. . . We kept our plot from our parents and did not tell a soul except a young man, Henry Phillips' brother William, and even he was kept off the scent as far as necessary, so that he did not know our real intentions. It was Friday before Bank Holiday, Monday, or the 31st of July when we left Birmingham on the London [p.25] and Northwestern Railway for Liverpool. I well remember that it was in the evening about five or six o'clock when we gazed out of the window and looked over the place of our birth and boyhood. The town was as lively as ever and the noise and surging hoists of people where each one went upon his particular business or pleasure and little heeded the two half frightened, sorrowful young men who had before them such a mission, and who were full of thought and bent on such a journey. The thoughts that crowded our minds, the fear and the hope, the faith and doubts, if I may use such an expression. What ideas crept into our hearts for it was now a fact. The long, long talk of journey which we had planned but had never had the courage to carry out and now we were fleeing like lightning speed across the lovely green country of our native land through hamlet and town and valley and hill until we reached the noisy, smoky city of ships, Liverpool.
I had kept my parents off the scent as much as possible and it was put out that we were going fishing for a couple of days at a friend's place who was a relative of Harry's as my companion was familiarly called. It was the last holiday of the season in England, (that is the first Monday in August) and therefore we were going to make the best of it. But to go on a fishing trip, to my folks was something peculiar as I had never been known to indulge in such pleasures before. They, however, concluded it was alright. I remember that just a few minutes before I left the house I went upstairs to my mother for she was so sick that she had gone to bed. I wished her goodbye and said, "Take care and keep out of difficulty." Little did she realize that I should never come back to the humble little home sitting on "Charles Henry Street." It was like pulling the very heart out to drag myself away for already there was a demand for money at home to tide us over the holiday, that is to get the clothes out of pawn and provide a little extra means for this was the last holiday of the season. And never shall I forget the struggle I had to save the little means I had saved for this great event. Time and time again I was approached by my father and mother or sisters for money to help them. Time and time again I refused them or denied that I had any. This was something new to them as I had always given up my last schilling in a time of need which was nearly all the time. It was this that caused me to spend more than I should have done for it really did seem that I might just as well enjoy myself one way as another. I clung to this little savings as if my life depended upon. Yes, more so, for just as if the very existence of our family depended on it. It was with an aching heart that I tore myself away from home and oftentimes was I tempted to abandon the effort. I will here say that having a companion and friend gave me great encouragement
When we arrived at Liverpool we first made out way to the office of the Guion Line S. S. company. We only had about four schillings over and above our fare which we had paid and our intention was to try to get aboard the ship Wyoming for that was our vessel and save the money which we would have to pay for a nights lodging because the vessel would not set sail [p.26] until the following day. At the Guion Office we were told that it was too late to go aboard and they would find us lodgings for the night for a reasonable sum. It was evident to us that the agents were looking more after the money they could get out of the emigrant than his comfort and well-being. We informed them that we wanted to find the docks and go aboard that night if possible and asked them to direct us to 42 Islington, the office of the church in Liverpool, and which the Guion company were very familiar with. Just as soon as we mentioned 42 Islington they changed their tune and treated us very politely and directed us where to go. We were soon on the way and after walking some distance found the memorable office so well known to thousands of Saints and elders.
On the way we discussed the matter of how we should be received. If they would order us home again or chide us for going in the way we had. Of course our only object in going to the office at Liverpool was to get them to use their influence for us to get on the boat that night for we did not want to walk the streets of Liverpool and pay for a night's lodgings because we had so little money and this must take care of us till we got to Chicago.
On the way to the office we tried to prepare ourselves in the best way we could by questioning ourselves as to the answers we might give President [Daniel H.] Wells if he chided us for coming away as we had done. We, however, were received by that genial and broad-minded soul, Daniel H. Wells, with all kindness. He gave us a hearty welcome, and bade his wife, Sister Wells, to prepare a supper for us. He talked with us and counseled us and we held nothing from him. After supper he blessed us and bid us God-speed. We now felt very thankful to God for the favors shown us and especially when we discovered that our course was not disapproved by the prophet of God in England. This gave us more joy and satisfaction than any money could have given us for it lifted from our souls a load of doubt and we felt more cheerful and buoyant.
By going to the office at Liverpool and telling them of our prospective voyage we discovered that a small number of Icelandic Saints were going by the same boat as we. We made the acquaintance of the brother who had charge of the company and in our presence Brother Wells instructed him to see Brother Hart, the emigration agent at New York and asked him to send us straight through if possible. Now, it seemed as if the heavens were conspiring to bless us with good things. We left the office and journeyed to the docks and after some little trouble we found the old ship, Wyoming, that was to bear us on safely and surely to the land of Ephraim. We were on the same boat even before we discovered it. It seemed that we walked on before we were aware of it. I always remember what a dark night it was for we could only discern in the thick darkness the images of ships stretching out for miles like a forest. After rummaging on the old ship to find someone on the boat who could direct us to our bunk, we, for it was late into the night, found the head steward and he showed us a bunk where we laid down on the bare boards and talked to each other concerning our exploit until sleep closed our eyes for the rest of the night. [p.27]
We woke in the midst of a noise and din occasioned by the preparations made by carpenters and others for voyage. The clanking of chains and the hallowing of coarse voices, together with the hammering and so forth soon reminded us of the reality of the scheme we had planned and thus far carried out. In a few minutes we were up on the deck looking around us for hope of something, but found nothing but the massive walls of docks on either side of us and numerous seagulls hovering around. At noon that day we sailed slowly and cautiously out of the docks and down the River Mersey as many thousands of Latter-day Saints have done before. I shall never forget the sensation experiences as the good old ship moved and crept along. Thousands of men and boys, women and girls were leaving work for it was Saturday noon and according to the English custom these hands were through for the week. I must admit that most of these people seemed jovial and in comfortable circumstances.
