IN THE BRITISH MISSION, 1844-45-46.
Departure.--Route.--Visits Home of Solomon Mack.--A Peculiar
Dream.--On the Ocean.--Copyright of Doctrine and Covenants.--Visit
to Scotland.--Lemington.--Troubles in Nauvoo.--Condition of the
Mission.--Preparation for His Return.
August 28th, 1844, was the day appointed for the departure of Wilford
Woodruff and his companions to the British Mission. Those who were to
accompany him were his wife and two children, Hyrum Clark and wife,
and Captain Dan Jones and wife. He said good-by on the Temple Block
at Nauvoo to his fellow members of the Twelve and started at once for
Chicago whither he and his companions were conveyed by teams.
On the 8th of September, they left Chicago on the propellor, Oswego,
and made their journey eastward on the Lakes. They stopped about three
hours at Manatou Islands where he with others had been wrecked on the
Chesapeake in September, 1841. While here they carved their names on
some white stones, and also the events associated with the wreck. At
midnight while on their way a fire alarm was sounded and the passengers
were brought together by terror of the alarm. The flame, however,
was soon extinguished and they all retired again to their rest. They
continued their journey on Lake Erie, the Williams Canal, and Lake
Ontario.
Elder Woodruff then went by rail to his birthplace in Farmington,
Connecticut, where he paid his aged father another visit. While he was
laboring among the Saints in and about Boston, his wife paid a visit to
her home in Scarboro, Maine. The branches of the Church in Boston and
Lowell were not in a healthy condition. He, therefore, worked zealously
to bring about a reformation and to warn the Saints against some
iniquities which had crept into the Church.
While in the Eastern States he visited the home of Lucy Smith's
brother, Soloman Mack. The old homestead of Mother Smith awakened
within him a feeling of reverence which he had for the Prophet, and for
the scenes associated with his mother's home.
{234} From Vermont he went to Scarboro, Maine, to join his wife and
children there. Leaving his oldest child, Phoebe, at the home of Ezra
Carter, his father-in-law, he left with his wife and youngest child,
Susan, for New York. The scenes of his former missionary experiences in
the Eastern States were both familiar and interesting to him. He knew
the inroads that are often made upon the faith of the saints when left
too long without a shepherd. He encouraged, admonished, and warned them
to be faithful to the covenants they had made. He makes note in his
journal during this visit of October 22, 1844, the last day set by the
Millerites for the second coming of Christ.
Speaking of his visit to Maine he says: "While I was at the home of my
father-in-law I had a peculiar dream. Much of it was unutterable and
cannot be written; indeed, I do not comprehend it myself. Among other
things I was called with the Twelve to hold the keys of the Kingdom in
all the world. I traveled with them over much of the earth and I also
traveled through many countries alone. When I finished my journey I saw
many things which I cannot write, but in the end, Joseph, the Prophet,
assisted me to come where he was and pointed out to me my place and
work. I immediately entered into the duties of the new calling to which
I was appointed.
"The same night I had another dream. I was in the presence of the
Prophet, and was conversing with him about his death. I told him I felt
bad over it, and that had I known he would have been taken so soon I
should have conversed with him more while he lived. I would have asked
him many questions. In reply he said that it was not his fault that I
did not."
Whatever the significance of these dreams may have had, they clearly
indicated the loving remembrance in which he held his great leader.
Around the name and memory of the man there was to him a great halo.
The influence of Joseph Smith upon the life of Wilford Woodruff never
waned. There was something about this modern Prophet that invited the
veneration of his devoted followers who proclaimed his name and mission
from the housetops of every part of the world where their duties and
missions might take them.
After reaching New York on the 29th of November, he paid a visit to
Elder Jedediah M. Grant who was then performing a {235} mission in
Philadelphia. On his return to the former city he made preparation for
his voyage to Europe. He speaks of a letter he received in New York
from President Young in which the latter gives him an account of the
reckless and unwarranted course of William Smith and George J. Adams.
