A MODERN STOIC--HIS MODEST OBSCURITY--WHAT RELIGION HAS DONE FOR
NIELS--PHILOSOPHIC WAY IN WHICH HE VIEWS DEATH.
Of the many who have witnessed Niels pursuing his toilsome way between
his home and the Temple--a distance of about a mile--leaning upon his
crutch and moving along at a slow but steady gait, perhaps not one has
had a definite idea of what a heroic effort it has required for him to
walk at all, and how his constant pain has been increased thereby.
Perhaps none of his fellow workers in the temple, who are in the daily
habit of gazing upon his sphinx-like countenance as he silently passes
among them, ever even dream that he is the best modern example of the
stoic that this region has ever known, the physical agony that he
suffers being never betrayed by word or facial expression.
Though casually known to many, he has scarcely been intimate with any.
Even the facts pertaining to his life that are herein divulged, had to
be fairly pried out of him by degrees, and they will doubtless be a
revelation to many of his acquaintances when they read this recital. If
his real condition had been generally known in the past, his every want
would have been anticipated and supplied by his kind-hearted neighbors
or the relief society. The chivalrous boy scouts might have adopted him
as their protege, and done what they could to make his home cheerful,
or otherwise lighten his burdens, and dyspeptics and other victims of
luxurious living might have been making pilgrimages to his house to
learn the secret of his long and useful life under such unfavorable
conditions.
Possibly it is as well that he has been allowed to make his own way
in the world. If he had been petted and pampered, and not had the
incentive of want to spur him to exertion, he probably would never
have accomplished anything worth mentioning, or that would have
distinguished him from the great number of unfortunates that only
excite our pity.
Niels acknowledges his indebtedness to the Gospel for all the comfort
he has experienced in life. Indeed, without its sustaining power, it is
doubtful whether he could have lived as long as he has, or retained his
reason, if he had so lived. Without it, he could have had no desire to
live; and, failing to find relief in death, his bodily suffering would
probably have made of him a raving maniac or a driveling imbecile. As
already mentioned, he was converted to the Gospel some time before
he was baptized. He has never since entertained a doubt as to its
truth. One might as well try to convince him that the sun does not
shine, as that the Gospel is not true. Since his baptism he has been
unwavering in his devotion to his religion. He has doubtless got more
out of his religion than most adherents do. It has been the controlling
inspiration of his life. He has been zealous, without being fanatical;
devout, without outward expression. He has been a regular attendant
at meetings (until he became in recent years too deaf to hear the
preaching,) but never ambitious to take part therein. He feels amply
repaid in the joy and satisfaction that have come to him for all the
labors he has performed, and all the sufferings he has endured. He has
no fear of death, but does not court it. He is content to live as long
as the Lord is willing to have him do so [1]. He seeks no notoriety. He
is the very personification of modesty. He is willing to be regarded as
a grain of dust, an insignificant atom, and plod on in obscurity during
the remainder of his mortal existence, as he has done in the past,
without attracting any attention.
The author of this sketch has known Niels casually for years, but
never discovered his real character until quite recently. For aught
he knows, he may be the original discoverer. He regards as a very
great compliment from Niels, the statement that he understood his
character and motives as no one else had done before. He sought the
acquaintance and confidence of Niels--was not sought by him. He it
was, and not Niels, who conceived the idea of reducing to writing some
of the incidents of his eventful life, and who surprised him later
with a proposition to publish the same. The author is responsible for
all deductions expressed herein, the facts alone having been somewhat
reluctantly mentioned by Niels, but he has perused the story and
endorsed it as correct, with some evident misgiving as to the possible
resultant notoriety.
[Image: His Tombstone]
If benefits to the many constitute the true standard by which success
should be gauged, the life of Niels has certainly been a successful
one; and the record herein set forth of the adverse conditions which
have surrounded him, and his wonderful accomplishments in view thereof,
should be an inspiration to every person who feels that his life's
burden is heavy, and who is privileged to read this simple recital.
If the unselfish work to which Niels has devoted such a large part
of his life had no other beneficial effect than to sweeten the lives
and render lovable the characters of those who engage therein; to
develop in them genuine love for their fellows and true charity--a
willingness to benefit others without hope of reward therefor--and to
make them cheerful, and hopeful and buoyant when otherwise they might
be despondent and gloomy, surely that work is not in vain. Indeed it
would even then compare favorably with almost any other that claims the
attention of mankind.
If the "Mormon" theory be correct, the Gospel ordinances absolutely
essential to the salvation and exaltation of mankind may be received
by the living vicariously for the benefit of the dead. The dead, too,
through an intelligent acceptance in the spirit world of the conditions
of salvation, including the vicarious work voluntarily undertaken in
their behalf on earth, may enjoy all the Gospel privileges.
Assuming that this theory is correct, what more important labor could
a person engage in than that performed in the Temples? Is there any
work on earth more free from the taint of selfishness? Is there
anything a person could engage in that savors more of true Christian
charity? Is not the satisfaction experienced by such earnest, sincere,
conscientious people as Niels a strong evidence of the truth and
efficacy of the work? Is not the assurance that Niels and thousands
of others have received through the testimony of the Spirit, as to
the work being acceptable to the dead in whose behalf it is done, and
agreeable to the will of the Almighty, worthy of consideration?
The work done in the temple in behalf of the dead differs in this
respect from other forms of charity--there is no danger of it making
the one who performs it vainglorious. He is not open to the suspicion
that the Pharisees of old were, in their giving of alms--a desire
for applause, or "to be seen of men." Niels has not become puffed up
because of what he has accomplished. He does not pose as anybody's
benefactor. He assumes no heroic airs. There is no halo surrounding him
such as "limners give to be the beloved disciple." He is just a modest,
humble, obscure cripple, known to his neighbors, who are sufficiently
acquainted with him to call him by name as Niels Larsen [2]; who is
content to live and die without attaining to any distinction, who
is advertised for the first time in this recital, and this without
any desire or request on his part. He was the most insignificant and
unpromising (not to say despised) of all his kindred, the tag end, as
it were, of the aristocratic and once powerful families from which he
had descended. He is the only one of a numerous kindred (so far as
known) who has accepted of the Gospel. Possibly others of them, as well
as the brother and sister-in-law already mentioned, have rejected the
Gospel because of their shame of him.
Is it not possible that this stone which these builders of the family's
reputation rejected may yet become the chief corner? That this despised
of all his race may yet become the head of it? In view of the vast
work that he has accomplished in behalf of his progenitors, may we
not anticipate the grateful homage that he will receive from them
in the next world, when he, as a resurrected being, will stand in
their midst--not as a cripple, deformed, and dwarfed, and weak, and
racked with pain, as he has been during most of his mortal career, but
resplendent in all the glory of a perfected manhood, his physical body
conforming in stature and appearance to his spiritual body, a very
king among his fellows! Imagine, too, the joyful acclaim with which he
will then be greeted by the numerous host who are not of his immediate
kindred, for whose salvation he has unselfishly labored in mortality.
