{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_49739/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_49739","id":"gutenberg_49739","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/49739","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Missions","Latter Day Saints"],"text":"GEMS OF REMINISCENCE\n\n\nSEVENTEENTH BOOK OF THE\nFAITH PROMOTING SERIES\nDESIGNED FOR THE INSTRUCTION AND\nENCOURAGEMENT OF YOUNG\nLATTER-DAY SAINTS\n\n\nCOMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY\nGEO. C. LAMBERT\nSALT LAKE CITY, UTAH\n1915\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\"Gems of Reminiscence,\" the title selected for this volume, is\nsufficiently comprehensive to include incidents from real life on a\nwide variety of subjects, so long as the effect is to promote faith.\n\nThe articles included in this volume are sufficiently varied as to\nsubject matter to interest most of those into whose hands it may come.\n\nIn making this volume double the size--that is, double the number of\npages--of its predecessors, we have acted upon the suggestion of a\nliterary friend who has had enough experience in publishing books to\nrealize how difficult it is to secure any profit from publishing small\neditions of books of 96 pages each and binding the volumes separately\nat the low price of 25 cents per volume, retail. The opinion was\nexpressed that most of those whose taste would lead them to buy such\na book would just as willingly pay 50 cents retail for a volume that\ncontained double the number of pages in the same style of binding.\nWe decided to try the experiment and if this venture meets with\nencouragement, future volumes issued will probably be in the larger\nsize and the price 50 cents per volume instead of the smaller volumes\nat the price of 25 cents each, as in the past.\n\nThat there is an abundance of material in the experience of faithful\nmembers of the Church to furnish subject matter for an indefinite\nnumber of volumes, of a faith-promoting nature, and that the young\npeople of the community may be benefited more by that class of reading\nthan any other, is as evident now as it ever has been in the past.\n\nWe bespeak the interest of all faithful members of the Church in\nthis work of providing the best of reading matter and at the same\ntime perpetuating a knowledge of incidents in their lives that might\notherwise be lost to posterity, and trust that all who have had\nexperience that would be faith-promoting if published, will furnish\nus the material to continue the publication of the Faith-Promoting\nSeries as long as there is need for it. We can not promise them\npecuniary profit for so doing, but to those who will conscientiously\nand intelligently help in the manner indicated we can promise the kind\nof reward that has thus far encouraged us, that is, a consciousness of\nhaving placed benefits within the reach of young Latter-day Saints that\nwill be appreciated in the future if not now.\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nAMONG CANNIBALS.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nJames S. Brown's Experience Previous to Being Sent as a Missionary\nto the Society Islands--Remarkable Predictions by Presidents Brigham\nYoung and Willard Richards--Perilous Journey to California--Tragic\nFate of Most of the Company--Arrival in San Francisco--Landing\nin Tahiti--Opposition from Priests and Ministers--Governor of\nFrench Protectorate Arrayed Against Him--Elders Scatter Out--Lewd\nWomen Instigated by Ministers try to Entrap him--His First\nConvert--Recognized by a Native who had seen him in a Dream.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nCatholic Priests Jealous of his Success--Arrested on a Trumped-up\nCharge--Tried Before Governor's Aid-de-Camp--Frightful Scene Among\na School of Whales--Farce of a Trial before the Governor of the\nProtectorate--Inspired to Plead his Own Cause--Impression Made\nUpon the Governor--American Consul's Friendly Act--Banished from\nTahiti--Befriended by a Queen.\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nLand Among Cannibals--Denounced as the American Plant--His Destruction\nDemanded--Sentenced to be Roasted and Eaten--Fire Prepared--His\nDefiance of the Rabid Host--Effect Upon the Wild Horde Who Were Eager\nto Roast and Devour Him--Fierce Fight Among His Opponents.\n\nPARKIN REMINISCENCE.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nPromise to Pay Money With Only Faith to Back It--How the Money was\nProvided--Lesson His Wife Drew From It.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nAshamed to Pay Tithing--Loss of Crop--Lesson He Learned By It--Potatoes\nPurchased to Pay Delinquent Tithing--No Loss of Potato Crop Since.\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nFarming on Shares--A New Vocation--Future Home Shown in Vision--Home\nRecognized When First Seen in Utah--Reputation Gained as a Faithful and\nThorough Worker--Providential Fulfillment of Vision--Home Viewed as a\nSacred Heritage.\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nAmbitious to Work in a Goal Mine--Day Spent in Mine as a\nSpectator--Fatal Accident--His Narrow Escape from Being a Victim.\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nResort to Mining--Caught in a Snowslide--Carried a Mile Down the\nMountain As If Fired From a Catapult--Miraculous Escape--Fails to Find\nCompanion--Return to Mine and Then Home--Companion's Subsequent Escape.\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nFather John Parkin a Pugilist--Defends a Mormon Elder--Shelters Him\nFrom a Storm and Learns Something of Mormonism--Whole Family Embrace\nthe Gospel.\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nSelling a Load of Carrots to An Ex-Missionary, Whose Parsimony is\nExhibited--Some Reflections Thereon.\n\nA SAILOR-SAINT'S ADVENTURES.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nE. R. S. Schnelle's Belief in a Providence Over His Life--Birth\nand Succession of Accidents--Goes to Sea as Cabin Boy--Gruel\nTreatment--Pumping Sugar and Water--Ship Crushed Against\nBreakwater--Reckless Jump--Woes as a Cook.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nEmbarks as Ordinary Seaman--Captain's Premonition and Sailors'\nFear--Amazone Wrecked--Dying Sailor's Vision--Grewsome Seat--a\nTyphoon--Ship Seized by French--Travel in Russia--Finds A\nWife--Converted to \"Mormonism.\"\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nSent to Hospital--Blue Jacket Converted--Warned by Spirit to Leave\nShip--Disobeys Warning--Narrow Escape When Ship Founders--A Dangerous\nFall--Led by Inspiration--Inspired Promise Fulfilled--Work in\nTemple--Departure for Mission.\n\nOBTAINING GENEALOGIES.\n\nAt Solicitation of Saints in Utah, Engages in Genealogical\nResearch While Serving as a Missionary--Takes a Special Mission\nfor Such Work--Impression That He Was Receiving Help from the\nSpirit World--Search for Williams' Genealogies--A Sign and a\nMutual Impression--Valuable Data Obtained form a Stranger, Who Was\nEvidently inspired--Research of Chamberlain Family Record Helped by a\nStranger Who Was Also Evidently Inspired to Do So--Valuable Records\nProvidentially Found in Unexpected Place.\n\nWARNED BY THE SPIRIT.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nChauncey W. West Sent on a Mission to Asia--Dreams of the Wreck of a\nVessel Upon Which He had Engaged Passage--Left the Ship, and Afterwards\nLearned From the Grew of the Vessel Being Wrecked Just as He Had\nDreamed that it Would be--While Awaiting Another Opportunity to Ship\nto California was Prompted to Vacate a House Where He and Companion\nElder Were Staying--House Immediately Afterwards Crushed by Large Stone\nRolling Down From Side of Mountain.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nElder James Lawson Inspired to Quit a Steamboat on Which he was a\nPassenger--Jumped on a Flatboat--A Few moments later the Steamboat\nSank, and most of the Passengers were Drowned.\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nComforting Assurance Experienced by A. O. Smoot During a Storm at\nSea--His Narrow Escape from being a Victim of the Saluda Disaster--His\nAccount of the Explosion.\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nSeries of Escapes Experienced by President Woodruff Through Heeding the\nSpirit's Warnings--Instance of Failing to do so.\n\nRECALLED BY ELDER HEBER J. GRANT.\n\nExcerpts from Discourse Delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake\nCity, April 26,1914--Methodist Episcopal Minister Converted to\nMormonism--Goes to England as a Mormon Missionary--Calls Upon His\nFormer Minister--His Undignified Reception--Anti \"Mormon\" Assertion\nDisproved by Facts--A Minister's Confession--Puzzling Questions\nPropounded to Ministers, Unanswered--Attitude of Latter-Day Saints\nThereon--Unseen Evidence of Power--A Prediction by the Gift of Tongues\nthat was Literally Fulfilled--Truth Only Strengthened by Attempts\nto Overthrow it--Karl G. Maeser's Conversion--His Pledge and its\nFulfillment--Ben Butler's Advice.\n\nA BUSY LIFE\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nAnson Call's Birth and Character--Investigated \"Mormonism\" to Disprove\nit, and Became Converted--Impediment in His Speech Cured When\nAdministered to--An Anti-\"Mormon\" Missourian--Buy Farms in Caldwell\nCounty--The Prophet Visits Missouri--Advises Abandonment of Homes--Mob\nTries to Prevent their Removal--Flee by Night--Adam-Ondi-Ahman and Far\nWest Besieged.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nSuffering from Gold Weather--Anson Visits Elk Horn--Captured and\nIll-Treated by a Mob--Treats the Mob to Whiskey, and Escapes--Tiresome\nJourney to Far West--Visits His Farm Contrary to Counsel--Finds his\nProperty in Possession of Mobocrats, who Assault Him--Apostates Try to\nUse Anson to Discredit the Prophet--Anson's Fidelity.\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nRemoval to Illinois--A Perilous Journey--Overtaken by the Prophet While\nEscaping from Missouri Prison--Anson and Wife Visit in Ohio--Locate\nin Macedonia--Remove to Nauvoo--Mission to Ohio--Prophet's Vision and\nPrediction as to Saints Locating in West--Judge Thomas' Advice--Service\nas a Delegate.\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nJudge Thomas' Willingness to Sacrifice the Prophet--Vain Efforts\nto See and Report to the Prophet--Perfidy of Reynolds Cahoon and\nAlpheus Cutler--Prophet's Last Speech--News of the Martyrdom--Its\nEffect--Atrocities of Mob.\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nPreparations for Abandonment of Nauvoo--Journey Westward--Winter\nNear Indian Camp--Test of Fealty--Westward Journey Temporarily\nAbandoned--Employment in Missouri--Journey to Utah--Choice\nof Home--Mission to Colonize Parowan--Mission to Colonize\nFillmore--Massacre of Gunnison Party.\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nCall's Fort Established--Acts as Deputy U. S. Marshal--Mission\nto Colonize Carson Valley--Prepares to Burn Home--The \"Move\"\nSouth--Brother Killed by Indians--Call's Landing Established--His Last\nDays.\n\nELDER BROWN'S EXPERIENCE\n\nFrigid Trip on Lonely Road--Team Exhausted--Agony of Freezing--Prayer\nfor Deliverance--Friend Inspired to Go to His Relief--Sheep Herder\nInspired to Move Camp--Effects of Freezing on Feet.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nSent on a Mission--Stricken with Chills and Fever--President of\nMission Proffers to Release Him--Unwilling to be Released--Instantly\nHealed when Administered to--Twin Boys Healed in Answer to Elder\nBrown's Prayer--Elder Brown Has a Relapse--Instantly Healed when Again\nAdministered to--Again Urged to Accept His Release--Field of Labor\nChanged--Health Fails, and He is Sent Home--Reproved by President\nWoodruff--Victim of a Street Car Accident--Healed in Answer to Prayer.\n\nREMARKABLE PATRIARCHAL BLESSING.\n\nDr. Gledhill's Wife Operated Upon Repeatedly for Internal\nTumor--Blessed by a Patriarch--Promised that She Should Recover and\nGive Birth to More Children--Scientific Opinions Upset by Fulfillment\nof Inspired Promise.\n\nLAMBERT REMINISCENCE.\n\nApplies for Work Upon Nauvoo Temple--Accepts Work Without Prospect of\nPay--His Hat Stoned--Offered Work by Lucifer, who Displays Abundance of\nGold--Journey Westward--Money Providentially Furnished for Completion\nof Wagon--Money for Medicine Obtained in Like Mysterious Way--Arrival\nin Winter Quarters--Ambition to Go West With Pioneers--Plan Foiled by\nIndians Killing Team Animals--President Young's Confidence--New Shoes\nProvidentially Found--Dislocated Arm Providentially Restored to Use.\n\nA TIMELY WARNING.\n\nVisit to a Volcano--Madam Pele's Hair--Narrow Escape from Falling into\nVolcano.\n\nONE OF NATURE'S GENTLEMEN.\n\nFine Specimen of Maori--Effect of the Gospel Upon Him--His Excellent\nFamily.\n\nPRAYING TO DEATH.\n\nAttempt of Hawaiian Priest to Pray Mormon Elder to Death--His Failure\nand Hawaiian Discomfiture.\n\n\n\nAMONG CANNIBALS\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nJAMES S. BROWN'S EXPERIENCE PREVIOUS TO BEING SENT AS A MISSIONARY\nTO THE SOCIETY ISLANDS--REMARKABLE PREDICTION BY PRESIDENTS BRIGHAM\nYOUNG AND WILLARD RICHARDS--PERILOUS JOURNEY TO CALIFORNIA--TRAGIC\nFATE OF MOST OF THE COMPANY--ARRIVAL IN SAN FRANCISCO--LANDING\nIN TAHITI--OPPOSITION FROM PRIESTS AND MINISTERS--GOVERNOR OF\nFRENCH PROTECTORATE ARRAYED AGAINST HIM--ELDERS SCATTER OUT--LEWD\nWOMEN, INSTIGATED BY MINISTERS, TRY TO ENTRAP HIM--HIS FIRST\nCONVERT--RECOGNIZED BY A NATIVE WHO HAD SEEN HIM IN A DREAM.\n\nThe late Elder James S. Brown, who for many years was a resident of the\n17th Ward of this city, (and who died in 1902) had a most interesting\nand eventful life, and a few incidents therefrom, in which a special\nprovidence was manifest, are here given, the facts being mainly culled\nfrom his autobiography published under the title of \"Life of a Pioneer.\"\n\nElder Brown was a member of the famous Mormon Battalion, and on being\nmustered out of service in California in July, 1847, he journeyed to\nSutter's Fort on the Sacramento river, and became one of the original\ndiscoverers of gold in California. After working in California for an\noutfit, he with others made a hazardous journey eastward in search of\ntheir friends the Pioneers, who, under the leadership of Brigham Young,\nhad located, as they understood, somewhere in the rocky mountains, but\njust where they were uncertain. He arrived in Salt Lake valley on the\n28th of September, 1848, and found the pioneers living in a fort on\nwhat is now Pioneer Square. There he was warmly welcomed by relatives\nand friends and settled down to help develop the country.\n\nIn the summer of 1849 he witnessed the threatened destruction of the\nwhole of the crops being raised in the valley by the onslaught of\ncrickets, and the miraculous saving of the crops by swarms of seagulls\ncoming from the west and devouring the crickets.\n\nThen he was called to go upon a mission to the Society Islands.\nPresident Brigham Young said to him \"I promise you in the name of the\nLord, God of Israel that if you go you will be blessed, and do good,\nand be an honor to yourself and to the Church and Kingdom of God.\nAlthough men will seek your life, you shall be spared and return to the\nbosom of the Church in safety.\" President Willard Richards also said to\nhim \"Brother James, when you are upon yonder distant islands, called\nto preside over a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day\nSaints, men will seek your life, and to all human appearance there will\nbe no possible escape; then look unto God, and His angels shall drawn\nnear unto you, and you shall be delivered to return home unto this\npeople.\"\n\nIn company with Elder Addison Pratt, who had previously filled a\nmission to the Society Islands, he set out, first proceeding to\nCalifornia by the southern route. They had occasion to feel that\nthey were providentially preserved on the journey, as, through a\ndisagreement as to the road they should travel, the majority of the\ncompany (including about 500 emigrants bound for California from\nsomewhere in the east) and who persisted in going contrary to the\nadvice of Apostle Charles C. Rich, got lost and nearly all of them\nperished from thirst and starvation in Death Valley. The missionaries\nwere content to follow the advice of Apostle Rich, and, after a\nsomewhat perilous journey arrived safely in San Francisco. There\nthey secured passage on the brig \"Frederick\" and sailed away to the\nsouthwest for Tahiti April 20, 1850.\n\nThey landed at Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, the largest island of\nthe Society group, May 24, 1850, where they were met and welcomed by\na few natives whom Addison Pratt had converted while on a previous\nmission.\n\nThey soon learned that they would have to meet the combined opposition\nof Protestant ministers and Catholic priests, who were determined,\nif possible, to prevent them from becoming established there. These\nopponents had great influence with the representatives of the French\ngovernment that maintained a protectorate over the greater part of the\nSociety Islands.\n\nThey called upon the governor of the French protectorate and tried\nto obtain permission to visit Tubuai, a distant island, to which\nplace they had a chance of obtaining free passage, but were refused\npermission, as the governor expressed fear of the effect of their\npreaching. He required that they furnish him a detailed statement of\nthe principles they taught and the methods and policy they pursued in\ntheir missionary work, all of which, however, failed to satisfy the\ngovernor that he could safely trust them. The governor then prepared\na list of questions for the Elders to answer and pledges for them to\nsubscribe to, all of which they complied with, but all to no avail,\nfor the governor had evidently determined not to allow them to do any\nproselyting.\n\nElder Brown made the acquaintance of many ministers and missionaries of\nother creeds, some of whom professed to have a feeling of friendship\nfor him and his work, but who secretly exerted all their powers and\ninfluence to oppose him and instigate the government to curtail his\nliberties and prevent the spread of the Gospel. Upon one occasion he\nwas visited by two very pretty young native women who were attractively\ndressed and highly perfumed, and who expressed a desire to investigate\n\"Mormonism.\" He received them cordially and offered to afford them any\ninformation he could, but was blessed with the spirit of discernment\nand impressed with the fact that they were not sincere in their\nprofession, but had, in fact, come for the purpose of seducing him.\nHe surprised them by telling them of his suspicion as to the purpose\nof their visit, and that certain rival ministers had induced them to\ncome to him, suggesting to them that Elder Brown was hypocritical in\nhis profession of religion, and in reality a licentious man who would\nreadily succumb to the cunning wiles of lewd women and, by being\ncaught in the trap devised by them, have his reputation blasted and\nhis missionary work effectually stopped by the exposure that would\nfollow. The women acknowledged that he had correctly discerned and\ndescribed the cause and purpose of their visit and the identity of its\ninstigators, and on being warned to repent and assured that \"Mormon\"\nmissionaries were not such characters as they had been led to suppose,\nthe women abandoned the scheme to which they had lent themselves, and\nleft him.\n\nThe first baptism in which Elder Brown officiated on the islands was\nthat of a highly educated and influential young native woman who had\nbecome convinced of the truth of the principles he taught and applied\nto him to baptize her. She was so ill that she had to be carried into\nthe water, but when she was baptized she was immediately healed and\nwalked out of the water without help. The ministers raised a great\noutcry about his endangering her life by immersing her, and soon had\nthe police searching for him for the purpose of placing him under\narrest. The officers failed to find him, although he made no effort\nto evade them, and the excitement over the baptism of the young woman\ngradually subsided.\n\nFailing to get the consent of the governor or other officials for them\nto engage in missionary labor, and tiring of the restraint of remaining\nin comparative idleness in the region of Papeete, the Elders decided to\nscatter out and do missionary work as they might find opportunity.\n\nWhile Elder Brown was on his way to Tubuai, where he was appointed\nto preside, the boat upon which he was making the voyage had to put\ninto the harbor of the island of Laivavai to seek refuge from a storm.\nHe mentions that the island was only four miles in length and two in\nwidth, and had a population of three hundred and eighty-three people.\nHe described them as having the wildest and fiercest look of any\nthat he had ever met. However, he had no cause to complain of their\ntreatment at the time. His next stop was on the island of Tubuai, which\nis only twelve or fifteen miles in length, and had a population of four\nhundred. It was upon this island that the gospel was first introduced.\nThat was in July, 1844, the missionaries being Addison Pratt, Noah\nRogers and B. F. Grouard, who were sent on a mission from Nauvoo by the\nProphet Joseph Smith, in 1843. Knowlton F. Hanks was also one of the\nparty called to fill this mission, but he died during the voyage to his\nfield of labor. While attempting to effect a landing, the boat had the\nnarrowest possible escape from being wrecked upon a coral reef. As it\nwas, the passengers were spilled into the raging billows among crags\nand rocks, but were fortunate in escaping serious injury.\n\nAfter laboring for awhile on the island of Tubuai, he proceeded to\nAnaa, in the Tuamotu group. A somewhat unusual incident occured when\nElder Brown and a number of other passengers were about to land at\nTuuhora on the island of Auaa. As they neared the shore a native came\nbounding through the water until he reached the stern of the boat where\nElder Brown was seated. Then he reached out his hand which had in it\nfive pearls wrapped in a small rag, saying at the same time: \"Here, I\nhave seen you before. You have come to be our president, for you have\nbeen shown to me in a dream. Welcome, welcome to our land!\" He then\nturned his broad, muscular back towards Elder Brown and invited the\nmissionary to mount and be carried ashore. The Elder gladly did so,\nand notwithstanding he was an unusually large man, he was carried with\nease to the shore, where he was joyfully greeted by a goodly number of\nchurch members who soon prepared a feast of welcome for him.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nCATHOLIC PRIESTS JEALOUS OF HIS SUCCESS--ARRESTED ON A TRUMPED-UP\nCHARGE--TRIED BEFORE GOVERNOR'S AID-DE-CAMP--FRIGHTFUL SCENE AMONG\nA SCHOOL OF WHALES--FARCE OF A TRIAL BEFORE THE GOVERNOR OF THE\nPROTECTORATE--INSPIRED TO PLEAD HIS OWN CAUSE--IMPRESSION MADE\nUPON THE GOVERNOR--AMERICAN CONSUL'S FRIENDLY ACT--BANISHED FROM\nTAHITI--BEFRIENDED BY A QUEEN.\n\nThe natives were eager for the Gospel, and he lost no time in\ncommencing the work of proselyting among them. He also engaged in\nconducting day schools among the natives with good effect, the natives\nbeing anxious to attend and quick to learn. The Catholic priests of the\nregion, however, who were making almost frantic efforts to proselyte\nas well as to establish schools in imitation of those of Elder Brown,\nwere so jealous of his success and so chagrined at their own failure,\nthat they set about devising schemes to discredit Elder Brown and\ngain an advantage over him. They even went to the extreme of taking\nforcible possession of a meeting house built and exclusively owned\nby the Latter-day Saints, and trying to monopolize the use of it.\nThey presumed upon their influence with the officers of the French\nprotectorate to sustain them in this arbitrary and high-handed conduct,\nand continued it even in the face of a decision against them, when the\nofficers could find no warrant even in the rank anti-\"Mormon\" prejudice\nthen prevailing for favoring the priests, much as they desired to do so.\n\nWhile at Putuhara, on the island of Anaa, Elder Brown was arrested\non a trumped-up charge and haled before the governor's aid-de camp,\nwho had arrived on the French war frigate \"Durance.\" It was soon\nevident that the Catholic priests had conspired to entrap him for the\npurpose of breaking down his influence with the natives and closing\nhis schools. When the charges, which were both frivolous and absurd,\nwere read to him he plead not guilty and asked the privilege of being\ntried in the vicinity, where he felt sure he could soon establish his\ninnocence. This privilege was refused on the plea that his offense\nwas too great and he was too dangerous to be tried before any less\npersonage than the governor. He would therefore have to go to Tahiti\nand appear before the governor. After being compelled to witness the\nmost shameless and revolting immorality on the part of the guard who\nhad him in charge he was thrust into a filthy and foul smelling old\noil boat and thus conveyed to the war frigate, which was lying off\nshore, there being no harbor or anchorage at that island. While the\nboat was proceeding to the frigate it ran into a school of whales that\nnumbered hundreds if not thousands. The native oarsmen propelling the\nboat were almost paralyzed with fear, and withdrew their oars and\nscarcely dared to breath while the whales were passing. Elder Brown\nin relating the circumstance admitted that although he had been in a\ngreat many dangerous places he had never felt the hair on his head so\nmuch inclined to stand on end before as while witnessing the passing of\nthose huge sea monsters, so close as to be touched with the hand, and\nhaving the power if they had chosen to exert it, to smash the boat and\nsend its passengers into eternity by a mere whisk of the tail.\n\nThe voyage ended at the port of Papeete, November 3, 1851, and the\nprisoner was soon transferred from the war frigate to a cobblestone\ndungeon in the town. From there he was taken before the governor and\narraigned on the charges preferred against him. A native Catholic\nwas first introduced as a witness. He had evidently been coached in\nregard to what he should say, but not sufficiently so to have it clear\nin his mind, or else he had scruples against perjuring himself, for\nhe hesitated and seemed confused. The governor evidently thought his\nconfusion due to the prisoner looking at him, for he ordered Elder\nBrown not to look at the witness, and told him that his \"countenance\nwas so fierce and vivid as to baffle the most substantial witness.\"\nThe next person used against him as a witness was a man who had been\nbrought to Papeete as a prisoner, but never arraigned. He evidently\nthought that his own immunity from prosecution depended upon his\nfurnishing damaging evidence against Elder Brown, and he seemed more\nthan willing to testify to anything.\n\nNot liking the way the trial was proceeding, if it was a trial, as he\nwas being given no opportunity to defend himself, Elder Brown arose and\nclaimed his rights as an American citizen, making as strong a plea as\nhe could in his own behalf, and quoting international law and treaties\nthat came to his mind spontaneously upon the occasion, without his ever\nhaving read or heard the same quoted before.\n\nThe governor and others present seemed to be profoundly impressed by\nwhat he said, the result being that with much embarrassment the hearing\nwas closed and he was immediately marched back to his filthy cell.\n\nAbout this time the American consul, W. H. Kelly, having heard of the\nproceedings, called upon the governor in the interest of Elder Brown,\nas an American citizen. The governor informed him that the prisoner was\na very dangerous as well as a very learned man, thoroughly familiar\nwith international laws and treaties, which he was able to quote from\nmemory, and that he was undoubtedly a military man of no mean ability.\nInquiring what he could do for the relief of the prisoner, he was told\nthat he could put up a 50,000 franc bond for the good conduct of the\nElder during the remainder of his stay under the jurisdiction of the\nFrench protectorate, in which case he might regain his liberty, but\nthat he must leave the protectorate by the first out-going vessel,\nno more to return on pain of perpetual imprisonment. The consul\naccordingly put up the bond and Elder Brown was released and turned\nover to him.\n\nThe consul advised that he confer with his friends and see what could\nbe done about complying with the terms of the governor's decree. The\nmissionaries were accordingly called together and discussed the decree\nof banishment, with the result that they decided that Elder Brown had\nbetter sail on the little schooner \"Ravai,\" owned by the Saints and\ncommanded by B. F. Grouard. It was bound for a cruise among the Tuamotu\ngroup of islands, and to make a final landing at Laivavai, four hundred\nmiles south-east of Tahiti, and outside of the protectorate. The vessel\nwas accordingly got ready and he sailed on board of it November 17,\n1851.\n\nAs the boat was leaving the Tahitian harbor it encountered severe\nheadwinds and had to beat its way against wind and wave until it became\nsomewhat disabled. Provisions also ran short, and it became necessary\nto change the course of the vessel and head it towards Tubuai. When\nwithin eighty miles of that island, the provisions became utterly\nexhausted and a dead calm set in. After severe suffering, Tubuai was\nreached on the 29th of November.\n\nWhen Pitamai Vehene, the queen, heard that Elder Brown had been\nbanished, she went out to the vessel in her own canoe and invited him\nto go ashore with her and partake of her hospitality. She said \"this\nis my island, and the French have no right here. I will be responsible\nfor all the trouble that may arise.\" He accepted the invitation, was\nentertained at the queen's mansion for a number of days, and then\ncontinued his voyage to Laivavai, where he relieved Elder Pratt, who\nwas then presiding there.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nLAND AMONG CANNIBALS--DENOUNCED AS THE AMERICAN PLANT--HIS DESTRUCTION\nDEMANDED--SENTENCED TO BE ROASTED AND EATEN--FIRE PREPARED--HIS\nDEFIANCE OF THE RABID HOST--EFFECT UPON THE WILD HORDE WHO WERE EAGER\nTO ROAST AND DEVOUR HIM--FIERCE FIGHT AMONG HIS OPPONENTS.\n\nAn intense anti-\"Mormon\" feeling had developed on that island since\nhis last previous visit, and he had scarcely landed when his life was\nthreatened by a leader of the anti-\"Mormon\" faction named Tabate. These\npeople had formerly been cannibals, and now when their passions were\naroused, as they frequently were on religious and other questions,\ntheir state bordered very nearly on their original degraded level if it\ndidn't quite reach it. They not only gloried in their former practices,\nbut they dwelt with unction upon the hope of returning thereto. They\npracticed grimmaces and distortions and incantations, gave free rein\nto their wild passions and in anticipation reverted again to their old\nlives of crime and cannibalism.\n\nUnfortunately there were persons unscrupulous enough to play upon\nthe prejudices of the natives in this time of excitement to gratify\ntheir own malicious desires and gain a mean advantage for their\nown pet faction. Two young protestant ministers engaged in making\ninflammatory speeches against the \"Mormons\" and especially against\nElder Brown, whose influence among the natives they greatly feared and\nsaw no prospect of coping with. They alluded to him as \"that American\nplant\" which they predicted would soon grow to such proportions as\nto overshadow the land and stifle all other creeds or ministers.\nThey demanded that the natives give this \"American plant\" no further\ntolerance, but drive him from their midst.\n\nAbout the 5th of May, 1852, the whole people were called to assemble\nat the village of Tatake and prepare a feast, and at the same time to\ndecide what to do with the \"Mormon\" minister and his disciples. The\nyoung braves came together armed with muskets, and apparently bent\nupon extreme measures. The people brought together an immense quantity\nand great variety of edibles, including roast pigs, fish, poultry\nand fruits of all kinds known in the region. The food was divided up\naccording to families and the number in families, and the portion of\nten men was set before Elder Brown with the injunction to eat and get\nfat for the roast. Much jesting was indulged in during the banquet,\nand many allusions made to the feast of roast missionary which was to\nfollow, as if it were a good joke, but at the conclusion of the banquet\nall became silent as if they had eaten to satiety and required a rest.\nBut to the friends of Elder Brown this silence was ominous. They\ncould not believe that the dire plot against the missionary had been\nabandoned or forgotten. The silence, they feared, was but the precursor\nof a more dreadful and revolting orgie than any they had witnessed.\nAbout 1 p. m. the excitement was renewed. Two great ruffians armed with\nclubs entered Elder Brown's apartment and announced that they had been\nsent to summon him before the council. If he refused they said they\nwere under orders to forcibly drag him there. He immediately arose to\ngo with them, and as he did so the promise of Brigham Young and also\nthat of President Willard Richards, made to him when he was called to\ngo upon his mission, came to his mind, with the assurance that the time\nhad arrived for their fulfillment. As predicted, his life was now being\nsought, but his enemies would not succeed, for his life would be spared\nto return in safety to his mountain home and friends. He had no feeling\nof doubt or depression, but on the contrary he was calmly confident and\ncheerful. He walked out to the beach where the people had assembled,\nand the few faithful members of the Church upon the island followed\nclose behind him. As they passed the heap of burning timber which had\nsuch a significance, they faced a formidable row of about fifteen\nyoung athletes with close cropped hair and bodies naked except for a\ncloth around their loins, and oiled so that they shone with a savage\nfierceness in the firelight, standing with folded arms as if ready for\nthe word to offer a victim to the flames. As the missionary and his\nfriends approached the demon-like Tabate stepped forward and commanded\nthat \"all the Britons stand on the right hand with the sheep, and the\n'Mormons' stand on the left where the goats are.\" Among the followers\nof Elder Brown was a brave young native named Rivae and his wife who\nhad an eight-months'-old babe in her arms. With sublime courage this\ndevoted young husband stepped forward and said \"If you are going to\nburn this man,\" pointing to Elder Brown, \"you burn me first!\" His wife\nimmediately followed and, holding her babe at arms' length shouted \"I\nam a 'Mormon' and this baby will be a 'Mormon' if he lives, so you will\nhave to burn all of us to put a stop to 'Mormonism.'\" Rivae and his\nwife were ordered to stand aside, and Elder Brown was ordered to take a\nposition in a space between the two parties. Then Tabate, the spokesman\nor judge taunted him with being the cause of all the trouble, and,\npointing to the heap of burning embers, declared the decision to be\nthat he must there be roasted and eaten.\n\nYielding to a sudden feeling that came over him at that moment, Elder\nBrown stood erect before them, and, with arms raised high in the air,\nshouted \"In the name of Israel's God I defy the host of you; for I\nserve the God who delivered Daniel from the den of lions and the three\nHebrew children from the fiery furnace!\"\n\nThe change that immediately came over the scene was as if caused by\nmagic. A spirit of division rested upon the judge who had passed the\nsentence, his councilors and the executioners, and they were soon\nengaged in a deadly grapple. This seemed to be the signal for the whole\nassembly to enter into the fiercest kind of a fight. They used clubs\nand stones and any other kind of a weapon they could get hold of;\nalso pulled hair, bit and scratched and gouged in the most desperate\nstruggle, inflicting all the damage they could upon one another until\nthey were compelled to cease from sheer exhaustion at the close of the\nday.\n\nIn this final conflict some of the Church members seemed impelled to\ntake a hand. They fought with savage ferocity until the time came\nwhen, as if by common consent, they all ceased to fight and demurely\nslunk away to their homes with many sore heads and aching bodies, to\nthink over, but perhaps without being able to recall, their reason for\nengaging in the deadly struggle.\n\nThe rest may soon be told.\n\nElder Brown continued to live upon the small island of Laivavai, for he\nhad no opportunity to get away, but he was treated with consideration,\nand apparently regarded with superstitious awe.\n\nThose who had contemplated roasting and eating him must have been\ncareful to shun him thereafter, for he never knowingly met any of them.\nUpon one occasion he recognized one of them at a distance but noticed\nthat he almost immediately commenced running from him, as if in fear.\nIn a spirit of fun Elder Brown pursued him and succeeded in overtaking\nhim after a long chase. On questioning the man as to his reason for\nrunning away from him, he was told that he was feared because he seemed\nto be divinely assisted; that when he defied the populace as he was\nabout to be sacrificed there appeared to be a pillar of light extending\nfrom the heavens down to his head, and it was regarded as a sign of\ndivine favor, and those who saw it feared to touch him.\n\nThey were not the only ones who gave the Lord the credit for coming to\nhis relief. Elder Brown did so himself. He acknowledged that it was\nonly through the mercy and power of the Lord that he was delivered from\nthat howling mob who had set their hearts upon subjecting him to a most\nhorrible death and were then intent upon devouring his flesh.