Eliza Stratford - Third Wife of Henry Rampton

Several years ago, David and I visited the Bountiful City Cemetery to take photographs of the Rampton headstones.  In the area around the headstone of Henry Rampton was a small stone with a simple engraving:  

Eliza S.

& baby

Jan. 20, 1838

Apr. 25. 1863

This, along with a few sentences in Henry Rampton's journal were all the earthly writings concerning this young woman that I was aware of.  In a way, that made me sad.  Here were the earthly remains of this young woman, third wife of Henry Rampton, and we hardly knew anything about her.  So recently I set out to find out all I could about her.  She, like Henry was a convert to the Gospel in England and immigrated to the Great Salt Lake Valley.  One of her older sisters was the wife of Charles W. Penrose, who later became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and a member of the First Presidency of the Church under President Joseph F. Smith.  A younger sister with whom she traveled to the United States was the wife of William Budge who had baptized Henry Rampton in 1853.  I assume Brother Budge was the one who introduced Eliza and Henry.  At any rate, I decided that I would take all the information I found and report it in the form of an obituary.  I was also able to find some old photos of her father, mother and one older sister. 

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Monday, 27 April 1863

Dozens Mourn Eliza Rampton

Bountiful Woman Died in Childbirth

Dozens of mourners, including family and friends gathered today at Bountiful City Cemetery to pay their final respects to Eliza Stratford Rampton, wife of long-time Bountiful resident, Henry Rampton, who died Saturday in childbirth along with her baby son.  She was 25. 

Eliza Stratford was born 20 January 1838 in Malden, Essex, England, daughter of George Stratford and Eliza Barwell.  Her father was a cabinet maker and would sometimes take his daughters to work with him.  She learned of the restored gospel while in her early teens.  Her mother was baptized on 17 April 1851.  Within two months the rest of the Stratford family who were of age entered into the waters of baptism.  Like many of the converts in England, the Stratford family desired to migrate to the Great Salt Lake Valley, but were of limited means.  Eliza left England on 11 May 1860 with her sister Julia and Julia's husband, William Budge, who seven years earlier had baptized Henry Rampton.  They sailed across the Atlantic on the ship William Tapscot along with 730 other saints arriving in New York City on 15 June.  They were detained in quarantine for 5 days due to cases of small pox that had broken out among several of the passengers, although none proved fatal.  Previous ships bringing Saints from Europe had sailed to New Orleans and then up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to Florence, Nebraska at which point they headed west.  However, because of the outbreak of the Civil War, that more direct route was no longer available.   From New York City Eliza traveled up the Hudson River to Albany and then westward via train to Rochester and Niagara Falls.  How thrilling it must have been to cross the suspension bridge into Canada and witness the majesty of the American and Horseshoe Falls.  Her group continued to travel west until they re-entered the United States and took a steamboat down to Florence, Nebraska where they finalized their preparations to head to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake.  Eliza's brother-in-law, William Budge was assigned to captain the wagon train that left Florence on 20 July 1860.  It was a blessing for Eliza to be able to travel with her sister and brother-in-law in a strange land and through formidable territory.  She was also blessed in that the wagon she was assigned was the lead wagon, preventing her from having to breathe the dust from the other wagons.  The wagon train arrived in Salt Lake City on 6 Oct 1860.

A year later Eliza's father and mother would embark for Utah.  Tragedy struck the Stratford family when her father, George died during the journey and was buried on the plains of Nebraska.

Sometime during the first two years after her arrival in Utah, Eliza was introduced to Henry Rampton, noted blacksmith in the Bountiful area.  They were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City on 29 March 1862. 

 
Eliza is survived by her husband, Henry, his wife Frances Dinwoodey Rampton, her mother Eliza Barwell Stratford, brother, Edwin Stratford (Mrs. Marianne Crabb Straford), and sisters Lucetta Penrose (Mr. Charles W. Penrose), Julia Budge (Mr. William Budge), Anne Robinson (Mr. Oliver Robinson) and Emily Stratford.

Eliza Barwell Stratford - mother of Eliza Stratford Rampton



Headstone of Eliza Stratford Rampton and her baby



George Stratford - father of Eliza Stratford Rampton

Lucetta Stratford Penrose - older sister of Eliza Stratford Rampton