William BOULTON

                   RESEARCH NOTE:
    LDS sources give parents as John Boulton and Eliza Tate, though it seems that there is a biography which states that William Boulton was born out of wedlock to a mother Ann Boulton, who later married a John Belchamber and with whom she had several additional children.  William returned to England in the 1880's for a visit to his half-siblings.  This comes from the postings of Judy Black on Genforum.

HISTORICAL NOTES:
    Historical and biographical information included in notes.

SEALING:
    William has been sealed to his mother Ann Boulton and step father John Belchamber



Found in Kate Carters Treasures of Pioneer History  Vol. II, Salt Lake City, UT: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1952. page 298
Subject: Brush Fences
William Smith tells us of an attractive brush fence that was built in Bountiful by his friend and neighbor, William Boulton, and his two sons. They were enclosing their door-yard and Mr. Boulton who was naturally a lover of neatness and beauty decided to make the best of what they had. They cut their stakes an even length and drove them into the ground in the usual way. Then the boys went into the canyon and got loads of willows and brush while the father painstakingly wove them into the fence turning all the heavy butt ends in the same direction and carefully covering them each time with the next layer of brush. Then it was tramped down and all unsightly spots were worked into the center leaving the outside as smooth and even as possible.
When the fence had nearly reached the top of the stakes the boys went into the canyon again and brought in two loads of very small birch saplings and these were woven into the fence over the stakes and into the fence again on the other side, carefully covering up all the heavy ends, thus making an attractive finish and binding the fence down, adding as much to its durability.  Bessie B. Brough

William Boulton 
William Boulton was an intense, quick, diligent man whose dreams became his goals both for himself and for his family. He often reminded his children that in America we are ladies and gentlemen by virtue of our own efforts and behavior. He left no doubt that from his family, he expected high achievement in both areas. He was about five feet, nine inches tall, of medium build and dark complexion. He was characterized by his erect carriage and boundless energy. He had a driving intellectual interest in everything. Life and time were precious to him and he wasted very little of either (Berniece Ashdown Weber-1977). 
William Boulton grew up with his mother Eliza Tate and his stepfather George Belchamber. Beginning at an early age he worked with his stepfather as a masons apprentice. He chose not to use this skill in making a living, but later exhibited his abilities in this direction by building houses for his family after they came to Utah. 
In his younger years, William had worked at a number of different jobs including bricklaying, stonemasonry, carpentry, gardening, common labor, and for a while as a coachman for a private estate. In 1853 he became coachman for officials and salesmen at the Thomas Dives Flour Mill. He worked for this company fifteen years and reigned when he immigrated to the United States.
The family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and decided to join the main body of the Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. They disposed of most of their possessions and booked passage on the ship Minnesota under the command of Captain James Price. They sailed from Liverpool.
They planned to travel west by train. The journey was too much for their eldest daughter Margaret. She collapsed and died near Albany, New York. The railway tickets were paid for, and there was no money to buy new ones. They had no choice but to turn her body over to strangers for burial. They were able to find some Mormon missionaries to represent them. From Omaha, Nebraska to Laramie, Wyoming they rode in a box car equipped with plank seats. From Laramie the rest of the trip was made by stagecoach. They arrived early in August after traveling a total of two months.
The family settled in Bountiful. With winter coming soon, William was anxious to find employment. He joined a group of men to work on the Union Pacific Railway to do the grading and masonry work from Echo Canyon through Weber Canyon and on to Salt Lake.
Separation was difficult for the entire family. Martha asked permission to glean some of the fields. They were able to gather sixteen bushels of wheat as well as an assortment of vegetables for winter use. 
When the contract was finished they spent the money on land, built a house and a barn. William worked the land. During the peak of the summer work, William did not allow himself the luxury of a nights rest. He worked virtually day and night, sleeping for a few hours between shifts without taking his clothes off.
In later years, as the family load diminished, William cut back on his hard work. He shifted to raising and training horses. He had a keen appreciation for fine animals.
Williams energy and zeal for high performance were not without their penalty. Often he was disappointed which led to disillusionment. At the time he came to Utah, he was deeply dedicated to the Mormon Church, but as one person after another failed to live up to its precepts, he became critical of the Church itself for not exercising more discipline. Eventually, he withdrew his membership from the Church and exacted the same from his family. Martha was deeply hurt, but she was powerless to change his course. In his later years, he confided to some members of his family that he regretted quitting the Church. 
Toward the end of his life it became his practice to walk to Salt Lake City every Saturday morning and have breakfast with his daughters family, the Fehrs. On December 6, 1913, William made his customary trip to Salt Lake. After breakfast with the Fehrs he hurried up Capital Hill to see the building of the Utah State Capitol Building. Fascinated, he watched too long and became ill, so he went back to the Fehrs. They put him to bed. His condition worsened, but little could be done for him. He died on December 17, 1913. He was 79 years old.
(This information comes from the Fehr Family Book of Remembrance. The history was written by Alfretta Boulton Ashdown, Franklin D, Ashdown, Camilla Randall Boulton, Irene Boulton, James Boulton, James Richard Boulton, Jane Boulton Crompton, Edmund Fehr, Iris Allen Fehr, Ruby Boulton Ward.)