Welcome to the first ever Ancestor Spotlight! Today's spotlight is focused on my paternal 3rd great grandmother, Hannah Heaton Thornton Jones. She was a remarkable woman, whose story demonstrates strength and resilience in hardship. To the left is a picture of me at the headstones of my 3rd great grandparents, Hannah Heaton Thornton Jones and George Washington Jones. The following is a biography I wrote about Hannah last year.
Early Life
Hannah Heaton was born 22 October 1826 in Idle, Yorkshire, England. She was the second daughter and fifth child of Benjamin Heaton and Sarah Ann Margerison. [1] Hannah spent her childhood and young adult life in Yorkshire, West Riding, England. [2] When Hannah was only four years old, her mother died, leaving her father widowed with four children to care for. Growing up, Hannah and her siblings lived in modest circumstances, their father, Benjamin, worked as a coal miner to provide for their family. [3]
To help earn a little extra money for her family, as teenager, Hannah worked as a cloth butler.[4]It was not uncommon for young girls at this time to work in menial labor for some extra funds. For “the rural proletarian family…it was now in the interests of parents to encourage the independence of their children, sending the girls into service in their early teens.”[5]
At the age of 19, Hannah met and married Christopher Thornton. The couple lived together in Bradford, Yorkshire, England. They became the parents of three children.[6]
Immigration to the United States
When Hannah was only 25 years old, her husband, Christopher Thornton died, leaving her a widow with three small children.[7] This was a dire circumstance for a young woman in England during this time period. “It must have been clear to every woman that if she was widowed with young children she would enter the severest poverty. Even if she could find a full-time job she would have a poor chance of supporting a family on a wage one-third to one-half that of a man.”[8] Even if Hannah chose to return to employment as a cloth burler, as she had in her youth, it would not provide her with sufficient funds to properly feed and clothe her young family.
Instead of remaining in England in extreme poverty, when the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to England, Hannah made the decision to leave her life in England behind and join the Saints in America. Due to Hannah’s poor circumstances, she likely relied on funds from the Perpetual Emigration Fund that was used to help poor saints in Europe travel to America.[9] She traveled with her three small children (ages nine, five, and three), aboard the Horizon, which travelled from Liverpool to Boston. [10] Upon her arrival to America, Hannah joined the fifth company of the ill-fated Martin Handcart Company to travel west to Utah.[11]
The Trek West
The trek West was anything but easy. The Martin Handcart Company began their journey on 28 July 1856.[12] The time they left was far too late in the season, and the company was bound to run into snowstorms and severe weather on their expedition. Despite the weather and hardships, Hannah continuously found ways to be resourceful throughout the journey. When the order was given to throw away all extra clothing to lighten their loads, Hannah made pockets on the inside of her children’s and her own clothing and filled them with things they would need.[13] Hannah also put this extra clothing on the children and herself, wearing several layers of clothing at a time. To keep warm at night, Hannah carried three smooth stones in her cart; she would heat these up in the fire at night and put them in their blankets to keep warm. The extra clothing and warm stones were a great help to them to keep from freezing when they were caught in a snowstorm before they reached Salt Lake.[14]
In November of 1856, Brigham Young sent out relief wagons to help the struggling handcart company into Salt Lake City.[15] They finally arrived there the last day of November 1856.[16] Miraculously, Hannah and all three of her children survived the trek. [17]
Life in Utah
After her arrival to Utah, Hannah moved to Springville, Utah where she met George Washington Jones. The couple was married 20 November 1857 in Springville, Utah, Utah Territory, United States. They became the parents of five children. [18]
Hannah’s husband, George, worked as a teamster, due to his occupation and lifestyle, the family had to move around a lot. They first made their home in Fairfield, Cedar, Utah Territory,and later moved to Jefferson, Colorado. Eventually, they settled in Wellsville, Cache, Utah Territory.[19]
On 1 April 1876, at the age of 49, Hannah died in Wellsville, Cache, Utah Territory, United States. She was buried in the Wellsville Cemetery.[20]
I am so grateful for the faith, strength, and courage of my 3rd great grandmother and the sacrifices that she made.