Then will the pain and suffering and fatigue and humiliation which
he endured in this life seem as nothing compared with the treasures
in heaven which he will receive, and the limits and besetments of
mortality be forgotten and swallowed up in its fruition--the joys and
glories of an endless immortality.
Footnotes:
1. Niels has a very confident feeling that he will live to be 82 years
of age, but whether the call comes to quit this mortal life sooner or
later he intends to be prepared for it, and the completeness of his
arrangements for his burial and for perpetuating a knowledge of his
burial place indicates the complacency with which he regards death.
Some time since he purchased a quarter of a lot in the cemetery, and
had a very substantial granite monument made to his order and erected
thereon. An inscription upon it gives his name, date and place of
his birth, his parentage, and Salt Lake City as the place of his
death, with blank space below upon which to chisel in the date of his
passing away. He also keeps his burial clothes, made by himself, all
nicely laundried, in readiness to place upon his body when death shall
overtake him. This too is another illustration of his independence, and
disposition to do things himself rather than trust to others.
Since the erection of his tombstone, a lady who was somewhat acquainted
with him happened to be in the cemetery and saw it. She read the
inscription with surprise and sorrow. She failed to notice that the
date of his death was lacking, and very naturally concluded that he had
died and been buried, and was surprised that it could have happened
without the news of it having reached her. She mourned to think she
would never see him again, and that she had not even attended his
funeral and manifested the respect she had for one whose suffering and
inoffensiveness had so strongly appealed to her. In a pensive mood she
returned home and told her friends how shocked and sorrow stricken she
was at learning for the first time on seeing his monument of the death
of her friend.
A few days later she was tripping across Main Street without any
thought of death in her mind, when she suddenly beheld his familiar
figure slowly moving down the side walk. She was so startled at sight
of what she thought must be an apparition that she stood transfixed
until she was aroused by the hoot of an approaching automobile, and
narrowly escaped being knocked down and run over.
2. A custom prevails very generally among the peasantry throughout
Scandinavia of changing the surname from generation to generation,
while among the aristocracy the rule is to maintain the same surname
in a family as one generation succeeds another. An exception to this
latter rule sometimes occurs when a branch of an aristocratic family
does not inherit wealth, or through some misfortune becomes financially
reduced, and has to take rank per force with the peasantry. Then,
notwithstanding the aristocratic lineage, the peasant method of
changing the surname of the progeny from father to son is followed.
As already mentioned in this narrative, Niels was of aristocratic
lineage on both his father's and mother's side. They were, however,
of minor branches that did not inherit much wealth. The father,
though given in infancy the family surname of Eskildz, was known more
generally throughout his lifetime by his given name of Lars Nielsen,
and called Eskildz more as a nickname than otherwise, or as a means
of distinguishing him from others having the name of Lars Nielsen.
When Niels was born he was named Niels Larsen, in accordance with the
peasant custom, and it was not until he commenced his work in the house
of the Lord that he assumed his rightful ancestral name, and is even
now scarcely known outside of the Temple by the name of Eskildz.
Niels' father and mother were second cousins. His mother's maiden
name was Marie Olesen Myre. As may be inferred from the relationship
existing between them before marriage, theirs was not the first
marriage between the Eskildz and Myre families. Some branches of these
two families were very wealthy and influential when Niels was a boy,
which fact, however, was of no advantage to their poorer relatives,
among whom were Niels and his parents.
A WOMAN WITH A PURPOSE.
PURPOSE ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS--BIRTH AND PARENTAGE OF CAROLINA
CORRADI--HER MOTHER'S PRESCIENCE--PREPARATION FOR FUTURE
CAREER--DEVOTED WORK IN BEHALF OF DEAD KINDRED.
Few people have accomplished anything in this life worth mentioning
who have not had a definite purpose in view, to which every faculty of
their mind and body is made to bend. People without a purpose abound on
every hand, with nothing in appearance to distinguish them from their
fellows except a kind of mental or physical inertia or a fickleness of
disposition, causing them to flit about from one pursuit to another, as
a butterfly does from flower to flower. Their personal lack of purpose
may not be apparent to the casual observer, especially if they be
sufficiently under the influence of strong-minded, decisive friends,
who furnish the purpose for them, and manipulate them as if they were
human automatons.
Some people seem to be born with a purpose, or--more properly
speaking--with a disposition to form a purpose, and adhere to it. They
are not only possessed of energy, but of the power of concentration,
the ability to apply themselves to the one particular purpose before
them until they succeed.
Lacking a purpose--either innate or acquired--people are apt to drift
aimlessly through life, like an abandoned boat upon the ocean, subject
to every wind that blows and every current that flows. With conditions
favorable, they may float on indefinitely, even as derelicts at sea
have been known to do for years without meeting with any serious
obstruction. Their course may be so serene, and so attended with good
fortune, that observers may be almost forced to the conclusion that
they have a charmed existence. The real test of their constancy and
endurance comes to the mechanical derelicts when storms beset them
and breakers loom up before them, and to their human prototypes when
obstacles are encountered that only a strong mind can cope with,
and when no friendly support is at hand, to lean upon. The weak and
vacillating then flounder in uncertainty, so lacking in self-confidence
as to be absolutely unable to formulate and execute any purposeful
plan, while the strong-minded, resolute, self-reliant people carefully
lay their plans, and then proceed to fulfill them.
Of course the majority of human derelicts are unwilling to admit that
their failure to succeed is due to any fault of theirs. They prefer to
believe that they are the victims of chance, or ill-luck, or lack of
opportunity. Many of them have no desire to work, and others, if not
really lazy, have no pride or interest in the work they do, and are
therefore very indifferent workmen, and seldom retain a job long after
getting it.
Occasionally a person is found who has sufficient mental grasp to
devise, and executive ability to carry out a number of purposes
simultaneously, and those who are specially successful in material
affairs are sometimes called "Napoleons of finance." More frequently,
however, the diffusion of energy due to following too many purposes
results in failure. Many of the more conspicuous financial failures
are made by persons who fairly bristle with purposes. They are like
the ambitious but unwise blacksmith who had so many irons in the fire
at once that he either had to slight his work on all or allow some to
become overheated and spoiled.
It is infinitely more creditable to have one purpose, and accomplish it
successfully, than a number and succeed only indifferently.
The story of which the foregoing is a prelude is not that of a
"Napoleon of finance" or even of a Hetty Green in success in material
matters, but of that of a very humble, but altogether worthy woman,
whose aspirations are spiritual rather than material.
Examples from the ranks of the humble are more apt to be helpful to
the great mass of the people than those taken from other classes, as
what the wealthy and highly educated classes accomplish is apt to be
attributed to their more favored station in life, and therefore not to
be emulated by the poor, illiterate and obscure.
It will be observed that the example which follows is one that may be
profitably emulated by any, regardless of rank in life.
Carolina Corradi was born September 1, 1856, in Mastetlen, Canton
Thurgau, Switzerland. She was the youngest but one of eleven children,
born of parents who were only in moderate circumstances, and therefore
the help of all the children able to work was required to maintain the
reputation for thrift which the family had always enjoyed.
