Sarah Maria Perry was born January 27, 1861, in Three Mile Creek (Perry), Utah to Lorenzo Perry and Mary Wray Walker.  She joined an older brother and two older sisters.  She was followed by seven additional children.

    Sarah was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on January 1, 1869. 

    Sarah married William Stokes, Jr. in 1877.  Sarah and William were sealed in the Endowment House in Salt Lake on January 9, 1879.  They had 4 children when William died October 9, 1885, in Elba, Idaho.

    Sarah moved to Willard, Utah, after the death of William.  She was approached by John Darrington who had recently lost his wife, Sarah Jane Lowe, leaving him with 3 small children (a 4th child died shortly after Sarah Jane Lowe’s death).  John invited Sarah Maria Perry Stokes to be his housekeeper.  She replied, “I won’t be your housekeeper, but I will be your wife.”  She also asked that he discontinue the use of tobacco and join the Church.  She was a very religious person.  After due consideration, they decided to marry and raise their families together. 

    John’s brother in law, Peter Lowe who was Justice of the Peace, married them in February 1887.  They moved to John’s place in Elba. 

    In the spring of 1887, John was baptized a member of the LDS Church by Fred Beecher and confirmed by Bishop Thomas Taylor in Elba.  After joining the Church, John was active all the rest of his life and served in various leadership positions. 

    On November 4,1890, John took his new wife and his 3 sons to the Logan Temple.  Sarah Maria Perry Stokes Darrington performed the proxy work for Sarah Jane Lowe including standing in for her while John was sealed to Sarah Jane Lowe.  John’s 4 sons with Sarah Jane Lowe (with Edmond Homer serving as proxy for Richard) were then sealed as an eternal family.

    In addition to the children from their first marriages, John and Sarah Maria Stokes had 7 children together.  My grandmother, Sarah Jane Darrington was one of those children.  Since her mother, Sarah Maria Perry Stokes Darrington, had been sealed to her first husband, William Stokes, in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Sarah Jane Darrington and her 6 siblings are part of the William Stokes eternal family by right of sealing. (This is the opinion of Clark Darrington).

   

Read John’s life history written by his son, Clark: John Darrington biography.pdf

John Darrington and Sarah Jane Lowe.pdf