In a little while we sat down in the deck and each wrote a few words to the folks at home telling them to be of good cheer and all would be well and that we had been impelled to take this course for the ultimate good of all. The next was Sunday and in the morning found us at Queenstown, old Ireland. Here we mailed our letters home and prepared our hearts for the sickness, monotony, and other incidents which generally accompanied a sea voyage of those times. Our food on the boat was coarse and the care and attention given steerage passengers was almost brutal. For it was only those with cast iron stomachs and digestive organs which could eat the food and drink provided. We lay on the bare boards nearly the whole of the voyage. At Liverpool we bought one straw bed thinking we could take turns by sleeping on it alternately, but this did not work so we cut it open and tried to make two beds of it and ultimately had to do without a bed.
A kind and considerate friend on board gave us a dollar and another two schillings. The journey, though only about ten days, seemed ten months for we scarcely knew what to do with the time and no one ever hailed the sight of land with more joy than we two young men did. Arriving in New York, we went to Castle Garden and waited there until the coming of Brother Hart, the Church agent in New York. Brother [George F.] Hunter who had charge of our company came with Brother Hart and shook hands with us and treated us kindly. Of course, we wondered what Brother Hart would do, for President Wells had instructed Brother Hunter to tell Brother Hart to be sure and send us along if he could, and Brother Hunter was as interested in us as a man could be.
The sight of New York and the hurry and bustle of that modern Babylon, together with the indifference to anybody's welfare except their own had already took a good deal of nerve out of us and we ask ourselves the question, "What shall we do if left in Chicago?," for our ticket only took us that far. Instinctively we said "God help us" and then collapsed, sat motionless and awaited the verdict. We heard Brother Hunter tell Brother Hart the message of Brother Wells, but he quickly shook his head and said to us, "Boys, I should be pleased to do it if I could." He turned away and left us alone in our glory. I said to myself, "Ah, it's the same old ghost which has followed me and my father's house all our lives, namely disappointment." I bit my lips to keep back the gush of tears which were ready to [p.28] ready to [SIC] come. But no, for once the specter "disappointment" was driven away by the kindly angel of "hope" which came to our rescue. Brother Hart stepped but a few paces and then as if he had received a revelation, he turned suddenly around and said, "Boys, I believe I will help you along. Come over to my office on Battle Square in two hours and we will make arrangements to send you along." These words I shall never forget and the impression made upon us at that time will endure to all eternity, for God was surely over us and had favored all we had done so far.
After this we strolled around New York but did not go far away. We went up Broadway as far as the City Hall and saw the decoration all over the city in memory of General Grant who had been buried, I think, the day before. We saw the post office and some of the buildings of the great papers like "The World" and "The Herald." After this we went to try to find Brother Hart's office. I remember that we asked a big Irish policeman to point us the way and on discovering we were Mormons he uttered a foul oath and walked off. Arriving at the office we soon signed a note for each of our fares from Chicago to Salt Lake City. Brother Hart was more generous than we ever expected him to be for he insisted upon us taking a few dollars to provide food for nearly a week's travel on the way which we also gave a note for. And thus far on the journey we saw clearly the hand of God in our behalf. How is it that one can ever doubt God? Surely all men have been the recipients of great and wonderful favors.
In the evening of that same day we crossed the river in a boat to New Jersey and were soon flying along toward the gull of our hearts desires. This was Tuesday evening and the next few days were intensely interesting to us. Never shall I forget the wonderful sights of this great and marvelous country as we journeyed along. The heat was intense but still we could see that people paid but little attention to it but bustled, worked, and hurried along as if it were the mildest time of the year. Early on Wednesday morning I left the train at a small town in order to purchase something for breakfast and when I returned Harry showed me four dollars given to him in my absence by a brother who was on the same train and had been to England on a visit and had returned with us on the same boat. We used to talk with him on the boat and while he was very congenial we looked upon him as a very stingy man as he never gave us a thing or helped us in the least while on the ship. He, however, showed that he had a kind heart after all. This man lived at Evanston and was well to do. We lost him at New York and never expected to see him again and you can judge our surprise when we found him on the same train and left us four dollars with instructions that two of them were for me. It seemed about this time that everything was coming our way for here we had money to spare.
