The Autobiography of
James Horace Skinner
1842-1917

As a child, James Horace Skinner sailed on the historic voyage of the Brooklyn from New York, around Cape Horn, and on to what was later called San Francisco. After living for a while in California the family travels on to become early pioneers in Utah.
Part 1:
  • First memories
  • Around Cape Horn
  • The rise and fall of Sam Brannan
  • Off to fight the Spanish
  • Making bread
  • Bull fights
  • Fever
  • San Francisco burns
  • Peace with Mexico
    		•  Part 2:
  • Life in California
  • Mountain Meadow Massacre
  • Feeding the Indians
  • Eaten alive
  • Surrounded by Indians
  • Hard times in Utah
  • Indian raid
    		•  Part 3:
  • The cavalry
  • Invisible terror
  • Hard work
  • Building a school house
  • The telegraph
  • Building the temple
  • A promise broken
  • Return east
  • Hardly to be believed
    		•
     Additional Information:
  • Descendants of James Horace Skinner and Ellen Cartwright
  • Ancestors of James Horace Skinner and Ellen Cartwright
  • Photo of James Horace Skinner #1
  • Photo of James Horace Skinner #2 (with unidentified children)
  • Photo of Horace Austin Skinner & Laura Ann Farnsworth (parents of J. H. S.)
    • James Horace Skinner married Ellen Cartwright on August 1, 1860 and raised thirteen children. His father, Horace Austin Skinner was the first mayor of Beaver, Utah for many years. After returning from the east, he spent the remainder of his life in the furniture business in Beaver and held many high civic and church positions. James Horace Skinner died on March 29, 1917 in Beaver, Utah and is buried in the Beaver cemetery.

    Many copies (hand copied, retyped and photocopied) of my great grandfather's story have been passed around and handed down in my family over the years. This version was made from a photocopy of the handwritten original but includes some corrections which had been made on various other copies. I have made corrections in spelling and punctuation and a few cases of missing or redundant words. I have also added the section headings. The original document was donated to The Utah State Historical Society in Salt Lake City by Clark Tolton a grandson of James Horace Skinner.

    David W. Skinner
    Grandview, WA
    1997 (updated May 2002)
    Email: sasquatch@bentonrea.com
    Home Page: http://users.bentonrea.com/~sasquatch/

    Related Links:

  • The Ship Brooklyn Association
  • Voyage of the Brooklyn
  • Mountain Meadow Massacre

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