Life sketch compiled by Mormon Battalion Association

Life sketch compiled by Mormon Battalion Association

Christopher Layton was born 8 March 1821 in England, one of seven children. In an autobiography he noted “There were no schools in our village so I had no chance for an education; and as my parents were poor, I was obliged to help in supporting the family by working while very young.” He worked at various farm related jobs. He married in 1842 and emigrated to America in 1843 as his wife gave birth to their first child on board their sailing vessel. In a short description of their travels up the Mississippi River via a ship and then a barge, Christopher described “here we had to stay two weeks waiting for ice on the river to break up...About the 7th of April, a small steamer fastened a cable onto the barge and tugged us up the river toward Nauvoo.” Their two-month-old son died before reaching St. Louis and was buried on the riverbank. His wife gave birth to a daughter in 1844 before she died in 1845 leaving Christopher with a young daughter in the care of others as he left Nauvoo for Council Bluffs in 1846. In a biography about his daughter it quoted Christopher stating William and Ann Smith “took my baby and cared for her as tenderly as they could have done for their own.”

At age 25, Christopher enlisted in the Mormon Battalion Company C. At Fort Leavenworth, he sent $5 from his clothing allowance to William Smith for “keeping a child.” William spent the $5 on food and supplies on December 12, 1846 as recorded in the Winter Quarters store ledger. On his way to Santa Fe, military records indicated Christopher was a daily duty teamster during September/October. Arriving in California with the main command in late January 1847, he was stationed at Los Angeles for the last four months of enlistment. After discharge in July 1847, he remained in Southern California. In his autobiography, Joseph Bates wrote “I, with five others, namely: Calvin W. Moore, Christopher Layton, Walter Barnes, Albert Knapp, and Shadric Holdaway, went to work for a man by the name of Julian Williams.” James V Williams also mentioned Christopher Layton in his memories. “About the 23rd of August I got a furlough to go to Rancho Chino to recover a mare that I loaned to Joseph W. Bates to ride there and to leave in the care of Christopher Layton who was employed by Don Julian Williams the owner of the rancho in making soap.” According to an account taken from his funeral address given by President Joseph F. Smith, “while in Southern California, Christopher bought 100 horses for $1.50 each, drove them north to the gold rush country and sold them for $100 each. On that trip a horse fell on him and broke his leg. A widow and her two daughters took care of him for 3 months.” His obituary also noted “While there he broke his leg and during the time he was laid up he learned the Spanish language.” Although he didn’t mine himself, he got lots of gold through horse trading, noting he was a horse keeper as a child. He married in San Francisco in 1849 but the marriage didn’t work out. His obituary noted he remained in California until 1850. “He left the coast in March of 1850 and sailed around South America, landing in England where he spent the summer. While here he married Sarah Martin, who accompanied him to St Louis Mo...He stopped near St. Louis and rented a farm one year employing some of the emigrants to work it...Arrived in Utah September 3rd, 1852.”

He married his first plural wife shortly after arriving in Salt Lake, followed by six additional wives, resulting in a very large posterity. Christopher applied for his bounty land benefits in 1853 and his name began to appear on Utah Militia rolls beginning in 1853 through 1861. He attended the 1855 Battalion reunion, providing a toast at the event. "May they long live upon the earth, and see the time when their enemies will be trampled down, and in days to come, may our posterity ever be ready to defend this cause; may a ram always be found in the thicket, and may the little stone cut from the mountains roll forth and fill the whole earth." Settling in Davis County, he was also involved in the community, serving two terms in the Utah Legislature and one of the first directors of the Utah Central Railroad. He erected many buildings of all kinds. To honor his contributions, Layton, Utah was named after him in 1885. He served in a variety of Church leadership positions and callings starting with a mission to Carson Nevada in 1856 and bishop of Kaysville Ward in 1862 and later as stake president in Arizona. Christopher attended a pioneer celebration in Ogden in 1896, two years before his death in 1898. Two wives were still living at the time of his death. Sarah who married in 1852 and Elizabeth who married in 1878 both applied for his pension benefits requiring interviews and recommendations of who was the legal wife by a pension examiner, noting Christopher had eight plural wives although he technically had ten marriages over his lifetime. The examiner determined Sarah was his legal wife and Elizabeth was never his lawful wife. The report also noted he had 65 children, 51 who were still living. His obituary also noted he had 65 children and 164 grandchildren, either the “largest or second largest in the Mormon Church.”

Sources:

Military and Church records, Pension and bounty land applications

Autobiography, Christopher Layton, Joseph Bates, James V Williams

Biography of Elizabeth Layton Galbraith, by Kenneth R Rasmussen, 2010

Christopher Layton Biography, compiled by family in 1966 (includes first-hand accounts), Obituary

Ogden Daily Standard, July 17, 1896, 1855 Battalion Reunion publication