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Besides his twin brother, Adolphus had the following brothers and sisters: Daniel Alexander, Jacob Richard, Rachel Ann, William Ferdinand, Jane Elizabeth, George Marion, Alfred Owen and Agnes Lucretia.
Heber Valley is a beautiful place but when the settlers first came there were many snakes, including many rattlesnakes, due to the hot water geysers in Midway. It was a hard life for Adolphus (called Tobe) and all members of his family.
Tobe's Grandfather Baum was a guard over the bodies of Hyrum and Joseph Smith. His mother was six years old at the time and remembers walking around the coffins and looking at these two men.
His Grandfather Sessions and two sons were called by Brigham Young to fight in the Mormon Battalion. They were the only family that had 4 members in it. The fourth was his son, John's wife.
One of his brothers got burned to death when he fell in the fireplace when small. Two others died young. Tobe and his twin brother, "Joe", as he was called, cut railroad ties when only 13 years old and their father hauled them to Salt Lake City to the railroads.
They made shoes cut from hides of cattle to wear and sometime had to wrap their feet in gunny sacks to help keep them warm.
They ground wheat in the coffee grinder and then let it soak to soften so they could drink it.
Tobe, David Hicken and other boys would play together. They rode sleighs with horses when they were young. His twin brother and he were so much alike that no one could tell the difference. When they were young Joe ran a race with another boy and won some licorice. He told him he would get it later. Tobe was watching them so later in the day he went to the boy and asked for the licorice and he gave it to him. Later Joe asked for his licorice and the boy told him he had already given it to him. Even their wives could only tell them apart by various phrases they used in talking. One schoolteacher who taught his grand daughter, Eva, said they were more alike than a pair of new shoes. His wife said when they were dating, Tobe and Joe would change dates at a dance and no one ever knew the difference as they would tell each other what they had been talking about before they changed girls. They had a lot of fun playing such pranks.
As Tobe grew older, he worked on the reservation and herded cattle for Hatch and Company for a year or two, then he returned to Heber City to get married. He married Rachael Emma Hicken July 1, 1892, in Heber City. She was the daughter of Thomas Hicken and Margaret Powell Hicken. They had a son, Charl born 19 October 1893 and then another son, Thomas, born 11 September 1898. Rachael died at the birth of this son and so did he. This left Tobe alone to raise Charl. Charl's Grandma Hicken took him to raise.
Tobe married Mary Janette Nelson 26 December 1900, at Heber City. They had eleven children:
Cordon born October 2, 1901, Chloe Ellen born 29 January 1903, Janett Ella born 22 January 1905, Burnell Alexander born 1 August 1906, Lorna Agnes born 24 August 1908, Ervin born 1 December 1910, Phebe La Vern born 15 November 1912, Erma Rose and Earl William born 18 October 1913, Vilda born 18 December 1914, and Lizzie Deon born 28 April 1917. Earl William died 15 November 1913.
Tobe and May (as Mary was called) also raised two of Lorna's children. Ruth Gettle lived with them from the time she was 10 months old and Dale from the time he was born. Dale was later sealed to them in the temple in Salt Lake City.
Tobe speculated in land buying. A gypsy told May that she wanted to read her fortune, but May said, "no", she didn't believe in such things." However, the gypsy said, "I have to tell you this…you will be asked to sign a paper, don't do it for if you do you will loose everything you own. Later Tobe wanted her to sign a mortgage on some land and she remembered what the gypsy said so she would not sign it. Tobe went to one of his daughters and had her forge May's name. She would not turn her daughter in and they lost all their land except the house they lived in. It was a sad experience.
Tobe and May were sealed in the temple May 16, 1923, and included the sealing of his first wife. All of May's children were sealed to them except Cordon and Ella. However, this work has also been done.
They were both good people. May had to work to make enough to feed the family. She cleaned other peoples homes and hers was somewhat neglected. Tobe loved children. His son, Charl, came to live with them after they were married. He worked very hard. He and his brother, William, purchased a large ranch in the north fields. This was the land that he lost. He loved to fish and he would go fly fishing a lot with Cordon and Pearl. He taught them both a lot about fly-fishing, Between him and Cordon, Pearl became a good fly fisherman.
Tobe was honest. Businessmen could always rely on him paying his bills as soon as his money from cattle or the farm came in. Everyone trusted him. He was a man of his word and taught this to his family and his friends and neighbors felt he was the finest. He helped them many times and never interfered in their lives. They say he had a great deal of patience. He never spoke ill of anyone.
He was a large man in stature, over 6 feet tall, very broad shoulders and on the slender side. He had very few gray hairs when he died. Charlie was large like him but the other 3 boys were smaller. Ervin did reach bout 6 feet tall. He always wore a mustache and in the winter it would have ice on it. He always kept his mustache looking nice.
He died May 3, 1938, just 10 days before his 74th birthday. He died of cancer. He was a legend in Heber City as a man never speaking ill.
David Hicken, a brother to his first wife spoke at his funeral. They had grown up together. He said, "There are no better people in this world who would struggle and strive to raise a family and take care of them, a large family, like Brother Tobe Sessions and his good wife and I know that they will receive a blessing for this very thing that they have done. Í know that Tobe Sessions is one of the best men on this earth. I don't know that he ever injured a person in all his life. I can not say anything but good of this man". Joseph A Rasband spoke at his funeral also. "I do not know of another family that I was better acquainted with than this one except my relatives. You could not find better neighbors. We had a pasture side by side and would herd our cows in those pastures. You could absolutely rely on him. They had many friends, because looking through this large congregation, there are many, many strange faces I do not know and many that I do that have come from far away places. He was honest and upright with everybody and straight forward too. He was a kind, and conscientious man, a prosperous farmer and stock raiser a few years back; of course, in late years his health has failed him and he was not as active as he was earlier. I have known the family from a long way back and I have only love and respect for them."
Cordons wife, Pearl loved Tobe dearly. She related the following, "When Cordon and I were first married we lived with his parents. Cordon would go fishing almost every night after work and I would set there lonely and crying. One day Father Sessions gave me a good talking to. He told me Cordon would never change, that I had two choices. I could leave him before any children were conceived or I could go and get me a fishing outfit and go with him. I took his advice. I loved Cordon and told him I wanted to go fishing with him. He took me to the store and purchased the best outfit he could find and from that day on we fished together and I learned to love it. I will always feel Father Sessions saved my marriage."