John Miller Stoddart 1795 - 1854
- Liz Hardie
John Miller Stoddart (1795 - 1854)
John Miller Stoddart was born 1795 most likely in Newbattle, Midlothian. He was one of eight known children of James Stoddard and Martha Miller. The Miller was added to his name as part of the LDS baptismal process.
Like his father and all his siblings, John was a coal miner, growing up and working for the Earl of Lothian in one of the Newbattle mines - see James Stoddards profile for more information on mining in Newbattle.
On February 13 1813 John married Janet Kerr at Inveresk with Musselburgh. Violet was the daughter of ?. John and Janet had eight children
- Helen Stoddart Born 1814. Died 1834. Married Archibald Alexander 1833
- Martha Stoddart Born 1816. Died ?. Married ?
- Christina Stoddart Born 1818. Died ? Married ?
- James Kerr Stoddart Born 1820. Died 1854. Married Violet Richardson 1841
- Alexander Kerr Stoddart Born 1823. Died 1851. Married Helen Lonie 1842
- Margaret Stoddart Born 1825. Died 1826
- Janet Kerr Stoddart Born 1827. Died 1912.
- Agnes Leith Stoddart Born 1833. Died 1840.
- John Kerr Stoddart Born 1836. Died 1894
In the 1839's, missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints went to Scotland. Davids brother John converted to the Mormon religion some time around 1844. The second step of conversion was "gathering to Zion" which was the call to go to America and join the main body of the Saints in building out the permenant base for the church. In Spring 1847 Brigham Young entered the Salt Lake Valley and declared it to be the new place of the gathering of the saints. So the Stoddard family would have begun saving to that they could cross the ocean, cross the plains, and pioneer a new land in the Great American Desert. The cost was about $5 per person, and some was subsidised by the Perpetual Emigration Fund - especially for those with needed skills.
John (54) together with his wife Janet and three of their children - David (18), John (12) and married son James (28) with his wife and their 4 sons - made their way to Liverpool where on 24 September 1848 they boarded the 'Sailor Prince'. There were a total of 311 Mormons on this journey under the presidency of Elder L D Butler. They arrived in New Orleans on 20 of November and then sailing from New Orleans up the Mississippi to St. Louis, Missouri aboard the Mormon sponsored steamer the 'Grand Turk'. They arrived in St Louis on 21 December 1848.
Sometime in early 1849 his son Alexander along with his wife and two children accompanied them. Johns brother David Stoddard and his wife Violet Hood decided to take their four children - David (17), John (15), Jane (10) and Alexander (8) - and accompany Alexander on the 'journey to Zion'.
According to family oral history about July 1849 the group departed from Scotland and made their way to Liverpool where they Boarded the 'Berlin' on 5 September 1849. They arrived in New Orleans on 23 October 1849. The ship held 253 Mormons under the presidency of James G Brown. It was apparently a long and difficult voyage, with a cholera outbreak that resulted in 43 deaths - 28 of who were from the Mormon party - including Ellen and Martha Stoddart - Alexanders wife and infant daughter.
Upon arrival in New Orleans they were sent up the Mississippi River to St Louis by the church agent Thomas McKenzie, where John was still residing - no doubt awaiting Alexanders arrival.
In October 1850 at the time of the Federal Census John was still living in St Louis with his wife, three of his sons - David, John Jnr and Alexander - and Alexanders son ?. Some time between the October 1850 and April 1851 it appears that Alexander passed away.
The Journey to Salt Lake Valley
The following information is taken from personal history of David Kerr Stoddard accounts contain in x and trail journeal records from x
By the beginning of 1851 John had decided it was time for his family to cross the plains on the final leg to Zion. By this time Alexander had pasnised away, and son James had apparently moved to Nebraska, so the trip would include only 5 of them - John, Janet, David, John Jnr and Alex's son. In April, 1851 they began making plans, acquising a Wagon, 4 oxen and 2 cows. They joined the John Easton (or Scotch Independent) Company and departed from St. Louis to make the 6 week road trip to Winter Quarters (present day Omaha Nebraska). Once arriving there the planned had been that the company would become the Fourth Ten of Alfred Cordon Emigrating Company. On 1 July the Company departed. By the 23rd Eastons group was getting frustration because the Company were only covering 10 mile a day, So John Easton, the captain of the ten, called the group together and asked if they were willing to travel alone as a company of 10 and leave the others. This course of action was agreed and on the 24th the group set out on their own. It appears from Cordons trail journal that the group were robbed some time around 28 August, but this is not related in the Easton groups recollection. Either way, it is not clear that the decision to split helped improve their speed. The Cordon group arrived in Salt Lake Valley on 1 October, but Eastons group does not appear to have gotten there until the 3 Oct.
Two weeks after their arrival in Salt Lake City the Stoddards were ask to travel on to Iron County in Southern Utah where great beds of iron ore and coal were discovered in 1849. The family was asked to work in the establishment of iron works in Cedar City - which was originally called Coal Creek. They arrived at Cedar City on 11 November 1851
One of the first tasks was to build shelter - which the Stoddards had done by Christmas. Then they had to survey fields for an irrigation canal so that they could raise crops for the following year to feed themselves while they were developing the iron industry. During the winter a site was selected for the iron industry. In February 1852 the location of the coal was secured and the coal mine was opened in spring and roads were made out to the iron deposits which were 12 miles to the west.
John died in Cedar Creek in 1854 and the remainder of the family moved on to Wellsville in Cache in 1860 where John's wife Janet died in 1877.