He had to come up with a family name that he could be while he was on the trek, so
Mike asked his Uncle Blake if he knew of any family members that were pioneers.
Uncle Blake came up with a wonderful story.
Brad got to be his 5th Great Grandpa John Hardcastle.
Here is the whole story of John Hardcastle:
John Hardcastle sailed for America on May 25, 1856, on the ship “Horizon” from Liverpool, England. The voyage was a very rough one and the food was coarse. There were 956 passengers on board, so the ship was pretty well crowded. The food consisted of hard tack or oatmeal crackers so hard and dry that the people could not bite them until they had soaked them in water all night, very salty meat that had to undergo the same process, and a very few fresh potatoes boiled in the skins. They did not taste or see bread from the time they left Liverpool until they reached Boston. Boston was their landing place after about seven weeks of tossing and rolling up and down over the waters.
From Boston he traveled to Iowa City where he remained for three months before he could leave for the Salt Lake Valley because neither the handcarts or the wagons were ready. It was the middle of September when the company started for Salt Lake, a distance of about 1300 miles. The two companies, wagons and handcarts, started together. John was a passenger in Captain John A. Hunt’s Ox Train. The Ox or wagon train had strict orders to keep behind so that they could pick up as many as possible and leave none behind. Of course, all had to walk that could, but many gave out, and before reaching Laramie, which was about 500 miles from the starting point, severe snow storms set in and snow became a foot deep, covering up the trail so that they could not find anything to make a fire with at night or food for the cattle. That was where trouble began. The men had to go ahead and break the way by tramping through the snow so the teams could travel, then the process was slow. Men and teams began to give out, food for all soon got scarce, and clothing would freeze to the women's legs. They could not lie down at night until the snow was shoveled away and here was one of the deeds of John Hardcastle. He was a strong, stout young man and as the storms came on thick and strong, the journey became more tiresome. The snow became 2 and 3 feet deep and often more. The cattle and the people began to feel the effects and death claimed many more. As fast as an Ox dropped down, it was eagerly sought after for food to sustain the company. It was the painful duty of the Captain to go around every morning to see how many had died during the night, as they had to be laid away before starting. Sometimes there were from 6 to 8 and often more. One night 18 passed away and they were buried in three separate graves, six in each. This is some of the work that John Hardcastle and the rest of the young men had to perform in 1856, and so history goes.
When Devil’s Gate was reached, the number was small to what it was when they started. It was there that relief was received which had been sent out from Salt Lake City to assist them. Several of the young men remained at Devil’s Gate for a time to take care of the property which could not be brought in that season, and of course, the men had to subsist on what cattle was left and as no food could be obtained, the cattle soon died and the boys had to save as much of the meat as possible for the winter. When this was all gone, it became necessary to dig up the hides and such scraps that the wolves had left, and live on this as best they could until spring.
John arrived in Salt Lake City with the main body on December 3, 1856, but Brigham Young asked him to be a Scout and so he went back to Devil’s Gate and stayed during the winter going back and forth from Devil’s Gate bringing people into the Valley. He arrived permanently in Salt Lake in the Spring of 1857, where he entered the employ of Franklin D. Richards & afterwards took up land and went into farming at West Jordan which pursuit he followed until he went into business for himself at Sandy, Utah.
At the age of 20, he married Miss Trena Dungarrd Larson whom he had met on the trail when coming to Utah.
Your relationship to John Hardcastle:
John Hardcastle
August O. Johnson and Lillian Hardcastle
Dexter Irvin Gardner and Magdalene Lillian Johnson
Ronald Johnson Gardner and Arlene Ellen Hale
Lance John Garner and Rhonda Ellen Gardner
Michael Lance Garner and Tara Dawn Fisher
Bradly Michael Garner
He also had to have names that he could take to the temple in Utah. So we called Grandma Rhonda for that and she was able to get us names that were members of Johns family that had never had there work done for them.
He had a wonderful time and I just hope that next time Mike and I will be able to go and experience the pioneer life.
Martin's Cove Wyoming
Salt Lake City, Utah and Jordan, Utah
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