prolonged illness—attend to my duties with difficulty—letter telling of the battle of bull's run—witness an execution by hanging—visit from george q. cannon, joseph f. smith and others—death of the prince consort—go to birmingham—conference of the priesthood in the british mission—large meeting in odd fellows' hall, birmingham—again at nottingham—visit liverpool—consult a physician, but get little relief—see the liverpool grand national races—depravity among poorer classes in liverpool—again at nottingham—released to return home—bid the people farewell—display of their affection for me—report of my labors published in the millennial star—on board ship—placed in charge of the company—sail for america—driven by headwinds along the coasts of the isle of man, wales, ireland and scotland—severe seasickness—get to sea—slow voyage—deaths and burials at sea—land at new york—guest of hon. w. h. hooper—journey to florence, nebraska—captain and guide of independent company—reach salt lake city—report to president young—again at home.
during the remainder of the year 1861 i was in very poor health, often having to stay in my room all day, and when i was able to get about, many times it was with great difficulty, as i was quite lame in my hips and shoulder. i tried various applications and simple remedies, but to little purpose. i moved around as best i could, however, and by determined efforts i was able to attend to my duties, visiting the saints, and preaching the gospel wherever opportunity offered, whether at indoor or outdoor meetings. sometimes, when i was able to get to the meetings of the saints, i was too ill to stand up and preach, but toward the latter part of the year my health improved a little.
the civil war in america was on, having begun after i left; and on august 5th i received a letter telling of the battle of bull's run, near manassas junction, which was fought july 21, 1861, and in which the union forces were defeated. on the 16th of august i went to the derbyshire jail yard in derby, and there saw a young man named george smith executed by hanging. he had murdered his father. from thirty-five to forty thousand people witnessed the execution.
on the 1st of september apostle george q. cannon was in nottingham, attending conference, and we had large meetings and an excellent time. on october 1st elder joseph f. smith and other missionaries came from sheffield on a visit, and remained several days, spending the time among the saints. at nottingham we had a tea party in the arboretum, at which about two hundred persons were present. i was visiting the saints at pinxton on december 14th, the day that prince albert, husband of queen victoria, died at windsor castle.
i started for birmingham on the 31st of december to attend a conference of those in the british mission who held the holy priesthood. this conference began on wednesday, january 1, 1862, and was largely attended. we had a most enjoyable time in making reports of our experiences and in receiving instruction and testifying of the blessings of the gospel. the meetings began at 10 a.m. and lasted till 2 p.m., then at 4 p.m. and lasted till 7 p.m. they continued through wednesday, thursday, friday and saturday, the presidency of the european mission, apostles a. m. lyman, charles c. rich and george q. cannon, being in attendance and directing the meetings. on sunday, the 5th, we met with the saints in odd fellows' hall, the congregation numbering about fifteen hundred persons; an excellent feeling prevailed. next day the priesthood meetings were concluded, and on tuesday i left birmingham for derby, in my own missionary district. on the 27th of january i was in nottingham, and baptized and confirmed elizabeth hardy.
my health again became quite bad, but i performed my duties, preaching, baptizing, visiting and conversing with the people on the subject of the gospel, and attending to the business in my pastorate, until march 5th, when i took the train for liverpool. there i consulted apostles a. m. lyman and g. q. cannon, and on the 7th elder cannon introduced me to dr. smith, who pronounced my ailment neuralgia, and prescribed turkish baths and the magnetic-electric machine. i remained in liverpool till the 22nd, occasionally visiting, in company with some of the elders, places of interest such as the new park and the botanical gardens. on march 11th we saw the liverpool races at aintree, a suburb. there were two plate races and the grand national steeple chase. at one hurdle a horse fell on his rider and the latter was picked up for dead, but he recovered; three other riders were unhorsed. about twenty thousand people were in attendance at these races. it was while in liverpool, on march 18th, as i was walking through the northwest part of the town in company with elder george j. taylor, that i saw hundreds of people in the most degraded state in which i ever beheld human beings.
my health having improved a little, i returned to nottingham on the 22nd, apostle g. q. cannon's wife and child accompanying me. mrs. cannon had been very ill, and had been advised to go to nottingham in the hope of the change benefiting her health. on reaching nottingham, i there resumed my missionary labors. my health again began to fail, and early in april i received notice of my release to return home. on the 7th of april sister cannon went to liverpool in company with her husband. i settled business of the conference and went to different branches and bade the saints good-bye. they exhibited their affection for me by many words and acts of kindness. on april 13th i preached my farewell sermon in nottingham, and it was with mingled feelings of sorrow and joy that i bade the saints farewell—sorrow to leave them, and joy to see the display of love toward me by both members of the church and numbers of people who were not members. on monday, april 14th, i went to liverpool. the next day i wrote the following, which was published in the millennial star:
"liverpool, april 15, 1862.
"president cannon:
"dear brother:—i take pleasure in writing to you a brief report of my labors in the ministry of the nottingham district. on the 7th of august, 1860, i was appointed by the presidency here, namely: a. m. lyman and c. c. rich, to labor as a traveling elder in the aforementioned district, where i continued my labors in company with elder joseph c. rich and under the pastoral charge of elder david john, until january 1st, 1861. i then received an appointment to the presidency of the nottingham district, composed of the nottingham, derby, leicester and lincolnshire conferences, where i continued my labors until the 14th instant, when i arrived in liverpool, having received your letter of release, with the privilege of returning to our mountain home in utah.
