Flint, William (Feb 17, 1825 – Apr 18, 1901)

WILLIAM FLINT

William Flint was born February 17, 1825 in Sutton, Derbyshire, England to John Flint and Elizabeth Sheppard.

William married Charlotte Limb on July 1, 1850. On February 22, 1855
Charlotte gave birth to a male infant who died at birth. Records
indicate that Charlotte died the same day.

William re-married Gerogeania Knighton on October 7, 1855 at the Parish Church in Brampton, Derbyshire, England.

Their first child John Knighton Flint was born 15 January 1857 and the
second child was George born May 16, 1861 both in Chesterfield,
Derbyshire, England.

Sometime between 1861 and 1864 they join[ed] the LDS Church and on
[the] 21st of May 1864 they boarded the ship "General McClellan"
sailing for America.

The following excerpts are taken from journals of passengers on the McClellan during their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

We were thirty two days on the ocean and had a good voyage for a
sailing vessel. There were 903 passengers on board and during the
voyage the[re] was one death one birth and one marriage. One night in a
dense fog our ship struck a monstrous iceberg and was nearly wrecked,
it was a fearful experience. Everything that was not lashed down tight
was thrown from side to side. [T]he cries of woman and children, the
shouts of men, the bumping of the ship against the iceberg made it seem
as if two monsters were trying to beat each other to pieces and the
great floating mountain of ice would overwhelm the sturdy ship and sink
her in the deep sea with all on board. But it was not to be so, we were
in the hands of the "master of ocean and earth and skies.
We landed in New York at Castle Gardens and after being processed we
were loaded on to a paddle boat and went up the Hudson River to Albany.
The reason everyone was sent north is because of the Civil War between
the Northern and Southern States. The ship "General McClellan" on her
return to England was sank off the coast of New York by a southern ship
the "Alabama".
From Albany, New York they boarded a train to Rochester and then on to
Buffalo, the[re] they crossed into Canada and onto Michigan then
traveled on the Michigan Central Railroad to Chicago and then on to
Quincy, Illinois and then to St Joseph, Missouri.
After reaching the Missouri River they were met by the "Over and Back
Wagon Trains" from Salt Lake and taken across the plains to Salt Lake
Valley.

No records are available on where they lived after arriving in Salt
Lake, but on August 8, 1866 they had a daughter Elizabeth born at Calls
Fort, Harper, Box Elder, Utah. Also born at Calls Fort was Mary, born
August 21, 1868, William Henry born August 1, 1871 and Sarah Ann born
and died in 1873.