Mr & Mrs Simpson Salt Lake City and Margaret Smith, Paris, Idaho.

[senteacher]

I'm hoping that someone may be able to help solve a family mystery. I have two Victorian photographs which are of family members but I cannot find out how they were in America.

One is labelled 'Mr and Mrs Simpson and son of America and Salt Lake City -Father's aunt' - which would make her the aunt of William Sanderson, born 1848 in Seghill, Northumberland, England;which would make his aunt's birth about 20 years earlier.
The other is labelled Margaret Smith (born 1851)and the photographer being WNB Shepherd Art Gallery, Paris, Idaho. I cannot find how she got from Marske, North Yorkshire, England to Paris. She later married her aunt's widower back in England. Does anyone have any information which might help? 

[Erato]

Do you have any approximate dates for the photos?  When did Margaret Smith marry in England?  Any other scraps of information?

[Erato]

Paris is in Bear Lake County in the southeastern corner of Idaho.  The Oregon Trail passed through there and later the railroad, so that might explain how Margaret came to be in Paris.  She could have been just passing through en route to the west coast.

[senteacher]

Margaret married James Smith in 1875. The photo may have been taken before the marriage. She was employed by Amelia and Robert Davison of Linthorpe, Middlesbrough in 1871. I know she was in Newcastle upon Tyne between 1875/6 and in subsequent census returns until her death in 1910.

[Erato]

According to Wikipedia, Paris was founded in 1863 by Mormon settlers.  They thought it was in Utah but a survey in 1872 determined that it was in Idaho [still a territory at that time; it became a state in 1890].  So, as a hypothesis, the photo must have been taken after 1872 since it is labeled Paris, Idaho.  Is it possible that she or her employers were Mormons who went to Utah/Idaho for religious reasons?

[senteacher]

She definitely wasn't a Mormon but I have no idea about her former employers. By 1881 she was married and her husband ran his own business.
It looks like a dead end.
Thank you anyway.

[Erato]

Don't give up yet!  The main problem is that she seems to have been in Idaho between censuses and there are few other records available.  It is worth looking at passenger lists, though Smith is not a very helpful surname.  Still, it isn't likely that she went there alone.  Probably she went with a relative or maybe her employers.  What became of the Davisons?  Is there any reason to think they emigrated and took her along?  Are you certain there is no Mormon connection?  The Simpsons were in Salt Lake City, after all, so it is reasonable to wonder about a religious motivation.

[senteacher]

The Smiths were staunch Church of England. I know nothing about her employers other than what I've gleaned from census records.
I'm attaching the photo of the Simpsons. You never know, someone might recognise it.

Thank you for your support and encouragement.

[Erato]

What are the likely [or possible] first names of Mr. and Mrs. Simpson?