Tuesday, 27th July. I was very busy all the forenoon today preparing for my homeward journey & attending to other business pertaining to the emigration. At noon I went down to Lime Street Station to meet the Birmingham Saints. Found they had arrived ok & were well. I hired [-] cabs to take their luggage down to the Princes landing stage for ten schillings. We got there all on board ok but of course there was more or less confusion as there always is in such cases. Our people showed much patience. After working hard [p .4] all day till 9:00 we concluded we would leave the ship till tomorrow (when it is to sail). So we jumped on board the tug and came to the office half worn out & I had then to sit up till half past one to pack my own things up & get my things ready. Brother Napper who came down with me the Birmingham Saints helped me.
Wednesday, 28th. Several of us boys got ready to leave the office about 9:30 a.m. for the ship Colorado on which we are to take passage for New York. We took cab in order to get to the landing stage in time for the 10 o'clock tender (tug) to go out in the river to the ship. All went well with the Saints, they passed the doctor all ok. The last tug came out to the ship at 1 o'clock. Brother C. Napper came out on it & brought 40 or 50 beds & a lot [p. 5] of tins that the Saints had ordered for the voyage, but before he had time to collect the money for them the ship started & he had to jump off on to the tug. I paid him for them & run the risk of getting my money back again which fortunately I did, all but a few schillings. We set sail just after one o'clock p.m. & had a beautiful sail down the channel and the rest of the day. We divided the part of the ship we occupied into seven wards, appointing good men over each of them to look after the welfare of the Saints, & to keep order, peace, & cleanliness. Brother Pace was appointed president of the company & myself chaplain. I appointed the time for prayers, seven in the morning and eight at night. There was eleven of us Utah folks came cabin passage free, 10 returning missionaries & [p. 6] Sister Howard. The names are as follows: Elder John E. Pace, George Teasdale, Joel Grover, H.J. Moore, John R. Claussen, Willard Richards, Octave Ursenbach, N.B. Baldwin, William Howard, and R.E. Egan.
Thursday, 29th. The weather was fine all night last night & until about eight o'clock this morning when almost all hands on board began casting up their accounts owing to the heavy sea. We arrived at Queenstown about two o'clock & remained there for a few hours which was quite a relief to us as the waters were still in the harbor. Our stomachs got nicely settled while we were there only to get stirred up again when we put out into the open sea again. Queenstown harbor is a very beautiful one indeed & Queenstown looks in the distance to be a pretty [p. 7] place, we left there again at about 4:30 after taking on & letting off passengers. The weather was very rough & heavy sea all day. Our appetites were entirely lost. I lay in my bunk all day half gone up & did not even go down to prayers, for if I only raised my head I began to vomit.
Friday, 30th - It is still rough & I am still unable to get up. Have to scribble as I lay in my birth. Many of the Saints are very seasick & the most of the returning missionaries too. I still eat nothing. About 7:30 in the evening the steward brought me a small piece of chicken and a cup of tea. I managed a little of it & turned in for the night.
Saturday, 31st. I did not feel like going down in the steerage to prayers so [p. 8] I remained in bed. After breakfast I got up & went on deck to get the fresh air & see if I would not feel better. I remained there until it began to get cold & rain, when I retired to my state room The steward very kindly brought me in some very nice pastry by way of surprise & I relished it nicely. The sea was very rough today so much so that a lot of the Saints were very cozily seated together in a corner on deck, enjoying themselves as best they could under the circumstances. A large wave rolled over the bulwarks almost drowned half of them. Quite a number of the Saints are still seasick. Head wind yet. We are now only sailing about 8 knots per hour. In the evening I felt rather [p. 9] under the weather, so I sent the steward to the doctor for a dose of pills. I am much troubled with costiveness since leaving Liverpool.
Sunday, August 1st. The sea is not quite so rough today & we sail a little faster, about 10 knots per hour today. They had held religious service in the cabin today & there being no minister on board except Latter-day Saints, the captain read the service himself. In the afternoon the Saints had a good little meeting down in the steerage. I still felt too ill to go down. Brother George Teasdale and John E. Pace preached. In the evening I felt a little better so I went upon deck for awhile, also down among the Saints. Some of them were very ill but I [p. 10] think it is nothing but a severe turn of seasickness. I got the steward to bring me some nice tarts & cakes and took them down to try & tempt the appetites of the sick ones.
Monday, 2nd. I eat no breakfast this morning. I felt none too well as we had a rough night last night. We still have head winds. We saw the large sailing vessels today at one time, was close enough to signal one. The most of the Saints are feeling pretty well today.
