John Watkins was born in the small English village of Maidstone in Kent County. His father was a successful architect and builder and young John followed his father in this profession. When seventeen, John married Margaret Ackhurst from a neighboring village. The young couple moved to London to find work and while there they were taught by Mormon missionaries and joined the Mormon Church (full name: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). John's parents were very bitter over this rejection of his Anglican faith. For this and other reasons John and Mary emigrated to America to join with the Latter-day saints in Utah. By this time John and Mary's family consisted of two small children, Elizabeth 4 and John Thomas 1. After arriving in America by sailing ship they joined the ill-fated Martin Handcart Company. John was the bugler for the group and it was his duty to blow the bugle to signal to the handcarters when to begin and end travel, stop to rest, etc. He pulled and small handcart across the great American West, following the same route that thousands of other emigrants had traveled. With little food and clothing the handcart company was stopped by early snow storms along the Sweetwater River near South Pass, Wyoming. Before they were rescued almost one third of the entire company was dead from exhaustion, starvation or exposure to the bitter cold. Fortunately, John and his family survived the terrible ordeal. After arriving in Salt Lake City, the Watkins settled in the small frontier settlement of Midway, Utah. Using his architectural and building skills, John constructed many beautiful brick homes that still stand. John became a great leader in his community and evenually was called to serve as the town's Mormon bishop. John also lived the Mormon doctrine of "plural marriage," and in addition to his first wife Mary, he married two other women - Harriett Steele and Mary Ann Sawyer. They all lived in a large home he built for them and all their children. After a severe illness, John Watkins died on December 23, 1909 and was buried on Christmas Day in the Midway, Utah Cemetary.