Joseph Horton was the second child of Henry Horton & Sarah Ann Hancock born December 11th, 1849 at West Bromwich, Staffs.
By 1851 Joseph was living at Walsall St, West Bromwich with his parents & sister Henrietta.
By 1861 the family had moved to Knutton, Silverdale, Staffs. Joseph was still at home with sisters Henrietta, Sarah A, Harriet L, Clara Ann, & brothers Henry & Jeremiah. Joseph was a forgeman.
They had moved again by the time of the 1871 census & were living at Bank St, Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent. Like his father, Joseph was a cutter down at forge.
By 1878 Joseph had emigrated to the USA. He was found in the 1880 census (listed as Joseph H Horton) living at Smithfield, Cache, Utah. He was married to Mary (nee Sproat) & they had a son Henry J, aged 2, born in Utah. There were 2 other people listed with them – William H Altham (17) born in England & John S Altham (12) born in Utah - the children of Mary from her previous marriage to John Altham.
Mary Sproat was christened May 5th, 1841 at Dalston, Cumberland, the daughter of Elizabeth & John Sproat, a jobbing gardener. Mary had married John Altham in April-June 1861, the marriage being registered at Carlisle. It appears that Mary & John emigrated to the USA in the 1860s & a record exists for Mary Altham (25), a milliner, travelling from Liverpool to New York on the ‘Arkwright’ on July 6th, 1866. With her were 2 children – Jane (4) who sadly died on the voyage & William (3). It appears that Mary & John were married ‘again’ at Salt Lake City, Utah on December 13th, 1866. There is a burial recorded for John Altham at Smithfield, Utah in the Smithfield Cemetery Records but no date given.
Although no marriage details have been found for Joseph & Mary, the US 1900 census indicates that they were married 25 years previously i.e. c1875. By 1900 Joseph & Mary had moved to Challis, Custer Co, Idaho where Joseph was now a silver miner. They were living in their own freehold house with children Thomas (17), a farm labourer & Sarah Ann (15) who was still at school. Information on the census indicates that Joseph had emigrated to the States in 1870 (although he changed this to 1872 in the next 2 censuses). Interestingly the census shows that Mary had had 9 children, 4 of whom were living. Son Joseph Henry was also a silver miner & the 1900 census shows him boarding in Bay Horse, Challis Precinct, Custer, Idaho.
Joseph & Mary were still living in the village of Challis is 1910. Joseph was now a Justice of the Peace. Son Thomas was still at home & his occupation was ‘odd jobs’. Another interesting fact gleaned from the census was that Mary had indeed been married twice.
By 1920 Mary had died & widowed Joseph was living alone in Challis. He continued to be a Justice of the Peace at the age of 73 & gave his place of work as the US Land Commission.
Joseph died on January 13th, 1924 at Challis, Custer, Idaho.
The children of Joseph Horton & Mary Altham (nee Sproat) were:
h.1.10.2.1 Joseph Henry Horton born April, 1878 in Utah, USA
h.1.10.2.2 Joseph Jeremiah Horton born c1879 in Utah, USA, died Jan 1880 at
Cache, Utah, USA
h.1.10.2.3 Thomas Horton born April, 1883 in Utah, USA
h.1.10.2.4 Sarah Ann Horton born August, 1884 in Utah, USA