\n\nWe can imagine how easy it was for the Lord to create the impression\nthat He did upon the hearts of those ignorant depraved people. James\nS. Brown was a magnificent specimen of physical manhood. He was tall\nand well proportioned, with a fearless manner about him, betokening\nthe possession of unusual courage. He had a sonorous voice and a\npenetrating look that was well calculated to make cowards quail. When\nhe stood forth in the majesty of his strength and in the firm belief\nthat the Lord was going to protect him, even as His prophets had\ndeclared, and defied the superstitious horde that sought his life, it\nseems the most natural thing in the world that they should be stricken\ndumb with astonishment and terror. It is not detracting any from the\ncredit due the Lord to explain that His purpose might have been and\nprobably was accomplished in a perfectly natural way. It was long\nbefore remarked by the Protestant ministers when they sought to have\nhis liberties curtailed because he had baptized an invalid and she had\nbeen healed of her ailment, that he had \"such a fierce countenance and\nexpressive voice as to excite a person suffering the most excruciating\npain until he would not realize that he had any suffering at all.\"\nThe governor of the French protectorate had also complained of his so\nterrifying a witness by simply looking at him as to disqualify him\nfor service. He therefore ordered that Elder Brown cease to look at\nthe witness, saying his countenance was so \"fierce and vivid as to\nbaffle the most substantial witness.\" Then too, he had the reputation\nof being a man of nerve and resource--a man who did things. He had in\nmany instances extracted teeth with no better instrument than a bullet\nmold or a hammer and chisel, or rusty nail that could be used as a\npunch. He had performed surgical operations successfully when he had\nfound people suffering from carbuncles or abscesses by use only of\na sharp pocket knife. He had acquired the native language and other\ndialects with wonderful facility and spoke several dialects fluently;\nin fact, he was almost a natural linguist. All these and other things\nas well as his appearance caused him to be regarded as a remarkable\nman. His unconcern too as to the identity of the people who tried to\nsacrifice him was probably also noticed. It was sufficient for him to\nknow that he was no longer molested. To him the incident was closed.\nHe probably never thought of it afterwards except in a casual way.\nWhen he returned home after an absence of three and two-thirds years\nand had occasion to mention his narrow escape from being burned and\ndevoured in connection with his various other experiences, he found it\nwas wholly lacking in corroboration; he could not refer to anyone who\nhad witnessed it or knew of the facts. And so it continued for nearly\nif not quite forty years, when he again found himself upon a mission in\nthe Society Islands. He was a greatly changed man then, enfeebled by\nage and sickness, and under the necessity of walking with crutches as\na result of his having lost a limb through being accidentally shot. He\nfound only few people then who remembered his former labors upon the\nislands and fewer still who recognized him. He casually mentions in his\nautobiography that on visiting the island of Laivavai in company with\nElder Wm. A. Seegmiller \"we met a man--the fourth on the island--who\nwas on the island of Laivavai when the natives had built a fire to burn\nme, and when I was delivered by the power of God. They claimed to have\nbeen present when I was sentenced, but denied taking any part in the\nproceedings.\"\n\nElder Seegmiller, who is now a Bishop in Richfield, Utah, remembers\nmeeting those men as mentioned. He also had the place pointed out to\nhim where the sacrifice so nearly occurred, and heard the circumstance\nincidentally alluded to many times in connection with the folk lore of\nthe island, or as a legend of the days of heathendom. All that he heard\nwas substantially in accord with the narrative as here given.\n\n\n\nPARKIN REMINISCENSE\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nPROMISE TO PAY MONEY WITH ONLY FAITH TO BACK IT--HOW THE MONEY WAS\nPROVIDED--LESSON HIS WIFE DREW FROM IT.\n\nBrother Wm. J. Parkin, of South Bountiful, tells this story of how the\nLord can and will open up the way for those who have faith to fulfill\ntheir promises and accomplish their righteous desires:\n\nHe arrived in Utah in the year 1863, fresh from England, and very poor.\nHe had not succeeded in accumulating much when, in the following year,\nhe ventured to get married. While attending conference in Salt Lake\nCity the following spring he heard President Brigham Young announce to\nthe assembly that he wanted a collection taken up in the several wards\nfor the immigration of the poor, and wished every man to subscribe to\nthe extent of his ability. The following Sunday he attended meeting in\nBountiful and heard Bishop Stoker repeat the call.\n\nBrother Parkin is a man of generous impulses, and felt like doing his\nfull duty in so worthy a cause, but was absolutely without funds, and\ndidn't know where or how he would be able to obtain any, but he was the\nfirst man to arise and say what he would do. He said, \"Bishop, you may\nput me down for $2.50.\" The money was to be paid within two weeks.\n\nWhen he returned home from meeting his wife, who had not been at the\nmeeting, met him at the gate with tears in her eyes. She had already\nheard from a neighbor of what her husband had promised to do, and\nknew too that he had no money. Her heart was in the work of the Lord,\nand she would have been more than willing to help migrate the poor\nif she had been able so to do, but her high sense of honor would not\nbrook the making of a promise she could not fulfill. She greeted him\nreproachfully with the exclamation: \"What have you done?\" He had no\nguilty feeling, and asked her what she meant. \"You have promised to\ngive two-and-a-half dollars, and haven't a cent, nor any way of getting\nany. Do you know that I had to sit up and wash and iron a shirt for you\nafter you went to bed last night, so that you might have a decent shirt\nto wear to-day?\"\n\n\"Well, I know that we are very poor,\" he replied, \"but I believe the\nLord will provide a way for me to fulfill the promise. Perhaps he will\nmake the chickens lay more eggs, or the cow give more milk, so you will\nhave butter to sell.\"\n\n\"How can you expect that,\" said she, \"when we only have three hens and a\nrooster, and the cow is almost dry.\"\n\nPeace was patched up between the couple by his assurance that what he\nhad done in the matter of making that promise was done from a strict\nsense of duty, and because he had faith that the Lord would somehow\nenable him to fulfill it. She knew him too well to doubt his good\nintentions, and was too good a woman to further reproach him therefor,\nthough she did not share his faith about his being able to keep his\npromise.\n\nTime passed without his securing any money until the day before he\nwas to pay it. On the morning of that day when he was out in the yard\nattending to his chores he noticed a fairly well-defined path, that he\nhad not observed before, leading from his chicken coop into a patch\nof brush that grew near. Following the path out into the brush, he\nthere found a big nest full of eggs. Carrying them into the house,\nhe met his wife at the door, who was just coming out to exhibit to\nhim a good-sized chunk of butter which she had just taken out of the\nchurn--ever so much more than she had been in the habit of getting.\nTheir surprise was mutual when he counted out before her eyes thirty\nclean, fresh-looking eggs--all the more surprising because they had\nboth previously thought they were getting all the eggs their hens\nproduced.\n\nWhile they were still beaming with satisfaction over their good\nfortune, a knock was heard at the door, and upon opening it a stranger,\nan overland immigrant, was met, who inquired if they had any butter and\neggs to sell. The eggs just brought in were pointed out with the remark\nthat he might have them, and the good wife also produced the lump of\nfreshly-made butter. The stranger said he would be glad to buy both,\nand if they could spare him some buttermilk also he would regard that\nas a favor. He was assured that they would be glad to do so, and that\nhe could have them at his own price.\n\nHe produced from his wallet a diminutive coin, such as they had never\nseen before, and offered it to them, and Brother Parkin inquired, \"What\nis that?\" \"That is a two-and-a-half dollar gold piece,\" the stranger\nreplied.\n\n\"Well,\" said Brother Parkin, \"I have no change and that is entirely too\nmuch. Have you no small change?\"\n\nThe stranger told him to keep it. He was welcome to it. That he was\nglad to get the butter, eggs and buttermilk at any price, as he had\napplied in vain at so many houses for them that he had begun to despair\nabout being able to get any.\n\nThe stranger carried away his small purchase, rejoicing, and Brother\nand Sister Parkin were profuse in their thanks to him, and very\ngrateful to the Lord, for having inspired him to supply them with the\nmeans of fulfilling the promise made to the Bishop.\n\nSister Parkin was so impressed with the fact that the money had come as\na special providence from the Lord, and so thankful that her husband's\nhonor could now be saved that she actually shed tears of joy, and\nassured him that she would never more reproach him for being too rash\nin trying to do his duty as a Latter-day Saint, and hoped never again\nto be lacking in faith that the Lord will provide.\n\nThe day following, being Sunday, he attended meeting as usual, and\npresented the gold piece to the Bishop with the remark that it was his\ndonation to help immigrate the poor. The Bishop accepted it with a \"God\nbless you, Brother Parkin; yours is the first money paid of all that\nwas promised.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nASHAMED TO PAY TITHING--LOSS OF CROP--LESSON HE LEARNED BY IT--POTATOES\nPURCHASED TO PAY DELINQUENT TITHING--NO LOSS OF POTATO CROP SINCE.\n\nBrother Parkin had not been married more than two or three years when\na season of partial drouth occurred, and his potatoes, which he had\ncounted upon as being his profitable crop, was a partial failure. The\ntubers when dug were very small, and very few in a hill. When his wife\nsaw the small pile that represented the total crop she remarked: \"Well,\nthey look hardly fit to eat, but we can manage to get along with them.\nNow go and pay your tithing on them, and perhaps the Lord will furnish\na better crop next year.\"\n\nHer husband replied that he would be ashamed to take such potatoes in\nfor tithing; he would rather wait until he raised some decent looking\npotatoes and pay tithing on two years' crop at once. She didn't approve\nof that decision, and urged him to take a tenth of the present year's\ncrop for tithing just the same as if they had been as good as ever\nbefore produced, as the Lord knew the kind of potatoes he had raised as\nwell as he did, and would be satisfied with a tenth of the potatoes,\nsuch as they were.\n\nOn general principles he agreed with her, but he felt a sense of pride\nabout taking a good article for tithing, and so stuck to his original\ndecision to wait until he raised some good potatoes and then pay enough\nto cover the tithing on this year's crop as well.\n\nThe following year he planted a good sized patch of potatoes and took\nthe best of care of the field in the hope that the crop would be a\nrecord-breaker, which meant something like a thousand bushels to the\nacre. The tops looked good enough to warrant the expectation, but to\nhis great surprise and mortification, they proved to be a complete\nfailure, which was all the more remarkable, for the reason that the\ngeneral yield that year was not much if any below normal.\n\nHis wife had never been entirely reconciled to his failure to pay his\ntithing on the previous year's crop, and readily connected that in her\nmind with their present lack of a crop, and so expressed her feelings\nwithout hesitation. \"That is what you get for your failure to pay your\ntithing! Now go and buy three bushels of the best potatoes you can get,\nand turn them in for tithing, and ask the Lord to forgive you for not\npaying them last year, and I don't believe you will ever have another\nfailure.\"\n\nHe did not dispute the wisdom of her counsel, but promptly acted upon\nit, and felt satisfaction in so doing.\n\nThe good wife has long since gone to her rest, but she lived long\nenough to see many good crops of potatoes produced upon that same land\nand not one failure, nor has there ever been a failure since her death.\n\nThat proved a lesson to Brother Parkin that he has never forgotten. He\nhas felt ever since that the Lord was entitled to a tenth of whatever\ncrop he produced, whether good, bad or indifferent, and believes now\nthat the measure of prosperity that he has since enjoyed has been\nlargely if not wholly due to his willingness and faithfulness in the\nmatter of paying his tithing. In other words, he feels that it pays to\nbe on good terms with the Lord.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nFARMING ON SHARES--A NEW VOCATION--FUTURE HOME SHOWN IN VISION--HOME\nRECOGNIZED WHEN FIRST SEEN IN UTAH--REPUTATION GAINED AS A FAITHFUL AND\nTHOROUGH WORKER--PROVIDENTIAL FULFILMENT OF VISION--HOME VIEWED AS A\nSACRED HERITAGE.\n\nFor years after Brother Parkin arrived in Utah he worked land on\nshares, not being able to buy any. He had been a coal miner in England,\nhis native land, and had no experience in any other line. Here,\nhowever, there was no demand for coal miners; in fact, the people of\nUtah all burned wood at that time, no coal mines being then developed.\nHe readily adapted himself to the ways of the country, and made up by\nhard work for what he lacked in skill in whatever employment he was\nable to secure. He soon gained a reputation as a profitable person to\nemploy, and was given the preference by a number of his well-to-do\nneighbors when they required help, and when he could work for others\nwithout neglecting the small farm which he was cultivating on shares.\n\nCradling grain (the method then in vogue of cutting it before\nmechanical reapers were introduced) was at first one of the most\ndifficult things he ever tried to do. Until he acquired the knack\nof it, it was an awful tax upon his strength. He was determined to\nlearn, however, having an idea that what others could do in the line\nof work he could if he only persevered. In course of time he acquired\nsufficient skill at cradling that quite a few of his neighbors who\ncould afford to hire others to cut their grain instead of doing it\nthemselves, relied upon him doing it for them, and paid him two bushels\nper acre therefor.\n\nHe had not been married long when, one day, as he and his wife were\njourneying to Salt Lake City by ox team to make a few necessary\npurchases she pointed out a certain corner field to him with the\nremark, \"that is our farm!\" \"Oh, no,\" he replied, \"that is Monroe\nPerkins' field.\" \"Well,\" she then responded, \"if it isn't ours now,\nit will be some day; I saw that place in a vision a year before I\nleft England, and long before I ever thought of marrying you, and was\nassured that it would sometime be my home.\"\n\nThe incident passed without further comment at the time, the\npossibility of their being able to buy it if they could afford the\nprice being too remote and uncertain to entertain the thought of, for\nMonroe Perkins was not disposed to sell land, and didn't have to, for\nhe could afford to keep it.\n\nMonroe Perkins' father was a very old man--a Southerner, who with\nhis two sons and numerous grandchildren were early settlers in South\nBountiful, and were the original locators of rather extensive and\nchoice farms. Shortly before Father Perkins died, Brother Parkin, who\nwas somewhat of a favorite with the old gentleman, induced him to sell\nhim five acres of his large farm for the amount of his savings up to\nthat period--$200.00, and after the deal had been completed the old\ngentleman remarked, sympathetically, that five acres was a pretty small\nand narrow piece of land for a man to try to make a living on, and\nif his friend wanted to part with a new cook stove which he had just\npurchased, he would exchange therefor another five acres, and Brother\nParkin would thus have a square ten-acre field.\n\nBrother Parkin didn't hesitate a second about accepting the offer, and\nconsidered himself specially blest in being able to obtain it. His wife\nalso was content to return to the use of the skillet, in which she had\ndone her baking ever since she was married, and for the purchase of\nwhich Brother Parkin had dug a well 68 feet deep, and walled it up with\nrock.\n\nHe was not only glad to have a ten-acre farm that he could call his\nown, but was determined to make it second to no ten-acre farm in the\ncountry in point of productivity.\n\nSome years later, after both Father Perkins and his son Monroe had\ndied, the remaining members of that branch of the Perkins family\ndecided to remove to Arizona, and sold their real estate to Walker\nBrothers, wealthy merchants of Salt Lake City, who wanted the property\nfor a country home.\n\nBrother Parkin's little farm looked so attractive to the eldest of the\nWalker Brothers that he was determined to possess it at any price. Day\nafter day he visited the place and admired it, appearing to be fairly\nenchanted with a fine field of timothy to which part of the small farm\nwas devoted. The owner, however, was proof against all the tempting\noffers made him, declaring that Walker Brothers didn't have enough\nmoney to buy his ten acres.\n\nFinally S. Sharp Walker paid another visit, and approached him on a\ndifferent tack: \"On what terms will you swap your ten acres for half of\nthat 21 acre field on the other side of the street,\" pointing to the\nMonroe Perkins corner which Sister Parkin had so long before seen in\nvision, and concerning which she received the heavenly assurance that\nit would be her future home.\n\nThe proposition was not rejected as the previous ones had been. On the\ncontrary, the owner promised to consider it, and let him know, if he\ncalled on the following day, what he would do.\n\nThat evening Brother Parkin called upon his aged father for advice,\ntelling him of the proposition to swap farms. The old gentleman could\nhardly credit it, the old Monroe Perkins farm being in his estimation\nso much more desirable, though not under such a good state of\ncultivation.\n\nIn the father's opinion there was no better land in Davis County,\nand he doubted whether there was any better in the world, than the\nMonroe Perkins farm, but it had been somewhat neglected, and showed\nthe effects of it. It had this advantage also, which appealed to\nFather Parkin: It was patented land and if he secured it, he could\nget a warranty deed for it, while his son only held a quit claim deed\nfrom Reuben Perkins, the original locator to the ten acres he had, it\nhaving been discovered when the U. S. survey was made that it was a\npart of a school section, and full legal title thereto could not be\nobtained until the time arrived for the school lands to be sold, when\nthe possessor of the land, as a squatter, would have the first right to\npurchase it.\n\nThe interview ended with this fatherly advice: \"Well, my son, if you\ncan secure the Monroe Perkins corner on any reasonable terms, don't\nfail to do it; but don't involve yourself by paying too much to boot,\nfor it may be difficult for you to secure money to pay off the loan\nafter you have borrowed it.\"\n\nThe following day Mr. Walker called again as usual for the decision,\nand was duly impressed by Brother Parkin with the clean and highly\nproductive condition of his small homestead, and with the weedy and\nneglected condition of the opposite corner, all of which Mr. Walker\nadmitted was correct. Then Brother Parkin said, all things considered,\nhe was willing to make the exchange proposed if he could receive\n$500.00 to boot.\n\nIt was apparent that Mr. Walker was tempted. After some banter, to\nsecure more favorable terms, a compromise was effected by his paying\n$450.00 as boot between the two pieces of land.\n\nThe land is still in Brother Parkin's possession. He feels that there\nwas something providential about the way he acquired it, and that his\nwife, who has long since passed to her reward, was inspired of the\nLord when she foresaw it as the future home of the family. Under the\ncircumstances it is not strange that he should regard it as a sacred\nheritage, and refuse all offers that real estate agents make for its\npurchase.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nAMBITIOUS TO WORK IN A COAL MINE--DAY SPENT IN MINE AS A\nSPECTATOR--FATAL ACCIDENT--HIS NARROW ESCAPE FROM BEING A VICTIM.\n\nMany things have occurred in Brother Parkin's life to indicate that\nthere has been a special providence over him--that his life has been\npreserved almost miraculously--leaving the impression upon his mind\nthat the Lord has a work for him yet to perform in mortality.\n\nA most striking instance of this kind occurred when he was a boy only\neight years of age. He had a companion about his own age by the name\nof Walker, who was employed in a coal mine, driving a donkey which\nconveyed cars of coal from distant parts of the mine to the main shaft,\nwhere they were hoisted to the surface.\n\nPossibly because he was so employed, his young companion conceived the\nidea that he also would like to work in a coal mine, and accordingly\napplied for a position. He was promised a job at opening and shutting a\ndoor by which the mine was divided into sections for protection against\nfire damp. Gratified at securing the job, he was on hand early the\nnext morning prepared to commence work, but to his surprise he learned\nthat another boy had also been promised the job and he too was on hand\nprepared to take it.\n\nInvestigation proved that the other boy had the first promise, and he\nwas accordingly given the preference. Instead of young Parkin going\nhome, however, he yielded to the persuasion of his young friend George\nWalker to spend the day with him. He made several trips with the\ndonkey, and enjoyed the novelty of it, and at the suggestion of another\nboy, who had the care of another donkey, also hauling cars of coal,\nstarted to make a trip with him, young Walker remarking when he heard\nthe proposition, that it would be all right, if he wanted to go, as he\nwould get back in time for dinner.\n\nThey had not proceeded far when a noise was heard and the lights\nsuddenly went out, leaving that part of the mine in total darkness.\nThe boys made their way to the main shaft to learn the cause of the\ntrouble, when to their horror they saw George Walker and two others\nlying there dead and somewhat mutilated.\n\nThey soon learned that young Walker and his companions had been in the\ncage ascending the main shaft when the rope by which the cage was being\ndrawn to the surface had broken, precipitating the cage to the bottom\nof the shaft, with the result stated.\n\nYoung Parkin owed his escape from death to the circumstance of his\nquitting the company of the Walker boy and going for a single trip with\nthe other boy; for if he had remained he also would have been in the\ncage when it fell.\n\nWhen, sometime after the accident occurred, young Parkin was hoisted to\nthe pit brow, he found his parents there almost frantic with anxiety,\nfor the rumor had reached them at their home that their boy was one of\nthose who had been killed, and they were unable to learn that such was\nnot the case until their boy was brought to the surface, when they wept\nfor joy at finding him alive, and declared that he should never go into\na coal mine again. However, he did return to work in the mine on his\nown volition when he grew older, and worked there many years.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nRESORT TO MINING--CAUGHT IN A SNOWSLIDE--CARRIED A MILE DOWN THE\nMOUNTAIN AS IF FIRED FROM A CATAPULT--MIRACULOUS ESCAPE--FAILS TO FIND\nCOMPANION--RETURN TO MINE AND THEN HOME--COMPANION'S SUBSEQUENT ESCAPE.\n\nWhile farming has been Brother Parkin's regular vocation since coming\nto Utah, he has found it necessary to supplement it occasionally with\nother work to provide for his large family and fill the sphere he\naspired to. Although mining was his original occupation, he has not\nfelt specially attracted to that class of work, preferring something\nelse that would not take him so completely and permanently away from\nhis family. One season, however, when he had not been in Utah more than\nseven or eight years, and when the ravages of the grasshoppers had\nmaterially interfered with the yield of his farm, he found work as a\nminer in the Reed & Benson mine, near the top of the high mountainous\nrange which separates the Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood Canyons.\n\nSome time in March, after he had been at work there about two months\nhe and a companion named Fred Thompson were sent by the mine boss to\nbring a supply of provisions from Alta, in Little Cottonwood Canyon.\nThe snow was, deep, and the only means they had of making the trip was\nwalking. They expected the trip would consume the whole day, and be\nvery tiresome, but they set out bravely at eight o'clock in the morning.\n\nThey had to climb for some distance before reaching the summit, when\nthey would have a long descent to Alta. They had not proceeded very\nfar, making their way in the snow, up the steep incline, when they\nexperienced the sensation of moving backward, and, looking upward,\ndiscovered they were being carried down by a snowslide, which had\nstarted only a short distance above them, and probably by the jar\nproduced by their walking in the snow.\n\nFor the first few seconds their descent was not very rapid, and they\ntried to escape by grabbing at brush and saplings as they passed, but\nall in vain; the mass of snow gained in momentum and volume as it sped\non, and they soon felt as if they had been hurled from a catapult.\n\nA few seconds later they passed over an immense precipice, estimated\nby persons familiar with the canyon to be more than 200 feet high, the\nchange from the sloping to the vertical plunge having the effect of\nturning them head downward, instead of coming, as they had been, in\na kind of sitting posture. Another change was experienced by Brother\nParkin, when the mass of snow struck terra firma at the foot of the\nprecipice, the sensation being that of a burial to an immense depth\nby the snow which continued down the side of the mountain at an ever\nincreasing velocity. Then he felt as if he were being lifted by some\nsupreme power to the surface of the snow, and a peaceful feeling\npossessed his soul.\n\nWhen the slide came to rest in the broad bottom of the canyon, filling\nit to a great depth, Brother Parkin found himself standing in an\nupright position with the snow scarcely reaching up to his waist.\n\nHis first concern when he found himself safe was for his companion. He\nsearched for him, but could not find him.\n\nConcluding that his friend Thompson must be buried in the snow and\ndebris with which he had been swept down the mountain, possibly too\ndeep to be saved by any human means, even if help were at hand, he\nfound time to think of himself.\n\nThe coat he had worn when he set out for the trip over the mountain had\nbeen entirely stripped from his body, and his shirt and trousers were\nmuch torn, evidently from catching in the brush in his terrific descent\nof more than a mile down the mountain, but the garments worn next to\nhis body were not even marred.\n\nThe feeling of gratitude towards the Almighty that welled up within\nhim for his preservation exceeded anything he had ever experienced.\nHe could not doubt that the Lord had spared his life for some special\nreason, and felt that whatever purpose the Lord had for prolonging his\nlife, it was his duty if possible to find out what that purpose was,\nand conform thereto.\n\nHe made his way by a wide detour up the mountain to the mine, arriving\nthere about five o'clock in the evening, after a tiresome walk of\nsomething like eight and a half hours. He was greeted with surprise by\nthe mine boss, who grabbed him in his arms and fairly hugged him for\njoy, and his seven or eight companions who were scarcely less delighted\nat finding he had survived his terrible flight, and seemed none the\nworse for it. They inquired eagerly for Thompson, his companion, but he\ncould only say that the poor fellow was evidently buried in the slide,\nand possibly beyond human help, as he had searched for him in vain.\n\nHe then learned that the men at the mine, warned of the slide by the\nnoise it created almost at the start, had witnessed with horror its\nfrightful descent, and made their way up the mountain as soon as\npossible to ascertain whether the two men had been carried down by it.\nFinding the bank of snow where the slide started showed a sheer break,\nwith no footprint on top of it, they were forced to the conclusion that\nthe men had gone down with the slide and were probably lost. The mine\nboss had offered his companions ten dollars each if they or any of them\nwould descend the mountain and search for their unfortunate fellows,\nbut none of them dared to undertake to do so.\n\nBrother Parkin resumed work, but a few days later, after being given\na check in payment of his services up to that time, was dispatched to\nSalt Lake with ore samples, to have them assayed.\n\nFrom Salt Lake City he proceeded on his way home to Bountiful, where\nhe was joyfully greeted by his wife and children. When they learned,\nas they did during the evening, of his frightful experience in going\ndown with a snowslide, his wife was so terror-stricken at thought of\nher husband working in such a place, that she declared he should never\ngo back there again if she could help it. In vain he reminded her that\nhe had left his bedding at the mine. She said the value of the bedding\ncounted for nothing with her. She would sacrifice that without a\nscruple, to have him remain with her, and he did so.\n\nIt was soon afterwards learned that Thompson also had escaped. He found\nhimself completely buried and evidently at a considerable depth, when\nthe snowslide stopped, and he began immediately to dig his way out.\nHe struggled desperately and burrowed for a long time without knowing\nwhether he was going towards the surface or not, and was finally\nsuccessful in extricating himself. His clothing was badly torn and he\nwas more or less bruised, but succeeded in making his way to a logging\ncamp some distance down the canyon, whence, after a rest, he made his\nway to Salt Lake City.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nFATHER JOHN PARKIN A PUGILIST--DEFENDS A MORMON ELDER--SHELTERS HIM\nFROM A STORM AND LEARNS SOMETHING OF MORMONISM--WHOLE FAMILY EMBRACE\nTHE GOSPEL.\n\nBrother Parkin recalls some incidents of his childhood, that tend\nespecially to illustrate the character of his father, and the effect of\nthe Gospel in shaping the lives of individuals.\n\nHis father was a pugilist--by instinct rather than by profession\nthough--for he did not follow it for a living. He was not a large man,\nbut had a closely knit, muscular frame, no surplus flesh, was about\nas active as a cat and possessed unbounded courage. While not of a\nquarrelsome nature, he just naturally enjoyed a scrap.\n\nHe taught his older sons \"the manly art of self defense,\" and gave\nthem to understand that he had no patience with molycoddles. He didn't\nwant them to pick a quarrel, but if any one ever attempted to impose\non them, or their friends, he expected them to give a good account of\nthemselves. He would be ashamed to have any body who bore his name ever\nshow the white feather.\n\nThe father was passing along the street of his native hamlet in England\none day when his attention was attracted by a rather large and noisy\ncrowd of people who were, as he learned on joining them, listening to\na local \"Mormon\" Elder advocate his doctrines, with frequent and noisy\ninterruptions. The interruptions he soon found were mainly made by\nthree preachers, one a Baptist, another a Methodist and the third a\nChurch of England minister. He recognized these when he saw them, for\nthey were well known and somewhat popular in their special lines of\nreligion, but the \"Mormon\" Elder was a stranger to him; in fact, he had\nnever before met a \"Mormon,\" or heard or read of \"Mormon\" doctrines.\nHe had not listened long when his sense of fairness became so outraged\nby the sneering, ridiculing, captious interruptions by the preachers,\nand the laughter of their sympathizing auditors, that he pushed his way\ninto the center of the crowd and asked the lone \"Mormon\" Elder to allow\nhim to say a few words.\n\nThe privilege being granted, he told the crowd that he was not a\npreacher, and knew nothing about the doctrines this man was preaching,\nbut he believed in free speech, and fair play, and thought the man\nought to be allowed to tell what he had to say without interruptions.\nThen if the preachers could controvert it, they might fairly do so.\n\nHis remarks had the effect of quelling the disturbance momentarily,\nbut the Elder had scarcely resumed his speaking when the preachers,\napparently bent upon not allowing him to proceed, burst forth again\nwith their interruptions.\n\nWith indignation now thoroughly aroused, Mr. Parkin shook his fist in\nthe faces of the preachers and demanded fair play. \"I don't know this\nman,\" said he, \"but he looks and talks decently, and he's got to have a\nhearing, if I have to smash the men that interrupt him.\"\n\nThe Baptist preacher had a wooden leg, and perhaps presumed upon that\nin being the first to cry out in ridicule when the \"Mormon\" again\nessayed to proceed.\n\nGrabbing him by the collar and shaking him, Mr. Parkin angrily\ndemanded, \"Are you going to compel me to hit you, even though you are a\ncripple? Now keep your mouth shut, or I'll have to do it!\"\n\nHe had scarcely let loose of the preacher's collar when a stalwart son\nof the preacher rushed out from the crowd and made a pass at him with\nhis brawny fist; but Mr. Parkin saw the movement, and, nimbly dodging\nthe blow, struck out with his good right hand with such force that his\nbig assailant went down as if he had been hit with a sledge hammer.\n\nWhile friendly hands began fanning the youth and throwing water in\nhis face to resuscitate him, Mr. Parkin with blood boiling and eyes\nflashing defiance, proceeded to deliver this challenge to the whole\ncrowd in true bantam fashion: \"Come on now, all of you, one at a time,\nand I'll whip the crowd!\"\n\nNone of them chose to accept the challenge. On the contrary, they\nneither manifested any disposition to fight him or further listen to\nthe preaching, for they soon dispersed, their departure being doubtless\nhastened by a brisk shower just then coming on.\n\nTurning to the \"Mormon\" Elder, Mr. Parkin inquired: \"Where do you live?\"\n\n\"At Langley Mills, nine miles from here,\" was the reply.\n\n\"You can't go home in this shower; you had better walk home with me,\"\nsaid the pugilist, and his invitation was accepted.\n\nThe shower didn't pass as soon as expected; but rather increased in\nseverity as night approached, and it became apparent that the guest\nmust be provided with lodgings, as the family hadn't the heart to\nturn him out in such a storm. Then, too, there was another reason\nfor it--they had become somewhat interested in listening to his\nexplanations of his belief, the doctrines being all new to them.\n\nThe eldest son, a boy about ten years old, solved the question of\nlodging by offering to give up his bed, and the mother helped out the\nmatter by arranging for the boy to occupy an improvised bed in the room\nin which his parents slept.\n\nWhen the time for retiring arrived the stranger asked, as a special\nfavor, the privilege of praying with the family, and the father replied\nto this by the declaration that he was not a religious man, that he was\na pugilist, a cock-fighter, a man who didn't believe in prayer and had\nno regard for things which others considered sacred; but if it would\nafford him any gratification, they would be willing to listen to him\npray.\n\nThe prayer was offered, and in it the guest thanked the Lord that he\nhad found one man who would accept the truth.\n\nThe eldest son, the boy who gave up his bed for the stranger to sleep\nin, recalls hearing his father ask his wife some time after retiring\nfor the night, what the man could have meant by alluding, in his\nprayer, to one man whom he had found in that town who would accept\nthe truth. She said she had no idea what man he had in mind, and the\nhusband told her he would find out by asking him the next morning. And\nask him he did, the next morning, and was not a little surprised when\nthe Elder turned and, pointing to him, said, \"You are the man, for I am\nsure you will yet embrace the Gospel!\"\n\nThat local Elder (whose name was Aaron Nelson, and who afterwards\nmigrated to Utah, and died only a few years since in St. George)\ncontinued to come every Wednesday and hold meetings in Loscoe, and Mr.\nParkin generally attended his meetings and stood by him, to see that he\ngot fair play.\n\nFinally, at the close of one of the meetings Mr. Parkin asked the\nprivilege of making an announcement. Consent being granted, he said: \"I\nwant to give out notice (Elder Nelson being willing) that on Wednesday\nnight next I will be baptised by him, at Loscoe Dam, for I have become\nconvinced that 'Mormonism' is true.\"\n\nHe was deliberate about embracing it, but he was as true to it\nthereafter as ever needle was to the pole.\n\nThe family all embraced the Gospel and came to Utah, and the manner\nin which they first became interested in and were led to investigate\n\"Mormonism\" furnished a theme for many a fireside conversation.