The parents were honest, industrious, intelligent, but not specially
pious people. Her father, Johannes Corradi, was a rather ingenious man,
able to turn his hand to almost any kind of work, and as kind-hearted
and self-sacrificing a man as could be found anywhere, and generous
almost to a fault. He was greatly beloved by all who knew him, and
especially by his children. The mother was an exceptionally good
housekeeper, and possessed rare tact as a manager, and developed into
quite a business woman, especially after her husband's death, when
it became her duty to manage the material affairs of the family. She
was also known by her intimates to possess a gift of prescience, or
the ability to see things before they actually transpired. By this
gift she evidently foresaw something of the future of her daughter
Carolina while she was yet a young child, and insisted that she learn
the French laundry business, as the time would come when she would find
it an advantage to work at it. Carolina was the only child concerning
whom the mother had this impression, although the other daughters were
apparently as well adapted for that kind of work as she was, and there
was nothing about her to indicate that she, any more than the others,
would ever need to work at it. Like many other branches of knowledge
or craft, the secrets of French laundry work were only to be obtained
by sacrifice, and so the parents of Carolina paid a considerable sum
of money for the privilege, and bound her to serve without pay for a
certain period to have her learn from those who were skilled in that
line.
She was apt at learning, became a very proficient hand, and followed
that line of employment for about three years while her mother still
lived, (her father having died when she was fourteen years of age.) The
mother died in 1883, leaving the children, who, however, were all grown
to maturity by that time, to shift for themselves. Her last words to
Carolina were that she must not mourn or despair because of her death,
as there was something great prepared for her, of which she was then in
ignorance, but of which she would learn in due time. She said nothing
of the kind about the other children, and the family talked about the
fact after the mother's death and decided among themselves that it
meant that Carolina was somehow going to become possessed of wealth.
They had faith in their mother's ability to see things that were coming
to pass, and they couldn't think of anything quite so desirable in
their estimation as wealth.
Carolina went out to service, and was mostly engaged in general
housework. While the parents lived the family never learned of the
Gospel as taught by the Latter-day Saints, but some years later it was
brought directly to the attention of some of the surviving members of
the family, and Carolina alone of all of them was attracted by it.
She joined the Church in the year 1889, and was so impressed with the
doctrine of salvation for the dead, that she soon afterwards wrote
a letter to the clerk of the parish in which her parents were born,
to obtain information in regard to their ancestors. This was done
in the hope that she might, at some time in the future, be able to
have a vicarious work done in their behalf. To her gratification,
the parish officer proved to be a distant relative, by the name of
Corradi, and he supplied her with the names of her ancestors for a few
generations--thirty-five or thirty-six names in all. They were all she
was able to obtain, or knew where to obtain, before she migrated to
Utah (which she did in the year 1891,) and she came here with a strong
desire that they should have all the privileges of the Gospel that they
might have enjoyed had they accepted of it in mortality.
She inherited enough from her parents' estate to pay for her emigration
to Utah and leave $35.00 in her pocket when she landed here. That
was the amount of her capital at the inception of her career here in
Utah, less than twenty-three years ago. She had no relatives, and few
acquaintances, in this land, and was unfamiliar with the language of
the country.
She obtained work in a laundry at the lowest price paid to
inexperienced hands, and was glad to get it. She was devoted to her
religion, was faithful in attending meetings, paying her tithes and
fast offerings, and never lost sight of the duty that she so early
felt to be resting upon her, to do all that was in her power for the
salvation of her dead kindred. In the meantime she had been acquiring
a knowledge of the English language, but it was six years after she
arrived in Utah before she began her vicarious work in the Temple.
She was not able to follow this work up continuously--only to spend a
day at a time, but the spirit of the work grew upon her. She was able
to officiate for the females of her kindred, but she was in doubt as
to how to proceed to get the work done for her male kindred. While in
this state of anxiety the Spirit prompted her to apply to Niels P.L.
Eskildz, with the assurance that he would faithfully serve, and be
of great assistance to her. She accordingly applied to him, and, as
already related, obtained his consent. When all those whose names she
had were officiated for, she was favored with an open vision, in which
a person appeared to her and told her that she had a great work yet to
perform in behalf of her dead kindred--that she would do the work for
more than a thousand.
At that time she did not know where she could get another name, and
earned so little by her work (she never was paid more than $1.10 per
day at the laundry, and much of the time only received $1.00 per day)
that she couldn't foresee how she could ever afford to pay for having
her genealogy traced up and obtain more names. She had recently been
trying to obtain laundry work (ironing) in private families, with a
view to earning more than she had been able to at the laundries, but
had not yet succeeded to any great extent. She felt, however, that the
Lord had inspired the promise made to her, and that He could and would
provide a way for its fulfillment, but how she could not forsee.
Soon afterwards she obtained work in her line in a private wealthy
family, where she was able to earn $2.00 per day, and also learned
of a man who was engaged in the business of tracing up genealogies,
whom she employed to obtain the names of her ancestors. She has since
obtained several extensive lists of names, including several lines of
her ancestors, and has now had Brother Eskildz regularly employed for
several years, whenever he has been able to do so, officiating for
her dead male kindred, while she has employed women, and occasionally
spends a day in the Temple herself, laboring for her female kindred.
She has thus done herself, or hired others to do the work, for almost
1800, and by the time she completes the work for all the names she has,
the number will be increased to fully 1900.
She has done this as a labor of love, and found great joy and
satisfaction in so doing--in fact, feeling repaid as she has proceeded
by the enjoyment the work has afforded her, for all the labor and
sacrifice it has involved. While her earnings have never been
munificent, she has maintained a decent, respectable appearance,
keeping house in from one to three rented rooms, and honestly paid her
way and done her duty as a church member--all from her own earnings.
She feels that the Lord has been specially kind to her, in providing a
way for the gratification of her earnest desire in behalf of her dead
kindred. She expresses also her gratitude to Brother Eskildz, to whom
great credit is due for classifying the names and providing for the
orderly and complete performance of the work, so that no names have
been duplicated, and none omitted. She says she doesn't know how she
could have accomplished what she has without his help. Her genealogical
records are in fine shape, and are a credit to her.
When asked how much money she had spent for genealogical research, for
books in which to keep a record of the work done and for the payment of
people she had hired to officiate for her kindred, she replied she did
not know, and she did not care to know. She was content to know that it
had been spent in a worthy cause, gave the Lord the credit for it and
did not even seek any personal recognition.
She has felt sure since embracing the Gospel that her mother must have
had a foreknowledge that she would labor in this cause, and she has had
many assurances since she first engaged in the Temple work that her
parents are aware of the vicarious work she has done or caused to be
done in behalf of the dead, and heartily approve of the same.
She has sought no notoriety in what she has done; in fact, was
rather reluctant about admitting it or giving any information
concerning it, but the consciousness of it affords her a great deal
of satisfaction--infinitely more, she says that the possession of a
million dollars could.
Some women have doubtless done more than she in laboring for the
salvation of the dead, numbers considered, but her record offers a
specially fine example of a holy purpose faithfully pursued, and
Carolina Corradi will doubtless stand throughout eternity as the
personification of self-sacrifice and filial devotion.
