Person:John Gillies (4)

NOTE: He appears in his son, Robert's, household in the 1851 census as a "Chelsea Pensioner." This means he was a retired military man of at least a number of years experience. Given his probable date & place of birth, he probably was a member of one of the Highland regiments during the Napoleonic wars.

___________________________________________________________

Embarked from Liverpool, 19 Apr 1856 on the S. Curling, part of a group of 707 Mormon emigrants. Arrived at Boston 23 May 1856 and immediately travel by rail to Iowa City for the trek to Utah. Full details & passenger list at the "Mormon Migration" website (hosted by BYU).

The Gillies family originally prepared to travel west with the William B. Hodgetts handcart company, which left Iowa City August 1, 1856. All the family, except the grandfather, John Gillies (age 83 at the time), appear on the roster. However, they decided to stay the winter, possibly to let the grandfather regain his health.

They then came west with the Jesse B. Martin handcart company in June 1857. Grandfather John died at the crossing of the Elk Horn River in Nebraska and was buried 1 July 1857 [from the Journal of Jesse Bigler Martin and Robert McQuarry Journal]. The family left the handcart company on July 17 and returned to the Genoa settlement.

Jesse B. Martin Company (1857) Departure: 1-3 June 1857 Arrival in Salt Lake Valley: 12 September 1857

The ill-fated Martin-Willy handcart company had left Iowa too late in the year and was caught in a series of ice storms in Wyoming. Many of the party died.