\n\nAs an indication of the effect the Gospel had upon the elder Parkin\nit may be mentioned that after he joined the Church he generously\nentertained all the missionaries who visited his part of the country,\nmade them presents, and went to the limit of his ability in manifesting\nhis love for them and his interest in the work in which they were\nengaged.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nSELLING A LOAD OF CARROTS TO AN EX-MISSIONARY, WHOSE PARSIMONY IS\nEXHIBITED--SOME REFLECTIONS THEREON.\n\nSome years after Father Parkin migrated to Utah he rode to Salt Lake\nCity one day with his son William, who was bringing a load of carrots\nto sell. As they rode along the street they met M.... T....,\na man who had served as a missionary in England when they were new\nconverts, and been entertained many times at their house, and to whom\nFather Parkin had been unusually generous when he was released to\nreturn to his home in Utah.\n\nBrother T...., who had the reputation of being among the wealthiest\ncitizens of Salt Lake, and as stingy as he was thrifty, hailed them\n(recognizing them of course) and inquired what they wanted for their\ncarrots, and was told \"25 cents per bushel.\"\n\nOn further inquiry he learned that they had forty bushels in the wagon,\nand after some parleying decided to buy the load. The wagon was driven\ninto his yard, and Brother T.... procured a bushel basket to have\nthem measured with, evidently not caring to buy them according to the\nmeasurement of Brother Parkin.\n\nBrother Parkin offered no objection to having them measured, knowing\nthat he had been rather generous in his measurement of the carrots,\nbut regretted the delay that it would cause, as he and his father both\nhad some purchases to make before they could leave town, and they were\nanxious to get home.\n\nWhen the wagon was not more than half unloaded Brother T....\nwas called by his wife to come to dinner, and he asked his old\nacquaintances, father and son, to excuse him for a few minutes, and\ntake a rest while he ate his dinner (leaving them to understand, of\ncourse, that he wanted to see the rest of the carrots measured.)\n\nWork was suspended and father and son cogitated a few moments while\neach munched at a carrot, for their appetites were keen enough\nto enable them to enjoy a good dinner too if the dinner had been\nforth-coming, and soon the father broke the silence.\n\n\"My son,\" said he, \"can you imagine Elder M.... T.... when he was\na missionary in England eating a carrot in a barn while I indulged in a\nwarm meal in the house.\"\n\nThe son responded that he could not imagine such a situation. \"On the\ncontrary,\" he said, \"I remember distinctly that he never called at our\nhouse without being invited to eat, whether it was meal time or not,\nand that the choicest cuts of meat were bought to provide him the best\nmeal possible, and that you paid thirty-six shillings for silk with\nwhich to make a pair of stockings to present him with to bring home for\nhis wife when he was released from his mission, and that when those\nstockings were made they were admired by everyone who saw them and\ndeclared to be fit for any queen or princess to wear.\"\n\n\"Well, my son,\" the father added, \"I don't regret anything I ever did\nfor a missionary. When I embraced \"Mormonism\" I did it because I was\nsure it was the truth, and I afterwards tried to serve the Lord just\nas thoroughly as I had ever served the devil before. The truth is not\naffected by men's actions, and men's actions are not always affected\nby their knowledge of the truth. Brother T.. probably knows that the\nGospel is true, but it has apparently not changed his nature. I don't\nenvy him his nature or his possessions. Better live on raw carrots and\nretain our love for the truth and our respect for those who have served\nwith us in its promulgation, than have the wealth of this world and\nforget or cease to respect our former friends and associates in the\nministry.\"\n\nThe son was impressed with the change the Gospel had wrought in his\nfather, for he could easily recall the time when he would not have\nlooked charitably upon any action that savored of meanness or parsimony\nin one of his fellows, and when the more pretentious the person was (be\nhe preacher or layman) who displayed any such characteristic, the more\nbold and ready he would have been to denounce him to his face.\n\nThe rumination was ended. Brother T.... returned from the house and\nthe unloading of the carrots was resumed, Brother T.... keeping\ntally with a pencil on a board as the baskets were emptied. When only a\nfew bushels remained to be measured he exclaimed: \"Never mind measuring\nany more, I see you have forty bushels, allright.\"\n\nThen the son decided that it was his turn to speak right out in\nmeeting. \"But, Brother T----, I do mind! It was you that wanted these\ncarrots measured. I would have sold them to you for forty bushels if\nyou had been satisfied to take them without measuring. Now we will\nfinish measuring, and if there are more than forty bushels, we will\ntake the overplus home, if you do not want to pay 25 cents a bushel for\nthem.\"\n\nThe measurement of the balance disclosed the fact that there were\nforty-two bushels in the load, and Brother T.... rather shamefacedly\nhanded over $10.50 in payment therefor.\n\n\n\nA Sailor-Saint's Adventures\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nE. R. S. SCHNELLE'S BELIEF IN A PROVIDENCE OVER HIS LIFE--BIRTH\nAND SUCCESSION OF ACCIDENTS--GOES TO SEA AS CABIN BOY--CRUEL\nTREATMENT--PUMPING SUGAR AND WATER--SHIP CRUSHED AGAINST\nBREAKWATER--RECKLESS JUMP--WOES AS A COOK.\n\nAccording to the old fatalistic saw: \"If a man is born to be hung, he\ncan never be drowned.\" This is far more trite than true. So far as\nit implies that any man is born or predestined to be hung, it is not\ntrue. But that some have been marvelously and repeatedly preserved from\ndrowning, and that there is evidently some reason for their apparent\nimmunity, is true.\n\nBrother Ernest R. S. Schnelle has had many narrow escapes from\ndrowning, and been subjected to very many accidents of other kinds. He\nfirmly believes that there has been a Providence over his life, and\nthat his willingness to accept the Gospel and devote his life to the\nservice of the Master may be the sequel therefor.\n\nHe was born on the 25th of May, 1852, in Bremen, Germany. He fell in\nthe fire when only a few months old, and narrowly escaped burning to\ndeath. He bears the scar of the burn on his forehead even now. He was\nalmost drowned in a mill race when he was only two years old. Of course\nhe doesn't remember the incident, but was told so by his parents.\n\nHis mother was a consistent member of the Protestant Church, but\nhis father while nominally of the same creed had a poor opinion of\npreachers in general and was never known to attend Church but once,\nand that was on the occasion of the confirming of his eldest son; and\nthen he seized his hat and left in the midst of the sermon, not having\npatience to remain longer.\n\nWithout explaining her reason for the belief, the mother used to say\nthat the time would come when one of her boys would believe in the God\nof Heaven. Of the parents and seven children which the family included,\nErnest (the subject of this sketch) and one brother are all that are\nnow alive, and Ernest has had such a checkered career that it is a\nwonder that he has survived.\n\nWhen five years old he accidentally fell from a housetop, and was\nsupposed to be dead when picked up, but, to the surprise of all his\nfriends, he soon recovered.\n\nWhen seven years of age he threw a snowball at a girl in a spirit of\nfun. She resented it by taking off her wooden shoe and crushing his\nskull in with it.\n\nWhen nine years old he had an accidental fall, and broke his right arm,\nand also fell from a ladder and drove his front teeth through his lip.\n\nWhen he was fourteen years of age he went to sea, as cabin boy, in a\nSpanish barque, called the \"Tres Hermanos,\" of Allicante, Spain, bound\nfor Havana, Cuba. During the voyage the crew mutinied, some Spaniards\nbeing among them who used their knives quite freely. The chief officer\nwas beaten most shamefully and almost killed, but the captain finally\nbrought the rebellious men under subjection.\n\nOn reaching Havana, Ernest quit the vessel, and shipped on the Spanish\nbrig \"Michael Angel,\" bound for Falmouth, England. The very first day\nafter sailing from Havana he was stricken with yellow fever, a disease\nthat was so prevalent in Cuba that many ships in the harbors were\nunable to sail for want of crews, so many of the sailors having died of\nthe fever.\n\nErnest had the fever so badly for nine days that he was not expected to\nrecover; in fact, no one thought it worth while trying to save him. He\nwas delirious as a result of the fever, and was fastened in the sail\nlocker at night, and allowed to lie on the water casks in the day time.\nHowever, he lived in spite of the neglect with which he was treated,\nbut before he had recovered his strength he fell overboard. The cook\nhappened to hear the splash as he struck the water, and on looking\naround saw him come to the surface and threw a rope to him, by which he\nwas hauled on board.\n\nOn the 8th of December, 1866, the ship encountered a terrific storm in\nthe Bay of Biscay, during which the starboard bulwarks was washed away,\nand the ship sprang a leak. The cargo consisted of crude sugar and\ncacao beans, and the sugar became dissolved through the water rushing\ninto the hold. The crew had to be kept busy for two and a half days,\npumping the sugar and water out of the hold, to keep the ship afloat.\n\nFalmouth was reached in the beginning of January, and the ship was\nrepaired. On the 18th of January she set sail for London, with a\nchannel pilot on board. The next day she encountered a severe storm in\nwhich she lost her foremast head, and the pilot thought best to return\nto Falmouth, which place was reached the following day. The storm\nincreased in fury and the ship, dragging both anchors, was being driven\non to the break water. Her signals of distress brought no relief, for\nall the ships near by had enough to do to take care of themselves. The\nship struck broadside against the breakwater, damaging it to such an\nextent that it sank within a few minutes.\n\nErnest was standing upon the deck when the collision occurred, and\nsprang towards the breakwater. It was a very daring--in fact, foolhardy\nthing for him to do, as he had about one chance in a thousand of\nescaping death, but fortunately he did escape, by clutching the timbers\nof the breakwater, almost as a cat would, and clinging on thereto.\n\nAs the ship sank the crew clambered up the breakwater and were saved.\n\nErnest had been so cruelly treated while on board the brig that he had\nlittle regret at the loss of the vessel. The captain was a Spaniard,\nand a most hard-hearted, cruel man. He was the owner of the vessel, and\nwas so avaricious that he actually begrudged the boy the food required\nto keep him alive. He expected him to subsist upon such scraps as were\nleft from his own meals, and if there were none left, for him to go\nwithout, and would curse him if he asked for food, telling him that he\nwas a poor Spaniard, and couldn't afford to feed him. When the ship was\nlost, not being insured, he was indeed poor. The crew were so incensed\nat him, because they couldn't collect the pay due them, that several\nof them actually drew their knives and attempted to assault him in the\nSpanish Consul's office at Falmouth.\n\nErnest was kept at the Cornwall Sailors' Home for a few weeks, as he\nneither had any means of subsistence nor chance to go home, and then\nwas told to get out and shift for himself. He began seeking employment\namong the ships in port, and soon succeeded in finding a captain who\nwas willing to employ him as cabin boy at $5.00 per month.\n\nHis new berth was soon found to be but little better than his former\none, so far as treatment was concerned. The first job given him to do\nwas to black the captain's shoes. The shoes were wet, and he didn't\nsucceed in making them shine as nicely as they otherwise would have\ndone, and he received a clout for it that almost made him see stars.\nHowever, he had sufficient to eat, and was thankful for that. The\nvessel was a Hanoverian brig, the \"Lucy von Leer,\" Captain Jensen\ncommanding, bound for Antwerp.\n\nHe soon found out that, in addition to serving as cabin boy, he was\nalso expected to cook for the officers and crew. While preparing his\nfirst dinner he was sent aloft to shorten sail, and when he came down\nthe peas he was cooking were burned, and that brought down upon him the\nwrath of all the officers and men who learned of it. The channel pilot\nyelled for some one to beat him, and he had to run the gauntlet to\nescape the blows aimed at him.\n\nAfter arriving at Antwerp, while waiting for the crew to be paid off,\nand when he had just finished cooking the Sunday dinner, several of\nthe crew volunteered special praise for the quality of the soup he had\nmade for them. He was so overjoyed thereat that he forgot to take the\nspoons from the water in which he had been washing the dishes, and\nthrew them and the water together overboard into the dock. The spoons\nwere not missed until supper time arrived, and then the failure to\nfind them resulted in his recalling and confessing his forgetful act,\nand receiving such a general and merciless beating that the crew of a\nNorwegian barque, lying in the dock near by interfered, and threatened\nto come to his relief and thrash the Hanoverians if they didn't desist.\nThey stopped beating him, but the chief officer swore that he would get\neven with the boy when he got to sea.\n\nFearing the threat might be executed, Ernest watched his chance to\nescape, and succeeded in getting away two days later, probably saving\nhis life by doing so, as the boy taken in his place died of yellow\nfever in Rio Janiero, whither the ship sailed.\n\nErnest succeeded in finding a chance to return home by working his\npassage on a Hanoverian barque called \"Emil,\" commanded by Captain\nOnkier. When he went on board the ship, it being in the night, a big\nNewfoundland dog seized him and nearly worried him to death. The dog\nnot only bit him severely, but so thoroughly frightened him that he\ncrouched in a corner, not daring to stir until the carpenter discovered\nhim there the next morning and released him.\n\nBeing at the mercy of the crew on the voyage to Bremer Haven, he was\ncompelled to steal provisions and liquor for them, and was caught in\nthe act by the Captain who struck him on the side of the head with such\nforce that it sent him reeling, and he was subsequently beaten by the\ncrew for his lack of success. During the nine days' voyage he had no\nbed to sleep on or cover himself with, and he was about as comfortless\nas when he shared the bed of the dog.\n\nHe reached home nine months after first embarking, about half clad and\nwithout a cent to show for the time he had been absent.\n\nHis parents, however, gave him a hearty welcome, and were horrified at\nlearning of his narrow escapes and severe treatment.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nEMBARKS AS ORDINARY SEAMAN--CAPTAIN'S PREMONITION AND SAILORS'\nFEAR--AMAZONE WRECKED--DYING SAILOR'S VISION--GREWSOME SEAT--A\nTYPHOON--SHIP SEIZED BY FRENCH--TRAVEL IN RUSSIA--FINDS A\nWIFE--CONVERTED TO \"MORMONISM.\"\n\nIn April, 1867, he found employment as an ordinary seaman on a German\nmail boat, sailing between Bremer Haven and New York, his compensation\nbeing $6.00 per month. He fared so much better on that vessel that he\nquite enjoyed his berth, but was ambitious to learn more of seamanship\nthan he could on the steamer, and after one year's service quit that\nand joined the Hamburg barque \"Amazone,\" bound for Cardiff to load\nup with coal for Hong Kong, China. As the vessel was leaving the\nGeestemunde dock, her owner stood on the quay side, and, as the last\nrope was cast off, he placed his hand on the ship's side and said,\n\"Good by Amazone; I will never see you again!\"\n\nErnest heard the remark, and repeated it to two of his comrades.\nSailors are notoriously superstitious, and the effect was that they\nfelt sure the vessel was not going to reach her destination. They laid\ntheir plans to desert the ship at Cardiff, and would have succeeded if\nsome one had not overheard their talk, and reported to an officer. They\nhad each two suits of clothes on, prepared to make their escape, when\nthey were apprehended by a policeman and compelled to return. Ernest\nplead with the captain to let him go, saying he could keep all his\nbelongings and wages due if he would only grant him his liberty, but\ndidn't dare tell why he wanted to escape. The captain however, refused,\nsaying he had never had a man desert him, and he wouldn't allow him to.\n\nWith the exception of alternate head winds and calms, which greatly\nretarded the vessel, nothing serious occurred until the Cape of Good\nHope was rounded, when heavy storms and high seas were encountered. The\nbulwarks were swept away, the main batch burst in, and six casks of\nfresh water were swept overboard. Ernest and a companion were standing\nat the steering wheel when the second mate warned them to hold on, as a\nheavy sea was about to break over the ship. They both gripped the wheel\nwith all their strength, but, as the wave passed over, Ernest saw, to\nhis horror, his companion go with it; then, marvelous to relate, as the\nship bent down under the weight of the second huge wave, the sailor\ngrasped a mizzen chain and clung on, and shouted until others of the\ncrew came to his relief and hauled him back to safety.\n\nWith nine feet of water in the hold, the ship was unmanageable, and\nthe captain told the crew they would either have to pump or sink. By\nsome working the pumps for dear life, and others nailing canvas over\nthe hatchway, and stanchion holes, and by throwing eighty tons of cargo\noverboard to lighten the ship, they managed to weather the storm; but\nfive nights and four days had passed before they dared cease pumping.\n\nThis danger had not long passed when a new horror presented itself--a\nscarcity of fresh water. For six long weeks they were dependent upon\nthe steam from a saucepan or the dew that could be mopped up in the\nearly morning from the ship's railing to quench their thirst, and\nthe suffering they endured as a result in that hot, dry climate is\nindescribable. At the end of that time the English barque \"Virginia\"\nwas sighted, and a casque of water obtained, and also another from\nthe \"Fair Leader\" of Plymouth, England, which relieved them until an\nuncharted reef was struck in the China Sea, and the vessel, after\nhanging amidships for about ten hours, broke in two and foundered. The\nofficers and crew were saved by taking to the life boats in the night,\nbut without being able to secure any provisions or stores, as the sea\nwas high and broke constantly over the vessel as it hung upon the reef.\nThe breaking asunder and sinking of the vessel was witnessed from a\ndistance after day had dawned.\n\nThe bark \"Fair Leader\" already mentioned as having furnished a cask\nof fresh water, was in the vicinity and saw the signals of distress\nafter the \"Amazone\" had struck the reef, and steered in the direction\nindicated. When it was light enough to see, the two boats were sighted\nand the men picked up. Then it was learned that a member of the crew\nof the \"Fair Leader,\" who was dying of dropsy, had evidently seen in\nvision the destruction of the \"Amazone,\" and the peril of the crew\nafterwards, afloat in the life boats. He told his mates of the very\ntime of the boats leaving the fated ship, that they were in two white\nlife boats, and that one had a flag and the other a blanket for a\nsail; also that they would come on board the \"Fair Leader\" and remain\nthere a long time. Perhaps what he said, even more than the signals of\ndistress, influenced the officers of the \"Fair Leader\" in deciding to\nremain in the vicinity until morning.\n\nThe \"Amazone\" crew were picked up about nine o'clock in the morning,\nand one of the first things Ernest did after getting on board, was to\nsit down upon what he supposed to be a roll of sail or blankets, that\nhe saw on the deck, but which proved to be the body of the sailor who\nhad seen in vision and told of their wreck and subsequent peril. He had\ndied soon after telling it, and was buried during the afternoon of the\nsame day.\n\nA few days later the \"Fair Leader\" encountered a genuine typhoon, and\nthe ship sprang a leak and would probably have foundered had it not\nbeen for the extra crew on board, who, by helping man the pumps, kept\nher afloat. Ernest, while working at the pumps, was washed away by a\nwave and struck with such force against the bulwark that his knee was\nseverely injured, and he had to be taken to a hospital for treatment on\nreaching Shanghai, a month later.\n\nHe remained in Shanghai about five weeks, when he shipped on a German\nbark \"Catherine Jorgensen\"--engaged in the China trade. He sailed\nfirst to Nimpo, where a valuable cargo was taken on board and then set\nsail for Hong Kong. He had the thrilling experience of being chased by\nChinese pirates, but escaped by a favorable wind propelling the barque\ntoo fast for the pirate boat, with its more limited sailing capacity,\nto overtake her.\n\nErnest sailed the China sea for three years. His last voyage there was\nwith a cargo of 900 coolies, bound for Singapore, where he quit the\nship and was transferred to a German ship called \"Caroline,\" sailing\nfor Akiab, India. Four days later the ship was seized by the French\nfrigate \"Dassas,\" and the crew taken prisoners, as the Franco-Prussian\nwar was then raging. Ernest and his companion sailors were taken to\na point just outside the Singapore harbor on the man-of-war, their\ncaptors not daring to enter, as that would be considered an act of\nhostility against Great Britain. There it was learned for the first\ntime by the ship's officers that the war was ended, the Germans having\nconquered the French, and that the capture of the German ship while the\narmistice was pending would subject the French government to a heavy\nindemnity. On the arrival at Singapore of the \"Caroline\" the officers\nand crew were liberated with apologies, and allowed to proceed with\ntheir ship to Akiab.\n\nErnest contracted a virulent fever at Akiab, and would have been left\nthere by the ship had not the shore doctor forbidden it, declaring that\nhe never would recover if left there, but that he probably would if\ntaken to a colder clime. The fever left him when the ship rounded the\nCape of Good Hope. Landing at Falmouth, he proceeded to his old home\nat Bremer Haven. As the ship entered the Bremer Haven dock, Ernest saw\nhis mother on the quay, watching for him, as she had been warned by\ninspiration the night previous that he would arrive on that ship, that\nday. She had not heard from him for more than two years, and had no\nreason other than that mentioned for expecting that he was anywhere in\nthat region.\n\nHe remained home about nine days and then shipped on a Bremen ship\nbound for Savannah, Georgia. He remained on that ship until it made a\nsubsequent voyage to Reval, Russia, where he left it and traveled for\nawhile overland, going as far as Cronstadt. He was under suspicion\nbecause of having no passport, and narrowly escaped being transported\nto Siberia.\n\nAfter following the sea for about twelve years, Ernest took up his\nresidence in England, locating first at Hull and afterwards in South\nShields, but continued to make voyages to various parts of the world,\ngenerally serving as boatswain or steward. On one voyage to his native\nland the ship \"Thetis\" in a violent storm had her bulk-head stove in\nand was filled up with water to such an extent that the table was\nfloating around in the cabin, and, Ernest, with the companion way and\nskylight battened down, was shut up like a rat in a trap, and busied\nhimself at baling the water out. To the surprise of all on board, they\nsucceeded in floating the ship into Hamburg. There Ernest secured for a\nwife one whom he had known as a young girl.\n\nThey arranged to be married in England the following April, and, after\nthe cargo was discharged, he returned to England, where the ship was\nthoroughly repaired. The following March, while entering the port of\nBlyth, to load coal for Hamburg the \"Thetis\" was, through error of\njudgment on the part of the captain, run on to the rocks and became\na total wreck. Of course, no lives were lost, but this wreck had the\neffect of deferring Ernest's marriage. Instead of it occurring in\nApril, it was postponed till the following November. It took place in\nShields, England, where he established a home and lived for many years,\nhis six children being born there.\n\nIn 1888, while sailing on the ship \"Breton,\" commanded by Captain Ole\nPeterson, who was a Latter-day Saint, he first learned of \"Mormonism.\"\nHe had been investigating Spiritualism, but abandoned it on learning\nthat the Spiritualists repudiated Christ as a Savior. He had heard of\nthe \"Mormons\" as being a bad people, but was anxious to learn from the\ncaptain really what his belief was. He opened up a conversation by\nasking the captain his opinion of Spiritualism. The captain replied:\n\"You are not a spiritualist. You belong to the Church of England, and\nhave now found what you have been looking for so many years--the true\nGospel. And you will soon become a Latter-day Saint.\" He then explained\nthe Gospel to him, and told how it had been restored to the earth\nthrough the ministration of angels.\n\nOn hearing this Ernest's heart beat with joy, and he felt certain the\ncaptain was telling the truth. He, being steward, one part of his duty\nwas to keep the captain's stateroom tidy, and while doing so a copy of\nthe Millennial Star came into his hands, which he read with avidity,\nand learned still more of \"Mormon\" doctrine.\n\nAdverse winds were encountered on that voyage, and they were twenty-one\ndays in making the round trip, whereas it should only have taken six\ndays. Ernest heard the captain make a remark that there must be some\nreason for the weather being so against him, and said he wondered if\nhis wife had neglected to pay the money for tithing he had left with\nher for that purpose. Ernest inquired what he meant by that, and had\nthe law of tithing explained to him, and he felt in his heart then that\nit was a correct doctrine. On the captain's arrival in England he found\nout that his wife had not paid the tithing.\n\nOne year from the time he first had the Gospel explained to him, Ernest\nwas baptized by Captain Peterson (September 18, 1889) in the North Sea.\nImmediately after his confirmation he inquired of the captain where he\nshould send his tithing to, as he wanted to pay it. He commenced paying\nit then, and has been faithful in doing so ever since.\n\nOn embracing the Gospel he remarked to Captain Peterson that he\nsupposed now his troubles were ended, but was told that he was wrong in\nthat supposition, for his troubles were only commencing; that he should\nhave the finger of scorn pointed at him, and find opposition even in\nhis own household; but to be comforted, for the day would come when his\nwife would accept \"Mormonism\" and become a faithful Saint.\n\nHe found the captain's prediction to be verily true. While his wife\nwas at first very much wrought up over his conversion, she afterwards\ninvestigated and embraced the Gospel, and has been faithful ever since.\n\nFrom the time Ernest was baptized he advocated its doctrines and\nwas ridiculed and persecuted as a consequence, but the stronger the\nopposition the more zeal he manifested. He received the nickname of\n\"Harry, the Mormon,\" and was better known by that soubriquet than any\nother.\n\nHe was ordained an Elder April 5, 1891, and the next day baptized his\nwife and her sister.\n\nErnest continued to follow the sea, and still met with adventures that\nsatisfied him that the devil had not ceased trying to encompass his\ndestruction.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nSENT TO HOSPITAL--BLUE JACKET CONVERTED--WARNED BY SPIRIT TO LEAVE\nSHIP--DISOBEYS WARNING--NARROW ESCAPE WHEN SHIP FOUNDERS--A DANGEROUS\nFALL--LED BY INSPIRATION--INSPIRED PROMISE FULFILLED--WORK IN\nTEMPLE--DEPARTURE FOR MISSION.\n\nWhile on a voyage from Shields to Plymouth he was stricken with\nrheumatic pains in his legs, that rendered him helpless; in fact,\nhis pain was so excruciating that morphine had to be injected into\nhim to get him out of his berth. He appealed to the Lord to know why\nhe should so suffer, when an assurance came to him that there was a\npurpose in it, as there was a work for him to do in a hospital. The\ncaptain was anxious to take Ernest back to his home, as he would reach\nSouth Shields in two days' time, and plead with the doctor to give\nhim something to ease his pain in the meantime. The doctor, however,\npositively refused to have him go, and insisted that he be sent to\nthe Royal Albert Hospital, at Devonport. On arriving there Ernest\nsoon became satisfied of the purpose of the Lord, for, on looking\naround, he discovered that the patient occupying the cot on his left\nwas a true Israelite. He availed himself of an early chance to make\nknown the principles of the Gospel to him. The patient got out his\nbible and verified by reference to it all the doctrines that Ernest\nadvanced, after which he declared his conviction that it was the truth.\nConsiderable excitement among the patients in the ward, as well as\nthe nurses and matron was the result. Two of the patients recalled\nthe fact that they had heard \"Mormonism\" preached and rejected it\nforty-six years before. A minister visited the hospital early the next\nmorning, having evidently been sent for, to controvert what Ernest\nhad taught, but the converted patient put up such a strong defense of\nErnest and the latter bore such a strong testimony of the Truth, that\nthe minister was soon glad to retire discomfited. The patient praised\nGod that the truth had come to him and related this circumstance to\nprove that Ernest's visit to the hospital was providential. He said\nhe was a stoker aboard a British man-of-war in Hong Kong, China, when\nhe developed hip disease, and was sent to a hospital. His case being\nconsidered a desperate one, it was decided to send him to the Royal\nAlbert Hospital, of Devonport, England, for treatment, and, after he\nand many other patients had been taken on board the ship which was to\nconvey them to England, the doctor, for some unknown reason, decided\nthat he alone should be sent ashore again, and make the voyage by a\nvessel starting later. That boat with more than 400 passengers was lost\nat sea, but he safely landed in England by a later vessel.\n\nHe believed the Lord had planned it that he might learn of the Gospel,\nand declared his intention of drawing his money ($140.00) out of the\nbank, and making his way to London, if he should sufficiently recover\nto do so, and there get baptized, if he had to go through fire to\naccomplish it, and then migrate to Zion. The poor fellow died in the\nhospital three months later, still firm in his belief in the Gospel.\nHis belongings, including a Book of Mormon and some tracts left with\nhim by Ernest, were sent to his brother in Ireland.\n\nAll the work essential for the salvation of the dead has recently been\ndone for that man--Samuel Long--in the Salt Lake Temple, by Ernest.\n\nBefore leaving the hospital Ernest received a telegram from his old\ncaptain telling him that the \"Cramlington\" would again be at Devonport\non a certain date, and if he was well enough he would be glad to\ntake him back home. He accordingly announced his intention to leave\nthe hospital, although he was still unable to walk, and the doctor\nconsented reluctantly for him to go.\n\nAfter getting on board the vessel, the Spirit manifested to him that\nhe ought to leave the ship, and he proposed to the captain to do so,\noffering the plea that he was not fit for service; but the captain\nplead so hard for him to stay, offering to hire a man to do all his\nwork, that he finally yielded.\n\nOn the next voyage, which was to Rouen, France, the vessel was all but\nlost, off Flambrough Head, by the breaking down of the engines in a\nviolent storm off the lea shore. Ernest, seeing the plight the vessel\nwas in, threw up his hands and cried to the Lord to have mercy on him,\nand forgive his disobedience; and not suffer the ship to be dashed\nagainst the rocks, which would mean certain death to all on board. The\ncaptain ordered the anchors to be thrown out, but the ship dragged the\nanchors, and when it seemed that nothing could save the vessel a cry\nof relief was heard from the chief engineer, for the engines had again\nstarted working.\n\nThe order was given \"Full speed ahead!\" and in a few moments the vessel\nwas free from danger. On reaching Rouen the engines were overhauled,\nand the chief engineer was horrified when he saw that it was by the\nmerest thread that they were saved from a complete collapse.\n\nNotwithstanding this evidence of the dangerous condition of the\nship, as well as the Spirit's warning not to trust himself on it,\nErnest still remained on her, and set forth on a voyage from Blyth to\nPlymouth. When off Dover at midnight the ship collided with the Dutch\nsteamer \"Ceres\", and sank in six minutes.\n\nErnest was asleep in his berth at the time, and would have drowned had\nnot the captain, who was on deck when the collision occurred, rushed\ndown into the cabin to secure the ship's papers. Seeing Ernest asleep,\nhe grasped him by the shirt collar and dragged him on deck, thus saving\nhis life, but losing all his own effects, that he might otherwise have\nsaved.\n\nErnest was the last to enter the boat, which had scarcely left the side\nof the ship when she foundered.\n\nAll hands were saved through the ship \"Ceres\" picking them up and\nlanding them in Amsterdam, after they had been supplied with clothing,\nsome of them having barely escaped with their night clothes on.\n\nIf Ernest had listened to the whisperings of the Spirit two weeks\npreviously, he would not have been aboard at the time of her final\ncatastrophe.\n\nIn the month of July, 1903, Ernest shipped as steward on board the\nsteamer \"Augusta,\" bound for Hamburg, taking his wife along for the\nbenefit of her health. Contrary to his original intention he decided\nto leave her at Hamburg. On the passage back to England the vessel ran\nupon the rocks known as the Velvet Patch, near Marsden Rock. She was\nfloated at high water of the next tide, with the assistance of three\ntugs, and succeeded in making her way to the Tyne, where she was put in\nthe dry dock at South Shields. Then it was found, that forty two plates\nhad to come out of her bottom, and that her stern post, rudder post and\npropeller were gone. Although no lives were lost, Ernest felt thankful\nthat he had left his wife in Hamburg.\n\nAfter the ship was repaired she sailed for Hamburg again. On arrival\nthere the Spirit prompted Ernest to go ashore and call upon some of\nthe Saints. On descending the rope ladder to go ashore by boat, he had\none of the narrowest escapes of his life, and concluded that Satan was\ntrying to prevent him. The ladder had been newly tarred, and his foot\nslipped from it as a consequence. He fell a distance of about twelve\nfeet and saved himself by clutching the last rung of the ladder with\ntwo fingers. Had it not been for that, he would have fallen between the\nship and the lighter and been driven by the tide underneath one or the\nother of the vessels.\n\nAfter landing, and while walking the street, he met one of the local\nSaints, Brother Pollock, and learned from him that he was going\nto visit some of the Saints as a Teacher. On invitation, Ernest\naccompanied him to the home of Brother Blecher, his companion Teacher,\nwho, however, was not at home, being employed working overtime. Ernest\nwas then invited to take Brother Blecher's place as a Teacher, and the\ntwo called upon a blind brother named Eitner to accompany them. The\nquestion then arose as to where they should go, and Brother Eitner said\nhe had heard of a sister being very ill, but he didn't know where she\nlived. Ernest suggested that they depend upon the Lord in searching\nfor her, and the three set out on the quest, without any idea which\ndirection they should take.\n\nAfter proceeding some distance, Ernest stopped and said he felt sure\nthey had passed the place they were searching for, and they retraced\ntheir steps for a short distance, when he stopped and inquired of a\nyoung man who was standing by a terrace if such a person, (mentioning\nthe sister's name) lived there, and was told that she did. They\nentered, and found the sick sister trying to write a letter to one of\nthe Elders, requesting that he come and administer to her, she being in\na very feeble condition, and also in want of food. Ernest administered\nto her, promised that she should recover and soon be able to attend her\nmeetings, and the three supplied her with money to relieve her wants.\n\nShe acknowledged their visit as providential, cried for joy at\nreceiving the blessing and was able to attend the meeting the second\nSunday following.\n\nWhile at Hamburg on a subsequent trip he was urged by a widow, Sister\nKratz, whom he met at meeting, to call at her home. On doing so he\ninquired if she paid her tithes and offerings, and was told that she\ndid, although she was extremely poor. He said, before the visit ended,\nthat he felt like leaving his blessing with her. She was delighted\nat the proposition, and when he placed his hands upon her head he\nfelt prompted to promise her that while she remained faithful and was\ncareful not to waste even a crust, that her table should never lack\nbread--that she should even have enough to feed her poor neighbors.