AN EXCEPTION.
A RICH MAN'S HANDICAP--WEALTH NOT ESSENTIALLY BAD--BUT QUALITIES ITS
POSSESSION DEVELOPS A BAR TO SALVATION--TYPICAL CASE OF A MAN REARED IN
AFFLUENCE--UNPROMISING START IN MARRIED LIFE--HOW HE BECAME INTERESTED
IN TEMPLE WORK--WORTHY EXAMPLE IN RECENT YEARS.
It is not an uncommon thing for a poor person to look with envy upon
the possessions of the wealthy, and remark how easy it would be for
him to be generous, and make sacrifices for a righteous cause, if he
were only wealthy. It is hard--perhaps impossible--for such a person
to realize it (never having been possessed of wealth,) but wealth is
more frequently a bar to the service of the Lord than a help therein.
We are informed in the gospel according to Matthew that the Savior said
"a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven;" and again, "it
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." Whether we understand from
this that the Savior was indulging in hyperbole--the grossest kind of
exaggeration, or that the eye of the needle referred to was a specially
low gateway in the wall of Jerusalem, through which camels could
only pass by crouching down, we must conclude that the rich are less
susceptible to the saving influence of the Gospel than the poor. This
is confirmed by the declaration that "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," and numerous passages about the
deceitfulness of riches, and of "the love of money," being "the root of
all evil."
When we come to analyze the question, it is not the wealth itself that
is evil, but the avarice and arrogance that its possession is apt to
develop, for the more one has the more he is apt to want. The person
who in his youth is eager to acquire wealth is apt to grow intensely
avaricious if not miserly in his old age. The person who manifests
pride and slight regard for others' rights in youth is apt to become
unbearably arrogant as he grows older.
Humility is a pre-requisite to the acceptance and practice of those
principles upon which salvation depends, and humility is the very
opposite of arrogance. Treasures in heaven are apt to look most
attractive to the person whose view thereof is not obstructed by
treasures upon earth; for "where the treasure is, there will the heart
be also." A poor person, seeking salvation, is not so apt to have
his attention distracted therefrom, as is one who is full of care
concerning his earthly possessions.
Inasmuch as the work done in the Temple is clearly in the nature
of seeking treasures in heaven, it is really refreshing to find a
wealthy person, and especially one who has been reared in affluence,
manifesting much devotion in that line.
One of the most striking examples of this kind noticeable in the Salt
Lake Temple in recent years is that of Brother P . . .
His parents were descended from aristocratic families of Old Virginia.
His father was the owner of two large mercantile establishments and
other valuable property in his native town before the war, but the war
broke him up, and left him comparatively poor. However, he was of that
class who cannot be kept down. He was ambitious and enterprising, and
soon began to accumulate. Coming to Utah in the year 1864, he engaged
in school teaching, farming, ran a threshing machine, clerked in,
managed and then owned a store, engaged in banking, etc., wringing
success out of everything he turned his hand to. By the time the
subject if this sketch (who was born in Utah,) was old enough to
receive impressions, his was regarded as among the most wealthy,
influential and aggressive families in the state.
None of the sons (of whom there were several in the family) ever
served as a missionary, until recently, when one of the younger sons
filled a creditable mission to Germany. This fact is mentioned because
the calling of one son from a household to fill a mission frequently
arouses more or less zeal in the whole family.
Nor were they conspicuous workers in the quorum and auxiliary
organizations in the church. This fact is mentioned for the same
reason. When young people take an active part in these organizations
they frequently develop into enthusiastic church members, and
occasionally arouse an interest in spiritual matters throughout the
whole family.
The eldest son was a successful mining broker, and prominent in
political and business affairs, and the second, (the subject of this
sketch) studied law, with the intention of becoming a practicing
attorney. These facts are mentioned also for the reason that they
are generally understood to tend from rather than towards religious
devotion.
Another circumstance that would rather indicate backsliding than a
growing zeal, was his disregard for the scriptural injunction: "Be ye
not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." He married a girl who
was not a member of the Church.
In extenuation, it may be said that he indulged in the hope of
converting her; in fact, during the days of their courtship they
read and discussed "Mormon" literature together, and she manifested
an interest therein; but she hadn't faith enough to join the Church
before her marriage; nor, indeed, for four years afterwards, the fact
of her parents and most of her relatives being non-"Mormons" possibly
accounting for her hesitancy.
With this introduction the story may now be given as told by Brother
P..., of how he became interested in Temple work:
"On July 20, 1908, Miss H . . . and I were married by an Elder of
the Church. Four years later my wife was stricken with hemorrhage of
the brain, and her life was despaired of. She was healed in answer
to prayer, and the faith exercised by herself and others, and gladly
joined the Church soon afterwards. Later on, she was dying of organic
Brights disease, and the physician in attendance said there was no
possibility of her living. However, after an administration of the
Elders, she improved immediately, and lived in peace for four years
longer. On April 27, 1908, she died.
"We had not been to the Temple to receive our endowments, and to have
the important ceremony performed whereby we could be united for time
and all eternity.
"About one month after my wife's death I was impressed to go to the
20th Ward sacrament service; although I did not live in that ward,
and it was my first attendance at a meeting there. Brother Samuel W.
Jenkinson, a blind man, who was a Temple worker, was the speaker.
Twelve years prior to that time Brother Jenkinson had done endowment
work in the Temple for some of my wife's relatives, but he and I were
not acquainted. I was so much impressed with his remarks, that I
inquired and learned his name, and the following morning wrote a letter
to this blind brother, telling him how pleased I was with his testimony.
"On receiving the letter, Brother Jenkinson telephoned to me a request
to come up and see him. My telephone number was 5279.
"A month passed. One afternoon, on the very day the Temple closed for
the summer vacation, as I was sitting at my desk, the telephone rang.
Taking down the receiver, I heard the voice of Samuel W. Jenkinson,
saying `Your telephone number has been coming to me for a week,
especially while I was in the Temple. I did not call you up, as I did
not wish to disturb you; but today the number '5279, 5279' came to me
so many times that, on leaving the Temple, I have come to a phone. Now
I do not know what to say to you.'
"That evening I called at the home of the blind brother, and talked to
him awhile, mainly in regard to my departed wife.
"Six weeks passed. Three days before the Temple opened, after the
vacation, Brother Jenkinson telephoned to me, saying: 'I am impressed
that your wife wants her Temple work done.'
"'All right,' I replied, 'I will see to it.'
"I called upon President Winder, the presiding officer of the Temple,
and told him what had occurred. He advised that I wait until a year
had passed after the death of my wife. This agreed with my feelings
exactly, and I remarked, `I think so too, President Winder. Besides, I
would rather take the rest of the year to prepare to enter the Temple.'
"Three days later President Winder sent for me, and, when I responded
to the call, said: `I have taken that matter up with President Smith,
and we have made an exception in your case; and you can now do the work
for your wife any time.'
"I thanked President Winder, but added that I thought there was no
hurry, and preferred to wait for awhile.
