THOMAS MOULTON
William
Moulton was born in Irchester, Northampton, England,
about 1781. He married Sarah Horne,
daughter of James and Eliabeth Talbot Horne.
To them were born three sons:
James, John and Thomas. William
Moulton died at the age of 31, leaving his wife and three small boys, James 6;
John, 4, and Thomas, 2 years old. James
the eldest son died at 16 in England. John married Elizabeth Draper, came to Utah,
and died in Payson in 1882.
Thomas
Moulton was born in 1810 at Irchester, England. When he was 22 he married Esther Marsh, a
young woman eight years his senior. They
had two daughters: Susan and Sarah.
On February 25, 1839, Esther Marsh
Moulton died leaving her husband and two-year old daughter Sarah. A year later, in April 1840, Thomas Moulton
married his second wife, Sarah Denton, who as born June 5, 1818, at Rushdown, Northampton,
England. She was the daughter of Charles Denton and
Charlotte Bassfield.
By 1838
several branches of the Church had been organized in England. The missionaries were making many converts to
the Church. Thomas Moulton and his wife
had become interested in the Latter-day Saint teachings and were baptized December 29, 1841. However, it was not until 1856 that they were
able to emigrate. In the meantime, their
first six children were born in Irchester, England. The names of the children were: Mary Ann, William Denton, Joseph, James
Heber, Charlotte and Sofia Elizabeth.
In England,
Thomas Moulton was a farm laborer, and the undertaking of preparations for
emigration of a family on nine, with a new member momentarily expected, was no
small task. Sarah, his oldest daughter
by Esther Marsh, was now a young lady of 19.
His other six children, by Sarah Denton, ranged in age from three to
fifteen.
On May 03, 1856, the Moulton family set
sail on the ship “Thornton” from Liverpool,
England, with 764
passengers.
While
crossing the Irish Sea, Sarah Denton gave birth to her
seventh child, Charles Alma. After a
six-week trip by water, the family, consisting of 10 members, arrived in New
York harbor on June 14, 1856, and embarked by railroad for Winter Quarters,
later leaving for Iowa City, where they arrived June 26.
Upon
arrival in Iowa City they found the
handcarts were not ready, which caused three weeks delay. Two hundred and fifty handcarts had to be
made, many of them from green, unseasoned lumber, and were unable to stand the
strenuous test that they were subjected to.
Several carts had to be abandoned on the plains.
The Thomas
Moulton Family was assigned to the James C. Willie Company, composed of 500
saints, including more that the usual number of aged.
The first
200 miles of their journey was over beautiful grassy plains with flowers and
wild fruits and plenty of fish in the streams.
When they
reached Florence, Nebraska,
it was necessary to repair many of the carts.
Some couldn’t be repaired and had to be left by the wayside. The travelers were becoming tired and weary
and unable to push or pull the heavily-loaded carts. All unnecessary things were discarded. The wagons and cattle were taken by the
Indians, and provisions were becoming so low that food had to be rationed. Many became ill and deaths increased daily. Along with these and other difficulties,
winter set in early and men, women and children were forced to wade through
freezing streams, and to sleep in the open with insufficient bedding. Through deep snows, piercing winds and
freezing temperatures the company struggled on.
Sixty-six of their number died.
Some Mormon
missionaries returning from England
overtook and passed the company and reported its plight to the Church
presidency in Salt Lake City. Immediately rescue parties were sent out
carrying wagon loads of provisions, clothing and bedding.
The Moulton
family arrived in Salt Lake City on
November 09, 1856, without
losing one member of their family.
However, their third son, Heber, had had several fingers on his left
hand frozen so badly that they had to be amputated on reaching Salt
Lake.
On December 05, 1856, their oldest daughter,
Sarah, was married to John Bennett Hawkins, an established blacksmith, who had
been a member of the rescue party, sent out by President Young. They made their home in Salt
Lake City, where they became a prosperous and
influential family.
Three weeks
later the Thomas Moulton family moved to Provo,
where he worked as a farm laborer. Here
their eighth child was born, Thomas Denton, on October 29, 1858.
He died 10 months later. Here
also their daughter, Mary Ann, was married to Fredrick Giles. She was the mother of Fredrick W., John T.
and Sarah Giles Mahoney. Mary Ann and
Fredrick moved to Heber, where she died at the age of 28.
In 1860 the
Moulton family moved from Provo to
Heber. As the settlers were having
trouble with the Indians, they took refuge in the log fort built in 1859 and
1860.
On September 16, 1860, their ninth
child, John E., was born and three years later the tenth and last, George
Franklin.
After
moving from the fort, Thomas Moulton built the rock house on Second North and
Second West. He and his wife were both
systematic and methodical in their work and planning. They did their share in helping to pioneer Heber
Valley.
Before
leaving England,
Thomas Moulton felt a little hesitant about undertaking such a long and
strenuous journey. His wife went to see
one of the brethren, who gave her a blessing.
He promised her that she would make the journey safely without the loss
of one member of her family. Although
their trials were severe and the baby, Charles, reduced to a near skeleton,
their children who crossed the plains married and reared families.
He was a
Blackhawk War veteran in the infantry company of John Gallager.
Sarah
Denton Moulton died July 07, 1888,
at Heber and her husband, Thomas, on April
17, 1892.
(How Beautiful Upon the Mountains” by the DUP
Wasatch County
pp.525-527)