Samuel R. Parkinson and his wife Arabella lived in Kaysville, Davis County, Utah. In 1855 he lost his team of mules. After hunting for them two days without success, he went to see a man who had a peep stone. Father described his mules and the man looked into a large glass ball and saw the mules lying under a tree about four miles away. He than asked Father if he would like to look and see if he could see them, as there were few people who could see anything in the peep stone. To Father's great surprise he could see his mules lying under the tree. Father then turned to his wife and said, "Is there anything you would like me to inquire about?" She answered, "Ask to see your other wife, if there is one for you." At that time there was a great deal said about men taking plural wives, so Father asked to see his "other" wife. Immediately he saw two young girls dressed just alike, and they stood arm in arm. He called his wife to come and look and to her surprise she saw the two girls. She described them many times to others. Going home Father asked his wife: "If you ever see those two girls will you consent for me to marry them?" And she answered: "Yes, but never until then."

Five years passed and they were called as pioneers to Franklin, Idaho. Thomas Smart, whose home was in Provo, was called to go there about the same time. These two men started a gristmill and sawmill. Because of their business association they visited very often in each other's homes.

In the summer of 1865 President Young was coming to visit the Saints in Franklin and elaborate preparations were being made for his visit. The day finally arrived and my father, being in the bishopric, sat on the stand at the meeting that was held in President Young's honor. While the opening song was being sung, two girls, dressed alike and walking arm in arm, came in. They had on new hats, the first imported hats worn in Franklin. Father recognized them as the girls of the peep stone. Even though he knew them well, as they were the daughters of his friend, Thomas Smart, he never had thought of them before in this way. At the close of the meeting he took his wife where they would meet them face to face. When she saw the girls, she, too, recognized them. Father said, "Who did those girls remind you of?" She reluctantly answered that they were the girls she had seen in the peep stone.

In less than a year Father married the older girl and a year later, he married her sister. He never told either of them his experience until after they became his wives. They lived in one house until there were seventeen children and when Father built another home a block away and moved my mother there, it was difficult for the family to separate.