William Owen Orton

Son of William and Hannah Orton.  The family crossed the Atlantic on the ship William Tapscott in 1859, then crossed the plains in 1861 with financial assistance from the Perpetual Emigrating Fund.  There is a "Wm. Orton" on the roster of the Cannon company. This is puzzling because in an autobiographical sketch (see Lundgren source), William Orton said "we remained in New York until June of 1861 and then came to Utah in Captain Ira Eldridge's company." It's unlikely that there could be two people with that same name traveling to Utah that same year. He may have generalized how he and his family traveled to Utah in his autobiography. Possibly he began traveling with his family in the Eldredge company and became a teamster for Thomas J. Jones in the Cannon company en route.

In 1866, he crossed the plains again as an out-and-back teamster for the Thompson company.