On the 8th he and his party, together with Milton Holmes and Leonard
Hardy, set sail for Liverpool on the packet ship, John R. Skiddy. On
the 11th they encountered a severe storm at sea, a storm which greatly
terrified the passengers. "We kneeled down," he said, "and unitedly
prayed that the storm might cease and that the wind might change so
that we could go forward and not backward. In a short time the wind
suddenly ceased and finally changed to the southwest which gave us a
fair wind."
Christmas day they passed upon the ocean. On the 28th they entered the
Irish Channel where they were driven about for some days by foul winds.
Finally on the 3rd of January, 1845, they landed in Liverpool with
feelings of thanksgiving and prayer for their safe arrival. They were
twenty-seven days at sea.
The day following their arrival they were met by Elders Hedlock and
Ward. They inquired into the affairs of the mission and on January 5th
he addressed the people in Music Hall. They made their headquarters
with a Brother William Powell, who, Elder Woodruff observes, boarded
the elders for a quarter of a century.
The new year witnessed the beginning of his active work in the
missionary field. Arrangements had to be made for the emigration of the
saints to Nauvoo. In those days they went to New Orleans, thence up the
Mississippi to Nauvoo. Conferences had to be visited, business affairs
of the mission transacted, and attention given to the opening of new
fields for missionary activities.
The work in the British Mission, however, did not occupy wholly the
thoughts and feelings of Elder Woodruff. He had left Nauvoo in an
unsettled condition, the future of that city was full of uncertainty.
The work on the Temple was all important, with the conviction he had
long since formed that that sacred structure must be completed. Letters
from home, however, brought him encouragement and assurances. President
Young {236} wrote him encouraging letters informing him of the unity
and prosperity of the Church in America. He also told him of the call
of parley P. Pratt to the presidency of the Eastern States Mission. He
explained the plan to publish a paper in New York City.
On the 16th of March special conference was held in Manchester. Elder
Woodruff was there with his two counselors, Reuben Hedlock and Thomas
Ward. He mentions the fact that there were present five other high
priests, thirty elders, twenty-one teachers, and four deacons. The
conference there was crowded with eager listeners, both members and
non-members of the Church. "The spirit of the Lord," he said, "was
with us. Love and union pervaded the congregation. It was a scene that
made the heart glad when we beheld in a foreign land so many Saints
assembled, Saints united in the everlasting covenant. I had often
thought how much I would like to see the Prophet Joseph meet with a
conference of Saints in England. It was not granted, however, to the
British Nation to have the Prophet of God in that land. This was one
of the most interesting conferences I had ever attended abroad. It
fulfilled a prophecy I had made in the House of the Lord in Kirtland in
1837 to the effect that I should attend a conference with Elder Milton
Holmes in the British Isles."
These old associates of Wilford Woodruff, men tried and true, were
always held in loving remembrance by him. He loved those who loved God.
The names of those old-time friends lingered in his memory throughout
all the years of a long, busy life.
Since he could conveniently do so, immediately after the Manchester
conference, he repaired to Idle, in Yorkshire, that he might visit the
last resting place of the remains of Elder Lorenzo Barnes, the first
elder in this dispensation who had laid down his life in a foreign
land. It was not that fact alone which brought forth this respect.
The memory of Lorenzo Barnes grew out of an old-time companionship in
their early associations, and especially in the journey of Zion's Camp.
Of this visit to the grave of his beloved friend he writes: "Before
arriving we passed through a beautiful green valley which is located
on the top of a hill. The fields of grass were as green as in May,
although it was now February. This gave to the landscape a charm both
picturesque {237} and inspiring. As we traveled the road, we reflected
that we were covering the footsteps of a departed brother who had
traversed the same roadway many a time in his mission to disseminate
the teachings of Jesus Christ. I felt sorrowful, I was filled with
meditation. We called upon Elder Thomas Cordingly and family who cared
for Elder Barnes in his last sickness. They pointed out to us the room
where he spent the last hours of his mortal life.
"After taking some refreshments we walked to the churchyard where we
gazed upon the peaceful, silent grave of our departed brother. My
feelings were sensitive and sad. While standing over his grave I offed
up a prayer to Israel's God that I too might die the death of the
righteous, that my end might be as peaceful and secure as that of our
departed brother."