\n\nHe heard nothing more from sister Kratz until he visited Hamburg\nsixteen months later, when she met him with tears of joy and related\nhow wonderfully his promise had been fulfilled. She had been in the\nhabit of buying stale bread because of its cheapness, and when she\ncalled at the baker's for that purpose the same evening he had made the\npromise, the baker's wife voluntarily filled her apron with bread and\ncakes, and told her to come every evening for more. The widow and her\none child could only eat a fraction of what she got, so she supplied\nthe rest to her poor neighbors, who highly appreciated the same.\n\nAfter a while the baker's wife informed Sister Kratz that she did\nnot know who she was or why she should give her the bread and cakes\nthat became stale, but she had felt prompted to do so, and that her\nhusband's business had never so prospered as since she had begun the\npractice, and she consequently felt that she had been blessed for doing\nso. Sister Kratz told her frankly about sharing what she got with her\npoor neighbors, and of her conviction that the baker's prosperity was\ndue to the prayers offered in his behalf by the recipients of her\ngenerosity.\n\nOn the 11th of December, 1907, Ernest was on the ship \"Annandale,\"\nbound from London to Shields. While coming down the Swin the ship\ncollided with the steamer \"Kingscote,\" which knocked a hole in her\nside about sixteen feet long. The engine and boiler room were soon\nfilled with water, and the ship was gradually sinking inch by inch. The\ncollision occurred at midnight, and at half past seven the following\nmorning the ship settled down upon the sand. After much effort she was\nfinally floated and repaired sufficiently to get her into the dry dock.\n\nThis was the last wreck in which Ernest figured. He migrated to Utah\nin the year 1908, has since devoted three years to work in the Temple\nand has recently started upon a mission to Great Britain, to labor\nspecially among sea-faring people and emulate the example of Peter in\ncasting his net upon the waters and becoming a \"fisher of men.\"\n\n\n\nObtaining Genealogies\n\nBy B. F. Cummings.\n\nAT SOLICITATION OF SAINTS IN UTAH, ENGAGED IN GENEALOGICAL\nRESEARCH WHILE SERVING AS A MISSIONARY--TAKES A SPECIAL MISSION\nFOR SUCH WORK--IMPRESSION THAT HE WAS RECEIVING HELP FROM THE\nSPIRIT WORLD--SEARCH FOR WILLIAMS' GENEALOGIES--A SIGN AND A\nMUTUAL IMPRESSION--VALUABLE DATA OBTAINED FROM A STRANGER, WHO WAS\nEVIDENTLY INSPIRED--RESEARCH OF CHAMBERLAIN FAMILY RECORD HELPED BY A\nSTRANGER WHO WAS ALSO EVIDENTLY INSPIRED TO DO SO--VALUABLE RECORDS\nPROVIDENTIALLY FOUND IN UNEXPECTED PLACE.\n\nWhen I was twenty years of age I went on a mission to New England,\nand was laboring there when the St. George Temple was dedicated. The\ncompletion and dedication of this sacred structure greatly stimulated\namong the Latter-day Saints in the Stakes of Zion a desire to procure\nrecords necessary for Temple work, and a number of brethren and\nsisters, who had migrated from New England to Utah, wrote to me and\nasked me to procure genealogical data for them.\n\nI was kept too busy at missionary work to do very much record\nsearching, but I complied with such requests in a number of instances,\nand soon came to feel an intense interest in genealogical work, a\nsentiment that influenced my course of life for many years, and still\nremains with me.\n\nI returned from this mission in September, 1877, and soon after\nreaching my home, which was in Salt Lake City, I had a conversation\nwith Elder Wilford Woodruff, who was then one of the Twelve Apostles,\nin which I told him that I felt that it was my duty to return to New\nEngland for the purpose of procuring genealogies for such of the Saints\nas might desire to employ me in that work. He approved my sentiments,\nand introduced me to President John Taylor, who likewise approved them.\nAt the April conference, 1878, I was set apart by Elder Orson Pratt to\ngo on a mission to New England and the Eastern states to preach the\nGospel to the living, but more especially to procure the records of the\ndead kindred of Latter-day Saints. I was profoundly impressed by the\nblessing Elder Pratt gave me.\n\nImmediately after conference I started on this mission, and was soon\nengrossed with my labors in the interest of the dead, labors that\nconsumed much of my time for many years. Although I was but a youth of\nlimited education and at the outset of my genealogical work was almost\ntotally ignorant of those branches of knowledge that are commonly\nconsidered absolutely essential to success in such work, such as local\nhistory, local laws and usages, systems of records in towns, cities and\nstates, etc. I often met with a degree of success which surprised me.\n\nMany a time I was made to believe that I was receiving assistance from\nthe other side of the veil, and my faith to this effect has always been\nunshaken; and it is my present purpose to relate a few incidents that\ntended to create this faith within me.\n\nOne of the first genealogies I undertook to trace on this mission was\nthat of a Williams family. An aged widow named Sister F--employed me\nto trace it, and the data she gave me to start from pointed to Newark,\nN. J. as the place in and near which her Williams kindred had lived,\nand thither I went. At this time I was an utter novice at such work,\nwith not a soul to teach me the first lesson in it. I made my way to\nthe surrogate's office and told the clerk in charge that I desired to\ntrace the genealogy of the Williams family of Newark and vicinity. He\nreplied to the effect that I had a big job on my hands, and advised\nme to call on Judge Jesse Williams of Orange, a town a few miles\nfrom Newark, who, he said, could probably give me some information.\nAccordingly I took a car to Orange and soon found myself near the\ncenter of that town. The clerk had given me directions for finding\nJudge Williams' residence, and I started to go to it. I soon came to a\nmarble yard which had a sign extending over the sidewalk. The sign gave\nthe name of the proprietor. It was Williams. Something seemed to say to\nme: \"This man belongs to the family you are tracing, and you had better\nspeak with him.\"\n\nA lady customer was selecting a gravestone, and the proprietor of\nthe marble yard was walking about with her, directing her attention\nfirst to one monument and then to another, apparently in an effort to\nsuit both her taste and her purse. As it would have been impolite to\ninterrupt them, I waited. The lady could not decide. It was getting\nlate in the afternoon and I was uneasy at losing time. Mr. Williams had\nnot noticed me, and I decided to go on to Judge Williams' residence.\nBut something seemed to say to me: \"This is the man you want to see.\"\n\"But,\" I argued with myself, \"the clerk in the surrogate's office\nadvised me to see Judge Williams, and the clerk is likely to know whom\nI had better see.\" For about an hour this debate continued in my mind.\nThe lady was about that long in choosing a stone and I chafed at the\nloss of time. Again and again I started to leave the marble yard, but\neach time came the same prompting: \"This is the man for you to see; do\nnot leave until you have talked with him.\"\n\nYielding to my unseen adviser, I waited. When the lady had selected a\nstone, Mr. Williams approached me and asked what he could do for me.\nI told him I desired to trace the genealogy of the Williams family of\nthat vicinity, and seeing that his name was Williams I had thought he\nmight give me some information.\n\n\"I am the man for you to see,\" he said promptly. I was struck with his\nwords. Except that they were in the first person, they were the same\nthat my invisible monitor had many times repeated to me during the\npreceding hour, an hour of impatient chafing on my part. As he spoke\nhe turned on his heel and without another word walked to a desk some\ndistance away, opened and took from it two sheets of foolscap paper.\nWith these sheets of paper in his hands he walked back to where I stood\nand proceeded to tell me that he had been desiring to know more about\nhis ancestors, that he had traced his fathers' line back to the first\nsettler of the name in New Jersey, that he had arranged the pedigree in\nthe form of a \"broadside,\" (which was the old fashioned form for such a\nrecord), that he had made two copies of this \"broadside,\" which he held\nin his hands as he spoke, and that I was welcome to one of them. So\nsaying he handed me one of the sheets, to my great surprise and delight.\n\nWe conversed a few moments during which I thanked him heartily, and\nthen I returned to Newark. When I came to examine carefully the record\nhe had given me, I found it to be of great value to me, or rather to\nSister F--. It embraced her trunk line of ancestry as well as his own.\nIn fact, they were near cousins. I spent two or three weeks in the\nsurrogate's office making abstracts of wills left on record by members\nof this Williams family, which was very numerous, and collecting other\ndata; and the pedigree given me by the marble cutter, which contained\nsome 200 names and six or seven generations, was of great aid to me\nin establishing proper connections. I was successful in obtaining and\nconnecting many hundreds of names of this family, although I was slow\nand awkward at the work.\n\nHow came the marble cutter to make a duplicate of his record? The only\nanswer that I can give is this: So that a copy might be in readiness to\ngive to me for use in the house of the Lord.\n\nSome years later I had another experience of a similar character but\neven more striking. I had been employed to complete the genealogy of a\nChamberlain family, of New Jersey. In the court house in the town of\nFreehold in that state is an extensive collection of land, probate and\nother records dating prior to the Revolution, and rich in genealogical\ndata. I went to Freehold to search these records for Chamberlain\nmaterial, and expected to reap a harvest, as previous searches had made\nme familiar with the collection of records there.\n\nA walk of a few minutes took me from the depot to the court house, and\nI spoke to no person on the way, nor did I see any person who, so far\nas I knew, had ever seen me before. Ascending the steps of the court\nhouse, an old fashioned structure, I entered a wide corridor or hall, I\nturned into the first room on my left, which was a rather small office,\nacross which extended a counter, through which was a gate or passage\nway. Behind the counter was a clerk, a young man, to whom I handed my\ncard, with the remark that I desired to search the oldest land records.\nHe told me to pass through the gate in the counter and go into the room\nnext to his office through a door which he indicated. In this door way\nI paused a few seconds to survey the room I was about to enter. It was\nabout 25 by 40 feet in size, had a high ceiling, and its four walls\nwere lined with iron shelves on which lay the massive volumes of land\nrecords.\n\nI stood thus not more than two or three seconds when a gentleman, who\nhad been writing at a standing desk near the center of the room, looked\nat me and then stepped quickly towards me. At the same time I moved\ntowards him. When he was near enough to me to speak to me he asked me,\nin a pleasant but abrupt manner: \"What family are you tracing?\" His\nquestion surprised me, and I wondered how he knew I was tracing any\nfamily. Most persons searching the records in that room did so for data\naffecting land titles, and at that moment several lawyers and lawyers'\nclerks were so engaged. I promptly answered his question by saying\nsimply: \"The Chamberlain family.\" \"Well, here is a branch of it,\" and\nwith these words he handed me half a sheet of legal cap paper on which\nwas written, in ink that was still quite wet, a pedigree giving several\ngenerations of a branch of the Chamberlain family, and showing a\nmigration of part of this branch from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, thus\nestablishing an important connection.\n\nAs I received the sheet of paper from his hand, the gentleman quickly\nturned and walked away from me without saying another word, or giving\nme time to do so, and left the building. I was greatly astonished at\nthe incident. I do not believe I had been in the building more than one\nminute by the watch when the sheet of paper was placed in my hand. I\nhad not spoken to a soul in the building except the clerk in the front\noffice, and he could not have spoken to any one without my hearing him;\nand so far as I had reason to believe, not a soul in the building ever\nsaw me, or heard of me, or knew my business. Some years had elapsed\nsince I had been in the town.\n\nThe gentleman who gave me the pedigree was about 40 years old, of\nmedium height, light complexion, had a full, round, smoothly-shaven\nface, and wore a pleasant expression of countenance. After he had left\nthe room I asked a gentleman who he was. The gentleman believed he was\na lawyer, but did not give me his name. I never saw him nor heard of\nhim again. While I was on the train en route to the town he was working\non that pedigree, and he completed it at the same moment at which I\nentered the land record room. But why he spoke to me as he did, and why\nhe gave me the pedigree, are questions that cannot, in my opinion be\nanswered without reference to agencies or influences that operate from\nbehind the veil.\n\nI knew that in colonial days a law required marriage licenses to be\nissued and a record kept of all marriages in the jurisdiction of which\nFreehold was the seat, and that the books containing these records\nought to be in the court house. But diligent inquiry of clerks and\nofficials failed to bring these books to light. I had spent several\ndays searching land and probate records, and was very anxious to\nexamine these marriage records, because I knew they would yield a large\namount of valuable data concerning the family I was tracing; but in\ndeep disappointment I gave up all hope of finding them. Preparatory\nto leaving the court house for good, I went into a small room in the\ncenter of the lower floor of the building, which had no outside window\nand was very dimly lighted, for the purpose of washing my hands, as\nthere was a wash bowl and towel there.\n\nWhile thus engaged I cast my eyes around the room. On a shelf near\nthe floor I saw three ancient looking volumes, and in the dim light\nread on the back of one of them the title: \"Marriage Record.\" With the\neagerness of a hawk pouncing on a chicken I pounced on those three\nbooks. On removing the thick and ancient dust that covered them, I\ndiscovered that they all bore the same title. I took them into a better\nlighted room and examined them, and to by great joy found that they\ncontained records of marriages covering a long period of time. They\nwere the books for which I had been making earnest inquiry among the\nclerks and officials of the court house, none of whom had ever seen or\nheard of them. I, a stranger had discovered them in an out-of-the-way\nplace where they had been stored years and years before.\n\nI found in them the rich material I wanted, between 200 and 300\nChamberlain marriages. But I should have left Freehold without this\nprecious data had not my glance, in the little dimly-lighted room, been\ndirected just as it was.\n\nGenealogical work was never profitable to me financially, but I always\ntook great delight in it, and often had experiences which convinced me\nthat a marvelous providence attended me while so engaged.\n\n\n\nWarned by The Spirit\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nCHAUNCEY W. WEST SENT ON A MISSION TO ASIA--DREAMS OF THE WRECK OF A\nVESSEL UPON WHICH HE HAD ENGAGED PASSAGE--LEFT THE SHIP, AND AFTERWARDS\nLEARNED FROM THE CREW OF THE VESSEL BEING WRECKED JUST AS HE HAD\nDREAMED THAT IT WOULD BE--WHILE AWAITING ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO SHIP\nTO CALIFORNIA WAS PROMPTED TO VACATE A HOUSE WHERE HE AND COMPANION\nELDER WERE STAYING--HOUSE IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS CRUSHED BY LARGE STONE\nROLLING DOWN FROM SIDE OF MOUNTAIN.\n\nNumerous instances have occurred in the experience of the Saints in\nthis age, and especially of the missionaries, of their lives being\npreserved through their heeding the warnings of the Spirit. Bishop\nChauncey W. West, of Ogden, who was sent on a mission to Asia in 1852\nrelates some instances of this kind in a sketch of his life published\nin Tullidge's Histories. The field of labor to which he was assigned\nwas Siam, but after laboring for some time in India and trying in vain\nto secure passage to Siam, he and Elder Dewey took passage as sailors\nto China. After a very trying voyage of four months they landed at\nWampoo in China, near the city of Canton. Finding it still impractical\nto make their way to Siam, they determined if possible to get back\nto San Francisco. Among others to whom they applied for passage was\nCaptain Deble, of the American Vessel \"Hiega.\" They agreed upon the\nterms of their passage, and took their luggage on board on the 11th of\nMay, 1854. Some difficulty was experienced in getting out to sea, after\nwhich fair winds soon wafted them to Hong Kong, where they arrived\non the evening of the 14th. There they remained until the 23rd. Just\nbefore the time fixed for their departure Elder West had a dream in\nwhich he saw the vessel upon which they had engaged passage wrecked\nupon a reef, with hundreds of Chinamen clinging to her hull, while many\nmore were in the water. The dream was repeated several times during the\nnight, and made such an impression upon his mind that he determined\nto leave the ship. The Elders accordingly effected a settlement for\ntheir passage that far, and were rowed to the shore in a small boat.\nAfter spending some time at Canton and Hong Kong, being entertained at\nthe latter place at the home of a Mr. Young, with whom they had become\nacquainted, Elder Dewey was taken very sick with chills and fever.\nElder West waited upon him with great solicitude and he soon began to\nrecover. One day Elder West felt impressed to remove his friend from\nthe house to a vessel called the \"Cressy,\" upon which he was trying to\narrange for their passage to California. He was in such haste to act\nupon his impression that their trunks were left in the house to be sent\nfor later.\n\nIt had been raining very hard for several days, and soon after they\nleft the house a large rock on the mountain side, loosened by the\nstorm, came rolling down at a terrific speed, striking and demolishing\nthe house they had just vacated. The inmates fled, in terror from the\nhouse, but not in time for all to escape injury, as one man was killed\nand several others more or less hurt. The lives of the Elders were\ndoubtless saved by their acting promptly on the warning of the spirit,\nfor had they remained where they were a few minutes longer they would\nhave been crushed. Elder West also subsequently met the captain of the\n\"Hiega,\" who insisted upon knowing why the two Elders had abandoned the\nship after engaging their passage. Elder West told him it was because\nof a dream he had of the vessel being wrecked. The captain then asked\nwhy he did not tell him of the dream. Elder West replied that he did\nnot believe the captain would have had any faith in the warning that\nthe dream conveyed to him, but would probably have denounced him as a\nfool for believing in it. The captain admitted that he was probably\nright in his conclusion.\n\nThe Elders soon found another chance of engaging passage to California,\nand arrived safely in San Francisco on the 7th of September, 1854.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nELDER JAMES LAWSON INSPIRED TO QUIT A STEAMBOAT ON WHICH HE WAS A\nPASSENGER--JUMPED ON A FLATBOAT--A FEW MOMENTS LATER THE STEAMBOAT\nSANK, AND MOST OF THE PASSENGERS WERE DROWNED.\n\nElder James Lawson, a well known resident of the 16th Ward of this city\nuntil a few years since, narrowly escaped drowning in the Mississippi\nriver by acting promptly upon the warning of the Spirit under the\nfollowing circumstances.\n\nHaving migrated from Scotland, his native land, to New Orleans in the\nyear 1843, he obtained employment there as a ship builder and machinist\nuntil the spring of 1844, when he determined to continue his journey\nto Nauvoo, the destination he originally had in view. He secured cabin\npassage on a steamboat, but had not proceeded more than about fifty\nmiles when he was suddenly awakened by a violent quiver of the boat\ncaused by its hull striking a snag of some kind in the river. Not\nknowing the cause of the sensation, but, acting on the impulse of the\nmoment, he sprang out of bed, hastily dressed, and, rushing on deck,\njumped from the deck railing to the deck of a flatboat that was being\ntowed alongside the steamboat. A few moments later the steamboat sank,\ncarrying with it to a watery grave nearly all the passengers. Elder\nLawson and a few other passengers who were fortunate enough to follow\nhis example by jumping upon the flatboat saved themselves by cutting\nloose from the steamer and drifting with the stream until morning,\nwhen, as the flatboat neared the shore the men seized some overhanging\nlimbs of trees and effected a landing. He leisurely made his way back\nto New Orleans, obtained employment and remained there until the fall\nof the year, when he again boarded a steamboat for Nauvoo, and in due\ntime safely landed there.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nCOMFORTING ASSURANCE EXPERIENCED BY A. O. SMOOT DURING A STORM AT\nSEA--HIS NARROW ESCAPE FROM BEING A VICTIM OF THE SALUDA DISASTER--HIS\nACCOUNT OF THE EXPLOSION.\n\nThe blowing up of the steamboat \"Saluda\" has often been mentioned as\nthe only really serious catastrophe, resulting in loss of life to a\ncompany of migrating Saints in this age on a voyage. It is certainly\nvery remarkable, in view of the many thousands of Saints in hundreds\nof vessels of all kinds that have crossed oceans and traversed rivers\nthat so few have lost their lives upon the water. It is a very strong\nproof that the protecting power of the Almighty has been over them, for\nthere have been numerous narrow escapes from disasters at sea. Indeed\nit has been so apparent that a special providence has been over the\nSaints that others as well as the Saints have been impressed by the\nfact. The remark has been made upon many occasions by ship owners and\nsea captains that a company of \"Mormons,\" as passengers, was the best\ninsurance they could have upon a vessel, as it was felt that nothing\nserious could happen to the craft while they were on board of it. A\ngood many instances are on record of Latter-day Saint Missionaries\nbeing solicited to accept free passage on vessels for the protection it\nwas felt their presence would afford. Doubtless one of the evidences\nthat tends to convince sea captains that \"Mormon\" missionaries or\nemigrants are the subjects of divine favor and protection is the\nfeeling of confidence and trust they usually exhibit when beset by\ndanger, and when others quake with fear. The assurance of divine care\nthat comes through the Holy Spirit is quite as potent in influencing\ntheir actions as is the warning of danger from the same source. The\nlate President A. O. Smoot gives an instance of this in connection with\nhis account of the \"Saluda\" horror. From the latter it will be seen\nthat the Saints might have been saved from participating in that had\nthe spirit's warning to him been heeded.\n\n\"On my return from England in 1852, on board the new steamer \"Pacific\"\nwe encountered a severe storm, in which the deck was swept clear of\nrigging, the deck cabin, one of the wheels, both wheel houses and\nthe bulwarks. The steamer was entirely submerged in the sea at one\ntime, and had she not been very well built she would never have come\nto the surface again. It looked like a precarious time, but I felt\nan assurance that the vessel would be saved, and in the midst of all\nthe excitement which prevailed among the crew and passengers I felt\nquite calm. I had seventeen thousand dollars in gold in my possession,\nand I did not even fear that I would lose that. Our preservation,\nhowever, was certainly providential, for the vessel was in a terribly\ndilapidated condition, but we finally arrived safely in New York with\nthe wrecked vessel, after a voyage of sixteen days.\n\n\"I subsequently had a very narrow escape on the occasion of the\n\"Saluda\" disaster. I had purchased the supplies for my company to make\nits overland journey with, except cattle, at St. Louis, and had decided\nto go farther up the river to buy the stock, when Eli B. Kelsey came to\nme to consult with me in regard to chartering the \"Saluda\" to convey\nan independent company of Saints up the river. I went with him to\nexamine the boat, and on finding that it was an old hulk of a freight\nboat, fitted up with a single engine, I strongly advised him against\nhaving anything to do with it. He seemed to be influenced in making\nchoice of it entirely by the fact that he could get it cheaper than a\nbetter one; but in my opinion it seemed folly, for, in addition to the\ndanger of accident, the length of time likely to be occupied in making\nthe journey would more than counterbalance what might be saved in the\ncharge for transit. However, he decided to charter it, and then both he\nand the captain urged me strongly to take passage with them, offering\nto carry me free of cost if I would only go, but I could not feel\nsatisfied to do so. I followed a few days afterwards on the \"Isabella,\"\nand overtook them at Lexington, where the \"Saluda\" was stopped by the\nfloat-ice and was unable to proceed farther. I went on board of her\nto visit the Saints (who were in charge of D. J. Ross, Eli B. Kelsey\nhaving gone ashore to purchase cattle,) and left just before the last\nplank was drawn in, preparatory to attempting to start. I had not\nwalked to exceed two hundred yards after leaving the \"Saluda\" before\nthe explosion occurred, and on turning to look in the direction of the\nill-fated boat I saw the bodies of many of the unfortunate passengers\nand various parts of the boat flying in the air in every direction.\nFortunately for the Saints on Board, they were mostly on the deck of\nthe boat and pretty well towards the stern, and they consequently fared\nbetter than those who were below, or on the forepart of the boat, which\nwas blown entirely to pieces. As it was, however, upwards of twenty\nof the Saints were lost or subsequently died of their wounds. My own\npreservation I can only attribute to the providence of the Almighty,\nfor if I had remained a moment on the wharf to see the boat start, as\nwould have been very natural for a person to do, I would have been\nblown into eternity as those were who stood there.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nSERIES OF ESCAPES EXPERIENCED BY PRESIDENT WOODRUFF THROUGH HEEDING THE\nSPIRIT'S WARNINGS--INSTANCE OF FAILING TO DO SO.\n\nPresident Wilford Woodruff, who was specially susceptible to spiritual\nimpressions and guidance, has related many instances of the Spirit\nprompting him to do or refrain from doing certain things, with the\nresults of his action in the premises, from which the following are\nculled as samples:\n\n\"In 1848, after my return to Winter Quarters from our pioneer journey,\nI was appointed by the Presidency of the Church to take my family and\ngo to Boston, to gather up the remnant of the Saints and lead them to\nthe valleys of the mountains.\n\n\"While on my way east I put my carriage into the yard of one of the\nbrethren in Indiana, and Brother Orson Hyde set his wagon by the side\nof mine, and not more than two feet from it.\n\n\"Dominicus Carter, of Provo, and my wife and four children were with\nme. My wife, one child and I went to bed in the carriage, the rest\nsleeping in the house.\n\n\"I had been in bed but a short time, when a voice said to me, 'Get up,\nand move your carriage.'\n\n\"It was not thunder, lightning nor an earth-quake, but the still, small\nvoice of the Spirit of God--the Holy Ghost.\n\n\"I told my wife I must get up and move my carriage. She asked, 'What\nfor?'\n\n\"I told her I did not know, only the Spirit told me to do it.\n\n\"I got up and moved my carriage several rods, and set it by the side of\nthe house.\n\n\"As I was returning to bed, the same Spirit said to me, 'Go and move\nyour mules from that oak tree,' which was about one hundred yards north\nof our carriage.\n\n\"I moved them to a young hickory grove and tied them up. I then went to\nbed.\n\n\"In thirty minutes a whirlwind caught the tree to which my mules had\nbeen fastened, broke it off near the ground and carried it one hundred\nyards, sweeping away two fences in its course, and laid it prostrate\nthrough that yard where my carriage stood, and the top limbs hit my\ncarriage as it was.\n\n\"In the morning I measured the trunk of the tree which fell where my\ncarriage had stood, and I found it to be five feet in circumference. It\ncame within a foot of Brother Hyde's wagon, but did not touch it.\n\n\"Thus by obeying the revelation of the Spirit of God to me I saved my\nlife, the lives of my wife and child, as well as my animals.\n\n\"In the morning I went on my way rejoicing.\n\n\"While returning to Utah in 1850, with a large company of Saints from\nBoston and the east, on my arrival at Pittsburg, I engaged a passage\nfor myself and company on a steamer to St. Louis. But no sooner had I\nengaged the passage than the Spirit said to me, 'Go not on board of\nthat steamer; neither you nor your company.'\n\n\"I obeyed the revelation to me, and I did not go on board, but took\nanother steamer.\n\n\"The first steamer started at dark, with two hundred passengers on\nboard. When five miles down the Ohio river it took fire and burned the\ntiller ropes, so that the vessel could not reach the shore, and the\nlives of nearly all on board were lost either by fire or water. We\narrived in safety at our destination, by obeying the revelation of the\nSpirit of God to us.\n\n\"In another instance, after attending a large annual conference in Salt\nLake City, and, having a good deal of business to attend to, I was\nsomewhat weary, and at the close of the conference I thought L would\nrepair to my home and have a rest.\n\n\"As I went into the yard the Spirit said to me, 'Take your team and go\nto the farm,' which is some three miles south of the Tabernacle.\n\n\"As I was hitching the horse to the wagon Mrs. Woodruff asked where I\nwas going.\n\n\"I said, 'To the farm.'\n\n\"'What for?' she asked.\n\n\"'I do not know,' I replied; but when I arrived there I found out.\n\n\"The creek had overflowed, broken through my ditch, surrounded my home,\nand filled my barnyard and pig pen. My wife was wading in the water,\ntrying to turn it from the lot, to save the home and family.\n\n\"Through my own exertions I soon turned it and prevented much damage\nthat might have occurred had I not obeyed the voice of the Spirit.\n\n\"This same Spirit of revelation has been manifested to many of my\nbrethren in their labors in the kingdom of God, one of which I will\nhere name.\n\n\"Elder Charles C. Rich was going from Sacramento to San Bernardino\nwith a company of brethren. He had in his possession a large amount of\nmoney to make payment on their land purchase. This was known to some\nroad agents in the vicinity, who gathered a company of robbers and\nwent on ahead of Brother Rich and lay in ambush, intending to kill the\n'Mormons' and rob them of their money.\n\n\"Before reaching the company of robbers Brother Rich came to a by-path\nor trail. The Spirit then told him to take that path.\n\n\"The brethren with him marveled at his course, not knowing that enemies\nawaited them, but they arrived in safety at San Bernardino with their\nlives and money, while the robbers wondered why their prey did not\ncome.\"\n\n\n\nRecalled by Elder Heber J. Grant\n\nEXCERPTS FROM DISCOURSE DELIVERED IN THE TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE\nCITY, APRIL 26, 1914--METHODIST EPISCOPAL MINISTER CONVERTED TO\nMORMONISM--GOES TO ENGLAND AS A MORMON MISSIONARY--CALLS UPON HIS\nFORMER MINISTER--HIS UNDIGNIFIED RECEPTION--ANTI \"MORMON\" ASSERTION\nDISPROVED BY FACTS--A MINISTER'S CONFESSION--PUZZLING QUESTIONS\nPROPOUNDED TO MINISTERS, UNANSWERED--ATTITUDE OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS\nTHEREON--UNSEEN EVIDENCE OF POWER--A PREDICTION BY THE GIFT OF TONGUES\nTHAT WAS LITERALLY FULFILLED--TRUTH ONLY STRENGTHENED BY ATTEMPTS\nTO OVERTHROW IT--KARL G. MAESER'S CONVERSION--HIS PLEDGE AND ITS\nFULFILLMENT--BEN BUTLER'S ADVICE.\n\nI rejoice in a testimony of the divinity of the gospel of Jesus Christ,\nas revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith in our day. I rejoice in being\nable to proclaim to all the world that I know that Joseph Smith was a\nprophet of the true and living God; that I know the gospel of Jesus\nChrist, commonly called \"Mormonism,\" is in very deed the plan of life\nand salvation; that it is that gospel which it was proclaimed should in\nthe latter-days be restored again to the earth by an angel flying in\nthe midst of heaven, proclaiming it to every nation, kindred, tongue\nand people upon the face of the earth.\n\n\"O,\" says one, \"but I do not believe that you have this knowledge.\"\nYet, the fact remains that individual disbelief regarding some\ninformation and knowledge that another man has cannot change the\nknowledge of that man, if in very deed he has it. I know nothing of\nchemistry. Therefore, when a chemist tells me certain things in a sugar\nfactory, his statement may seem absurd to me. When he tells me that\nby pouring two half-filled glasses of water together that water will\nimmediately change to red, blue, green or some other color, it seems\nabsurd to me because the water appears to me to be perfectly pure and\ncolorless. But with the knowledge that the chemist has, he knows what\nthe result will be when he makes this mixture, and he demonstrates\nbefore our eyes the truth of all the statements he makes.\n\nNow, we maintain, as Latter-day Saints, that men and women who will\nlook into and examine and study the gospel of Jesus Christ, as revealed\nin our day through the Prophet Joseph Smith, can demonstrate its truth\nto their reasoning faculties; and if they will pray to God for the\ninspiration of His spirit to guide and enlighten their minds, they can\nalso demonstrate by the Spirit of God, the divinity of this work in\nwhich we are engaged.\n\nI call to mind that while presiding over the European mission, one\nof the most eloquent preachers, one of the best reasoners upon the\ngospel, among the Elders who went out to preach while I was there,\nwas Benjamin Burchell, who came to Utah as a young man from England,\nto be a preacher, if I recollect aright, for the Methodist Episcopal\nchurch. His field of labor was Nephi, Juab county. The superintendent\nof his church for this inter-mountain region gave him instructions,\none of which was: \"Don't read the Book of Mormon; don't read any of\nthe 'Mormon' literature;\" and the superintendent gave him a great deal\nof anti-'Mormon' literature to read and study. The young man loaded\nhis double-barrelled gun, so to speak, with anti-'Mormon' bullets,\nand one of the men that he fired them at was the bishop of one of the\nwards in Nephi; and they didn't seem to hurt the bishop any. He said\nin substance, \"Who filled you full of those lies?\" The young man said:\n\"They are not lies; they are true.\" The bishop replied: \"How do you\nknow they are true? I have lived here all my life, and I know that\neverything you have said is false.\"\n\nThe young man became interested. He said, \"Bishop, can I come down to\nyour house and spend an evening with you?\" \"Come along and you can\nspend a dozen\"; and he did spend an evening, two or three evenings,\nand bought the Book of Mormon and studied the gospel. He afterwards\nresigned his salary received from the Methodist Episcopal church and\nwent back to England--not for a salary--to preach the gospel, but he\nwent back without money and without price, and at his own expense, to\nproclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ which he had found to be true and\nwhich he had embraced. One of the first men that he called on was the\nminister of the church that he belonged to before he came to Utah. The\nminister was delighted to meet him, and welcomed him back home. He had\nheard nothing of his conversion to \"Mormonism.\" The young man took some\n\"Mormon\" tracts out of his pocket, and he said in substance to the\nminister: \"I wish you would tell me how to answer these claims of the\nLatter-day Saints.\" He then asked a number of questions. The minister\ncommenced floundering around like a fish out of water, and finally\nhe turned, and with a word that some people say is not profanity but\nonly emphasis, he shook his fist at the young man and said \"D--n you,\nI believe you have joined that church.\" The young man smiled and said\n\"Yes.\" Then he jumped up, and with some more emphasis he ordered him\nout of his house. That is the way he answered the arguments of the\nyoung man.\n\nI hold in my hand a letter written by a man who came to Utah,\nrepresenting a church here; and he was told that we Latter-day Saints,\ncommonly called \"Mormons,\" were practically a lot of heathens and\nbarbarians. He discovered we were an intelligent people; that we were a\nGod-fearing people; that we had brotherly love one for another; that we\nwere industrious; that according to the Savior's rule--\"By their fruits\nye shall know them\"--that this was about the finest community he had\never lived in. He lived in one of our southern counties. Afterwards he\nwas transferred to one of our northern counties, and he found that same\nstate of affairs; and finally he writes:\n\n\"You will agree with me that from the position of a regularly ordained\nminister to the confession of truth and divinity of the gospel of\n'Mormonism' is a long road to travel. It is because I believe that I\nhave traveled that road that I want to write to you. As I see it now,\nthis is my confession of faith. I believe that the gospel of Christ\nis taught in its purity by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day\nSaints. I believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that his\nwork is owned of God. I believe in the restoration of the gospel and in\nthe authority of the priesthood, and I believe that the sects of modern\nChristendom are the result of the spiritual darkness in the world. I\nknow from experience how impossible it is for the blind to lead the\nblind.