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Hurricane’s First Family
In March of 1906, Thomas Maurice Hinton with his wife, Wilhelmina Walker, moved to Hurricane, a town with a name but no permanent residents. This couple, along with their three small children, have the distinction of being Hurricane’s first citizens.
Thomas Maurice Hinton was born to John Nock and Emma Spendlove Hinton in Virgin, Utah, on April 26, 1872, almost ten years after his parents had voluntarily come to settle the Cotton Mission. John, his father, was a cabinet maker and the only member of his family to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints (Mormon Church) and immigrate from England. Emma Spendlove, his mother, had joined the Mormon Church in England, along with most of her family. She sailed on the same ship as John, and they were married aboard ship before arriving in America.
Wilhelmina was born to Francis and Elizabeth Staheli Walker on October 18, 1873, in Little Spring Valley, Nevada. Her parents had immigrated from Germany and Switzerland. Her mother joined the Mormon Church before arriving in America, and her father joined the Church in 1862, following his arrival in Utah.
For the first few weeks, Thomas Maurice and his family lived in a tent on this lot until he completed building a lumber house/granary for Thomas and Annie Hinton Isom, his sister and brother-in-law. Because of sickness, the Isom family had to delay their arrival to Hurricane. The Hinton family then moved into the Isom home where they lived for several months while Thomas completed his own home at 200 North and 200 West, on property purchased a year earlier.
Maurice, an accomplished carpenter, built many of the first homes, cabinets, and furniture for the early residents of this town. He donated liberally of his carpentry skills in the building of the first social hall, Relief Society hall, the elementary and high schools, and the stake center. He also made caskets, refusing any pay for them. He passed away February 29, 1948, and is buried in the Hurricane Cemetery.
After the Hintons moved into their new home, the Isom family moved into their home/granary on this lot. By November 1906, ten families-Amos, Jacob, Nephi, and Charles Workman; Anthony Jepson; Erastus Lee; Ira E. Bradshaw; Frank Ashton; Thomas Isom; and Bernard Hinton-had joined the Thomas Maurice family to become the first settlers of Hurricane.
As a young woman, Wilhelmina taught school in Hinckley, Utah, for several years before moving to Virgin and then to Hurricane. Aunt Mina, as she was affectionately called, became a local legend as a midwife and attendant to the sick. From 1920 to 1944 she assisted the local doctors in their medical practice. She possessed the “healing touch.” As a midwife, her pay was meager, consisting mainly of chickens or produce. She walked to and from one patient’s home to another, covering many, many miles. Her gait was described as a “half lope.” Following the delivery of a baby, she often stayed in the home of a new mother for seven to ten days, caring for the mother and other family members. She helped deliver 448 babies during the early years of Hurricane. For many years, she was a main news correspondent for the Washington County News. Much of Hurricane’s history can be documented through the articles she wrote for the paper. She passed away October 10, 1968.
This First Family, the Hintons, were a faithful and noble couple. They were great contributors to the well-being, growth, and progress of Hurricane and represent the pioneering spirit and unselfish service needed to build the beautiful city of Hurricane.
The Isom home no longer exists. The house that you see before you was built by Thomas Maurice on his lot at 200 North 200 West in 1906. It is the oldest, still-standing house in Hurricane. In the fall of 1997, Cody Dennett, the new property owner of the lot and house, donated the old home to the Hurricane Valley Heritage Park Foundation. The house was moved to this location and set upon a rock-lined basement, using the rock from the original basement.
This house shows the simple and plain life of Hurricane’s pioneers, along with the many inconveniences and hardships that were endured. The Hintons lived in this house with their seven children until 1918 when a new brick home was built, on the same lot, directly in front of the old home. How grateful and joyful they were for the new home which provided ample room, water piped into the house, electricity, and an indoor bathroom to replace the “outhouse.” This old house became Maurice’s carpentry shop for many years. The rock-lined cellar was an integral part of the family’s living activities, even after completion of the new home. The cellar provided a constantly cool, dark place to store much of the family’s food supply…such as fresh and bottled fruit and vegetables, meat, milk, and cheese, etc.
