Samuel Lorenzo Howard and Sarah Jane Hamilton

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Samuel L. Howard (son of Samuel Lane Howard and Elizabeth Pack of St. Louis, Mo.) was born October 16, 1840, in Bedfordshire, England. Samuel and Elizabeth, or Betsy, sailed from Liverpool Monday 16 Jan 1843 on the ship "Swanton" with Captain Davenport in charge. Lorenzo Snow was in charge of the Saints. Samuel was given the middle name of Lorenzo after Lorenzo Snow. The ship arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana 26 Feb 1843. They then went on to St. Louis Missouri on the ship "Arnaranth" and arrived there the 29 March 1843. Both were seriously ill. Betsy died in St. Louis on 9 May 1849 and Samuel Lane Howard died 14 September 1853.

Samuel Lorenzo Howard came to Utah September 20, 1856 with the Helm family handcart company (also known as the St. Louis Company). The company departed on 9 July 1856 from the outfitting post at Florence, Nebraska (now Omaha). There were 300 individuals and about 600 wagons when it began it's journey. Samuel Lorenzo was 15 when he crossed the plains to Utah. He traveled with his sister, Sarah Freelove Howard, who was 17 at the time. Their sister Betsy Prudence Howard left earlier with the James McCaw Company in June of 1852. Samuel was orphaned at age 13 and when he and his sister came west, he hired out to a family to pay his way. Samuel arrived in Utah September 20, 1856.

Being orphaned at such an early age, Samuel received very little formal schooling. He was a blacksmith and helped make the first plow in Utah. He made horse shoes and helped shoe Johnston's Army mules. He was one of the first farmers to successfully raise wheat and barley. He was also a sheep rancher. He was postmaster at Riverton and served on the school board in Riverton. He was on the entertainment committee, Sunday School superintendent, High Priest and chairman of the Republican Party in Riverton. He was called on a mission to Arizona but the call was rescinded due to his recent settling in Riverton.

Samuel married Sarah Jane Hamilton April 1, 1864, in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Sarah was born 11 June 1842 and is the daughter of James Lang Hamilton and Mary Ann Campbell of Goodridge, Canada. Her family left Warwick Canada in 1845 when she was just three years old and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, traveling with the John Wimmer Company 02 September 1852 when she was ten. The Hamilton family made their home in Millcreek, Utah. Samuel and Sarah Jane had eight children. They are Mary Ann Beckstar, Samuel H., Sarah L. Bodell, Elizabeth V., John W., Robert L., Lenora E. Olsen, and Joseph R. The family made their home in Riverton, Utah.

Sarah Jane had been the seventh wife of Archibald Gardner, a polygamist, but had only lived with him a short time and then the marriage was annulled by the prophet. This separation was brought about due to the great differences in their ages. Mr. Gardner being about twenty eight years older than his wife Sarah Jane Hamilton. One son, James Hamilton Howard, was born to them. Jim lived with his Hamilton grandparents during his early childhood. Sarah Jane was active in the Relief Society Presidency for 30 years. She was unable to attend school because of such a large family that she helped take care of so she taught herself to read and write. She was a spinner in the home where she met her husband, Samuel L. Howard. She grew the first flower garden in Riverton and was the first Postmistress of Riverton, which was an unpaid position.

Samuel Lorenzo Howard died 10 September 1906 in Riverton, Utah and is buried in the South Jordan, Utah Cemetery.

Sarah Jane Hamilton Howard died 19 March 1924 and was also buried in the South Jordan, Utah Cemetery.

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The following narrative and trail excerpts are not personal accounts written by Samuel Howard. They are taken from journal entries written by others in the same wagon train company, or other publications about the John Banks 1856 company.

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Known as the Saint Louis Company, this party included English, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish Saints, some of whom had stopped for a while at St. Louis en route to Salt Lake City. A steamboat carrying 170 passengers of these emigrants, with 30 wagons, arrived at Florence, Nebraska Territory on June 14, 1856. Other party members had arrived earlier; some would arrive a little later. Florence was then the Mormon outfitting point for plains travel. Not until June 18 did the emigrants' 100 yoke of oxen arrive. After that, the travelers held a meeting where they were entertained by the St. Louis brass band and where they organized themselves, selecting John Banks as company captain. Banks was exceptionally qualified as a leader.

Not all of the company left Florence at the same time. The first group (24 wagons) started west on June 26 but traveled only two miles before making camp. The next day, an equal number of vehicles belonging to English Saints set out, traveled five miles, and then stopped at a stream in order to build a bridge. On the 28th a contingent of Scandinavians with 26 wagons joined the train. These first few days of travel provided interested spectators with a great deal of amusement because few of the emigrants had prior experience with oxen and all of the animals were wild. Several wagon tongues broke and were replaced with green wood.

Finally the train began its journey in earnest. At night the circled wagons formed a corral while, just beyond this enclosure, tents and campfires made two more concentric circles. The men took turns guarding the cattle when they were out on the range. All members of the party were reportedly in good health on June 29. On July 1 the train crossed the Elkhorn, but before it reached the Platte, five oxen and one woman had died. It was very hot. On July 5, the company arrived at Mormon Ferry on Loup Fork. Until then the train had been traveling through woodland. Now it entered open country. On the 13th the emigrants camped south of Wood River, where they had their first experience cooking with buffalo chips. On July 14 they saw their first buffalo. Later they would hunt these beasts and add a little buffalo meat to their diet. Continuing along the north side of the Platte River they began to see occasional Indian camps. On August 7, they passed Chimney Rock. Then tragedy struck. A buffalo bull charged the train. When the men shot at it, the cattle stampeded, and a wagon ran over a young man, killing him. The train then passed Scotts Bluff before reaching the Platte River ford near Fort Laramie on August 13. At the fort the emigrants saw a large encampment of Sioux Indians.

Most Mormon emigrants crossed the North Platte River at Laramie so that they could follow the well traveled road south of the river. But because his company received word that Indians recently had killed some travelers on the main route, Banks decided to stay north of the Platte, following a trail that had been pioneered in 1850. One member of Banks' company later recalled that this northern route was very rocky and mountainous, with steep hills to traverse. In some places the men had to double-team the wagons in order to get up the grades, and then they had to chain the wheels when descending (the wagons reportedly had no brakes). Though the Banks party did not have any accidents, they saw the remains of numerous wrecks-silent testimony that other travelers had not been so fortunate.

It was September before the company finally left this river and headed for the Sweetwater. Nights were getting cold. When the train camped at Devil's Gate, it snowed and the ground froze into thick ice. Some cattle died. At some point along the Sweetwater, the travelers met a relief train from Salt Lake City, taking supplies to the handcarts. After leaving the Sweetwater, Banks' company passed the Sandy, the Green, the Black's Fork and Ham's Fork rivers, Fort Bridger, the Bear River, Yellow Creek, Echo Canyon, the Weber River, Big Mountain, and Little Mountain. The night before reaching Salt Lake City, the company camped in Emigration Canyon. They then entered the Salt Lake Valley on October 3, 1856.

**The history of Samuel Lorenzo Howard's sister, Sarah Freelove Howard Bawden, gives insight into the boyhood of young Samuel, who lost both parents shortly after coming to America.