Thomas Clark Patten, Sr.

Thomas Clark Patten was born on August 31, 1842 in Wolverhampton, Stratfordshire, England. His parents were Henry Patten and Ann Clark Patten. Thomas joined the church as a young man and by age 21 was serving as a traveling Elder for the church. He was a compassionate man. On one occasion, he stayed with and cared for a man who had smallpox when everyone else was afraid of this very contagious disease. The man recovered and Thomas did not contract the disease. Thomas met and fell in love with Mary Ann Newman and they decided to immigrate to Utah. They were married on May 23, 1864 and 11 days later, for their honeymoon, they boarded the ship “Hudson” along with more than eight hundred other Latter-Day Saints bound for America. The company onboard ship was organized into 14 wards. Thomas was appointed leader of the 8th ward. The ship arrived in New York City on July 19, 1864. Thomas and Mary travelled by train to Nebraska and then walked most the rest of the way to the Salt Lake valley in the summer of 1864. The weeds were so high that Thomas’ pants were tattered and frayed up to his knees. Mary gave birth to their first child during the journey. After arriving in Salt Lake, Thomas began working in a tannery. Later he opened a grocery store on First South Street, where he lived in a back room. Later, he built a two-story home nearby at 131 East First South. Later in life, he served as Constable for several years. Thomas and Mary were the parents of eleven children. Three of their children died in infancy. Thomas died at the age of 70 on February 3, 1913 in Salt Lake City.