There is an illustration in that prayer, a marked characteristic in the
life of Wilford Woodruff. The burden of his thoughts, the great object
of his supplication was that he might endure to the end. What the end
should be was with him the great concern of his life. He envied those,
if he ever envied at all, who were valiant in every crisis and who
were steadfast to the death. To him there was no triumph in life like
the triumph in death. He was not so concerned about worldly greatness,
about the race of the swift, nor the battle of the strong; what he
sought above all else was endurance, that endurance which, after all,
contains the greatest virtue, as it embodies the greatest strength. Yet
often men underrate the supreme value of endurance in their ambition to
be great and strong.
On the 23rd of September, Elder Woodruff attended a conference in
Bradford. The meetings were attended by large numbers. Elder Elijah
F. Sheets, long and honorably known throughout Utah as Bishop Sheets,
was then presiding over that conference. Of that occasion he writes in
his journal: "The congregation was as still as death." He spoke upon
the mission and teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith whose recent
martyrdom had still its mournful affects upon the Saints who were
sorely disappointed that they had not the opportunity in life to hear
the words that dropped from the lips of him whom God had called to open
the great dispensation of the last days.
"On my birthday, March 1st, 1845, I received a letter from {238} a
friend. It contained a copy of a letter dated Pittsburg, January 30th,
1845, and was written by John Greenbow to his father in Kendall. The
letter contained a statement to the effect that he was getting the
Doctrine and Covenants stereotyped and that he would bring the plates
to England for the purpose of printing, publishing, and copyrighting
the book so that the Church could not print and publish it. This was a
bold scheme by apostates to steal the book containing the revelations
of God to the Church. There was in this proposed action, no doubt, an
intention to change the wording and thus deceive the world. I regarded
the receipt of the letter as nothing less than providential, an
interposition of our Heavenly Father who knew the evil design of the
wicked and therefore caused the letter to come into my hands. I spent
the day examining the laws of England relative to copyrights."
This information aroused Elder Woodruff to immediate action, and as
early as June 7, 1845, he secured the copyright of the book which was
entered at Stationer's Hall, England.
On the 9th of March Elder Woodruff records the fact that he held
conference in Preston where he visited the old cock-pit, where Elders
Kimball and Hyde first openly declared the message of the gospel to
the people of England, and where they were soon followed by Willard
Richards. He with his companion also walked up and down the river
where so many hundreds of the Saints had been baptized. At the Preston
conference he mentions the fact that there were several branches
represented with the total membership of five hundred souls. This was
the first conference organized in the British Mission eight years
before by Heber C. Kimball.
Throughout Elder Woodruff's journal of those times may be found minute
descriptions of historical places and of public monuments. He was also
deeply interested in the history of the countries which he visited, and
his journal shows the special significance which historical monuments
had to his mind. He further knew that his sympathy and interest in the
people would be increased by knowledge of their national history and of
those conditions which in the past had been foremost in shaping their
character. Many an elder has, no doubt, realized the mistake of either
falsely or imperfectly estimating the character of those whose {239}
ear he was seeking to gain. Elder Woodruff's journal shows, however,
that he greatly appreciated the superior qualities of the English
people and their great contributions to the system of free governments.
From the history of the English people he often found it convenient to
take his text; in short, he made himself at home among the English by
his knowledge of them and their institutions.
On the 13th of March he left Liverpool, on the steamer Commodore,
for Scotland, whither he went to attend a conference in Glasgow. He
was accompanied by his counselors Hedlock and Ward, also by Elder
Banks. They reached the mouth of the Clyde River at six o'clock in the
morning. The highlands were covered with snow and a severe storm was
raging in Glasgow. On the way they passed the famous rock known in
Scottish history as Dumbarton on which was then stationed a regiment of
soldiers to protect the river Clyde. He also mentions Bell's monument
erected in memory of John Bell who was the first to run a steamer up
the river Clyde to Glasgow.
