. . . Friday Feb. 24th 1854. I left Stockport on the half past ten o'clock train for Heywood. I stayed at Heywood all night and left next morning on the 40 minutes past six o'clock train for Liverpool. I arrived safe, and visited the ship that I had to sail in. John M. Wood and I found it one of the finest vessel that I had seen. It is about 60 or 70 yards long and about 48 feet broad and 7 feet 8 inches between decks in the steerage. I engaged lodgings at No. 1 Saltney Street opposite that Clarence & Stanley Docks along with Brothers John Mellison, James Wright, Samuel Charlton & Sisters Mary Bottray, Mary Wood & Mellison, John Mellison's daughter. We had comfortable beds and the liberty to cook for ourselves for which we paid one shilling per bed.

Sunday Feb. 26th. A very fine morning. I rose about seven o'clock, washed and dressed & had a walk to the vessel and then partook breakfast. After breakfast I went to see Brother Moorhouse and his son and his bookkeeper and we went to cross the river to Birkenhead along with Brothers Mellison, James Wright, Samuel Charlton & Sisters Wood and Mellison. We returned from Birkenhead and got our dinner and then I went up and saw Brother Fullmore. I had about two hours talk with him then I returned to my lodgings, took tea and went to bed after sitting and talking a little.

Monday Feb. 27th. Rose from bed about 7 o'clock. I went and got my ticket of my luggage and then I went and met my wife and children at the rail way station. I brought them down to Lloydes Beawforts & Mersey Hotel, Union Street and engaged lodgings for us. We got our breakfast and then went up to the office in Wilton Street. We saw Brother Sessions & Brother Richards but did not get our contract ticket. We came to our lodgings & got dinner and then I went to Brother Fullmore again. He told me he wanted to see Sister Fisher so I returned and took Sister Fisher together with my wife & children to Brother Fullmore No. 107 Finch Street. We had some conversation with Brother Fullmore and then we went to see the vessel in Bromley Moor Dock. We went through the vessel and returned to our lodgings, got our tea and after tea we sang a little. I went with Brother Anthoney Wright to the post office and to Georges Pier head, returned & went to bed.

Wednesday March 1. Stayed last night at Lloyd's Hotel. Today we went down to the ship and took our luggage on board and slept on the ship and received our weeks allowance of provisions. Sister Todd came to see us.

March 2nd. Stayed in the vessel to arrange things. After went to Birkenhead with Sister Todd & Fisher. This night about six o'clock sister Todd went home.

March 3rd. Still very fine weather and the ship in the dock not got her cargo yet. Men working night and day, loading her with railway slips and other things.

March 4th. Still in the dock boxing in and preparing for our journey. This day I am appointed to watch a part of the ship from 12 o'clock to 4 o'clock Sunday morning.

March 5th Sunday morning. Weather very fine but rather cold. This day the Saints are divided into 8 wards or districts and 8 presidents are appointed over them to see that order and cleanliness is observed and that the Saints meet together and as prayer night & morning. Also Brother Cambel is appointed president over the whole company and Brothers Woodard and McDonnell, his counselors.

March 6th Monday. This morning I went on watch again at 12 o'clock until 4 & walk up the upper deck. Weather still fine and favorable but the vessel not loaded. Expecting to go out in the river tomorrow.

Tuesday 7th. Fine weather & the wind fair but the vessel cannot go out of dock on account of low water. [p.9]

Wednesday. Ship removed yesterday but not out of dock and now waiting of high tide for her to go out in the river. This morning I was called up again to watch between decks from 12 o'clock until 4 o'clock. We are still all well with the exception of a slight cold which causes us to watery noses that is, me & my wife & sister Fisher.

Thursday March 9th. Weather very fine & favorable but we are still in the dock. This day they have made up the hatch ways and cleaned down the decks ready for off. We have received our rations today and we are all in pretty good health. Tonight I have to go on the watch again at 8 o'clock until 12 o'clock.

10th & 11th. We are still in the dock stowing in our cargo and all is well.

