|
a.
|
Note: Tombstone inscription: Beloved / Husband & Father / Henry Tompkins / 1868-1937
(Source: tombstone reading, May 1987.) Grandmother Kima Nevada Roberts was married a second time about 1916 to Henry Tompkins of San Bernardino. Henry had been married previously to Lelia Patton on September 19, 1895. He had no children by Lelia, and that marriage ended in divorce.
Grandmother Kima Nevada Roberts was married previously to Frank Callico, a neighbor of the Drakes Creek community in Madison County, Arkansas, where she was raised. Kima and Frank Callico had 3 children together. This marriage ended in divorce, and Frank Callico moved to the state of Nevada, where the family lost track of him. (See THE CALLICO CONNECTION for more information on Frank Callico's family.)
Kima and Henry Tompkins had two children together, Henrietta and Thomas. It should be noted, that there are no further descendants of the union of Grandmother Kima and her second husband, Henry Tompkins. The daughter, Henrietta Tompkins, was never married. She is still living, at 72 years of age. She has made her home in Honolulu, Hawaii for a number of years. The son, Tommy Tompkins, was married, but he never had any children. So there is no blood relationship between any of the rest of the Tompkins family to our Roberts-Callico family of descendants today. Henry Tompkins was a STEP-grandfather to the children of Gilbert, Lucy, and Bonnie Ruth, who were Grandmother's children by her first husband, Frank Callico.
Henry Tompkins is remembered as the foreman of the Santa Fe and Union Pacific stockyards at San Bernardino, California. He was a member of a well-known pioneer family of San Bernardino.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first of the Tompkins clan to come to America and settle in California was Thomas Tompkins. He was one of San Bernardino's earliest pioneers, and he was a rancher in the vicinity for many years. Thomas Tompkins, a native of England, was the father of Henry Tompkins who was married to Grandmother Kima Nevada Roberts.
*Thomas Tompkins, b. 15 August 1817 Walcott, Lincolnshire, England d. 14 January 1885 California; m. 1st, Jane Elizabeth Rollins, in 1839 in Steuben County, NY; her dates, b. 1 May 1821 Lincolnshire, England d. 16 February 1865 San Bernardino, CA (daughter of Henry Rollins and Ann (Wetherogg) Rollins)1
Thomas Tompkins m. 2nd, Artemisia Perry 6 August 1865 San Bernardino, CA; her dates, b. 6 October 1845 Nashville, TN d. 14 September 1917 San Bernardino, CA (daughter of Jeremiah Perry and Jane (Merrick) Perry)
Thomas Tompkins, born in Walcott, Lincolnshire, England, was the son of John Tompkins and Elizabeth (Blow) Tompkins.2 John and Elizabeth (Blow) Tompkins and family, along with his brother Robert Tompkins and family, emigrated to the United States on June 11, 1828 aboard the ship Hugh Johnston.3 Young Thomas Tompkins was only 10 years old at the time. This journey must have left a lasting impression on him in later years. Also aboard the vessel were the Rollins family, Henry and Ann (Wetherogg) Rollins and 4 of their children.4 One of the Rollins children, Jane, later became the first wife of Thomas Tompkins.
Thomas Tompkins was married twice, and our Henry Tompkins was the son of Thomas and his 2nd wife, Artemisia (Perry) Tompkins, a native of Tennessee.
Soon after their arrival in America, the Tompkins and Rollins families settled in Steuben County, New York, where they lived for 18 years. Mormonism had its beginning about this time in New York, and the Tompkins family soon joined this new sect. Thomas and his first wife, Jane Elizabeth (Rollins) Tompkins came to California by boat around Cape Horn in 1846. They left New York on the ship Brooklyn in the Samuel Brannon Company of Mormons headed for California. It is a coincidence that the ship Brooklyn set sail from New York on her voyage, bearing 238 Mormons, on the very day that the main body of the L.D.S church under Brigham Young left Nauvoo, Illinois for its great trek westward--February 4, 1846.
