{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_47526/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_47526","id":"gutenberg_47526","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47526","summary":null,"tags":["Briggs, Thomas, 1832-1917","Category: Biographies","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Farrell, George L.","Latter Day Saints","Latter Day Saints -- Missionary experiences"],"text":"PRECIOUS MEMORIES\n\n\nSIXTEENTH BOOK OF THE\n\nFAITH PROMOTING SERIES\n\n\nDESIGNED FOR THE INSTRUCTION AND\n\nENCOURAGEMENT OF YOUNG\n\nLATTER-DAY SAINTS\n\n\nCOMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY\n\nGEO. C. LAMBERT\n\nSALT LAKE CITY, UTAH\n\n1914\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\nThe assurances received of the beneficial effects of the earlier\nvolumes of the Faith-Promoting Series encourage the hope and belief\nthat the present volume may be none the less helpful and appreciated.\nNarratives of personal experience, especially when they relate to\npeople familiar to the reader or the community in which he lives\npossess a peculiar charm to most people, and especially to the young,\nand may convey helpful lessons more effectually than homilies or\ntreatises, however carefully written, are apt to. The reason therefor\nprobably is that in the narrative the moral is applied in real\nexperience whereas in the treatise or homily the moral is expressed in\nthe abstract only, and doubt may exist in the mind of the reader as to\njust how to apply it in real life.\n\nThe hope is entertained that not only may the narratives contained\nin this volume entertain and at the same time tend to promote faith\nin those who read them, but that they may also incite others in the\ncommunity whose lives have been fraught with incidents that would\nbe faith-promoting if published to have the same reduced to writing\nand supply us therewith for use in the Faith-Promoting Series, or\nelse furnish us with the facts and allow us to prepare the same for\npublication.\n\nG. C. L.\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nSUFFERING AND SERVICE OF THOMAS BRIGGS.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nWithered Limb Restored to Use--Sister and Mother Instantly\nHealed--Saints Preserved in Cholera Epidemic--Prophetic Advice to\nthe Briggs Family--Consequences of Failure to Follow it--Voyage\nto America--The Mother Healed in Answer to Prayer--Satanic Threat\nFulfilled in Mother's Death--Sickness and Recovery of Thomas--His\nMarriage--Premonition of Death--Death of Father.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nThomas' Responsibility--Journey to Wisconsin--Disappointment--A New\nHome Sought--Strenuous Life--Knee Injured--Intense Suffering--Given Up\nto Die--Stimulating Vision--Birth of a Daughter--Novel Runaway--Remedy\nfor his Lameness--Sundry Efforts to Earn a Living--Chinch Bugs Threaten\nDestruction of Crop--Crop Saved by Inspiration.\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nStart to Utah--Obstacles in Traveling--Strained From\nOver-Lifting--Halted Through Illness--Journey to Utah Abandoned--Go to\nSpringfield, Illinois--New Occupation--Money Made and Lost--Journey\nResumed--Providentially Helped--Unexpected Meeting of Relatives--Work\nat Outfitting Post--Journey Across the Plains--Arrival in Salt Lake\nCity.\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nLocates in Bountiful--Generosity of Neighbors--Recognized Home Shown\nHim in Dream--Burned Out--Runs a Saw Mill--Death of Wife--Child\nTerribly Scalded, Recovers--Brigham Young's Promise--Marries\nAgain--Comforting Testimonies.\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nUnstinted Service--Inspiration--Goes to the Northwestern States\nas a Missionary--Health Fails and he Returns--Shocking Death of\nSon David--Limb Amputated--Patriarchal Blessing--Incident in Logan\nTemple--Trip to England to Obtain Genealogy.\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nHis Life's Mission Found--Extensive Genealogy Obtained--Blessed in\nHis Wives and Children--Death of Wife and Others--Third Marriage--Leg\nAmputated a Second Time--His Benediction.\n\nGEORGE L. FARRELL'S MISSIONARY EXPERIENCE.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nVisits Birmingham Conference--Dying Girl Healed When Administered\nto--Prediction That She Should Be Baptised Fulfilled--Goes to Utah,\nGets Married, Has a Child and Dies--Other Conversions in the Challis\nFamily.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nMr. Clark's Intolerance--Elder Farrell's Influence Over Him--Baptisms\nin Stanwick--Clark Family Migrate.\n\nPREPARED FOR THE GOSPEL.\n\nJohn Anderson's Search for the Truth--Providential Way in Which He Was\nFirst Led to Attend a Meeting of the Saints--Embraced the Gospel--Firm\nAdherence Thereto.\n\nA PREDICTION AND ITS FULFILLMENT.\n\nPrediction that an Apparently Barren Woman Would Give Birth to a\nSon--Its Literal Fulfillment--That Son's Reverence for the Elder Who\nMade the Prediction.\n\nA TONGUE OF UTILITY.\n\nElder Bastian Inspired to Preach in the Danish Language Before He Had\nLearned It.\n\nJUDGMENT UPON AN ANTI-\"MORMON.\"\n\nThug Hired to Assault a \"Mormon\" Preacher--His Mission Divined by the\nElder--A Prediction Concerning the Instigator--Its Literal Fulfillment.\n\n\n\nSuffering and Service of Thos. Briggs\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nWITHERED LIMB RESTORED TO USE--SISTER AND MOTHER INSTANTLY\nHEALED--SAINTS PRESERVED IN CHOLERA EPIDEMIC--PROPHETIC ADVICE TO\nTHE BRIGGS FAMILY--CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE TO FOLLOW IT--VOYAGE\nTO AMERICA--THE MOTHER HEALED IN ANSWER TO PRAYER--SATANIC THREAT\nFULFILLED IN MOTHER'S DEATH--SICKNESS AND RECOVERY OF THOMAS--HIS\nMARRIAGE--PREMONITION OF DEATH--DEATH OF FATHER.\n\nBROTHER THOMAS BRIGGS, of Bountiful, Utah, a man who is noted for his\nzeal and integrity, has had a rather eventful life, the principal\nincidents of which he has had reduced to a type-written narrative for\nthe benefit of his posterity. From this compilation and information\notherwise obtained, the following items are culled:\n\nHe was born August 20, 1832, at Newark, Notting-hamshire, England. When\nsix years of age he removed with his parents to Hull, where his father\nowned and operated a small vessel that plied about the coast and on the\nrivers, where the water was too shallow for large ships to navigate.\nHis parents were religious people, but dissatisfied with the sects of\nthe day, and therefore not members of any of them.\n\nIn the year 1848, the father heard of the Latter-day Saints, and, on\nattending one of their meetings, was immediately attracted by their\ndoctrines. The mother could not be persuaded to attend a meeting for\na long time because of the unpopularity of the \"Mormons,\" and for the\nreason that their place of worship was in a somewhat disreputable part\nof the town.\n\nWhen she did finally hear the \"Mormon\" Elders, she too, as well as\nThomas, became interested, the latter especially so on hearing a\ndiscourse on \"the gifts of the Gospel and the signs that follow the\nbeliever.\" Thomas at that time was sorely afflicted with what the\ndoctors called a withered limb. What he heard set him to thinking,\nreading the Bible and praying. His parents had spent a large amount of\nmoney on having his left leg, (which had ceased growing, and was very\npainful,) treated by various doctors, but all in vain.\n\nIn the fall of 1848 the Father embraced the Gospel, and near the same\ntime he took Thomas to a very noted doctor, in the hope that he would\nbe able to cure him; but the doctor, after examining the boy, said his\nwas a very bad case, and told the father confidentially that he could\nnot live much longer.\n\nOn leaving the doctor's office the boy asked his father what the doctor\nhad said about him, and received the discouraging reply that, in the\ndoctor's opinion, he could not live to be a man.\n\nThomas determined to rely no more upon the doctors' treatment, but to\nappeal to the Lord, and if he could not be healed in answer to the\nprayer of the Elders to be satisfied to die.\n\nThe Elders at that time frequently held meetings at the Briggs home,\nso the very next time they met there the father informed the President\nof the Branch of the boy's wish. He was accordingly anointed with oil,\nafter which the Elders laid their hands upon his head and prayed for\nhim. He slept well that night and when he arose the following morning\nhis lame limb was as sound and well as the other, and of the same\nlength, although it had previously been fully two inches shorter,\ncausing him to walk with a decided limp. A pair of shoes had been\nordered for him with a specially thick cork sole upon the left one, to\nenable him to walk without limping, but as they had not been finished\nbefore he was administered to, the thick sole feature was the next day\ncountermanded. The left limb had never been as vigorous as the other\nfrom the time he was three months old, and it was a few weeks after\nthe incident referred to before it became as fleshy, although it was\nequally strong. After that one could not have told from the appearance\nof his limbs when nude which had been affected; nor, in fact, that\neither ever had been.\n\nNear the same time Thomas' sister Elizabeth had a large and painful\nswelling come under her ear, and when the mother was almost worn out\nwith sitting up and waiting upon her, the Elders also administered to\nher. Immediately afterwards she fell asleep, slept soundly all night\nand when she awoke the next morning the large swelling, which had been\nround and hard like a ball, had disappeared, and the loose skin hung\ndown in the place of it like a bag upon the shoulder, with no evidence\nwhatever of any discharge from it. It always remained a mystery where\nthe discharge had gone to. Within a few days the loose skin dried up\nand peeled off, and new skin succeeded, without any sign of a scar.\n\nAn account of these two cases of healing was published in the\nMillennial Star of April 24, 1850, over the signatures of Henry\nBeecroft and James McNaughton, the two Elders who officiated, both\nof whom, as Brother Briggs remarks in his narrative, afterwards\napostatized, which serves to illustrate the fact that however much the\npower of God may be made manifest through an Elder, he may still be\novercome by the evil one unless he leads a pure life and remains humble.\n\nBrother Briggs also relates an instance of his mother being healed\nin answer to prayer soon after the family joined the Church. She\nhad been so ill for several weeks as to be unable to leave her bed,\nwhen one evening the Elders called and administered to her. She was\nhealed immediately, arose and prepared supper for her guests, of which\nshe also ate heartily herself, and then joined in singing hymns and\nentertaining until midnight, as if she had never been ailing.\n\nOn the 27th of January, 1849, Thomas, who was then in his 18th year,\nwas baptized, and from that time bore a fervent testimony to the truth\nof the Gospel.\n\nDuring a meeting of the Saints held in Hull soon after Thomas was\nbaptized, a person spoke in tongues, and when the interpretation was\ngiven (which was by another person, and which was evidently inspired)\nit was found that it related wholly to Thomas. It was said that he\nwould have many trials to pass through in life, and much suffering to\nendure, but they should be shown to him beforehand, and if he remained\nfaithful he would come off victorious, and in the end wear a martyr's\ncrown.\n\nThomas was not specially impressed with this incident at the time, but\nhe had occasion to think of it many times afterwards, and also to see\nmuch of it verified.\n\nIn the year 1849 the cholera was very prevalent in Hull, and though\nmany of the Saints suffered from it, but few of them died, being mostly\nhealed by the power of God in answer to prayer.\n\nIn the year 1850 the Briggs family were greatly prospered, and were\nstrongly advised by one of the Elders who enjoyed the gift of prophecy,\nto migrate to Utah. He said: \"Brother Briggs, when you get sufficient\nmeans to take you to new Orleans, you go; then go from there to St.\nLouis, or you may never get to the valleys of the mountains.\"\n\nThe father, however, delayed starting until misfortune began to\novertake him, when he was reminded of the counsel he had received, and\nhastened to obey it. They took passage on the ship Ellen, which sailed\nfrom Liverpool, January 8, 1851. The vessel had not proceeded far when,\nduring a heavy gale, she collided with another ship, and was so badly\ndamaged that she had to run into Cardigan bay, North Wales, and remain\nthere three weeks while undergoing repairs. While there one of the\nsailors was badly hurt, and was sent to Liverpool; and Thomas Briggs,\nthe subject of this sketch, volunteered to take his place, and work his\npassage across the ocean, and was allowed to do so.\n\nAfter a fairly prosperous voyage the ship anchored at New Orleans on\nthe 14th of March, and the Briggs family proceeded by steamboat up\nthe Mississippi to St. Louis, where they landed March 26, 1851. There\nthey met a man who had borrowed some money from the Briggs family in\nEngland, and who was now prepared to repay the loan, which helped them\nto make a new start, for the means with which they started had become\nexhausted.\n\nFather and son sought employment and worked at whatever job was offered\nthem--as boat hands, farmers' hired help, bottle washers in soda water\nfactories, teamsters, putting up ice, chopping cordwood, etc. Sometimes\nthey were home at night, at other times absent for a considerable\nperiod. The cholera was very bad in St. Louis at that time, and\none night while Thomas and his mother were the only members of the\nfamily at home, she was stricken with the cholera, and appeared to be\ndying. He was prompted to get some oil and administer to her. Though\ninexperienced, he anointed and prayed over her, and she immediately\nrevived, and in a short time took some nourishment. Before many days\nhad passed she was as well as ever.\n\nSoon afterwards, while Thomas was lying awake in bed one night, there\nsuddenly appeared before his vision a personage dressed in black, who\nlooking straight at him, said in a sneering tone: \"You have saved\nher life this time, but I will have it next time. And when I get her\nlife I will have yours.\" Thomas boldly answered: \"You shall not!\" He\nunderstood the personage to represent the power of darkness, and the\nperson referred to as having her life saved to be his mother. He had\nreason to feel very soon that it was no idle threat that the evil one\nindulged in.\n\nThomas obtained work at a dairy, and by his diligence soon worked his\nway up to the position of foreman. In consequence of the prevalence\nof cholera and the frequent changes in the force of employees as a\nresult, he was under the necessity of making occasional trips around\nwith the milk wagons to keep familiar with the routes and see that\nthe drivers were doing their duty. One morning while thus engaged he\nwas met on the street by his father, who was greatly agitated, and\nwho asked him to hurry home with him, as his mother was dying. Thomas\nhastened to her bedside, ready and anxious to do anything in his power\nto save her life. As he entered the room she turned her eyes upon him\nand said faintly: \"Tom, be a good lad to your father!\" These were\nher last words. Her life was ebbing fast away. She soon lapsed into\nunconsciousness, and in a very short time her heart ceased to beat.\n\nThe mother had not been long dead when Thomas was reminded of the\nthreat made by the evil one, that he would get her next time, and\nalso of that against his own life. About one year had elapsed since\nthe threat was uttered, and he had now (on the 18th of August 1851)\npartially executed it.\n\nAfter the burial of his mother Thomas resumed his work at the dairy,\nand his sister Elizabeth, who had been out at service, returned home\nand kept house for her father.\n\nAbout the first of the year 1852 Thomas was taken suddenly ill with\nbilious fever, and brought home for treatment. The father, very\nmuch against the wish of Thomas, sent for a doctor, who attended\nhim for five or six weeks without any sign of improvement; in fact,\nhe continued to grow worse. The father became greatly alarmed and\ndiscouraged, lest he also should die.\n\nFinally Thomas determined to have his own way in the matter of\nremedies, and the next time the doctor called he told him he had\ndecided to take no more of his medicine, and to dispense with his\nservices. He asked his father to throw away all of the doctor's\nmedicine that he had, and to get him a bottle of olive oil, and he\nwould take that and trust in the Lord for the result.\n\nHe took about half of the bottle of oil, which caused nausea, and he\nreally felt for awhile as if he was dying, but after vomiting very\nfreely, and thus relieving his system of a good deal of the poison\nwhich had accumulated therein, he felt better, and from that time\nimproved.\n\nAs the winter approached Thomas felt the necessity of seeking a\nwarmer climate to recuperate in, after being confined to his bed for\neight or nine weeks, so went south to New Orleans, where he was soon\nrejoined by his father. They obtained work and did well, and had every\nencouragement to remain there permanently, but Thomas especially felt\nthat his destiny would not be completely filled until he had joined his\nfortunes with the body of the Saints in the mountains. Furthermore, he\nfelt that he had reached a proper age for marriage, and as he had made\nthe acquaintance of a young woman in St. Louis, of his own faith, and\nin every way suitable, he was anxious to marry her. He laid his plans\nbefore his father, and they were heartily approved.\n\nThey accordingly returned to St. Louis, where Thomas was shortly\nafterwards married to the girl of his choice, Miss Ann Kirkham, by the\nPresiding Elder in St. Louis, Brother Horace S. Eldredge. He and his\nwife set up a temporary home in St. Louis, hoping to have the father\nlive with them while making preparations for the journey, and then go\nwith them to Utah.\n\nThe summer of 1853 was very hot in St. Louis, and much sickness\nprevailed, and many deaths occurred. On Sunday, the 27th of August,\nThomas and his wife entertained his sister and his wife's sister at\nluncheon, and afterwards walked to the cemetery and looked at his\nmother's grave. While standing around it he was impressed to say,\n\"Girls, it will not be long before we shall lay another in this\ncemetery lot!\" It produced a profound feeling, and he tried, but in\nvain, to reason away the idea.\n\nThey returned home, feeling very sad and filled with foreboding. Even\nThomas, though he felt sure his premonition would be fulfilled, was\nuncertain as to who the victim would be. When they arrived home, to\ntheir surprise they learned that Father Briggs had just been brought\nthere in a cab, stricken with yellow fever. His feet were very cold,\nand when they were placed in hot water he said he could not feel any\nwarmth in them. Thomas realized then that his symptoms meant death, but\nkept his thoughts to himself. The father, though confident when first\nbrought home that he would recover, evidently soon changed his opinion,\nfor he said to his son: \"Tom, I shall never get to the mountains; but\nyou will, and you must never forget the dead!\" He died the following\nday (August 18, 1853), and was buried beside his wife, thus fulfilling\nthe son's unwitting prediction, and leaving his son bereft of both\nmother and father within one short year.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTHOMAS' RESPONSIBILITY--JOURNEY TO WISCONSIN--DISAPPOINTMENT--A NEW\nHOME SOUGHT--STRENUOUS LIFE--KNEE INJURED--INTENSE SUFFERING--GIVEN UP\nTO DIE--STIMULATING VISION--BIRTH OF A DAUGHTER--NOVEL RUNAWAY--REMEDY\nFOR HIS LAMENESS--SUNDRY EFFORTS TO EARN A LIVING--CHINCH BUGS THREATEN\nDESTRUCTION OF CROP--CROP SAVED BY INSPIRATION.\n\nTHOMAS felt keenly his responsibility, in being left at the age of\ntwenty-one without earthly father and mother to appeal to for counsel,\nin being the only male member of his parents' kindred upon whom the\nduty rested of redeeming the dead, and in being so far separated from\nthe body of the Saints, with a wife and sister to care for, without\nhome of his own, and living in a city where death was stalking abroad\nand smiting his victims by the thousand. The prospect, though gloomy,\nonly filled him with a determination to be faithful.