Janet Johnston

Janet’s daughter, Sarah McGavin (Family Search ID: KWJD-RZK), wrote a letter to her father stating that her family – consisting of her mother, Janet, and her siblings, Agnes, James, Jeanette, Mary, and Robert – began their trek to Salt Lake City the week before her marriage, which was April 20, 1859. More research needs to be conducted to determine which company they traveled in. 

Agnes McGavin (McKendrick), one of Janet’s other daughters, reported in the 1900 US census that her family immigrated to the United States in 1855. Unverified research had suggested that the family may have traveled to Utah in the Hooper and Williams Freight Train in 1855, but Sarah’s letter confirming the date of their departure suggests otherwise.