On the evening of their arrival, a council was held with the officers
of the Church in that city. Two days later a conference was held in
Felon's Hall. There, fifteen branches of the Church were represented
containing a total membership of 1,065 persons. There were present
also thirty-five elders, fifty-one priests, thirty-seven teachers, and
twenty-four deacons. Then, as now, Scotland was the home of a large
number of the blood of Israel.
While here, he paid visits to Cots Bridge, Whifflett, and Sterling.
He also visited manufacturing establishments and historical places.
He found special interest in those places that were so full of the
memories of Bruce and of Wallace and of John Knox. The company
later went to Edinburgh where they visited the Saints and the chief
historical places about that city. The conference there consisted of
eleven branches with the membership of 409 souls. He was particularly
interested in the high cliff known as Arthur's Seat. It was there
that Elder Orson Pratt who first brought the gospel to Edinburgh was
wont to go that he might engage himself in meditation and prayer.
This elevation affords a most excellent view of the city and its
surroundings.
Leaving Edinburgh the company returned to Liverpool where a conference
was held on the 30th of March, 1845. At this conference {240} there
were present four high priests, eighteen elders, thirteen priests, and
eight teachers. It consisted of twelve branches with a membership of
676 souls.
Liverpool was then, as it has ever since been, the headquarters of
the Church in Great Britain. Preparations were made at the Liverpool
conference for the general conference of the British Mission to be
held April 6th in Manchester. The meetings there convened in Science
Hall. It was the largest conference up to that time ever held in the
British Mission. This mission at that time contained many of the finest
characters ever known in the Church. The men who embraced the gospel,
as a whole, in those days were strong characters whose endurance and
whose will power peculiarly fitted them for the pioneer work they were
soon to undertake in the development of this inter-mountain region.
Upon his return to Liverpool, Elder Woodruff sent the following epitaph
to Elder E. F. Sheets to be placed upon the tombstone of Elder Lorenzo
D. Barnes: "In memory of Lorenzo D. Barnes, who died on the 20th of
December, 1842, aged thirty years. He was a native of the United
States, an elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a
member of the high priests' quorum and also Zion's Camp in A. D. 1834,
and the first gospel messenger from Nauvoo who has found a grave in a
foreign land.
"Sleep on, Lorenzo, but ere long from this
The conquered tomb shall yield her captured prey.
Then with thy Quorum shalt thou reign in bliss
As king and priest for an Eternal Day."
The latter part of April he paid a visit to Newton where he examined
the great vitriol works which are among the largest in the world. He
also went through the great engine factory at that place where a number
of the brethren were working. They were men well qualified to carry
on the work in all its branches. He relates the circumstances of a
peculiar tradition of a church in the vicinity of the city: "From the
Newton Engine Factory I walked several miles through very pleasant
scenery consisting of green fields, hedges, trees, and gardens. I
visited a church {241} on the side of which was the figure of a pig in
stone, and a stone was hung around its neck. According to tradition
the materials for this church were drawn to another place quite a
distance from where the church now stands. The pig came along and took
a stone in his mouth and carried it, squealing as he went. The pig
finally dropped the stone on the spot where the church now stands. The
circumstance the people regarded as an omen and erected their church on
its present site."
In the beginning of May he visited the churches in Preston and
Blackburn and then walked with Brother Speakman to Whaley where he
visited the old Abbey, the largest he had ever seen. It covered several
acres of ground and was then almost in total ruin. It was built as
early as one thousand A. D.
The following day they visited the Jesuit College at Stoneyhurst.
On Sunday May 11th they attended the Clithero conference. Of this
conference the following is taken from his journal: "Elder Speakman was
called to preside in the afternoon, the Sacrament was administered and
the power of God rested so abundantly upon the congregation that many
were moved to tears." (This is the conference of which Brother Kimball
speaks in his journal.) "I was so overwhelmed by the spirit of God and
the simplicity of the people that I could scarcely speak. They were
like little children, as pure-minded and innocent as angels. Many of
them bore their testimony to the work of God."
