The Minor Family of Somerset

Our Pioneer Heritage
Volume 14
Mining and Railroad Ghost Towns
Organizationof the Ward Relief Societies
Wyoming
Minutes of the organization of the Relief Society of the Evansto
n Ward of the Summit Stake of Zion of the 14th Day ofNovember
, 1878. Opened with singing "The Time Is Far Spent." Prayer by B
ishop William G. Burton. Hannah Burton, Sr., was appointed presi
dent; Amelia Cashmore and Mary Whittle, counselors. Eliza R. Sno
w addressed those present and gave instructions and exhorted th
e sisters to be faithful and attend to theduties they would b
e called to perform.... Eliza R. Snow again spoke and blessed th
em in the gift of tongues. Bishop Burton spoke and exhorted th
e sisters to be faithful to their calling. Sang, "Praise God Fro
m Whom All Blessings Flow." Benediction by Bishop Burton. -Charl
otte M. Burleigh
Latter-Day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia
Volume 2
Biographies
Brough, Samuel Richard
Burton, William Gilbert, a Patriarch in the Woodruff Stake of Zi
on, was bornMay 9, 1828, at Fowey, Cornwall, England, the son o
f Richard Burton and MaryGilbert. At the age of fourteen he wa
s apprenticed at Plymouth, Devonshire, to learn the baking busin
ess. After learning that trade, he remained in the same employ u
ntil he was twenty-three years old. Becoming a convert to "Mormo
nism," he was baptized Jan. 3, 1852, by Elder James Caffel, an
d confirmed Jan. 4, 1852, by Elder Wm. G. Mills. May 9, 1852, h
e married Hannah Tregale, whohad been baptized by Wm. C. Dunba
r Dec. 14, 1849, at St. Rollers, Island ofJersey. Brother Burto
n was ordained a Priest, June 6, 1852, by Wm. G. Mills;ordaine
d an Elder Dec. 19, 1852, by Elder Wm. G. Mills, and appointed t
o preside over the Plymouth branch of the Lands-end conference
. He afterwards presided over the Devonport branch, and from Jun
e, 1866, to July, 1867, he presided over the Lands-end conferenc
e. In 1867 he emigrated with his family to America, crossing th
e Atlantic in the steamship "City of Washington." After remainin
g at Williamsburg, New York, about a year, he emigrated to Utah
, traveling by rail to Benton, the terminus of the Union Pacifi
c railroad; thence hecontinued the journey by team to Salt Lak
e City. He located temporarily in that city, where he stood guar
d for three nights to protect Mrs. Marie Jarmanfrom her divorce
d husband, the notorious Wm. Jarman, who had threatened to shoo
t her. In 1869 Elder Burton located at Piedmont, Wyoming, wher
e he organized a SunDay school, and in the fall of 1871 he move
d his family to Evanston.In 1874, when a branch of the Church w
as organized at Evanston, Elder Burtonwas chosen as its preside
nt, and held that position until May, 1877, when the branch wa
s organized into a Ward of the Summit Stake of Zion, with himsel
f as Bishop. He was ordained a Bishop May 13, 1877, by Apostle F
ranklin D. Richards. In 1881 he resigned his position as Bisho
p and moved to Logan, wherehe was chosen as a High Councilor i
n the Cache Stake of Zion. For several years he also acted as cl
erk of the First Ward of Logan, and for eleven years asclerk o
f the High Priests quorum of the seven Wards of Logan. In 1897 h
e again took up his residence in Evanston, Wyoming, and when th
e Woodruff Stakewas organized in June, 1898, he was ordaine
d a Patriarch of that Stake June 6, 1898, by Heber J. Grant. I
n 1900-1902 he filled a mission to Great Britain,laboring in th
e Bristol conference. Brother Burton's wife died June 14, 1892
, leaving three sons and six daughters. At the present time (Sep
tember, 1903) Brother Burton's direct descendants number nine ch
ildren, thirty-two grandchildren and ten great grandchildren.
Encyclopedic History of The Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-da
y Saints
E
Evanston Ward
Evanston, which is the Headquarters of the Woodruff Stake of Zio
n, dates back to the building of theUnion Pacific Railroad thro
ugh that section of