England
John Warburton Jr was the fourth child born to parents John Warburton Sr and Elizabeth Alsted or Halsted. His birth took place on 16 Jun 1825 in the parish of Radcliffe, Lancashire, England. He had two older brothers, William born 6 April 1810 and Edward born 28 Feb 1815, and an older sister, Mary who was born 12 Feb 1820. His father, John Sr, worked in a mill as a weaver.
When John was two years old his mother died on 7 Aug 1827 while giving birth to a baby girl named Elizabeth. Six weeks later, on 24 Sep 1827, the baby died. Four years after that, his father married the widow of his cousin, Abner Warburton. Her name was Sarah and she gave birth to a son named Joseph on 21 Sep 1831. Family tradition has it that the children did not get along well with their stepmother.
In about 1832, John’s oldest brother, William, married Jane Allan, and in about 1835 his brother, Edward, married Betty Barlow. They both moved to the city of Todmorden where they found work in the mills. After that, John and Mary spent much of their time in their older brother’s homes. Then in 1843, Mary married John Pemberton. John found work in the mills as a ‘corder’ and often stayed with either Edward or Mary.
The city of Todmorden was the largest city near Hebden Bridge Church and was located on the border of Lancashire and Yorkshire. It was noted for its large mills and was called the ‘Valley of the Foxmere’. The lake connected to the Calder River and separated the two counties. On the Yorkshire side of the river was the Church of Halifax, the city of Walsden, and part of the township of Todmorden. The population in the year 1821 was fourteen thousand. The cities in this area were all large manufacturing centers. Stanfield and Langfield were in Yorkshire County and were noted for the manufacture of calico, fustian, denim, sateen, and velvet. The mills were worked by water power and the location was easily navigable, through the canals, from either the east or west oceans. There was also a railroad from Manchester to Leeds that passed through Todmorden and to the south of Burnley. Burnley had one of the largest mills in the county of Lancashire. Many people came to the fairs that were held there to sell wares of manufactured goods. They would come from all over England, especially at Easter time and in the Fall of the year.
John spent a lot of his time in Halifax and it was there that he met Betty Sunderland who had also been born in 1825. She was the daughter of William Sunderland and Mary Law. At the time they met, she was working as a ‘spinner’ in a mill. It was also in Halifax where John came in contact with Mormon Elders and became interested in their teachings. He and Betty then spent all of their spare time listening to the missionaries. Betty’s father had passed away previously but, her mother was a strong member of the ‘Church of Friends’, a branch broken off from the ‘Church of England’. She would have no part of ‘Mormonism’ and was very critical of her daughter’s interest in this new religion. Note: As of the current date, 2002, there has not been a record found of Betty having siblings.
John and Betty’s friendship grew into love and, as they were both of adult age, twenty-one, they did not need the consent of their parents to marry. They published their intentions through banns and their marriage was solemnized on 27 Sep 1846 in ‘The Church of St James’, Parish of Halifax, County of Yorkshire. It was witnessed by John Clarkson and John Hartley who, were friends from the Mormon Church and also workers in the mills. Their marriage certificate gives the following information: John Warburton, age 21, bachelor, occupation ‘corder’, residence ‘Charlestown in Stansfield’, father’s name ‘John Warburton,’ occupation of father ‘spinner’; Betty Sunderland, age 21, spinster, occupation ‘spinner,’ residence ‘Callis in Sowerby Ramble’, father’s name ‘William Sunderland’ (deceased), occupation of father‘weaver’. They both signed their names with an ‘X’ indicating that they were illiterate.
It was almost three years before John and Betty had a child. Their son Edward was born on 5 May 1849 in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire and they named him Edward after John’s favorite brother, Edward. On the birth certificate their residence is listed as Charlestown, Stanfield, and John’s occupation is a ‘labourer.’ The birth certificate was signed by Betty with an ‘X’. Because of Betty’s mother’s feelings, they took their baby to the ‘Church of Friends’ to have him christened. The fee was sixpence. Note: Apparently, Betty either had difficulty in becoming pregnant or in carrying her babies to term because it was almost three years after her marriage before Edward was born and he was six years old when she died from complications of a miscarriage.