I will pass over the usual incidents of travel merely to say that when we arrived at Chicago we were thankful to God that our lot was not cast there indefinitely, for it seemed like a whirlpool of trouble. We picked up a young man who had been staying there some months and waiting to come up to Zion [p.29], and Brother Hunter who had charge of our little company and his passage with him to take him to Salt Lake. We took great interest in everything we saw and especially that which pertained to the history and travels of our people. I well remember how we regarded Omaha and Council Bluffs. We looked upon these places as almost sacred. Many times we would imagine we saw the old ox teams and the handcarts as they wended their way along the prairies or waded through the streams and rivers and then struggled up the rugged hills. Oh, what a journey we would say. No wonder that many grew sick and weary and laid them down to die. Yes, in our minds eye we saw them in all conditions, burying their dead by the wayside, in the corral at the shade of the evening. At prayer and at the dance, and we instinctively thanked God for the faith which these Saints had to do this work.
Everything seemed pleasant enough to us until we approached the Rocky Mountains sometime before we arrived at Evanston, and then we saw a country which wore a different dress and the sight made us homesick and this was the first tinge of homesickness which I had felt. It seemed so rugged and barren and the whole country looked as if it had leprosy, being covered with white alkali and nothing visible but a few huts here and there. The train could not ravel fast enough for us and we longed to gaze on verdure and smiling fields once more.
Early Sunday morning we arrived at Evanston, and at noon sometime at Ogden. Here we stayed for sometime and Brother Hunter met his family at the depot. Late in the afternoon we were on our way to Salt Lake City and how we rejoiced and talked and wondered and yet withal there seemed in my heart a feeling of unrest with a little disappointment at the kind of country we had to live in. I had heard the elders from Utah talk about it and my father had often said to his children that they would never see such a tame and lovely country as old England. I did not understand this until I saw the chains of everlasting and interminable hills of the great west. I remember well how dreary and forsaken the country looked west of the Jordan River in the direction of the Great Lake. But still the excitement of the journey and the unspeakable joy at being in Zion and delivered in such a marvelous manner from Babylon crowded out my mind the thoughts of the barrenness of the place.
Arriving in Salt Lake City about 7:30 o'clock and it being Sunday night everything seemed still and solemn. The little Union Pacific depot was lit by the usual arc lights and the pale moon shed a wondrous divine light upon the whole city. The city in 1885 was somewhat more old-fashioned than at the time I write, which is sixteen years afterwards, and many of the quaint old landmarks of the early fifties remained undisturbed.
Never shall I forget how our hearts throbbed with emotion as we peered all around us to catch a glimpse of the place and people, as silently our little company trudged long South Temple Street towards the tithing yard where we expected to stay until morning. Oh, how reverently we regarded everything and everybody and so sacred did everything appear to us [p.30] that we wondered almost how people could be rude or light-minded in such a sanctified city. We gazed up at the temple which was at that time about up to the roof with the towers just commenced and silently in our hearts we resolved to begin a new life with new ambitions. We felt that we were quite an important addition to them both. We spoke in a quiet manner, I may say in a whisper, for fear of appearing boisterous or in any manner unbecoming.
At the tithing yard we were received kindly and invited to eat and while doing so somebody telephoned to the fire department to learn something of a friend and companion of ours who had emigrated six years before. He was a member of the volunteer organization and happened to be there at the department when the message was sent. He soon appeared and was delighted to see us. In a few minutes we had wished our party goodbye which we have never seen or heard from since and was on our way to his parent's home. He led us along a great wide street lined with trees on either side and a bubbling stream of water running down either side of the street. It seemed as if we were in paradise. The night was a warm one and very dry and yet with all one could catch a beautiful breeze from somewhere, which refreshed both soul and body. The people sat upon the doorstep or upon the porch and chatted away the pleasant hours of the night. Young men and maidens dressed in summer costume sauntered along or stood in groups somewhere and laughed and chatted. Little children scampered around, some of them in bare legs and feet. The air was alive with the whistle of crickets and other insects while the toads and frogs lent their croak to the perpetual din. But there did seem a peace and a plenty everywhere. This wide street, we afterwards learned, was called Brigham Street, or more properly East South Temple.
Our friend conducted us along other streets until we came to the one his folks lived on, which he informed us, whatever that might mean, was on the bench. When we arrived at our friends home we found his mother and father and other members of the family reclining in rocking chairs and chatting about things in general. I well remember how astonished I was to see his family so comfortable and prosperous. It seemed to me that from the glimpse of surroundings we thought these people were very comfortably off as to the things of the world. We were received kindly and were soon answering questions about the folks in Birmingham Branch. We talked for sometime and some of the boys said they were going to bed and their bed was outside in the lot. They invited us to sleep outside and readily consented. Taking us some quilts and things we laid down on the ground and soon were gazing at the stars in heaven. This was the first time in my life that I had slept outside. Of course such a thing would hardly be possible in England except upon very rare occasions when a dry spell would occur in the summer time. I confess that I enjoy the novelty of sleeping outside in the open air the first night in Zion.
Before we slept, I looked around until I had located the constellation of the great bear and the polar star which I had so often found and located in England. I was much impressed and my prayer was that I would or might be faithful to God and his people. . . . [p.31]
BIB: Ash, Alma. Autobiography (Ms 10192), pp. 27-31. (CHL).
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