John Mills was born in Easter Canada 24 July 1804, son of Mathew and Hannah Boils Mills. When John was only 9 years old his parents died within ten days of each other. John lived with different people until the age of 16 when he went to live with his grandparents Boils and learned the carpentry trade also the mill trade.
At the age 23 John married Jane Sanford 13 March 1827. They ran mills at different places finally settling on Duffin Creek in Canada where they built a home and a saw mill. The country was new and wolves, bear and other wild animals roamed freely.
It was here that they were converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and they were all baptized by Elder John Taylor 6 Feb 1837 in the Millpond through a hole cut in the ice.
In Feb 1838 they left Canada to join the Saints in U.S.A. The snow would pack so hard in the wagon wheels that the horses and oxen could not pull the wagons. They had to make a fire and melt the snow out before they could go on.
They stopped at Kirtland, Ohio then Far West, Missouri. They were driven from their home and suffered from lack of food and exposure. In March of 1839 they went to Pike County, IL and stayed until the Prophet Joseph Smith located a place called Nauvoo.
In their travels they met up with the Thomas Ashton Family and became good friends. They both worked on the Nauvoo Temple. Thomas helped build the Mormon boat "Maid of Iowa".
When the exodus from Nauvoo began they went to Nashville, Iowa, then to Winter Quarters where they lived in dug out, much suffering was endured and many people died.
In the spring 1847 they went to Kanesville moving on to Council Bluffs in the fall.
While Mary Ashton was ill she asked her friend Eleanor Mills if she would marry her husband Thomas Ashton and take care of her children.
While in Kanesville Thomas Ashton and John Mills set up a shop to make and repair wagons for the trip west. After Thomas wife Mary died, Jane Mills and her daughter Eleanor took care of the children. On 23 Sept 1849 Thomas Ashton and Sarah Eleanor Mills were married fulfilling the wish of Thomas first wife Mary.
Here in Kanesville, 18 Aug 1850, Eleanor gave birth to a son naming him John Mills Ashton after her father, but Eleanor was not to live to raise little John. She passed away 3 Sept 1850. Her mother took care of the Thomas Ashton children until Thomas married Eleanor's cousin Arminta Lawrence 17 Feb 1851. They took Mary and Joseph, the children of Thomas first marriage, while Jane kept her grandson John to raise.
Both families worked hard to prepare for the trip west. John Mills got the opportunity of driving a team for a merchant Livingston, so he started west in the A.O. Smoot Company to come ahead and prepare for his family to come later. He arrived in Salt Lake in Oct 1850. In Feb 1851 he went to Lehi, Utah where he helped to lay out the town.
The rest of John Mills Family along with Thomas Ashton family prepared to leave for the west in the spring. They made their own wagons and outfitted them with provisions needed. The Mills wagon had one yoke of 4 year old steers on the tongue, two yoke of cows and one yoke of 2 year old steers for leaders.
The Missouri river was so high that they couldn't cross until 27 June 1851. They joined the Morris Phelps Company and headed west. About 150 miles out one of the oxen gave out and had to be left behind. So they put in the milk cow that had been brought along to furnish milk for little John who was just 13 months old and was carried on his grandmothers hip most of the way.
They arrived in Salt Lake City 27 Sept 1851 all in good shape. The old cow had helped pull the wagon and furnished the milk all the way here. She became such a valued friend of the family that when she grew so old and her teeth were so worn down that she couldn't graze grass, Jane Mills made her a pot of corn meal porridge everyday, and it was a sad day when the old cow died.
They all went to Lehi where Thomas Ashton and his family settled and stayed the rest of their lives. The John Mills family went on to Provo in 1852 taking John Mills Ashton with them and raising him as their own.
At the age 23 John married Jane Sanford 13 March 1827. They ran mills at different places finally settling on Duffin Creek in Canada where they built a home and a saw mill. The country was new and wolves, bear and other wild animals roamed freely.
It was here that they were converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and they were all baptized by Elder John Taylor 6 Feb 1837 in the Millpond through a hole cut in the ice.
In Feb 1838 they left Canada to join the Saints in U.S.A. The snow would pack so hard in the wagon wheels that the horses and oxen could not pull the wagons. They had to make a fire and melt the snow out before they could go on.
They stopped at Kirtland, Ohio then Far West, Missouri. They were driven from their home and suffered from lack of food and exposure. In March of 1839 they went to Pike County, IL and stayed until the Prophet Joseph Smith located a place called Nauvoo.
In their travels they met up with the Thomas Ashton Family and became good friends. They both worked on the Nauvoo Temple. Thomas helped build the Mormon boat "Maid of Iowa".
When the exodus from Nauvoo began they went to Nashville, Iowa, then to Winter Quarters where they lived in dug out, much suffering was endured and many people died.