The trip around Cape Horn was long and hazardous, taking six months to complete. They arrived at Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay on July 31, 1846, utterly exhausted and almost too numb to realize that they were at the end of their journey. The American flag had been hoisted less than 3 weeks before. To compare lengths of voyages, Columbus took 71 days, the Pilgrims took 149 days, and the ship Brooklyn with its company of Mormons aboard took 178 days. To pay for their passage they cut wood in Marin across the bay which cargo was accepted by Captain Richardson.5
At the time of discovery of gold, Thomas Tompkins was engaged in hauling provisions from General John Sutter from Sutters Fort on the Sacramento River to the mill at Coloma.6 Guinn says in his biographical record, "When gold was discovered, he was one of the few who kept his head throughout the excitement, and instead of rushing off to the mines, he found his gold mine in a hundred and fifty acres of potatoes and other vegetable and grains which he sold at almost fabulous prices."7
In the fall of 1850, Thomas was called by the L.D.S. church to go on a mission to the Society Islands with the family of Elder Addison Pratt. He was there for six months. This must have made a lasting impression on daughter Amanda, for she was later to name one of her children Addison Pratt. Returning to the states six months later, he was again destitute.8
In 1852 Thomas Tompkins joined one of the Mormon settlements that founded the city of San Bernardino. From the journal of Richard Hopkins, an early Mormon leader, we learn that on December 17, 1852, William Fuller, Isaac Goodwin and family, Thomas Tompkins and family, John Carter and family, and Thomas Beck arrived in San Bernardino from the San Jose branch in the upper county, consisting of 15 persons, 5 wagons, and 27 animals. They came by land and had been 4 weeks and 1 day on the journey.9
Thomas Tompkins shipped by boat the first threshing machine, the first reaper, the first mower, the first fanning mill, the first alfalfa seed, then more commonly known as lyceum seed.10 He purchased his ranch, which was part of the original settlement of San Bernardino, from the Mormon elders, Lyman and Rich.11 He had the first stand of bees, and he planted the first vineyard in San Bernardino.12
In 1856 Thomas Tompkins was appointed overseer of Road District Number One. This road district comprised all that portion of the county north of 5th Street and west of Pacific to the county boundary line to Cucamonga Rancho.13 This was the main road from San Bernardino to Los Angeles.
Thomas Tompkins was a friend of Isaac Williams, for his name is mentioned in Isaac's probate papers.14 Isaac Williams figures prominently in California history, for he was the son-in-law of Don Antonio Maria Lugo, who was once the owner of the entire San Bernardino valley. Tompkins was also a friend of John Rains, a son-in-law of Isaac Williams. In February 1858, after a recall of Mormons made in November of the previous year, Tompkins sold his property of 30 acres for $700 to John Rains and moved with his family to Salt Lake City, Utah.
By the fall of 1858, Thomas Tompkins became dissatisfied with the workings of the Mormon faith, so he returned to San Bernardino and was fortunate to be able to buy back the property from John Rains. Sometime after this, Thomas allied himself with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the group that broke away from the main body of Mormons at Salt Lake City. John Rains entered into a written contract with Tompkins to haul lumber, and then Rains would reconvey the property to Tompkins. It was likely that the lumber hauled by Tompkins was used for the construction of the house that John Rains built at Cucamonga. Thomas's daughter, Jane Hunter Tompkins, paid tribute to Rains' friendship. She wrote: "Our friends were very kind to us upon our return from Salt Lake, especially John Rains."15
Jane Rollins Tompkins died February 16, 1865, and Thomas married secondly to Artemisia Perry,16 daughter of Jeremiah and Jane (Merrick) Perry on August 6, 1865.17
1. "Featherbed Story," by Jane E. Hunter; letter from Blanche Tompkins, 2 October
1989.
2. Film # 0932903 Mormon Records, Parish Register of Timberland 1733-1841.
3. Film # 0350298 Immigration & Naturalization Index 1820-1841 (TIM-TUR)
4. Guinn, South Coast Counties, 1907, p. 1692.
5. Robert A. Tompkins, The Clan of Tomkyns.
6. Obituary Records of Jessie Reece.
7. Guinn, South Coast Counties, 1907, p. 1692.
8. Records of Jane E. Hunter.
9. Richard Hopkins' Journal (Salt Lake City Library).
10. Records of Jane E. Hunter.
11. San Bernardino County land records.
12. Records of Jane E. Hunter.
13. Minutes of San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, 2 December 1856.
14. Valley Quarterly, September 1973, p. 47.
15. Esther Boulton Black, Rancho Cucamonga and Dona Merced.
16. Records of Jane E. Hunter.
17. Guinn, South Coast Counties.
|
