HULL, Thomas Martin & Helene Frederikke Rasmussen

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Thomas Martin Hull was born on March 17, 1867, in Franklin, Utah Territory to Thomas Hull and Jane Price Roberts. He was the oldest son born to this couple, and he had 4 sisters and 3 brothers. His brother, William Edward was killed by Indians near the town of Blackfoot, Idaho on 13 April 1891 at the age of 19 years and 11 months. His brother, James Simon only lived 8 years and he died in 1882.

Thomas’ father emigrated from Ireland to Utah and then to Franklin. His mother emigrated from Wales to Utah and then to Franklin when she was 11 years old. In 1860 when Brigham Young sent settlers to Franklin, this family settled in the small town of Franklin. The Thomas Hull cabin and Robert’s cabin were not too far apart and so it is they knew each other and became acquainted.

The Hulls from Ireland had been quarrymen and so they were called to help build the Salt Lake Temple and the Logan Temple. This quarry work would be a blessing to Thomas and Helene when they settled in Shelley, Bingham, Idaho. Thomas Martin was born in 1867 in Franklin, and his sister, Mary Jane was born on 8 May 1869 in Franklin also. They must have moved to Hooper sometime in the late 1870s or early 1871 because his brother William Edward was born on 15 May 1871 in Hooper. All other siblings were born in Hooper.

As I contemplated this move from Franklin to Hooper I came to realize after waking from my sleep and being prompted by the spirit, that one of the reasons they made this move was because of the Indian problems in and around Franklin. The Bear River Massacre occurred on 29 January 1863 and this historic site is only 12 miles west of the little town of Franklin, Idaho

In the 1880 US census, Thomas and his parents and his brothers and sisters are living in Hooper, Weber, Utah. They had moved here from Franklin. At this time, Thomas is 14 years old.

Helene Frederikke Rasmussen was born on December 26, 1869 in the town of Sundby, Aalborg, Denmark. She emigrated to the US in the year 1873 when she was 4 years old. According to her father’s biography, on June 24, 1873, they left the little town of Hjallerup, Denmark en route to Utah. They had a safe voyage and a pleasant journey through the states and arrived in Ogden, Utah July 24, 1873. A few days later they reached Weston, Idaho. Weston was a small, newly settled town and the people were very poor. According to the 1880 US Census Record for Trenton, Cache, Utah, Helene was 9 years old.

Hooper, Utah is 73 miles from Trenton so I do not know how Thomas Martin and Helene became acquainted with each other. Weston, Idaho where the Rasmussen family settled, is only 11 miles from Trenton, Utah.

On 20 Jun 1923, Thomas’s father dies in Hooper, Weber, Utah and his mother Jane Price Roberts dies on 7 November 1883 in Hooper, Weber, Utah.

There is no 1890 census record so I do not know what transpired between the years 1880 to 1900 only that Thomas and Helene are married on 16 March 1887 in Hooper, Weber, Utah and their first two children, Mary Hull, and Riley Hull have both been born and have died. Mary Hull was born in 1888 in Hooper, Weber, Utah, and died in 1888 in Hooper, Weber, Utah; Riley Hull was born in 1890 in Weston, Oneida, Idaho, and died in 1890 in Weston, Oneida, Idaho.

We find the Thomas and Helene Hull family in the 1900 US Census living in Shelley, Bingham, Idaho. Thomas Hull is 34 years old and Helene is 30 years old with the following children: Alta – age 7, Nina – age 3, Leroy – age 5 ½, Mary (Thomas’s mother – age 73), and Thomas’s little brother, Owen, age 17.

Why the move to Shelley? Well, Thomas lost his mother, Jane Price Roberts, on 7 November 1883 and his father remarried on 12 February 1886 to Mary Ann Fluitt. They are all living in Hooper at the time and helping one another on the farm. Thomas’s sister, Elizabeth Ann Hull (my grandmother), is married and is living in Shelley with her husband (John Henry Mitchell) and has taken up a homestead northeast of Shelley. So with the possibility of owning his own ground, Thomas and Helene moved to Shelley, Idaho sometime in 1891/1892 because their daughter Alta Jane is born in August of 1892.

