Looking for our Willie Handcart Pioneer

I usually only work on my family lines and not my husband's.  His family has been a member of the Church from almost the beginning and a whole lot of people have been working on those lines.  However, I was asked to share some pioneer stories at my ward's Pioneer Day activity on Saturday and I don't have any in my line.  I'm the pioneer.  I'm the convert that joined the Church.  So I had to turn to Carl's lines since they did come across the plains to Salt Lake City.  Also, Matthew is going on Trek on Wednesday, and he was asked to bring a name of a pioneer ancestor if he had one.  So.....we spent our Sabbath afternoon and evening looking for the rumored 'Willie Handcart' ancestor.  We'd heard for years that there was an ancestor of ours in the Willie Handcart Company, and that would be a great ancestor to focus on for Trek and also give me the needed pioneer story.

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As an interesting side note:  I attended church at Shiloh's Ward today because her husband, Jim, was being called as 1st Counselor in the new Bishopric.  After the setting-aparts were finished, I asked Shiloh if she had any pioneer clothing because we were supposed to dress up for Pioneer Day and since I was offering the pioneer stories, I thought I should at least have a bonnet on!  She said she did have a bonnet and then she said that she also had a book of pioneer stories that Jim's parents, Stan and Linda Jorgensen, had given them when they visited them on their mission.  They served a mission in Wyoming where the Willie and Martin handcart companies had gone through.  They took groups through and told them the stories.  That's the same place Rachel went on her Trek.  I had a rush of the spirit pour over me when she told me that and asked her if I could borrow it.  As I pondered the feelings that I experienced when she told me about the book, I thought to myself....the Bishop asked me to tell a personal pioneer story for Pioneer Day.  But I didn't have any.  So I had to find one in Carl's family or just find a great pioneer story to tell.  Shiloh had a book of pioneer stories, so I felt that there was definitely something in that book that the Lord wanted shared or wanted me to find and that's why I felt the spirit.  Read to the end to find out the rest of the story and how I came to know exactly what the spirit wanted me to find in that book!

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I did a bit of research to find the time period for the Willie Handcart Company and discovered that they left Iowa City for Salt Lake City in 1856.  So I went to Carl's family history and found the ancestors that lived about then.  It didn't take long to discover that a man named Joseph McKay was our Willie Handcart ancestor.

Joseph McKay was born in Ireland in 1799.  But he died in Salt Lake City, Utah in  1876.  Ancestry.com had a record from the LDS Pioneer and Handcart Companies, 1847-1856 that included this Joseph McKay, and it stated on it the he was part of the Willie Company!!

LDS Pioneer and Handcart Companies, 1847-1856 Joseph McKay

Name: Joseph McKay Gender: Male Birth Date: 12 Feb 1799 Birth Place: Dervock, Antrim, Ireland Death Date: 17 Jun 1876 Company: Willie Father's Name: George McKay Mother's Name: Martha Clark At www.findagrave.com I found that he was buried at the Salt Lake City Cemetery: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=MC&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=47&GScntry=4&GSsr=6441&GRid=32141912& Name: Joseph McKay Birth Date: 12 Feb 1799 Age at Death: 77 Death Date: 17 Jun 1876 Burial Place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, USA

LD

So, I found our pioneer ancestor (at least one of them).  I wanted to back-up that information, so I googled a bit and found this publication:

http://files.lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration/articles/MembersOfTheWillieAndMartinHandcartCompaniesOf1856.pdf

MEMBERS OF THE WILLIE AND MARTIN
HANDCART COMPANIES OF 1856
A Sesquicentennial Remembrance
Compiled by
Dr. Susan Ward Easton

In it was listed, alphabetically, the members of the Willie Handcart Company, and Joseph McKay was on the list.  He didn't have any other family members listed, though.  So it appears that he went alone on this trek to Utah.

Did he come to America alone?  He was born in Ireland, so he had to have immigrated to the US at some point.  But when was that and who did he bring with him?  Had be been living in the United States for awhile and joined the church there and then joined the Saints moving to Utah?  Lots to learn, still!

I went back and checked to see if anyone else came over to American with him on the ship Thornton, but he came by himself.  No wife or children were listed with him.

New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 Joseph Mckay

Name: Joseph Mckay Arrival Date: 16 Jun 1856 Birth Date: abt 1799 Age: 57 Gender: Male Ethnicity/ Nationality: British (English) Place of Origin: Great Britain Port of Departure: Liverpool, England Destination: Utah;United States of America Port of Arrival: New York, New York Ship Name: Thornton Search Ship Database: Search the Thornton in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database

Source Citation: Year: 1856; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237; Microfilm Roll: 163; Line: 44; List Number: 490.

At first, I assumed that he just immigrated with a lot of other people that wanted to get to American for a variety of different reasons. But this entire ship was filled with LDS immigrants to the US, all headed to Utah.  The man in charge of this group?  Here's an excerpt from the Willie Handcart Company Journal which is online at BYU Library:

May 1, 1856: Passengers embarked on the ship Thornton. Birth: Charles Thornton McNeil to Jennet and Thomas McNeil 

Company Journal
Passengers embarked on the Ship “Thornton”, took possession of their berths as allotted to them; by the evening, order and tranquility prevailed throughout the whole ship. Jennet McNeil from Haddington near Edinburgh was safely delivered of a fine boy at 5 p.m. The number of passengers are as follows: 560 adults, 172 children, 29 infants.

Paul Lyman Commentary
The James G. Willie Emigrating Company Journal began on May 1, 1856. It took a little over six weeks to sail from Liverpool, England, to New York City, New York. The ship Thornton did not leave the port until May 4th. The first three days were spent by the passengers settling into their shipboard accommodations. President Franklin D. Richards, the Mormon apostle who had responsibility for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter “the Church”) in England, came and installed leadership for these traveling Saints. James G. Willie, a missionary returning to Utah, was appointed to lead the company. He was appointed President. Counselors and other leaders were also appointed. As is the custom in the Church, these actions were presented to the Saints for a sustaining vote, which vote was unanimous in support of the appointments.Peder Madsen was appointed secretary to the Danish Saints at the time they left for England, about a week earlier. He stated that there were 164 Scandinavian Saints and 608 English Saints that boarded “a large three decker” ship. Obviously the total number of travelers in these two records is not the same.
The Thornton was built in 1854 in New York City, New York. She weighed 1,422 tons and was 191 feet long and 40 feet wide at her widest point. The three-masted Thornton also had three decks.¹ The ship was commanded by Captain Charles Collins. The McNeils’ son was given the name “Charles Thornton.” These names were given in honor of the captain and the ship.²

It's late and I have to get to bed.  I'll continue this later.