Footnotes
[1]Hannah Heaton, ID: KWJJ-RQT, “FamilySearch Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch, (http://familysearch.org: accessed 12 September 2017).
[2]“England and Wales Census, 1841,” database with images, (Findmypast.com: accessed 18 October 2017), entry for Hannah Heaton, Calverley, Yorkshire, Yorkshire West Riding, England, p. 25, folio # 1298/39.
[3]“England and Wales Census, 1841,” database with images, (Findmypast.com: accessed 18 October 2017), entry for Hannah Heaton, Calverley, Yorkshire, Yorkshire West Riding, England, p. 25, folio # 1298/39.
[4]“England and Wales Census, 1841,” database with images, (Findmypast.com: accessed 18 October 2017), entry for Hannah Heaton, Calverley, Yorkshire, Yorkshire West Riding, England, p. 25, folio # 1298/39.
[5]John R. Gillis, For Better, For Worse: British Marriages, 1600 to the Present,(Oxford University Press, 1985), 114.
[6]Hannah Heaton, ID: KWJJ-RQT, “FamilySearch Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch, (http://familysearch.org: accessed 12 September 2017).
[7]Hannah Heaton, ID: KWJJ-RQT, “FamilySearch Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch, (http://familysearch.org: accessed 12 September 2017).
[8]Joan Perkin, Women and Marriage in Nineteenth-Century England(London: Routledge, 1988), p. 182.
[9]LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, Handcarts to Zion: The Story of a Unique Western Migration, 1856-1860 (Glendale, CA: Arthur H. Clark, 1976), 24.
[10]Mormon Migration, database, (https://mormonmigration.lib.byu.edu: accessed 17 November 2017), entry for Hannah Thornton aboard Horizon, Liverpool to Boston, leaving 25 May 1856, citing British Mission Emigration Register, p. 151-188 (FHL #025,691).
[11]"Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel,” entry for Hannah Thornton, citing Edward Martin Company (1856); LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, Handcarts to Zion: The Story of a Unique Western Migration, 1856-1860 (Glendale, CA: Arthur H. Clark, 1976), 301.
[13]"Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel,” entry for Hannah Thornton, citing Edward Martin Company (1856).
[14]Toni Kener, “Heaton, Hannah History,” located in “FamilySearch Memories,” entry for Hannah Heaton, ID: KWJJ-RQT, database, FamilySearch, (http://familysearch.org: accessed 12 November 2017).
[15]Toni Kener, “Heaton, Hannah History,” located in “FamilySearch Memories,” entry for Hannah Heaton, ID: KWJJ-RQT, database, FamilySearch, (http://familysearch.org: accessed 12 November 2017).
[16]Hafen, 122.
[17]Hafen, 137.
[18]Hannah Heaton, ID: KWJJ-RQT, “FamilySearch Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch, (http://familysearch.org: accessed 12 September 2017); Toni Kener, “Heaton, Hannah History,” located in “FamilySearch Memories,” entry for Hannah Heaton, ID: KWJJ-RQT, database, FamilySearch, (http://familysearch.org: accessed 12 November 2017).
[19]Toni Kener, “Heaton, Hannah History,” located in “FamilySearch Memories,” entry for Hannah Heaton, ID: KWJJ-RQT, database, FamilySearch, (http://familysearch.org: accessed 12 November 2017);
"United States Census, 1860,” entry for Hannah Jones in the household of George W. Jones, citing Fairfield, Cedar, Utah Territory, p. 444;
"United States Census, 1870,” entry for Anna Jones in the household of George W. Jones, citing Golden City, Jefferson, Colorado, p. 345 (back);
Find A Grave Index, 1700s-Current, online database, Hanna Heaton Jones (1826-1876), Memorial Number, 43351877, Wellsville Cemetery, citing Wellsville, Cache, Utah, United States (http://findagrave.com: Accessed 18 October 2017).
[20]Find A Grave Index, 1700s-Current, online database, Hanna Heaton Jones (1826-1876), Memorial Number, 43351877, Wellsville Cemetery, citing Wellsville, Cache, Utah, United States (http://findagrave.com: Accessed 18 October 2017).