12th Sunday morning. The tide is pretty high and we are preparing for leaving the dock 18 minutes past 10 o'clock. The tide us up and the steamer is come to tug us out. We go with a good breath until the steamer has left us and about 4 o'clock the sun is very powerful and not a breath of wind to be felt. Scarcely it appears as if we had got into another climate until towards night the wind began to rise and about 12 o'clock it began to blow very fresh so that they had to reef the sail and tack about.

13th Monday. The wind continues to blow very hard against us so that it tossed the tins and boxes about and nearly all on board was sick and towards night it gets stronger so that we had to take a pilot on board and tack about and go back again all night. My wife [Elizabeth] & son John has been very sick today. Also Sister [Mary Ann] Fisher and our Samuel has been sick but not so bad as the others. I have not felt anything of it yet.

14th Tuesday. We are very near to the Welsh Mountains again this morning going towards Liverpool. The wind has abated and the sea is calmer.

15th, 16th, & 17th Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday. The wind is strong and against us so that we had to tack about many times in order to make a little progress and most of the passengers on board sick Friday night. We are close by Waterford in Ireland & going to leave the shores of Ireland. We have hailed a pilot boat & the pilot that we had on board has left us. My wife is still very poorly and the rest has got much better. I have not been able to keep a daily account on account of the rest being sick and me having so much to do.

18th Saturday. The weather fine but squally. They have hoisted the stay sails out but the squally winds has broke one of the stay sail booms.

Sunday 19th. The weather about as yesterday & we have had another stay sail boom broke today. The climate is still very cold.

Monday & Tuesday 20th & 21st. We have now left the Irish Channel & we are going on at a pretty good rate from 8 to 10 knots per hour. The weather is still very cold & we are afraid that our Samuel is beginning of chin cough but we have had hands laid on him by Brother MacMaster [William A. McMaster] & Brother Dunn has administered oil unto him.

Wednesday 22nd. This is a beautiful morning. The wind is fair and the sun shines bright and it is a great deal warmer than it has been. They have hoisted out their stay sails and we are going at good rate. The most of the passengers are on deck and we have singing and music playing of various description so that all seems to be alive.

Thursday 23rd. This morning is another beautiful morning & our Samuel is much better. The rest of our family are all well this morning in fact I have not ailed anything since I came on board with the exception of last Tuesday I had the headache and it was my turn to look after the cooking for our Branch which made it worse on account of it being so warm in the cooking galley. This morning we have to record the death of a child belonging to Elder Todd, a Scotch man. It is about 12 month old and it was ill before it came on board. All the rest seems to be doing well and the sun seems to animate all on deck with his warmth. The children are playing and skipping about the deck. Some at one thing and some at another.

Friday March 24th. This morning is a thick dull heavy morning and colder than it has been this last day or two. Afternoon it is raining. The wind is rather brisk but it is above the beam yet. We are going at a nice speed and steady. [p.10]

Saturday 25th. This morning is calm and the water is smooth and we are making very little progress yet. The vessel rocks much. Afternoon, the wind rose a little towards 12 o'clock and we went very well after.

Sunday 26th. This morning we have a good wind and the ship goes very steady and at a good rate. We have had a meeting today commencing at 11 o'clock when Brother McConnald [Duncan McDonald] preached.

Monday 27th. We are in a calm again this morning and the weather is very damp with a little rain. Afternoon the sun begins to shine and the wind had got up a little which makes it very pleasant upon deck. Yesterday we had another death of a child about 2 years & 9 months old. Its complaint was inflammation of the chest. It was well a week ago. It belongs to a man that has deserted the army.

Tuesday 28th. We have had a good breath today but head winds which has caused us to go much south. We have all been very well today in our family and Sister [Mary Ann] Fisher has been helping to make tents.

Wednesday 29th. This day has been very wet and squally.

Thursday 30th. We have had head winds today and we have made very little progress and the vessel has rocked very much which has caused a many to be sick. My wife [Elizabeth] and son John has been sick.

Friday 31st. It has been very favorable. My wife has been sick today again. We have had a little rain.

