THORNTON, Oliver RIN #24391 /3
Oliver Thornton was born in the township of Pickering, upper Canada on 6 September 1806 to Joseph Thornton and Lucretia Calkins (Sly) Thornton.

Oliver's father, Joseph is still a bit of a mystery as to his past. His parents have not been positively identified, nor his reasons for going to Canada but we find him in Pickering petitioning for land as early as 16 July 1804, In 1815 on the 18th March he states that he was born in the state of Rhode Island, that he is 43 years of age, has resided in this province for about 18 Years and has a wife and five children. From this we learn that he was born about 1772 and went to Canada about 1797.

Oliver's mother Lucretia Calkins was born 7 March 1776 in Mansfield, Connecticut She married Joshua Sly in New York state with whom she had three children. We find Joshua Sly' also in Pickering, petitioning for land in 1798 and he states that he has a wife and two sons and that his wife is expecting a third child very soon. We don't know why but we know that this marriage ended and that Lucretia married Joseph Thornton about the year 1800.

Besides two stepbrothers and a stepsister, Oliver had six brothers. Stepbrothers and sister are: Solomon Calkins Sly b-1794, Benjamin Sly b-10 Jan 1796, both born in New York and Lavina Sly abt 1798 in Canada. His brothers, all born in Pickering are: Joseph Jr. b-abt 1802, Ira b-abt 1804, Daniel b-Jan 1808, James b-1814-15, Ephraim b-1816, and William Cornwell b-1818, all surnamed Thornton.

Oliver grew up in a small town in a wilderness area of Old York Co., Canada and learned the tricks of farming which served him well for the rest of his life. When Oliver was about 22 years of age he met a lovely young lady who with her family had moved to Pickering from Leeds Co. Ontario, Canada. Her name was Mary Griswold, the daughter of Amos Griswold and Eleanor Stotts and was born the 22 February 1812 in Elizabethtown, Leeds Co., Canada.

Mary's father Amos never disclosed the name of his parents and his birth place b~t Mary's mother's parents were Caspar Stotts and Mary McVey. Her mother Eleanor received a grant of land because her father, Caspar, was a United Empire Loyalist
Mary had the following brothers and sisters: Elizabeth, Moses, Lucy, Alice, Apollus.
Nathan, Sarah Ann (born in Elizabethtown), Benjamin, Eleanor, Jane, Narcissa, Rosanna, and Susannah (born in Pickering), surnamed Griswold. Mary being the oldest child in a family of fourteen must have learned to work while very young and learned many skills of homemaking which would have outfitted her for the challenges in her life. Oliver and Mary were married about 1828/29.

Life must have been good for them surrounded by their large families, probably with a little farm of their own and children of their own now beginning to arrive. Oliver and Mary's first child was Lydia Meachum Thornton born 19 October 1830, then came Amos Griswold Thornton born 30 December 1832 followed by Thomas Ephraim Thornton born 2 January 1835 and Edward Hotchkiss Thornton born 1836, all born in Canada. About this time the Thornton and Griswold families had withdrawn from the established church of Canada and had joined a group calling themselves the Christian Church, wanting to get back to the teachings of the Bible. Shortly afterwards missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came into their area and found Oliver and Mary ready to accept their message. They were baptized by John Taylor in June 1837 and life was to change for this family forever. Their one ambition was to gather with their Prophet and the rest of the saints in Kirtland, Ohio in the United States.

Despite the fact that they had four babies ages 6, 4, 2 and not quite 1 year old, and with ' their only means of transportation a sleigh and a team of horses, they embarked on a journey which would cover thousands of miles and last for fifteen long years. It would be a journey filled with trials and hardships, dangers and misery. Their lives would be in constant peril, and they would know hunger and thirst and privations of every kind. It would be a journey where they would find joy in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They would find a prophet, Joseph Smith, in whom they found faith to follow his precepts and a great love and trust which remained with them to the end of their lives. Their journey would take them to the promised land of Zion which they would help to build in the tops of the mountains. They would find peace in this life and hope for eternal life hereafter.