On the 15th of the same month, he took a steamer for Carlisle to attend
a conference there. Of the steamship and voyage he wrote. "It was newly
painted from stem to stern and we could not sit down without carrying
away the paint. I accordingly paid two shillings for the use of a bunk
among the sailors. I had no sooner gone below than I was enveloped in
the most horrid stench rising from a cargo of guano. I lay down but
became as sick as death and vomited at intervals for five hours. I was
strained to such a degree that blood ran out of my nose. The sailors
filled the place with tobacco smoke which was more intolerable than the
other stench which I had to endure. This was the most horrible night I
ever passed at sea. We reached port at two o'clock in the morning. I
crossed the ferry and took a canal boat to Carlisle."
{242} At the Carlisle conference six branches of the Church were
represented and the membership of the conference was 165. He returned,
at the close of the conference, to Liverpool by the same boat which on
the return voyage, however, was loaded with sheep, horses, and cattle.
His journal at this time contains the following: "On the 24th of May,
which was the seventh day of the week, at six o'clock in the morning,
the last stone was laid on the Temple of the Lord at Nauvoo with shouts
of joy and 'Glory to God in the Highest.' The Lord finished his work on
the seventh day and rested."
On the 6th of June, 1845, President Woodruff left Liverpool for London
by rail for the purpose of securing the copyright of the Doctrine
and Covenants. He immediately employed a printer and published three
thousand copies. This was the first edition of that book published in
the British Mission.
As the 27th of June approached, President Woodruff appointed that day
a day of prayer and fasting throughout all the churches of the British
Isles. It was the day of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. On the 18th
of the following month there was born to him in Liverpool a son whom he
named Joseph, in honor of the Prophet.
On the 13th of September he attended a conference at Manchester. That
conference then numbered 1,769 souls, including 44 elders, 99 priests,
57 teachers, and 27 deacons. During the three months preceding this
conference, there had been baptized into the Church in that conference
a hundred and fifteen souls.
On October 5th he paid a visit to the Lemington conference. There was
much prejudice at that place against the Saints. Shortly before this
visit there, mobs had assembled and broken up the bannisters, stairs,
benches, and tables in the building where the Saints met for worship.
Of Lemington he said: "This is one of the first aristocratic towns in
England. Here the nobility come together for the select society of
their own class, and because of the sulphur springs at this place. The
streets and buildings of the town are rich and splendid in appearance."
Of Warwick Castle in that region he says: "It is considered the
most splendid castle in England and is furnished {243} with all the
magnificence which art and the wealth of Earldom could bestow upon it.
It is 333 feet long and is divided into a large number of rooms. The
walls are hung with gorgeous tapestry, and the rooms furnished with
the costliest furniture and the richest damask. Chairs, tables, and
stands were inlaid with pearl, and other precious stones. Some of these
articles of furniture cost seventy-five thousand dollars each. From the
windows of the castle we looked out upon the stately cedars of Lebanon,
upon oaks, firs, and a great variety of shrubbery. The castle is eight
hundred years old. The tower is 150 feet high."
Elder Woodruff always availed himself of every opportunity to visit
historic places which he describes at great length in detail.
From Warwick Castle Elder Woodruff went with his counselor, Hedlock,
to Birmingham. Here they were received with great demonstration, and
preparations were made for a joyous reception for the President of the
Mission. Five hundred Saints awaited Elder Woodruff and his companions
as they entered the door, and round after round of applause went up
to greet them. There was such clapping of hands and stamping of feet
that the room in which they were gathered trembled. All wished to shake
the hand of their President and it was with great difficulty that he
reached the stand upon entering the room. He talked to the people
at some length. The manifestation of love for him, however, was not
confined to Birmingham. He enjoyed the affection and enthusiasm of the
Saints wherever he went.
While all this enthusiasm was manifested by the Saints in the British
Mission, their brethren and sisters over the sea in the city of Nauvoo
were filled with deep anxiety and fear. Mobs were gathering against
the Saints and the enemy were pressing in upon them with the spirit of
hatred that brought depression and sorrow to the hearts of the people
in the beautiful city of Nauvoo, which was fast reaching its doom.
