My Second Great Grandfather, Thomas Rees.

Rees Family is in the Allgood Pedigree Family Line.

Thomas and Rebecca Rees Children

Thomas Rees

Rebecca Williams Rees

THOMAS REES - POOR WELCH IMMIGRANT
Submitted By:   LaRon Taylor  
Thomas Rees, b 4 Jan, 1820, Pembroke, South Wales, md Rebecca Williams 8 Apr, 1841, d 8 Sept, 1892, Wayne County, Utah. 


     This biography is a story of conversion and of a struggle to come to Utah that took years and cooperation of a faithful son. 
     Just 8 days before the Royal Astronomical Society was formed in England (1), heaven sent a choice spirit to earth to experience mortality under the tutelage of Thomas Rees Sr., and Eleanor Furlong, his parents. Thomas was born in humble circumstances and remained poor throughout his life, yet he was rich in spirit. 
       As Thomas grew into adulthood he was raised in the farming community of Talbenny until he met Rebecca Williams from the neighboring town of Walton West. The two fell in love and were married. They remained in Talbenny on a farm while raising their family, which eventually grew to twelve children. It was difficult to make a living on a farm, so the children had to help their father scratch out their meager living. Thomas Matthew Rees (Brigham Rees’s son) wrote that the children began working the farm from sunrise until sunset when they were 6 years old, so they didn’t have time for school. 
      The physical description and character of Thomas Rees and Rebecca Williams was given by their grandson, Thomas Parley John: “Grandfather was a fine looking man. I have heard it said that he was six feet , two inches in his stocking feet. No one had a better friend than grandfather Rees was. When he was a young man in the old country, he was mowing hay with a scythe and in going from one field to another with the scythe over his shoulder, fell and cut his back. From this time until the day he died he walked bent over, using two walking sticks…Grandmother was a rather small woman not so short but quite thin. She loved her bible and knew its contents well. Her patients [patience] was much more limited than grandfather’s. She made the best biscuits and butter that I have ever tasted (3).”  
     The twelve children of Thomas and Rebecca were Mary b 15 Sep, 1841, Rebecca b 11 Dec, 1842, Elizabeth, b June 1844, Betsey, b 25 Mar, 1845, Brigham, b 9 Apr, 1851, Heber, b 1852-3, Ellen, b, 22 June, 1854, Noah, 14 Aug, 1857, Margaret, b 15 Nov, 1859, Lettice, b 29 Dec, 1860, and Thomas Parley, b 2 June 1864. The family struggled to maintain a living on the farm, which was referred to as the “North Crocket Farm”. In 1865, Thomas sent Brigham (then 14 yrs old) to the home of a stone mason so he could learn to cut and lay stones because he wanted Brigham to have a better life than he. This would later prove a great blessing for the entire family (4). 
     Thomas didn’t believe in the teachings of the church that was forced upon them by England when they conquered Wales, but he had a strong belief in God. He believed that God had saved his life when he had fallen on the scythe because he was bleeding profusely until he prayed, and the bleeding stopped after the prayer. This probably set the stage for his conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When the missionaries came, he and his family readily accepted the gospel. 
     After they were baptized in 1866, Thomas and his family wanted to go to Utah with the saints, but he didn’t have the money to do so. Thus, their pioneer pilgrimage began on their destitute little farm in Wales with an effort to save money for the journey. It took until 1868 for them to save enough to send Brigham and one of his older sisters to Utah. They sent them off with instructions to save money and help the rest of the family to come. Brigham sailed to the states on the steamship Colorado. If his sister traveled on the same ship with him, it was Elizabeth because she is the only one to closely match name and age (5). The ship carried 600 saints bound for Utah, and was the last of the year. It departed Liverpool on 14 July, 1868 (6), and arrived at the Castle Garden Immigration center of New York on 7 August, 1868 (7) They traveled by train to Florence, Nebraska (another account says the train took him to Wyoming), then walked the last 800 miles from there to Utah because the rail hadn’t been completed to Ogden yet. Records record him arriving in Utah in 1869, so he must have been delayed en-route. Brigham would have been one of the last of the pioneers to walk to Utah before the Golden Spike was driven in Ogden.  A Compilation of notes of the Ship Minnesota's Passage Liverpool to New York.

