Biography of Jane Williams Backhouse - Roger Grua.com

Biography of Jane Williams Backhouse
Obtained from the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, June 2007
by Roger E. Grua
Submitted to the DUP by Cora Hazelgren
BIOGRAPHY: JANE WILLIAMS BACKHOUSE
BIRTHDATE: 30 Sep 1824 Stockport, Lancashire, England
DEATH: 22 Jul 1898 Pleasant Grove, Utah, Utah
PARENTS: Samuel Williams & Mary Ann Moss
PIONEER: Sep 1861 Horace Eldridge Company Ox Team *see note at end
SPOUSE: James Backhouse
MARRIED: 1847 In England
DEATH SP: 16 May 1909 Pleasant Grove, Utah, Utah
CHILDREN:
Mary Alice B. 14 Mar 1849
William Orson B. 13 Aug 1851
James Williams B. 27 Apr 1854
John Thomas B. 14 Aug 1857 **see note at end
Sarah Jane B. 08 Mar 1861 d. 16 Aug 1861
Eleanor B. 06 Oct 1862
Jane Williams was born 30 Sep 1824 in Stockport, Lancashire, England, the daughter of
Samuel Williams and Mary Ann Moss. She married James Backhouse in 1847 somewhere close
to Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
Jane and her husband and sons came across the plains with the Horace Eldridge Company
by Ox team; however, she walked the entire way. She buried her infant daughter, Sarah Jane,
near the Platte River in Nebraska. She was so grief stricken [that] she had to be carried across
the Platte River, but on she went. The arrived in the valley in Sep 1861.
Jane was a good cook and she brought with her a large supply of yeast, which she shared
with others in the company. She was known for her generosity and willingness to help others.
She served as a midwife, and did a lot of genealogy and temple work. The family settled in
Pleasant Grove, Utah, where she died 22 July 1898. Her husband, James, died 16 May 1909 also
in Pleasant Grove, Utah, Utah.
Additional notes added by Roger E. Grua
* The Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel (1847-1868) website lists; Jane Williams Backhouse,
Pioneer Company: Ira Eldredge Company (1861); see website at:
http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompanysearch/1,15773,3966-1,00.html

According to Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel (1847-1868), the Horace Eldredge Company did
not come across the plains in 1861, but rather in 1858. This source lists the James Backhouse
family among those in the Ira Eldredge Company (1861). Further, child Sarah Jane was born in
England in 1861 just prior to their emigration to America so they did not come in 1858 when the
Horace Eldridge Co. came to Utah.
** Child 4, John Thomas.
John Thomas Backhouse is the name listed in all of the records we have, including the
Utah Burials Database. However, there is a headstone next to the stones for James Backhouse
and Sarah W. Backhouse which lists the name as John O. Backhouse. Only the birth and death
years are listed but they are the same as for John Thomas Backhouse and the Utah Burials
Database lists this grave as containing the remains of John Thomas Backhouse. ( see following
link) http://history.utah.gov/apps/burials/execute/burialresults. I thus must conclude that they
are one and the same person unless further evidence indicates otherwise.
August 18, 2007 REG
Tombstone in Pleasant Grove, Utah cemetery. Coordinates are A-11-007-07
Located immediately next to the stones for James Backhouse and Jane Williams Backhouse.