\n\nIn October, 1853, Thomas and his wife and her parents left St. Louis to\nlocate at Baraboo, in Wisconsin, where, they had been informed, land\nand stock were abundant, and could be had on easy terms. They expected\nto go up the river by steamboat to Galena, but on reaching Keokuk,\nIowa, the water was found to be too shallow to float the boat, and\nthe freight was transferred to flat boats, and hauled up to Montrose,\nopposite Nauvoo. But the boat, thus lightened, was three days getting\nover the rapids, and the passengers were without shelter and suffered\nfrom cold. On reaching Galena they hired teams to convey them to\nBaraboo, and when they arrived at that place they found they had been\ndeceived in regard to it, as there was neither land nor stock to be\nhad; the soil was very poor and the residents couldn't sell what little\nthey did raise.\n\nThomas had spent his savings in getting there, and saw no chance of\nearning more. Having an acquaintance living at Hebron, one hundred\nmiles south of Baraboo, he proceeded thither by stage, and, finding he\ncould secure work there at splitting rails, he hired a man and team\nto go with him to Baraboo and bring his folks back. They arrived at\nHebron just before Christmas, bought forty acres of land on time, and\nstarted in to earn a livelihood. He had not only his wife and sister\nto provide for, but his wife's parents and their family of six members\nrelied upon him for protection and guidance at least if not for actual\nsupport. The weather was much of the time unfavorable for work, and\nthe work--chopping and splitting large timber, and clearing land--new\nand strange to him, so that he not only felt it severely, but the\nfamily had little to subsist upon, and found it necessary to eke out an\nexistence by using bran and shorts for food, catching fish, or killing\nan occasional squirrel.\n\nThe hardships and privations they endured during the first year or two\nof their life in Wisconsin were such as to try their very souls, and\nBrother Briggs pays a grateful tribute to his wife by recording the\nfact that she never once murmured. He was young and strong and full of\nendurance, and able to work almost night and day, and cared nothing for\nhimself, his only concern being for those dependent upon him.\n\nOn the 13th of September, 1854, his first child was born--Ephraim, who\nbrought cheer to the hearts of his parents, and as they became more\nused to their surroundings they felt more reconciled, and indulged in\nthe hope of soon acquiring enough means to take them to the mountains.\nThey bought another forty acres of land on time, and Thomas spent every\nhour that he could spare, when not working for others, at fencing and\nimproving his own property.\n\nWhile so engaged, in the fall of 1855, he hurt his knee very severely,\nwhen working in the timber, and, thinking it was only a temporary\nhurt, and not caring to worry his wife about it, he said nothing about\nit until the pain became so intense he could bear it in silence no\nlonger. A doctor was sent for, and he prescribed for him, but no relief\nresulted from his treatment. He was told that an abscess was forming\non the knee joint, and he could hope for no relief until it would\nburst. The limb continued to swell four or five weeks until it was\nlarger in circumference than his body, and the pain almost drove him to\ndistraction. His wife was almost worn out in caring for him, and his\nown prayers seemed of no avail. Most thoroughly and sincerely did he\nregret and repent of having wandered away from the Saints, where those\nbearing the Priesthood might have rendered him assistance.\n\nFinally the abscess burst, and the discharge from it saturated the\nbed and ran down upon the floor. He was so weak and helpless that the\nonly way those surrounding him could tell that he still lived, was by\nholding a mirror over his face, and watching upon it the effects of his\nbreath. However, he continued to live, and in course of time to show a\nslight improvement.\n\nIn May, 1856, however, he had a relapse, and the doctor was hastily\nsent for. He attended him for several days and then declared he could\ndo nothing more for him; he could not possibly recover, and he could\nnot last more than a few days.\n\nAfter the doctor had gone the patient dosed off for a few moments,\nand when he awoke he saw his wife standing by his bedside with tears\nstreaming down her pale cheeks. Rallying his slight remaining strength,\nhe said: \"Ann, dry your tears, for I am going to live to go to the\nmountains, and shall there build a large house.\"\n\nIt was thought at first that he was delirious, and little credence was\ngiven to what he said, but later on he repeated the declaration and\nexplained that the mountains and valley had passed before his mind in\nvision and he had seen the very place where his home was to be, and\nthe spirit bore testimony to him that he would live to realize it. He\nwas not shown what he would have to endure before the vision would be\nrealized, but the assurance had a stimulating effect upon him.\n\nA slight improvement was soon noticeable in the sick man, and by the\n30th of June, 1856, he was able to be carried to the home of his\nfather-in-law. His leg was still discharging, and there were nine holes\njust above the knee; the limb was also crooked, and the cords so rigid\nthat it was feared he would never be able to straighten it again, even\nif he were permitted to recover.\n\nUnder these circumstances, and while his wife was weak and careworn\nafter her long and anxious siege of watching over him day and night,\nand without proper nourishment or comfortable surroundings, she gave\nbirth July 1, 1856, to Emma her second child, and, to the surprise of\nall concerned, she and the babe got along wonderfully well; which was a\nproof to the household that the Lord had not forgotten them.\n\nOn the 3rd of July, 1856, after Thomas had been taken back home,\nand when he was barely able to sit up, his father-in-law called and\nannounced that he was going to town (Whitewater) the next day, to see\nhis daughters, who were in service there. Thomas expressed a desire to\ngo with him, as he was anxious to see his sister, who was also working\nthere. Their only means of conveyance was an ordinary dump cart, drawn\nby a yoke of steers. A start was made the next morning, Thomas lying\nupon a mattress in the cart, and the father-in-law driving. Thomas\nfainted twice from pain before they had proceeded far, and each time,\nafter he had been revived, the proposition was made to return home\nwith him, but he was determined to proceed, and they continued on. His\nsister was overjoyed at seeing him, and arranged with the family she\nwas working for to return with him, for a short visit. On the return\njourney the steers became frightened and ran away, and Father Kirkham,\nthinking he could outrun them, jumped off the cart and tried to get\nahead of them, to stop them, but was soon left far in the rear. The end\ngate was lost in the race, and Thomas, lying upon the mattress, slid\nbackward, and would have fallen out had not his sister, who was seated\nbeside him, gripped the front of the cart with one hand and Thomas'\ncollar by the other, and thus held him. After running frantically quite\na long distance, the steers were finally stopped by a man who was along\nthe road in front of them. The incident ended without any serious\nresults, but it was a narrow escape for Thomas, who was as helpless,\nbodily, as a child, and who was partially hanging from the cart when it\ncame to a halt. He couldn't help feeling that the devil was trying to\nexecute his threat against him, and that a higher power had preserved\nhim.\n\nFrom that time his improvement was more rapid, although there were\nseven or eight running sores on his leg, and they kept him very weak.\nWhen he was able to hobble about on crutches, he used to have to\ncarry his leg in a sling, suspended from his shoulder. When the limb\nhung down without a sling, it was so far from being straight that the\ntoes were fully six inches from the ground, and the leg was much more\npainful than when suspended. How, under such circumstances, he was\never going to support his family, to say nothing of going to Utah,\nwas beyond his power to foresee, and had it not been for the heavenly\nassurance he had received he would probably have lost hope.\n\nAbout that time he met a man who claimed to be skilled in the art of\nhealing, who prescribed certain herbs for his use, and told him to\nfill a bottle with angle worms and stand it in the sunlight until the\nworms turned to oil, and then rub the oil on his leg. He followed the\ndirections, and his leg and health improved. After a few months he\ncould touch the toes of his lame limb to the ground, and dispense with\nthe bandages and sling.\n\nThe family removed to a stone quarry, and his wife boarded the men\nemployed there at $10.00 per month each, and the family lived upon such\nscraps as were left from the boarders' table. Thomas was ambitious to\ndo something, and tried sawing wood, at 75c per cord, and, though the\nexertion made his leg pain him much worse, he persevered, his wife\nquitting her housework from time to time to do the lifting for him, as\nhe couldn't do it himself. Then he tried driving team to haul wood for\na lime kiln. The men who accompanied him had to lift him on and off the\nwagon, as well as to load and unload the wagon for him, but this they\ndid out of sheer sympathy for him.\n\nIn the spring of 1858 he moved back to the farm which he had lost,\nthrough sickness, the owner being willing to let the family occupy the\nhouse, and pay his wife for boarding men he employed at farming, while\nThomas fed the pigs and did odd jobs.\n\nOn the 15th of September, his third child, David, was born. The larger\nthe family grew the less likely it really seemed to be that they would\never reach the mountains, but Thomas fondly clung to the promises made\nhim, that he should do so, and his faith in the Lord never wavered.\n\nIn the fall of the year he bought a span of horses and wagon, and spent\nthe winter hauling wood into Whitewater, buying it for $1.00 per cord\nand selling it for $2.50 or $3.00. His leg was still very painful,\nbut he could not content himself to be idle. In the spring of 1859\nhe obtained considerable employment on the roads, working poll tax\nfor people who were too busy to work it out for themselves, getting\n$2.25 per day for himself and team. He also secured the privilege of\ncultivating a three-acre patch of a large farm, the owner of which was\nwilling that he should have all he could raise on it. He planted it to\ncorn, and raised 200 bushels to the acre, which, although corn was very\ncheap, insured them against want for bread and provided feed for the\nanimals.\n\nIn the spring of 1861 he rented nine acres of land, and sowed it to\nwheat, with a fervent hope that if the Lord favored him with a good\ncrop on it, he would be able, with what he had already saved up, to\njourney to the mountains.\n\nOn the 6th of April, that same year, his fourth child, Mary Ann, was\nborn. She was welcomed as the others had been, notwithstanding the\nincreased number it involved for the prospective overland journey.\n\nThe wheat planted grew well, and promised a heavy yield, but one\nmorning it was noticed that numerous black bugs, called the chinch\nbug, had begun to devour the grain, or rather suck the sap from the\nstalks just as they were heading out, and it looked as if the next\nfew days would witness the total destruction of the crop. One of the\nstrange things about it was, that his seemed to be the only field in\nthat vicinity that was affected with the bugs. While contemplating the\nshattering of his hopes, the Spirit of the Lord prompted him to go to\nthe man who was working the other part of the farm and borrow a cradle\n(the best implement used at that time to cut grain with,) and cut a\nswath through the grain with it. He had an assurance that this would\nhave the effect of stopping the ravages of the bugs.\n\nHe immediately went to the man and told him what he intended to do, and\nthe man laughed at him, and told him it was a foolish notion. After\nsome pleading and persuasion, however, the man took his cradle and cut\na swath through the field, Thomas (whom the man evidently regarded as\nslightly demented) following along after him.\n\nAfter the man had gone, Thomas knelt and offered up a silent prayer to\nthe Lord, telling him that he had acted according to the promptings of\nHis Spirit, and that he would leave the result with Him.\n\nOn his return he told his wife of the presence of the bugs in their\nwheat field, and what he had done. She felt very sorrowful, knowing\nthat the habit of the bugs was, when they commenced on a field, never\nto leave it until it was completely destroyed, but he assured her that\nthe crop would be saved.\n\nThe next morning Thomas hitched up his team, and, taking his son\nEphraim, who was then seven years old, with him, drove up to the field.\nWhen he arrived there he was astonished to find that the road bordering\nhis field fairly swarmed with bugs, that were making their way to a\nwheat field on the opposite side, and that the swath that had been\ncut through the field was covered with millions of the insects, that\nseemed to travel as if they were inspired. The field they entered was\njust about ready to ripen, and before the advent of the bugs, gave\npromise to yield forty bushels to the acre, but a few days later the\nforty-acre field was completely destroyed. The owner was so disgusted\nthat he later set fire to the straw which was left standing, and thus\ncleared the land; and the language in which he denounced Thomas and the\nbugs was simply awful. Still he acknowledged, and so did many others,\nthat there was something marvelous about the saving of one crop and\ndestruction of the other.\n\nThomas wished his neighbor no harm, but he acknowledged the power of\nthe Lord in what had occured. When his wheat was ready to cut, his leg\nwas so much worse that he was not able to stand on it. Hired help was\nso scarce and hard to obtain that it seemed doubtful whether he would\nbe able to save his crop after all. He finally induced the former who\ncultivated the adjoining land to cradle it, a little at a time, while\nthe boy Ephraim raked it into bundles, and Thomas crawled on his hands\nand knees, and bound it. When threshed, the wheat yielded twenty-five\nbushels to the acre. He was gratified with the result of his summer's\nwork, felt that the Lord had greatly blessed him and had strong hopes\nof being able to migrate to Utah in the following spring.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nSTART TO UTAH--OBSTACLES IN TRAVELING--STRAINED FROM\nOVER-LIFTING--HALTED THROUGH ILLNESS--JOURNEY TO UTAH ABANDONED--GO TO\nSPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS--NEW OCCUPATION--MONEY MADE AND LOST--JOURNEY\nRESUMED--PROVIDENTIALLY HELPED--UNEXPECTED MEETING OF RELATIVES--WORK\nAT OUTFITTING POST--JOURNEY ACROSS THE PLAINS--ARRIVAL IN SALT LAKE\nCITY.\n\nIN THE fall and winter of 1861 Thomas had better health, and he hauled\nwood from Janesville, twenty-one miles distant, buying it for $1.00 per\ncord and selling it for $5.00 or $6.00 per cord, accumulating something\nthereby.\n\nAbout the middle of April, 1862, Thomas, his wife and their four\nchildren started for Salt Lake City, a distance of nearly two thousand\nmiles, with their earthly chattels loaded into one wagon, drawn by a\nspan of horses.\n\nThe roads were bad in many places, streams frequently high, bridges\nin some cases washed away, houses occasionally long distances apart\nand feed scarce, all of which rendered travel very difficult for one\nwho was unacquainted with the country and had no definite idea of\nthe course he should take. Once they had to make an extra long drive\nbecause of not being able to obtain feed for their horses, and while\ncrossing a series of swamps had the wagon mire down so that the horses\ncould not pull it out. Leaving his wife and children in the wagon,\nThomas went ahead until he found a house, roused the owner out of bed\nand hired him to take a fresh team back to help pull the wagon out of\nthe mud. Both teams failing to move the wagon, the goods were carried\nout to where the soil was firm. Even then they had great difficulty\nin getting the wagon out of the mire, and Thomas, while standing in\nthe mud and trying to raise the hind axle with a pole, so strained his\nside that he was unable to travel for the next three weeks, during\nwhich time they were under constant expense. By the time he was able to\nresume his journey the season was so far advanced it was feared they\nwould not be able to cross the plains that year.\n\nThomas' sister had married some time before, and was living at\nSpringfield, Illinois, and, on finding that it was too late to journey\nto Utah that year, he decided to go to Springfield and see his sister,\nas he feared he might never have another chance of doing so. They\narrived there in June, and finding his sister and her husband living\nin the back part of a building that had formerly been used as a store,\nThomas fitted up the front part as a restaurant, and made some money by\noperating it, but his health was quite poor and his leg very painful.\n\nAt the commencement of the year 1863 Archibald Buchanan, his\nbrother-in-law, rented a stall in the market and proposed for Thomas to\ngo in partnership with him, Thomas to do the buying and he to do the\nselling. Thomas closed up the restaurant and accepted the proposition.\nThey did well during the year, and were feeling very much encouraged,\nbut they bought very heavily of poultry and other perishable stuff for\nthe holiday trade, and a thaw set in and caused so much stuff to spoil\non their hands, that they lost nearly all they had accumulated.\n\nA very sorrowful Christmas was spent as a result of their loss and\ndisappointment, for they were counting upon what they had saved\nto migrate to Utah with. Thomas maintained hope in spite of the\ndiscouraging circumstances, and declared that he would go to Utah the\nfollowing year if he had to walk all the way with a pack on his back,\nand his wife said she was willing to put up with any hardship she could\nto reach that goal.\n\nAfter deep thought on the subject, Thomas took his team and son\nEphraim, who was then a little over nine years old, and set off for a\nfinal trip through the surrounding region, to buy up supplies for the\nmarket, and announced to his wife and sister that it would be his last\ntrip for that purpose.\n\nFor the first two days he met with little success, then fortune favored\nhim; he was able to buy what he required for his load remarkably cheap,\nand arrived home and got his goods on the market just at a time when\nthere was a strong demand for them at high prices. The profits from\nthat single trip supplied him with sufficient means to warrant him\nin resuming his journey--not what he would require to go with a good\noutfit, but he feared if he waited for that he would never reach Utah.\n\nAfter he had announced his intention to start, and while he was busy\nmaking preparations to do so, several different persons came to him\nwith offers of partnership or other business propositions--some of\nthem quite attractive--but he didn't dare to entertain them, lest the\nLord would be displeased with him. In fact, he told his wife it was a\ntrick of the devil, to get him to remain in that country. He and his\nwife conferred together in regard to the matter, not with any thought\nof accepting any of the offers, but to devise a way of hastening their\ndeparture if possible, lest they might be tempted to stay. They bowed\nin prayer before the Lord, committed themselves into His hands and\nasked Him to spare their lives and those of their children, and enable\nthem to reach Utah in safety, and had faith that He would do so.\n\nHis brother-in-law did not want them to go, and not only did all he\ncould to discourage them, but frequently declared that he himself would\nnever go to Utah. The wives especially dreaded to part, lest they might\nnever see one another again.\n\nWhen the time for starting arrived, Thomas said to his brother-in-law:\n\"Archie, you will yet come to Salt Lake City, and bring my sister with\nyou!\" He only scoffed at it, however, and insisted that he never would.