PIONEERS OF PAYSON--THOMAS POULSON CLOWARD

THOMAS POULSON  CLOWARD
SHOEMAKER

Thomas Polson Cloward

Thomas Polson Cloward  was born in Pottstown, Chester County, Pennsylvania on December 10, 1823 and lived with his parents, Jacob and Anne Pluck Cloward, until he was fifteen years of age.  He was the fifth child and had nine brothers and sisters, Catherine   Ann, Charlotte, Daniel Henry. William, James Mason, Jacob Elijah, Albert Wilson, Hannah Jane. and   Eliza Ann.   They lived in Pottstown until after his brother Jacob Elijah was born, then they moved to Wilmington,   New Castle,  Delaware where Albert Wilson, Hannah Jane and Eliza Ann were born. He was then apprenticed to Mr. Poulson, a shoemaker. Thomas remained with him until the spring of 1844, and it was at this time that he added Polson to his name.
After accepting the Mormon faith, he went to Nauvoo, Illinois, After his arrival in Winter Quarters with the exiled saints, he became acquainted with a young lady, Mary Page, whom he courted and later married on the 25th of March, 1847.
Two weeks later, oft the same year there was a company organized, and he was chosen one of a band of 143 to come west to the Rocky Mountains and find a resting place for the saints. They left in the sixth day of April, arriving in Salt Lake Valley July 24, 1847. He left his wife in Winter Quarters and Thomas  left to head west  with the Brigham Young Company of pioneers. He was one of eight scouts who came to the Salt Lake Valley July 22, 1847, looked over the country and reported their findings to Brigham Young.
After his arrival in the valley with the Pioneer Company,  Thomas is credited with making the first pair of shoes in the Salt Lake Valley. The wife of Heber C. Kimball, Ellen Saunders Kimball, was badly in need of shoes after the long journey. Thomas took an old pair of boot tops, sat down on the ground where the old Z.C.M.I, later in what would become the downtown area of the city.  He made her a pair of shoes, also a pair of moccasins from the scraps for the little one she was expecting,.
In the fall of the same year, Mr. Cloward returned to Winter Quarters to assist other saints in their exodus west. The following spring,  he crossed over to the east side of the Missouri river, there built a house and made some small improvements on government land. The winter of 1848 Thomas moved to St. Joseph, Missouri and remained there until the year 1852.  He then fitted himself out with a yoke of oxen, a yoke of cows, and a wagon. With his wife and two children, he joined Captain David Wood's Company leaving Kanesville, Iowa in June and again crossed the plains to Utah.
Thomas left Salt Lake that same year and settled in Provo, and here he took a plural wife.  He met and married Mary Amelia Gardner, daughter of Elias and Amy Pritchard Gardner in the year 1853. He remained in Provo nine years then moved to Payson, Utah where he set up a shoe making establishment.  A pair of high heeled ladies shoes made by this artisan was  highly prized; and "there was not a child in the settlement who wore neater footwear, or a young man at the dance who was more proud of his boots, than the boys whose father was Thomas P. Cloward. After the boys were married. he made shoes for their wives. Often the young boys' boots were made of brown leather with bright red trim around the top."

Cloward Shoe Shop on right with large boot on building.

When Mr. Cloward  moved to Payson from Provo he erected a cabin on the current highway, east of town. Later,  he built a cabin further west and still later built a fine brick home.
He had eight children with his first wife and eleven children with his second wife. After coming to Payson, he built a  cabin out in the fields east of town.  He worked as a  shoe maker until the Salem Canal was started. He  took an active part in building this canal which brought the much needed water to this little valley. I\
He was called to go to Echo Canyon to take part in what was called the Buchanan War of Utah War. The President of the United States, James Buchanan, sent out a  large army to invade Utah, as it was reported that Mormons were not loyal to the Government. This happened to be one of the coldest winters, and many hardships were encountered. Food and clothing were scarce. Some had to wear rawhide on their feet and boiled rawhide for food. They had no woolen clothing to wear and standing guard in the wind and snow while their clothing froze to their  bodies. In the Spring of 1858, they were called home with the loss of only one man.
Although driven from home by mobs under the guise of law. he never felt disloyal to the flag and Constitution of the United States. In 1852,  he came to Provo, and there assisted in building a fort to protect the people from the Indians. He served in the Walker War under General Conover. He also served in the Black Hawk Indian War under General William McClellan, and was always to the front in defending the homes of the people. He was also one of the prime movers in the construction of the Salem Canal, which cost in the neighborhood of $45,000 and made possible one of the richest fields in the wes tern country. He has always been identified in many ways with building up of this section of the country.
Thomas Poulson Cloward lived a  long life. and was a  joy to his numerous posterity. He died the 16th of January 1909 in Payson, Utah, and is buried in the Payson City Cemetery in the family plot along with this two wives.