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Friday Family History: Moulton Barns on Mormon Row

As we left Yellowstone last week, we decided to drive through Grand Teton National Park.  Both my sister and my parents had arrived at Yellowstone via Grand Teton, and they both had ideas of what we might want to see.  My sister suggested we stop at Jenny Lake; my dad suggested we go by Mormon Row and see the barns.  We picked up a brochure as we entered the national park.  As we read it, our route became obvious:  the barns at Mormon Row had the Moulton name, a name of John's ancestors!

T.A. (Thomas Alma) Moulton barn.  Thomas' grandpa was also named Thomas Moulton.  The elder Thomas was John's g-g-g-grandpa.

We stopped at the Moulton Ranch Cabins and spoke with the owner.  He told us that T.A. (Thomas Alma) Moulton, was the grandson of the Thomas Moulton who came over the plains in the Willie Handcart Company.  T.A.'s father, Charles Alma, was actually born on the ship that brought the Moulton family from England to the United States.  Thomas Moulton of the Willie Handcart Company was John's g-g-g-grandpa.  

 The story of the Mormon handcart pioneers was one of faith and determination, and the Moultons were no exception.  Thomas and his wife, Sarah Denton, learned about the church in England, and were baptized.  When church members in England (and other parts of Europe) started immigrating to the United States, Thomas was not sure if his large family would be able to afford the trip. Sarah informed him that she had been secretly saving money for quite some time.  She had faith in a blessing that if they made the journey, all of their family members would survive the trip.  
Though more than 10% of the members of the Willie Handcart Company died, not one of the 10 Moultons perished. 

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Thanks for the example of valiant pioneers.

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Comments

  1. ~~~jennifer~~~August 23, 2013 at 8:28 AM

    What a great story & piece of history! We visited both Mormon Row & Jenny Lake a number of years ago. They were both beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownAugust 23, 2013 at 9:10 AM

    You certainly had a great trip and with all the new fires (and the bears!) you timed it well. The photo is beautiful! Thank you for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JennaAugust 23, 2013 at 9:22 AM

    I love how the top of the barn mirrors the top of the peak of the mountain. Lovely picture! Have you checked out the Mormon Migration website? Here's the link to Thomas' voyage notes, passenger lists, etc.

    http://mormonmigration.lib.byu.edu/Search/showDetails/db:MM_MII/t:voyage/id:343/keywords:Moulton

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stevie HannaAugust 23, 2013 at 11:12 AM

    Wow! That is so cool. I think it's neat that you blog and document about your family history/genealogy. I bet some day your children will appreciate reading it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. JeanAugust 25, 2013 at 1:32 PM

    I've been on Trek twice and hope to go next year again with the youth from our stake... it's a great experience for anyone who can make it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. An Oasis in the DesertAugust 27, 2013 at 8:18 AM

    Beautiful story, Kristi We had a wonderful road trip vacation many years ago when our children were young, and going through the Grand Teton National Park was such a highlight.

    ReplyDelete

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