\n\nOn the 29th of April, 1864, the family left Springfield, Illinois, with\nUtah as their destination--a distance to be traversed by team of about\nsixteen hundred miles. They had a good horse team and wagon, a good\nsupply of provisions and $80.00 in cash. The eldest child was not yet\nten years old, and the youngest three years of age. The parents were\nboth in poor health, but they did not dare to give up or fail to hurry\non because of that. Thomas' leg grew worse after starting, and soon got\nso bad that he could not even harness the team, the wife and eldest\nboy having to do that. They aimed to travel about twenty-five miles a\nday, but could not always do so, the roads being often bad, and storms\nfrequently interfering with their travel.\n\nThey crossed the Mississippi at Keokuk, twelve miles below Nauvoo,\nwhich years before had been the home of the Saints. In passing through\nIowa they traveled much of the time along the route the Saints pursued\nin their journey westward from Nauvoo. It was generally alluded to by\nthe settlers as the \"Mormon Bee Trail,\" and Thomas felt a certain pride\nin following in their footsteps, and also found comfort in comparing\nhis circumstances with those of many of the Saints. Much of the country\nwas very sparsely settled, and there was scarcely an able-bodied man to\nbe met in the region, all seemingly being absent in the army. Many of\nthe bridges along their route had been washed away, and he had to stop\nand make or repair bridges before he could proceed.\n\nMany times on the journey they had reason to feel that there was a\nspecial Providence over them. Brother Briggs mentions one case in\nparticular to illustrate the fact.\n\nThey came to a stream one day that was about fourteen feet wide, and\ntoo deep and miry to be forded. His wife wept from discouragement when\nshe saw it. He tried to cheer her up, and went back to the last house\nthey had passed to procure help if possible, but found only women and\nchildren there. Then he went down stream a long distance, in the hope\nof finding at least part of the bridge that had been washed away, but\nall in vain. There were no large trees growing near, but on each side\nof the creek some small cottonwood saplings were growing, none of them\nmore than four inches in diameter. These he cut down and laid across\nthe stream and put small brush on the top of them. He found it would\nbear his weight when he walked across it, but it was very springy, and\nnot at all of a character to support a team and wagon; but it was the\nbest he could do. He had his wife and children get out of the wagon and\nstand on the bank, and, after an earnest prayer to the Lord to help him\nin the emergency, he got in the wagon and whipped up the horses. To his\nastonishment, they crossed over the frail structure with ease, and the\nwife and children walked over.\n\nSoon afterwards they met a man with a few sacks of corn in his wagon,\nwhich he was taking to a mill, to get it ground. They inquired of\nhim how far distant the mill was, and he said fifty miles--a fair\nindication of how sparsely that region was settled.\n\nAfter passing Garden Grove, where the Saints journeying westward from\nNauvoo established a settlement, the roads were found to be better, and\nfaster time was made in traveling.\n\nThey arrived at the Missouri River, opposite Nebraska City, in the\nnight, and camped there before crossing. Very early in the morning they\nheard the whistle of a steamboat coming up the river, and knew from\nthat the boat was going to stop. Thomas said to his wife: \"Ann, what\nwould you think if Archie and Elizabeth should be on that boat?\" She\nreplied that she couldn't think of any such improbability, and lapsed\ninto slumber again.\n\nWhen it was fairly daylight they crossed the river on a ferry\nboat, and when they landed, there, sure enough, was the sister and\nbrother-in-law, thus confirming the promptings of the Spirit, and they\nhad a joyful reunion.\n\nHis sister explained that after the Briggs family left them in\nSpringfield they could get no rest until they packed up and followed\nthem by the fastest conveyance they could find.\n\nAbout eight miles farther up the river was a place called Wyoming, the\nstarting point for the trains crossing the plains at that time, and\nthey made their way to that point. They found that only a few of the\nSaints intending to journey to Utah had yet arrived, and so they had a\nchance to rest and let their teams recuperate before continuing their\njourney.\n\nTrains of teams and wagons from Utah, sent east to convey the poor\nSaints from Europe and other countries across the plains, soon began\narriving, as did also teams sent by Utah merchants for merchandise,\nwhich at that time had to be freighted by teams a thousand miles.\nSteamboats loaded with freight for the west also began arriving, and\nWyoming soon presented a busy scene. Among the first of the cargoes\nwere wagons, which had to be put together, and Thomas was hired for\nthat task. Then the merchandise began pouring in, and it had to be\nguarded at night to keep it from being stolen, and he was next employed\nin that line. During their stay there, his wife and sister also did\nwashing for the Utah boys who were there preparing to return home with\nemigrants or freight, all of which helped to replenish their funds,\nwhich were running low.\n\nBefore starting from Wyoming Thomas was advised to sell his horses and\nbuy a yoke of oxen instead, and did so.\n\nHenry W. Lawrence, a merchant of Salt Lake City, was there for a train\nload of merchandise, and persuaded Thomas to accompany his train of\ntwenty-five wagons, and also hired his brother-in-law to drive team for\nhim, thus insuring his passage to the valley and the fulfilment of the\nprediction Thomas made concerning him before he left Springfield.\n\nActing upon advice, Thomas bought a cook stove before starting, as it\nwould only cost $30.00 in Nebraska City, and would be worth $250.00\nwhen he got to Salt Lake. When he was ready to start he had only $3.00\nin cash left, but he had two yoke of cows and one yoke of oxen, and\nplenty of provisions. As two of the cows were giving milk, he counted\nupon deriving some profit from the sale of milk on the road.\n\nFor the first few days everything went well with Thomas and his family,\nbut then his leg grew worse again, and for a time he was not able even\nto yoke up his cattle. However, the wagon master had some of the Utah\nteamsters hitch up his team for him.\n\nOn reaching Julesberg the Platte river was found to be so high that the\nwagon boxes had to be blocked up to the top of the standards to keep\nthe merchandise from getting wet, and they hitched fifteen yoke of oxen\non to each wagon to go through. It took the train four days to cross\nthe river.\n\nSome of the oxen soon grew tender-footed, and had to be driven in a\nherd behind the train. George Merrick, the wagon master, furnished\nEphraim a horse and hired him to ride behind and drive the loose\ncattle. Then it was found necessary to herd the cattle at night, and\nThomas' brother-in-law was given that job, and kept it all the way.\n\nMany dangers were encountered on the journey, some of them due to\nThomas' helpless condition, but all were safely passed, and Salt Lake\nCity was reached on the 4th of September, 1864, after a journey of 1800\nmiles in a wagon.\n\nThe journey had been fruitful in experience, and not wholly\nunprofitable, as he landed with $40.00 in his pocket, part of it having\nbeen earned by Ephraim driving the loose cattle, but most of it the\nproceeds of milk sold during the journey. The best of all, the family\nwas in excellent health, and overjoyed at reaching the valley and\nfinding people who manifested a friendly interest in them.\n\nOne of the first friendly acts of which they were the recipients, was\nthe privilege granted them by Father John Vance, of keeping their\nanimals in his pasture without charge.\n\nFor Thomas, Salt Lake valley and the surrounding mountains had a\nfamiliar appearance. He had seen them before in vision in Minnesota,\nwhen he lay wavering between life and death, and now as he recognized\nthem his heart swelled with gratitude to the Almighty for sparing the\nlives of himself and family to reach the valley, the goal for which he\nhad hoped and prayed and struggled for so many years. He felt that he\ncould not do less to show his appreciation for what the Lord had done\nfor him than to devote his remaining days in mortality to the service\nof the Lord. He felt that he would gladly do that and endure without\ncomplaint any further hardships that might fall to his lot if his\nchildren might only be preserved in the faith and manifest throughout\ntheir lives a love for the truth.\n\nWhen he saw the walls of the Temple, then in course of construction,\nand realized its purpose, and at what infinite sacrifice it had been\nso far built, he was forcibly reminded of the dying exhortion of his\nfather, to \"never forget the dead,\" and determined, if the Lord spared\nhis life, to fulfill his father's hopes in that respect.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nLOCATES IN BOUNTIFUL--GENEROSITY OF NEIGHBORS--RECOGNIZED HOME SHOWN\nHIM IN DREAM--BURNED OUT--RUNS A SAW MILL--DEATH OF WIFE--CHILD\nTERRIBLY SCALDED, RECOVERS--BRIGHAM YOUNG'S PROMISE--MARRIES\nAGAIN--COMFORTING TESTIMONIES.\n\nTHOMAS and his family spent a few days in Salt Lake, studying over the\nquestion, of where to locate. While wondering what to do, the thought\noccurred to him to inquire where an old-country friend of his, named\nJoseph Reed lived, of whom he had heard nothing for fourteen years.\nWhile walking up towards the Temple Block he felt prompted to inquire\nat the Deseret News Office. He was there informed that a man of that\nname lived at Bountiful.\n\nThe next morning he took the stage for that place. He found the man he\nwas looking for, and they had a long and friendly chat. Brother Reed\nadvised Thomas to come and make his home in Bountiful, where he could\nfind plenty of feed for his cattle, and where he might also obtain\nwork. Or, if he preferred to go to a new region, where he could locate\non as much land as he desired, Bear Lake Valley was suggested as a good\nplace, though rather distant.\n\nThomas felt that he had done all the traveling he cared to for one\nyear, and preferred to establish a temporary home to determine where he\ncould locate permanently to the best advantage. He accordingly returned\nto Salt Lake City and took his family to Bountiful. They arrived there\nSaturday evening, and attended meeting the next day--the first time he\nhad been so privileged for over ten years.\n\nThe family lived in their wagon for the first two weeks, and during\nthat time Thomas was given the privilege of helping his friend husk\ncorn, getting every sixth bushel husked for his share. Then he rented\na one-roomed house at $3.00 per month and set up housekeeping in it.\nThey had no furniture, but converted a large box, (which they had their\nclothing packed in while making their journey across the plains) into a\ntable, and made seats by buying a few slabs and boring holes in them,\nin which to insert sticks to serve as legs. For want of bedsteads,\nthey made their beds upon the floor. The room was not plastered, and\nthey felt the cold severely at times, but they were thankful for the\ncomforts they had. Under these conditions his son James was born, on\nthe 6th of December, 1864, and, notwithstanding the winter was long and\ncold, the mother and babe continued to do well.\n\nHis nearest neighbor, John Spencer, proffered to lend Thomas two\nhundred pounds of flour until he could afford to repay it, and when he\nlearned that it was the proceeds of wheat which Sister Spencer and her\ndaughter had gleaned in the fields of their wealthier neighbors, after\ntheir harvest was over, his heart overflowed with gratitude therefor.\n\nWhen their flour was exhausted, and they didn't know where to obtain\nany more, Joseph Reed offered to lend him flour or anything else in the\nedible line he had, and told him not to allow his family to suffer for\nwant of food as long as he had any.\n\nThe generosity and unselfishness of these offers will be apparent when\nit is mentioned that flour at that time would sell at from $20.00 to\n$24.00 per hundred pounds.\n\nHe had not been living in Bountiful long when he recognized one\nparticular locality as the very spot shown him in vision while sick in\nWisconsin where he would build a house and make a home, and pointed\nit out to his wife. Upon inquiry of the man who owned the ground (two\nacres in extent, and unimproved) he found he could buy it for the sum\nof $100.00, and upon learning that he had no funds with which to buy\nit, the man was willing to give him time in which to pay for it. He\nbargained for it without hesitation, and after his first harvest paid\nfor it in molasses at $4.00 per gallon.\n\nIn the early spring of 1865 he rented a few acres of land and planted\nthe same to onions, beets, carrots, sugar cane and corn; he cultivated\nthe land well, and obtained a good crop. In the meantime he built some\nsheds to shelter his animals, and a stackyard, and mowed quite a lot of\nhay on vacant land, and stacked this and his other produce in his yard.\n\nIn the early part of the following December, while he and his son\nEphraim were away in the canyon after a load of wood, his stable and\nstackyard and their contents were accidentally burned to the ground.\nHis first impulse on learning of it was to inquire if the family was\nsafe. Being assured on that point, he said all that he had he had\ndedicated to the Lord, and if the Lord chose to make a burnt offering\nof it he had nothing to say. He would go on and work for more.\n\nThe fire not only had the effect of testing Thomas, but of developing\nthe sympathy and generosity of his neighbors. Some of them gave him\nhay, others flour, etc., so that his loss by the fire was largely\noffset.\n\nSoon afterwards Newton Tuttle proposed that Thomas go in partnership\nwith him and buy an abandoned saw mill, in Holbrook canyon, and he did\nso. His activities during the next two or three years were largely in\nthe line of lumbering, at which he worked very hard and effectively,\nfirst as a partner of Brother Tuttle, and later as sole owner of the\nsaw mill.\n\nOn the 3rd of April, 1867, their daughter Hannah was born.\n\nOn the 23rd of March, 1868, he was elected school trustee, which\nposition he filled for many years.\n\nDuring that year also, the crops in this region suffered severely from\nthe ravages of grasshoppers, and he, being called to act with two\nothers in devising means and directing the work of destroying the pest,\nspent a good deal of time for the public good in that line.\n\nIn the latter part of that year he was called upon to help supervise\nthe amusements of the young people, and prevent them from drifting into\nevil.\n\nOn the 13th of September, 1869, his wife gave birth to twins--Thomas E.\nand Elizabeth.\n\nIn that and succeeding years Thomas was used very extensively under the\ndirection of the Bishop, as a kind of special teacher and peace-maker\nin the ward, in settling differences between neighbors, and laboring\nwith backsliders to get them to do their duty.\n\nOn the 1st of June, 1872, his daughter, Martha, his ninth and last\nchild, was born.\n\nIn the latter part of November, 1874, he fitted up a room in his house\nfor a night school, for the benefit of any who could not attend school\nduring the day time, and he himself, as well as many others, attended\nit.\n\nAbout this time strong efforts were made to effect a species of\nco-operation among the residents of Bountiful, in the raising and\nmarketing of garden products, and Thomas was appointed to take charge\nof the company that was organized; but, although he devoted much time\nand attention to it, the business did not prove successful, because of\nlack of union and experience on the part of the members.\n\nHis wife's health being very poor, he found it necessary to remain at\nhome, and devoted himself to market gardening. He made a specialty of\nstarting tomato, egg plant, and a few other vegetables (that up to that\ntime had only been raised in very limited quantities in Utah) in a room\nof his house, in which he kept a fire constantly burning, and then\nsetting them out much earlier than usual, on an extensive scale, and\nmade it profitable.\n\nHe purchased some land on the bench above Bountiful, and also located\nquite an extensive tract, and extended the scope of his operations, his\nsons Ephraim, David and James working in company with him.\n\nDuring the early part of 1876 his wife's health, which had been bad\nand growing worse for a long time, became such that he hardly dared to\nleave her. She was affected with dropsy, and much of the time almost\nhelpless.\n\nAbout this time he had a dream, which indicated to him that he would\nhave to part with her, and when, on the 15th of July following, she\nsuddenly died, the circumstances were in fulfillment of the dream,\nthus confirming what was predicted in tongues in 1849: that his trials\nshould be shown him beforehand.\n\nShe had been a good and true wife, and mother, and he felt her death\nall the more keenly because of being in very poor health himself at the\ntime. His leg, which was never free from pain, and always discharging,\nhad been so much worse for some time that he could scarcely stand,\nand yet he felt compelled to assist in the work of the household, as\nwell as to attend to his duties in the ward. Soon after the death of\nhis wife, his youngest child, Martha, who was then four years old, in\naccidentally falling, plunged her arm into a pot of boiling brine which\nhad just been lifted from the stove, and as she had a woolen dress on,\nwhich held the heat, her arm was practically cooked to the bone. From\nthe top of her shoulder to her finger tips was like a piece of raw\nbeef, and her father was the only one she would allow to wait upon her.\nAs she could not lie in bed, she was kept seated in a rocking chair,\nand Thomas watched and waited upon her devotedly both night and day for\nthree months. When he would dress her arm her agony would be so intense\nthat she would tear the hair out of her head by the handful. It was\nonly by the power of God that her life was saved and the use of her arm\nspared. When she did finally recover, her injured arm was just as good\nas the other.\n\nThe Temple in St. George had been completed by that time, and Thomas\nwas strongly reminded of his father's dying injunction to \"never\nforget the dead.\" He was so strongly impressed with the fact that it\nwas his duty to go to St. George and have the work done for all of his\nancestors whose names he had, that he talked the matter over with his\nneighbor, Newton Tuttle, who became so enthusiastic on the subject that\nhe proffered to go to St. George with him, and to furnish the team to\nconvey them on the trip.\n\nThough impelled by the Spirit to go to the Temple, he still had\ndoubts as to whether he would be allowed to engage in ordinance work\ntherein, because of having the running sores on his leg. He accordingly\nconferred with Bishop Anson Call on the subject, but the Bishop was\nunable to answer his query.\n\nThomas then appealed to the Lord in prayer to know whether it was His\nwill that he should go, and whether the dead knew what was being done\non earth in their behalf. He had perfect confidence that the Lord would\nhear and grant his wish, as He had heard and answered his prayers many\ntimes in the past.\n\nDirectly afterward he had a dream in which he thought he was traveling\nfrom the north to the south, and that his wife's sister, Sarah, was\nwith him. They were walking along the road, and he was talking to\nher of the things of the Gospel. They came to a very large field of\nwheat--the finest he had ever seen. He saw a number of men at work\nharvesting, as the wheat was ripe. Other men were seen lounging in the\nshade, and neglecting the crop, which seemed to be in danger of being\nwasted.\n\nHe asked his companion to observe the scene before them, as it was\ntypical of worldly conditions--some doing their utmost to save the\nmaster's crop, while others are careless and indifferent.\n\nAll at once it seemed to grow dark--so dark that he could not see where\nto go, and he lost his companion. While standing still, wondering where\nto go, he saw a small light a long distance away, and as he approached\nit, it grew larger and brighter. Then a large white building appeared\nin view, such as he had never seen before. A number of steps led up\nfrom the east side, and the door stood open; but he could see no one\naround, and everything looked white as snow. He entered the door and\nlooked around, and saw another flight of steps. At the top of the steps\nstood a woman whom he recognized as one of his neighbors, and who came\ntowards him and embraced him.