Tuesday, 3rd. Head winds & ship rolling tremendously, we sailed 252 miles from noon yesterday until noon today. The passengers all had to pass the officers today & give up their tickets. There were no stowaways in our portion of the ship. [p. 11] The Saints mostly are feeling well today, as the weather is fine enough for them to go up on deck & get the fresh air. In the afternoon we had a very nice little meeting with the Saints in the steerage. I spoke for a while after which Brothers Joel Grover and John R. Claussen followed, a good spirit prevailed.
Wednesday, 4th. Another fine, fair winds in the evening. The Saints are feeling well, we had a nice little concert in the afternoon, all things are going on fine.
Thursday, 5th. Weather still fine, fair winds part of the day though scant. We sailed at the rate of 12 1/4 per hour part of the day. We came to what they call the banks of Newfoundland about 2 p.m. where it was very foggy indeed, [p. 12] they had to blow the steam whistle every few minutes, to prevent having a collision in case there should be a sail ahead of us. We had another good meeting in the evening when Brother George Teasdale spoke, feeling well & giving good instructions. We sailed 283 miles in the last 24 hours, making the best run yet.
Friday, 6th. Weather fine. Fog cleared away about noon & it turned quite warm. I feel better & the Saints are getting on fine. We sailed the last run in 24 hours, 286 miles, best yet. In the afternoon we saw a small black cloud in the distance which looked very trifling at first but before they could get the sails furled, it was upon us, wind & [p. 13] rain, & we had quite a squall for a short time only, there was no harm done.
Saturday, 7th. Rough sea last night & heavy swells this morning, but as the wind had fell the sea soon got calm. Several sails in sight in the forenoon. We had a grand concert in the saloon in the evening. The pilot came on board this afternoon. He said that the "City of Antwerp" which started one day after we did was now fifty miles ahead of us. It is a faster steamer than the Colorado.
Sunday, 8th. They held religious service in the cabin again at 10:30 a.m., the captain read it again, it was so dry that I hardly had patience to stay until it was over, [p. 14] at 2 o'clock we held our meeting with the Saints in the steerage. Brother George Teasdale preached, weather fine today but no fair winds. I saw six sails at one time, in the afternoon. In the evening we held another good meeting. Brother T. preached again.
Monday, 9th. Very fine weather today & many sails in sight through the day. We came in sight of land, (Long Island) about noon. The sights were lovely after seeing nothing but the blue waters for eighteen days. We anchored off Staten Island near New York City at 10 o'clock p.m. and will go ashore tomorrow.
Tuesday, 10th. The inspecting officers came on board early & found everything all right [p. 15] so they weighed anchor & steamed near into one of the piers & the cabin passengers got onto a tug & came ashore, myself & some of the brethren unfortunately went with him. We should have mixed up with the steerage passengers & got our luggage with theirs in order to pass the customs house officers without having our luggage examined, but we were in for it. Our boxes were all ransacked & everything pulled out & hauled about. I had to pay $27.59 in gold for three pieces of goods I bought for Brother Carrington. The Saints landed a little after noon at Castle Garden & had to prepare to remain there all night as they could not get them off today. They did not have the best of beds, but [p. 16] had to put up with it as it could not possibly be helped. We were all very busy the rest of the day, changing the Saints money into American money & settling up other business for them. I put up at the Stevens House where Brother Staines lodges, also Brother Teasdale, it is a very fine hotel, every accommodation that could be wished for, they have. Brother Teasdale & I took a room together with two beds in it.
Wednesday, 11th. We were all very busy today getting the emigration off. . . . [p. 17]
. . . I started for Salt Lake in company with the Saints who came on the "Minnesota." We had a very pleasant trip of about 10 days & only had one death on the trip & that was an infant who had been sick a long while. We laid over several half days at different points to take in provisions, change trains & to wait for the regular trains to pass &c. We also laid over a day & night at Omaha. It was terribly muddy while we were [-] and raining like mischief . The company were camped in some of the Union Pacific Railroad box cars, but some of them leaked which made it miserable for some. Myself & some of the return missionaries went up into Omaha and took lodgings as we had no bedding. We had no accident on the trip to amount to anything, but were greatly [p. 44] blessed on the whole trip. After we left Omaha one of the freight cars caught fire from some unknown cause, but was soon extinguished and there was little or not harm done.
September 16th We arrived at Taylor's switch last night & laid over till this morning. When we proceeded on to Ogden and disembarked feeling very thankful that our journey was ended as we had to set up day and night for the ten days with very few exceptions.
Here at Ogden I found my father in law (Brother Fisher) and my eldest son (Erastus) who had come with a carriage & pair of horses to meet me. We started off immediately for home where we arrived Q. A. [UNCLEAR] after a very dusty ride of thirty miles, which we made in about 5 hours including the time we stopped at Farmington. . . . [p. 45]
BIB: Egan, Richard E. Journal (Ms 8795 reel 13 #5), pp.4-17, 44-45 (CHL)
(source abbreviations)