Brigham Rees

     When he arrived in Salt Lake City, he was told the only work was at the new mine on the west side of the valley, so he threw his blanket back over his shoulder and crossed the valley on foot in search of employment. His skills were needed, so he was hired by the Bingham Copper Mine and began saving money for his family back in Wales. It only took two years for Brigham to save enough money to bring the rest of his family to Utah. By that time, they were able to come all of the way overland on the train, so the journey was much easier for them. One puzzlement was that the Castle Garden Immigration list didn’t contain the names of Thomas or his family members coming to New York in 1871 or 1872.  Perhaps they landed at a port to the south. Read: A Compilation of notes of the Steamship Colorado.
     At some point, Thomas Rees learned to be a shoe cobbler because his grandson said he did this type of work in Utah. They lived in Salt Lake City for a time before moving to Portage, Utah. They moved S-S-W a few miles from Portage to the location now listed as Washakie and lived in a one room log house with a dirt roof. Some Shoshone Indians were probably there at the same time with Chief Washakie leading them. Nothing has been found of their relationships with Thomas Rees and family, but Brigham Young later established that town as the first Indian farming community in 1881 (8). Thomas Rees and family may have moved back into Portage, or may have continued in Washakie with the Indians for a time. The next record is one showing Thomas Rees dying on 22 Nov, 1885 but no details surrounding his death have been found. Nevertheless, his youngest son, Thomas Parley Rees moved to Rabbit Valley (Loa & Bicknell, Utah) in 1892 and farmed there. Rebecca moved with him because she passed away in Thurber (now Bicknell), Utah on 8 Sep, 1892. 
     This family lived a life of poverty as they worked to establish themselves in fellowship with the saints in Utah. Though poor in worldly possessions, they were truly rich in faith and were familiar with the peace that comes through obedience and love. 

My Great Grandfather, George Allgood

Some Interesting Facts Concerning George Allgood:
     George Allgood is the son of John Allgood and Lucy Platts Allgood, all of their family were born in Lestershire, England. George Allgood was born April 10, 1846.
     Lucy Platts Allgood and her three children, John, George and Jane immigrated to America, USA. They left and departed Liverpool, England, on 21 May 1864 and arrived to New York on the 23 Jun 1864 on the ship General McClellan. Read the Voyage Notes of the Ship General McCellan.

George was 18 when they immigrated. His father, John did not immigrate at this time.
     In 1864, Lucy Platts Allgood, her sons, John, George; daughter, Jane; came to Utah from England.  They came by rail as far as the Missouri River, and then joined Captain Rawlin's company and walked to the Salt Lake Valley. Lucy's son George was ill with pneumonia when they entered the valley. There was nothing of great interest that happened to the company as they traveled to the Valley. They entered the Salt Lake Valley in the month of September of that year. Read a Trail Excerpt of the John S. Rawlins Pioneer Company.

     George Allgood fought in the Black Hawk War.  He was one of the first to open a coal mine in Coalville, Utah  in 1872.  In 1874 there was a blast that had gone off in the the mine and all of the men couldn't be accounted for; George then went into the mine to warn the others and was the last out and just before he got out a blast went off and pinned him to the ground under a large lump of coal, crushing  his left leg. He spent 2 years in and out of hospital and nursing care and finally had to have the leg amputated. He was 30 years old.

      In 1876 he met and married Letty Rees who was 16 years of age, and they were married on the 3rd of July of that year.  After the loss of his leg and the bitter dissappointment of loosing the mine to unscrupulous partners and unable to work in the mine, he entered into the lime business for many years until his health failed, suffering great pain from ulcers.  He did odd jobs. The last two years of his life he was an invalid. His death came March, 12, 1909.
     He was also known as being an accomplished violinist, and spent many hours playing for the pleasure of others. He was the father of eight children.
     This was written by Letty Rees Allgood his wife.

The George Harry Allgood Family

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This is the Allgood Family approximately in 1941  Mack, Dora, Joy, Jack, Ilah, Ilah Dee (Mom), Goerge Harry (Dad), Louis, and Mike (baby) Hughes.

George and Lettie Allgood Family

Allgood Family 1909 except for father, George.

Allgood Family (approximately 1909 and oldest to youngest): Lettice Rees (mother), Earnest, Eudora, Stanley Thomas, Lester Rees, Lettie Florence, and George Harry.

Easter in 1940, The Allgood Siblings

Allgood Siblings

Easter in 1940 - The Allgood Siblings (oldest to youngest): Ilah, Glen, Vern, Louis, Joy, Dora, Mack and Jack.