Thomas Payne

Thomas Payne is the born to Edward Payne and Emma Powell, both from England. The family sailed to America on the ship “Edinburgh.” Edward remained in Pennsylvania, working to repay The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for bringing the family to America. Emma and her children traveled to Nebraska and joined the Joseph S. Rawlins Company to journey to the Salt Lake Valley. The company left July 15, 1864.

Exhaustive travel conditions, disease, injury, lack of food and medicine, prematurity, and extreme weather were some of the greatest threats to pioneers. About three weeks after the journey began, 2-year-old Thomas grew ill from the long days of traveling and poor food. Each day he became weaker. Their daily rations consisted of bread, salt bacon, gravy, and a small portion of dry goods. When they got to Wyoming, the flour was gone and they had to live on grits and roughly ground wheat. Thomas was unaccustomed eating these hard, dry meals. Thomas grew more and more weak

One night Emma rocked Thomas and sang his favorite lullaby. Somewhere near the end of the song she realized her baby had passed away. The tears fell, her heart was broken. Thomas was buried in a gathering of trees known as “Bitter Cottonwood,” an appropriate name for a family’s grief.

From the life history of Emma Payne: “When the wagon train procession left camp the next morning, their wagon lingered a little behind while Emma and her mother dressed the baby in a red dress. The family gathered around the little one. Each bade him their last good-bye, Emma gave her dearest little one a farewell kiss, the last to be given in this life. They lovingly wrapped his little body in a white sheet and buried it in a shallow grave covered by the end gate of a wagon which the wagonmaster had furnished. Finally, rocks were piled on top of the end gate to protect the grave.”