• John initially traveled with his family to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847. Sometime after this, the Thatcher family moved to California, settling near Salmon Falls (near present day Folsom CA) by 1850. In 1857, heeding the call for the Saints to come back to Utah, the Thatcher family organized a small company, and headed East on July 6. They met a group of Saints in Carson City NV, and on the July 15, they reorganized under the leadership of Perrigrine Sessions. John then returned to California to help the remaining Saints return to Utah. A group traveled from San Juan to San Bernardino under the direction of Henry Boyle, but at San Bernardino, the group was dissolved and other companies were formed to continue on to Utah. Further research is needed to determine which company the family left San Bernardino with.

Daniel Spencer/Perrigrine Sessions Company (1847)

• Age at Departure: 12

Hezekiah Thatcher Company (1857)

• Age at Departure: 22

Perrigrine Sessions Company (1857)

• Age at Departure: 22

Company Unknown (1857)

• Age at Departure: 22

Sources

• 1850 California Census, Eldorado County.
• Anderson, Washington F. to Editor, 12 Aug. 1857, Bear River Ferry, in Historian's Office, History of the Church 1839-[ca. 1882], 414-18, 12 Aug. 1857.
• Boyle, Henry Green, Reminiscences and diaries, 1846-1888, fd. 1, 119.
• Find a Grave
• Frederick W. Hurst autobiography and diaries, 1855-1877, Journal, 1857 April-1860 April. 
• Historical Department journal history of the Church, 1830-2008, 21 June 1847, 11.
• Missionary Department Missionary Registers, 1860-1959, Volume 1.