"However, my wife knew the great importance of attending to this
most sacred work without delay. In her life her rule was, not to
procrastinate. She used to say, 'Tomorrow has enough duties of its
own to attend to. So don't crowd the duties of today on tomorrow.'
Besides, being in the spirit world, she had a livelier appreciation of
Temple work than I had, with my earthly environment. She knew there
was great danger in delaying to do the vicarious work--a fact that all
Latter-day Saints should understand who are familiar with the teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith upon the subject. He impressed upon the
Saints in the strongest terms that there was none too much time left
in which to do the work for the dead; and one of the strongest desires
that he manifested during the last few weeks of his life was, that the
Saints should proceed to get their genealogies and perform the sacred
ordinances in behalf of their dead kindred without delay. Delays are
dangerous, and the adversary will always give us abundant reasons for
procrastination if we are willing to listen to such counsel.
"Ten days more passed. I was sitting at my desk when the telephone
rang. Samuel W. Jenkinson's voice sounded in my ear; `You have let ten
days go by, and haven't done that work for your wife yet.'
"My answer was: `No, I thought I would wait awhile; but I have
permission from the First Presidency to do the work any time now.'
"Then came a short and vigorous sermon from the blind Temple worker,
that has since proven to be the moving cause in my life in the matter
of Temple work. Brother Jenkinson in plainness and earnestness said:
'I am impressed with the feeling that your wife wants her Temple work
done, and I always act on my impressions. If her Temple work is done
she will have more happiness and greater freedom, can progress faster
and further, and can accomplish much more for herself and for others,
and for you right here on earth. But you can do what you want. I hereby
clear myself from all responsibility, and leave it wholly to you.'
"'I am convinced, Brother Jenkinson, and will see to it at once.' I
answered, and took the next train for Ogden, where I saw my sister and
asked her to be proxy for my wife.
"On seeing me, she exclaimed: 'I have been wanting to see you, and was
going to write to you. I had a wonderful dream about your wife this
morning.' She then proceeded to relate the dream, which was in line
with my wife's wish, as expressed by Brother Jenkinson, that her Temple
work should be done.
"Two days thereafter the Temple work was done, and it was the most
glorious day of my life. No joy that I had previously felt could
compare with the heavenly happiness that I experienced. Tears came to
my eyes, and I rejoiced in a spirit of thanksgiving to my Heavenly
Father for being permitted to enter His holy house and partake of the
blessings therein bestowed.
"Since then I have felt that my main mission on earth is to have
Temple work done for as many spirits as possible; thereby aiding in
the release of those departed spirits from their prison houses. I have
also taken the opportunity to encourage others to search out their
genealogies and do Temple work for their kindred dead."
That is his story, briefly told. Others can testify to the fidelity
with which he has fulfilled what he conceived to be his mission. He
frequently goes to the Temple himself and receives ordinances in behalf
of his dead kindred, and he is constantly employing others to do
likewise, so that the work for his kindred dead goes on apace. Being
asked how many he had now had the work done for, he replied that he did
not know--he had not taken time to count--but some thousands.
In addition to all this, he has for the past five years been a worker
on the Temple Block in connection with the Bureau of Information,
spending much of his time there, and with good effect if the
volunteered opinion of hundreds who have listened to him are a fair
criterion by which to judge. Though he never filled a foreign mission,
he has enjoyed privileges that seldom come to foreign missionaries. He
has explained "Mormon" history and doctrine and borne his testimony to
thousands who, as strangers thereto, were seeking the information he
had to offer (and many of them willing listeners,) and who could never
afterwards deny having heard the truth.
It may be inferred from this that he is working under high pressure,
to spare so much time from his own absorbing affairs to devote to this
charitable work, as well as to be under the financial tribute that he
is in this connection, and indeed he is. He probably inherits from his
father (who was a man of unusual energy, mental and physical,) his
capacity for work. There is no doubt about his feeling better for the
strenuous life that he is leading, and especially for his gratuitous
work. He has been heard to remark that he has found no good and safe
place to stop at, as any lessening of his efforts in the voluntary work
for the good of others that he has undertaken, results in a perceptible
diminution in the good spirit that he has enjoyed in recent years,
and in his growing worldly-minded in a corresponding degree. His is
a nature that is not satisfied with anything mediocre. He craves the
best, and is naturally thorough and whole-hearted in that which he
does, and has a keen sense of both enjoyment and suffering.
He has learned what many others fail to learn: that happiness depends
less upon what we receive than what we give, less upon what we have
than upon what we do; less upon what others do for us than upon what we
do for them; and that we can adopt no more certain means of securing
happiness for ourselves than that of seeking to make others happy. Life
never was so full and rich and satisfying to him before as it has been
in recent years, for he never did so much for others, and never before
exhibited so much unselfishness.
He objects to being classed as a rich man, because, notwithstanding
his interests are rather extensive, he has invested a large amount of
borrowed money in an industry which involves a good deal of risk, and
yet, with good fortune in his favor, may yield a handsome profit.
Well, if he is not rich he is certainly enterprising, and deserves to
be rich, and never was in less danger from being rich.
Wealth is a comparative term, anyhow. If he is not rich compared with
some who are very wealthy, he is compared with those who have little or
none of this world's goods.
If, with the risk he is taking, he still finds time to devote so
much unselfish attention to others, dead and living, how much more
creditable than if he labored for selfish ends! And how much more of
a sacrifice he is making than if he had converted all his surplus
property into government bonds, the income from which would insure him
a living without care on his part, and then only gave his time to the
cause of humanity.
He has again married--this time in God's own appointed way, to one
who is full of faith--and two lovely children have come to grace his
home--the first living children he has had. He takes an optimistic view
of life, and never felt that he had so much to live for.
It may be appropriately mentioned here that six years before his former
wife died (a. already related,) she wrote a letter to her husband, with
a request that it be opened and read after her death. His present wife
chanced to read that letter some time after her marriage, and learned
from it that the expressed desire of the deceased wife was that her
husband should marry again, and that some time there would be a little
Luacine (that being the first wife's name.) The first child was a boy.
The second was a girl, and the mother, on her own volition, chose for
her the name of Luacine.
Consider this case from whatever angle we may, Brother P . . . is
an exception in his class, and a most praiseworthy exception, whose
example in recent years is well worthy of emulation.
MY MOTHER.
CHAPTER I.
PREDICTION FROM MALACHI FULFILLED--BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF MARY ALICE
CANNON--CANNON FAMILY EMBRACE THE GOSPEL--MIGRATE--MOTHER'S DEATH AT
SEA--ARRIVAL AT NAUVOO--FATHER'S DEATH--HER MARRIAGE.
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he shall turn the heart of
the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
Thus spake the Lord through Malachi, the prophet; but just what was
meant by turning the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart
of the children to the fathers, has been a matter of speculation among
bible students since time was young. Of course, many have supposed that
this prediction was fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist; but
wherein John the Baptist accomplished any such work as that indicated
is not clear. Whatever the work was that Elijah was to do, there must
be something potential about it, to have the effect of appeasing the
wrath of the Almighty and averting the curse with which the earth (or
possibly the inhabitants of the earth) would otherwise be smitten.