\n\nHe awoke and pondered over his dream, and came to the conclusion that\nthe Lord had another wife for him, as the woman he saw seemed to be\nwaiting for some one.\n\nSome time after that he asked Bishop Call some questions concerning the\ndead, which the Bishop did not venture to answer, but suggested that he\ngo and talk with President Brigham Young, and offered to go with him.\n\nThey accordingly visited President Young, who answered the questions\nthat Thomas wanted to be enlightened upon in a way that was satisfying\nand very comforting to him, and explained Temple work to him in a way\nthat he had never fully understood before.\n\nAfter conversing about an hour, he said: \"Brother Briggs, how many of\nthe names of your dead kindred have you?\" On learning that he had only\nseven names, he asked:\n\n\"And have you faith to travel to St. George, over three hundred miles\ndistant, to do the work for seven dead persons?\"\n\nThomas told him he had, and seemed surprised at his asking, for it had\nnot occurred to him that it required a great amount of faith to do so.\n\n\"Well, the Lord bless you for your faith!\" said President Young. \"Go\nto St. George, and have the work done for those whose names you have.\nTravel comfortably and independently, making your own camp and sleeping\nin or under your wagon. Put the people along the way and in St. George\nto as little trouble as possible. If you require hay, bread or other\nsupplies, pay for them. Then all the honor will be yours. You shall be\nblessed on the trip, and you shall never want for names of the dead to\nwork for as long as you live.\"\n\nHe and Brother Tuttle secured their recommends to admit them to the\nTemple and commenced preparations for the journey. He also called upon\nMrs. Ann Ashdown, the sister whom he had seen in his dream, and told\nher he was going to St. George, and asked if she would like to go along\nand become his wife and a mother to his children. He advised her to\nthink about it, and give him a reply the next day.\n\nThe following day she gave her consent, and he told her to prepare for\nthe journey. He then went to his son Ephraim and announced that he\nintended to marry, but didn't suppose that anyone could guess who his\nprospective bride was.\n\nThe son replied that he knew who his mother had said he would sometime\nmarry, and named Sister Ashdown.\n\nHe then called upon his eldest daughter, Emma, and broke the news to\nher, as he had to his son. She too was prepared for it, and informed\nhim that her mother, some time before her death, had predicted to her\nthat Mrs. Ashdown would yet become her father's wife, either in time\nor eternity, as it had been made known to her in a vision. This was an\nadditional evidence to Thomas that it was the Lord's will, for his wife\nhad never even hinted to him that she ever had such an impression. She\nhad, however, a short time before her death told him of two old maids\nwith whom she had lived during her childhood, and who had sent her to\nschool. She asked him to have the work done for them in the Temple, and\nto have them sealed to him.\n\nBrother Tuttle and his daughter Emily, and Thomas and his daughter\nEmma, and prospective wife soon set out for St. George, where they\narrived on the 24th of May, 1877.\n\nThey called upon Apostle Wilford Woodruff, who was then in charge of\nthe Temple, the same day, and after he had endorsed their recommends,\nThomas explained to him his condition, and asked whether he should keep\nthe bandage on his leg or remove it. Brother Woodruff remained silent a\nfew moments, as if communing with the Lord, and then told him to come\nto the Temple early the following morning and to remove the bandage.\n\nThomas recognized the Temple as soon as he saw it, as the building he\nhad seen in his dream, and when he entered the Temple the scene was\nenacted that he had witnessed in the interior, although he had said\nnothing to anyone about the dream.\n\nWhen his daughter Emma was baptized for his grandmother he received a\npowerful testimony that his ancestor had accepted of the work done in\nher behalf.\n\nThey all greatly rejoiced in the work they were privileged to do in the\nTemple, and felt amply repaid for the trouble and sacrifice which the\ntrip involved.\n\nThey worked in the Temple during the whole of the week, and Thomas each\nday removed the bandage from his leg when he entered the Temple, as he\nhad been advised to do, and noticed with interest and gratitude to the\nLord, that there was no discharge whatever from the ulcers, but when\nhe left the Temple in the afternoon each day, the suppuration recurred\nand continued until he entered the Temple the following day. Nor did he\nsuffer any pain while in the Temple.\n\nAfter finishing the work for all the dead whose names and genealogies\nthey had, they drove out on their return journey a few miles and\ncamped. That night, soon after Thomas had retired to rest in his bed\nunder the wagon, his mother appeared to him. \"You have made a mistake\nin giving in my genealogy,\" she said. \"You have given the date upon\nwhich I was married instead of the date of my birth; but you need not\ngo back now, as some of the family will soon come here, and then you\ncan have the error corrected.\" She disappeared when Thomas was about\nto embrace her. This visit and the purpose of it, were testimonies to\nThomas that the dead have a knowledge of the work being done in their\nbehalf. It was also an answer to the prayer offered by Thomas when he\nsought for information upon that point. It was an evidence too, that\nthe dead have some foreknowledge of things that are going to transpire;\nfor, although Thomas was not aware that any of his family would visit\nthe St. George Temple soon, he was informed by his son, David, almost\nas soon as he reached home, that he had decided to marry, and he\naccepted the father's advice to go to St. George and be married in the\nTemple.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nUNSTINTED SERVICE--INSPIRATION--GOES TO THE NORTHWESTERN STATES\nAS A MISSIONARY--HEALTH FAILS AND HE RETURNS--SHOCKING DEATH OF\nSON DAVID--LIMB AMPUTATED--PATRIARCHAL BLESSING--INCIDENT IN LOGAN\nTEMPLE--TRIP TO ENGLAND TO OBTAIN GENEALOGY.\n\nDURING the succeeding few years Thomas spent more time even than usual\nin the performance of his public duties in the ward, and the marvel is\nthat he was able to make a living and do so much gratuitous work. He\npays a high tribute in his memoir to the devoted service and efficient\nhelp he received from his wife, who was as kind to his children as if\nthey had been her own, and of great assistance and comfort to him.\n\nHe and his sons generally worked in partnership in the raising and\nmarketing of garden produce. In this they were prosperous, and\ntheir relations harmonious. The following is casually mentioned in\nhis narrative, and will serve to illustrate the inspiration Thomas\nfrequently enjoyed.\n\nOne day his son David had started to town with an extra big load of\ngarden truck, and some time later, while Thomas and his wife were\neating breakfast, he said to her: \"Ann, David has broken his wagon, and\nis in a bad fix, as he is some distance from where he expected to sell\nhis load.\"\n\nIt was learned when David returned in the evening that he had broken\nhis wagon, and had great difficulty in securing another wagon and\ntransferring his load to it, all of which delayed him about three\nhours, and when he arrived in town all the stores were supplied.\nFeeling very much discouraged, he was about to start for another part\nof the city, when a man from Park City happened along and looked at\nDavid's load, and, as he found it included just the things he wanted,\nhe bought the entire load. The father told him it was through the power\nof the Lord that the man was sent to him, so that he might sell his\nproduce.\n\nOne day when he and his wife were eating breakfast an impression came\nover Thomas that they were going to have trouble of some kind before\nnight, and he mentioned it to his wife. Just then his son Ephraim came\nin and remarked that he was going to the canyon. His father asked him\nnot to go, but to remain at home and work, as he thought that some\ntrouble was going to occur. However, after the father had started\nto the city, Ephraim went to the canyon, and, in felling a tree,\naccidently killed one of his horses, by the tree hitting it.\n\nAbout this time the Bishop of Bountiful was absent from home a great\ndeal, and Thomas, acting as head teacher, was required to assume the\nBishop's duties to a large extent; indeed from his memoir it appears\nthat his public service consumed nearly all of his time. It is little\nto be wondered at that his sons and son-in-law, who had been associated\nwith him in the raising and marketing of garden produce, decided to\ndissolve partnership and operate separately. Thomas, in his memoir,\nexpresses gratitude to them for their forbearance in having been\nwilling for him to devote such a large share of his time to caring for\nthe poor, and other public duties.\n\nOne member of a company or association may feel willing (as Thomas did)\nto devote the whole of his time, if necessary, to gratuitous service,\nbut if his interest in the partnership or association is based upon\nthe assumption that his time belongs to the company, his associates\nin business necessarily become servitors when he serves, whether\nwillingly so or not. Thomas' sons and son-in-law were good men, and not\nungenerous, but were not prepared in their feelings to make unlimited\nsacrifice for the public good, and their revolt was quite natural.\nLater, however, his son Ephraim decided to still work with his father,\nand they built a greenhouse to be the better able to carry on their\nbusiness.\n\nThe year 1882 marked the half century of Thomas' life, and he was\ndeeply grateful to the Lord for having spared his life so long--much\nlonger than he had hoped to live, and the joy he experienced in\ncontemplating the future of his posterity. His love for the poor found\nexpression on the first day of the year in his entertaining the poor\nresidents of Bountiful, about fifty in number, at his home, and on the\nfollowing day all of his children and all of his wife's children by a\nformer husband came to his home loaded down with good things, and gave\nhim a genuine surprise party, and had a time of rejoicing.\n\nHaving received a call from the First Presidency to fill a mission to\nthe Northwestern States, a number of his relatives and friends gave him\nanother surprise party on the 22nd of April, 1883, and presented him\nwith a purse of $30.00 to help defray his expenses, for which he felt\nvery grateful. He mentions in particular one poor widow who had to work\nfor her living, who sent him $1.00 and a silk hankerchief.\n\nOn the 1st of May he left his home to labor as a missionary under the\ndirection of Elder W. M. Palmer, and in his diary expresses a doubt\nwhether a missionary ever set out under such circumstances as he did.\nThe two running sores on his leg were very painful, and he walked with\ndifficulty. While on the way Elder Palmer evidently realized for the\nfirst time how serious Thomas' ailment was, and expressed a doubt about\nhis being able to endure the hardships incident to missionary life, and\nespecially the damp climate prevailing in the northwest.\n\nOn reaching Minnesota, he was assigned to labor with Wm. H. Wright, of\nOgden, but was taken so desperately sick soon after reaching his field\nof labor in Wisconsin that Elder Palmer hastened to release him, lest\nhe might die there.\n\nHe arrived home a little less than four months after he left, having\nslightly improved in health during the journey home.\n\nAs soon as he was able to walk about, he resumed his former labors of\ncaring for the poor and comforting and encouraging those who were weak\nin the faith. He records in his diary the fact that he was prompted\nby the Spirit to visit a poor woman who had been abandoned by her\nhusband. As she had not previously been dependent upon the ward for\nhelp, he disregarded the prompting until the Lord warned him a second\ntime to call upon her. He found then that she had been subsisting upon\na few potatoes, and was really in need of food. He soon provided her\nwith what was required to make her comfortable, and asked the Lord to\nforgive him for failing to act promptly upon the warnings of His Spirit.\n\nAbout the middle of June, 1884, Thomas had a visit from his son David,\nwho informed him that he had been so greatly blessed, and done so well\nmaterially, since he was married, that he had decided to go to school\nduring the following winter, and prepare himself for a mission. Nothing\nthat he could have proposed would have pleased his father more than\nthis for he desired above all things that his posterity should devote\nthemselves to the service of the Lord.\n\nOnly a few days later, June 19th, 1884, David stepped in front of the\nsickle bar of his mowing machine to unhitch his horses, after having\nbeen engaged in cutting grass about two miles from home, when the\nhorses suddenly started, catching his feet in the sickle bar and nearly\nsevering them. He had to go ten miles for medical aid, and the doctor\namputated his feet. The weather was very warm, and blood poisoning set\nin, and on the 27th of June, eight days after the accident, he died.\n\nThomas was quite sick at the time, and was grief-stricken over his\nson's death. He had counted so confidently on his son's death. He\nhad counted so confidently on his son's future development as a good\nand useful man, and the head of a large family, that he felt the\ndisappointment very keenly, and could hardly be reconciled to his death.\n\nDuring the summer of 1885, his sons were necessarily absent from home\nmuch of the time, and Thomas was under the necessity of working alone.\nWhile doing so he accidentally fell from his wagon one day, and hurt his\nlame leg very severely. The neighbors carried him into the house, and\npersuaded him to send for a doctor. The doctor came, and said the leg\nwas very badly hurt, and that his patient would have to lie in bed for\nfully a month.\n\nOne night soon afterwards Thomas had a vision. He saw a bright light\ncome through the east window of the room in which he lay, which seemed\nto move along the wall until it was opposite to where he was lying,\nwhen it stopped. A voice came from the light, which said: \"Go to the\nhospital, and have that limb taken off; for you have a work to perform\nwhich you cannot do with the limb on.\"\n\nThomas was amazed, and kept looking at the light, when the voice was\nagain heard, saying: \"You doubt it, as you think if you go you will\nleave your family in debt, as you have not much money; but you need\nnot fear, for means will be provided for you. And when you get the\nlimb off, send for another limb, and you will astonish both saint and\nsinner, as you will be able to put it on as soon as you get it; and the\ntrain which shall bring your limb shall be delayed for a short time.\"\n\nThis was the vision, as far as he could relate it, and the light\nvanished the same as it had come. He told his family of it, and\nrequested his son Ephraim to see Dr. Anderson, and tell him he was\nready to have his limb amputated.\n\nHe went to the hospital on the 15th of December, 1885, and two days\nlater the leg was amputated six inches from his body. Many of his\nfriends, knowing his condition, expressed the belief that he would\nnever come out of the hospital alive, but all went well, and on the\n31st of January, 1886, he rode home from the hospital in a surrey.\n\nWhile lying in the hospital, Brother Briggs asked a patriarch who\ncalled to see him, if he had a blessing for him. After looking at him\nfor some time, the patriarch said he had, and placing his hands upon\nthe patient's head, told him not to fear, for he should get well. He\nalso said that angels were watching over him, and that he would live to\naccomplish a great work in the Temple--such as he had never conceived\nof.\n\nFor many months after Thomas returned from the hospital he experienced\nthe sensation of pain in the missing foot. He could get no relief from\nit day or night, and found that it was wearing his wife out, waiting\nupon him. After much persuasion he induced his sons to exhume his leg,\nwhich was buried in the cemetery, straighten out the toes, which he\nfelt must be in a cramped position, and put it in a larger box. About\nthe time when the leg was dug up and the box opened, Thomas, though\nfully two miles distant, felt two sympathetic throbs in the stump of\nthe limb, and then it turned ice cold. He remarked to his wife that\nthey had taken the lid off the box. After the limb had been carefully\nwrapped in absorbent cotton and placed in a larger box, he felt very\ncomfortable.\n\nEarly in March, 1886, he received a bill from the hospital for $85.00\nand one from the doctor for $100.00, but had no money with which to pay\neither. Besides, the Spirit told him to get an artificial leg as soon\nas he could, and that would cost $100.00, if paid in advance. Money was\nvery scarce at the time, and loans hard to obtain; but after praying to\nthe Lord to direct him where to go to get some money, he had his son\ntake him out with a horse and buggy for the purpose of borrowing some,\nwithout having any definite idea where to go to.\n\nThey had only driven a short distance when they saw some one coming\ntowards them with a horse and buggy, and Thomas asked his son to stop\nhis horse when they met. It proved to be Ether Coltrin, and Thomas told\nhim he would like to borrow a little money. Brother Coltrin immediately\nasked if he could get along with $100.00, and was told that he could.\nThe loan was immediately arranged for, and part of it paid to the\nhospital and the balance to the doctor.\n\nThomas then appealed to the Lord to know where he could go to obtain\nthe price of the artificial leg, and a few days later Daniel Davis came\nto him and said: \"Thomas, if you want to get a little money, I can let\nyou have some.\" When told that he needed $100.00, he said he could have\nit.\n\nHe had the stump of the limb measured and the limb ordered in April,\nand in due time received, and the delay predicted occurred while the\ntrain bearing it was on the way. He was able to wear it immediately,\nand during the latter part of the year he and his family were laboring\nin the Logan Temple (which had just been dedicated) for the living and\nthe dead.\n\nBrother Briggs has recorded in his diary this circumstance, which\noccurred in the Temple while he was present: As a great many persons\nwere on the stairs of the assembly room, President Taylor discerned\nin the multitude a woman unworthy of admission. He did not know her,\nbut he said to President Card, \"Turn that woman back.\" He afterwards\nexplained that the Spirit had told him that she had no business there.\nIt was subsequently discovered that she had a forged recommend.\n\nBeing unable to cultivate his land that year, Thomas let it out on\nshares to his sons, who planted it to tomatoes and cucumbers. Just as\nthey had made sufficient growth to be looking fine, a terrific hail\nand wind storm occurred, one of the worst ever known in that region,\nbut, although nearly all the surrounding crops were destroyed, those\nin Thomas' field were not injured--which he naturally considered very\nprovidential, and thanked the Lord for favoring him.\n\nWith the advent of 1888, Thomas was strongly impressed with the\nfact that it was his duty to go to England and seek genealogical\ninformation; in fact, this feeling had been with him ever since he\nwas in the hospital, at the time his leg was amputated, and when many\nregarded his recovery as very doubtful. The Spirit of the Lord had\nsaid to him then, \"Prepare to go to England in 1888, and hunt up your\ngenealogy.\"\n\nHe was in poor health and without funds, but didn't feel that those\nfacts would excuse him from complying with the requirement of the\nLord, if he could borrow the funds, for whenever he had borrowed\nanything in the past because duty required it, the Lord had afterwards\nprovided a way for repaying the loan. With a desire in his heart that\nthe Lord would enable him to obtain the necessary funds, he attended\nthe April Conference, and as he entered the Temple Block gate he saw\na man standing there whom he was prompted to apply to for a loan. He\nexplained the purpose for which he wanted it, and obtained the desired\namount without hesitation.