Heber Harris Thomas
From NeilDocs
George Evan Stoddard, son of George Earl Stoddard, Jr., son of Elthira Dana Thomas, daughter of Heber Harris Thomas
Heber Harris Thomas was born November 17, 1862, in Taibach, Margam, Glamorganshire, Wales, the youngest child of Thomas Thomas and Mary Harris. His parents were baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints some time before 1849. Heber's father Thomas died in a coal mine explosion shortly before Heber turned one year old. In about 1876, when Heber was 13 or 14 years old he emigrated to Utah, settling in Ogden. He was baptized a member of the Church in the Lynne Ward, Weber Stake, by Jenkyn Thomas, Jr., on 13 August 1876.
In Ogden Heber became a pioneer photographer, establishing his own studio in the 1880's. On March 28, 1888, Heber married Sarah Helen Dana, Nellie, in the Logan Temple. He had received a mission call to return to Great Britain and did not want to leave his mother alone and without care. On 11 April he left his "wife mother, home and friends" to serve his mission.
Prior to reporting for missionary service in Yorkshire Heber traveled to Glamorgan and visited his sister Marantha, her husband John Evans, a grocer, and their family in Aberdare and had a joyful reunion after their separation of some twelve years. He also visited his brother Erastus and his family in nearby Ynysbuel, and other relatives.
In late May Heber left for Yorkshire and was assigned to work in the Huddersfield District of the Leeds Conference. In June 1889 Heber was transferred to the Welsh Conference. Again he stopped in Aberdare and vicinity to visit his relatives before beginning his labors in Llanelly. While Heber was laboring as a missionary in England and Wales, Nellie continued her teaching at Ogden's Central School. At the close of Heber's mission in 1890 she decided to quit her job and join him for a sojourn abroad and a long-delayed honeymoon. After three months they were home again.
Over the next years Heber and Nellie's household grew. Nellie's mother, Mary Ann Cato Dana Odell, a widow since her second husband's death in 1873, asked if she and her teenage son Joseph Odell might move in. Joseph soon left for college in Logan, but Mary Ann stayed for 16 years, until the Thomases moved to the State Industrial School. In 1891 Heber and Nellie's first child, Heber Harris Thomas, Jr. (Harris), was born, followed by Elthira Dana Thomas (Thyra) in 1893, and Joseph in 1899. Heber's mother died in 1900. Helen was born in 1901, and Kathryn in 1905.
For many years Heber ran the H.H. Thomas Photographic Studio at 2457 Washington Avenue, Ogden, to support his family. He served as a member of the city's school board, a member of the Ogden Fifth Ward bishopric and of the high council, and president of the Ogden City Council. From 1905 to 1909 he served as superintendent of the State Industrial School. That year the family moved to Salt Lake City, where Heber again operated a photographic studio and lived the rest of his life. Heber died October 6, 1926, at Salt Lake City, Utah, of stomach cancer and was buried in the Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.
