On the 13th of September, 1869, his wife gave birth to twins—Thomas E. and Elizabeth.
In that and succeeding years Thomas was used very extensively under the direction of the Bishop, as a kind of special teacher and peace-maker in the ward, in settling differences between neighbors, and laboring with backsliders to get them to do their duty.
On the 1st of June, 1872, his daughter, Martha, his ninth and last child, was born.
In the latter part of November, 1874, he fitted up a room in his house for a night school, for the benefit of any who could not attend school during the day time, and he himself, as well as many others, attended it.
About this time strong efforts were made to effect a species of co-operation among the residents of Bountiful, in the raising and marketing of garden products, and Thomas was appointed to take charge of the company that was organized; but, although he devoted much time and attention to it, the business did not prove successful, because of lack of union and experience on the part of the members.
His wife's health being very poor, he found it necessary to remain at home, and devoted himself to market gardening. He made a specialty of starting tomato, egg plant, and a few other vegetables (that up to that time had only been raised in very limited quantities in Utah) in a room of his house, in which he kept a fire constantly burning, and then setting them out much earlier than usual, on an extensive scale, and made it profitable.
He purchased some land on the bench above Bountiful, and also located quite an extensive tract, and extended the scope of his operations, his sons Ephraim, David and James working in company with him.
During the early part of 1876 his wife's health, which had been bad and growing worse for a long time, became such that he hardly dared to leave her. She was affected with dropsy, and much of the time almost helpless.
About this time he had a dream, which indicated to him that he would have to part with her, and when, on the 15th of July following, she suddenly died, the circumstances were in fulfillment of the dream, thus confirming what was predicted in tongues in 1849: that his trials should be shown him beforehand.
She had been a good and true wife, and mother, and he felt her death all the more keenly because of being in very poor health himself at the time. His leg, which was never free from pain, and always discharging, had been so much worse for some time that he could scarcely stand, and yet he felt compelled to assist in the work of the household, as well as to attend to his duties in the ward. Soon after the death of his wife, his youngest child, Martha, who was then four years old, in accidentally falling, plunged her arm into a pot of boiling brine which had just been lifted from the stove, and as she had a woolen dress on, which held the heat, her arm was practically cooked to the bone. From the top of her shoulder to her finger tips was like a piece of raw beef, and her father was the only one she would allow to wait upon her. As she could not lie in bed, she was kept seated in a rocking chair, and Thomas watched and waited upon her devotedly both night and day for three months. When he would dress her arm her agony would be so intense that she would tear the hair out of her head by the handful. It was only by the power of God that her life was saved and the use of her arm spared. When she did finally recover, her injured arm was just as good as the other.