• A daughter of William wrote that he came to Utah in 1850, but his obituary indicates he came in 1849. Further research is needed to narrow the exact year of his initial emigration and identify the name of the company he traveled with.

  In the winter of 1856, he also participated in the rescue effort to bring in new emigrants stranded on the plains of Wyoming the winter of 1856 does appear in the 1850 Utah census.

  William's birthday is confirmed by his diary. He mentions turning 23 years old.

Unknown Companies (1847-1868)

• Age at Departure: 13

Rescue Companies (1856)

• Age at Departure: 22

Sources

• 1850 Utah Census.
• Cantwell, James, Autobiography, in Joel Edward Ricks, Cache Valley Historical Material [ca. 1955], reel 3, item 29.
• "Died," Deseret News, 17 January 1877, 815.
• Find a Grave (Website)
• Haddock, Edith Parker and Dorothy Hardy Matthews, History of Bear Lake Pioneers [1968], 92.
• Hodgetts and Hunt companies camp journal excerpts in Historical Department journal history of the Church, 1896-2001 July, 15 December 1856, 16-37.
• Jones, Daniel W., Forty Years Among the Indians (1890), 62-75.
• "Names of Persons Who Volunteer to Go as Teamsters" in Offerings for the assistance of the P. E. F. immigrants, 1856 October in Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company general files, 1850-1887.
• Rogerson, Josiah, "Martin's Handcart Company, 1856 [No. 9]," Salt Lake Herald, 1 December 1907.
• William Broomhead diary, 1856 October-1857 April.