Not until the doctrine of salvation for the dead had been revealed was
the full import of the declaration quoted from Malachi understood even
by the Latter-day Saints. The anxiety they immediately experienced
for the salvation of their kindred who had died without conforming to
the Gospel requirements, when they learned that the living might do
a vicarious work in behalf of the dead, that would place the latter
upon an equal footing with the most favored of the living, was an
illustration of its effects upon the children.
The interest that was awakened about that same time in the matter of
genealogical research, without any apparent cause for it, more than
had existed for ages, may reasonably be considered an evidence that
the "heart of the fathers" was being turned to the children. Nor was
this interest in the tracing of genealogies, and the connecting of one
generation or age to another by kindred links, limited to Latter-day
Saints, or those familiar with the doctrine of salvation for the dead,
as newly revealed. It seemed to be a spontaneous feeling, specially
noticeable in the more enlightened countries of that age and since. The
disposition to engage in this research was not limited to any class or
creed. It was manifested alike by people of various religious beliefs
and by those also of infidel tendencies. Sometimes pride of ancestry
furnished the excuse, and at other times the hope of inheritance was
the incentive. Whatever the causes that led to the compiling and
publishing of genealogical works, it is easy for Latter-day Saints to
believe that men so actuated were inspired of the Lord, whether they
realized it or not, and that the grand and ultimate purpose of the Lord
was that the living believers in that doctrine might do a vicarious
work for the salvation of individual dead, and thus connect the present
generation with those of the past.
[Image: Mrs. Mary Alice C. Lambert]
A desire to learn as much as possible about one's ancestors, and
then go into the Temple and labor for their salvation, may be really
accepted as the normal feeling among faithful, sincere Latter-day
Saints. So generally is it understood to be their duty to labor for
their dead kindred, that it seems quite the natural thing that they
should do so. Their obligation in this respect is comparable to that of
providing for dependent members of their households.
One must have a broader feeling of philanthropy or a higher sense
of duty, to labor as a general worker or officiator in the Temple
for extended periods, without hope of earthly reward. Among the more
conspicuous examples of this kind in the Salt Lake Temple is Mrs. Mary
Alice C. Lambert, the dean of the women workers, if such a term may
be applied to a woman. She was one of those called to so labor when
the Salt Lake Temple was completed, and has so served faithfully and
gratuitously ever since, being still active and efficient, although in
her eighty-sixth year. Hers is as fine an example of a busy, well-spent
life, as could readily be found, and a perusal of the following sketch
can hardly fail to be faith promoting:
On the 9th day of December, 1828, a young married couple, George and
Ann Cannon, then living in the city of Liverpool, England, rejoiced
in the birth of their second child--a daughter--whom they named Mary
Alice. There was nothing about the child or her brother, George Q.,
who was two years her senior, or their parents, to distinguish them
from the many thousands of other families who lived in that great city.
The father was an intelligent and industrious tradesman--an expert
carpenter, or joiner--and the mother a thoroughly domestic woman, whose
love for her husband and children was only equalled by the strength of
her religious fervor. Though England had been the adopted home of this
branch of the Cannon family since many years before their marriage,
the most of their relatives lived in the Isle of Man, and thither
the family went on occasional visits. On one of these visits, at the
earnest solicitation of her maternal grandmother, little Mary Alice was
left to bear her company, and spent five years of her childhood in the
quaint old town of Peel, for this purpose.
In course of time the Cannon family was enlarged by the successive
births of other children--Ann, Angus, John, David and Leonora. John,
however, died when three and a half years of age. Prosperity had
attended the father's labors, the family had a comfortable and happy
home, the older children were acquiring an education, and gave promise
of being like other children among the better class in England--no
worse than the majority, and not much if any better.
When Mary Alice was about 11 years of age, an event occurred that
was destined to change the whole current of the family life. If
there is any truth in the theory of heredity, it was well for the
Cannon family that their ancestors, for generations, had been hardy
sea-faring men--some of them captains, conspicuous for their courage
and adventurous disposition. It was well that their ancestral home
was in the Isle of Man, where the inhabitants, largely fishermen, are
inured to hardship and used to battling with the waves and braving the
tempest. If any of the traits possessed by their ancestors had been
inherited by the present generation, and especially strength of will
and endurance, two of the most prominent characteristics of the Manx
people--they must certainly be called into action in the strenuous life
that lay before the Cannon family, thenceforward.
Some years previously Leonora Cannon, a sister of George Cannon, had
migrated to Canada, and there met and married a young Englishman named
John Taylor. Parley P. Pratt, as a Latter-day Saint missionary, soon
afterwards visited the part of Canada where the Taylors lived, and
they were converted and joined their fortunes with the Saints in Ohio.
From Nauvoo John Taylor was sent on a mission to Great Britain, and
immediately upon landing called upon his wife's brother and family.
A profound impression was made by this visit. The visitor had scarcely
left the house, after a brief call, when the mother expressed the firm
conviction she felt that he was a servant of God, although he had not
then made known the fact that he was a missionary or explained the
Gospel. After a very short time spent investigating the Gospel, the
parents were baptized. Little Mary Alice, though so young, greatly
desired baptism at the same time, but was too timid to ask for it.
From the time she listened to the first conversation on the Gospel she
had felt greatly exercised in regard to it, and earnestly prayed to
the Lord for a testimony as to its truth. As a result, she obtained
a strong assurance from the Lord of its truth, that has never since
admitted of a doubt.
The parents had been members of the Church four months when, in June
1840, Elder Parley P. Pratt visited them in company with Elder Taylor.
They had just finished eating breakfast, with the whole family present,
when Elder Pratt, as if moved by a sudden inspiration, said: "Elder
Taylor, have you preached the Gospel to these children? Some of them
want to be baptized now. Don't you?" he asked looking straight at Mary
Alice. "Yes, sir," she promptly replied, her heart so full of gratitude
to the Lord for the opportunity she had prayed for of having her desire
made known, that she could hardly speak. Further questioning resulted
in immediate arrangements being made for the baptism of George Q., Mary
Alice and Ann--all the children of the family then old enough for the
ordinance.
It didn't take the family long to discover that there was no fellowship
or tolerance for them among their relatives, or indeed among their
former friends. Though formerly popular, they were now pitied or
denounced, if not thoroughly hated. Whether this fact tended to create
a desire to migrate to America or not, true it was that they soon
obtained the spirit of gathering. The only social enjoyment the family
found was in mingling with members of the church, and the desire soon
grew strong to go where the majority of the members could be found. The
mother especially revolted at the thought of her children growing up in
an atmosphere of unbelief, and, although she was in delicate health,
and had a premonition that amounted almost if not quite to an absolute
fore-knowledge that she would not live to reach America, she insisted
upon going, and was impatient to start. The father, too, after having
a dream of his wife dying at sea, feared that it might prove true, and
would have hesitated about going had the Lord not made known to him, in
answer to prayer, that it was his duty to do so.