He called a meeting of his counselors and the leading men before
whom he laid the spiritual and temporal conditions of the Church in
England and gave them some idea of conditions at home. Soon thereafter
he received word from President Young that the mob was growing in
numbers and in violence, {244} that the only terms of peace they
would accept from the Saints was their exile from the state. This
condition of affairs Elder Woodruff characterizes in his journal as
unjust, tyrannical, and un-American. Such news naturally depressed
his spirit greatly and made his continuance in the British Mission
so uncertain that he looked forward for an early release. He at once
called a special conference to be held in Manchester December 14,
1845. According to the statistics he gives, there were during the
eight months previous 1573 baptized. The total membership of the
Church in the British Isles had now reached 11,032 exclusive of those
in the Staffordshire conference which were not reported at that time.
There were reported in the priesthood one Apostle, eight high priests,
392 elders, 590 priests, 311 teachers, and 188 deacons. This would
make, including those of the Staffordshire conference something like
1,500 men in the mission bearing the priesthood. Those were days of
marvelous activity in proselyting. Within eight years the Church had
grown in that land to large proportions, and the people were constantly
emigrating to America.
On Christmas Evening of that year he attended with his wife St. John's
Market where high mass was held in the Catholic Church. This was the
first time in his life that he had attended such services. He desired
to acquaint himself with the religious ceremonies as well as the
religious beliefs of others, and took advantage of opportunities to
learn all he could in view of his probable return in the near future to
Nauvoo.
His release soon came and he began at once to put the Church
financially as well as spiritually in a safe and prosperous condition.
He reported property in excess of the debts to the amount of 574
pounds and 16 shillings. This was over $2800.00. Wherever a financial
trust was put upon him he regarded his duties in the matter as both
sacred and important. All his life long he guarded himself against
the temptations that so frequently overtake men in administering the
property of others. He fully realized that financial dishonor robs men
not only of the confidence of their fellow-men but of the blessings
of God. He was scrupulously careful to account for every farthing
entrusted to him, and his presidency, therefore, of the British
Mission was {245} marked both by zeal in preaching the gospel, and by
high-minded honesty in the administration of funds.
The year 1845 was now drawing to a close. During the entire year his
work had been directed in a foreign land. He had personally baptized
but few, had administered to something like a hundred persons,
published three thousand copies of the Doctrine and Covenants, and
twenty thousand copies of the Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles. He
had collected three hundred pounds for the Nauvoo Temple and had been
indefatigable in the management of the British Mission.
He was now released to return home. On the 3rd of January, 1846, he
visited Preston. On the 10th he made a feast for a few of his brethren,
and on the 15th took his family on board the ship Liverpool. He went
with them 10 miles and then returned to the shore. It was planned that
his wife should go with the Saints then emigrating to Nauvoo. As soon
as the business of the mission could be attended to, he expected to
leave, himself. He wrote a valedictory for the Millennial Star and on
the 23rd of January he set sail for America and arrived in New York
March 6th. The voyage was uneventful except that the second mate fell
overboard and was lost at sea. He was performing some perilous duty
that he did not require of his men. The voyage at that season of the
year was attended by cold weather and the usual winter storms. They
were forty-three days en route.
After reaching the United States, he paid a hasty visit to his old
home in Connecticut where his father and step-mother were preparing to
emigrate to Nauvoo. He also went to Maine where he found his daughter
who had remained there during his absence. They reached Nauvoo in his
father's party on the 13th of April. He says: "We stopped at Keokuk,
and at two o'clock in the afternoon we began to ascend the rapids. I
took my spy glass and enjoyed a view of the city and the Temple in the
distance. They looked very beautiful to me."
He had been a zealous mission president. He kept a careful record.
He attended with scrupulous care to all the details of the mission.
He made himself familiar with the conditions in every conference. He
promoted peace and good will among the Saints everywhere throughout
Great Britain. He was humble {246} and unassuming. He was simply the
instrumentality of God's purposes in promulgating the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. He was devoid of those ambitions that engender jealousy,
misgivings, and hatreds. His own industrious life inspired those with
whom he was associated with the same indefatigable spirit with which
he was possessed. To this day the landmarks of his mission in Great
Britain are pointed out to the elders who perform ministerial labors
there. He is referred to as a model missionary and is a man with a
record that others are happy to emulate.
{247}