In early spring while the lake was still frozen over, Oliver and Mary tucked their children under buffalo robes into the sleigh and with fond goodbyes, crossed the ice of Lake Erie and found, their way to Kirtland, Ohio arriving there in April 1838.

At this time the prophet and other leaders had been forced to flee from Kirtland and were in Far West, Missouri. While there the Lord revealed Sections 115 and 117 in the Doctrine and Covenants, in which he commands the saints in Ohio to go to Far West and build up Zion speedily and build another temple there. There was much contention and many problems among the saints in Kirtland at this time and many were so poor they had no way to get to Missouri and so it was proposed to organize a camp and go up as a body. It was agreed and some said it would be the greatest thing ever accomplished by the church and likened it to the exodus of Israel from Egypt. By the 6 July 1838 over 500 souls with their wagons, teams, cattle, tents and other belongings left Kirtland for Missouri.

I feel sure the Thorntons could not have taken many provisions with them in a sleigh, but maybe in those three months they may have traded the sleigh for a wagon. Oliver says in a short history which he wrote later, "I removed to Kirtland in 1838 and the same year went to Far West in the great Camp of the Saints, and arrived in time to suffer the persecutions of a ruthless mob and was banished from the state of Missouri." On this journey on 6 September, they buried their son Edward Hotchkiss. The first of the camp arrived 2 October 1838 after a three-month ordeal. About five miles from Far West they were met by Joseph Smith, his two counselors, Isaac Morley (the patriarch of Far West) and other brethren. (Sometime later, Mary and Oliver would receive their patriarchal blessings under the hands of Isaac Morley.)

The following day the camp was advised to continue on to Adam-ondi-Aham where Adam blessed his posterity. One can only try to imagine what their feelings would have been as they felt of the spirit which can be felt on that sacred spot even today. Some of these details were taken from the History of the Church. Therefore, Oliver and family may not have been with the first to arrive if one of the histories is correct. It stated they arrived about the 15 October. There are a few minor discrepancies in the histories written by Oliver's children, but I am very grateful for them because they have filled in many details which my grandfather was too young to remember.

Shortly after their arrival, it was voting time in Missouri and some of the saints went into Gallatin, Davies Co. to cast their votes. An ugly confrontation ensued with some of the Mormon haters. This inflamed the already angry mob and resulted in an uprising which ended in the Hauns Mill Massacre on 30 October 1838 less than two weeks after the Thornton's arrived. Truly, Oliver said it right--"We arrived in time to suffer with the saints the persecutions of a ruthless mob." A group of the leading members were rounded up and put in jail. Some were released a while later, but Joseph and Hyrum and some others were put in the Liberty Jail in December, where they spent the winter under unspeakable conditions.

The saints were driven out of Missouri after the extermination order by Governor Boggs.
It was winter and they had no where to go and no prophet to guide them. They scattered, seeking a place of safety. Oliver and Mary must have had very few possessions at this time and they ended up in Illinois in a place called Bear Creek, near Fairfield in Adams County. Here Oliver found some land to farm and must have built some sort of home. Here, less than a year later Mary gave birth to a baby girl whom they named Alice Ann, born 28 September 1839.

By now the Prophet was out of jail and was trying to gather the saints into Illinois, where they were to build another city on the banks of the Mississippi River. The city was first called the City of Joseph and later renamed Nauvoo. The Thorntons moved again and upon arrival in Nauvoo were advised by Joseph Smith to settle on the outskirts rather than in the city proper that they might escape many of the troubles and persecutions which might follow. They took his advice -and Oliver found a farm located between Nauvoo and Carthage owned by a David R. Fabes.

It must have seemed like they had found the end of the rainbow. Their Illinois neighbors had received them kindly, a beautiful city was being built and a temple was rising, in spite of their poverty. In 1841 Apollos Griswold was added to their family, Oliver's farm was prospering, there was time to learn more of the gospel from the lips of their Prophet and to get acquainted with members of the church and neighbors. It was a time for their children to make friends and Thomas Ephraim recalls playing around the temple lot with other little boys, including Joseph Smith Jr., as his father, Oliver, worked on the temple. In 1843 Mary gave birth to her seventh child who they named Eleanor for Mary's mother.

