Anthony Johnson Stratton was an American frontiersman and early pioneer to Utah.
Anthony Stratton was born in Nashville, Bedford County, in central Tennessee. His father and mother had New England forebears but they had followed the westering arc of many early nineteenth-century Americans. Stratton later moved to western Illinois where he affiliated with the Mormons, then joined them in their forced relocation to Utah Territory.
Journey to Utah
In 1845, he married a native of Kentucky, Martha Jane Layne. In 1849, they immigrated to Utah. In 1852, they moved to Provo.
Sketch - Iron works.jpgTo Cedar City and the Ironworks
By 1854 the Strattons were in Cedar City in southern Utah. Stratton was listed as a lot owner in the early Cedar City land records in both Plat A and Plat B. Plat A is the temporary relocation site after they moved from the original fort. Plat B was a larger section of land located southeast of Plat A, at the base of the foothills. Modern Cedar City occupies all of Plat B and extends beyond it
In the Iron Military District: 2nd Lieutenant Anthony Stratton, Company E, Isaac Haight's 2nd Battalion
In September 1857, the 33-year-old Stratton was a 2nd Lt. in Company E, Captain Elias Morris's company, one of two in Major Isaac Haight's 2nd Battalion. According to John D. Lee, Stratton arrived at Mountain Meadows and attended the military council on Thursday evening, September 10. His exact role in the massacre is unknown.
In 1858, Stratton helped build the road into the Virgin Valley. He was not listed in the 1859 arrest warrant but Lee identifies him in Mormonism Unveiled. In the late 1850s, Stratton and his family left Cedar City and moved to the southwest to Virgin. For the better part of the next two decades they lived in Kane or Washington counties.
In 1864, Stratton went east to act as a guide for some of the emigrant trains traveling west to Great Salt Lake City. He and his wife had eleven children, ten of whom survived to adulthood.
Move to Arizona
In 1877, Stratton accepted a call to help settle Arizona Territory. He and his family moved to Arizona and eventually settled in Snowflake in Navajo County.
Final Years
He died in Snowflake in 1887. He was survived by his wife Martha and numerous children.
References
Alder and Brooks, History of Washington County, 50, fn. 13; New.FamilySearch.org; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled 232, 380; Lee Trial transcripts; Shirts and Shirts, A Trial Furnace, 331, 478, 485, 495; Turley and Walker, Mountain Meadows Massacre: Jenson & Morris Collections, 236; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Appendix C, 263.
External Links
For further information on Anthony Johnson Stratton see:
