Thomas H. Cartwright
Thomas Henry Cartwright, his personal and family background, and his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Thomas H. Cartwright
1814-1900
Biographical Sketch
[Under Construction.]
Early Life in the Industrial North of England
Thomas Henry Cartwright was born in December 1814 in Lancashire, England, the son of Thomas and Jane Cartwright. He converted to Mormonism in the 1840s. In 1844, he married Jane Allen, the daughter of Robert Allen and Jane Allen.
Immigration to America and onto Utah
In 1849, he immigrated to America and crossed the plains in a wagon company to Utah Territory.
To Cedar City and the Ironworks
Cartwright settled in Iron County in 1850, and followed the trade of blacksmith and made the first plows in Iron county, as well as the first woolen carding machine in southern Utah. He was a member of the high priest's quorum.
In the Iron Military District: Private Samuel Cartwright, Company D, Isaac Haight's 2nd Battalion
In 1857, Samuel Cartwright, 42, was a private in the Fourth Platoon attached to Company D led by Captain Joel White and the company was attached to Major Isaac C Haight's 2nd Battalion. Benjamin Arthur was the sergeant of the platoon. Cartwright was in one of the detachments of Cedar City militiamen that rode to Mountain Meadows during the week of September 7-11. He probably arrived on Tuesday, September 8.
His role in the final massacre on September 11, is not known with certainty. However, it seems likely that he was among the Cedar City militiamen who guarded the emigrant men as they left their wagon circle and marched toward the northern end of the valley.
In 1859, Judge John Cradlebaugh's arrest warrant listed Cartwright and he was also mentioned in T.B.H Stenhouse's Rocky Mountain Saints, published in 1873.In 1875, during the first Lee trial, witness Samuel Pollock identified Cartwright as one of his companions on the march from Cedar City to Mountain Meadows. He was also listed in John D. Lee's Mormonism Unveiled, published in 1877, and William Bishop's list of "assassins" appended to it.
Later LIfe
His son, Joseph Henry Cartwright was identified as a "[m]inuteman in [the] Utah militia."
References
Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 797; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 232, 379; Lee Trial transcripts; Seegmiller, A History of Iron County, ; Shirts and Shirts, A Trial Furnace, ; Stenhouse, Rocky Mountain Saints, ; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Appendix C.
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