\"\n\nI remember when I was in Europe--and I have quoted it many\ntimes--reading with a great deal of interest a book entitled, \"The\nYoung Man and the World,\" written by Senator Beveridge. In this book\nthe senator said that during an entire summer vacation, a man with\ngood opportunities to get proper answers, asked of a large number of\nministers through the New England states, three questions:\n\n\"Do you believe in God, the Father; God a person, God a definite and\ntangible intelligence--not a congeries of laws floating like a fog\nthrough the universe; but God a person in whose image you were made?\nDon't argue; don't explain; but is your mind in a condition where you\ncan answer yes or no?\" Not one minister answered, Yes.\n\nThe next question was: \"Do you believe that Christ was the son of the\nliving God, sent by him to save the world? I am not asking whether you\nbelieve that he was inspired in the sense that the great moral teachers\nare inspired--nobody has any difficulty about that. But do you believe\nthat Christ was God's very Son, with a divinely appointed and definite\nmission, dying on the cross and raised from the dead?\" Not one minister\nanswered, Yes.\n\nThe third question was: \"Do you believe that when you die you will live\nagain as a conscious intelligence, knowing who you are and who other\npeople are?\" Not a man answered Yes.\n\nHe said that these ministers were particularly high-grade ministers.\nMany of them had gained renown for their piety and for their eloquence\nin proclaiming the gospel, as they understood it, and yet all of them\nwere regretting the lack of interest in the gospel and the absence of\naudiences to listen to their preaching. Mr. Beveridge says: \"How could\nsuch priests of ice warm the souls of men? How could such apostles of\ninterrogation convert a world?\" There are no priests of interrogation\namong the Latter-day Saints. The answer by every preacher of the gospel\nof Jesus Christ, as restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, to these\nquestions, down to our children that go to Sabbath school, is Yes,\nYes, Yes, without a moment's hesitation. There is no doubt; there is\nno dubiety in the hearts of the Latter-day Saints. We have, behind the\nshadow of a doubt, the absolute witness of the Spirit that God lives,\nthat Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the true\nand living God. We know that the gifts and graces that belonged in the\nancient church are to be found here today; we know that the gift of\ntongues is enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints; and these are some of the\nfruits of the gospel of Jesus Christ as enjoyed by the early Saints.\n\n\"O, but--\" says one, \"I don't believe that you have any gift of tongues\nby the inspiration of the spirit of God.\"\n\nAs a boy, I once took hold of the ends of an electric battery. They\nhad some handles for me to take hold of. I was a child at that time.\nI had never had any shock of electricity; and the teacher who was\nmanipulating it was not very well posted, and he turned on altogether\ntoo strong a current, and I could not let go. I hopped around there and\nyelled \"Turn it off, turn it off!\" Well, somebody who did not see, or\nfeel, or know anything about electricity would say, \"What is the matter\nwith that fool, with a couple of pieces of tin in his hand, yelling\n'Turn it off?'\"\n\nCould anybody tell me that I did not know, as a boy in old Brother\nDoremus's school, that I got a solid shock of electricity? Not a bit\nof it. I know that I received the electric shock; there is no doubt\nof it in my mind. Likewise, I know that the gift of tongues is in\nthis church. Why? Because when I was ruined financially, working\ntill midnight, every night, struggling to maintain my honor and my\ncredit, when I came home one morning--between 1 and 2 o'clock in the\nmorning--my wife, whose body now lies in the tomb, was sitting up\nwaiting for me, and I chided her for it; she turned and by the gift\nof tongues, and having the interpretation thereof herself, she gave\nme a wonderful and marvelous blessing, every word of which has been\nfulfilled. I knew well that she was giving me a blessing, as I sat\nthere and wept like a child, while she was addressing me, without\nunderstanding a single word that she said, I know that God testified\nto me that she was giving me a blessing just as well as I know that I\nreceived the electric shock.\n\nWhen I was a boy, playing upon the floor in a Relief society\nmeeting,--my mother being the president of a Relief society, (I grew\nup in the Relief society, and I have often said I am entitled to be\na member, a charter member almost)--in that meeting I heard Grandma\nWhitney sing some of the most beautiful songs I have ever listened to,\nand they were all sung in an unknown tongue. After she finished Sister\nEliza R. Snow (who wrote the famous \"Mormon\" hymn, \"O My Father,\"\nwhich refers to our heavenly mother) gave a blessing to each of those\npresent. I heard President Smith say that he attended a concert given\nby our Tabernacle choir at the World's fair, in Chicago; and one of the\nsongs, \"O My Father,\" was sung by Robert C. Easton. When it came to the\npart, \"Truth is reason, truth eternal, Tells me I've a mother there,\" a\nman sitting by, said, \"I have believed that all my life, but I daren't\nsay so.\" Well, we dare say it and have said it all over the world. The\nsister who, by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, wrote that hymn,\ngave to each one of the good sisters in that Relief society meeting a\nblessing. Zina D. Young gave the interpretation. After this blessing\nhad been given to each of the good sisters, Sister Snow turned to the\nchild on the floor and gave him a blessing, and Aunt Zina interpreted\nit, and the blessing was a prediction that I should live to occupy the\nposition that I am occupying here today as one of the leaders in the\nChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am the recipient of a\nblessing predicted by the gift of tongues and fulfilled twenty years\nafterward. I could go on and relate incident after incident of a like\ncharacter.\n\nIn the letter of this man that I referred to, there were some things\nthat reminded me very much of the conversion of Karl G. Maeser. What\nled the former to more thoroughly investigate the gospel, after leaving\nUtah, was the reading of an attack on the Latter-day Saints, which\nthreatened to destroy the whole structure; and he was disappointed\nwith the attack, and so went on with his investigation. When I was\na youngster--I am getting away from the Maeser incident, but I will\nreturn--when I was a youngster I read the book entitled Nelson on\nInfidelity. Mr. Nelson said that he was ready and willing to loan\nany young man any number of volumes in favor of the infidel idea, if\nthe young man would only read the other side; and further he said in\nsubstance: \"The reason I am ready and willing to loan any number of\nbooks on the infidel side, is that if the young man will read the\nanswer he will discover that his champion is lying; and every time a\nman discovers that his leader is lying, it weakens his faith in him\neven when he tells the truth. During my three years' presidency of the\nEuropean mission, I never found any of the ministers over there who\ndid not warn all their flock against the literature and the teachings\nof the Latter-day Saints; yet I never warned our missionaries, some\nof whom had never spoken in public before, against the literature of\nany religion. In all the world, for eighty years, the ministers of\nChristendom have never converted even one poor, down-trodden, ignorant\n\"Mormon\" missionary; but we have captured ministers; we have captured\ntheir divines and their leading men; and Wilford Woodruff captured all\ntheir churches in one community and baptized sixteen hundred people,\nincluding most of their ministers, and all in eight months.\"\n\nNow, coming back to Karl G. Maeser, who was a professor in a German\nuniversity. He had that discriminating, analytical German mind which\nsearches down to the bottom of things. He read in an illustrated\nmagazine that the \"Mormons\" were barbarians, an adulterous, wicked lot\nof people; that a man opposed to them, took his life in his hands,\nwhen he walked the streets of Salt Lake. That reminds me of something\nelse (I will have to leave Maeser for a moment). There was a gentleman\nwho went to Washington from Utah and tried to get the seat in Congress\nbelonging to George Q. Cannon. He told all such stories, and when he\nhad finished all that Brother Cannon said was: \"He is still alive. If\nwhat that man has said were true, we would have buried him long ago.\"\nWhen Ben Butler visited Salt Lake City, the anti-\"Mormons\" gave him a\ndinner (five dollars a plate) and told him that the \"Mormons\" ought to\nbe disfranchised; and that all those who opposed them were taking their\nlives in their hands. Ben replied in substance: \"I believe what you\nhave said. I have a remedy. The United States is broad. Leave this d--d\ncountry and don't take any chances, gentlemen, of getting killed.\"\n\nKarl G. Maeser read a vicious attack upon the \"Mormons\"--about the\n\"Danites\" and the \"Destroying Angels,\" and so on, and so forth. Then\nhe found in the same article that the \"Mormons\" were industrious, that\nthey were frugal, that there was not a poor-house in all the territory\nof Utah, that the fifteen per cent of Gentile population, among them\nthen furnished eighty-five per cent of the criminals, according to\nUnited States statistics, compiled by the Gentiles themselves. He\nfound that there was not one saloon in the entire territory of Utah,\nand that the only place where whiskey was sold was in Salt Lake City;\nand, to the disgrace of the city government, they were selling it.\nThat is what he found on the temperance question. He found that there\nwas not a single house of ill fame in the whole of Utah. He found that\nthe people went to bed at night with their front and back doors open.\nAfter reading all this he said to himself: \"The man who wrote this\nillustrated article for the magazine is a liar. The fruits of honesty,\nindustry sobriety, and brotherly love do not grow among immoral and\nwicked people,\" so he sent for some tracts, investigated the gospel and\nembraced it. On the night of his baptism, which occurred at midnight,\nhe looked up to heaven and said, in substance: \"O, God, if what I have\ndone tonight meets with your approval, and you will give to me the\nwitness of the Spirit that this gospel, that I believe, is in very deed\nthe truth, that I may know it, I pledge my life, if need be, to its\npromulgation and its advancement.\"\n\nFrom Canada on the north to Mexico on the south there are thousands,\nyes, tens of thousands, who can bear witness that this pledge, made\nat Dresden, Germany, at midnight, was fulfilled by one of the most\ndevoted, unselfish, and self-sacrificing mortals who ever embraced the\ngospel of Christ. For if any man ever gave his life, his heart, and\nhis soul for the advancement of this cause, Karl G. Maeser did so.\nGod heard and answered that prayer. Walking from the river in which\nhe was baptized, Karl G. Maeser was conversing upon the principles of\nthe gospel with the late Apostle Franklin D. Richards, and Brother\nWilliam Budge was acting as interpreter. Brother Richards talking in\nEnglish and Brother Maeser in German. They began their walk of several\nmiles to return home. After walking a short distance Brother Maeser\nannounced to Brother Budge that he need not interpret the answers, that\nhe understood them. Immediately thereafter, Brother Franklin said, \"You\nneed not interpret those questions; I understand them.\" They walked for\nmiles, Franklin D. Richards answering questions in English, Karl G.\nMaeser asking them in German, neither knowing the other's language, yet\nby the inspiration of the Spirit of God, both understanding each other.\nDo you tell me that I don't know that we have the gift of tongues in\nthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? As well tell me that\nI do not know that I am standing here before you today. I have this\ntestimony from the lips of a man, than whom no more honest, no more\nupright, no truer man ever drew the breath of life. When these two\nmen reached the bridge that spans the river Elbe, on their way into\nthe city of Dresden, they were separated, and when they reached the\nother side of the bridge Brother Maeser again began asking questions,\nbut Brother Richards could not then understand him, nor could Brother\nMaeser understand anything further that was said in reply; and they\nwere obliged to revert to Brother Budge's interpretation. Then Brother\nMaeser turned to Brother Richards and said, \"What does this mean, we\ncould understand each other for miles, and now we can't understand?\"\n\"Brother Maeser,\" said Apostle Richards, \"the Lord has given to you\na portion of the fruit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as restored in\nour day. For some wise reason he has allowed you to enjoy one of the\nmanifestations of the Spirit accompanying the true gospel of Christ.\"\nBrother Maeser told me, with tears rolling down his cheeks, although\nit had been nearly 50 years since he had that manifestation, that he\nrealized that God had heard and answered his prayers. At the close\nof the incident I have related, Brother Maeser looked up again into\nheaven, and he said: \"O God, my Father in heaven, I will fulfil my\npromise to give my life to this cause\"; and he did it. He became\nthe grand old man, educationally, of the Church of Jesus Christ of\nLatter-day Saints--a man without a thought of personal aggrandizement,\nwithout a thought of seeking honor for himself, personally, but with\nonly a desire to save souls, to build up the kingdom of God, and to\npromulgate this gospel at home and abroad.\n\nI rejoice in the fact that in every land and in every clime, wherever\nthis gospel message has penetrated, the fruits of the gospel have\nbeen enjoyed--the healing of the sick, speaking in tongues, the\ninterpretation of tongues, every gift and grace, and every power\nthat was ever enjoyed by the former-day Saints, are enjoyed by the\nLatter-day Saints. I rejoice in knowing that I myself stand here\ntoday a living witness to the healing power of Almighty God, that is\nin the Church of Christ. Given up by eight doctors to die, yet under\nthe inspiration of the Spirit of God, the man who is now the prophet\nof God, on the earth, said as he blessed me that I should live, and I\ndo live, notwithstanding the doctors said that blood poisoning in the\nthird and last stage had set in, in my case. My family physician told\nme to send for my reporter, and tell my last little story, because I\nwas doomed to die. Did I send for the reporter? No. Perfect faith gave\nme to know I should live. Although my doctor told me I should die,\nSister Grant and I knew to the contrary. She received a visit from\nmy wife, whose body lies in the tomb, the same wife who enjoyed the\ngift of tongues and its interpretation. After her death, she came to\nmy home, before I was operated upon, and told my wife no matter how\nseriously ill I was, I should not die, that I should live, because my\nmission was not yet ended; that I should yet lift up my voice in many\nlands, and many climes, proclaiming the restitution of the gospel to\nthe earth. So, when the doctors said I must die, Sister Grant and I had\nno dear, because we knew better. I asked how long I could live; the\ndoctors said, \"not over three days.\" At the end of three days, I was\nbetter, and they could not understand it. So they had the poisonous\npus from my body analysed again; and lo and behold, according to their\nverdict, I ought to have been dead two days; but I was getting better.\nI was promised by the gift of tongues, that I should lift up my voice\nin many lands and many climes, proclaiming this gospel. At the time of\nthis operation, I was promised by the visitation of my deceased wife\nthat I should not die, that my mission was not ended. Since then I have\nbeen in Japan; I have been in Canada; I have been in Mexico; I have\npreached from Portland, Me., to Portland, Or.; from Canada on the north\nto Mexico on the south. I have been over the British Isles, England,\nIreland, Scotland, Wales--in Scandinavia, France, Germany, Italy and\nBelgium, proclaiming that God lives; and yet, according to the doctors,\nI ought to have been dead. I have thus seen fulfilled the promise made\nby that visitation of my wife, that I should live and proclaim this\ngospel. I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph\nSmith is his prophet, and that \"Mormonism,\" so called by the world, is\nindeed the gospel of life and salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ,\nagain restored to the earth. God help us, who have this testimony, to\nlive in conformity with its doctrines, is my prayer, in the name of our\nLord and Master. Amen.\n\n\n\nA Busy Life\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nANSON CALL'S BIRTH AND CHARACTER--INVESTIGATED \"MORMONISM\" TO DISPROVE\nIT, AND BECAME CONVERTED--IMPEDIMENT IN HIS SPEECH CURED WHEN\nADMINISTERED TO--AN ANTI-\"MORMON\" MISSOURIAN--BUY FARMS IN CALDWELL\nCOUNTY--THE PROPHET VISITS MISSOURI--ADVISES ABANDONMENT OF HOMES--MOB\nTRIES TO PREVENT THEIR REMOVAL--FLEE BY NIGHT--ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN AND FAR\nWEST BESIEGED.\n\nAnson Call, Counselor to the President of the Davis Stake of Zion,\nwho died August 31st,, 1890, was extensively known as a pioneer, a\nwise counselor and successful man of affairs, and to his intimates\nas a man of the strongest convictions and highest courage, who would\nrisk his life anytime for principle or in defense of his fellows.\nHis whole career from the time he embraced the Gospel was so full\nof self-sacrifice for the cause of Truth that a brief sketch of the\nprincipal events is well worthy of record in the Faith Promoting Series.\n\nHe was born in the town of Fletcher, Franklin County, Vermont, May\n13, 1810. His ancestors for several generations, had been conspicuous\nin the struggle for religious and political liberty, and he probably\ninherited the strong traits of character that distinguished them.\nWhen Anson was seven years old his father's family removed to Geauga,\nnow Lake County, Ohio, then a wild region which offered very few\neducational opportunities. But, while he had little chance during his\nchildhood and youth for schooling his experience was favorable for the\ndevelopment of industry and self-reliance, qualities that were strong\ncharacteristics in his later life. He married when twenty-three years\nof age, his wife, Mary Flint, being the daughter of a wealthy Vermont\nfarmer who had purchased a valuable farm in Ohio and located his two\ndaughters thereon with the intention of bequeathing the property to\nthem, but decided to disinherit them when his son-in-law, Anson Call,\nand they, joined the \"Mormons.\"\n\nMost of the Call family were Methodists, but Anson, although he was a\nsearcher after Truth, could not subscribe to that creed. Brigham Young\nand other prominent Elders occasionally preached the newly revealed\nGospel in the region where the Call family lived, and when Anson\nfound himself unable to cope with them in a discussion of religion\nhe attributed his failure to his unfamiliarity with the Bible. He\ntherefore began a critical study of the Bible and Book of Mormon in the\nhope of controverting what they taught, but with a different result\nto what he anticipated. To his surprise if not regret his three years\nhard study for the purpose mentioned resulted in a conviction that\n\"Mormonism\" was true. He accordingly announced in a Methodist meeting\nhis intention of joining the \"Mormons,\" and started with his wife for\na trip to Kirtland, then the gathering place of the Saints, where he\nwas baptized by William Smith, brother of the prophet, and confirmed by\nDavid Whitmer, one of the three witness to the Book of Mormon.\n\nImmediately afterwards he was administered to for an impediment in his\nspeech, and experienced relief, and was promised that his speech should\nbe natural and proper so long as he used his tongue for the advancement\nof truth.\n\nHe was also ordained an Elder, and on his return to his home preached\nthe Gospel to his old associates and neighbors. About thirty persons\nin the region of his home, mostly Methodists, joined the Church as\na result of the preaching, his wife and his father's family being\nincluded in the number.\n\nIn March, 1838, in company with his father and his brother Harvey,\nAnson started to Missouri, whither some of the leading Elders of the\nChurch had already gone. They journeyed by steamboat part of the\nway, and had for companions Asahel Smith, uncle to the prophet, and\nGeorge Gee and their wives. While steaming up the Missouri river they\nwere accosted by a fellow passenger who remarked that he had heard\nthere were some \"Mormons\" on board the boat. Elder Smith told him the\nrumor was correct, and that he and his companions were \"Mormons.\"\nThe stranger then inquired to what part they were going, and was\ninformed that Far West was their destination. \"I am sorry to see\nsuch a respectable looking company journeying to that place,\" was\nthe rejoinder. Being asked why he felt sorry, he said: \"Because you\nwill be driven from there in less than six months.\" \"By whom\" was\nasked. \"By the Missourians, gentlemen,\" he replied, and then added, \"I\npresume you are not aware of the gentlemen you are talking to.\" \"Yes,\ngentlemen,\" was the response, \"I am Colonel Wilson, of Jackson County.\nI was one of the principal actors in driving the \"Mormons\" from that\ncountry, and I expect to be soon engaged in driving them from Caldwell\nCounty.\" He strongly advised them to stop in some other place and not\nto venture into Caldwell County, declaring if they did so they would\ncertainly be butchered; for \"Mormonism\" must and shall be put down. He\nread a letter to the brethren which he said he had just received from\nRanderson Newell. He was reminded that it was made up of falsehoods\nconcerning the Saints in Kirtland, and replied \"True or false, Joe's\ncareer must and shall be stopped!\" As he turned to depart after this\nlast remark Anson Call said to him, \"If you will wait a moment I will\ntell you the way it can be done, for there is but one way.\" \"What is\nthat, sir?\" the Missourian sharply demanded. \"Dethrone the Almighty, and\nJoseph Smith's career will be ended, and never will it be until then.\"\n\nThe steamer stopped at Jefferson City, and Anson was there introduced\nby Colonel Wilson to a dozen or so of the \"Jackson County boys,\" the\nnotorious Governor Boggs among the number. When informed that Mr.\nCall was a \"Mormon\" on his way to Caldwell County, they indulged in a\nsneering laugh.\n\nThe boat proceeded to Jack's Landing, where the company left the river.\nAnson and his father traveled on foot from there to Far West. They\nafterwards purchased land in Caldwell County upon which to establish\nhomes, and then the father returned to Ohio, to make arrangements for\nthe removal to Missouri. In July, 1838, Anson started towards Ohio and\nmet his family journeying to Missouri. After resting and visiting a\nfew days in Far West he settled his family on his farm on Grand river,\nbeing accompanied by Phinears H. Young, John Snider, Joel Terry and\nothers.\n\nDuring the following September the Saints living in that region were\nvisited by the Prophet Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum and Sidney\nRigdon. On the sabbath after the public services, which were attended\nby a number of Missourians, the Prophet notified some of the Brethren\nthat he wished to see them by themselves to discuss matters of\nimportance. He quietly retired with about twelve of them to a corn\nfield, and advised them to abandon their homes and locate in Far West\nor Adam-ondi-Ahman, as trouble and difficulties were about to overtake\nthem, and they ought to be where they could protect themselves and\ntheir families. Being asked if they could have time to gather their\ncrops and dispose of their possessions, he replied that they had better\nnot sell their farms, but he thought they would have time to save their\ncrops. The following day the neighbors assembled and discussed the\ncounsel they had received. They decided to try to save their crops, and\nselected Anson Call to make a hurried trip through Davis, Caldwell and\nRay counties to ascertain the temper of the Missourians and learn if\npossible their plans in regard to the \"Mormons,\" and bring them word\nas quickly as possible, so they could govern themselves accordingly.\nAnson made the trip and returned home without finding any indications\nof trouble while absent, but found great excitement in the neighborhood\nof his home on his return. The Saints there had succeeded in securing\ntheir crops, and as peace still continued had gone for a bee hunt for\nfour days, returning with wagons loaded down with honey. Encouraged by\ntheir immunity to still linger, they went on a second bee hunt, but\nhad little success, as the weather was stormy. On returning home they\nfound great excitement prevailing. The mobocrats under the leadership\nof Neil Gillium were guarding every road to prevent the escape of the\n\"Mormons,\" and threatened to kill them if they attempted to leave. They\nhad attempted to kill Phineas H. Young, but he escaped by hiding in a\nbunch of corn stalks, where he remained and was fed for four days by\nAnson Call.\n\nBecoming impatient, the Saints determined to make their way to\nAdam-ondi-Ahman, thirty miles distant, in spite of the threats of the\nmob. Leaving their families, a number of the men started with their\nteams loaded with household goods in the evening and succeeded in\nreaching Adam-ondi-Ahman about daylight the following morning. There\nthey learned of the Crooked River battle and of the election riot at\nGallatin. They found also that many Saints from the surrounding region\nhad assembled at that place and at Far West. No help could be obtained,\nbut under cover of the next night the brethren from Grand River\nreturned to their families. The mob there were terribly incensed at the\nbrethren for having slipped away, and especially at Anson Call for the\npart he had taken, and indulged in all manner of threats. However, the\nnext day quiet preparations were made to again leave. After dark a four\nhorse team was loaded with such few of their effects as they could take\nalong, and Phineas H. Young and Daniel Jackson and their wives (both\nwomen being sisters of Oliver Cowdery) and Anson Call and his wife and\nher sister, and the children of the three families (seven in number)\nalso Harvey Call, all crowded into the wagon, while Joel Terry and his\nwife and child in a separate wagon drawn by a single horse accompanied\nthem. Leaving the public road and taking a new route across the\nprairies, they escaped the vigilance of the mob under cover of darkness\nand arrived in Adam-ondi-Ahman at noon on the following day. Here they\nfound a few of the people living in houses, but far more under tents\nand a variety of other improvised shelters, with very little to protect\nthem from the elements. Anson selected the top of a fallen oak tree\nas a partial shelter for his family, and then conveyed some corn to a\nhorse mill and returned with some meal for their supper.\n\nThe Saints were in fear that the mob might swoop down upon them at\nany moment, and placed guards around the settlement to give warning\nof the first indication of danger. About one o'clock in the night the\nalarm was sounded. \"The mob is upon us!\" The men rallied and prepared\nto offer the best defense they could, while the women hastily dressed\nthemselves and the children and awaited in terror they knew not what.\nBut to their surprise and relief the supposed mob proved to be a party\nof the brethren from Far West. The relief, however, was only temporary,\nfor word was brought that the Saints in Far West had been besieged\nand had capitulated to save bloodshed; that the Prophet Joseph Smith\nand others were in the hands of their enemies; and that the Saints\nin Adam-ondi-Ahman were notified that they would be called upon to\nsurrender about ten o'clock the following morning. True to promise,\nColonel Parks with five hundred Missourians under his command, appeared\nbefore the town, formed a hollow square and demanded that the Saints\nmarch therein and surrender their arms and ammunition within an hour.\nThe brethren who had come from Far West having brought word that it\nwas the advice of the Prophet Joseph Smith that the Saints comply with\nthe demands of the mob without resistance, they did so, but with grave\nmisgivings.\n\nAfter disarming them Colonel Parks notified the defenseless Saints\nthat he would allow them ten days in which to remove from the state,\nand detailed 200 of his men to remain \"as guards,\" and to see that his\norder of eviction was complied with.\n\nShortly afterward, while Anson Call and his family were eating their\nbreakfast in their camp in the fallen treetop, two of these guards\nappeared before them and asked a number of questions. The replies\nnot suiting them, they shocked and frightened the family by the\nabusive language they indulged in and leveled their guns at Anson and\nthreatened to shoot him, which they evidently expected to frighten him,\nand seemed chagrined that it did not have that effect.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nSUFFERING FROM COLD WEATHER--ANSON VISITS ELK HORN--CAPTURED AND\nILL-TREATED BY A MOB--TREATS THE MOB TO WHISKEY, AND ESCAPES--TIRESOME\nJOURNEY TO FAR WEST--VISITS HIS FARM CONTRARY TO COUNSEL--FINDS HIS\nPROPERTY IN POSSESSION OF MOBOCRATS, WHO ASSAULT HIM--APOSTATES TRY TO\nUSE ANSON TO DISCREDIT THE PROPHET--ANSON'S FIDELITY.\n\nThe second night after the surrender was extremely cold, and many\nof the Saints, including the Call family, who were almost without\nprotection from the elements, suffered severely. Little Moroni Call had\nhis fingers so badly frozen that the nails came off shortly afterwards\nas a consequence. Anson, fearing the effect of further exposure of\nhis family to such inclement weather, applied to Colonel Parks for\npermission to go to Far West, and received the following permit from\nhim:\n\n\"I permit Anson Call to remove to Far West and thence out of the State.\"\n\nThe \"guards\" appeared to take a fiendish delight in preying upon the\ndefenseless Saints. They wantonly killed any of their animals they took\na fancy to, appropriated and used their horses, and displayed their\nbase natures by insulting women. The people were not allowed to leave\nthe settlement except to procure wood to burn; and, although they had\nbeen ordered to vacate the State, they were not permitted to go in\nsearch of their horses or cattle to use on the journey.\n\nAfter locating in Far West, Anson started, on the 23rd of December,\n1838, to go to a farm near Elk Horn to make sale of two-thirds of\nthirty acres of corn which he had raised on shares. He left without\nknowledge of the mob or \"guard,\" and soon after he arrived at the farm\nhe was taken prisoner by ten armed Missourians who were accompanied by\nan old negro. They took him into the back part of a store and ordered\nhim to give up his weapons. When told that he had none, they thoroughly\nsearched his person, and, finding that he was defenseless, they\nthreatened and abused him in a most vindictive manner. He controlled\nhis natural inclination to resent their indignities, and submitted to\ntheir taunts and abuse, with the result that they gradually grew bolder\nand apparently felt more safe in continuing it, and after awhile stood\ntheir rifles up against the wall, and, seating themselves, engaged\nin whittling with their bowie knives, at the same time indulging in\ntantalizing remarks. Their hope evidently was to goad him beyond\nendurance, when, if he resisted, they would have some excuse for\nexecuting summary vengeance upon him. One of their number, James Ogle\nby name, more bold than the rest, repeatedly struck him in the face,\ndeclaring that the \"Mormons\" had wronged him, and that this defenseless\nvictim must now atone for it. He also proposed to strip him and flog\nhim on the bare back with hickory withes, which proposition was not\nacted upon, as no one else seemed to favor it. He repeatedly dared\nAnson to fight with him, and even offered him a knife to defend himself\nwith, but all in vain; Anson bore it all in stolid silence, mentally\npraying to the Lord in the meantime to restrain his tormentors and not\nallow them to take his life. After he had endured this treatment more\nthan two hours, Ogle said \"It is getting near night, and we must make\na finish of this business,\" whereupon Anson was marched out into the\nstreet to the accompaniment of a threat that they would treat him as\nthey said they had treated a \"Mormon\" some time previously; strip, tie\nand flog him, and leave him tied until morning. With a view of doing\nso, the old negro who accompanied the gang was sent off to procure\na rope. While awaiting his return Anson was marched up and down the\nstreet between two files of his \"guard,\" he appearing as unconcerned\nas possible, but secretly watching for some opportunity to escape.\nSeeing a grocery keeper leaning out of a window watching him the\nthought occurred to him that he might treat his captors and thus gain\nan advantage. Calling out to the grocer he asked if he would sell him a\nbottle of whiskey, and when it and a tumbler were passed out to him he\ninvited the \"guard\" to have a drink at his expense, suggesting that as\nit was Christmas eve it was an appropriate time for so indulging. The\ninvitation was readily accepted and the fiery liquor was soon gurgling\ndown their throats.\n\nNoticing that a thicket of hazel brush was within a few feet of where\nhe stood, he took advantage of the momentary diversion by dashing into\nit. The excitement that immediately followed was intense. The whiskey\nwas forgotten in the hasty chase that ensued. Anson proceeded only a\nshort distance into the thicket when he lay down, and was overlooked\nby the maddened Missourian who charged past him and on into the dense\nbrush, while he skirted around in the edge of the brush and made his\nway unseen towards Far West.\n\nThe circumstances here narrated occurred in the town of Fredricksburg,\nin Ray County, a settlement just being established in the edge of the\nwoods.\n\nJust before nightfall as he was trudging on towards Far West, he espied\nthe house of a Missourian whose wife was a member of the Church,\nand where he had preached a number of times the previous summer. He\nhastened to the house and asked for entertainment, explaining briefly\nthe scenes he had just passed through. The owner of the house feared\nto have him stay lest the mob might discover his presence and wreak\nvengeance upon the family. Anson offered to relieve the danger by\ntraveling on, but the good wife insisted upon his eating supper with\nthe family anyway, and afterwards made a bed for him on the kitchen\nfloor with the understanding that if the dogs barked, as they would be\nsure to do if the mob approached the house, he would run through the\nopen door out into a corn field, and escape if possible to Far West.\nThe night passed without any alarm being heard, the kind wife getting\nup and preparing breakfast for Anson before daylight. After eating\nheartily he made his way to Far West, twenty miles distant, where he\narrived on Christmas day, 1838.\n\nHe found his family feeling well and a hearty welcome and breakfast of\nparched corn awaiting him, that being the best food available, as the\nfamily had missed their turn at getting corn ground at the horse mill.\n\nAnson made an early call upon Father Joseph Smith and Brigham Young\nfor counsel as to whether he should go on horseback to the Three-Forks\nof Grand river to obtain some property he had left there to help make\nhis family more comfortable therewith. They advised him not to go, as\nthey feared the violence of the mob, into whose hands he would be very\nlikely to fall. After thinking the matter over, he still felt impelled\nby the necessities of his family to make the attempt, notwithstanding\nthe adverse counsel he had received. He mounted his horse and started,\nand after a perilous and tiresome journey arrived at his farm on New\nYears day, and found it in possession of a Missourian named George\nWashington O'Neil, one of the men from whom he had purchased the place,\nand who had afterwards decided to take advantage of his misfortunes by\nrobbing him of it. He rode about two miles past his home to the house\nof a neighbor named Day, whose friendship he presumed upon as he had\ntaken no part with the mob, and as Mrs. Day was a member of the church.