Anthony J. Stratton: Difference between revisions
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In 1845, he married a native of Kentucky, Martha Jane Layne. In 1849, they immigrated to Utah. | In 1845, he married a native of Kentucky, Martha Jane Layne. In 1849, they immigrated to Utah. | ||
=== Moving to Provo in Utah County === | === Moving to Provo in Utah County === | ||
In 1852, they settled in the new settlement of Provo in Utah County. The first inhabitants of Utah Valley constructed a fort for protection from Ute Indians who frequented Utah Valley and Utah Lake. Young and the others settled in the new colony of Provo, building cabins, planting crops and digging irrigation ditches to keep their crops alive. | In 1852, they settled in the new settlement of Provo in Utah County. The first inhabitants of Utah Valley constructed a fort for protection from Ute Indians who frequented Utah Valley and Utah Lake. Young and the others settled in the new colony of Provo, building cabins, planting crops and digging irrigation ditches to keep their crops alive. | ||
In summer 1853, the Walker War erupted and the conflict was particularly intense in Utah County. The pioneering settlers abandoned exposed settlements, made fortifications, guarded settlements and livestock and after their stock had been raided by Ute Indians, went in pursuit of it. Stratton would have played some part in these events. | In summer 1853, the Walker War erupted and the conflict was particularly intense in Utah County. The pioneering settlers abandoned exposed settlements, made fortifications, guarded settlements and livestock and after their stock had been raided by Ute Indians, went in pursuit of it. Stratton would have played some part in these events. Perhaps the intensity of the Walker War conflict played a role in the Strattons' decision to relocate to the south, outside the traditional lands of the Ute Indians. | ||
Perhaps the intensity of the Walker War conflict played a role in | |||
[[Image:Sketch - Iron works.jpg | [[Image:Sketch - Iron works.jpg|thumb|right|250px]] | ||
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=== To Cedar City and the Ironworks === | === To Cedar City and the Ironworks === | ||
Revision as of 07:05, 22 July 2011
Anthony J. Stratton, his personal and family background, and his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Anthony Johnson Stratton
1824-1887
Biographical Sketch
Early Life in Tennessee and Illinois
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.
Moving to Provo in Utah County
In 1852, they settled in the new settlement of Provo in Utah County. The first inhabitants of Utah Valley constructed a fort for protection from Ute Indians who frequented Utah Valley and Utah Lake. Young and the others settled in the new colony of Provo, building cabins, planting crops and digging irrigation ditches to keep their crops alive.
In summer 1853, the Walker War erupted and the conflict was particularly intense in Utah County. The pioneering settlers abandoned exposed settlements, made fortifications, guarded settlements and livestock and after their stock had been raided by Ute Indians, went in pursuit of it. Stratton would have played some part in these events. Perhaps the intensity of the Walker War conflict played a role in the Strattons' decision to relocate to the south, outside the traditional lands of the Ute Indians.
To 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.
Moving From Cedar City
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.
Relocating 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:
- http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=lgardner3&id=I6
- http://mountainmeadowsmassacre.org/appendices/appendix-c-the-militiamen
- Deseret Iron Company Account Book, 1854-1867: http://www.footnote.com/document/241905844/
Further information and confirmation needed. Please contact 1857_militia@roadrunner.com.