"i can truly say that i have taken much pleasure in my field of labor, for i have seen my feeble exertions in connection with the priesthood laboring with me crowned with success. i have witnessed an increase of the good spirit among the saints. we have not only witnessed these symptoms of increase, but have added by baptism some two hundred and fifty souls, besides many rebaptisms; and many misunderstandings of the saints have been corrected, so that, with a few exceptions, the saints are in fellowship with one another.
"in that district, i think, there have been some four excommunicated and five disfellowshiped during the last twenty-one months; and with the present year's emigration, we have two hundred emigrated from that district. suffice it to say, that the district is in a healthy condition. the saints are feeling very well, and are full of the spirit to emigrate. many strangers are becoming very much interested in our meetings, insomuch that some of them attend regularly; and on sunday evening, the 13th, after i preached my farewell sermon in nottingham, some four or five strangers, whom i have no recollection of ever seeing before,—shook hands with me, saying, 'god bless you,' and at the same time they did not forget to bless me themselves, thus exemplifying their faith by their works. i find the people in the midland counties to be a kindhearted people; and when once you get the crust of tradition in which they are encased cracked, so as to feed them with the bread of eternal life, they generally receive it with great joy and gladness.
"although i have not enjoyed very good health any of the time i have been in this country, i feel sometimes to regret leaving the mission, when i reflect upon the memory of so many warm throbbing hearts for zion, whose circumstances are rather forbidding at present; yet i feel that if they would arouse with more energy and life, and be more faithful in reading the stars and journals, attend their meetings, and be more faithful in their duties, and not pore over their poverty so much, the time is not far distant when they will be able to accomplish that most desirable object of going to zion.
"and now i beg to bid good-bye to the saints of the nottingham district, and say, may the god of israel bless and preserve them, together with all the saints and the honest in heart in all the world. and as i expect to leave this country on the 21st instant, i bid adieu to her majesty's dominions and to all her subjects. i have lifted up my voice and cried aloud, and spared not, till i feel that my skirts are clear, so far as this mission to the british nation is concerned.
"and now with kind regards to yourself, presidents lyman and rich, my brethren and co-laborers in the ministry and the many faithful saints under their watchcare, i bid all an affectionate farewell, praying god to bless and prosper every effort made to advance the interests of his kingdom.
"i subscribe myself your brother in the gospel of christ,
"james s. brown."
i was variously engaged the next two days in preparing for the voyage, and in assisting others. on saturday, the 19th, i went on board the ship john j. boyd, on which we were to sail. that day a young man who resided at nottingham and who had been courting miss mary oakey, from the same district, came to liverpool, and the young lady went out with him. they were never seen again by us. we supposed they had eloped.
on monday, the 21st, i again went on board. apostles a. m. lyman, c. c. rich and george q. cannon came on the vessel and organized the company of emigrating saints, with the following presidency: james s. brown, president; john lindsay and j. c. rich, counselors. the apostles gave us much good instructions and bade us good-bye, after which we made a further temporary organization so as to call watches for the night; then, after prayer, we retired, it being about midnight. next day the company was organized into nine wards, with a presiding teacher over each. there were on board six hundred and ninety-six emigrating saints, and the crew, which made the total up to seven hundred and thirty-five souls.
at half-past seven o'clock on the 23rd we weighed anchor, and the vessel was towed about twenty miles out to sea, and left, in a strong headwind. we beat about the irish channel all day, and about 4 p.m., drew so close to the isle of man that we could see the towns and distinguish the houses. then we tacked about and sailed away along the coast of wales. nearly everybody on board was seasick, and one child, about five months old, in a family named hardy, died. it was buried at sea on the 24th. myself and counselors went among the people, waiting on them and cheering them.
next day the heavy headwind continued, and the seasickness seemed very severe. i was affected myself, but still was able to help others. we went along between the isle of man and the coast of ireland, and by the 26th, when the wind became lighter, we could see the coast of ireland on our left and the scottish hills on the right. we could also see the irish houses, farms and roads quite plainly. it was noon on the 27th before we passed out of sight of land, the last we saw being a small island off the northwest coast of ireland.
from that time on we experienced all kinds of weather, from a dead calm to a heavy gale. on the 1st of may the wind was so strong it carried away the jib-boom and fore-top-gallant mast. on the 5th a little boy named benjamin v. williams died from a fall down the hatchway on may 1st. taking all things together, however, we got along fairly well. once we had to complain to the captain of rough treatment by the third mate and some of the sailors, and it was checked. on may 21st we sighted sandy hook, and on june 1st we cast anchor in the bay of new york. on the voyage we had had cases of measles and whooping-cough, and there were seven deaths in our company while we were at sea.
on landing in new york i received an invitation from hon. wm. h. hooper for the utah elders to stay at the astor house at his expense. eleven of us availed ourselves of the courtesy extended. on june 2nd the emigrants were landed and we proceeded west via niagara falls and the lakes to detroit, then by way of chicago, quincy and hannibal to st. joseph, missouri. from that point we went to florence, nebraska, by steamboat, and there i turned over my charge to joseph w. young, who was conducting affairs at that place.
i was next assigned to an independent company which had its own outfit, and was selected as captain and guide. the company consisted of two hundred and fifty souls, with fifty wagons and teams. we left florence in the latter part of june, and arrived in salt lake city on september 23, 1862. i made my report to president brigham young, and was honorably released. i stayed in the city till after the october conference of the church, then hastened home to my family in ogden city, finding them all well.