\nMrs. Day told him of what O'Neil and Culp, the former owners of his\nfarm, had been doing, and warned him that they were likely to kill him\nif they got a chance to do so. While he was talking to Mrs. Day the two\nenemies referred to entered the house and immediately began to threaten\nhim, and declared that they would just as soon kill him as if he were\na dog, and if they were to do so no one would blame them for it. Anson\ntold them he intended to stand up for his rights as a white man and a\ncitizen, which phrase had a special significance then because of the\nprevalence of negro slavery in Missouri, but they answered him with\njeers, being evidently of the opinion that he had neither friends nor\ninfluence in the country. Many of the people in the neighborhood were\nin debt to Anson for goods he had sold them on time, but he became\nconvinced from the talk of O'Neil and Culp that he would be powerless\nto collect the accounts, and would only risk his life by trying to do\nso. With the intention of quitting the region, which fairly reeked with\nblood-thirsty anti-\"Mormonism,\" he started towards his horse, which\nwas tied only about five rods distant. As he did so he was followed\nby O'Neil and struck over the head with a heavy hoop pole, and almost\nfelled to the ground. His first impulse was to pick up something with\nwhich to defend himself, but he could find nothing, and the blows were\nrepeated with such force that he would probably have been killed but\nfor the fact that he wore a thick cap, which doubtless eased the blows.\nMrs. Day's interference appeared to save him from further violence at\nthe time, as his assailants immediately left. She suggested that they\nhad probably gone to get their guns and advised that he mount his horse\nand hurry along before they returned, which he proceeded to do. His\nhead and face soon began to swell, and he stopped at the first stream\nhe came to and bathed the affected parts, hoping if possible to hide\nfrom others the knowledge of his injuries, as he felt compunction at\nhaving gone to his old home contrary to counsel. He arrived in Far\nWest about 11 p. m. and immediately went to bed. He awoke early in\nthe morning and immediately arose, but fell to the floor as soon as\nhe tried to walk. His wife, alarmed at his appearance and weakness,\ninsisted upon knowing what was the matter with him, and he had to tell\nher, but plead with her to keep it from others and promised to remain\nin bed until he had recovered. She gave him the most devoted attention\nand in a few days he was again about, looking and feeling not much the\nworse for his severe treatment.\n\nOn the 15th of January, 1839, Lyman Cowdery, the father of Olive, went\nto the home of Anson Call during his absence and told Mrs. Call that\nhe wished to see her husband at the home of W. W. Phelps the following\nevening on some special business. When evening came Anson called there\naccording to appointment and met Mr. Cowdery, David Whitmer, Wm.\nMcClellin, Burr Riggs and other apostates. The Prophet Joseph Smith at\nthis time was incarcerated in Liberty jail, and, taking advantage of\nhis absence, these apostates and other enemies were exerting themselves\nto find some pretext for accusing him of crime. Previous to this a\nquantity of merchandise belonging to the Church while in transit from\nKirtland to Missouri had mysteriously disappeared, and with them some\nparcels of similar goods that were being transported by the same party\nfor Anson Call. The missing goods were subsequently found by the\nsheriff of Caldwell County in the home of Oliver Cowdery and David\nWhitmer, when, armed with a search warrant, he went there to look\nfor them. To cast an aspersion against the character of the prophet\nin connection with these goods, Anson was asked by Lyman Cowdery to\nsign a confession that he had sworn falsely as to the identity of his\ngoods. As an inducement for him to do so, they claimed to be able to\nprove that Anson had perjured himself and was liable to a heavy penalty\ntherefor. These plotters, however, offered to secure his immunity if he\nwould do as they wished. Lyman Cowdery's proposition was: \"If you will\ngo with me to Richmond to-morrow and state that you did this because\nJoe told you to, I will then settle the whole matter and let the blame\nrest where it belongs; for Joe is now where he will not lead anybody\ninto difficulty again, for justice will soon overtake him.\"\n\nAnson soon gave these traitorous conspirators to understand that they\ncould not use him for any such foul purpose as to blacken the character\nof Joseph Smith or any other innocent man. He had made no statement but\nwhat was true, and he was ready to prove the truth of it by Vincent\nKnight who assisted him in selecting the goods at a store in Ohio.\n\nThe efforts of these men, who had formerly been trusted members of the\nChurch, soon convinced Anson that the Prophet had many enemies who were\ndetermined to destroy him, and among them none more bitterly vindictive\nthan some who had formerly been bound to him by the most sacred\nfraternal ties, but were now ready to betray him to his death.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nREMOVAL TO ILLINOIS--A PERILOUS JOURNEY--OVERTAKEN BY THE PROPHET WHILE\nESCAPING FROM MISSOURI PRISON--ANSON AND WIFE VISIT IN OHIO--LOCATE\nIN MACEDONIA--REMOVE TO NAUVOO--MISSION TO OHIO--PROPHET'S VISION AND\nPREDICTION AS TO SAINTS LOCATING IN WEST--JUDGE THOMAS' ADVICE--SERVICE\nAS A DELEGATE.\n\nNot long after this a team animal which had been stolen from Anson was\nfound, and this enabled him to remove his family and such of their\neffects as were left from the State, and they were soon on their way\nto Illinois. The snow was about a foot deep and the weather extremely\ncold, it being about the middle of February, 1839, and not at all\nfavorable for travel even if they had been well provided with clothing\nand bedding, and in their destitute condition their suffering was\nintense. The first night out their wagon tipped over in the creek and\nthe next day they traversed a bleak prairie in a raging blizzard,\nduring which they almost perished. The Missourians, though ordinarily\ngenerous and hospitable, were so embittered against the Saints that\nthey furnished them no supplies or shelter unless paid well therefor,\nand then they did so grudgingly, and evinced no pity because of their\nsuffering.\n\nOne day while traveling towards Warsaw they were overtaken by Joseph\nand Hyrum Smith, who after more than six months imprisonment in\nMissouri had made their escape and were on their way to Illinois. They\nwere in such a hurry in consequence of their enemies pursuing them that\nthey took only time for a few hasty words, but inquired where Anson\nexpected to locate, and promised to pay him a visit after they reached\ntheir destination. This promise they faithfully kept, in company with\nSidney Rigdon and Vincent Knight. They took dinner with the Call family\nand spent much of the afternoon in relating the circumstances of their\nescape from Missouri. The prophet also told them that he had purchased\na tract of land in Illinois--the same upon which Nauvoo was afterwards\nbuilt--as a gathering place for the Saints.\n\nIn October, 1839, Anson with his wife and youngest child made a trip\ninto Ohio to visit her mother, leaving his two older children in\nthe care of Miss Hannah Flint, Mrs. Call's sister, who had for some\ntime shared the home of the Call family. They returned to Illinois\nin the Spring of 1840, in company with Chester Loveland and Jeremiah\nWilley, and soon afterwards Anson and Chester Loveland rented a farm\nin Carthage, where they were fairly successful, and interspersed their\nlabors on the farm with preaching in the Carthage court house.\n\nIn the Spring of 1841 Anson and his family removed to Raymas,\nafterwards called Macedonia, where he and others purchased an extensive\ntract of land, upon which a stake of Zion was later organized, of which\nAnson was one of the High Councilors.\n\nOn the 13th of May, 1841, Anson's birthday, his wife give birth to twin\nboys and afterwards had a long spell of sickness. She was restored to\nhealth on being administered to.\n\nIn the spring of 1842 Anson moved his family into Nauvoo, having been\ncounseled so to do by the leaders of the Church.\n\nThe following September he went upon a mission to the state of Ohio,\nhis companion being B. F. Cummings. While on the way to Ohio they\ntraveled and preached through the states of Illinois and Indiana, and\nbaptized forty persons. They returned to their homes in Nauvoo the\nlast day of March, 1842. The winter had been unusually severe, and\neven at that time the Ohio, Illinois and Missouri rivers were still\nfrozen over, so that teams could cross on the ice. Anson found his\nfamily well, but rather destitute. He spent that season raising a light\ncrop of corn, building a small brick house and quarrying stone for the\nTemple.\n\nOn the 14th of July, 1843, Anson and quite a number of the brethren\ncrossed the Mississippi river to the town of Montrose to be present\nat the installment of the masonic lodge of the \"Rising Sun.\" They\nassembled in a block school house in front of which there was ample\nshade, and had a barrel of ice water to quench their thirst. Judge\nGeorge J. Adams was the highest masonic authority in the state, and\nhad been sent there to organize the lodge. He, Hyrum Smith and John\nC. Bennett, being high masons, went into the house to perform certain\nceremonies which the others were not entitled to witness. The others,\nJoseph Smith among them, remained under the bowery. The prophet, as\nhe was testing the cold water warned the brethren not to drink of it\ntoo freely, and with the tumbler still in his hand prophesied that\nthe Saints would yet go to the Rocky Mountains and remarked that the\nwater he had just drank of tasted much like the crystal streams that\nflowed down from the snowcapped mountains, where their future home\nwould be located. Anson, in subsequently describing this incident, said\n\"I had before seen him in vision, and now saw, while he was talking,\nhis countenance changed to white; not the deadly white of a bloodless\nface, but a living, brilliant white. He seemed absorbed in gazing at\nsomething at a great distance and said \"I am gazing at the valleys\nof the mountains.\" Then the prophet gave a vivid description of the\nscenery of the mountains and valleys just as many of those who listened\nto him afterwards learned to know them in reality. Pointing to Shadrach\nRoundy and others he said \"There are some men here who shall do a great\nwork in that land.\" Pointing to Brother Call, he said \"There is Anson;\nhe shall go and shall assist in building cities from one end of the\ncountry to the other, and you, (seeming to include in the scope of his\nremarks many others) shall perform as great a work as has been done by\nman, so that the nations of the earth shall be astonished, and many of\nthem will be gathered in that land and assist in building cities and\ntemples, and Israel shall be made to rejoice.\"\n\nAnson, in speaking in the later years of his life of this occasion,\nsaid:\n\n\"It is impossible to represent in words this scene, which is still\nvivid in my mind; of the grandeur of Joseph's appearance, his beautiful\ndescriptions of this land and his wonderful prophetic utterances as\nthey emanated from the glorious inspirations that overshadowed him.\nThere was a force and power in his exclamations, of which the following\nis but a faint echo. \"Oh! the beauty of those snow-capped mountains!\nThe cool refreshing streams that are running down through those\nmountain gorges!\" Then gazing in another direction as if there was a\nchange of locality, \"Oh! the scenes that this people will pass through!\nThe dead that will lie between here and there!\" Then turning in another\ndirection as if the scene had again changed: \"Oh! the apostasy that\nwill take place before my brethren reach that land!\" But he continued,\n\"The priesthood shall prevail over all its enemies, triumph over the\ndevil and be established upon the earth never more to be thrown down.\"\nHe then charged us with great force and power to be faithful in those\nthings that had been and should be committed to our charge, with\nthe promise of all the blessings that the priesthood could bestow.\n\"Remember these things and treasure them up, Amen.\"\n\nDuring the summer of 1843 the building of the Nauvoo Temple progressed\nrapidly and the Saints increased. The non-\"Mormon\" residents of Nauvoo\nand the surrounding region grew restless and uneasy, and it was evident\nto the close observer that they were growing jealous and suspicious of\nthe increasing numbers and influence of the \"Mormons.\" The intolerance\nwith which the Missourians had regarded the \"Mormons\" had seemed to\nsubside for awhile after they located in Nauvoo, but it had only been\nsmoldering and was ready to burst out into a flame again upon the\nslightest provocation.\n\nOn Sunday, June 14, 1844, when the Saints were assembled at their usual\nplace of meeting, in a grove east of the Temple, Judge Thomas, the\nCircuit Judge of the district, drove up to the stand and asked for an\nopportunity of speaking with Joseph Smith. The Prophet went out and\ntalked with him about fifteen minutes, during which time the judge\nexplained to him and advise him what to do. Joseph returned to the\nstand and began to speak. Just then a shower occurred, and he asked\nthe assembly whether they would remain and hear his discourse. The\nresponse seemed to be universal: \"We will tarry.\" This was the last\ndiscourse delivered by the prophet on the Sabbath. During the meeting\nthe prophet, acting upon the suggestion of Judge Thomas, appointed\ndelegates to visit various precincts of the country to try to effect\na settlement with the mob that was threatening to break out in open\nhostility against the Saints. Anson Call and David Evans were appointed\na committee to visit the precinct where Colonel Williams lived, who\nwas an influential leader of the mob. After meeting they started upon\nthis mission and that night lodged with Father Call, five miles from\nWarsaw. They called at Colonel Williams; house the following morning\nand learned that he had gone to Adams County to raise the recruits\nto proceed against the \"Mormons.\" They learned from Elder Knox, a\nCampbelite preacher, than an anti-\"Mormon\" committee had been organized\nin every precinct, that the members of the committee in that precinct\nwere Colonel Williams, himself and a Mr. Henderson. In response to a\ndesire expressed by the visitors to meet that committee, and in the\nabsence of Colonel Williams, Elder Knox proffered to go and bring Mr.\nHenderson to them. While waiting for his return they were confronted\nwith a mob of about fifty men who came swarming into the house. Among\nthem was a lawyer from Warsaw named Stevenson. Addressing Messrs.\nEvans and Call, he said, \"Gentlemen, you are delegates from Nauvoo,\nI suppose.\" Being told that they were, he said the people of Warsaw\nwere also expecting delegates, and had decided to throw them into the\nMississippi and make fish bait of them when they appeared. They added\nby way of advice to the local residents \"You can dispose of yours as\nyou think proper.\" Being informed of the instruction of Judge Thomas\nto Joseph Smith, he discredited it by saying he had talked with the\njudge before he went to Nauvoo, and intimated that he did not believe\nhe had so advised; but if he had he thought the judge ought also to be\nconsigned to the Mississippi river. The mob became threatening, but the\nCampbelite preacher insisted that they must not disturb the \"Mormons\"\nwhile they were doing business with them. For further protection a\nguard was stationed around the house. After an hour's discussion the\nassembly refused to act upon the proposition of the delegates in the\nabsence of Colonel Williams. His fellow committeemen guaranteed the\nsafety of the delegates until they could mount their horses, but no\nlonger. They were soon in their saddles and spurring their horses,\nand reached a safe distance while the mob were preparing to pursue\nthem. Brother Call and Evans arrived in Nauvoo late in the evening of\nthe 15th of June and at 8 o'clock the following morning they repaired\nto the Mansion House to report to the Prophet; Reynolds Cahoon, the\ndoorkeeper, however, refused to grant them an interview with him,\nsaying that he was busy and did not wish to see any one. Anson after\na few moments' stay succeeded in learning what room the Prophet was\nin and boldly opened the door and walked in. He was greeted in the\nmost cordial manner by the Prophet, who hastened to inquire when he\nreturned and where Brother Evans was. Then he insisted that Brother\nEvans be admitted, and the two made their report, which they were then\nrequested to reduce to writing and make an affidavit of it before\nEbenezer Robinson, justice of the peace. They were then requested to\ntake the sworn statement to Judge Thomas whose court was in session\nat Knoxville, eighty miles distant. Two of the best horses had to be\nordered for them to ride, and before sunset they were on the way. The\nprophet told them to make all possible haste and to get an interview\nwith the judge if they had to follow him into court by holding on to his\ncoat tail. They left Nauvoo in the evening about sunset. It was raining\nand the roads were muddy and the streams high. The following day they\narrived at a stream that was very high and rapid, and apparently very\ndangerous. The nature of their errand admitted of no delay, and they\nplunged in and after a hard struggle succeeded in reaching the opposite\nshore. They arrived at KNoxville at 10 o'clock on the second day. The\ncourt being in session, they presented the letter to the sheriff with\na request that he deliver it. He did so, and the judge opened and read\nit and put it in his pocket. They chafed at the delay and tried to\nget the sheriff to intercede to have the judge write a reply, but he\ntold them they would have to wait till after intermission. When the\ncourt adjourned for luncheon they followed the judge to the hotel and\nwhen he arose from the table they locked arms with him, one on either\nside, and told him they must have an answer to General Smith's letter.\nHe said a written reply was not necessary; it would be sufficient for\nthem to report to him verbally, that he was mistaken in regard to\nthe instructions given him in Nauvoo. They, however, refused to be\ndismissed in that way, and insisted upon a reply in writing, and he\nreluctantly consented to write a short note. He allowed the brethren\nto read it, and as Anson recalled it from memory in his later years it\nread about as follows:\n\n\"General Smith:\n\n\"In perusing your letter I find that you were mistaken in the\ninstructions that I gave you while at Nauvoo, and I know of no course\nfor you to pursue to answer the requirements of the law, but to suffer\nyourself to be taken by the officer holding the writ and go before the\njustice of the peace who issued the same and have an investigation\nof the matter. It is the officer's duty to protect you; this the law\nrequires, and I cannot as an officer of the law give you any different\ninstructions.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nJUDGE THOMAS' WILLINGNESS TO SACRIFICE THE PROPHET--VAIN EFFORTS\nTO SEE AND REPORT TO THE PROPHET--PERFIDY OF REYNOLDS CAHOON AND\nALPHEUS CUTLER--PROPHET'S LAST SPEECH--NEWS OF THE MARTYRDOM--ITS\nEFFECT--ATROCITIES OF MOB.\n\nThe brethren protested strongly against the Prophet surrendering\nhimself to be taken to Carthage, as they believed the officers would\nrather take his life than protect it. In vain they urged Judge Thomas\nto set a date when the Prophet could be brought before his court for\nthe investigation of any charges that might be brought against him. He\nsaid he did not wish to interfere in any legal matters; neither did\nhe consider the matter under his jurisdiction. In answer to what the\nbrethren had said about the danger of his going to Carthage, the judge\nsaid \"this is nothing but your imagination, and that will be better\nunderstood when tried.\" And then he offered a suggestion that convinced\nthe brethren that he had already decided in his own mind that the\nProphet should be sacrificed. He said \"would it not be better for one\nor two men to be killed than for a whole community to be destroyed?\"\nThe response to this traitorous suggestion was, \"No; we would all\nprefer to die in defense of innocent citizens rather than for one of\nour number to be massacred by a ruthless mob; and we will show you and\nall other men that we will protect one another in our rights.\"\n\nThe interview closed by the judge remarking that his visitors were\nvery zealous, and they declaring that they were not more zealous than\ndetermined. They received the letter and made all possible haste to\nNauvoo, arriving there at 10 o'clock on June 20, 1844.\n\nOn entering the Mansion House they were met by Alpheus Cutler and\nReynolds Cahoon, who inquired as soon as they greeted them if they had\na letter from Judge Thomas. When told that they had, they requested\nthat it be given to them. To this the brethren demurred, and insisted\nupon seeing the Prophet personally.\n\nCahoon and Cutler argued against the proposition and used all the\npowers of persuasion they could command to get possession of the\nletter; then, finding it in vain, they suddenly left the room. Hardly\nhad they done so when Emma Smith's nephew appeared and announced that\nMrs. Smith wished to see Brothers Call and Evans, and led them to\nher room. As they approached she said \"You have a letter from Judge\nThomas, haven't you?\" They replied \"Yes, and we want to see Joseph.\"\nShe declared positively that they could not see him, and was not moved\nfrom the decision when they rehearsed to her their reasons for wishing\nto see him. She did not tell them he was not at home, but her language\nrather implied that he was absent. She plead hard for them to give her\nthe letter to deliver to him, and gave her solemn promise to so deliver\nit, and then to arrange for them to have an interview with him. They\nfinally determined that if they could not see the Prophet and warn him\npersonally against being taken to Carthage, the next most important\nthing was to get the letter into his hands, and they accordingly gave\nit to Emma and she opened it and read it aloud in their presence and\nalso within the hearing of the doorkeepers, Reynolds Cahoon and Alpheus\nCutler. The brethren repeated to all three what Judge Thomas had said\nto them, that they might be thoroughly impressed with the danger of the\nProphet giving himself up to be taken to Carthage, and requested also\nthat the Prophet be informed of all that they had heard. Had they known\nthen what they afterwards learned--that Joseph and Hyrum Smith were at\nthat very time out of the State, on the west side of the Mississippi\nriver, with the intention of journeying westward and keeping out of the\nclutches of those who were seeking to deprive them of their liberty,\nand if possible of their lives also, they would have entered their\nsolemn protest against their giving up that advantage and returning\nagain to Illinois in the face of the murderous hatred that was so\ngenerally manifested towards them.\n\nAnson was subsequently informed by Dr. Willard Richards that Reynolds\nCahoon and Alpheus Cutler had crossed the river in a boat in the\nafternoon of the day that they had talked with Anson Call and David\nEvans, and while what General Thomas had said to them, as related by\nthe brethren to them and to the Prophet's wife, must have been still\nfresh in their minds, and induced Joseph and Hyrum Smith to return\nto Nauvoo and give themselves up to the officers who had a warrant\nfor them (the very thing that Brothers Call and Evans had plead with\nthem to warn the Prophet against doing.) Anson also learned from Dr.\nRichards that the letter they had brought from Judge Thomas was not\neven delivered to the Prophet.\n\nAnson never had the privilege of speaking to the Prophet again, but\nhe saw him on the morning of the 24th of June, when he rode up to the\nNauvoo Legion while on parade near the Nauvoo Mansion, and said, with\nall the feeling he could express, \"Boys, I have come to bid you good\nby. I am going to leave you for awhile. You are my boys, and I bless\nyou in the name of Israel's God. Be faithful and true, and you shall\nhave your reward. Farewell.\"\n\nAnson, in speaking of it later in life, said \"I little thought,\nknowing his many deliverances from the hands of his enemies, that it\nwas the last time I should see him alive. That night I went home to\nrest with my family, about one-fourth of a mile east of the Temple,\non Brigham Street. On Thursday, the 25th, I as usual paraded with\nthe Legion. Friday and Saturday, 26th and 27th, attended to the same\nroutine of business. Saturday night I was one of the Temple guards.\nSunday morning, the 28th, I saw O. P. Rockwell ride into the city at\nfull speed, with the sweat dripping from his horse, shouting with his\nstentorious voice pitched in the highest notes of intensified sorrow\nand wrath: \"Joseph is killed! Joseph is killed! They have killed him!\nThey have killed him!\"\n\nThe sorrow that overwhelmed the Saints as that awful news spread\nthroughout Nauvoo, as it did in a remarkably short time, cannot be\nadequately described by tongue or pen. Even those who knew that he had\nbeen taken to Carthage and were also aware of the murderous spirit\nthat animated those who had been seeking to apprehend him, and the\nthreats they had indulged in, were unprepared for the news, for they\nhad vainly hoped that he would be set free when an investigation of\nthe charges brought against him had occurred, or be enabled to escape\nas he had in the past. They were all conscious of his innocence, and\nfelt that the Lord would intercede in his behalf, and not suffer\nhis enemies to take his life; and on learning that they had done so\nthey were stunned--almost paralyzed. Few if any were more powerfully\naffected by the news than Anson Call. By a strong effort he controlled\nhis feelings and suppressed the inclination to seek personal vengeance,\nbut was deprived of the power to sleep, and lost all desire to eat;\nand besought the Lord in earnest prayer to restrain him from doing\nanything that would be unwise or that would add to the trouble that\nalready enveloped the Saints. When the bodies of the martyrs were\nbrought into Nauvoo he took his family to see them, and they were\nstrongly affected by the sight. On the third night after the martyrdom\nAnson had a dream or a vision in which he saw the Prophet and heard him\nassure a congregation of Saints that, although dead, he should still\nlead the kingdom, the keys of which had been given to him, and would be\nheld by him forever. This assurance proved a great comfort to Anson,\nand enabled him to comfort others. Very soon thereafter he went to\nCarthage and was piloted around by the jailer. He saw the blood from\nthe Prophet's veins upon the well curb, and the hole through the panel\ndoor made by the bullet that killed Hyrum, as also the blood stain upon\nthe floor where he fell, which stain the jailer assured him he had\nbeen unable to erase. Anson told him he hoped he never would be able\nto wash it away, but that it would remain as an everlasting testimony\nagainst his murderers. He saw a number of those who were implicated in\nthe murder, most of whom he was personally acquainted with, especially\nCaptain Robert Smith, of the Carthage Greys, the man who issued the\nwrits against Joseph and Hyrum, and to whom long before, Anson had\nborne testimony that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and who had\napparently never been able to look him in the face afterwards.\n\nAnson took an active and prominent part in the events that followed\nthe martyrdom. He was detailed as one of the one hundred men who\nwere selected to assist the mob from burning houses and committing\nother depredations against the Saints in the fall of 1845. He saw his\nfather's house burn down, and also the man who applied the torch to it.\nHe had obtained special permission from the sheriff to look after his\nfather's property, as he was living in the region where the mob was\nunusually active in committing outrages. He arrived at his father's\nhome about an hour after nightfall, and saw the house burning, and\nvarious articles of household goods scattered about, but could see\nnone of the family. Surmising that they were not very far away, he\nwent through a cornfield near the house, calling for his father. After\nawhile he heard a response \"Anson, is that you?\" and, following the\ndirection of the voice met his father, who felt so outraged that he\nwas rendered desperate and disposed to resist. On inquiring where his\nmother and sisters were, the father led him out into the middle of the\ncorn field, where his aged mother was found resting upon a bed, her\ndaughters being elsewhere in hiding. He learned that ten minutes before\nthe torch was applied to the house the inmates were given a chance to\nflee therefrom, and take such articles of clothing and bedding as the\ncould carry in away in their arms. While the mother and daughters were\ndoing this the father was talking with Mr. Stevenson, the leader, who\nwas master of the masonic lodge at Warsaw, of which Father Call was\nwarden. The bigotry and malice that swayed the people were so strong\nthat even the fraternity of the masonic order lost its power. Mr.\nStevenson did not attempt to restrain the mob who were with him, nor\neven dismount from his horse; but, turning from Father Call, as if\nashamed to look him in the face, he said \"I have nothing against you as\na man, but you are a \"Mormon,\" and we must serve you all like.\" He then\ncalled out to those who were with him, \"Gentlemen, do your duty.\" One\nman held a match, and another a bundle of hay, and at the expiration of\nthe ten minutes the hay was placed in one corner of the house and set\non fire. The same procedure was followed at the homes of Harvey Call,\nChester Loveland and Jeremiah Willey, all located in the same region,\nthe first mentioned being a brother and the latter two brothers-in-law\nof Anson Call. These inoffensive and despoiled Saints arrived in Nauvoo\nabout noon the following day.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nPREPARATIONS FOR ABANDONMENT OF NAUVOO--JOURNEY WESTWARD--WINTER\nNEAR INDIAN CAMP--TEST OF FEALTY--WESTWARD JOURNEY TEMPORARILY\nABANDONED--EMPLOYMENT IN MISSOURI--JOURNEY TO UTAH--CHOICE\nOF HOME--MISSION TO COLONIZE PAROWAN--MISSION TO COLONIZE\nFILLMORE--MASSACRE OF GUNNISON PARTY.\n\nThe winter of 1845 and 1846 was chiefly spent by Anson in the work of\nmaking wagons and otherwise preparing for the journey westward. He\nreceived his blessings in the Temple on the 10th of December 1845,\nhis wife at the time being unable to accompany him, as she had given\nbirth to a son five days before. She, however, was likewise favored\nin the following spring. Anson succeeded in selling his home in Nauvoo\nfor about one-fourth its value, and he and his family crossed the\nMississippi and started westward on the 15th of June. They crossed\nthe Des Moines river at Eddyville, and there sorrowfully buried their\nyoungest child, a boy, six months and twelve days old. They overtook\nFather Call at Pisgah and the body of the Church at Council Bluffs,\nand crossed the Missouri river on the 7th of July. On the 9th Anson's\nyoung son, Moroni, died and was buried the following day in a hickory\nbark coffin, peeled from a tree by the father and grandfather. Although\nthe season was then so late, the question of journeying on as far as\npossible towards the Rocky Mountains was still being discussed. Brigham\nYoung and Heber C. Kimball each organized a company of seventy-five\nwagons for this purpose. Anson was made captain of the first ten\nwagons of Brigham Young's company, which included Father Call and his\nsons Harvey and Josiah. George Miller and James Emmett had previously\nassumed to organize a company, including fifty-two wagons, and started\nwestward to find a favorable place to winter. Anson and such of his\ncommand as were ready were advised by the council of the Apostles to\nfollow on after them, and did so. They left the Elk Horn river on the\n22nd of July, 1846, and travelled up the Platte river to the Pawnee\nmissionary station, where they overtook the Miller and Emmett Company.\nWhile camped on the west side of the Loupe Fork a message from the\napostles at Winter Quarters was received, advising that they proceed no\nfarther westward that season, but to find a good place and establish a\ncamp for the winter. They also advised that a council of twelve men be\nselected to direct the affairs of the camp, and suggested the names of\ntwelve men to so act. The council was so organized, George Miller being\npresident, and considerable exploring done to find a suitable place\nto winter, but without success. They were invited by two Ponca chiefs\nto winter with them on the Missouri river, and guaranteed protection,\nplenty of feed for their animals, and timber with which to build\nhouses. The invitation was accepted, and nine days spent in journeying\nto the place. They located on the west side of the mouth of the Running\nWater river, and one hundred and twenty-five houses were erected in\nfort form.\n\nNucanumpa, the aged chief of the Poncas, was taken sick and sent for\nthe brethren composing the council to come and have a talk with him.\nHe had killed and cooked his best dog and had a feast prepared, which\nthe council, on being invited, partook of, and then proceeded to tell\nthem that he had a friendly interest in the \"Mormons\" and instructed\nthe Indians to treat them well, and in return wished the \"Mormons\" to\nsee the he was properly buried, and to erect at the head of his grave\nstone such as he had seen in St. Louis when he once visited that place,\nwith a proper inscription on it, giving his name, age and title. The\nproposition was agreed to and carried out, and the Poncas proved to be\ngood and peaceable neighbors. The Sioux, however, didn't feel bound by\nthe agreement made with the Poncas, and stole some of the horses and\ncattle from the Saints. The principal feed for the animals consisted of\nrushes, and the winter weather was severe, and some of the remaining\nanimals died as a consequence.\n\nGeorge Miller developed an arrogant and rebellious spirit, and was not\ndisposed to submit to the direction of the Apostles, and as many of\nthe people as could be influenced by him and James Emmett also became\ndisgruntled.\n\nOn the 27th of February, 1847, Apostles Ezra T. Benson and Erastus Snow\narrived at the camp with instructions from the Apostles' quorum for\nthe Saints to return to Winter Quarters before journeying westward, to\nreplenish their teams and stock of provisions. After delivering their\nmessage the Apostles departed without waiting to see what action would\nbe taken as to their requirement.\n\nThe members of the council assembled to consider and discuss the\nmessage, and James Emmett, although not a member, met with them, by\ninvitation of George Miller. George Miller addressed the council,\nsaying that he did not consider that the Apostles had any right to\ndictate the camp; that he was their appointed leader, and it was the\nduty of the camp to follow him into the wilderness, in fulfillment of a\nspecial mission conferred upon him by the prophet Joseph. James Emmett\nfollowed with a speech in the same strain. The members of the council\nbeing then invited to express their views, Anson Call, who had been an\nactive member from the time the council was organized, then spoke. He\nsaid the Twelve Apostles were the legitimate leaders of the Saints,\nand he intended to remain loyal to them and follow their counsel. The\nother ten members of the council who followed him were unanimous in\nexpressing the same sentiments. Bishop Miller grew furious when he\ndiscovered that he was not supported by the council, and gave vent to\nhis feelings in a fiery but impotent speech. A motion was then put and\ncarried by the majority that the people be called together and allowed\nto decide by a vote whether they return to Winter Quarters or remain\nwith Miller and Emmett. This was done and preparations were immediately\nmade for the journey, with the result that on the 3rd of April when the\nstart was made only five or six wagons remained with Miller and Emmett.\n\nGeorge Miller had formerly been a Bishop and influential man in the\nChurch, but was ambitious and impatient of restraint. He looked for\nand found faults in those who were over him in the priesthood, and was\nsuch a plausible talker that he soon obtained a following of kindred\nspirits. When, however, he came out squarely in opposition to the\ncounsel of the Twelve Apostles most of his followers saw his true\ncharacter and abandoned him in time to save themselves from utter ruin.\n\nOn the 6th day of May, 1847, Anson, in company with his brother-in-law\nJoseph Holbrook, moved to the Pottawatomie lands on the east side of\nthe Missouri river and engaged in farming, in which pursuit he had in\nthe past been successful. After plowing and seeding the ground the\nfields were left to the care of their wives and children and they\nsought work to provide their families with such necessaries as only\nmoney could buy, and they engaged in cutting and hauling hay into St.\nJoseph, and returned to their families in time to harvest the crop\nthey had planted. After making his family as comfortable as possible\nfor the winter, Anson returned to St. Joseph, this time accompanied\nby his brothers Josiah and Harvey and his brother-in-law Chester\nLoveland. They obtained profitable employment and remained there until\nthe following March when Anson returned to his family and began making\npreparations for the journey to the mountains. He removed his family\nfrom their temporary home on Mosquito Creek into Winter Quarters and on\nthe 14th of June left Winter Quarters for the westward journey. They\ncrossed the Elk Horn on the 17th and then halted for ten days for the\ncompanies to assemble and organize. Seven hundred wagons were organized\ninto two divisions. In one of these Anson was placed in charge of\ntwenty wagons. The company was thoroughly equipped for self-defense\nand had a remarkably successful journey, arriving in Salt Lake City,\nSeptember 19th, 1848. Three days later he removed his family ten\nmiles northward, and located in what was first known as North Canyon\nWard, afterwards Bountiful. When he arrived there he had one pig, six\nchickens, one pet sheep, four oxen, four cows and two calves--not a\nvery great start towards stock-raising, which he expected to be one\nof his pursuits. If he had been superstitious, he would probably have\ndecided that the signs were against his engaging in the stock-raising\nbusiness, as the 6th day after he located his farm his pig died, the\n7th an Indian killed his sheep and on the 8th his best ox drowned in\na spring hole. He was not disposed to give up or get discouraged, but\nproved himself a man of resource, and when his oxen were found to be\ninsufficient for the work required of them he used cows to help draw\nthe plow. He only had five bushels of seed grain, but he succeeded in\nraising two hundred bushels from that the first year, besides quite a\nlot of corn; and this notwithstanding the ravages of the crickets. He\nshowed good judgment in the selection of a farm; it proved to be as\ngood land as could be found in Utah, if not in the world.