In the spring 1847 they went to Kanesville moving on to Council Bluffs in the fall.
While Mary Ashton was ill she asked her friend Eleanor Mills if she would marry her husband Thomas Ashton and take care of her children.
While in Kanesville Thomas Ashton and John Mills set up a shop to make and repair wagons for the trip west. After Thomas wife Mary died, Jane Mills and her daughter Eleanor took care of the children. On 23 Sept 1849 Thomas Ashton and Sarah Eleanor Mills were married fulfilling the wish of Thomas first wife Mary.
Here in Kanesville, 18 Aug 1850, Eleanor gave birth to a son naming him John Mills Ashton after her father, but Eleanor was not to live to raise little John. She passed away 3 Sept 1850. Her mother took care of the Thomas Ashton children until Thomas married Eleanor's cousin Arminta Lawrence 17 Feb 1851. They took Mary and Joseph, the children of Thomas first marriage, while Jane kept her grandson John to raise.
Both families worked hard to prepare for the trip west. John Mills got the opportunity of driving a team for a merchant Livingston, so he started west in the A.O. Smoot Company to come ahead and prepare for his family to come later. He arrived in Salt Lake in Oct 1850. In Feb 1851 he went to Lehi, Utah where he helped to lay out the town.
The rest of John Mills Family along with Thomas Ashton family prepared to leave for the west in the spring. They made their own wagons and outfitted them with provisions needed. The Mills wagon had one yoke of 4 year old steers on the tongue, two yoke of cows and one yoke of 2 year old steers for leaders.
The Missouri river was so high that they couldn't cross until 27 June 1851. They joined the Morris Phelps Company and headed west. About 150 miles out one of the oxen gave out and had to be left behind. So they put in the milk cow that had been brought along to furnish milk for little John who was just 13 months old and was carried on his grandmothers hip most of the way.
They arrived in Salt Lake City 27 Sept 1851 all in good shape. The old cow had helped pull the wagon and furnished the milk all the way here. She became such a valued friend of the family that when she grew so old and her teeth were so worn down that she couldn't graze grass, Jane Mills made her a pot of corn meal porridge everyday, and it was a sad day when the old cow died.
They all went to Lehi where Thomas Ashton and his family settled and stayed the rest of their lives. The John Mills family went on to Provo in 1852 taking John Mills Ashton with them and raising him as their own.
John Mills was born in Easter Canada 24 July 1804, son of Mathew and Hannah Boils Mills. When John was only 9 years old his parents died within ten days of each other. John lived with different people until the age of 16 when he went to live with his grandparents Boils and learned the carpentry trade also the mill trade.
At the age 23 John married Jane Sanford 13 March 1827. They ran mills at different places finally settling on Duffin Creek in Canada where they built a home and a saw mill. The country was new and wolves, bear and other wild animals roamed freely.
It was here that they were converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and they were all baptized by Elder John Taylor 6 Feb 1837 in the Millpond through a hole cut in the ice.
In Feb 1838 they left Canada to join the Saints in U.S.A. The snow would pack so hard in the wagon wheels that the horses and oxen could not pull the wagons. They had to make a fire and melt the snow out before they could go on.
They stopped at Kirtland, Ohio then Far West, Missouri. They were driven from their home and suffered from lack of food and exposure. In March of 1839 they went to Pike County, IL and stayed until the Prophet Joseph Smith located a place called Nauvoo.
In their travels they met up with the Thomas Ashton Family and became good friends. They both worked on the Nauvoo Temple. Thomas helped build the Mormon boat "Maid of Iowa".
When the exodus from Nauvoo began they went to Nashville, Iowa, then to Winter Quarters where they lived in dug out, much suffering was endured and many people died.
In the spring 1847 they went to Kanesville moving on to Council Bluffs in the fall.
While Mary Ashton was ill she asked her friend Eleanor Mills if she would marry her husband Thomas Ashton and take care of her children.
While in Kanesville Thomas Ashton and John Mills set up a shop to make and repair wagons for the trip west. After Thomas wife Mary died, Jane Mills and her daughter Eleanor took care of the children. On 23 Sept 1849 Thomas Ashton and Sarah Eleanor Mills were married fulfilling the wish of Thomas first wife Mary.
Here in Kanesville, 18 Aug 1850, Eleanor gave birth to a son naming him John Mills Ashton after her father, but Eleanor was not to live to raise little John. She passed away 3 Sept 1850. Her mother took care of the Thomas Ashton children until Thomas married Eleanor's cousin Arminta Lawrence 17 Feb 1851. They took Mary and Joseph, the children of Thomas first marriage, while Jane kept her grandson John to raise.
