Elizabeth Hunt Thayne

   Elizabeth Hunt Thayne does not appear in the 1870 census in Utah which raises the question, where was she when the census was taken?

There are multiple explanations as to why she is not in the census, but the two reasons that seem most likely are:

      1) She was living at the sawmill up in Thayne canyon far away from the city

(or)

       2) She hid from the census taker because of the laws against polygamy.

    In the Utah History Encyclopedia it states that, "In 1862 the United States Congress passed the Morrill Act, which prohibited plural marriage in the territories, disincorporated the Mormon Church, and restricted the church's ownership of property. The nation was in the midst of the Civil War, however, and the law was not enforced. In 1867 the Utah Territorial Legislature asked Congress to repeal the Morrill Act. Instead of doing that, the House Judiciary Committee asked why the law was not being enforced, and the Cullom Bill, an attempt to strengthen the Morrill Act, was introduced."

    The only census I have been able to find Elizabeth in is the 1841 census taken in England when she was only two years old. 

"1841 England Census for Great Somerford, Wiltshire, England," images Ancestry.com

Tracing the Thayne family in the Census

Who was Annie Thayne?

She is recorded as John Johnson Thayne's daughter in the 1880 U.S. Census, but I haven't been able to locate any other records about her. Is it possible that her and Edgar were twins? One possible explanation is she married the Sundance Kid and her father disowned her. It has been a challenge to find any information about her, but I did come across this one story...

"During this period, Sundance (McGraf) lived in the Mormon town of Colonia Dublan, with the family of Nephi Thayne, president of the Chihuahua branch of the Mormon Church.

It was no coincidence that Sundance chose this family with whom to reside, for Nephi Thayne was his brother-in-law. In January, 190 1, shortly before leaving for South America, Sundance had married pretty Annie Marie Thayne, daughter of John Johnson Thayne, Mormon bishop of Wellington, Utah (with whose polygamous family Etta Place had lived as a girl). The staunchly religious father disowned his daughter for her choice of husbands and she was compelled to leave home, her plight worsened by the fact that she was pregnant and abandoned by Sundance when he fled to South America. Annie Thayne Longabaugh gave birth to a son - Harold Thayne Longabaugh late in 1901, and she was killed in a train wreck in Oregon several years later. Her son was raised in a foster family and only discovered his true identity many years later, when he met his father in a hotel in the State of Washington, under the alias of Hiram Bebee. Harold Thayne Longabaugh died in a tragic hotel fire in Montana in the 1970s."

For more information and to see a picture of Annie click on the link on this page and check out the blog created by Carole Thayne Warburton.

Missionary to Canada, England, and Scotland

John Johnson served a mission to Canada, England, and Scotland from 1878-80.
To hear a letter written by Elizabeth to John while he was serving check out the podcast on this blog.