The family embarked on a sailing vessel bound for New Orleans in
September, 1842, and the mother died and was buried at sea six weeks
later, after suffering from sea sickness almost if not quite every day
of the voyage up to that time. The forlorn condition of the family can
more easily be imagined than described. The promises held out by the
Gospel seemed to be their only comfort and support. For Mary Alice,
mere child that she was, there was too much to do in caring for the
younger brothers and sisters to admit of her yielding to grief. The new
responsibility suddenly thrust upon her had the effect of merging her
childhood into womanhood without any interim for youth.
The sea voyage ended at New Orleans, eight weeks after it commenced,
the intention being to proceed immediately by river steamboat to
Nauvoo; but obstacles were soon encountered, the first being the
grounding of the boat on a sandbar, resulting in such a tedious delay
that severe frost set in and the boat was unable to proceed farther
north than St. Louis because of the river being frozen over. The Cannon
family accordingly spent the winter in St. Louis, the father providing
homes and support for two other families, whom he had charitably
immigrated from England, besides his own.
Nauvoo was finally reached in April, 1843, seven months after the
departure from England. A cordial greeting by the Prophet Joseph Smith
and a hearty welcome from Aunt Leonora Taylor and family helped to
reconcile them, and the peaceful home obtained in Nauvoo was all the
more appreciated because of the difficulties experienced on the way.
In February, 1844, the father married a second time, the motherless
condition of his children and a desire on his part for their welfare
doubtless hastening the event.
This was a crucial period in the Church's history. Disaffection was
rife, and the allegiance of many who had formerly been considered
stalwarts in the faith had become very uncertain. Apostates, secret
and outspoken, were conspiring with former enemies of the church
to overthrow the work of the Lord and encompass the death of the
Prophet. The martyrdom of the Prophet and Patriarch and the very
serious wounding of Apostle John Taylor occurred, as a result of these
diabolical plots, in June.
During all these trying times the Church had no more loyal supporters
than the Cannon family. The father was among those who cared for the
bodies of the martyrs when returned to Nauvoo, and he it was who (with
the assistance of his friend, Ariar Brower,) made the plaster casts of
the faces and heads of the Prophet and Patriarch when the bodies were
washed and prepared for burial.
In the August following, having gone to St. Louis to obtain employment,
George Cannon suddenly died there. If the children's condition was
forlorn when their mother died, it was doubly so now. The one fact,
that they were located with the body of the Church, rendered their
condition more tolerable. What might have been the result, so far as
the children were concerned, of their being thus early left orphans if
they had remained in England, can only be conjectured. The one supreme
desire of the mother, to hasten the departure from England that the
children might be with the body of the Church before being left without
their natural protectors, was now justified.
George Q. and Ann found a home with their Aunt Leonora, the former,
being already in the employ of Elder Taylor as a printer, and Mary
Alice, though lacking two weeks of being sixteen years old at the
time, married in November following, and provided a home for Angus,
David and Leonora. Charles Lambert, the husband, was a thoroughly
congenial companion, though twelve years the senior of his wife, and
was willing as well as qualified to provide for the three orphans of
whom he became the lawful guardian. He was an expert mechanic who, for
the Gospel's sake, had given up a lucrative position and sacrificed
worldly advantages in England to migrate to Nauvoo, where he landed in
the early part of 1844. He had offered his services to help build the
Temple without hope of payment therefor, and remained so employed up to
the time the Temple was dedicated and he and his wife received their
blessings therein, though his devotion thereto involved many hardships
and severe privations, and almost superhuman self denial.
In all these trials Mother Lambert, as we now call her, and as she then
was too, though not so called, (for her first child, Charles J., was
born in Nauvoo in November, 1845, when she lacked one month of being
17 years old) was a true partner, patient, cheerful, industrious and
self-sacrificing, and as loyal to the cause of God as the needle to the
pole.
CHAPTER II.
STRENUOUS LIFE IN NAUVOO--CITY BESIEGED--THRILLING EXPERIENCE--MIRACLE
OF QUAILS--RUN OVER BY WAGON--WAGON SINKS TO BOTTOM OF RIVER--LIFE IN
UTAH--MISSION ABROAD--HER POSTERITY.
They succeeded in acquiring a fairly comfortable home in Nauvoo, and a
farm a short distance outside of the city, but they were not destined
to long enjoy their possessions. The enemies of the Church were not
content with having killed the Prophet and Patriarch; they were
determined to drive the Saints from the state of Illinois, as they had
previously been driven from Missouri. The Saints, especially in the
outlying settlements, were continually being harassed by the lawless
mob. Farms were frequently pillaged or their crops burned. Domestic
animals were driven off, and the inhabitants in some instances severely
beaten and compelled to flee from their homes to save their lives. Many
of their houses were also set fire to before the owners' sight.
Not only were the Saints the victims of these ruthless depredations,
but they were actually accused of being the perpetrators of the same,
and this made the pretext by the mob for demanding that the Saints
remove from the state or abandon their religion. Is it any wonder that
some of the more weak and faithless of the members chose the latter
alternative?
An agreement was finally entered into, between the Saints on one
side, and state officials and leaders of the mob on the other, that
the Saints should leave the state as soon as they could sell their
possessions. It soon became apparent, however, that they would have to
abandon their homes instead of selling them, as their enemies, though
anxious to secure them, showed little disposition to pay for them.
The majority of the Saints living in Nauvoo left there to journey
westward in the early part of the year 1846, leaving those whose
services to work upon the Temple were required, or who lacked the
necessary equipment for the journey, to follow on afterwards. When the
Apostles returned later to Nauvoo to dedicate the Temple they exacted a
promise from those yet remaining there, and who possessed the necessary
outfits to undertake the journey, that they would not abandon any of
the less fortunate Saints who might desire to accompany them, but help
them out of the state. Before they were ready to depart, however, the
mobocrats, in far superior numbers, surrounded and besieged the city.
Charles Lambert took a prominent part in the city's defense, helping to
manipulate one of the cannons, which, in the emergency, he and others
had improvised from an old steamboat shaft, and which had been mounted
upon a part of the running gear of a wagon.
Mother Lambert was an interested and anxious spectator of the battle.
In addition to having her own small family to care for, a Mrs. Haines,
a neighbor, who was very ill, had been brought to her home to be
nursed, her husband being absent from the city. During the bombardment,
which continued for several days, some of the cannon balls fired by the
mob passed close by, but none of them actually struck the house. In one
instance an old gentleman, who felt too feeble to be among the city's
defenders, but whose anxiety to see how the battle waged led him to
ascend to the top of the roof of the Lambert house to get a good view,
was so alarmed by a cannon ball passing close by his head, that he
rolled from the roof to the ground.
A flag of truce was finally raised by the mob and a treaty effected,
one of the provisions of which was that the Saints would vacate the
city within three days. Such of the household goods possessed by the
Lambert family as could be, were loaded into a wagon box and an attempt
made to remove across the river. As they approached the Mississippi,
however, in the lower part of the town, so many other wagons were found
to be ahead of theirs, waiting to be ferried over, that a temporary
camp was made near an abandoned home.