\n\nIn September, 1849, he was appointed to preside as Bishop over the\nNorth Canyon ward, and that year raised one thousand bushels of grain.\n\nIn October, 1850, he responded to a call to assist in colonizing\nLittle Salt Lake Valley, under the leadership of Apostle George A.\nSmith. Those who went occupied one hundred wagons. They were organized\ninto two companies of fifty wagons each. Anson was made captain of\nthe first fifty. They left Salt Lake City on the 7th of December and\ncamped on the present site of Parowan, Iron County, on the 12th of\nJanuary, 1851. On the 17th he was elected justice of the peace of the\nnew colony. He was active and energetic not only in the founding of\nParowan, but also in exploring the surrounding region. Being directed\nso to do by the First Presidency, he returned to Salt Lake City in\nthe spring of 1851 to raise more colonists for the settlement of Iron\nCounty, which he succeeded in doing, and returned south with them the\nlatter part of April. Before returning (on the 15th of April, 1851),\nhe enlarged his family and added to his responsibility by taking to\nhimself a second wife (Ann Mariah Bowen) a native of New York State,\nwho was born January 3rd, 1834, at Bethany, Genesee Co., and took her\nwith him to Parowan. The First Presidency and other Church officials\nvisited Parowan soon afterwards, and called upon Anson to return to\nSalt Lake City and raise a company of fifty families to colonize\nPauvant Valley. He accordingly returned north in June accompanied\nby his wife, spent the summer in looking after his affairs in Davis\nCounty, and started southward with the new colony in October, 1851, his\nwife Mariah, accompanying him. Before starting he was made president\nof the new colony by vote of the general conference, and at a special\nsession of the Territorial Legislature he was made probate judge of\nMillard County, which he was directed to organize. He arrived\non Chalk Creek, Pauvant Valley, November, 13th, 1851. He found Brigham\nYoung, Orson Pratt, a surveyor and about fifty others in the valley\nahead of him. They had laid out a city and called it Fillmore. By\nact of the Legislature it had been designated as the capital of the\nTerritory. Anson devoted his energies to the development of Fillmore\nand the surrounding region, with telling effect. At the August\nelection in 1852 Anson was elected to represent Millard County in the\nlegislature. On going north to attend the legislature he took with\nhim an Indian boy and girl whom he had purchased, and left them with\nhis family in Davis County. After attending the legislative session\nof 1852-3 in Salt Lake City he had great difficulty in returning to\nFillmore in February because of the deep snow.\n\nHe attended an adjourned session of the legislature in the following\nJune and then spent some time with his family, but had to hasten back\nto Fillmore in July on account of Indian troubles in the south.\n\nAbout the 2nd of November, 1853, he, in company with eleven men,\ngathered up and buried the remains of Captain Gunnison and party,\nwho had been massacred by Indians on the Sevier river about ten days\npreviously.\n\nHaving completed his mission to Fillmore, he left there on the 5th of\nMarch, 1854, to return to his home in Davis County.\n\nOn the 18th of May, 1854, accompanied by his wife Mary and son Chester,\nhe started south on a visiting tour with President Brigham Young and\ncompany of Church officials. On arriving at Fillmore, he remained\nthere attending to some necessary business while the rest of the party\njourneyed farther south, then returned with them to Salt Lake City.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nCALL'S FORT ESTABLISHED--ACTS AS DEPUTY U. S. MARSHAL--MISSION TO\nCOLONIZE CARSON VALLEY--OPPOSES ENTRANCE OF ARMY--ABANDONS AND PREPARES\nTO BURN HOME--THE \"MOVE\" SOUTH--BROTHER KILLED BY INDIANS--CALL'S\nLANDING ESTABLISHED--HIS LAST DAYS.\n\nIn the fall of 1854, Anson's ability as a colonizer was again called\ninto requisition. He opened a large farm in Box Elder County at a\nplace since known as Call's Fort, one of the purposes being to find\nemployment for poor Saints brought from Europe by the Perpetual\nEmigration Fund Company. He sowed forty acres of grain, and wintered a\nnumber of poor families there.\n\nOn New Years Day, 1855, Anson made a feast for all of his father's\nfamily. It was the last gathering of the Call family during the life of\nFather Call.\n\nAt the general conference in April, 1855, Anson was given another\nmission to go to Fillmore and settle up the business connected with the\nbuilding of the State House at that place, which he accomplished in\ntwelve days, then returned home.\n\nIn May, 1855, the United States Marshal for the territory, Joseph L.\nHeywood, appointed Anson to act as his deputy, and left the business\nconnected with his office for him to care for while he went on a trip\nto California. That same year the grasshoppers were very destructive,\nand Anson spent much time trying to prevent their ravages, and suffered\na heavy loss of crops as well.\n\nBrigham Young having counseled Anson to build a fort on his farm in Box\nElder County for the protection of the settlers, he constructed a stone\nwall, enclosing a space of 120 feet square, the wall being three feet\nthick and six feet high.\n\nThe notorious Judge W. W. Drummond having arrived in Utah to hold\ncourt, Anson, as Marshal Heywood's deputy, escorted him to Fillmore,\nand made the necessary arrangements for the session of his court, which\nwas in session two weeks, and adjourned in January, 1856.\n\nOn the 16th of March, 1856, Anson's mother died in Bountiful, aged\nsixty-five years.\n\nAt the general conference in April, 1856, Anson was again called upon a\ncolonizing mission, this time to Carson Valley, then in Western Utah,\nbut now a part of Nevada. After a strenuous experience he arrived home\nfrom there October 13th, 1856. His wife Mariah also accompanied him on\nthis mission, and remained there after he returned; in fact, she did\nnot return until the summer of 1857, arriving in Utah soon after word\nwas received of the approach of Johnston's army.\n\nOn the 28th of October he started in charge of thirteen teams furnished\nby North Canyon Ward to go to the relief of the hand-cart companies,\nwho, while en route across the plains, were then perishing in the\nsnow. They traveled to the Rocky Ridge, three hundred miles from Salt\nLake Valley, were absent thirty-three days, and were successful in\nrescuing a large number who would otherwise doubtless have perished.\nIn February, 1857, Anson again exhibited his faith by taking two\nadditional wives, both of whom crossed the plains in hand-cart\ncompanies. The first of these was Margaretta Clark, of Nottingham, born\nMay 28, 1828, the other being Emma Summers, born in Worcester, England,\nAugust 1828.\n\nIn the latter part of 1857, as the army (whose supposed purpose was to\ndrive the \"Mormons\" from their homes or exterminate them) was nearing\nUtah, Anson and his two sons went forth to assist in their people's\ndefense. Anson and his son Chester assisted in building fortifications\nin Echo Canyon, and his son Vasco was doing scout duty in the region\nof Green River. In the spring of 1858, when preparations were in\nprogress for abandoning homes and burning them if necessary rather than\nhave them possessed by the enemy, Anson stored four thousand pounds\nof flour at Payson, to be available for the support of his family,\nand later removed his family to the shore of Utah lake, below Provo.\nBefore leaving their home they prepared it and their other buildings\nfor burning at a moment's notice. Fortunately that extremity was never\nreached, for the family returned and reoccupied their home on the 4th\nof July following.\n\nAbout the 1st of October, 1858, Anson received a visit from his brother\nJosiah, whose home was at Fillmore. After a short stay he set out to\nreturn to his home, accompanied by a friend named Samuel Brown. When\nnear Chicken Creek in Juab County, on their homeward journey, they were\nambushed by Indians, and both killed. When their bodies were found on\nthe 15th of October they had been partially devoured by coyotes.\n\nOn April 9, 1861, Anson showed his faith by complying with the Bible\nrule requiring a man to marry and care for his brother's widow, by\ntaking to wife Henrietta Williams Call, whose husband was killed by\nIndians as already mentioned. She had six children and he reared them\nto maturity, treating them as well as his own offspring.\n\nAt the general conference in October, 1864, Anson, in connection with\nothers, was given a mission to establish a colony near the Colorado\nriver. The merchants of Salt Lake City had such difficulty in securing\nthe necessary supply of merchandise, either from the east or from\nCalifornia, owing to the long distance it had to be hauled in wagons\nand the limited season during which the roads were passable, that\nthe idea occurred to some one that, if shipped by steamboat up the\nColorado river to as high a point as possible and there stored in a\nwarehouse the cost of freighting might be materially reduced. It was\nthought too that immigrants might be brought to Utah by the same route\nwith advantage. The merchants and others organized a company to build\nand own a warehouse on the Colorado river, and they employed Anson to\nact as their agent in carrying into effect a part of this scheme. He\naccordingly started about the 1st of November with a company to locate\na road to the most suitable place on the Colorado river, and there\nbuild a landing and warehouse. This he did to the satisfaction of those\nwho employed him, and returned home in March, 1865. After remaining\nhome about one month he went again to Call's Landing on the Colorado\nriver, accompanied by his wife Mary, and returned two and a half months\nlater.\n\nOn the 4th of August, 1867, Anson's eldest son, Anson Vasco, while\nreturning from a mission to Europe, upon which he had been absent\nnearly three and a half years, died at Rock Creek, on the Laramie\nPlains, four hundred and twenty-three miles east of Salt Lake. He was a\nyoung man of great promise, and his death was keenly felt by his family\nand friends.\n\nOn the 28th of October, 1870, Anson accompanied by his wife Mary and\nsister-in-law, Mrs. Hannah Holbrook, started on a visit to their\nnumerous relatives in Ohio, Vermont and other places in the east, from\nwhich they returned home in January, 1871.\n\nIn 1872 Anson accompanied the Palestine party, of which President\nGeorge A. Smith was the leader, to England, and spent five months\ntraveling in Great Britain and Ireland.\n\nWhen the Davis County Stake of Zion was organized in 1877 Anson became\ncounselor to President Wm. R. Smith, his son Chester succeeding him as\nBishop of Bountiful, formerly North Canyon Ward.\n\nThe later years of Anson's life were spent in comparative peace and\nquietude, largely on his farm in Davis County, where, surrounded by his\nnumerous family, he set an example of thrift and industry. But, though\nrelieved of those strenuous duties of pioneering that occupied so\nmuch of his time in earlier years, his time was still to a very great\nextent devoted to laboring for the public welfare, but chiefly in Davis\nCounty, where, as a member of the Stake presidency, he was looked up to\nas a safe and reliable leader, who was just as ready to sacrifice his\nown interests and devote his influence and energies to the public weal\nas he had been during his more vigorous days.\n\nHe retained the use of his faculties up to the last, and died at eighty\nyears of age, honored and respected by all who knew him, leaving to his\nnumerous posterity an untarnished record of service and devotion to the\ncause of Truth.\n\nAnson Call depended upon no man for his knowledge of the truth of\n\"Mormonism.\" His confidence in the Lord was supreme. His loyalty to\nthe Church and the Church leaders was unwavering. His consecration\nto the service of the Lord was without reservation, and from the\ntime he embraced \"Mormonism\" up to the very day of his death he\nhesitated at no sacrifice required of him in that service. Many made\ngreater pretensions to piety than he did, but no man surpassed him in\nsincere devotion to the cause of God and in the modest practice of\ntrue religion as he understood it, and this included strict honesty,\ncharity, self-denial and unfeigned love. He had a large family--six\nwives and twenty-three children in all, though only eighteen grew to\nmaturity and had families. He was a kind and provident husband and\nfather, but exacting withal. He had strict ideas of duty, and expected\nevery member of his household to conform thereto.\n\nHe was essentially a man of peace. That he did not lack courage, was\namply proven by the personal risk he deliberately assumed in numerous\ninstances throughout his life, but he was wise enough to see that the\nends so often sought by quareling and fighting might be more easily\nand effectively attained by peaceful methods, and so he advocated and\npracticed peace and discountenanced strife and contention.\n\nAt no time in Anson Call's life was he really wealthy; in fact, he\nwas generally financially strained in carrying out his numerous\nenterprises; yet he never contented himself with simply providing for\nhis own family; but always sought to give employment to many others,\nand not always because of their being profitable employes.\n\nOne of the most striking characteristics that Anson Call possessed was\nhis ability to return good for evil. If he was ever wronged by any one\nhe attributed the act to the ignorance or prejudice of the individual,\nand felt it to be his duty to impress that person with the friendliness\nof his motives, and would go out of his way to do him a kindness. He\nwas full of charity, and abhorred a disposition to harbor malice.\n\nAnson Call never betrayed a trust. When he gave his promise or\nconceived it to be his duty to do anything it was as good as done. If\nhe had adopted \"Do it now\" as his motto he could scarcely have been\nmore prompt in action throughout life. He was the very embodiment of\nprobity. The Church authorities understood his character, and when they\nrequired anything of him they had the utmost confidence that he would\nnot only do it promptly but well, for it was his habit to give his very\nbest service to whatever task he undertook. He was not a theorist,\nnot given to much meditation; but quick in deciding and instant in\nexecuting. He was essentially a man who did things. His energy was\nboundless; his perseverance unlimited.\n\n\n\nElder Brown's Experience\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nFRIGID TRIP ON LONELY ROAD--TEAM EXHAUSTED--AGONY OF FREEZING--PRAYER\nFOR DELIVERANCE--FRIEND INSPIRED TO GO TO HIS RELIEF--SHEEP HERDER\nINSPIRED TO MOVE CAMP--EFFECTS OF FREEZING ON FEET.\n\nBrother Jedediah M. Brown, of South Bountiful, is a man of great faith.\nHe feels that he has inherited the gift of faith, for he does not\nremember the time when he did not possess it. When he is in need of\nanything it is just as natural for him to appeal to the Lord therefor\nas it is to work for it, and he is an industrious man, who never fails\nwhen possible to combine works with faith.\n\nWhen he was twenty-three years old he was employed by a co-operative\nsheep company, as superintendent of its three large sheep herds, that\nranged during the winter on the Western Utah desert. One part of his\nduty was to furnish supplies to the several sheep camps, and for this\npurpose he made occasional trips to the nearest settlements.\n\nIn the early part of January, 1888, he started, with a horse team, from\none of the sheep camps, to drive to Grantsville, forty miles distant.\nHis intention was to drive to the settlement the first day, buy his\nsupplies and rest his team during the next day, and return to the sheep\ncamp the third day, and so informed the men at the sheep camp before\nstarting.\n\nHaving no load, he drove through the first day without trouble, and\nsecured his load, and, fearing some change in the weather might occur\nthat would hinder his return, if he delayed starting, he decided to\nstart back the next morning.\n\nThe weather had been mild and thawing, but soon after he started it\nbecame terribly cold, and the wagon was so hard to pull, because of the\nwheels breaking through the frozen crust, that one of the horses gave\nout before the journey was half accomplished. He had no matches with\nwhich to light a fire, nor bedding with which to keep warm, so he did\nnot dare to camp. His only hope was to keep on traveling. The cold was\nso intense that he suffered the utmost agony, even while trying to keep\nhis blood in circulation by walking.\n\nHe realized that he was in danger of freezing to death, and plead\nwith the Lord in earnest prayer to spare him from such a fate. After\nawhile his pain from freezing grew less, and a feeling of numbness and\noverpowering disposition to sleep took possession of him. His ideas\nbecame confused; he scarcely had will power enough left to urge his\nteam along or exert himself to walk; he frequently stumbled and fell\nto the ground, and he had great difficulty in regaining his feet; his\npower to resist the feeling of utter exhaustion and desire to sleep\nwere almost gone.\n\nJust then a man on horseback appeared in sight, and as he drew near\nhe was recognized as Charles A. Howard, one of the men from the sheep\ncamp. It transpired that this man about the time in the morning when\nBrother Brown's situation became critical was very strongly impressed\nto start out to meet him, although he had no reason to suppose that he\nwould be on the road. He tried to reason away the impression but could\nnot, then failed to act upon it for several hours, until it became so\nstrong that he could resist it no longer, when he mounted a horse and\nstarted towards Grantsville, protected to the utmost from the intense\ncold. His horse was fresh, and he rode as rapidly as possible. He had\ntraveled almost if not quite fifteen miles without seeing a sign of a\nhuman being, and was beginning to doubt the wisdom of what seemed to\nbe his fruitless trip, when he espied a team in the distance. As he\napproached nearer he saw that it was his friend, and that his movements\nwere much like those of a drunken man, staggering as he walked. He\nhastened to him, and found him so far gone that he could scarcely\nspeak. He realized that he would have to act quickly to save his\nlife, and that his only hope lay in taking him to the sheep camp, for\nGrantsville was so much farther away it would be useless to try to take\nhim back there. It was then almost sunset, and growing more severely\ncold every minute. He hastily unharnessed the exhausted horse, saddled\nit and helped the suffering man to mount it; then hitched his riding\nhorse to the wagon in the place of it. Urging Brother Brown to ride as\nfast as possible, he started driving the team towards the sheep camp.\nThe frozen man, however, couldn't even maintain his seat upon the horse\nand had to be placed in the wagon, where is was with difficulty he was\nkept awake by his friend as he almost frantically drove the team.\n\nThey had not proceeded more than a mile and a half when, to their\nsurprise, they came upon a sheep camp, which had just located beside\nthe road, and which was nowhere in sight when young Howard had passed\nthe spot going eastward.\n\nThe herd belonged to Bishop J. W. Hess, of Farmington, and one of his\nsons was in charge of it. As he afterwards explained, his camp had\nbeen located some distance away and he had no intention of moving it\nuntil the afternoon of that day, when, without any reason that he could\noffer, and notwithstanding the cold weather, he took a sudden notion to\ndo so, and acted upon it. It was providential for Brother Brown that\nhe had done so, as he might not have survived the long ride to his own\ncamp.\n\nA good fire was burning in the stove in the camp wagon, and the\nfrozen man was immediately helped in beside it, and with true western\nhospitality every comfort the camp afforded was placed at his disposal.\nStimulants were immediately supplied him, his boots were cut from his\nfeet, as they could not be otherwise removed, and a proposition was\nmade that his feet be thawed out in the oven of the stove, but young\nHoward knew that would be unwise, so he sat up all night and kept them\npacked in snow.\n\nIn the afternoon of the following day Brother Brown was removed to his\nown camp, where he had to remain and be cared for during the ensuing\ntwo weeks before he could stand it to ride home. During all that time\nit was necessary to keep his feet elevated, as the pain in them when\nhanging down was unbearable.\n\nHe really never recovered the use of his feet until Spring, as the skin\npeeled off them from his ankles to the ends of his toes, and the nails\nalso were shed.\n\nHe has always since regarded the help he received from Brothers Howard\nand Hess as a direct answer to his prayer.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nSENT ON A MISSION--STRICKEN WITH CHILLS AND FEVER--PRESIDENT OF\nMISSION PROFFERS TO RELEASE HIM--UNWILLING TO BE RELEASED--INSTANTLY\nHEALED WHEN ADMINISTERED TO--TWIN BOYS HEALED IN ANSWER TO ELDER\nBROWN'S PRAYER--ELDER BROWN HAS A RELAPSE--INSTANTLY HEALED WHEN AGAIN\nADMINISTERED TO--AGAIN URGED TO ACCEPT HIS RELEASE--FIELD OF LABOR\nCHANGED--HEALTH FAILS, AND HE IS SENT HOME--REPROVED BY PRESIDENT\nWOODRUFF--VICTIM OF A STREET CAR ACCIDENT--HEALED IN ANSWER TO PRAYER.\n\nIn 1895 Brother Brown went on a mission to the Southern States, and\nlabored chiefly in Tennessee. He suffered severely from chills and\nfever, and Elias S. Kimball, president of the mission, wanted to\nrelease him to return home. He was ambitious, however, to remain the\nusual length of time, and make a record as an efficient missionary, and\nprotested against being released. He had faith that he would be healed\nif administered to, and requested Elder Kimball to anoint his head with\noil and pray for his recovery. While Elder Kimball's hands were still\nupon his head he felt that he was completely healed, and was apparently\nas free from the ailment afterwards as if he had never been affected by\nit.\n\nHe entered again upon his labors with zest, enjoyed the spirit of his\ncalling and felt very much encouraged over the prospects ahead of\nmaking converts and filling a successful mission.\n\nAbout this time a man who was not a member of the Church brought two\nboys to him--twins--about six years old, who had been afflicted with\nfits almost from birth, and requested him to administer to them. He\ndid so, and they were immediately and permanently relieved of their\nailment. It created something of a sensation in the neighborhood, where\nthey were well known. The family were encouraged to investigate the\nGospel, did so deliberately and thoroughly, became satisfied of its\ntruth, were baptized and remained faithful.\n\nIn his zeal to accomplish as much as possible, Elder Brown over-exerted\nhimself and had a relapse of chills and fever, again applied to\nPresident Elias S. Kimball, was again administered to and was again\nhealed.\n\nPresident Kimball again took up a labor with Elder Brown to induce\nhim to accept his release, telling him that according to his judgment\nhe was not the kind of a man to stand the malarial climate of the\nsouth. Elder Brown, however, had set his heart upon the work and still\ndeclined to accept a release.\n\nIn the hope that a change of his field of operations might result in\nbenefit to Elder Brown, President Kimball sent him to labor in a new\ndistrict for him--in West Tennessee. He gave the President of the\nConference special instruction to take an interest in Elder Brown,\nand, if possible, guard against a recurrence of his ailment. They were\ntemporarily short of traveling Elders in that conference, but more were\nexpected to arrive soon, when it was suggested that he be released from\nacting as traveling Elder, and allowed to spend his time among the\nlarger branches, organizing Sunday Schools. President Kimball felt that\nhe could be usefully employed in that line, and be able to take better\ncare of his health, because of not being exposed to bad weather.\n\nThe result was that the new Elders did not arrive when expected, and\nElder Brown was kept laboring as a traveling Elder in that field five\nand a half months, instead of only a couple of weeks, as intended. He\nwas laboring \"without purse or scrip,\" having agreed to so labor when\nhe first arrived in the mission. While he had faith enough to do so, it\ninvolved hardships for which he was in no way fitted, because of his\nimpaired health. He was determined not to give up, and not to volunteer\nany information in regard to his health either to the conference\npresident or to President Kimball. He grew so bad that he suffered\nconstantly from chills and fever, lost flesh until he was a mere shadow\nof his former self and for more than a week at a stretch was almost\nwholly without sleep. His companion had urged him many times to make\nhis condition known to the mission president, but all in vain. Finally\nhis companion became really alarmed about his case, and posted a letter\noff himself to the mission president, informing him of Elder Brown's\ncondition.\n\nBrother Brown seemed to be very slow about learning that the Lord\nrequired the missionaries engaged in his ministry to use wisdom in\nthe matter of conserving their health, to avoid undue exposure, the\ndrinking of impure or contaminated water, going heedlessly in the way\nof epidemics, etc. While the Lord has the power to heal them, and they,\nbeing in His service, should have a special claim upon His protection\nand blessing, they should not knowingly \"tempt the Lord.\" The account\ngiven us in the Bible of Satan taking the Savior up on to the pinnacle\nof the Temple and proposing that he cast Himself down, may serve as\nan illustration of the principle under consideration. Of course, the\nFather had it in His power to save Him, but the injunction was, \"Thou\nshalt not tempt the Lord thy God.\" In the ordinary nature of things\ncertain penalties follow the breaking of certain laws. One of the laws\nof nature is that the human body is incapable of enduring an intense\nheat. If it comes in contact with fire the flesh is burned, and pain\nand suffering and perhaps dissolution follows. Of course, the Almighty\nis able to arrest the operation of a law of nature, as He did in the\ncase of the three Hebrew children that the Bible tells us of being cast\ninto the fiery furnace, but there was special reason for His doing so\nin their case. They were in the line of their duty, and it was because\nof their devotion to His cause that they were cast into the furnace,\nand there was therefore more reason for the Lord coming to their rescue\nthan there would have been had they voluntarily gone into the fire, and\nthus \"tempted the Lord\" to suffer them to be destroyed.\n\nEvery missionary owes it to himself, to his family, to the people among\nwhom he is sent to labor and to the cause he represents, to take good\ncare of his health, to consider differences in climate, and food, and\nwater and altitude, any or all of which may affect him injuriously\nunless great care be exercised on his part until he become acclimated\nor accustomed thereto.\n\nElder Brown had exhibited more zeal than wisdom in persisting in\nstaying in the mission field after his President had advised him to go\nhome, in enduring hardships and privations that were enough to break\nthe constitution of a thoroughly healthy man in his anxiety to make a\nrecord as a missionary. Of course his traveling without purse or scrip\nrendered him more subject to exposure than if he had been entirely\nmaster of the situation by having money in his pocket to pay for food\nand lodging and transportation whenever required. But if he had been\nimpressed with the fact that his health was of the first importance,\nand that being out in a shower or even getting his feet wet, and\nespecially going to bed in his wet clothing meant endangering his\nhealth in the malarial region in which he traveled, he would have been\nless reckless than he really was. If he had realized that the natural\neffect of fasting--voluntary and involuntary--to which he had been\nsubjected, sometimes to an excessive degree, was to weaken his body and\nrender it less capable of withstanding disease and enduring hardship,\nhe might have curbed his enthusiasm, and been more moderate in that\nrespect. As it was, his zeal and enthusiasm really made him reckless,\nand there is little doubt that he has suffered ever since as a result.\n\nWhen President Elias S. Kimball received the letter from Elder Brown's\ncompanion informing him of the real situation, he sent peremptory\norders for the release of the suffering missionary and had him\nforwarded home without delay.\n\nOn his arrival in Salt Lake City he called upon President Woodruff and\nreported his labors in the mission field, and was taken to task for his\nreckless disregard of the rules of health. He was told that it was his\npositive duty to return home when the President of the mission wished\nto release him, as he was the man whose privilege it was to know the\nwill of the Lord on the subject. His persistence in remaining in the\nmission and continuing his labors under such unfavorable conditions\nafter such ample warning as he had received of the danger, was really\ntempting the Lord. The fact that the Lord had mercifully healed him on\ntwo different occasions in the mission field, did not even justify him\nin continuing the risk in the face of the mission president's protest.\n\nHow far his good intentions served as a palliation of his offense, is\na matter of conjecture. That the Lord has not cast him off is evident\nfrom the fact that he enjoys a goodly degree of His spirit. He is a\nfaithful laborer in the cause of God, but his usefulness is very much\nimpaired by his poor health.\n\nBrother Brown has had many evidences since his return from his mission\nof the willingness of the Lord to hear and answer his own prayers\nand the prayers of others in his behalf. As an instance, he mentions\nthat he was accidentally thrown from a street car on the evening of\nJanuary 30, 1913. He was unconscious when picked up, and taken to a\nhospital, and remained so until 10 o'clock the next morning, when he\nrallied. Upon examination, it was found that his nose had been broken,\nthree teeth knocked out, four ribs fractured and a rupture produced.\nThree days afterwards, while suffering from internal hemorrhage and in\nvery great pain, he called for Brother William Newell to administer\nto him. He felt a change occur while the hands of the Elder were upon\nhis head and testifies that it was by the power of God that he was\nhealed. His improvement from that time was rapid, and the readiness and\ncompleteness of his recovery surprised his friends and the doctors who\nknew the extent of his injuries.\n\n\n\nRemarkable Patriarchal Blessing\n\nDR. GLEDHILL'S WIFE OPERATED UPON REPEATEDLY FOR INTERNAL\nTUMOR--BLESSED BY A PATRIARCH--PROMISED THAT SHE SHOULD RECOVER AND\nGIVE BIRTH TO MORE CHILDREN--SCIENTIFIC OPINIONS UPSET BY FULFILLMENT\nOF INSPIRED PROMISE.\n\nWhen we read the many miracles in healing that we find recorded in\na few chapters in the Bible, one is apt to think that to-day these\nthings are not found among us so generally now as anciently, but\non more mature thought, one will discover that there are many more\nmanifestations of God's healing power to-day on record than in the Holy\nBible.\n\nBeing a physician, and dealing with that most sacred and miraculous\nthing we call life, I often see the power of God made manifest through\nhis authorized servants, and I have personally taken part in this holy\nordinance of the administration with oil, where healing, and other\nblessings have occurred.\n\nYoung people sometimes fail to appreciate the priesthood of God. They\nlittle realize the power and blessing that may come through this\nchannel. It is with a heart full of gratitude for His Priesthood and\nthe blessings that have come to me and mine from this channel, and\nwith a prayer in my heart that faith may be kindled in the heart of\nsome reader, that I write the following narrative of what I consider a\nmodern miracle.\n\nMrs. Gledhill, my wife, had been ill for one and a half years; had been\nto two hospitals including the L. D. S. Hospital of Salt Lake City,\nand had been examined by five of the best doctors in the State of Utah\nand their advice and treatment faithfully followed, but her symptoms\ngradually grew worse. Three times a slight operation had been performed\nwith no improvement, and it was decided that a major operation would be\nnecessary.\n\nJust prior to this time President William H. Seegmiller had just been\nreleased from his duties as Stake President of Sevier Stake, an office\nwhich he held with honor and credit for thirty years, and had just been\nappointed a patriarch in the Church. Mrs. Gledhilll requested him to\ngive her a patriarchal blessing, and among other things he promised\nher, first, that she should become a well woman, and second, that she\nshould become a mother in Israel of additional children.\n\nShe was operated upon by two of the best known doctors in the State.\nOn opening the abdomen they found a large tumor of the uterus that\nwas also attached to the bowel. The doctors consulted each other and\ntold me that the growth was probably the most fatal of all growths\nknown in surgery to-day, and that the only hope of her life would be\nby the removal of the uterus and surrounding tissue, and even then her\nprospects for recovery would be very small. Then it was that the faith\nmy parents and teachers had tried so hard to instill within me came to\nmy rescue, and I told the doctors that she would live and that I would\nunder no circumstances consent to have her uterus removed and thus\nprevent the fulfillment of a prophecy uttered by the servant of God in\na patriarchal blessing to my wife. I was told that it would recur, and\nthat she would lose her life if I refused, and that according to all\nthe teachings of science and their own extended experience it would be\nvery unwise to leave any part of the uterus. I told them that I would\ntrust the Lord, and in this I was not alone, for Mrs. Gledhill had made\na special request, before being operated on, that whatever else was\ndone, not to allow anything that would make impossible the blessing\nthat she had received, and to which she clung with great faith.\n\nThe result was that about one-third of the uterus was removed in\norder to get the tumor. The doctors gave us very little hope even\nof her recovering from the operation. She slowly and gradually\nimproved, it seemed for five months, when I discovered that the\ngrowth was recurring. Just prior to this I had received the following\nheart-rending news. The pathologist of the L. D. S. Hospital, who made\nthe microscopical examination of the tumor which was removed, wrote\nme in effect as follows:--That he was \"sorry the whole uterus had not\nbeen removed, and it was a question in his mind if it wouldn't be best\neven yet to have the complete removal of the uterus undertaken, as this\nwould give the only hope of recovery.\"\n\nAnother doctor wrote me, saying that all the authorities he had\nconsulted said that these tumors are fatal, no matter what is done.\n\nI then turned to my text book on this subject and read as follows:\n\"Seventy-five per cent of all cases terminate fatally within six\nmonths.\" Then in italicized words it said \"Cyncisiomia Malignant is the\nmost fatal of all known tumors, that by an early and complete removal\nof the uterus before metastasis has taken place, some cases, it has\nbeen reported, have been cured.\"\n\nAt times in the past I have felt that my troubles were great, but\nnow it seemed that all the powers of evil were arrayed against me. I\nthought of how willingly my wife had undergone the hardships incident\nto going to school in the east with very limited means, and of the many\ntender circumstances connected with our courtship and newly married\nlife, etc., and now to think of her being taken from me, was more than\nmy failing heart could stand. So that I humbled myself before God as I\nnever had done before, although all my life I had been a praying man.\n\nBut yet there was seen during all this time, dimly and at the close of\nthis trouble more clearly, a silver lining to this great dark cloud.\nIt was the promise of President Seegmiller. I took these letters above\nquoted from with my text book and read them to President Seegmiller\nand then asked him point blank if it was he who had made the promise,\nor if it was from God. I told him I must know immediately, Yes or No.\nPresident Seegmiller, in his calm but positive way, told me that when\nhis hands were upon my wife's head with his eyes closed, he saw her a\nwell and perfect woman and said he, \"I cannot take back what I have\nsaid, for it is from God.\" From this moment on there never was a moment\nthat we have ever doubted or lost faith in this promise.