27 June 1844 began like most days for the Thornton family, until 5:00 o'clock in the afternoon when they heard gun shots which though not uncommon were always a cause for alarm. From one of the histories: "We heard distinctly the shots but we didn't know what had happened. We felt a sense of dread and an oppression which seemed to hang over the countryside, even the animals seemed extra quiet About midnight Sister Grant, wife of George D. Grant and a neighbor who lived about a mile away, came to our door. Her husband had gone to carry the news to Nauvoo, and she had waited until dark as she was filled with fear. She had her baby in her arms and another little one with her." The Thomtons received the terrible news that Joseph and Hyrum Smith had been shot and killed in Carthage Jail with shock, disbelief and grief.

Thomas remembered going down to the road to watch the sad procession as they brought the bodies of these beloved men back to Nauvoo. Later their mother took them to Nauvoo to view them as they lay in state in the Mansion House. One of the older girls says in her history she thought they looked hallowed even in death and she could never forget that day.

Peace was not to be their lot for long. Their enemies in Missouri soon followed them and trouble and tensions mounted. They were struggling to finish the temple but were already planning for another move this time into the far western part of the country and out of the United States.

The Thorntons stayed on their farm until the spring of 1845, when they moved into Nauvoo. Maybe Oliver had a chance to sell his farm, or maybe the chance to live in a large city was enticing. It was at this time that Oliver wrote his small history which was dated 5 May 1845 and he ends it with these words: "I now reside in the beautiful City of Joseph." Here their little daughter Mary was born 7 October 1845. It was about this time they lost two of their children: Apollos Griswold in 1845 at age 3 years and in October 1845 their daughter Eleanor about 2 years old. Brigham Young was urging the saints to get ready, to accumulate the supplies necessary as they might have to move without much notice, but many families were hardly able to live without being able to complete the long list of the absolute necessities for the journey west

Their worst fears were realized in early 1846 when the mobs came into the city pillaging and burning homes and even burning their beautiful temple. It was a bitter cold night in fact the coldest on record that late in the year, and many of they found that they could cross the river on the ice as they fled from their homes. The promise given to the Thorntons by Joseph Smith came true. They said that in all this time and during the expulsion from Nauvoo, they suffered almost no trouble or persecution, but they had to leave and sometime in the spring of 1846 they crossed the Mississippi River where it joins the Des Moines River and settled in Van Buren Co., Iowa. They stayed here about two years where Oliver again found some land to farm as they struggled to accumulate the needed provisions for their journey west. It was here on 7 October 1847 they lost Mary and here on the 12 May 1848 another son was born and named Oliver Evans. They were living in Keosauqua, Van Buren Co., Iowa.

Again forced to move they went to Lynn, Lynn Co., Missouri [It was actually Linn] and settled along the Des Moines River where Oliver worked at farming and freighting for two years and fmally managed to get two wagons, two teams of horses, 20 head of cattle and other supplies. They were finally able to leave for Council Bluffs for the final preparations. They had traded this farm with crops all planted for the last horse, but felt like it was a good trade. This was about 1850 as their tenth child Joseph Smith Thornton was born in Lynn Co., Missouri on the 29 June 1850.

It seems hard to believe but after arriving at Kanesville, near Council Bluffs, Oliver again bought a farm and built a house and further improved his lot, while awaiting the chance to join a company of saints to travel with. It turned out to be the John Wimmer Company which they joined and began the long awaited journey in the spring of 1852. It had taken them about six years of preparation, and it may be that Oliver wanted to complete the list of provisions which Brigham Young had told them was absolutely necessary and it may be that this was the reason that they stated they had a very pleasant crossing. Many families were not so lucky and had to be helped along by the church.

They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in the fall of 1852, but this was not the end, as Brigham Young asked them to go south to settle on the shores of Utah Lake in the new town of American Fork. They wasted no time as Mary was expecting another child and he arrived 19 November about one week after their arrival and was named Edmund Butler Thornton. The journey was ended: the journey which began in April 1838 in Ontario, Canada had ended in November 1852 in American Fork, Utah and there they spent the rest of their lives.