Saturday April 1st. A beautiful morning this with a good wind. We have gone at a pretty good rate today. My wife is better today than she has been. Sister Fisher still continues well and is a very good help to us. Our son John is well today. Our Samuel seems to be rather dull and has been sometime now. He was very well for a week or better at first. Last Monday morning my feet slipped from under me and I lit against some pig iron that was lying on deck and bruised my foot a little before and below my ankle of the right foot inside and it has been very sore ever since. Yesterday I could scarcely walk but today it is much better. I have put a oatmeal poultice on it three times with a little oil. I have a poultice on it now. Last night I took some cayenne and got a sweat nearly all night which I believe has done it much good. It is now about half past three o'clock and a very fine day and a very strong wind but we are sailing in a southerly direction about 10 or 11 knots an hour.

Sunday 2nd. This has been a beautiful day. We have had a good wind all day & we have sailed first rate from 8 to 12 knots per hour. We have had another death of a child today belonging to [-]. It is awfully grand tonight to see the mighty waters all in motion and sometimes rise up like a mountain and cast up its spray so that it falls again like showers of rain. Also the cloud hang in the air with various shades and the moon about 2 or 3 days old above our heads shines bright and the stars all around us glitter like silvery dots in the firmament so that the scenery altogether is beautiful.

Monday 3rd. This day has been similar to yesterday as fine a day as I have seen. About half past eleven this forenoon Sister [Mary A.] Day, the wife of George Day, died. She had been ill a long time of a consumption and about half past 6 o'clock this evening she was let down into the water. We was in about 28 degrees and 29 minutes latitude north about 45 degrees and 46 minutes longitude west. There was a hymn sung by the brethren and sisters and prayer by Brother [William A.] McMaster before she was buried. This day is my wife's birthday and we commemorated it with a good plum pudding yesterday. The reason we had it yesterday is we had only flour for one pudding and it is the most convenient for cooking it Sunday on account of the cooking galley being shut up during service and puddings boil during the time.

Tuesday 4th. A very fine day and good winds and we have gone at a good speed.

Wednesday 5th. This day we are rather becalmed and we have gone very little.

Thursday 6th. This morning we was at a stand not a breath to move the water and it was as smooth as glass. We have gone very little today if any. This day is the anniversary of our church and they have appointed a general fast day to be made of it and to be observed as Sunday any other way, but the people was not very united about [p.11] it. We had a very good meeting and we was addressed by nearly all the presidents.

Friday 7th. A very fine day and going better than yesterday from 4 to 6 miles per hour.

Saturday 8th. Another fine day and doing middling in sailing. We have another child died tonight about 8 o'clock belonging to David Butter, a Scotchman. It is my turn to go on the watch tonight at 9 o'clock until 1 o'clock morning. During my watch it came on a shower of rain and rained all the time I was on. I catched a bucket full of water for myself and for Brother [Thomas] Burgess and Brother William Day each. I also catched my water can full but I had the misfortune to slip and let it fall and nearly knocked the bottom out of the can.

Sunday 9th. This morning is a very fine morning and they have buried the child that died last night. My foot is not well yet, but it is much better. Last week I began to dress it with a rag, put in cold water and put on the wound and wrapped up with a dry one and it has mended fast since.

Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday 10th, 11th, 12th. The weather has been very fine and the wind favorable until Wednesday afternoon the wind dropped and we had a calm which continued. The climate we are in is very warm. In the evening it is very beautiful and comfortable upon deck but is very warm below. We are all well at present, thank God for it.

Thursday 13th. The calm continues and the sun is very powerful which makes it very warm but we had had some nice showers every day this week which is very refreshing. We had a little bustle about half past twelve today. The awful cry of fire saluted our ears and soon after buckets of water was tumbled upon the cooking galley and the pump was soon in motion so that it was soon extinguished. It was the top of the cooking house that took fire with the stove pipe being so hot and the timber so dry. We was just having our dinner upon deck at the time. Afternoon the wind came up and we went along very nicely.

Friday 14th. This is Good Friday and a fine day but we have not observed it as we do in England. I have begun to make a pair of trousers today out of some linen that I bought to make some bags of. This day we have done pretty well in sailing.

Saturday 15th. Nothing very particular today only we have seen 3 or 4 ships. We are going very well.