\n\nMrs. Gledhill was operated on again. The tumor had recurred as had been\npredicted. This time she refused to go to the hospital, and I operated\non her myself, putting by trust in God. I found several tumors had\nstarted, and it was impossible to remove them all, so I removed the\nlarge one in the scar of the previous operation and left the others on\naccount of the great hemorrhage. About two weeks after this operation,\ninflammatory rheumatism set in, and for eight long weeks we \"wrestled\"\nwith the Lord for her life; nor were we alone, for we summoned all\navailable help. Her name was sent to all the temples for the prayer\ncircle. The Primary Stake Board, of which she was in the presidency,\nprayed for her as a board and individually. Her kindergarten class in\nSunday School prayed for her and brought bouquets of flowers to her\nbed, and for five weeks two Elders called and petitioned the Throne of\nGrace in her behalf. Finally, it seemed that the Lord had tested us\nsufficiently; she became better and finally well.\n\nCan my college professor tell me any more that there is no God? Can I\ndoubt His power or the truth of His restored priesthood? Can I afford\nto dishonor that sacred priesthood? No, no more than I can say black is\nwhite. Men may try to explain this some other way, but we know better,\nand we thank God for every gift and blessing he has given us.\n\nThere is the second part of this blessing I want to tell you about.\nMrs. Gledhill had been in good health for nearly three years, and we\nbecame very anxious for the Lord to grant us the second part of His\npromised blessing, namely, that additional children should come to our\nhome. We talked it over and decided that when we went to the temple to\ndo work for the dead, as it is our custom to do once each year, that we\nwould have Mrs. Gledhill washed and annointed for this special blessing.\n\nOn arriving at the temple we told President Anderson that we had great\nfaith that the Lord would keep His promise to us, but we were impatient\nand wanted to intercede for the Lord to grant us this blessing now.\nWhen the sisters were washing and anointing Mrs. Gledhill, the\nspirit of the Lord whispered to her an assurance of our desire, and\nat the conclusion of this Holy ordinance she came and told me of\nthis assurance she had received, and that she knew it was from God.\nPresident Anderson, who was mouth in the prayer that was offered in\nher behalf, at the conclusion of this Holy ordinance promised her the\ndesire of her heart. After working in the temple two or three days for\nour dead, we returned home.\n\nIn the required time from this temple blessing God gave us an\neleven-pound son, notwithstanding the predictions of the doctors to\nthe contrary. Our hearts are so full of gratitude that we wish we\ncould tell the whole world of this modern miracle. On hearing of\nMrs. Gledhill's condition, one of the doctors wrote and asked one to\ntake her to a hospital to be confined, and suggested that operative\ninterference might be necessary. But instead of doing this we called in\nthe Elders at this critical hour, and our baby was born naturally. No\nsooner had the birth occurred than I sent word to the doctors, who, by\nthe way, are very dear friends of mine, and told them of our promised\nson.\n\nIn conclusion let me bear you my testimony that I know that God lives\nand that the divine plan of salvation, called \"Mormonism\" is the only\nplan that will bring genuine happiness and joy to the souls of men; and\nthat, as far as I have been able to learn, there is no known scientific\nfact that does not harmonize with this revealed gospel. The longer I\nlive, and the more I study, the more virtue I see in our gospel; and\nfor this testimony I thank God.\n\nT. R. GLEDHILL, M. D.\n\nRichfield, Utah.\n\n\n\nLambert Reminiscence\n\nAPPLIES FOR WORK UPON NAUVOO TEMPLE--ACCEPTS WORK WITHOUT PROSPECT OF\nPAY--HIS HAT STONED--OFFERED WORK BY LUCIFER, WHO DISPLAYS ABUNDANCE OF\nGOLD--JOURNEY WESTWARD--MONEY PROVIDENTIALLY FURNISHED FOR COMPLETION\nOF WAGON--MONEY FOR MEDICINE OBTAINED IN LIKE MYSTERIOUS WAY--ARRIVAL\nIN WINTER QUARTERS--AMBITION TO GO WEST WITH PIONEERS--PLAN FOILED BY\nINDIANS KILLING TEAM ANIMALS--PRESIDENT YOUNG'S CONFIDENCE--NEW SHOES\nPROVIDENTIALLY FOUND--DISLOCATED ARM PROVIDENTIALLY RESTORED TO USE.\n\nWhen Charles Lambert, in the early part of 1844, arrived in Nauvoo,\nfresh from his native land, England, he was full of zeal for his\nnewly-found religion, and willing to devote his life to the service of\nthe Lord. He applied for work upon the Temple, showing credentials from\nmaster workmen, under whom he had served in England, that testified to\nhis superiority as a mechanic. He was informed that there was plenty\nof work for him to do, but no pay. The means that had been subscribed\nfor the building of the Temple had been exhausted. Many of the most\nskillful workmen had already found employment elsewhere, and it\nlooked as if the work would have to cease unless more funds could be\ncollected. He said he had come to Nauvoo with a determination to help\nbuild the Temple, and he proposed to do so if he never received any\npay. He was accordingly set to work. He had been a master workman or\ncontractor for a long time before leaving England, and consequently\nwore only good clothes; in fact, he had none suitable to wear while\nworking as a tradesman. He therefore appeared for work wearing a good\nsuit of clothes and a high silk-finished hat. He hung his hat up in the\nwork-shop, donned an improvised cap and apron and commenced work.\n\nMany of those employed upon the Temple were Americans who seemed to\nhave a contempt for foreign mechanics, and especially for dandies in\nthat line, and to show their contempt, or else in a spirit of fun or\nmischief, they threw spalls at the \"stove pipe\" hat as it hung in the\nshop until they cut it to pieces.\n\nCharles Lambert wisely saw the folly of quareling with his fellows over\nthis act of vandalism, so he ignored it, and treated the perpetrators\nof it as if it had not occurred. His courteous and dignified conduct\nand lack of ostentation, combined with his superiority as a workman\nsoon overcame the prejudice arrayed against him and won the respect if\nnot the admiration of his fellow workmen, and he got along agreeably\nwith them.\n\nSo many of the mechanics quit work from sheer necessity and went\nelsewhere to seek employment that the question of how and when the\nTemple was ever to be completed became more of a problem every day.\n\nCharles Lambert and one of his fellow mechanics (W. W. Player) who\nalso was an Englishman, and a man of faith, discussed this problem\nbetween themselves, and voluntarily pledged themselves to continue\nat work until the Temple was built whether they were paid for their\nservices or not. It is one thing, however, for a man to deny himself\nand quite another to deny a dependent wife and children the comforts or\nnecessaries of life.\n\nCharles Lambert had married during the first year of his residence in\nNauvoo and undertaken the support of two brothers and a sister of his\nwife, who had recently been orphaned and were helpless. He felt keenly\nhis responsibility, and wished for money as he never had done before.\nWhile feeling thus he was passing along the street in Nauvoo one day\nwhen he met a well-dressed, genteel stranger who inquired if his name\nwas Charles Lambert. On being told that it was, he said his name was\nHiggins, and that his home was in Missouri. With an ingratiating smile\nhe said \"I have heard of your skill as a workman, and want you to go\nto Missouri and work for me. You are not appreciated or properly paid\nhere. If you will quit the Temple and go and work for me you can name\nyour own price and you will be sure of your pay. You see I have plenty\nof money with which to pay you.\" Suiting the action to the word, he\nthrust his hand into his pocket, and drew it out full of $10.00 and\n$20.00 gold pieces, which he displayed in a tempting manner, and urged\nhim to accept his offer and not to submit any longer to the unfair\ntreatment accorded him at the Temple. With a gesture of impatience\ncalled forth by the intimation of unfairness, Father Lambert thanked\nthe stranger for his offer, but said he couldn't think of accepting it.\nHe said he had no complaint to make of his treatment at the Temple,\nand the price others would pay for work they wished done would not\ninfluence him in the matter, as he intended to continue on at the\nTemple from principle. Bidding the stranger \"Good-day\" he turned to\ncontinue his walk along the street, but almost immediately the query\narose in his mind as to how the stranger knew his name, and where he\ngot his information from about his skill as a mechanic, and turned\nto take a final look at the stranger, when lo! he was no-where to be\nseen. He had disappeared as completely as if the ground had opened and\nswallowed him, and yet he had not had time by any ordinary means of\nlocomotion to get out of sight. His opinion then was, and remained so\nup to the day of his death, that he had been talking with no other than\nSatan, the prince of tempters, and though he had not yielded to his\ntempting offer he was vexed with himself for listening to him at all,\nand especially to his insinuations about the Temple management.\n\nWhen Father Charles Lambert left Nauvoo he entered upon an order of\nlife that was entirely new to him--that of a frontiersman. In remaining\nin Nauvoo until the work on the Temple ceased he not only followed the\ncounsel of the authorities of the Church, but fulfilled also the vow\nthat he has personally made to do so regardless of compensation. There\nwas, however, an additional reason for his so doing. While continuously\nemployed upon the Temple he had no opportunity of earning by work\nelsewhere the necessary equipment for migrating. He had, partly by his\nown labor at odd times and partly by help from others, completed the\nwood work for a wagon but lacked the required iron to finish it, or\nthe necessary money with which to buy it. Preparation for the journey\nwas thus effectually blocked for some time until the money was finally\nprovided in a most miraculous manner, as a direct answer to prayer.\nHe had been out in a rainstorm one day and had returned home drenched\nto the skin. After changing his clothes he hung his wet trousers over\na chair back before the fire to dry. When he was about to resume the\nuse of the same clothes again after they had become dry, an English\ngold sovereign and fifteen cents in silver rolled out of the trousers\npocket upon the floor, notwithstanding the fact that he had previously\nhad no money. This was just the amount required for the purchase of\nthe iron, and the wagon was soon completed. This was not the first\ntime money to supply a dire necessity had been furnished the family in\nanswer to prayer in a most mysterious manner. Once when Charles J.,\nthe first child in the family was taken violently ill and money was\nneeded and prayed for with which to buy medicine the father entered\nthe house feeling something that he had discovered in the waist-band\nof his trousers, and which he remarked felt like money. On having the\nwaist-band ripped open the object was found to be twenty-five cents,\njust the amount required for the medicine. They would not use it,\nhowever, until they had inquired of the tailor who made the pants a\nshort time previously if he had lost it, but he said he could not\npossibly have accidently sewed the money in the waistband when making\nthe pants, for he had no money. In both of these instances the money\nwas accepted as a gift from the Lord.\n\nDriving team, and especially an ox team, was a new experience for\nCharles Lambert; but what he lacked in experience or tact he more\nthan made up in kindness to his animals and willingness to sacrifice\nhimself to save them. The team consisted of a yoke of full grown oxen,\na yoke of young steers and a yoke of cows--all unbroken. Of course\ncommon produce demanded that the driver walk beside the team while\nthe animals were wild or where the roads were bad, as they frequently\nwere, but when the team became tractable and the roads were good a\nteamster inclined to self-indulgence would certainly have ridden. Not\nso, however, with Charles Lambert, who so sympathized with his team\nanimals that he refused to buy a whip when starting on the journey\nlest he might in a rash moment be tempted to abuse them. In the\nexuberance of his young manhood he preferred to walk, and it may be\nsaid that he practically if not literally walked the whole of the way\nfrom Nauvoo to Salt Lake Valley. On arriving at Winter Quarters--the\nmain camp of the migrating Saints--it was late in November, and he\nremained there personally only long enough to build a log cabin to\nshelter the family and then went to Missouri to find work. He was\nambitious to journey westward with the pioneers, and to earn all he\ncould in the meantime. He was doomed to disappointment, however, for\nthe Indians killed the team animals in the Spring of 1847, after the\noxen had been brought through the winter in fine shape. This was a\nserious set back, but, undismayed by this misfortune, he returned to\nMissouri, taking his family with him, to work for another outfit. The\nmention of an incident that occurred at Winter Quarters will serve to\nillustrate the confidence the Church leaders had in the subject of\nour sketch. During a council meeting that was being held there some\nperson reported that he had heard that Charles Lambert was living\nin Missouri among non-Mormons and would probably lose the faith if\nindeed he had not already apostatized. President Brigham Young replied\nimmediately, \"You need not worry about Charles Lambert. I am willing to\nanswer for all the sins he commits in Missouri.\" Samuel Turnbow, who\nwas present at the council and afterwards related the incident, said\nhe was so impressed with the remark of Brigham Young and so pleased\nwith his rebuke to the retailer of gossip, that he ever afterwards\nlonged to become acquainted with Charles Lambert. He not only did so\nat the earliest opportunity, when they met in the Salt Lake Valley,\nbut remained an ardent friend up to the time of his death. President\nYoung's confidence was not misplaced. Charles Lambert's loyalty to the\nChurch and its leaders never wavered.\n\nIt was on President Young's advice that the Lambert family returned to\nMissouri again in the Spring of 1848, instead of migrating to Utah that\nyear, as they intended, and so it happened that they did not arrive\nin Utah until the fall of 1849. On the journey across the plains no\nmember in the large company, which included 100 wagons, too a more\nactive part than did Charles Lambert. When the company was organized he\nwas appointed captain over ten wagons, did his duty as such with zest\nand set an example to the whole company in the matter of early rising,\nproviding fuel, caring for the animals, etc. While on the plains his\nshoes gave out and his feet became very sore. Early one morning while\nhe and a companion named Wm. Bateman were out rounding up the stock and\nthe grass was hurting his feet badly, he said as he hobbled along, \"I\ndo wish the Lord would send me a pair of shoes.\" They had not proceeded\nmuch farther when he noticed some dark looking object protruding above\nthe grass a short distance ahead. Pointing it out to his companion, he\nremarked that one of the animals must have lost his bell, and walked\nalong intending to recover it. Imagine his surprise when he discovered\nas he approached the object that it was not a bell but a pair of new\nshoes, looking as fresh as if they had just come from the shelf of a\nstore. The sole of one was sunk into the top of the other, so that\nthey would occupy as little space as possible--the shape in which\nstoga shoes were kept in pairs in a shoe store in that age, before it\nbecame the vogue to keep them in paste board boxes. The place in which\nthey were found was so far from a traveled road as to render it highly\nimprobable that they had fallen there from a passing wagon, nor indeed\nwas there any wagon tracts visible in the vicinity of the place. No\ntime was lost in speculation as to how the shoes happened to be there,\nbut Father Lambert jumped to the conclusion that they were there for\nhis special benefit, and exclaimed, \"The Lord has sent me some shoes!\"\nHis companion, however, put in a counter claim by saying, \"One shoe\nis mine, for I helped find them!\" But the shoes proved to be entirely\ntoo small for him to wear, while they fit Father Lambert as if they\nhad been made for him. The result was that he retained the undisputed\npossession of them.\n\nEarly life in Salt Lake Valley was exceptionally serious. Hard work\nand long hours were the portion of every one who was able and willing\nto work, and Charles Lambert was unusually able and more than willing\nto do his full share. His robust constitution, which for a long time\nseemed able to withstand anything, in time yielded to the unusual\nstrain, the severe privations and the frequent hardships and exposure\nto which he was subjected. He contracted inflammatory rheumatism,\nwhich frequently affected his eyes and sometimes rendered him almost\ncompletely blind, and actually drew his shoulder out of joint, so that\nfor a period of several months he was unable to use his right arm even\nto dress himself. He was examined by surgeons while thus crippled,\nwho were unanimous in declaring that the shoulder was dislocated, and\nin urging him to have it set; but he absolutely maintained that he had\ndone nothing to displace the joint, that the Lord knew better than man\nthe nature and cause of his trouble and that he would trust in the\nLord to cure him. It may be interesting here to relate how he again\nobtained the use of his arm. A man by the name of Gallup at that time,\n(about the year 1853) resided in the 7th ward, where also was the home\nof the Lambert family. This man though he had a membership in the\nChurch was a rank apostate at heat, and quite active in advocating the\ndoctrines of Gladden Bishop, a notorious dissenter from the Church,\nand maligning the Church Authorities. Gallup held the office of school\ntrustee in the ward, (an office which in those days was usually filled\nby appointment of the Bishop or election in a Church meeting and not\nby vote of the tax payers as in later times) and this afforded him\nsome prestige in circulating among the people his apostate principles.\nFather Lambert protested to the ward bishopric against such a man being\nretained as school trustee. As a result, a meeting of the Priesthood\nof the ward was appointed by the Bishop to consider the matter. When\nthe meeting opened Gallup was informed that his fealty to the Church\nhad been questioned, and was asked to state his feelings. He arose and\nboldly declared his unbelief in the doctrines of the Church, and then\nproceeded to say that Joseph Smith was a wicked and adulterous man;\nhe had associated with drunkards, his lot was cast with the hypocrite\nand unbeliever and he had gone to hell. The assembly listened with\nastonishment almost with stupefaction to the man's utterances, without\napparently any thought of resenting his slanderous imputations, with\nthe exception of one man. Charles Lambert was seated in the opposite\nside of the room, and a number of benches intervened between him and\nGallup, but springing to his feet he leaped over the benches and rushed\ntowards Gallup, crying out as he did so, \"I will send you to hell,\" and\nraising his right arm, that he had never been able to use for months,\nwas about to deal him a blow with his clenched fist, when Gallup\ndodged backward to escape from him, and others seized his belligerent\nassailant to prevent a collision; at the same time a chorus of voices\ncried out in surprise, \"Brother Lambert has recovered the use of his\narm!\" The meeting ended by Gallup bein deprived of office and also\nfellowship in the Church by vote of the assembly, and Charles Lambert\nreturned home rejoicing in the use of his arm, which was now free from\npain; and Mother Lambert wept for joy when she met him at the door and\nsaw him swinging his arm high above his head and heard him declare it\nwas as good as ever.\n\nThough a fiery-tempered man, and hasty to act in the defense of his\nfriends or his principles, he was essentially a man of peace, and his\nlife was an object lesson before his family of patient endurance of\nbodily ills, perseverance in the midst of obstacles and unwavering\nfidelity to his religion. Courage is not always best displayed in\nfighting; generosity not always in ostentations giving; zeal not always\nin outward show of piety. He had all of these and many other good\nqualities, but not for public parade. He never shrank from duty however\ngreat the danger or exacting the bodily exertion involved. The cry of\ndistress never appealed to him in vain; the needy never had to ask\nhim for aid, for he sought them out and quickly and quietly gave them\nfreely of the best he had.\n\n\n\nA Timely Warning\n\nVISIT TO A VOLCANO--MADAM PELE'S HAIR--NARROW ESCAPE FROM FALLING INTO\nA VOLCANO.\n\nTwo \"Mormon\" Elders--missionaries on the Sandwich Islands--once had\noccasion to visit that great natural wonder, the Kilauea volcano on the\nisland of Hawaii, which is the largest island of the group. The Kilauea\nis 4,000 feet above sea-level and is on the side of a mountain, which\nrises 10,000 feet higher. On the top of this mountain is the master\nvolcano of the Pacific.\n\nAt the time of the visit mentioned the Kilauea activity was confined\nto an immense cavity in the center of the crater valley, which is\nthree miles in diameter and sunken two hundred feet below the surface,\nwith black walls surrounding it which could only be descended with\nthe utmost caution. While traversing this black surface, to reach the\nliving lake of molten lava the visitor is liable to break through a\nblister and imagine he is about to make an involuntary descent into\nthe fiery liquid below until he grasps the surface with his hands and\nobtains a firmer footing. On reaching the \"lake\" he looks downward\ntwo hundred feet upon a restless moving mass of red hot lava, surging\nagainst the rocky sides with such force as to throw masses of lava\ninto the air, there to be caught by heavy gusts of wind and spun out\ninto threads that bear some resemblance to a woman's hair. Indeed it\nis called \"Madam Pele's hair,\" that is, the hair of \"Pele,\" the fabled\ngoddess of the volcano.\n\nOn the occasion mentioned curiosity and ambition led the two Elders\nto walk out to the very edge of the crater in order to look down more\ndirectly upon the fantastic display of the red hot mass. One of them\neven ventured to stand upon a projecting point of rock, veneered\nover with black and glossy lava, from which vantage point he watched\nthe changes constantly occurring upon the surface of the crater. The\nglaring red lava sometimes cools very rapidly, and the surface of the\ncrater may change in appearance within a few minutes from a brilliant\nred to a glossy black. Then within a few minutes a strip of red may\nappear across the surface, as if it were furrow plowed by some mighty\ngenii, and then extending from this line, as if by magic, the black\nsurface caves in or is overflowed by the fiery liquid below until the\nwhole lake is again an active pulsating mass of red molten lava. As\nthe beholder views this impressive spectacle he is apt to yield to a\nfeeling of fascination, until he contemplates the Power that controls\nthe mighty forces of nature of which that before him is only a slight\nexhibition, when a feeling of awe and sense of his own insignificance\noverwhelms him. He realizes how utterly impotent he would be if left\nto contend with such forces, and is impressed with the incomparable\nmajesty and greatness of that Being who controls, operates and holds\nin check the forces of nature, and feels like exclaiming as one of old\n\"What is man, that thou art mindful of him?\"\n\nWhile the two Elders stood upon the brink of the volcano absorbed in\nthought a sudden feeling came over the one who occupied the position\nupon the projecting rock that he remove therefrom, and he immediately\nacted upon it by walking back to where his companion stood, a few feet\ndistant. He had scarcely vacated the projecting point when it split\noff from the mainland and dropped into the seething mass below. An\ninstant's delay in acting upon the admonition that came to him would\nhave meant certain death in a most shocking form. The volcano no longer\nhad any attraction for him; on the contrary, he felt impelled to hurry\naway from the scene; he did so with a fervent feeling of gratitude to\nthe Lord for the presence of the monitor that prompted him in time to\nenable him to escape from the horrible death that menaced him.\n\nH. H. C.\n\n\n\nOne of Nature's Gentlemen\n\nFINE SPECIMEN OF MAORI--EFFECT OF THE GOSPEL UPON HIM--HIS EXCELLENT\nFAMILY.\n\n\"Piripi\" (Philip in English) Te Maari, the subject of this sketch,\nwas one of the first Maoris to embrace the Gospel in New Zealand,\nwhen the Elders opened up the work there in 1882. Truly Philip was\none of nature's noblemen. He stood six-foot-one in his stockings; was\nas straight as an arrow; was handsome and, before his death in 1897,\nhe became almost white; his hair and beard were as white as snow and\nalways kept neatly trimmed. He had a very stately walk, and on seeing\nhim approach one would intuitively stand erect and throw his shoulders\nback.\n\nHis face wore a smile that captivated and drew men and children alike\nto him. He was a leader among men, not alone among his own people, but\namong Europeans, with whom he mingled and had dealings; all learned to\nknow his worth and that he was a man far above the average in knowledge\nand goodness. He was chosen by the English government and by his own\npeople to represent the Maoris in the Colonial Government. He also\nheld many other positions of honor and trust among his people and the\nwhites. He was possessed of considerable wealth, and owned a city and\na country home, where he entertained many people, sometimes members\nof the nobility, who were on business for the Government. A most\npraiseworthy fact is that the poorest of the poor were just as welcome\nunder his roof as the wealthy were. All were treated alike.\n\nHis home life was simple. He was most devoted to his wife and children.\nHe loved to take them to his country home and spend his spare time with\nthem in the woods, the fields and in the mountains, where all nature\nsmiled on them. He felt that he could get closer to his boys and girls\nthere and teach them the lesson of life more effectually than in the\ncity, where he was kept so busy with affairs of the Government and\nnative officials.\n\nHe had seven sons and two daughters. At the death of his beloved\nwife he mourned full seventy days--an old Israelitish custom. At the\nopening of the Gospel in Maoridom, in 1882, this man had never heard\nof \"Mormonism.\" He was surrounded by worldly friends--both white and\nnative--and possessed of wealth and lands. With these surroundings\nfollowed banqueting, games, and English horse races.\n\nHe owned several very fine race horses. With all these temptations\nhe lived a good and pure life. He however, as was the custom of the\ncountry, was a user of tobacco. This he was very fond of. The class of\npeople he entertained at his home frequently indulged in the use of\nintoxicants; but these \"Piripi\" never tasted.\n\nHe attended the Episcopalian church, but always felt that there was\nsomething lacking, and he was looking for something to satisfy his\nspirit. The manner in which he became acquainted with the Gospel was\nrelated by him to the writer in substance as follows:\n\n\"Two strange men came to our home. They were unheralded by any pomp\nor display. They were not so much as dressed in the ordinary gown and\ntall hat worn by our preachers. They were clothed in very plain, but\nexceptionally clean clothing. There was something very different about\nthem from our ministers. We had been in the habit of building homes\nfor our preachers, and fed them a little better than the ordinary\nfolks; but when these things were offered to these two preachers from\na strange land--the \"land of the rising sun\"--America, they said:\n'No, we are your fellow servants, we are here to do you service, your\nsuperiors. Let us eat with you, and of what you eat.'\n\n\"Imagine our amazement--preachers eating out of a common family dish,\nand with natives too! They had with them a new book, which they\nexplained was the history of my people before they came to this land.\nThey read portions of it to us and explained that the people of whom it\nspoke had lived and died in the great land to the east--the 'land of\nthe rising sun'. We had been told by one of our native seers that the\ntrue Gospel of the Lord would be brought to the Maoris, by white men,\nwho would come from 'the land of the rising sun.'\n\nThese men were very humble, and would not accept any of our lands, as\npay; nor did they meddle with our women, but spent day and night in\npreaching and teaching us. We soon accepted the Gospel, and can not\ntell you half our joy and how the Holy Spirit was poured out upon us.\nAnd to know that we really were of the House of Israel. Why this alone\nbrought joy unspeakable to our souls. We received that long-looked for\nsomething that we had before lacked.\"\n\n\"But now,\" said Piripi, \"came the hardest task of all. They told us\nthe good news, that we had a right to the Priesthood, and could act\nas ministers to our people. They were instructed to organize a branch\namong us; and that, should we qualify ourselves, the authority would be\ngiven us to be spiritual leaders among our kindred. We must lay aside\nthe use of tobacco and we must not gamble nor race horses. They did not\nrequire us to 'sign the pledge' nor don the 'blue ribbon.' They were to\nbe gone a month, and during this time we were to consider, and fast and\npray and ask the Lord to help us decide.\n\n\"O, friends I will never forget my feelings. Had our other ministers\nrequested that we conform to this ruling we would not have done so.\nThere was not the comfort there to lead us to make sacrifices. I dearly\nloved my tobacco, and would have parted with all my wealth and lands\nrather than forsake the pipe. I did get so much good--comfort--out of\nit; and my blooded race horses were the pride of the land. But this new\ninformation--that 'we were of Israel' and might be ministers to our\nkindred--was a blessing not to be refused. They said, 'pray, fast and\nask the Great Spirit to help you to decide.'\n\n\"I took my pipe and tobacco and left my home early on the morning that\nthe Elders took their departure. Reaching a little plateau up in the\nhills, I found a huge rock. I sat down by it and cut up my tobacco\nand filled my pipe full, then took out some matches and placed them\nall on top of the stone. Then I stepped back a few paces. I looked at\nthem and said to myself: 'There,' pointing to the things on the rock,\n'is the devil, and there,' pointing away up the valley and over the\nhills in the direction of the Elders, 'is the Priesthood. Which shall\nI obey, God or the Devil?' Then I went to the opposite side of the\nrock and prayed for help. When I returned I had decided. I said, 'I\nwill not smoke my pipe again.' Then I took a stone and broke the pipe\ninto fragments. On the second and third days I can not tell the trials\nthrough which I went, and how I was tempted. By reason of the fasting\nand denying myself tobacco I became deathly sick, and on the third\nday, something suggested to me that my oath was that I would not smoke\nmy pipe again, but that I did not say 'I will not use tobacco again.'\n'Piripi, try a cigarette; it is the going without a smoke that makes\nyou so ill.' I yielded and smoked two, but I did not improve, so I\nsaid, 'I will never use tobacco again in any form. Old Satan is trying\nto cheat me out of the Priesthood that rightfully belongs to me.' When\nthe Elders returned I had--by the help of the Lord--conquered, and was\nprepared to receive the blessings that had been promised.\"\n\nLater this good man disposed of all of his race horses, and worked for\nthe uplift of his people, and died as he lived--true to the faith.\nA most remarkable thing is that all of his children followed in his\nfootsteps, and are now leading pillars in the Church. He assisted\nin proof-reading the Book of Mormon when it was translated into his\nlanguage. He died in 1897. His life was an inspiration to all who knew\nhim. What he did in the matter of controlling his appetite, and the\ncomfort he experienced as a result, should encourage others to try to\ndo so.\n\nL. G. H.\n\n\n\nPraying to Death\n\nATTEMPT OF HAWAIIAN PRIEST TO PRAY MORMON ELDER TO DEATH--HIS FAILURE\nAND HAWAIIAN DISCOMFITURE\n\nPraying to death is an old practice among the Hawaiians, that prevailed\nin former times more than at the present day. How successful it was I\nam not prepared to say. I know that it proved a failure when an attempt\nwas made to exercise it upon me over thirty years ago.\n\nAn offense, intentional or unintentional (it made no special difference\nwhich) being given, revenge was at once sought to be inflicted upon the\noffender without the shedding of blood. I suppose success was attained\noftener when the party under anathema knew or heard of what was going\non against him.\n\nThe attempt against me was so secretly kept from my knowledge that I\nknew of no such project against me until the affair was settled in\ncourt.\n\nThe episode developed, in the following way: I had leased a tract of\nrush, swampy land in Crater Valley, consisting of about fifty acres to\na Chinaman for the cultivation of rice. Within the boundaries of this\ntract was an old \"loi\" of about a half acre which in former years had\nbeen devoted to the growing of kalo roots, from which poi is made. When\nthe Chinamen began work on this loi with their big hoes two native\nwomen with native men came with a din and noise such as only Chinamen\nand Hawaiians can make and drove the Chinamen off. I was in Honolulu\nat the time. On returning Kupau, a noted lawyer for the konehike,\n(employed to watch and see that the Chinamen did not trespass upon the\nland) came to me and informed me of the fiasco, and was anxious to know\nwhat could be done to prevent strife. I advised that he muster all the\nChinamen he could and divide them into four squads; then place one\nsquad or division at each corner of the land which the natives were\ncontesting for, and have them go to work. If the natives should come\nand drive them from one corner of the land, let the Chinamen proceed\nto another corner and take the place of the Chinamen stationed there,\nwho would in turn supplant the next squad until the fourth squad should\ntake the place of those just ousted by the natives, and resume work\nuntil they in turn were driven off. In this way the Chinamen could keep\nalternating all day if necessary. My policy was to limit the contest\nif possible to the natives and Chinamen, and if litigation had to be\nresorted to I preferred to defend rather than prosecute. The plan\nworked, and after half a day of intense noise, the echo of which was\nwafted through the mountains, the natives planted a suit against me as\nthe \"konehike\" for ejectment. In connection with the planting of the\nlawsuit, the two women went and secured the services of a \"Kahunapule\"\n--a priest of the ancient order. This priest sacrificed black pigs\nand chickens and went through with his incantations while he feasted\non pork and fowls for three weeks previous to the trial. The last act\nwhich the two contesting women were instructed to do before the trial\nwas to express great love and respect for me, but they were to heap\nanathemas on Kupau, the attorney. They did meet me in a street in the\ncity of Honolulu as I was on my way to the court house.\n\nI may here add that the purpose of the kahunapule and the meeting of\nthe two women were not understood by me until after the trial was over\nand the jury, after being out two hours, came in with a verdict in my\nfavor. During these two hours I sat in the center of the courtroom with\nmy head resting on my hand. In the hall way of the courtroom sat ten\nor fifteen members of our Church, intensely interested in and anxious\nas to what the verdict should be. As I refused to go to lunch with the\nsheriff the natives believed I was praying during the two hours the\njury was out, for they knew of the kahunapule though I did not, and\nthey wanted to see which God would prove to be the more powerful. When\nthe jury came in and announced the verdict every Church member gathered\naround me with expressions of \"aloha\" far to exceed what the two women\nhad manifested to me on the street, although that was so public I felt\nashamed.\n\nThe two women left the courtroom and repaired to their Kahunapule,\nmoaning and lamenting as they traversed the streets of Honolulu.\n\nAs the accusers departed my people informed me for the first time of\nthe action of the kahunapule and told how anxiously they had awaited\nthe result. They remarked \"we watched you during the two hours the jury\nwere out and believed you were praying to God.\"\n\nAt the time of the occurrence of the court proceedings my wife and I\nwere in Honolulu ready to take the next steamer for San Francisco.\nThirty-three years have passed since then, and I am still alive,\nnotwithstanding the efforts to pray me to death.\n\nH. H. C.\n\n\n\n[Transcriber's Note:\n\nMisprints or misspellings in the text have been\ncorrected, or are otherwise as they appear in the book. Changes\ninclude: Prophet, Massacre, unusual, following, ridicule, thereafter,\nmissionary, displayed, concerned, repudiated, although, inmates,\nbishop, presume, Colonel, murderous, without, wilderness, Millard and\nscientific.]","title":"Gems of Reminiscence: Seventeenth 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":53368}