\n\nHe went to England, traveled 1800 miles after he arrived there, met\nmany relatives, was kindly received, collected two hundred names of his\nkindred dead, and arrived home seventeen weeks after he started.\n\nIn the spring of 1889 prospects indicated a great scarcity of water to\nirrigate with, and Thomas was worried as a consequence. Besides, he\nfound himself burdened with a heavy indebtedness as a result of his\ntrip to England, but, by cultivating four acres of land in addition to\nhis own, he paid off all his indebtedness and had enough left to keep\nhis family well provided, so that he felt that the Lord had blessed him\nfor following the promptings of His Spirit.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nHIS LIFE'S MISSION FOUND--EXTENSIVE GENEALOGY OBTAINED--BLESSED IN\nHIS WIVES AND CHILDREN--DEATH OF WIFE AND OTHERS--THIRD MARRIAGE--LEG\nAMPUTATED A SECOND TIME--HIS BENEDICTION.\n\nFROM the time the Salt Lake Temple was completed in 1893 Thomas felt it\nto be his chief mission in life to obtain genealogical information and\nlabor in the Temple for his dead kindred, and he devoted every dollar\nthat he could spare as well as his time scrupulously to this cause.\n\nHe heard of a man in England who was engaged in the business of tracing\nup genealogies, and employed him to trace up his--which he was able\nto do all the better for the start Thomas made while on his trip. He\nsucceeded so well that after awhile it taxed Thomas' limited resources\nto obtain means to pay for the names he was getting for him, and a\nrequest had to be sent to suspend the genealogical research until more\nfunds could be accumulated. The English genealogist, however, had got\nthe spirit of the work, found unusual opportunities for getting the\ninformation and became so enthusiastic that he didn't want to quit, and\nfurnished quite a lot of names without charge.\n\nThomas was so grateful to the Lord for inspiring him to undergo the\noperation and to recover therefrom, and experienced such a feeling of\nrelief in being rid of the diseased limb, with its running ulcers,\nafter having been encumbered therewith for thirty years, that he felt\nthat he couldn't do enough to show his appreciation for what the Lord\nhad done for him. He could put up with the inconvenience of wearing an\nartificial limb so long as he could feel assured that personally he was\nclean and wholesome and not offensive.\n\nIt must not be supposed that he was entirely free from pain, even after\nhis severed leg had been exhumed. It might be comparatively painless\nwhen at rest, but the exertion of walking after he got his artificial\nleg always caused more or less pain. The pain, however, had been so\nmuch more intense before his leg was amputated, that, instead of\nfeeling disposed to complain, he rejoiced over the improvement.\n\nNor did he feel that his labors in the Temple ought to excuse him\nfrom serving in the ward. He could only serve in the Temple three,\nor at most four, days in the week, and even on those days got home\nearly enough to do some work in his garden or some visiting among the\npoor who were his special charges, it being his duty to receive and\ndistribute the fast offerings among them and see that none were allowed\nto suffer. Then during the three or four days a week when he was not\nrequired to be at the Temple he devoted himself almost exclusively to\nhome and ward duties.\n\nSunday was usually one of his busiest days. Attendance at meetings\nand visiting and exhorting the High Priests (over whom he helped to\npreside) or others who, because of sickness or sorrow or grievance\nrequired his fatherly attention and care, kept him constantly employed.\n\nIt was natural for him to be doing something. He was always an early\nriser, and if his own needs didn't furnish him with a sufficient\nincentive for constant exertion, his concern for others never failed\nto. He neither had the time nor disposition to be idle. Work to him was\na tonic. He gloried in doing things, and in seeing the results of his\nlabor. He many times felt the better for his exertion. At other times\nwhen fatigue might have furnished him ample excuse for refraining from\nfurther exertion, the work served as a counter irritant, in making him\npartially forgetful of his constant pain, and so he praised the Lord\nfor his ability to work.\n\nHe had other things also for which he praised the Lord. He was grateful\nto the Lord for the faithful humble, congenial wives he had been\nblessed with, who found pleasure in simple lives, who could make the\nmost of the bare necessities, who were good, economical and thrifty\nhousekeepers, who preferred to make home attractive by its simplicity,\nto incurring a burden of indebtedness by incumbering it with\nincongruous luxuries. If their tastes had differed from his, if they\nhad been extravagant and wasteful, and scattered while he gathered,\nif they had been lacking in sympathy or interest in the public duties\nto which he devoted so much time and attention, Thomas would have had\na different story to tell of his life. His service would have been\nminimized and his suffering must have been greatly aggravated.\n\nHis children also had brought him much comfort and comparatively little\nsorrow. They developed no criminal tendencies; they were virtuous,\nhonest, industrious and frugal, and if not as full of zeal as their\nparents, they at least retained the faith and enjoyed and deserved the\nrespect of their fellows. They manifested great love and respect for\ntheir parents also, and the numerous occasions upon which his posterity\nassembled voluntarily around the parental hearthstone, to show special\nhonor, afforded grateful relief to his pain-racked and strenuous\nexistence. On one of these happy occasions his posterity presented him\nwith a gold headed cane; upon another a costly gold watch, which, of\ncourse, he appreciated--not so much for their intrinsic worth as for\nthe love that prompted their bestowal.\n\nIf any man ever loved his children, and gave them good counsel, and\nset before them a good example, and frequently and earnestly testified\nto them of the truth of the Gospel, Thomas Briggs certainly did. And\nif any of his children ever depart from the faith, adopt bad habits or\nfall into sin, they will not have their father to blame for it.\n\nAs his posterity increased, and many of them scattered out into distant\nparts, he was no longer able to exercise the patriarchal supervision\nover them that he formerly had. His sons, James and Thomas, removed to\nStar Valley, and made new homes, and soon afterwards the latter met\nwith a shocking accident through his team running away. One of his\neyes was almost put out, and his skull was laid open for three of four\ninches, but through the blessing of the Lord he recovered. Wm. Ray\nBriggs, a grandson, met with a shocking death in Idaho, while digging\na well, through having a horse fall down the well on top of him. His\ndaughters, Mary Ann and Ann E., also died in Idaho. On the 3rd of July,\n1898, his wife, who had been his faithful companion and shared his joys\nand sorrows for almost twenty years, passed away.\n\nAll of these and other minor incidents of a fatal or sorrowful nature\nadded to the burden of his suffering, but he bore up manfully under\nthem, regarding death philosophically, as only a temporary separation,\nand never doubting that in the economy of an Allwise Creator he would\nyet enjoy with his loved ones an eternal reunion.\n\nThe death of his wife left him bereft and lonely, and subjected him to\nadditional hardships, but he sought and found solace in work and in\ndevoted attention to the poor and unfortunate, a comparison of whose\ncircumstances with his own made him frequently feel that he had very\nmuch to be thankful for.\n\nOn the 11th of May, 1904, Thomas married his third wife, after living\nalone for nearly seven years. She was a widow named Ann Williams, whose\nhusband died in England, where also she had left three children when\nshe migrated to Utah for the Gospel's sake.\n\nTwo months after his marriage his wife started on a trip to England,\nwhich she had contemplated long before her marriage, and for which she\nhad money of her own to pay. She also made a subsequent trip to England\ntwo years later, to visit relatives.\n\nOn the last day of 1905, Brother Briggs entered in his diary the\nfollowing summary of his spiritual work for the year--blessed\ntwenty-six children, gave thirty-four patriarchal blessings, attended\neleven funerals, administered one hundred and ninety-four times to the\nsick (and adds his testimony that the Lord had heard his prayers;)\nalso had done or caused to be done in the Temple in Salt Lake City one\nhundred and thirty-three baptisms, seventy-seven endowments and one\nhundred and twenty-four sealings.\n\nThis year's work was not thus summarized because the showing was in\nexcess of any previous year, but rather because he had never previously\nthought of totaling up his year's doings.\n\nIn addition to the foregoing, he mentioned in his diary that during\nthe year he had dedicated a number of newly erected homes and settled\ndifferences between several of the brethren.\n\nIn January, 1906, Thomas records in his diary that his eyes were very\nbad, and he made it a subject of fervent prayer to the Lord that his\neyes might be strengthened and his sight preserved for a few more\nyears. He arose the next morning with his eyesight greatly improved,\nand was grateful beyond his power to express therefor.\n\nOn the 24th of May, 1906, Thomas recorded in his diary that he was\ncalled to administer to Sister Mark Waddoups, whom he found to be\nsuffering from intense pain. He earnestly besought the Lord to ease\nher pain, and He did so; but while his hands were still upon her\nhead the Spirit made it known to him that she would die that day. He\nconfidentially informed the nurse of the fact, and when he called later\nin the day he found she had passed away. This was in contradistinction\nto the positive impression he frequently received, when administering\nto a sick person, that he would recover.\n\nIn the latter part of September, 1906, according to a casual entry in\nhis diary, he and a number of other brethren were called to the home\nof Sister McNiel, in Bountiful, to administer to a very sick child\nwho seemed to be dying. The doctor who had been treating the case was\npresent, and afterwards admitted that he really supposed every breath\nthe child drew, before it was administered to, would be its last, but,\nto his great surprise, the child immediately afterwards fell asleep,\nand the next morning was well. The doctor declared it the greatest\nmanifestation of the power of God he had ever witnessed.\n\nSeveral entries in his diary in the early part of 1909 indicate that\nabout that time Brother Briggs suffered an unusual amount of pain in\nthe stump of his severed limb, due, as the doctors said, to the first\noperation not having been performed properly. It was accordingly\ndeemed necessary to make a second amputation, but grave fears were\nexpressed lest he might not be able to stand it, as he was in his 77th\nyear. However, he felt himself that he would rather submit to it,\nnotwithstanding the risk, than to continue to suffer indefinitely,\nand on the 6th of April, 1909, he underwent the operation. He rallied\nin a manner that surprised his friends, and six weeks later walked to\nmeeting and back without a crutch.\n\nIn November, 1909, while Sister Briggs was absent on her second trip\nto England, her husband had a stroke of paralysis, which has somewhat\naffected his speech ever since, and greatly interfered with his\nactivity. His tongue throughout his life had been to him a specially\nuseful member. It has been well guarded, and never had brought him into\ntrouble. He had, by his wise counsel and fatherly advice, been able\nto comfort and bring peace to many of his fellows. He had for many\nyears filled the office of a patriarch and blessed and brought solace\nand hope to many others besides his own posterity, but his service to\nothers during the past five years has been very much curtailed. His\nmind is unusually clear and strong for one who is eighty-two years of\nage, his eyesight good enough for him to read without glasses, and his\nbody fairly strong; he suffers less pain than he formerly did, and is\nable to walk about to a limited extent.\n\nHe still works in his garden, which, however is greatly reduced. He has\nsold off his property, including the house he lives in (with a proviso\nfor the support of himself and wife while they live, and their burial\nwhen they die,) and invested all the surplus in the work which he has\nhad done for the dead.\n\nThe enormous number of five thousand dead persons have been officiated\nfor by Thomas, or by persons whom he has employed, in all the\nordinances necessary for their salvation, and he still has the names of\nhundreds of his dead kindred to officiate for. Thus has the prediction\nuttered by President Brigham Young, when Thomas had but seven names,\nand didn't know where to obtain any more, been fulfilled. His father's\ncharge uttered on his dying bed, to \"never forget the dead,\" has been\nso faithfully obeyed that it is safe to say that Thomas will have no\nshame in meeting that father when he passes from mortality.\n\nThe memoir and diary which Thomas compiled, and which was brought down\nonly to the date when he was stricken with paralysis, ends with the\nfollowing address to his posterity:\n\nTo My Dear Children:--\n\n\"I wish to say a few words to you. I can see that in a few years from\nnow I shall not be with you; therefore I pray for the Spirit of the\nLord to be with me, to lead my mind to write such things as will be for\nyour good. I hope that you and your children will carry them out in\nyour lives, and that the same spirit with which I write these few lines\nwill give you to fully understand them; for when my tongue is stilled\nin death, these words will live in my posterity.\n\n\"I bear my testimony to you, that this is the work of the Lord, and I\nask you to teach it to your children, and teach them to pray, and keep\nthe commandments of the Lord, so that they may be free from sin.\n\n\"Teach them to understand their calling in the priesthood, and impress\nit upon their minds, that it is of God, and not of man.\n\n\"Teach them to read good literature, for trifling reading begets\ntrifling thoughts, and trifling thoughts beget a trifling life; for\nbear in mind, that impressions firmly fixed on the mind, and long\ncherished, are not easily erased. Then, oh, how important it is that\nthese impressions are good ones. Teach them that foolish spending is\nthe father of poverty. Teach them never to be ashamed of work, however\nmuch learning they may be able to acquire. See that they are proud, but\nlet their pride be of the right kind. Teach them self-reliance, and to\nnever give up, without conquering every difficulty that they may be\ncalled upon to pass through in life.\n\n\"Teach them to be too proud to wear clothes that they cannot afford;\ntoo proud to be in company that they are unable to keep up with in\nexpenses; too proud to lie, to cheat or steal; and also too proud to be\nstingy to the poor, sick or afflicted, or widows, and to fatherless and\nmotherless children.\n\n\"Always have kind words to give, for they are as refreshing to the\ntroubled heart, as rain to the parched ground. Bear in mind that little\ndrops of rain brighten the meadows, and little drops of kindness\nbrighten the world.\n\n\"My Children, my heart is full of love for you all, but I cannot write\nthe blessings that the Lord has in store for you if you are faithful.\nI hope you will preserve these few lines, and read them over as often\nas you can, also the 5th chapter of Alma, and live up to it, for it is\nthe word of the Lord in these latter days, as well as in those days.\nAnd when I am in my grave, you will look upon these lines, and say that\nI am not forgotten, for I tell you my children, that some great things\nare about to transpire, that the world knows nothing of; but be of good\ncheer, and be humble and prayerful, and watch as well as pray, that you\nmay stand the day of trial, for it is coming, and it is near to our\ndoors, and so is the coming of the Son of Man.\n\n\"Never give up, but stay on board the ship; she will take you safely\nthrough.\n\n\"My children, for this cause I left my native land; that you may make\ngood and valiant soldiers.\n\n\"The Savior said to Peter, 'Lovest thou me?' Peter answered, and said,\n'Yea Lord, thou knowest I love thee.' Then the Lord said, 'Feed my\nsheep.' And again he said the same words to Peter, and then, 'Feed my\nlambs.' And now, my children, try to realize that you have both sheep\nand lambs in your charge; and remember you will be called upon to give\naccount for them. And if you can say, on the last day, 'I have done\nthe best that I could, Father; I have fed them, and clothed them, and\nwhen the wolves were howling at them, I have watched over them night\nand day; and now Father, none of them have I lost,' it will be well.\nBut if, on the other hand, you have been careless, and He should say\nto you, 'Where are the sheep and the lambs that I gave you,' and you\nare unable to give a strict account of them, you must draw your own\nconclusions as to the result.\n\n\"Teach your children to honor the Sabbath Day, and honor the holy\npriesthood in all things, and do it by example. Teach them never to\nfind fault with the prophets of the Lord. Teach them to honor their\nfather and their mother, that their days may be long upon the land,\nwhich the Lord their God giveth them. For these promises will carry\nus beyond this life, to a time when the Saints will receive their\ninheritance on earth.\n\n\"And now, my children, whatever of my follies you have seen, forgive me\nfor the same, and I freely forgive you. You have been very good to me\nall the days of my life, and may the Lord bless you all for it.\n\n\"I have many things to say to you. I have just been thinking of the\ntime when I used to call all my posterity together once a year, but\nnow they are scattered far and wide. At that time I could give them\ninstruction, but it now rests with my children to finish the work.\n\n\"My children, do not make light of the composition of these few lines,\nfor they were written with a desire for your salvation, and if you will\ncarry them out in your lives, they will aid you in reaching the Kingdom\nof God.\n\n\"In conclusion, I will say that my Father in Heaven has been good to\nme, and may the angel of peace be with you all, through all the days of\nyour lives. God bless you, Amen.\"\n\n\n\nGeo. L. Farrell's Missionary Experience\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nVISITS BIRMINGHAM CONFERENCE--DYING GIRL HEALED WHEN ADMINISTERED\nTO--PREDICTION THAT SHE SHOULD BE BAPTISED FULFILLED--GOES TO UTAH,\nGETS MARRIED, HAS A CHILD AND DIES--OTHER CONVERSIONS IN THE CHALLIS\nFAMILY.\n\nIN the year 1875 Elder Geo. L. Farrell, now a Patriarch of Cache\nCounty, was a missionary in England, and presiding over the Nottingham\nconference. He had not been thus engaged very long when he received\na letter from Elder Richard V. Morris, president of the Birmingham\nconference, proposing to exchange visits with him, and enjoy the\nnovelty of traveling through one another's conference. He concluded by\ninviting Elder Farrell to meet him at Northampton, thence to proceed\nthrough other parts of the Birmingham conference.\n\nThey accordingly met at the place named, and the host took the visitor\nto have lunch at the home of a member of the church by the name of\nChallis.\n\nAs they entered the house, they noticed a young couple, man and wife,\nseated at a table, who, on hearing Elder Farrell introduced to Brother\nand Sister Challis, hastily arose and left the house.\n\nWhile the meal was being prepared, Elder Morris informed the guest that\nthe young couple who had so suddenly departed were the daughter and\nson-in-law of their entertainers, and were members of the Church of\nEngland.\n\nWhile the meal was being partaken of, Elder Farrell noticed that Sister\nChallis had an anxious look on her face, and that she left the table\nseveral times and made brief visits to a bed room. The last time she\ndid so she appeared dejected, which aroused the curiosity of the guest,\nwho with solitude inquired if she had some one sick in the other room.