Lyman. The Story of Sarah Williams Perkins. Revised 1993. Download at
Internet Archive
2. Walton, Elaine Perkins. “Rememberings,” privately published. 1992.
3. Grand Valley Times, 1915
Right-click [Mac Control-click] to open full-size image:
Gladys is standing front right
Iris, Gladys (in back) and Elda Tomney
Gladys Perkins and Albert R. Lyman