Item Detail
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Thomas, Mary Davies Morgan
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1801-1906
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MSS SC 871; MSS SC 234
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Jonah Phillips, and Ann Thomas Phillips Family Biographies Third Edition, Volume I and Materials relating to the Thomas family
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Born in Carmarthen, Wales on March 25, 1801 Mary came from a family of eleven, all of whom she outlived. She was married first to Mr. David Morgan of Llandilo, Wales, and later after he died she married Jacob Thomas. From her second marriage she had six daughters and two sons. She lived under five Sovereigns. Especially vivid in her memory was the coronation of Queen Victoria. Her earliest memory is, at the age of four, walking hand in hand with her grandmother, Margaret Davies, who lived to the age of one hundred years. Mary possessed a great memory and in her old age still remembered major events from her lifetime; the Battle of Waterloo, the Crimean War, and the potato famine. She remained in excellent health until the end of her life, a fact that she attributed to maintaining an active life and being careful in her habits. She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She died on March 24, 1906 at the age of 105 years.
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This collection contains the biographies of Jonah Phillips and his wife Ann Thomas Phillips, both which are available in collections MSS SC 234, MSS SC 1837. This collection has been assembled by their descendants as a record of the Phillips Family. The collection is 143 lose sheets in length, containing biographies for Jonah and Ann Phillips and all their children and the wives of their sons. It also includes sketches of the life of Ann's mother Mary Davies Morgan Thomas four sheets in length making up pages 32-35 of the collection. The collection also includes transcripts of obituaries and other essential information for the other members of the Phillips Family. Mary's portion consists of four sheets of which are transcripts from four Welsh newspapers which interviewed her near the time of her death at the age of one hundred and five years. They discuss her incredible health for her age and her remembrances of the 19th century that her life had spanned. They provide a portrait of a woman with a vibrant personality and a good sense of humor. One reporter shares a story of how when preparing to take her picture Mary instructed him to make sure that it looked attractive, just incase she decided to take another husband. At the time of the interviews Mary was living with her son John Thomas near Pontrhydyfen, a small village in Wales.
MSS SC 234: The collection contains relating to her life items to Mary Davies Morgan Thomas. The first is an article copied from the Saturday, March 30, 1901 edition of the newspaper the Neath Gazette, which circulated in Wales. The article is titled 'An Old Lady's Recollections'. At the age of 100 years Mary shares her remembrances of the struggles between France and England, when Napoleon was at the height of his power. The following documents are personal remembrances of Mary Davies Morgan Thomas, perhaps used as obituaries. The documents differ in the year they believe Mary was born, one stating the year as 1803, the other 1801. The day of her death also differs, one giving the date as March 24, 1906; the other saying it was March 28.
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