\nShe replied, \"Yes, sir. I have a daughter in that room who has been ill\nand bedfast for more than two years. We have had five doctors attending\nher, who have all given her up. The last one just left, declaring that\nshe is bound to die soon, and that he could do no more for her.\n\n\"Don't you believe what the doctors say,\" responded Elder Farrell\nassuringly. \"They don't know it all. The Lord still lives, and is ready\nand willing to heal your daughter, if she has faith in His promises. I\nwould like to see your daughter.\"\n\nThe mother shook her head doubtfully and replied: \"I don't think\nshe would be willing for you to see her, as she is a member of the\nChurch of England, and the minister and his family and the ladies and\ngentlemen of the church have paid all the doctors, been extremely\nkind to her and have done all in their power to make her happy and\ncomfortable. They have so embittered her against the 'Mormons' that I\nthink it would be useless for me to tell her that you wish to see her.\"\n\n\"Notwithstanding all that,\" said the Elder, \"I still feel that I would\nlike to see her. Please do me the favor to go and tell her who I am,\nand that I must see her.\"\n\nThe mother went into the room and was absent several minutes. Elder\nMorris in the meantime said: \"I think you will not get to see her,\nfor I have tried and have failed. Therefore I will go down the street\na block and a half to No. 120, and if you don't get to see her come\nthere, and you will find me.\"\n\nAfter awhile Mother Challis reappeared looking more cheerful, and\nexclaimed, \"Brother Farrell, she is willing for you to come in and see\nher!\"\n\nEntering the bedroom, he saw the most emaciated girl he thought he had\never beheld, bolstered up in bed, with a chair in front of her, upon\nwhich, and also behind her, pillows were piled to keep her from falling\nover. A coverlet was drawn up over the pillows in front of her, and\nupon it her bony and colorless hands were outstretched.\n\nThe Elder approached, and, taking her gently by the right hand\nexpressed his sympathy for her suffering. She simply bowed her head in\nresponse, for she was too weak to speak above a whisper.\n\nThere was a small table with a large Bible on it near the bed. Seating\nhimself and taking the bible upon his lap, Elder Farrell opened it\nmechanically, and before his eyes were the words of the Savior,\ncommanding His apostles to go into all the world and preach the Gospel,\nwhich he read aloud. When he came to that part in which the Lord\npromised that certain signs should follow those who believed--that the\nsick should be healed, that devils should be cast out; that if they\ndrank any deadly thing it would not hurt them, etc., he read that aloud\nalso, and then quoted from James the declaration that the prayer of\nfaith should save the sick, and that the Lord would raise him up.\n\nHe then called the girl's attention to the fact that he had not\nspecially selected these passages, but that the Bible had fallen open\nas he placed it in his lap, and he had read the first passage his\neye caught sight of. He then declared to her that he and the other\nLatter-day Saint missionaries held the same priest-hood that the\nearly-day apostles held; that they were sent out to preach the same\nGospel that they were, and that they were preaching it in the same\nmanner--without money and without price; that they had authority to\nanoint the sick with oil and pray for them just as the first apostles\nhad, and that the Lord was just as ready and willing to raise them up\nas He ever was. He testified to her that he had known hundreds of sick\npeople to be healed, and assured her that if she had faith she could be\nhealed.\n\nOn concluding he noticed the sick girl crook her finger as a means of\nbeckoning to her mother, who immediately approached and put her ear\nclose to her daughter's mouth, and listened for awhile. When she arose\nshe said, \"Brother Farrell, she wants to know if you will anoint her\nwith oil and bless her.\"\n\n\"Certainly, I will be glad to do so, replied the Elder. Have you any\noil?\"\n\nThe mother replied that she had no oil, but said she would go out and\nbuy some.\n\n\"All right, said the Elder, you please buy a bottle of olive oil, and\nwhile you are out call at No. 120 and ask Elder Morris to come up, and\nwe will anoint and bless her.\"\n\nWhile the mother was absent Elder Farrell talked encouragingly to the\ngirl, and when the oil arrived the missionaries proceeded to bless and\nconsecrate it, Elder Morris offering the prayer.\n\nThe mother was then asked to inquire of her daughter who she would like\nto anoint her and the girl pointed to Elder Farrell to signify that he\nwas her choice.\n\nHe anointed her head and the bare part of her neck and arms and the\npalms of her hands, which seemed very feverish, after which the\nmother asked the girl who she would like to lead in the prayer of\nconfirmation. Again she indicated that she preferred Elder Farrell to\ndo so.\n\nIn offering the prayer Elder Farrell afterwards declared that he had\nnever before experienced such a feeling. The Spirit seemed to take\ncomplete possession of his mind, and while he felt a positive assurance\nthat she was going to recover, he could scarcely recall all that he\nsaid.\n\nThe Elders soon afterwards bade the family good by and left. While\nwalking down the street towards their lodgings Elder Morris exclaimed\n\"Brother Farrell, you frightened me! You promised that girl that if\nshe had faith she would walk to the water and be baptized within three\nmonths. She hasn't been out of that bed for two years, to my certain\nknowledge.\"\n\n\"I can't help it, Brother Morris. It wasn't I who did it. It was the\nLord. I never was so led by the Spirit in administering to a person\nin my life. The Lord is able to fulfill it. You watch and see if He\ndoesn't do it.\" He promised to do so, but in about one month he was\nreleased to return home. Before starting home, however, he told sister\nChallis that Elder Farrell would be in Northampton on a certain day,\nand would probably call and see the family. When he arrived at the\nhouse he found the sick girl sitting up, knitting a woolen shawl with\nlarge wooden needles. On seeing him entering the house she exclaimed\nenthusiastically, \"Oh here is Mr. Farrell! I have never taken a\nparticle of medicine since you left. I told the minister that you had\nanointed me with oil and promised me that I would get well, and I know\nthat the Lord is going to heal me. You see that I can already talk\nabove a whisper. Now I want you to administer to me again.\"\n\nHe accordingly anointed her head with oil and prayed earnestly for her\ncomplete recovery. She declared immediately afterward that she felt\nbetter already, and expressed confidence that all the promises made as\nto her recovery would be fulfilled, as some of them already had been.\nShe also informed her visitor that the Church of England minister and\nall the members of his congregation who had been so attentive to her\nhad ceased to take any interest in her case, and never more called to\nsee her. She seemed gratified rather than otherwise, however, that they\nhad evidently given her up as hopelessly lost to them.\n\nSome time later Elder Farrell received a letter from the sick girl,\nannouncing that her father was going to take her in a carriage on the\nfollowing Sunday for a twelve mile trip in the country, to old Sister\nUnderwood's, near Stanwick, and wanted him to call there and baptize\nher.\n\nBrother Platte D. Lyman was at that time associated with Brother\nFarrell as a traveling Elder, and he was allowed to read the letter. He\nexpressed a desire to accompany him, and Brother Farrell consented.\n\nThe day following the two Elders went to a town called Offord, where\nan old farmer had opened his barn and seated it for them to hold a\nmeeting in. A stand had also been built for the speakers and singers\nto occupy, and the singers had come from Stanwick, fifteen miles away.\nA good sized congregation assembled in the barn, and an interesting,\nspirited meeting was held. While Elder Farrell was speaking he noticed\na lady sitting about twenty feet in front of him, wearing a red shawl.\nHe was impressed with the conviction that she was going to be baptized,\nand afterwards while the choir was singing he pointed her out to Elder\nLyman, and told him she would soon be baptized. Elder Lyman inquired\nwho she was. \"I don't know her name,\" replied his companion, \"and\nnever saw her before, but something tells me that she is going to be\nbaptized.\" Elder Lyman remarked that he would bear that prediction in\nmind, and see if it was ever fulfilled.\n\nAfter reading the letter from the sick girl, Elder Lyman had expressed\na desire to meet her, and he was accordingly invited to be present\non the occasion of her baptism. When the missionaries reached Mrs.\nUnderwood's house they found she lived next door to a hotel, around\nwhich a number of guests were seen loitering. Sister Underwood\ncautioned the Elders not to attempt to baptize while it was light or\nlet the guests at the hotel know what they were going to do, lest they\nmight raise a row. So they decided to remain in the house and wait\nuntil after ten o'clock. Just before that hour a loud rap on the door\nwas heard, and Sister Underwood jumped up and blew the lamp out, at\nthe same time exclaiming to those near her that their plans had been\ndiscovered, and a riot was about to be started. Elder Farrell said he\nwould answer the door, and the rest of the folks went into another room.\n\nOn opening the door a voice outside was heard to inquire. \"Is Mr.\nFarrell here?\" The voice was recognized as that of a man named Baker\nwhose wife Elder Farrell had baptized some time before. On being\ninvited in, he said, \"Here is a lady and a young man who learned that\nyou were going to baptize here tonight. She told her husband that she\nhad to be baptized--that she could not rest any more until she was\nbaptized. He gave his consent, and went to bed to sleep while she came\nhere.\"\n\nA light having been procured so that those present could see one\nanother, Elder Lyman whispered to Elder Farrell, \"I believe that is the\nwoman who had the red shawl on, and who was in the barn last Sunday\nwhile you were preaching.\" He replied that he would soon find out, and,\naccosting the lady, he asked when she had heard the Gospel preached.\nThe reply was: \"I have heard you preach at Offord several times.\" He\nthen inquired: \"When did you make up your mind to be baptized?\" The\nreply was, \"Right while you were preaching in that barn at Offord. I\nmade up my mind that the first time I heard that you were going to\nbaptize I would come, and here I am!\"\n\nIt was soon arranged that Elder Farrell would proceed to the water\nabout fifty yards distant with the new arrivals, and while he was\nbaptizing them Elder Lyman and Mr. Baker could be carrying the sick\ngirl to the water in a chair, while Sister Underwood could walk behind\nand hold the chair, to keep it from tipping.\n\nThe latter party not having arrived at the water by the time the man\nand woman were baptized, Elder Farrell started towards the house and\nmet them coming very slowly, and, to his surprise, found the sick girl\nnot being carried in a chair, but walking. He exclaimed on seeing her,\n\"Why Nellie, you are walking!\" \"Yes,\" she said, \"I told Brother Lyman\nand Mr. Baker if they would let me take their arms I felt that I could\nwalk. If you remember, when you first blessed me you promised me that\nI should be able, if I had faith, to walk to the water within three\nmonths, and the three months will be up to-morrow.\"\n\n\"The Lord bless you for your faith!\" said the Elder, and, leading her\ninto the water until it came up to her waist, he added, \"Now you may\ntake your two hands and throw water over your body as much as you like,\nto get used to the temperature, for I am going to bury you in the water\neight times--once for the remission of your sins, and seven times for\nthe restoration of your health. Do you think you can stand it?\" [A]\n\n[Footnote A: This is not a doctrinal treatise nor a portrayal of the\napproved methods of performing ordinances, but a simple narrative\nof what actually occurred. Baptism by immersion is an ordinance by\nwhich repentant believers are initiated into the Church, and is also\nfor the remission of sins. There is no warrant in revelation ancient\nor modern for the immersion of a person for the restoration of his\nhealth, anointing with oil and the prayer of faith being the ordinance\nfor that purpose. However, baptism (a single immersion) as a means of\nrestoring health has been practised in the Church from a very early\nperiod, originating probably with cures that were apparently traceable\nto baptism. Instances of persons affected with serious ailments\nbeing miraculously healed on accepting the Gospel have been somewhat\nnumerous, and have occurred all through the history of the Church, due\ndoubtless to the faith exhibited, and it is not surprising that persons\nshould associate in their minds the cure with the rite of baptism.\nPossibly Elder Farrell had the case of Naaman the leper in his mind,\nwho was healed on obeying the requirement of the Prophet Elisha, to\nwash seven times in the river Jordan. It was a sublime test of faith\nthat he subjected the invalid girl to. He might have added in her case,\nin the words of the Savior: \"Thy faith hath made thee whole,\" for it\nwas her faith, and not any magic in the number seven, that brought her\nthe blessing.]\n\nShe replied \"Oh, yes; if you take hold of me, I have full faith.\"\n\nCalling out to Elder Lyman who stood upon the bank, Elder Farrell said:\n\n\"Now count upon your fingers as I baptize her, and when she has been\nburied under the water eight times please tell me.\" He did so, and\nat the conclusion of the ceremony the girl, who had stood the ordeal\nremarkably well, was seated upon a chair and thus carried into the\nhouse.\n\nAfter dry daiment had been resumed, the newly baptized persons were\nconfirmed, and when Elder Farrell was confirming the girl, being\nprompted by the Spirit, he promised her that if she would continue to\nhave faith she would live to go to Zion and become a mother in Israel.\nWhen supper had been partaken of and the dishes cleared away, a brief\ntime was spent in chatting, and a general time of rejoicing indulged\nin. The girl was full of vivacity and enthusiasm, and declared that she\nwas completely healed, and praised the Lord therefor.\n\nSoon afterwards Elder Farrell was released to return from his mission,\narriving at his home July 10, 1876. He came down to Salt Lake City to\nattend conference as usual in the following October, and having had a\nrequest from Sister Clark, of Stanwick, while he was still in England\nto call upon her sister in Salt Lake as soon as he could after his\narrival, and, as she lived near the depot, he made his way there when\nhe alighted from the train. To his great surprise and pleasure, he\nfound Brother Challis and his daughter Nellie there. After greeting\nthem he inquired: \"Nellie, where is your Mother?\" She replied: \"Brother\nFarrell, mother took sick, and I sat up with her and waited on her nine\ndays and nights without removing my clothing to obtain sleep, and my\npoor mother died, and I have not been sick one minute. And here I am in\nZion, thank the Lord. Every word that you promised has been fulfilled\nthus far. And now we want to go to your part of the country to live, so\nthat we may see you often. Do you think you could find father a place\nto work near your home at shoe-making?\"\n\nThe next day Elder Farrell attended conference and sat by Brother\nSamuel Parkinson, of Franklin, who was a merchant, and conducted\na large store. Having the request in mind, he inquired of Brother\nParkinson if there was a shoe maker in Franklin. He said \"No sir, but I\nwish we had one.\" Elder Farrell then told him of Brother Challis having\narrived from England and wanting to locate in Cache Valley. He inquired\nif he was a poor man, and being told that he was, said: \"Tell him to\ncome to Franklin. I will furnish him a shop to work in free of charge.\nHe can bring what shoes he makes into the store, and I will dispose of\nthe same and pay him.\"\n\nThe father and daughter went to Franklin to live, and Brother Parkinson\ndid as he promised to. Elder Farrell presided over the U. O. Store,\ntannery and shoe shop in Smithfield, and Brother Challis used to come\nfrom Franklin every week to buy his leather from the tannery; and used\nto frequently tell him how nicely they were getting along.\n\nAs soon as winter started Elder Farrell was appointed to preside over\nthe Y. M. M. I. A. of the whole stake, and went around and organized\nthe associations or set in order those that had been organized. On one\noccasion he went to Franklin, and held a very interesting meeting.\nAfter the meeting closed a lady accosted him and shook hands very\nheartily. Brother Farrell said, \"You seem to know me, but I do not\nrecognize you. What is your name, please?\" She replied, \"My name is\nNellie Challis, and I want you to go home and stay all night with us.\"\nHe expressed great surprise at the improvement in her appearance,\nrallied her about her double chin and accepted her invitation with\nthanks.\n\nWhen they reached the Challis home and were quietly seated around the\nfire, Nellie said confidentially, \"Brother Farrell, I am going to be\nmarried.\" In surprise her visitor inquired to whom. \"To the presiding\nteacher of this ward, Brother Lowe.\"\n\n\"The Lord bless you, Sister Nellie; you are going to get as good a man\nas there is in this town,\" said Elder Farrell, shaking her hand in\ncongratulation.\n\nBrother Challis continued to call at the tannery to purchase supplies\nof leather, and he and Elder Farrell frequently met, and never without\nhis daughter being inquired about. First it was learned that she was\nmarried and very happy. Then about a year later news came that a child\nhad been born.\n\nSoon afterwards Elder Farrell received a letter from Franklin with a\nblack border around it. On opening it he saw at once it was from Father\nChallis. It contained sad news: Nellie had never fully rallied after\nher babe was born. Anxious neighbors and friends surrounded her, and\nall that they and medical skill could do to save her life was done,\nbut all in vain. As the end approached she sat up in bed, and bore a\nfervent testimony to the houseful of friends who surrounded her. She\ntold them not to mourn for her, but to thank the Lord for his merciful\nkindness to her in prolonging her life, enabling her to understand and\naccept the Gospel, to come to Zion, obtain a good husband and become\na mother in Israel--all as predicted by Elder Farrell in England when\nthere seemed so little hope of her living. She requested that word be\nsent to Elder Farrell that she had lived to see his words fulfilled,\nand that now she was ready to die, as she felt that it was the Lord's\nwill.\n\nAfter talking thus for two hours, she bade all present an affectionate\ngood by, lay back in bed and was dead in two minutes.\n\nSince that time several of the women who had heard Nellie tell of the\nmarvelous blessings that had come to her in response to the prayers\nand promises of Elder Farrell, have themselves when ill journeyed\nto Smithfield to get him to administer to them, and their faith has\ngenerally been rewarded.\n\nAnother sequel to that first visit of Elder Farrell to Northampton may\nbe mentioned. The daughter and son-in-law of Brother Challis who left\nthe house in such haste when he first entered it; because they did not\nwant to speak to a \"Mormon,\" have both since investigated \"Mormonism\"\nand embraced the Gospel. They also have come to Zion and located at\nFranklin, and the young man has filled a faithful mission to England\nand returned home, and is now numbered among the enterprising and\nprosperous business men of Franklin.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nMR. CLARK'S INTOLERANCE--ELDER FARRELL'S INFLUENCE OVER HIM--BAPTISMS\nIN STANWICK--CLARK FAMILY MIGRATE.