James Eli Ashcraft

He seems to have preferred the name "Eli."  In some sources his surname is spelled "Ashcroft."  His obituary in the Deseret Evening News, 3 March 1906, 2, says: "Two years before the pioneers came to Utah, Mr. Ascroft was in this country with others from Kansas City, who were after a band of outlaws.  After the Saints began to settle the country in '47, he came here again and joined the Church in '54."  (This explains why Eli's entry in the Book of the Pioneers says he came to Utah in 1845.)  Although the Book of the Pioneers was supposed to record only the names of the 1847 pioneers, Eli does not appear in the 1850 Utah census.  The first evidence that he was in the state is the 1856 census.   Eli's death date is from his Utah death certificate.