Thomas Giles and Mariah Kirkham Written by Ron Carlile

Thomas Giles LKVY-T6Z and Mariah Kirkham KWJK-136 – A Heber Fort Family. Their cabin was located on the Southwest corner of the fort on 2nd North and 4th West.

Thomas Giles, not to be mistaken for “Thomas H” Giles, was from a different but related Giles family. Thomas’ mother was Elizabeth Giles. Elizabeth had a sister, Ann, that is the mother of William Giles and grandmother to all the other Giles family’s that emigrated to Utah and Heber Valley. Ann’s grandchildren included: Thomas H., George, Fred, John, William, Elizabeth Giles (Rasband), Mary Giles (Crook), Emily Giles (Carlile), and Kezia Giles (Carroll). While this is a very large family with extensive roots throughout the original settlers of this valley, the story of cousin “Thomas” and his wife Mariah Kirkham is no less impressive.

Born in Lowdham, Nottingham, England on September 26th, 1804, Thomas Giles was the second of two known children to Elizabeth Giles. Previously, it was thought that Thomas’ father was a man named John Palin or Paling, but recent research refutes that assumption. Y-DNA testing has shown that there are no known genealogical matches between male descendants of Thomas Giles and Palin/Paling descendants. Further, the Heber Ward High Priests record lists the last name of “Dickenson” (no first name) as Thomas’ father. Thomas, himself, would have provided this information. Thomas assumed his mother’s last name of Giles as his own.

Thomas met and then married Mariah Kirkham on May 30th, 1832, in Calverton, Nottingham, England. She was born in that place on April 15th, 1807, to Thomas Kirkham and Maria Cooper. After having and beginning to rear all their children in England, they heard the message of the restored gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and were baptized in 1860. This must have been comforting news for this family as the youngest daughter, Sarah, had passed away just 3 years prior at the age of nine.

Following their conversion, the family, excepting daughter, Sarah, who stayed in England to raise her family, sailed from Liverpool to America. Enroute, another tragedy struck as eldest son, Thomas, died and was buried at sea. After six weeks, and some repairs being made to their ship while enroute, they landed at New York harbor. From New York they took a train to St Louis, then travelled by boat up the Missouri to Florence, Nebraska. From there, they joined Captain Homer Duncan’s company and travelled to Utah. They left the immigrant company in Echo Canyon and went by way of Silver Creek Canyon and arrived in Heber City in September of 1862. A happy reunion ensued with all the Giles’ cousins.

Thomas and Mariah established a home in Heber City and lived there for the remainder of their days. Mariah passed away on March 1st, 1878, at the age of 70. Thomas followed nine years later, dying on August 7th, 1887. They are buried side by side in the Heber City cemetery. The couple had many hardships, with two of their children passing early, and leaving another daughter in England to rear her family there. With daughter, Elizabeth,

settling in Provo, Thomas and Mariah had just two other children, George and William that made their homes in Heber with their parents. From those two alone came a large posterity. George also had daughters that married into the Murdock, Carlile, and Hicken family lines. William had daughters that married into the Sharp and Pyper families. Just from the Giles named descendants, there are many families that remain in Heber Valley today. Included are the names of Elvin, Bert, Joseph, Sherman, and Calvin to name just a few.

Thomas and Mariah’s six children:

Thomas Giles – born on January 21st, 1833 in Calverton, Nottinghamshire England but died while crossing the ocean and was buried at sea.

Sarah Giles – born on May 6th, 1837, in Calverton, Nottinghamshire England. Married John Mitchell and they had 11 children while remaining in England: Mary Ann married Robert Mitchell and they had 7 children, George married Mary Gimson and they had one daughter, Thomas married Elizabeth and they had one son, Elizabeth died at the age of 14, another son, John, apparently also died in his youth, Sarah passed away in her youth as well, the next Joseph married Emma Pilkington having 4 children, Herbert married Eveline Burrows and they had 2 children, Arthur married Annie Hopkinson and they had 3 children, Ernest died in infancy, and Annie apparently died in infancy also.

George M Giles – born on March 6th, 1840, in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England. Married Mary Mayoh and they had 9 children: George married Fannie Syme and they had 2 children, Peter died in his youth at the age of 10, John died 8 days before his brother, Peter, at the age of 9, Noah married Maria Christensen and they had 4 children, five year old Mary Ann died one day before her brother John and 9 days before her brother Peter, Sarah married James Murdock and they had 8 children, Thomas married Nellie Murdock and they had 11 children, Emma married William “Will” Carlile and they had 6 children, and Minnie married William Hicken. (The 3 children that George and Mary tragically lost during a 9-day span could have possibly been due to the diphtheria epidemic that ravaged Utah and the country from 1878 through 1880).

Elizabeth Kirkham Giles – born on September 10th, 1841, in Arnold, Nottingham shire, England. Married John Giles and they had 8 children: Elizabeth died at the age of 13 months old, John married Agnes Miller, George died during the winter at just over 1 month old, Wilford married Petrea Pederson and they had 13 children, David married Ellen Nielsen and they had 7 children, Joseph married Clara Nuttall and they had 8 children, Sarah married Louis Hougaard and they had 3 children, and Charles married Bertha Bateman and they had 4 children.

William Murray Giles – born on September 3rd, 1846, in Calverton, Nottinghamshire, England. Married Ann Murdoch and they had 11 children, John married Elsie Dayton and they had 9 children, Maria died as an infant at the age of 19 months, William died at 54 ½ after having a livelihood as a farmer, Jane married James Sharp and they had 6 children, George married Mary Mair and they had 6 children, Sarah married George Pyper and they had 9 children, Joseph married Mary Ellen Sweat and they had 8 children, Orson married Gladys Tadd and they had 8 children, James married Margaret Gibson and they had 10 Children, Henry married Flossie Lake and they had 9 Children, and Charles married Laverne Provost and they had 5 children.

Sarah Giles – born in April, 1848 at Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England. She passed away at the age of 9 on November 29th, 1857.

Heber Valley Heritage Foundation