Sunday 16th. This morning we had a race with another vessel until we came up by the side of it and we saw the name of her. It was the "American Union." We passed her. She tacked and sailed behind us and went more to the north as the wind was more favorable that way. This day is Easter Sunday and we have kept it up by having a good plum pudding to dinner. I put a half a pound of block tin at the bottom of the pan to prevent the rag sticking at the bottom. We let it boil during the service and when I went to look at it the water was boiled all away and the block tin was run and the pudding was boiling in the block tin but it had not been long so that there was not much spoiled. This afternoon about 5 or 6 o'clock there came on a squall and a brisk shower of rain.

Monday 17th. It has been rather cooler today. There came up a squall today and damaged one of the masts a little and we have head winds and we have made very little progress.

Tuesday 18th. This is a fine morning but the wind is still against us and we are not sailing so fast. We have had some mirth this morning with the women keeping up the old custom of lifting. They have been lifting the men. I suppose the men must have forgot it or else they were more modest than the women for they did not honor them by throwing them up yesterday.

Wednesday 19th. This has been a very nice day and we have sailed very well and we have came in sight of the Great Abaco lighthouse between 8 & 9 o'clock this evening. Sister Porter from the London Conference was delivered of twins this morning about 3 o'clock, a boy and a girl and they are all doing well so far.

Thursday 20th. This is a beautiful morning and we are sailing very steady in the North East Providence Channel. We have passed the Berry Islands this morning on our left and we have now about 6 or 7 vessels in sight. It is now about 10 o'clock morning and we [p.12] are all very well, thank God for that. About 7 or 8 o'clock in the evening we passed the little Gaac rocks on our left.

Friday 21st. Early this morning we passed the Bahamas Island on our left and entered the Florida Gulf and stream. The route being strange to the captain and mates. I understand we was near running ashore. They tried the depth of the water and found we had only 8 yards deep. This is another beautiful morning and we are going first rate down the Gulf. Yesterday we saw 2 or 3 dolphins swimming by the side of the vessel. They are beautiful fish. They appeared to be of a green and blue color and about 2 feet long. This morning our John wanted the bucket to wash his feet and legs. I let him have it but he was not long before he came crying. The third mate had broke the bucket and kicking up and down the deck. I went and had a few angry words with him but to no good. It only made me more uneasy for they will not hearken to anything you have got to say so the best way is to keep out of their way as much as possible and have nothing to say or do with them. Yesterday the same man threw a night tin over board because it was lying on the deck.

Saturday Morning 22nd. We are now sailing up the Gulf of Mexico and we are going first rate. It is a beautiful morning. The vessel sails as steady as if we was standing still and has done a day or two. Yesterday our Samuel began to walk himself for the first time on the vessel. He has always been afraid on account of the vessel rocking. Evening - I was misinformed. This morning we was not in the Gulf. We was in the streams of Florida. This evening we passed the small islands and rocks which lie at the south and east end of Florida and entered the Gulf of Mexico. Between 7 & 8 o'clock we came in sight of two lighthouses and it was said one of them was at the last of the islands. The 4th and 5th branches has got up a tea party today and I learn from Brothers Wright, Charlton, and [William] Moors that they have had a first rate do of it. One of the best they ever attended. They had pies and pudding bakes and tarts of various sorts, boiled and roasted pork, tea and butter cakes, ham and other varieties and after the feast they enjoyed themselves with songs, reciting and etc. One piece that was performed was "Joseph Smith and the devil." [THIS APPEARS TO BE A SHORT STORY WRITTEN BY PARLEY P. PRATT IN CONCORD, 1844] We have also had several tea parties on board before. This one was the celebration of the birth of the two twins in which the captain and mates and others was invited.

Sunday 23rd. We are now sailing up the Gulf of Mexico and doing very well. It has been a beautiful day. We have had our meeting on deck as usual and our presidents have us some very good counsel pertaining to going into New Orleans and how we should conduct ourselves when we go on shore for our own safety.

Monday 24th. This has been a very fine day. We have had our conference today for here a representation of the various branches and to bring before the people, the organization of the Church with all its officers and also the presidents as they are on board this vessel and to give such instruction as was needed. This afternoon we have been rather becalmed so that we have gone very little if any but towards night the wind came up a little and we began to sail again. We are expecting to land in the course of two or three days and a many of the brethren and sisters are writing to their parents and friends so that they may post them when they land in New Orleans.