\n\nON LEAVING the town of Northampton, Elders Morris and Farrell proceeded\nto the town of Stanwick, and held an out-door meeting the same evening\nthey arrived there. At the close of the meeting a Mrs. Baker accosted\nElder Farrell and said she would like to be baptized. He asked her if\nshe ever heard the Gospel preached before. She said she had heard it a\ngreat many times, but that his talk that evening had convinced her that\nshe should no longer hesitate about embracing it. He inquired if her\nhusband was willing, and she replied that if she wanted to, he would\nnot object. They went out about half a mile from the town and baptized\nher in a beautiful pond, and then walked back to town. She invited\nthe Elders to go home with her, where they engaged her husband in\nconversation while she changed her wet for dry clothing. Elder Morris\nsoon excused himself, leaving his companion to talk with Mr. Baker\nwhile he called upon the Clark family, close neighbors. Mrs. Clark and\none of her daughters were members of the Church, but her husband was\nnot. After awhile Mr. and Mrs. Baker and Elder Farrell also went over\nto the Clark residence. When they arrived there Elder Morris and Mr.\nClark were engaged in a heated dispute, which threatened to develop\ninto a quarrel. Elder Farrell exclaimed as he entered the house, \"What\nin the world is the matter!\" Mr. Clark declared he had only asked Mr.\nMorris a few questions about his religion, which, being answered, he\nsaid he didn't believe a word of it. Elder Morris had responded that\nif he didn't believe he would be damned, and quoted the words of the\nSavior to prove it. Mr. Clark thought he deserved more consideration,\ninasmuch as he had entertained the Elders, and offered them the use of\na room to occupy whenever they wished.\n\nWhile Elder Farrell was trying to pacify him and reason with him on\nreligion in general, Sister Baker persuaded Elder Morris to return with\nher to her home.\n\nMr. Clark asked a great many questions, all of which were promptly\nanswered, and generally to his satisfaction. He still insisted,\nhowever, that he did not believe in \"Mormonism.\"\n\n\"Do you believe there is a God?\" the Elder asked. \"I believe,\" he\nreplied, \"there is some one ahead of us, who knows more than we do. You\nmen call him God. He knew when I was born whether I would be damned or\nsaved. If I was born to be damned, what is the use of me praying? It\nwould not help me.\"\n\nHe went on to tell how he had abused his wife for being a \"Mormon.\"\nHe said if she went to meeting at night he would lock the door, and\nkeep her out all night; but it made no difference; she kept on going\nto the meetings, and he kept on locking her out. His wife had a sister\nwho was a \"Mormon,\" and who had already emigrated to Utah. He said he\nwent home one evening and found his wife writing a letter. He inquired\nwho she was writing to, she replied that she was writing to Lizzie,\nher sister, in Salt Lake. He declared that he did not believe it, and\naccused her of writing to \"Mormon\" Elders. He demanded that she show\nhim the letter, and she indignantly refused to do so, saying if he\nwouldn't take her word for it, she would not gratify him by showing\nhim the letter. At that he seized her hands and tried to wrench the\nletter therefrom. She struggled to retain it, and he threw her to the\nfloor. The letter stuck out between her fingers as he held her on the\nfloor near the fireplace, and he pushed her bands up to the fire to\nburn the letter. She screamed, and her little boy nine years old, who\nwas playing outside the house, came running in, and, seizing a stick of\nwood, struck his father across the face with it. When he arose the next\nmorning his eyes were black and swollen, and his hands were burned.\nHis wife bandaged his hands and put them in a sling; for a day or two\nhe was about the worst used up man he had ever seen, with both eyes\ndiscolored and both hands burned, swollen and in a sling. He made up\nhis mind then, he said, never to say another word to his wife about\n\"Mormonism,\" but allow her to believe what she liked.\n\n\"And do you really believe,\" Elder Farrell asked, \"that every man and\nwoman is born to be damned or saved?\"\n\n\"I certainly do with all my heart,\" Mr. Clark replied.\n\n\"Well,\" was the response, \"I want you to excuse me, but I must say\nthat you are about the most unreasonable man I have ever met in this\ncountry.\"\n\nSpringing to his feet, as though his anger was getting beyond control,\nhe demanded that Elder Farrell prove it.\n\nThe reply was: \"Your wife, according to your own words, was born a\n'Mormon,' and cannot help herself. Don't you see how unreasonable you\nhave been in locking her out of the house night after night, trying to\nburn her and indulging in other cruelty?\"\n\nMr. Clark retorted: \"I will never say a word to her again about\nreligion. She can go to Utah with you if she wants to, and I'll not say\na word to her.\"\n\n\"I don't want her,\" said Elder Farrell, \"I have plenty of wives of my\nown.\"\n\n\"Do you have more than one?\" inquired Mr. Clark.\n\n\"Yes,\" was the response. \"I have two wives and sixteen children.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Mr. Clark, \"I think more of you than any other 'Mormon' I\nhave met for your honesty. Others won't tell it, but you have honestly\nconfessed it.\"\n\n\"Now,\" added the Elder, \"I want to tell you that God lives and I am\nsent here to preach the Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ. If you repent\nof your sins and are baptized for their remission, and live your\nreligion like a good, faithful Latter-day Saint you shall enjoy life to\na good old age, and your last days shall be the best and happiest days\nof your life. You will enjoy the society of your family and your wife\nand children will enjoy your company. You will grow fond of attending\nthe meetings of the Latter-day Saints, and in time be glad to repent of\nyour sins and be baptized for the remission of them.\"\n\nJust then the clock struck one, and Mr. Clark remarked, \"Well, it is an\nhour past midnight. I am sorry I have kept you up so long. I will take\nyou up to bed, and you remain there until I call you in the morning.\nI will call you in time for you to arise and get your breakfast, and\nfrom this time forth, whenever you come to Stanwick, come direct to my\nhouse, and make it your home; and if you advise when you are coming I\nwill have one of my daughters go out and notify the people when you\nwill be here. We will be most happy to receive you, and we will come\nand sing for you at your meetings.\"\n\nFrom that time Elder Farrell always went to the Clark home on visiting\nStanwick, and the family furnished music for the meetings, Mr. Clark\nplaying the violin and singing tenor, and in other ways proving a good\nand true friend.\n\nWhen Bishop Morris was released to return home he was succeeded as\npresident of the Birmingham conference by Bishop William H. Maughan.\nElder Farrell accompanied him on his first round and introduced him to\nthe Clark family, as being among his best friends. After Elder Maughan\nhad been there about nine months, and had become well acquainted with\nthe Clark family, two of the daughters who had not yet joined the\nChurch induced Bishop Maughan to ask their father's consent for him to\nbaptize them. Mr. Clark impatiently blurted out: \"If they talk baptism\nto me they cannot live in my home.\"\n\nThis was on Sunday evening. On Monday Bishop Maughan, finding it\nuseless to try to reconcile Mr. Clark, left for Birmingham, and on\nTuesday Elder Farrell called at Stanwick, in making the round of his\nconference. On leaving Nottingham, his headquarters, he had left word\nfor any letters that might come for him during his absence to be\nforwarded to Stanwick, care of Jonah Clark. Sister Clark had told him\non his arrival about Bishop Maughan asking her husband's consent to\nbaptize her two daughters, and of his refusal. She begged of him to\ntry, saying that Mr. Clark thought more of him than any other Elder he\nhad met. He told her he would do so.\n\nThe next morning when the mail came it brought some letters for Elder\nFarrell, one of which was from Liverpool. On opening it he learned that\nPresident Brigham Young had sent word to the President of the mission\nto release him to return home, as the person who had succeeded him as\ntithing clerk for Cache valley was unable to attend to the work, and\nthey wanted Elder Farrell home to resume his position in that respect.\n\nMr Clark was about to leave home for his work, and when he approached\nElder Farrell to bid him good bye, the latter said, \"Wait a moment; I\nwant to read this letter to you,\" meaning the letter he had received\nconcerning his release.\n\nWhen he had heard it he said, \"Well, Elder Farrell, I think more of you\nthan any 'Mormon' Elder I ever met in my life, and if there is anything\nin my house that you want, all you have to do is to name it, and it\nshall be yours.\"\n\nThe Elder replied, \"Thank you, that is all I want you to say; I don't\nwant your property but here are your two daughters, Annie and Lilla;\nthey want me to baptize them before I leave, and I would not do so\nwithout your permission. All I want you to say is 'Yes.'\"\n\nHe dropped his head into his hands for about one half minute, then\nsaid: \"Mr. Farrell, if they believe 'Mormonism' with all their hearts,\nand they want you to baptize them, I say Yes.\"\n\nThe girls and their mother who had been in the next room, listening,\nrushed in crying for joy, and thanked him for his kindness, and then he\ncried too, and Elder Farrell couldn't help shedding tears of joy also.\n\nControlling his feelings, he said, \"Mr. Clark, you remember the last\nfive persons I baptized down in the pond of water. Some of the people\nannounced in the newspaper that if I ever baptized any more there they\nwould duck me as long as I had breath. These people know that you don't\nlike the 'Mormons,' and I want you to go out in another direction and\nfind a good place to baptize the girls, and when evening comes you and\nI can go down and the girls may follow us, and be baptized without the\npeople knowing anything about it.\"\n\nHe replied, \"All right, Mr. Farrell. I'll not work to-day, but will go\nand find a suitable place.\"\n\nHe returned some time later saying he had found a place about a mile\nand a half east. He spent the rest of the day mostly in conversation\nwith Elder Farrell. In the meantime a thunder storm occurred and a\nheavy shower followed.\n\nA bed of water cress about six feet wide grew at the bottom of the\nClark garden, and Elder Farrell walked down there to gather some water\ncress for supper. While doing so he heard the sound of running water\nthe opposite side of the garden wall, where there was an orchard. He\nstepped across the water cress bed and looked over the wall and there\nsaw a stream of water about four feet wide (doubtless swollen by the\nrecent shower,) and just about twenty feet down stream two posts\nstood--one in either bank. He called Mr. Clark to come down and notice\nthe stream, and asked him if he could find three boards, a foot wide,\nto drop in the stream above the posts, to form a dam, thus making the\nstream deep enough to baptize in, and so secluded that no one would\nnotice them or suspect what was going on.\n\nIt was also suggested that Mr. Clark arrange a safe bridge across the\nwater cress bed, which he immediately complied with, by taking the\nkitchen door off its hinges and laying it down there to be walked over,\nand also made steps to descend into the water.\n\nAlong towards evening Elder Farrell set out to walk to Mr. Baker's, who\nwas always on hand to lend him a pair of pants and high topped rubber\nboots to wear when he was baptizing. He had not proceeded far when\nsomeone approached him behind, and clutched him by the arm. Turning\naround he faced Mr. Baker, who inquired if he was going to his house.\nElder Farrell replied that he was, for the purpose of getting his\nuniform to wear in baptizing. Surprised, he next inquired who was to be\nbaptized, and was told that it was Annie and Lilla Clark.\n\n\"Well, bless me,\" Mr. Baker exclaimed, \"it was only on Sunday last that\nBishop Maughan asked if he could baptize the girls, and was told by the\nfather that if they talked baptism to him they could not live in his\nhouse.\"\n\nElder Farrell explained that Mr. Clark had not only given his consent,\nbut had prepared a place in which to baptize them.\n\n\"Well,\" said Mr. Baker, \"that is wonderful! I can't stand it any\nlonger. Mr. Farrell, will you baptize me too?\"\n\nElder Farrell replied that he would be pleased to do so.\n\nOn reaching the Baker home Mrs. Baker was asked to get the \"uniform,\"\nas Elder Farrell was going to do some baptizing.\n\nShe inquired who was going to be baptized and her husband replied: \"The\nClark girls and Charlie Baker.\"\n\nThe good woman raised her hands in ecstacy, and exclaimed: \"Well, the\nLord be praised!\"\n\nJust then Mr. Baker's apprentice, a young man about seventeen years\nof age, came running in from the next room, and eagerly asked: \"Elder\nFarrell, will you please baptize me?\"\n\nElder Farrell inquired if his parents were willing, and he replied\nthat he dare not tell them anything about it. He was advised to\ngo straightway to them and tell them frankly that he wanted to be\nbaptized: that Elder Farrell was going to do some baptizing that\nevening, and that he thought it would make a better boy of him if they\nwould only consent.\n\nHe walked towards his home very slowly, and with apparent reluctance,\nbut he was soon seen coming back on the run, and bubbling over with\nhappiness, for his parents were willing that he should be baptized.\n\nWhen Elder Farrell was about to descend into the water he gave Mr.\nClark a pocket handkerchief, and told him to stand on the bank and help\neach one down into the water, and, after he was baptized, to help him\nout again, and when he was safely on the bank to wipe the water out of\nhis eyes.\n\nHe did so, and his wife told Elder Farrell the next morning that he had\nnever felt happier in his life than when assisting the people in and\nout of the water. She begged him to go and wake Elder Farrell up and be\nbaptized by him, but he said \"No.\"\n\nThe next morning after breakfast Mr. Clark said: \"Now Mr. Farrell, I\nam going to walk with you to the station, and carry your valise. I may\nnever see you again.\"\n\nWhen they got out of town he stopped Elder Farrell, and, standing in\nfront of him, said: \"I want to tell you that you have made a 'Mormon'\nof me from the ground up, and I cannot help myself; but I will never\nbe baptized until I pay for every bill or account that I owe; then if\nanyone says anything to me about being baptized I will tell him it is\nnone of his business; that I am not beholden to him, but if you are in\nthis country and one hundred miles away I shall want you to come and\nbaptize me.\"\n\nWhen they reached the train Mr. Clark bade the Elder good bye, while\ntears ran down his cheeks. He also thanked him for his good advice and\nteachings, and the good example he had set before him and the world,\nand said he hoped to see him again.\n\nThree months after Elder Farrell arrived home he received a letter\nfrom Mr. Clark stating that he had been baptized, and had stood in\nthe meeting of the Saints and borne his testimony to the truth of the\nGospel, in the house which he and a few other residents of Stanwick had\ngenerously leased and paid the rent on for one year in advance, so that\nElder Farrell would not be under the necessity of preaching out in the\nopen air. He knew the Gospel was true, and that it would save and exalt\nmankind inas-much as they were true and faithful to its principles.\n\nIn two years from that time Mr. Clark and his family arrived in Salt\nLake City, and in course of time removed to Smithfield, where he worked\nat his trade as shoemaker.\n\nHe did well and entered all work that he did in a book, and at the\nclose of every year took that book to the Bishop and had a careful\ncomputation made of his earnings and paid one-tenth for tithing.\n\nThe whole Clark family joined the choir, and the father continued to\ntake his part in the choir until he was past 87 years of age and had\ngrown so weak that other members used to be under the necessity of\nhelping him up the stairway.\n\nHe died just before he was 88 years of age, a firm and consistent\nLatter-day Saint, and up to the last manifested the utmost respect for\nElder Farrell, and also taught his family to respect him and seek his\ncounsel.\n\nHis family are all faithful members of the Church, and are now residing\nin Cache County, Utah, and doing well.\n\n\n\nPrepared For the Gospel\n\nJOHN ANDERSON'S SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH--PROVIDENTIAL WAY IN WHICH HE WAS\nFIRST LED TO ATTEND A MEETING OF THE SAINTS--EMBRACED THE GOSPEL--FIRM\nADHERENCE THERETO.\n\nIT IS probably a fact, though it may not be possible at this late date\nto prove it, that a very large proportion of the early converts to\nthe Gospel were, at the time its message reached them, and for years\nbefore, dissatisfied with the creeds of the day, and were searching for\nthe Truth as portrayed in the Bible.\n\nOne of the early converts to the Gospel in Scotland was John Anderson,\na native of Leith, who is a typical example of the class mentioned.\n\nHis daughter, Mrs. David Smellie, who died in the year 1909, has left a\nsketch of his life written by her own hand, substantially as follows:\n\nMy parents had a family of twelve children, six sons and six daughters.\nI was their seventh child, and the first one born after my father\njoined the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.\n\nThis step he took in the year 1840, and I will here relate how he\nbecame acquainted with the peculiar people called \"Mormons.\" He was an\nintelligent, studious man, of a very fixed purpose when once resolved.\nMy dear mother was like him in that respect. In the early years of\ntheir married life they were members of the United Presbyterian church,\nbut became dissatisfied with that sect, my parents not being able to see\nthe need of a man having to go to college so many years to learn to\npreach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They then became associated with a\nbody of religious worshippers called Separatists, who did not believe in\nclergymen or infant sprinkling. This suited them better, as being more\nscriptural.\n\nIn the year 1839 my father's mind was directed to the necessity of\nbaptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the\nconferring of the Holy Ghost, by one having authority. These the Bible\ntold him were among the first principles of the Gospel. But where was\nhe to find one who claimed such authority? He knew none, and yet the\nBible indicated that these ordinances were to be performed by one who\nwas called of God as was Aaron--by revelation. My father put those\nviews before the Separatist brethren, who, after due consideration,\nrequested him either to give up his ideas or leave the sect. He\ntherefore left, but my mother remained with them.\n\nThe year 1840 found my father in this frame of mind. In the meantime he\nstudied the New Testament scriptures, and his previous convictions were\nincreased. But what was he to do? The Lord had ceased to speak from the\nheavens--had not done so since the days of the early Christians. The\nworld said: \"It was not necessary, as the Bible contained all that was\nneedful.\"\n\nI will here insert a short story which will help to illustrate the\npoint in view:\n\nJohn Wesley, wishing other lands to hear the message he held forth,\nassumed to ordain Coke and others to be bishops, to carry Methodism, and\non this point he and his brother Charles became divided, after being so\nfirmly united in the cause. This was the wedge that split them. Charles\ndid not believe that either had the power to ordain others, and he\nopposed the scheme. John went ahead, assumed the authority, and laid\nhis hands on the head of Mr. Coke and ordained him a bishop, a position\nWesley himself never held.\n\nCharles grew angry at this, and remarked:\n\n  \"How easily are bishops made\n     By man's or woman's whim;\n  Wesley his hands has laid on Coke\n     But who laid hands on him?\"\n\nOn Sunday afternoon in October, 1840, my parents were visited by my\nmother's sister's husband--Uncle John Grieve, who resided in Edinburgh.\nIn the course of conversation he informed them that a celebrated\nclergyman was to preach in Edinburgh that same evening, and invited my\nfather to accompany him to hear this man speak.