Charlestown, Stansfield, Yorkshire is located on the edge of a little gulf, with the Irish Sea on the West and Scotland on the North. The main part of the town has an old abandoned castle that has been converted into a beautiful summer resort. It was owned by Alexander Sunderland, an Earl to King James III of the 16th century, and is called Sunderland Heights. The city business district is located four miles east from where the Warburton family made their home.
John’s brother, Edward, and his sister, Mary, were supportive of both his marriage and his interest in the Mormon Church and it was through them that he learned about the death of his father, John Warburton Sr, on 19 Apr 1851. His stepmother had passed away previously on 25 Dec 1850. They also learned, at that time, that John’s half-brother, Joseph, had been baptized into the Mormon Church on 26 Oct 1851. Note: Joseph Warburton emigrated in May 1856 and eventually ended up in Salt Lake, Utah where he has a large posterity living today.
John and Betty probably delayed their baptisms, as long as they did, because of Betty’s mother’s attitude. However, in April 1854, on a bright spring day, they were baptized by Elder John Clarkson and confirmed by Elder John Hartley, both of whom had also witnessed their marriage.
After they joined the Church, John and Betty started making plans to gather with the Saints in Zion. In January 1856 the Warburtons left Charlestown traveling on a cargo ship through the canals of Lancashire and into the Irish Sea. Their plans were to sail to Liverpool where they would join with a group of Saints that were then sailing to America. Betty was expecting a baby and on the 2nd day of their journey, as they were going through ‘The Channel’, she became ill. Unable to obtain medical help, she passed away from complications of her pregnancy. Because the ship was then far out at sea, she was wrapped in canvas and lowered into the waters. John and Teddy were devastated and never forgot the sight of their beloved wife and mother being buried in the Irish Sea. Before she died, Betty made John promise that he would continue on to Zion.
Two days later, when they arrived in Liverpool, John discovered that the ship they were supposed to have sailed on had departed the day before. He was in despair until, by chance, he ran into their old friends Elders Clarkson and Hartley. They were saddened to hear the news of Betty’s death and did what they could to comfort John and Teddy. The two Elders had been assigned by the Church to arrange for a ship for missionaries that were returning home and, they were able to find room on it for John and his son. Two days later, they boarded the ship ‘Independence’ with church leaders and missionaries that were returning to America. Note: This is the reason John and Edward Warburton are not found in the Church Immigration Index.
It was the end of February in 1856 when the ship ‘Independence’ docked in New York. John and his son stayed close by the Church and John was able to find some work that helped to care for their needs. A few months later, with another group of Saints, they boarded the Rock Island Railroad in New York and took the North Western route through Chicago to Iowa City. There were coach cars on the train but the Mormon immigrants rode in cattle cars.
When they reached Iowa City, the Warburtons found friends, both old and new, from England. They joined with the Edmund Ellsworth Handcart Company and on 9th June 1856 started across the plains. Their experiences in crossing the American Plains are chronicled in the story “They Crossed the Plains with a Handcart” written by Laural Bushman, 2002.
Utah
The Edmund Ellsworth Handcart Company arrived in Salt Lake Valley on the 26th of Sept 1856. It had been almost nine months since John and Teddy, who was now 7 years old, had left their home in England and buried their beloved Betty in the Irish Sea. On the trip across the plains, they had made special friends with the Thomas Richins family which included Thomas and Harriet Richins, their infant son, Albert, and Harriet’s father, John Deveraux. John Deveraux had also buried his wife in the sea. Harriet was especially kind to Teddy and he enjoyed playing with little Albert. After reaching Salt Lake, the Richins family found a little one-room dugout to live in and the Warburtons stayed with them just long enough to help build on a room and a lean-to. Thomas’ brother and his wife and baby were following in the Willie Handcart Company and would need a place to live when they arrived.
