I Found 'Em!

Wah-hooo!!!! Break into your "Happy Snoopy Dance" everyone - I found em!

After a long time of searching for an inconsequential piece of genealogical information, I think I have finally found what I have been looking for: The ship that John Wilson, the first person in my direct line to come to America, came over on. I still have to verify it on the actual ship's passenger list, but I'm 90% sure it is them (meaning John and his mother Eliza).

Why am I so sure? Also on that ship is a Mercy Miller, which is the married name of John's younger sister and a William A.S. Miller, who is Mercy's son. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is them - but I still want to see the actual passenger list. I got the info off a website I just came across.

Anyway, here is my tentative timeline of John Wilson's life (some details I will leave out for brevity's sake):

1828 - John born in Ingleby Cross, England

1853(?) - John's father, Robert, dies

1 March 1856 - John baptized (and I always thought he was baptized after he came to America)

18 April 1856 - John boards the ship Samuel Curling at Liverpool with his mother, Eliza, his sister, Mercy, and her son William (possibly others, but we won't worry about that right now)

23 May 1856 - The Samuel Curling arrives in Boston, USA

26 May? - The Mormon pioneers from the Samuel Curling board a train and travel to Iowa City (need to verify this one)

15 July 1856 - John, Eliza, and Mercy (and her son) join the James G. Willie handcart company (yeah, one of the doomed ones) and leave Iowa City

September(?) 1856 - Upon reaching Florence (now Omaha), Nebraska, John and Eliza drop out of the company and stay there for the next four years (Good for John and his mother, not so good for Mercy and her little boy who continued on. She survived, not sure if he did or not)

30 May 1860 - John, according to the 1860 Census,was working as an upholsterer when he and Eliza join the Warren Walling handcart company and leave Florence

9 August 1860 - The Warren Walling Company arrives in the Salt Lake Valley

There is more, but that is the time frame I've been working on. For some reason, I just wanted to know the details of exactly how John and his mother got from England to Utah.

Now that that is settled, I really would love to do some more research into the area of England John was living in prior to immigrating. I've always thought it would be neat to write a book about his life. Even though I couldn't write specifically about what he did (as he left no written record that I know of), there should be enough about the period of time, areas, and travel companions that could fill a book.

Let's see, how many descendants of John are there? Multiply that by the price of a book and I could make enough money for my family to starve. Still, it would be an interesting project and perhaps quite valuable for someone in the future.