Both families worked hard to prepare for the trip west. John Mills got the opportunity of driving a team for a merchant Livingston, so he started west in the A.O. Smoot Company to come ahead and prepare for his family to come later. He arrived in Salt Lake in Oct 1850. In Feb 1851 he went to Lehi, Utah where he helped to lay out the town.
The rest of John Mills Family along with Thomas Ashton family prepared to leave for the west in the spring. They made their own wagons and outfitted them with provisions needed. The Mills wagon had one yoke of 4 year old steers on the tongue, two yoke of cows and one yoke of 2 year old steers for leaders.
The Missouri river was so high that they couldn't cross until 27 June 1851. They joined the Morris Phelps Company and headed west. About 150 miles out one of the oxen gave out and had to be left behind. So they put in the milk cow that had been brought along to furnish milk for little John who was just 13 months old and was carried on his grandmothers hip most of the way.
They arrived in Salt Lake City 27 Sept 1851 all in good shape. The old cow had helped pull the wagon and furnished the milk all the way here. She became such a valued friend of the family that when she grew so old and her teeth were so worn down that she couldn't graze grass, Jane Mills made her a pot of corn meal porridge everyday, and it was a sad day when the old cow died.
They all went to Lehi where Thomas Ashton and his family settled and stayed the rest of their lives. The John Mills family went on to Provo in 1852 taking John Mills Ashton with them and raising him as their own.
At the age 23 John married Jane Sanford 13 March 1827. They ran mills at different places finally settling on Duffin Creek in Canada where they built a home and a saw mill. The country was new and wolves, bear and other wild animals roamed freely.
It was here that they were converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and they were all baptized by Elder John Taylor 6 Feb 1837 in the Millpond through a hole cut in the ice.
In Feb 1838 they left Canada to join the Saints in U.S.A. The snow would pack so hard in the wagon wheels that the horses and oxen could not pull the wagons. They had to make a fire and melt the snow out before they could go on.
They stopped at Kirtland, Ohio then Far West, Missouri. They were driven from their home and suffered from lack of food and exposure. In March of 1839 they went to Pike County, IL and stayed until the Prophet Joseph Smith located a place called Nauvoo.
In their travels they met up with the Thomas Ashton Family and became good friends. They both worked on the Nauvoo Temple. Thomas helped build the Mormon boat "Maid of Iowa".
When the exodus from Nauvoo began they went to Nashville, Iowa, then to Winter Quarters where they lived in dug out, much suffering was endured and many people died.
In the spring 1847 they went to Kanesville moving on to Council Bluffs in the fall.
While Mary Ashton was ill she asked her friend Eleanor Mills if she would marry her husband Thomas Ashton and take care of her children.
While in Kanesville Thomas Ashton and John Mills set up a shop to make and repair wagons for the trip west. After Thomas wife Mary died, Jane Mills and her daughter Eleanor took care of the children. On 23 Sept 1849 Thomas Ashton and Sarah Eleanor Mills were married fulfilling the wish of Thomas first wife Mary.
Here in Kanesville, 18 Aug 1850, Eleanor gave birth to a son naming him John Mills Ashton after her father, but Eleanor was not to live to raise little John. She passed away 3 Sept 1850. Her mother took care of the Thomas Ashton children until Thomas married Eleanor's cousin Arminta Lawrence 17 Feb 1851. They took Mary and Joseph, the children of Thomas first marriage, while Jane kept her grandson John to raise.
Both families worked hard to prepare for the trip west. John Mills got the opportunity of driving a team for a merchant Livingston, so he started west in the A.O. Smoot Company to come ahead and prepare for his family to come later. He arrived in Salt Lake in Oct 1850. In Feb 1851 he went to Lehi, Utah where he helped to lay out the town.
The rest of John Mills Family along with Thomas Ashton family prepared to leave for the west in the spring. They made their own wagons and outfitted them with provisions needed. The Mills wagon had one yoke of 4 year old steers on the tongue, two yoke of cows and one yoke of 2 year old steers for leaders.
The Missouri river was so high that they couldn't cross until 27 June 1851. They joined the Morris Phelps Company and headed west. About 150 miles out one of the oxen gave out and had to be left behind. So they put in the milk cow that had been brought along to furnish milk for little John who was just 13 months old and was carried on his grandmothers hip most of the way.
They arrived in Salt Lake City 27 Sept 1851 all in good shape. The old cow had helped pull the wagon and furnished the milk all the way here. She became such a valued friend of the family that when she grew so old and her teeth were so worn down that she couldn't graze grass, Jane Mills made her a pot of corn meal porridge everyday, and it was a sad day when the old cow died.
They all went to Lehi where Thomas Ashton and his family settled and stayed the rest of their lives. The John Mills family went on to Provo in 1852 taking John Mills Ashton with them and raising him as their own.
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