HISTORY OF JAMES BARTON

            James Barton was born July 21,1836, at Sutton Mill on the Douglas River, near Wigan, Lancashire, England.  He and his twin brother, William Bell, were the eldest sons of the family of six sons and one daughter born to John and Elizabeth Bell Barton.

           James Barton was baptized on December 11, 1848, by Elder Samuel Sharrett at St. Helens, Lancashire, England, at the age of 12 years.  He was ordained a Deacon in 1852, a Priest in 1853, and an Elder by James Marsden in 1856.  As a boy he made many trips with the Elders in England to preach on Sunday afternoons.

           The early life of the Barton family in England was one of industry.  With patient care, the mother Elizabeth had trained each one of her children to be useful around the home.  The seven boys could knit, darn   and sew, and in general be helpful in the house.  If they did something they should not have done, they would be punished by having to knit a few rounds on stockings.  Elizabeth and John were of the sturdy, honest English type, and the children were endowed with talents and ability which were turned to good account.

           James left England for America on March, 1860 with his twin brother William Bell and wife Ellen and their brother John.  They sailed for Liverpool on the ship "Underwriter" with a company of Saints and arrived in New York on May 1, 1860.  Proceeding on their way they reached Florence, Nebraska and commenced the journey across the plains June 17, 1860, in an ox train under the captaincy of James D. Ross, which arrived in the Salt Lake Valley September 3, 1860.  They made the trip of a thousand miles across the plains on foot and endured all the hardships of a pioneer life for their faith and belief in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  One time when they were short of food and had not any meat for a long time, one of the oxen drank poisoned water and died.  So eager were the people for meat that the captain told them that if they would only eat the lean meat they might have it, but one man disobeyed orders and ate the fat which caused his death.

           Two years after James reached the Salt Lake Valley, he and his brother William made the trip back to Florence, Nebraska to meet their father and his family with their cousin Eliza Ann, daughter of Josiah Barton.  In 1863, James married his cousin, Eliza Ann, on the 4th of July in Kaysville, Utah.  The next year on the 5th of March , their marriage was solemnized in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City where James worked on the railroad.  He was a master mechanic.  They settled in the 21st Ward,  a new ward on the north bench divided from the 20th ward.  They lived in this ward for forty tears.  After he left the railroad, he worked at the Silver Bros. Iron Works as a machinist for many years.  While he worked for the Silver Bros., he made the pattern for the oxen, which were installed in the baptismal font in the Salt Lake Temple.

           There were eleven children born to James and Eliza Ann Barton: James Bell, Helena Bell, Bertha Drucilla, Margaret Eugenie, Horace Woods, Zella Eliza, Ida Ellen, Elizabeth (died young), Lucy Maud, Alice Bernice, and Lester Josiah (died young)

           We are told that at about the same hour Sunday afternoon, the Barton twins,  James and William, could be seen walking down South Temple Street on their way to Tabernacle to attend Sacrament Meeting.  When they came down the street, the Saints knew it was time to go to Church.  These two brothers were distinguished looking men with their white hair and beards.  William was more of the leader, and James was very quiet and retiring.

           James died November 28, 1919.