Tuesday 25th. The winds has been very slack today so that we have made very little progress. We have been in a calm one part of the day but the wind rose a little towards the night and we began to sail very well. There was some birds came flying about our rigging this afternoon and one of them was shot by the 3rd mate. Brother [Robert] Dunn fired at one as it was flying over but he missed it. After that the first mate came cursing and swearing about them shooting and said he would break the first gun that was fired again. He was afraid they would fire through the sails.

Wednesday 26th. Today has been very nice day and we have sailed very well & at a good speed. About 6 o'clock we came across a great many large fish what they call porpoise. They came by droves jumping out and in the water. It was my turn to go on watch tonight at 9 o'clock so I was on deck until one o'clock. The ship was going at a good speed about 10 or 11 knots an hour until about 12 o'clock. One of the men that was on watch cried out a light on the lee beam side. The captain came to see it and called up the first mate and ordered the sails drawn up immediately so they slackened the speed of the vessel soon. [p.13]

Thursday 27th. This morning when I came on deck we was in a calm but we soon had the pleasing sight of fresh water that came down the Mississippi River & between 9 and 10 o'clock there came a steam boat up to us but it was either too small to tug us up the river or else the captain and them could not agree about the price for it left us again after throwing some newspapers on board of us, from which we learned that the "Windermere" that sailed between 2 and 3 weeks before us only landed last Sunday and that she had 12 deaths on board during the voyage and between 30 to 40 cases of the smallpox. After the steamer left us we hoisted a color upon the mast top and it was not long before we had a pilot boat alongside of us so the captain engaged a pilot. We was not long before we came to the bar of the river. Today we have seen good many signs and marks of land and one was a vessel that appeared to have been wrecked. We could just see the top of the vessel and its 3 masts standing straight up. Tonight a little before 8 o'clock we had another death on board of an old woman that came from near Bolton in Lancashire. She was badly before she set off and she has been very poorly all the way. She is the second wife of Ralph Smith. She has left 3 sons and one daughter to mourn her loss which was hers but not her present husband's (besides him and a daughter of his) (they are all grown). She was removed soon after her death into the hospital and there was a long box made to bury her in.

Friday 28th. I rose this morning about 5 o'clock and went on deck and found we was anchored alongside of the bank of the river waiting for a steamer to come and tug us up. In a few minutes after Sister [Ann] Smith was brought on deck and was sung over and prayer said and then let down into the water. We was surrounded this morning with 14 or 15 vessels all seemed to be at anchor besides 4 or 5 steamers plying about. About 10 o'clock there came two steam boats and tugs us across the bar up to the Belize and there we anchored. The Belize is like a small village by the side of the river where the pilots live that tugs the vessels over the bar and up the river. The bar is where the Mississippi River empties itself into the sea or Gulf. The river spreads out wide and loses its force [SIC] and loses its force and lodges a great deal of mud and dirt there and forms a bars so that the vessels cannot go over without steamers to drag them through. The weather has been very cold since we came here so that the passengers has had to put more clothes on.

Saturday 29th. We are still anchored at the Belize. It is a fine morning but still windy and cold. The sailors are very busy hauling down the sails and preparing for going up the river. Afternoon - the wind has dropped a little and the sun shines bright which causes it to be much warmer.

Sunday 30th. We are still at the Belize waiting of the steam tug to come and take us up the river. Today has been a beautiful day and we have had our meeting on deck as usual on a Sunday. We was addressed by Elder Nisbit [Henry William Naisbett] from Liverpool. It has been very pleasant and warm today. We passed by a vessel when we crossed the bar that was stuck fast in the mud. It had then 2 steamers with it trying to get it loose and it has had 4 at it since but they have not got it loose yet. Its name is "Rapperanno." The people say that we have to wait until they have got here loose in order that the steamer may take her up the river along with us.

