Thomas Forrest Dearden

Boston, Lancashire, England

The following was taken from the book Henefer, Our Valley Home:

Thomas Dearden was the “son of Jane Dearden. Born 6 Dec 1845, Boston (near Haydock), Lancashire, England. Came to Utah 17 Oct 1862, Henry Miller Company. Died 14 Jan 1921, Henefer, Utah. Trade: teacher, miner, farmer (p13). Thomas F. Dearden was left an orphan at 5 years of age. He was put in an orphans' home until he was 11 years old. Then his uncle William Dearden took him out of the "home," and put him to work in a coal mine. He was 17 years old when he came to Utah. He ran a farm in the summer and worked in the coal mines of Grass Creek in the winter” (p.34).

Grass Creek Coal Mine

Elizabeth Lythgoe  

   Thomas married Elizabeth Lythgoe on March 12, 1866 in Richville, Morgan, UT.  They had 13 children together.William Dearden, Thomas’ uncle, took in young Thomas who was the illegitimate and abandoned child of Jane Dearden, William’s sister.  The following is an account of William:

            William Dearden was born July 7. 1826 in Haydock, England, where in February. 1848, he became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His first wife was Mary Greenall, who died leaving him with two small sons; and his second wife was Ann Agnes Arkwright, whom he married in 1853. While living in England, she became the mother of two and two daughters, the sons dying in infancy. With the aid of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, the Dearden family sailed from Liverpool the early summer of 1862 and journeyed and westward with the Henry Miller Company.

Henry Miller

While on the plains, two of the children, Elizabeth and Ellen, were afflicted with mountain fever, Death took Ellen, then six years old; and a niece, Elisabeth, who had accompanied them, was also buried along the trail. The remainder of the family, including sons James and Thomas and a nephew Thomas Dearden arrived in the Valley October 17, 1862. That same fall they went to Centerville, where they lived in an old blacksmith shop until the father could build a dugout for a home. The family later moved to Porterville in Morgan County. Here William and his family worked hard to gain a livelihood. He was known as a man who would give aid to any one in need: he dug graves without charge for those who passed way, sang at all meetings and gatherings, and day or night answered a call to administer to the sick. It truly can be said of the Deardens that they were “faithful to the end of their days.”

William died February 18, 1912 at the age of eighty-six years; and his wife Ann Agnes, preceding him in death, passed away July 8, 1889, at the age of sixty-five years. ― Ann Marie Case.

            It is unclear when or why Thomas and his cousin James moved to Henefer, UT where they are both buried.  Perhaps they were called to help settle the new town.

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Thomas Dearden, an old and well-known respected citizen of Henefer, died at Echo on Friday, January 14th at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Henry Brunot. The funeral services were held at Henefer on Tuesday, January 18th, under the direction of the Ward Bishopric. Singing was furnished by the ward choir, and a solo, "I Know that My Redeemer Liveth," was rendered by R.A. Jones, of Ogden. The speakers were Wm. Brewer and R.A. Jones. Thomas Dearden passed his seventy-fourth birthday December 23rd, 1920. He was the father of thirteen children, six of whom survive him. His wife died a number of year’s ago. -William Brewer.

Park Record

Henefer

January 21, 1921