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Life and Testimony of George Thompston Virgin

George Thompston Virgin was the first of our ancestors on the Shirley line to accept the gospel. He was married to Mary Ann Barker on September 19, 1852. They lived in Marston, Bedfordshire, England.

George had actually been working in a church in England. George accepted the gospel first, and asked Mary Ann to go and hear the elders. Mary Ann was satisfied with her church, but she did have some unanswered questions. George told her, “You go visit the cottage meetings and I think they can explain these questions. She came to accept the gospel too.

When they joined the Mormon Church, the ministers had him discharged from his work there. And they were severely persecuted thereafter. They had to begin walking down the middle of the streets because the contents of vessels were dumped from bedroom windows and were poured on them if they walked along the sidewalks.

After his dismissal from the church work, George went to work in Birmingham where he was put to work on the railroad, in a tunnel. There was a double track. One night as he was working in the tunnel, the train came along and passed him. When he unsuspectingly heard one coming again, there were no lights coming, so he stepped back on the track where the train had just passed. They had turned off the lights of the train on this track, and backed back along the track. He was injured and died soon after. Grandmother never saw him again. He lived long enough to verify that there were no lights and no signals of warning given to him. [His family long believed that the death was not accidental.] He died 30 December 1861. He was buried in Birmingham, England.

He and his wife had four children: Amos Moses, Nephi Charles, Heber George. He never got to see his infant daughter, Mercy Ann, as she was born soon after George died.

While his life was shortened by this tragic death, he left a testimony of the gospel through his willingness to give up everything and endure persecution for the sake of the gospel.

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