Monday May 1st. This is another beautiful morning but we are still anchored at the Belize and the sailors are very busy cleaning and painting the ship both on deck and round the outside. Between 7 & 8 o'clock this morning the steamer came alongside of us and brought another vessel with it. Her name is "John Garrow." She sailed from Liverpool on the 17th of March, the Friday following us. She was not laden with passengers. Our vessel was fastened on the starboard side of the steamer and "John Garrow" was fastened on the leeboard side and so it drew us up the river. As we sailed along, fresh scenery presented itself to our view. Green bushy trees with white and yellow blooms soon presented themselves to our view. Also plantations of sugar, green meadows, orange trees and other kinds of great variety. Our Samuel seemed to enjoy the sight as much as anyone for he shouted and clapped his hands and pointed his finger to show us at them and enjoyed the sight very much. Now and again we passed a house or two by the side of the river. Some with a cow or two and a garden and others with boats and we also passed 2 forts which are built [p.14] to prevent any enemy from going up the river and they was very grand I believe but did not see them. We was below having tea at the time we passed them.

Tuesday May 2nd. This has been a very fine day and warm. The scenery up the river is beautiful. We arrived in the harbor of New Orleans about 2 o'clock this afternoon. I finished writing a letter to my parents at Heywood and I went on shore about 5 o'clock along with my wife for to buy some grocery. We returned to the vessel between 8 and 9 o'clock and stayed on all night.

Wednesday 3rd. The weather still very fine. I went on shore again between 6 & 7 o'clock this morning to buy some newspapers and to post them along with 2 letters. I posted 2 newspapers for William Day to his friends and one I sent to my Brother Joseph at Stockport and I posted a letter to my parents at Heywood and another for Sister [Mary Ann] Fisher to her parents. On my way I just passed through the market and then returned back tot the vessel about 8 o'clock. At my arrival all was hurry and bustle with the passengers hauling out their boxes and getting them ready for inspection so I got my breakfast and then got mine out. We was very busy all day opening our boxes for inspection and then packing them up again and getting them into the steamer to go to St. Louis until about 5 o'clock when the plank was drawn down and we started on our way to St. Louis. There was 4 left on shore, 3 young women and 1 boy that should of gone with us and the third mate of John M. Wood was on board the steamer when she set off so he jumped over board and swam to one of the vessels that lay in the harbor.

Thursday May 4th. We are still pursuing our journey up the Mississippi River and on each side it is beautifully decorated with green trees, plantations, etc. It is delightful to behold. It is worth all the journey to see the sight. The steamer stops about 3 or 4 times a day for to take in wood for to burn at various stations all up the river. They burn about 40 cord a day. That is about 40 tons.

Friday 5th. We are going on our journey and the scenery is very beautiful but it has been a very wet day today.

Saturday morning 6th. This morning is rather dull and a little rain but not so bad as yesterday. I went on shore yesterday and bought 1 pound of fresh butter for which I paid 25 cents. Afternoon - the rain has cleared away and it is a fine afternoon.

Sunday 7th. This has been a very fine day today & the scenery as usual.

Monday 8th. It has been very hot and dry today. The sun has been very powerful.

Tuesday morning 9th. A very fine morning but not quite so hot as yesterday. There was a boy died this morning about 9 or 10 years old but he did not belong to the Latter-day Saints. Also Mr. [James] Greenwood's 3 children began to be ill of the cholera. Sometime last night and the youngest of the three died this forenoon. The other is still very poorly. They have another about 6 months old that has not had the cholera. They have buried both the child and the boy on land by the river side. The boat sails night and day except they are stopped by something. We have had to stop nearly 2 nights on account of it being so misty that they could not see to steer aright. Our John has been a little troubled this morning with his bowels being loose. The rest of us are all pretty well, thank God for it. We expected stopping at Memphis tonight about 12 o'clock so we stayed up until after 12 o'clock but instead of landing at Memphis we ran in shallow water and stuck fast in the sand sour after 12 o'clock.

Wednesday 10th. It was very wet last night when we was fast on the sand and we could see not signs of us going to Memphis so we went to bed. We lay until between 5 & 6 o'clock. When we got up again it was still wet and we was still fast on the sand but the men was working at it to get it off by winding the forepart of the boat up and shoving it back in deeper water. The water where was fast was, was about 6 feet deep. It was about 11 o'clock this forenoon before they got it loose. The men that is working on the boat are chiefly Irishmen and they are the idlest set of men that I ever saw. We arrived at Memphis between 1 & 2 o'clock this afternoon and a great many went on shore. I went and bought a quart can full of molasses for 15 cents and 2 pounds of cheese for 30 cents but it is not as good as English cheese. When the boat went there was 3 or 4 left at Memphis and among them was Brother Brown, our agent for New Orleans. Another of Mr. [Albert] Greenwood's children [p.15] died this forenoon. A boy about 6 or 7 years of age. He had 5 children and there is 2 dead. The rest are all well at present. They came out of Lancashire somewhere near Bury. They was a very fine and fresh looking family. They took the boy on shore and buried him in about an hour and a half after we left Memphis. We are all well at present except our John. He is still a little loose in his bowels. We have made him some tea of raspberry leaves and composition powder and I think he is mending.