According to the Homestead papers (160 acres) filed by Thomas Hull on 25 February 1905, they have settled northeast of the little town of Shelley, Idaho. It is here that Thomas quarrys red rock from the townsite of Menan, Idaho, and builds a beautiful rock home for the family.

There is also a Treasurer’s Tax Deed for Thomas Hull in the year 1897. On 5 July 1898, Thomas pays $127.10 for all taxes and interest and costs thereon up to and including taxes for 1903 and confirms unto Thomas Hull, all of the above real estate. This is dated 2 January 1905.

There is a copy of a Quit Claim Deed dated 23 February 1905 for Thomas Hull.

After losing their first two children, Alta Jane is born on 28 August 1892 in Shelley, Bingham, Idaho. Their second daughter, Nina Louise is born on 16 May 1897 in Shelley, Bingham, Idaho; Edward LeRoy is born on 25 December 1899 in Shelley; Alice Florence is born on 19 November 1905 in Shelley and Edgar is born in 1907 in Shelley and dies in 1907 in Shelley; Evelyn is born in 1908 in Shelley and died 30 September 1910 in Shelley and their last child, Avengeline is born in 1909 in Shelley and dies after April 1910 in Shelley.

According to the 1910 Census for Shelley, Idaho Thomas is 44, Helene is 40, Alta is 17, Nina is 13, Leroy is 10, Alice is 4 and Avengeline is 1.

Thomas and Helene are working hard to prove up the homestead when she catches pneumonia and dies on 31 July 1910 in Idaho Falls, Idaho leaving her husband Thomas with 4 children to care for and a homestead to prove.

In the 1920 US Census Record for Thomas, Bingham, Idaho, Nina is 22 years old and she has married Michael F. Korherr, and her sister, Alice F. is 14 years old and living with this family. Edward LeRoy is not with the family at this time. He would be 21 years old and is on his own.

In 1914 Alta Jane dies and her husband, Michael Korherr, marries her sister Nina Louise on 24 March 1917. The other sister, Alice Florence has gotten married in 1925 to Wayne Mills. Thomas’s little brother, Owen Martin was married on 12 September 1905 so he is out of the house before Helene dies. Thomas’s grandmother, Mary Martin, who was living with this family has also died in 1904.

I was unable to find Thomas Martin Hull in a 1920 Census Record, but I do find him and his second wife, Francetta (nickname of Etta) Curtis Peppers, who he marries on 18 January 1912 in Blackfoot, Bingham, Idaho. According to #510 Deed Record dated 4 Jun 1917 Thomas and Etta is still together. By 1927 he is married to Helen M. Muller and is living in Thomas, Bingham, Idaho. Another Deed Record dated 20 July 1948 only shows Thomas (no wife listed).

Francetta died on 26 February 1946 in Salem, Utah. They must have divorced because I then find Thomas married in the 1930 US Census and living in Thomas, Bingham, Idaho to one Helen M. Hull age 53, and a step-son, age 25. Thomas is 63 years old at this census. Thomas and Helen were married in Salmon, Lemhi, Idaho on 26 Jul 1927.

I remember my Uncle Tommy as we called him when I was a young child. He lived by us down on our farm northeast of Shelley. He was alone then and I always liked him. He did not have much but I can always remember him with his hat on, a pipe in his mouth, and his dog.

It is my assumption that he must have lost his farm in Shelley after Helene dies because he can no longer improve upon the homestead he has settled on.

Thomas Martin Hull, his wife, Helena, and their children, Alta Jane, Edgar, Evelyn, and Avengeline are all buried in the Shelley, Idaho Hillcrest Cemetery along with Thomas’s grandfather and grandmother, Owen, and Mary Martin Roberts. They await the morning of the first resurrection.

From what I have been able to glean from records he did not have an easy life. He worked hard and he had nothing of worldly treasures. He was my grandmother’s brother and he was a part of my life for 20 years. He lost his wife and 5 children. My heart breaks just thinking of how hard it was for him to survive and go on with life and try to do the best he could.

I hope this history will touch your heart like it has mine and I will ever be indebted to him for his strength and character I hope I was able to do him, Helene, and his family the respect and honor they deserve by writing this history. I love you, Uncle Tommy.