\n\nHe consented, and together they set out to walk from Leith to\nEdinburgh, a distance of two miles. They had reached a place called\n\"Dickson's Nursery,\" which was about half way, when suddenly my father\nfelt that he could not proceed any farther. Uncle John walked on a few\nsteps, thinking my father would follow, then turned and inquired if he\nwas not coming. Father replied, \"John, I can go no farther with you\nto-night.\"\n\nUncle John insisted upon his going, but all in vain. Father declared\nthat he could not lift his feet-they seemed sealed to the ground, and\nhe felt that he must go back.\n\nJust as soon as he had said \"Good evening\" my father's feet were loosed\nfrom the ground. He walked towards Leith until he reached the street\nwhich led to his home, called Kirkgate. Then something prompted him to\ntake the street to the right, called Constitution. Down the street he\nwalked until he came to an entrance leading to the \"Mason's Lodge,\"\nwhich entrance was called a \"pind.\" This was an arched alley-way,\nleading to buildings in the rear, where the Mason's hall was situated.\nAt this \"pind\" stood an old, fresh-complexioned man, dressed in\nhome-spun clothes. He bade my father \"Good evening,\" and inquired if\nhe was aware that the new sect called Latter-day Saints were to hold\nmeeting in the Mason's hall that evening.\n\nFather replied that he was not, whereupon the old man invited him to\nattend, and led the way into the hall, where he put father into a good\nseat.\n\nMy father turned around to thank him for his courtesy, but he was gone,\nand he never saw him again; but to the last he maintained that the old\nman was one of \"the Three Nephites.\"\n\nThe speakers were Orson Pratt and George D. Watt. They preached the\nfirst principles of the Gospel, and claimed that the Lord had again\nspoken from the heavens and restored the everlasting Gospel in its\nfullness, with the gifts and blessings belonging to the same. They\ndeclared too that the Lord had promised that the Gospel would never\nagain be taken from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an\noffering unto the Lord in righteousness.\n\nMy father sat listening and amazed at the good news--just what he had\nbeen waiting for, and it seemed to fit into his heart. The precious\nseed did indeed fall into fertile soil, and it bore \"a hundred fold.\"\n\nTo hear was to investigate; to investigate was to embrace the new and\neverlasting Gospel which the Lord had again restored to the earth, and\nwhich He in His loving kindness had gradually prepared my father to\nreceive.\n\nMy father rejoiced greatly, for he realized he had indeed found the\n\"pearl of great price.\" This jewel he wore and prized for forty-five\nyears. He died December 19, 1885, in the 81st year of his age; and so\nvaliant a soldier was he in the cause of truth that it was said of him\n\"he did not owe his country one testimony.\"\n\nOne day while sitting by his bedside shortly before he passed away (I\ndon't like to say \"died\", for father did not die, he only fell asleep\nand O, so gently; just like a tired child,) I inquired if there was any\nmessage he would like to leave for those of his family who were out of\nthe reach of his voice. He replied, \"Yes, tell them from their father\nif they have gone outside of the fold, to get in again just as soon as\never they can.\"\n\nI feel prompted to record a few facts in the life of my father which\nmay be of interest to those who may read this, although my father never\ndesired me to do so. They will show that the Lord was with him to\nuphold, defend and bless him. As I stated previously, he was ever ready\nto expound and maintain the principles of the Gospel, and many of his\nformer friends and acquaintances turned very bitter against him because\nof his fidelity to his convictions.\n\nOne of these was a sea captain named Robert Storm. Father had made\nboots for him and his crew for a long time, but, because of the change\nin his religious opinions, he became very bitter and withdrew his\ncustom.\n\nMy father was in the habit of taking a daily constitutional walk down\nLeith pier. One day as he was coming up the pier he saw the vessel\nRobert Storm was master of being towed down the river on her way to\nFrance. Father took off his hat and waved a parting adieu. To this act\nof courtesy Robert Storm responded with a look of scorn. Father was\nimpressed to say, \"Robert Storm, you will never have the opportunity to\ndo that again to me.\"\n\nSome eight or ten days afterwards a severe storm swept the English\nChannel. One afternoon just at this time father heard the postman\ncall out his name in the stairway. This was the custom in tenement\nhouses, and the person so called was expected to go out and get his\nletters. Father received from the postman a letter addressed to him in\na clear, bold hand, sealed with wax, as was the custom, envelopes not\nthen having come into fashion. (Letters were written on a large double\nsheet of paper folded neatly and sealed with wax.) It bore the London\npostmark, and contained a statement that Robert Storm was drowned at\nsea on a certain day and where it occurred, indicating that it was in\nthe English Channel, but bore no signature. Father had gone direct to\nhis workroom when he received the letter, and as soon as he had read it\nhe laid it down on his work seat, and crossed through the lobby into\nthe kitchen to get my mother to come and read it also. She immediately\nfollowed him into his workroom, when to his surprise he discovered the\nletter was gone, and yet no living person had been there during his\nabsence.\n\nThe Lord had sent that letter, it had performed its mission, and was\ntaken away.\n\nBy and by an account of the wreck was read in the newspaper, which\nstated that it had taken place in the English Channel. Thus was my\nfather's prediction fulfilled.\n\nIn illustration of the character of my father I have heard it related\nthat a certain Elder W...... (his name is suppressed for the sake of\nhis relatives) presided over the Edinburgh branch at a period in the\nearly history of the Church there. One evening after the regular\nSunday evening service was over he called upon the members holding\nthe priesthood to remain and hold a kind of council meeting. At this\nmeeting Elder W...... proposed that certain funds belonging to the\nconference, collected for a certain purpose, be used for an entirely\ndifferent purpose, in which he was personally interested. My father\nbeing a very conscientious man, protested against this proceeding,\nand said, seeing the Edinburgh conference had given this money for a\nspecial purpose, they as custodians had no authority to use it in any\nother direction without the consent of the donors.\n\nElder W......, indignant at my father's presuming to oppose him or his\nwishes, arose and proposed that, seeing that John Anderson had been\nguilty of dictating to him, a superior officer, he be cut off the\nChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A show of hands was called\nfor, and in less time than it takes to tell it the vote carried.\n\nMy father remained quiet until the matter was settled, then he arose\nand requested permission to speak. The request being granted, he\nsaid: \"Brethren, all I desire to say is that ...... ...... W......,\n(mentioning his name in full) will be out of the Church of Jesus Christ\nof Latter-day Saints when I am in it.\"\n\nMy father renewed his covenants the following week, and continued an\nhonorable member during his life. He died holding the office of a High\nPriest, while Elder W.... died a poor outcast and apostate.\n\nMy father remained in Scotland, laboring in the Gospel cause, both at\nhome and elsewhere, paying his tithing, and trusting in the Lord for\nhis promised blessing until the year 1863. Previous to this period he\nhad at various times requested my mother to accompany him to Utah. This\nshe refused to do, not being able to see the Gospel light. Then father\ndecided to gather with the Saints, taking his youngest son with him,\nand leaving four daughters, two married and two single, with their\nmother.\n\nShortly before leaving Scotland my father, in conversation with one of\nthe brethren, expressed his regret at leaving his wife and daughters\nbehind him. The brother told him to be of good courage, for his wife\nand family would follow him, and that he would live to see the promise\nfulfilled.\n\nFather could scarcely believe this prediction, it appeared so very\nunlikely to ever come to pass. However, he trusted in the Lord, knowing\nthat He \"moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform,\" and surely\nin the case of my father's family this was exemplified to a wonderful\ndegree. The prophecy concerning the gathering of my father's family was\nfulfilled to the letter, for he had the satisfaction of receiving us\nall in Salt Lake City. He located at 54 East First South Street, where\nhe built a good comfortable house, in which he lived until called to\nhis final rest.\n\n\n\nA Prediction and Its Fulfillment\n\nPREDICTION THAT AN APPARENTLY BARREN WOMAN WOULD GIVE BIRTH TO A\nSON--ITS LITERAL FULFILLMENT--THAT SON'S REVERENCE FOR THE ELDER WHO\nMADE THE PREDICTION.\n\nACCORDING to the Scriptures, prophecy was one of the gift which should\ncharacterize the Church in the last days, and thousands can attest that\nthe gift has been enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints to a marked degree.\n\nUnder the influence of the Spirit of the Lord many of the Elders have\nmade predictions that have really frightened themselves when they have\ncontemplated them afterwards, for it was only by the eye of the Spirit\nthey could see any probability of their fulfillment.\n\nA case in point is related by Elder C., who filled a mission in England\nin the early sixties. He, in company with the president of the mission\nand several other Elders, visited a branch of the Church in which a\nlarge number of Saints had made preparations to migrate to Utah, and\nwho desired a blessing under the hands of the Elders before undertaking\nthe journey. It came Elder C.'s turn to bless a. sister who had been\nmarried a good many years, but who had no children. She was not perhaps\nas old as her appearance indicated, but her hair was almost white. In\nthe course of the blessing pronounced upon her Elder C., under the\nprompting of the Spirit, promised that she should journey safely to\nZion and there establish and enjoy a comfortable home, and give birth\nto a son who would live to call her blessed.\n\nIn a spirit of fun the other Elders afterwards jollied Elder C. a\ngood deal about the promise he had made that sister, telling him he\nhad better look at the color of a woman's hair before making her any\nsuch extravagant promises as he had in that instance. He was somewhat\nplagued by their raillery and could offer no defense except to say\nthat the Spirit had prompted him to say what he did. He remembered\nthe promise, but had no means of learning the subsequent history of\nthe sister until a year or so afterward, when, after his return home\nfrom his mission, he chanced to meet her husband, who joyfully hailed\nhim with the exclamation, \"That boy you promised is born!\" But then\nhe added, with tears in his eyes that his wife, who had fondly clung\nto the promise, was fifty-three years old at the time of the child's\nbirth, and had only lived a short time afterwards, but died happy in\nthe consciousness that the boy survived her, and in the hope that he\nwould indeed live to call her blessed. The parents regarded him as\na child of promise, as much so as Isaac of old was, who was born to\nSarah in her old age, and named him in honor of Elder C. giving him his\nchristian and surname as well as the surname of his father.\n\nYears afterwards that son, having reached a marriageable age and grown\nto be a stalwart man, journeyed a long distance with his intended bride\nto get Elder C., (whom he had never seen, but whom he had been taught\nfrom infancy to revere) to perform the marriage ceremony for him, and\nhis ever-increasing posterity will doubtless be taught, as they come to\nyears of understanding, the story of the inspired prediction and its\nliteral fulfillment, as here related.\n\n\n\nA Tongue of Utility\n\nELDER BASTIAN INSPIRED TO PREACH IN THE DANISH LANGUAGE BEFORE HE HAD\nLEARNED IT.\n\nON THE DAY of Pentecost when the ministry of the Apostles was ushered\nin with such a wonderful display of supernatural power the assembled\nmultitude heard the Gospel preached in many different languages with\nwhich they were severally familiar, but which were strange to the\nApostles. This was in fulfillment of the promise of the Savior, as\nrecorded in Mark XVI. 17, that these signs shall follow them that\nbelieve: \"In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with\nnew tongues.\" The utility of their so speaking must have been at once\napparent to those who heard but would not have understood them had they\nnot been inspired to so speak.\n\nOf similar utility has been the gift of tongues enjoyed by a number of\nElders in our day when sent upon missions to foreign countries. A case\nin illustration of this is the experience of Elder Gearsen S. Bastian,\nformerly Counselor to the President of the Wayne Stake of Zion, but now\na resident of Sigurd, Sevier Co., Utah. He was sent on a mission to\nDenmark in 1888, and was appointed to labor in the Aarhus conference.\nHe found much difficulty in acquiring the Danish language, so much so\nthat he felt discouraged and began to fear that he would never be able\nto learn it. About that time his missionary companion was released to\nreturn home, and Elder Bastian was left in charge of the Randers branch.\n\nOnly once had he attempted to speak before the public, and he was\nonly able to say a very few words. Sunday came, and at the appointed\ntime for worship the meeting hall was well filled. After the opening\nexercises he called upon one of the native Elders to speak, but he had\nonly occupied a few minutes, when a burning desire to speak filled the\nsoul of Elder Bastian. He arose, and under the influence and power of\nGod he preached the gospel with much plainness in the Danish language\nfor an hour and twenty minutes. At the close of the meeting the native\nbrethren and sisters all flocked around him to congratulate him; and\nthey claimed that he had spoken the language with as much plainness\nas they could have spoken; and they rejoiced greatly. But as yet he\ncould not converse with them; nevertheless the Lord had given to him\na testimony that he should thenceforth have freedom and power in\npreaching the gospel.\n\n\n\nJudgment Upon An Anti-\"Mormon\"\n\nTHUG HIRED TO ASSAULT \"MORMON\" PREACHER--HIS MISSION DIVINED BY THE\nELDER--A PREDICTION CONCERNING THE INSTIGATOR--ITS LITERAL FULFILLMENT.\n\nBREACHWOOD GREEN, Hertfordshire, England, was the scene of an episode\nconnected with the early preaching of the Gospel in Europe that is\nworthy of record. About sixty-four years have passed since it occurred\nbut it is still remembered and frequently talked of by the present\ninhabitants of the place, strangers as well as Saints.\n\nThe \"Red Lion,\" one of the principal public houses of the village,\nwhich stands facing Oxford Road, was, at the time of which I write,\nkept by one Samuel Peters, a man of influence and property, who\ncombined the business of baker and provision dealer with that of\npublican. His family consisted of a wife and six children.\n\nBeneath the wide-spreading branches of a great ash tree which grows\nopposite the \"Red Lion,\" stood a humble Elder of the Church of Jesus\nChrist of Latter-day Saints, declaring the principles of life and\nsalvation, revealed anew in this dispensation. He was a stranger in\nthe place, and had chosen this spot on the public highway in which to\nhold forth, as he could not obtain the use of a more comfortable or\nappropriate place. A goodly number of people had gathered about him,\nand were listening attentively to what he said.\n\nAnnoyed at the attention and respect paid by the assembly to a religion\nand a sect which he so heartily despised, the publican offered a man\nnamed Henry Thrussell, a low, drunken character, who was hanging about\nthe tap-room, a quart of beer if he would go out and strike that\n\"Mormon\" preacher in the face. The lout, who was half drunk already,\nwillingly accepted the offer and made his way across the street, being\nwatched from the door by his patron and a few loungers about the\ntavern, who were eager to see the fun.\n\nAs Thrussell began elbowing his way through the crowd who had gathered\nabout the speaker, some little resistance was offered to the intrusion,\nbut by his bullying manner be soon forced an entrance. The speaker\npaused in his remarks on seeing him approach in such an aggressive\nstyle, and reaching out his hand to him, he said, \"Well, my good\nman, what do you want?\" Disarmed by the friendly greeting, the bully\nhesitated about replying, when the Elder continued: \"Did some one send\nyou here to disturb this meeting?\" \"Yes, sir!\" the follow answered,\nstill hesitating about executing his errand. \"Was it the publican\nyonder?\" asked the Elder, as he noticed the men at the tavern door\nwatching the proceedings. Receiving an affirmative reply, he then\ncontinued: \"I am sorry, very sorry, for his sake! You go and tell that\nman that judgment will soon overtake him. Though he is now prosperous,\nhe shall soon come to want. Though his family is now healthy, sickness\nand death will soon come among them, and he will die in poverty,\nforsaken by his friends!\"\n\nThe intended assailant turned upon his heel without accomplishing\nwhat he was sent for, and retraced his steps to the tavern, where the\npublican, who had heard the prediction of the servant of God, berated\nhim for his cowardice.\n\nTime passed on. That Elder no longer came to Breachwood Green to\npreach, for he had journeyed to the land of Zion, in search of a new\nhome and probably thought little of the prediction uttered under the\ninspiration of the Spirit, and perhaps never knew whether it was\nfulfilled or not. But if he forgot it, the people who heard it upon\nthat occasion did not. Although many of them, perhaps, did not believe\nthat it would ever come to pass, they have had time since to test by\nthe rule laid down in Deuteronomy xviii, 22, whether the Elder spoke\npresumptuously or by authority from the Lord. The Lord told Moses,\n\"When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow\nnot, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not\nspoken.\"\n\nSoon after the prediction was uttered sickness came into the Peters\nfamily, and the wife and four of the children died. The husband became\ndissipated and neglected his business and squandered his property.\nFinancial ruin soon followed and his friends deserted him. After\ndragging out a miserable existence for a few years, he finally died,\nforsaken and alone, in a little out-house.\n\nThe man Thrussell was still living when the writer visited that\nlocality some years since, and was pointed out to him on the street.\nHe occasionally, in his sober moments, referred to that event, and to\nthe feeling he experienced when facing the Elder, and declared that for\nthe life of him he could not lift his hand to strike the Elder. He also\ntells of the interest with which he watched for the fulfillment of the\nprediction, and testified that it was fulfilled.\n\nThat Elder's name was John P. Hayes, the same, who lived for many years\nat Pleasant Grove, Utah, but who is now dead. He is survived by a\nnumerous progeny, who may be interested in learning that the memory of\nhis words still lives in his former field of labor. A few of those who\nlistened to his testimony have since embraced the Gospel, but the most\nof them are as prone to follow after fables as they ever were; and they\nstill languidly hold to their hollow creeds, which differ as widely\nfrom the true Gospel as the light shed by a farthing \"dip\" does from\nthe glorious effulgence of the noonday sun.\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nIn the text, Chapter IV was originally \"Chapter IIII\" and part of the\nheading was cut off; both errors have been corrected to match the\nTable of Contents. Various errors involving quotation marks have been\nresolved as seemed reasonable.","title":"Precious Memories: Sixteenth Book of the Faith Promoting Series. Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day Saints","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":29233}