Thursday 11th. This has been a very fine day not so hot nor cold but I am sorry to say we have had 2 more deaths today. One a child belonging to some foreigners that has been ill a long time. The other a stout young woman belonging to Ralph Smith that man that buried his wife in John M. Wood. She was his only daughter and it was another great trial for him. She was well and hearty night but one before she died. Her complaint was sickness and looseness and towards the last a violent pain in her side.

Friday 12th. This has been a fine day but we have a many sick yet. Brother Dunn's youngest boy is very ill in his bowels. We are all well with the exception of a slight pain. We stopped at Cairo today and there was 2 or 3 more left on shore. The others that we left at Memphis passed us in another boat and stayed at Cairo until we came up and then came on board again.

Saturday 13th. We are all pretty well today. Our looseness has slackened a little.

Sunday 14th. This is a fine morning and we are not far from the quarantine. The captain has stopped the boat and by the consent of our presidents has sent near 40 young men on shore for them to work to St. Louis in order that we may pass the quarantine without being detained but when we came to the quarantine the doctor came on board and ordered us all to stop so we had to take all our luggage on board of an old boat that was there for the purpose of lodging foreigners and to take in all the sick. We have had another death this morning of a young woman that belonged to the foreign brethren and sisters.

Monday 15th. We are still at the quarantine and our boxes has been looked over today to see if the clothes are all fresh and free from damp and those that are not have to be washed and aired. It is a small island that is made by the river running down each side of it and joining together again. We sleep in the old boat. It is an old steam boat that is worn out for sailing and we cook on shore upon an old stove and fires kindled upon the ground with wood. The island is nearly covered with small trees so we cut and burn as many as we think proper.

Tuesday 16th. This day has been stormy and heavy showers and very cold. A boy belonging to Bro. Savage was took very badly this morning with sickness and looseness. His father got up and got him some brandy and water but he grew worse so they sent for the doctor to him and the doctor ordered him to the hospital and he died in about 4 hours. He had complained of a slight pain in the bowels for two or three days
, before he ran about so it was no notice taken of. Yesterday morning Mary Ann Fisher felt herself rather poorly but she said nothing about it until nearly dinner time. She began to feel worse. She had got a bad cold. She felt chilly and cold and her limbs ached all over her. She went to bed and my wife covered her up well with cloths and we made her some tea of raspberry leaves and penny royal and gave her some composition powder and cayenne pepper and got her to a good sweat and she soon felt better and today she is quite well only a little weak.

May 17th Wednesday. This is another cold and stormy day and we have had another death this morning of Sister Taylor. She has left a husband and 3 small children to lament her loss. She has been poorly nearly ever since we left Liverpool and her husband has had a deal of trouble with her. They have taken two more to the hospital. Brother Ralph Smith is one and the other is an old man that is not in the Church. Also a young man that cooked for us on board of John M. Wood is so bad that they do not expect him mending and he was a stout lively young man. Brother Smith and the other man that was taken to the hospital this morning died tonight. [p.16]

Thursday 18th. There is a great change in the weather since yesterday. It is very to today and we are preparing to leave the quarantine. My wife is rather poorly today of her bowels and they seem to be very sore. Between 4 & 5 o'clock the tug came for us so we got all our luggage upon it and then we sailed up to St. Louis and went on board the steam boat Sameloon the same night. It was only the emigration fund passengers that came up tonight. The ordinary passengers will come up by themselves in another boat. We left Brother Calton the book in the quarantine hospital. [p.17] [ABRUPT END OF DIARY]

BIB: Andrew, Frederick Chadwick. Diary, (Ms 1864), pp. 9-17; Acc. #32662. Typescript (CHL)
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