It must have been lonely and bittersweet for John and Teddy to finally reach Zion but without Betty. They stayed in Salt Lake until the following March when President Young issued John a quarter section of land in the northeast part of Battle Creek, now known as Pleasant Grove and Manila. By that time, they had been able to obtain a wagon, some horses and a few head of livestock. After stopping in Lehi and American Fork to visit friends, they settled in Battle Creek where John built a little adobe house in the fort. John Warburton was not large in stature but was a healthy strong man with a great will to work. He farmed for a time, as well as, worked as a blacksmith and wheelwright.
When Ted was fifteen years old, John married a woman named Sarah Williams Green on 24 Jan 1864 in Battle Creek. Sarah had been born in about 1829 to parents Thomas Williams and Elizabeth Vauhn in England. She had left her husband, Mr. Green, in England and immigrated alone with her three children Saddie, Sarah, and Thomas. Her son Thomas died shortly after she married John. To John and Sarah there were three children born; Elizabeth on 19 Jul 1865, James Thomas on 22 Jan 1870, and Abraham on 1 Mar 1871.
According to family tradition, Sarah was resentful and hard on Ted and after they were married he spent much of his time in the homes of friends. The Thomas Richins family had since moved to Battle Creek and their son Albert and Ted Warburton were best friends.
John had a special love for his oldest son and was very saddened by Sarah’s attitude towards him. When Ted was 25 years old John, without Sarah’s knowledge, gave him his quarter section of land. John then made his living as a blacksmith and wheelwright but, as more of this kind of material became available from other places the business became slow. As he grew older and his health declined he took up the trade of a watch and clock repairman.
On Valentine’s Day in 1876, Edward (Ted) Warburton married Alice Mirentha Richins in the Salt Lake Endowment House. She was the oldest daughter of Thomas and Harriet Richins, whom the Warburtons had crossed the plains with. When they returned home from their honeymoon, they found that John had secured a larger house for his family and fixed up his small adobe one for them. The 1880 Federal Census record gives the following information about John’s family: John Warburton, age 56, birthplace England, occupation laborer; Sarah Warburton, 51, birthplace England, keeping house; Elizabeth 14, James 10, and Abraham, 9.
John and Sarah’s children grew up, married, and moved away. Elizabeth married Albert Drounds and lived in Salt Lake. James Thomas married Flours Foutz and they both died a few years later leaving a small daughter. Abraham married Anna Hey and they made their home in Roosevelt, Duchesne County.
John’s health became poor and on 19 May 1896, at age 73, he passed away and was buried in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. All his children and grandchildren loved this kind and thoughtful man very much and missed him greatly.
John Warburton was one of Christ’s sheep that recognized His voice and the truthfulness of the Gospel when he heard it. He embraced it and lived it until his time on earth was finished. He bore his trials and tribulations with patience and endured to the end. Betty Sunderland sacrificed everything she had for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She not only gave up her home, family, and native land but, she paid the ultimate price and gave her life.
John and Betty Warburton left a name and a legacy that their posterity can be very proud of. It is my honor to pay tribute to these two great people.
Note: After John’s death, Sarah sold their home and spent her remaining years with her children. She passed away at the home of her daughter Elizabeth on 5 Aug 1905 and was buried next to John in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. For reasons not known, a grave marker had never been put on John and Sarah’s graves. This oversight was corrected when an engraved stone was put in place on 10 July 1999 by the grandchildren of Edward’s daughter, Clyde Harriet Warburton Carlson. John Warburton was a handcart pioneer and a great man. It is only right that he remembered with honor.
Bibliography
Proctor, Eva Mirentha Warburton, Life Story of Edward Warburton, unpublished, no date.
Proctor, Eva Mirentha Warburton, The Life Sketch of John Warburton and Betty Sunderland and their son Edward Warburton, unpublished, no date.