The journey had ended but the work of starting all over again was just beginning, the hard work of clearing the land and building another home. They homesteaded land along the south side of what became the state highway, between Americn Fork and Pleasant Grove. In the 1860 census this area was called Laketown. There Oliver built a neat little adobe house. They still had fears of indian attacks and from past experiences of going without water because they had been unable to go out of their homes, Oliver dug his well close to the house so that he could enclose it as part of the house. They cleared the land and got a good farm going and planted an orchard. Oliver was an orchardist and one of the first to do budding and grafting. He had one of the first apple orchards in the county.

At this time part of the city was surrounded by a wall and this was a fort for protection from the indians. There were some uprisings and skirmishes and always some fear and Oliver also had a house inside the fort. Mostly they got along pretty well with the indians and life began to be happy and fulfilling once more. On the 10 December 1855 Nathan Moroni Thornton joined the family making the twelveth child.

I think of Mary who gave birth to eight children during those fifteen years of trouble, trials, and hard jolting travels. How many were born without a proper bed or roof over their heads, and were there times when Mary had no one but her family to help her during her times of need? In her patriarchal blessing she was told that she had endure{i many trials with fidelity of heart and was promised that 'Thou shall be helped in rearing thine offspring by the prayers of faith, whereby disease shall be rebuked from their systems .... she will feel the influence of peace when she will know that her guardian angels are near to assist her." She must have had a fervent testimony and faith in the Lord and I think she was a strong and remarkable woman. Her years in Utah were not to be very many. She passed away on 12 April 1858 at her home in American Fork, and) can only try to imagine how devastated her family was to lose such a loving and caring mother and a loving, devoted and faithful wife. She left four children under 12 years of age, the last about 2 and a half years old.

In 1859 a widow by the name of Margaret Stoddard moved into American Fork. She had lost her husband as they were crossing the plains in the first handcart company in 1856. She proved to be a blessing to the Thornton family, as she married Oliver and helped to raise his children. She was a good woman and loving wife and mother to Oliver and the Thornton children along with two or three of her own. She was a faithful member of the church to the end when she died 15 July 1899 in American Fork, out living Oliver by eight years. Oliver Thornton passed away 21 January 1891 at the age of 84 years and 4 months at his home in American Fork, Utah and he is buried in American Fork Cemetery beside his two wives.

His obituary was printed in the Deseret News 27 January 1891. It was written by his son Edmund Oliver Thornton and is as follows: "Oliver Thornton was known as a man of-sterling integrity, strictly honest in every particular, and a humble and devoted follower of the Master whose precepts he loved. His faith in the divine mission of Joseph Smith was constant and unwavering and his long life spent in helping to build up waste places, alleviating the distress of the poor, contributing to all worthy enterprises testify of his devotion to the latter-day work.

He leaves a host of friends and a large family to mourn their loss. The living members of his family numbering as follows: eight children, thirty-four grandchildren and twenty-eight great grandchildren."

This history has been compiled by Zella Hansen Nesbitt a great granddaughter of Oliver and Mary Thornton. Through the years I have accumulated histories and bits of information and it is my desire to try to share the story of these two pioneers as a fitting tribute to their lives. Part of the story was gleaned by intensive research of the records in the archives of Canada and part from a short history of Oliver Thornton written by himself 5 May 1845 while he was in Nauvoo which provided some dates. Some of the details were taken from histories written by some of his older children from memories of those times. I have used census records, cemetery records. obituaries and some first hand stories from the lips of my own grandfather Thomas Ephraim Thornton.

If there are mistakes in the facts presented, you may keep in mind that people remember things differently and have different feelings of events and people. I have tried each source against others and hope that there will be few if any discrepancies. It is my intention and hope that these few pages will give us a picture of the life of this pioneer family that we can cherish, that we can look upon with sympathy and admiration for their courage through trials and adversity, and feel a deep gratitude and pride to have such worthy examples to follow.

Compiled and written in October 1997
by Zella Hansen Nesbitt
438 N. 1300 W.,
Salt Lake City, Utah 84116