William and Sarah Ann Ashton were the parents of five daughters ages 1 through 11 and were expecting another child when they left England. William and Sarah Ann Barlow Ashton brought their four daughters, Betsy (11), Sarah Ellen (7), Mary (4) and Elizabeth Ann (2), from England in 1856 with the Martin Handcart Company, leaving behind the grave site of another little daughter, Esther, who had died in infancy. As the ship Horizon docked at Boston Harbor on July 2, Elizabeth Ann died and the bereaved family left behind another never to be visited grave.
The Ashton family bore their grief in the summer heat and crowded train as they traveled from Boston to Iowa City where they waited and worked for three weeks, preparing handcarts and tents to continue their journey. On the next leg of their journey through Iowa, the Ashtons successfully walked and drew their handcart 300 miles to Florence, Nebraska. Sarah Ann bore the extra burden of an advanced pregnancy.
For three days at Florence, the Martin Company regrouped, repaired their carts, and prepared for their 1,000-mile march through the wilderness of the Nebraska plains and Rocky Mountains to reach their Zion. On August 26, one day after leaving Florence, Sarah Ann died in childbirth. William named their precious baby girl Sarah Ann, then took up his march again, caring for his daughters as best he could through the searingly hot days and increasingly frosty nights. He would dig one more grave on September 11 for his new baby girl, less than three weeks old.
By October, as the Martin Company neared Fort Laramie, it became apparent the late departure, limited food supply, and lack of warm clothing would threaten the company. On October 9th, some of the Martin Company people gathered their valuables – watches and the like, to trade for provisions at the fort. The commander, Major William Hoffman,sympathized with the immigrants and allowed them to purchase from the commissary storehouse.
On this same day, October 9th, William enlisted in Company G of the 6th United States Infantry. He was surely influenced by the willingness of the army to aid the pioneers and saw in it an opportunity to help his own family to endure the remaining journey. But it was a decision that would probably trouble him for the rest of his life. Some analysis is required to fill in around the known facts. Often, when a regiment’s ranks were depleted by desertions and other causes, the army offered cash and other inducements to enlistees. The new men also became eligible to draw on the commissary and sutler’s stores against future pay. Three other men from the Martin Company enlisted with William, so this was probably the case then. Recruits were few in the wilderness. William was probably able to supplement his children’s diet and possibly also help with blankets by enlisting. Also, he would not be along to receive an adult ration, also leaving that to others of the company
There was a Barlow family with the company that seems almost surely to have been his deceased wife’s relatives. John Barlow, an 18 year old son of that family also joined the army the same day as William. The Barlow family and William’s family lived less than fifteen miles apart in England. Although no exact genealogical link has been found, it seems reasonable the Barlows took the girls to travel with them. Whatever the details, William must have been heartbroken and the little girls terrified at the parting. William had committed himself to five years of service in an unfamiliar situation and to repay some indebtedness to a government foreign to him.
It was not uncommon in those times for a widowed father to turn the care of his young children over to others, in order to secure employment for their support. Having begun the journey with a dream of raising his family in Zion, William Ashton surely despondent over the loss of his wife and two daughters, left his other three daughters, enlisted in the army, and later returned to England. (We do not know the exact circumstances surrounding his return to England, other than the fact that he served his five year commitment to the military and was discharged with honor. It is likely that he had heard the news do the handcart tragedy and assumed that his daughters had perished.)
The oldest of these three girls, 11-year-old Betsy, died soon afterward on the frozen plains of Wyoming. Only 7-year-old Sarah Ellen and 5-year-old Mary lived to see the Salt Lake Valley. When they arrived, they wondered where they would find a home, but they were taken in and treated well.
In 1864, Sarah Ellen married Thomas Beckstead in the Endowment House, becoming his second wife. Thomas Beckstead had earlier settled in South Jordan as a farmer, and he and Sarah Ellen lived there for more than 20 years. They had 10 children, all born in South Jordan. Four of them died as babies.
After Sarah Ellen married Thomas Beckstead, her sister Mary lived with them until she married Isaac Wardle as his second wife in 1867. Isaac Wardle had been in the Martin company with Mary, but he was 21 at the time and she was 5. Two years after marrying Isaac Wardle, Mary died while giving birth to her only child. Of the six sisters, only Sarah Ellen remained.
In 1887, Thomas and Sarah Ellen Beckstead moved to Whitney, Idaho, soon to be the birthplace of President Ezra Taft Benson. There Thomas continued farming and Sarah Ellen continued to devote herself to her family and church, living in very humble circumstances.
Soon after the family moved to Whitney, Sarah Ellen experienced one of the happiest surprises of her life. One of her granddaughters tells the story as follows:
"A man by the name of Clark came to grandmother's door with a copy of the Millennial Star which contained an inquiry concerning anyone who might know of relatives of William Ashton, pauper, in England, who had emigrated to America previously and left his children on the plains. Grandmother recognized this man as her father who had left when she was seven. . . . Now she was the only one of the children living. She . . . got in touch with the authorities where her father lived, sending passage money for him. He arrived with some missionaries from England and spent the rest of his years with [his daughter Sarah Ellen]."
William Ashton would have been about 67 when he returned to America some 30 years after leaving midway through the handcart trek. The time he was reunited with Sarah Ellen lasted only two or three years because he died in October 1891, but the reunion with his only living child must have been joyous for both of them.
Less than two years after Sarah Ellen's father died, her husband died, leaving her a widow at age 44. She lived another 19 years, dying in Whitney in 1912 at age 63. At the time of her death, her posterity numbered 92 by one account. Although this family had suffered so much loss on the journey, and although William Ashton had left his three daughters on the trail, this story is rich in redemptive value. Despite all these setbacks and errors, a large posterity of faithful Latter-day Saints owes much to William Ashton for his decision to accept the gospel and start his family toward Zion.
I loved this story. It is different from the "usual" stories, but at the same time it holds a similar rescue theme. William, in my eyes was an amazingly brave father. He lost nearly everything in his sacrifice for the gospel, and yet, he stayed true to his beliefs. I cannot imagine his joy at finally being reunited with his daughter after 30 years. He also left an amazing legacy to his (surprisingly numerous) posterity.
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