While on the way from their home to this point the family had been
surrounded by a large posse of the mob and compelled to give up to them
such fire arms as they possessed. Soon after reaching the temporary
camp, and while Father Lambert was absent with his team for the purpose
of hauling John Haines' wagon, with his household goods and his sick
wife in it, down to the same point, a second mob appeared and demanded
that Mother Lambert give up to them whatever fire arms were in the
wagon. In vain she told them the weapons had already been surrendered,
and that she did not have the keys to unlock the boxes in the wagon.
They used a hammer to forcibly break open the boxes, and proceeded
to ransack all that the wagon contained, with the result that they
obtained possession of a sword and bowie knife. These they brandished
before the frightened mother and panic-stricken children, accusing her
of lying to them when she said she had no fire arms, and threatening to
cut her head off.
A sister of the Prophet Joseph Smith was a witness of this scene, she
having proffered to remain with Mother Lambert for company while her
husband was absent, and expressed regret that she didn't have some
weapon to shoot the men with while threatening her friend.
In course of time they succeeded in getting ferried over the river and
formed a camp on the Iowa side until Father Lambert could fulfill his
pledge to help the poor Saints who had no means of conveyance, across
the river, where they would be free from the power of the mob.
While engaged in this mission of charity, a party of mobocrats
recognized him as one who had been conspicuous in the fight, and, with
guns aimed at him, ordered his surrender. Then, while the two largest
men of the party took him down into the the river and held him under
the water three times in succession until his breath was gone, fourteen
others, with their guns cocked and ready for action, threatened to
shoot him if he attempted to resist.
Of course, he did not resist, neither did two brethren who were with
him at the time--Thomas Harrington and Daniel Hill--for they were
unarmed and knew it would be folly to do so. They were silent witnesses
of the scene, and neither they nor Father Lambert made any response
to the oaths of their persecutors, nor to the threat that if they
ventured upon that side of the river again they would be shot on sight.
Notwithstanding the threat, however, Father Lambert was in Nauvoo the
following day, and continued to go over there until all the poor Saints
who cared to be helped across the river had abandoned the city.
On one of these occasions he was detained in Nauvoo, because of the
pressing nature of what he had in hand, and Mother Lambert, fearing
the mob had caught him and executed their threat, walked the bank of
the river all night in the greatest agony of suspense, and inquired
anxiously about her husband of every passenger that crossed on the
ferry boat, but all in vain. However, he showed up the next morning,
with an additional yoke of cattle which he had secured on an account
due him.
While encamped on the bank of the river on the Iowa side, a rain storm
occurred, which continued without cessation for three days and nights,
until the wagons and their contents, as well as the clothing worn, were
thoroughly soaked. The sick woman, Mrs. Haines, was placed on a bed
under the wagon, that being the most sheltered place available, and
there Mother Lambert and others waited upon her as best they could,
even holding milk pans over her bed to catch the water as it dripped
through the wagon box, until she died--a martyr to the persecution to
which the Saints were subjected.
It was while encamped on the bank of this river that the Saints, many
of them suffering for want of food as well as otherwise ailing, were
visited by a flock of quails, miraculously rendered so tame that some
of them alighted on the beds occupied by the sick and were caught by
their hands, and others allowed themselves to be killed with sticks.
Those persecuted and suffering Saints, the Lambert family among the
rest, accepted the birds as sent of the Lord, considering themselves
as much the objects of divine favor as were the Israelites of old when
fed with manna, and cooked the quail and ate them with the greatest
possible relish.
The journey through Iowa was a very difficult one, and not entirely
devoid of danger. The country was very sparsely settled, there were no
really good roads except occasional stretches of natural prairie, and
the numerous streams encountered generally had to be forded because of
the absence of bridges. However, they did not travel continuously, a
stop of some weeks being made at Bonaparte, and employment obtained by
which supplies were earned.
It was while traveling westward from that point that a very serious
accident occurred. Mother Lambert was very nervous about riding over
bad places, preferring to walk when allowed to do so. The fact that
the team animals, which consisted of two yoke of steers and one yoke
of cows, were not well broken--in fact, quite wild when they left
Nauvoo--rendered her more chary about riding. When approaching Soap
Creek, which she had learned was a difficult stream to cross, she
alighted from the wagon, and soon afterwards, by some accident, fell in
front of the wagon wheel, and, before the team could be stopped, two
wheels had passed over the small of her back. In addition to the weight
of the wagon itself, its load amounted to fully 3500 pounds, making
a combined weight sufficient to crush the life out of a person under
ordinary circumstances. Indeed, it was supposed when she was picked up
that she was dead. Father Lambert, however, was not willing to admit
such a possibility, and called upon as many of his fellow travelers as
had any faith to join with him in administering to her. His wife was
miraculously spared, and the journey resumed the following day, but she
has suffered more or less ever since from the effects of the accident.
Winter Quarters, on the west bank of the Missouri river, where the
main body of the Saints had encamped, was reached late in November,
and, as soon as Father Lambert had constructed a log house to shelter
his family during the winter, he made his way to Missouri and found
employment by which he earned supplies, and sent to his wife and
children. He and his family were ambitious to journey westward with the
pioneers in the spring. They were prevented, however, from doing so
by the Indians killing their team animals after they had been brought
through the winter in good condition, and shortly before the journey
was to be undertaken.
It was a sad disappointment, but only a temporary set back. With
courage unabated, the family removed to St. Joseph, Mo., where living
was cheap and work abundant, and in February of the following year,
with a new team and supplies earned in Missouri, Mother Lambert and the
children were sent forward to Winter Quarters, to be ready to undertake
the journey westward, while Father Lambert remained in Missouri to work
as long as possible before rejoining them.
That journey of 150 miles in that inclement season was a terrible one,
but it was bravely accomplished. In crossing the river from Ferry Point
to Winter Quarters, however, a new misfortune occurred. The river had
been frozen over for a considerable period, and teams had passed over
it on the ice with impunity. Even that very morning two heavily loaded
wagons had gone over. Yet, when the Lambert wagon was being taken
across, although the precaution had been resorted to of taking the team
over first and drawing the wagon over from a distance with a rope, the
ice gave way. There, in that bleak March weather, six weeks before
her son George was born, Mother Lambert stood upon the bank of the
Missouri river, with her child in her arms and her two young brothers
and younger sister clinging to her skirts, and saw the wagon containing
all the family's earthly substance sink through the ice to the bottom
of the stream. Sister Jane Dutson, (afterwards Mrs. Alexander Melville,
of Fillmore) who had accompanied Mother Lambert from Missouri, stood
beside her when the wagon disappeared, and the catastrophe almost made
their hearts cease beating.
They never expected to see the wagon or its contents again. The
accident, however, didn't prove so serious as that. The occasion served
to illustrate how spontaneously kind, sympathetic and resourceful
Latter-day Saints are. Though Mother Lambert had few acquaintances in
Winter Quarters, the news of her misfortune soon spread, and proffers
of help and expressions of sympathy came from all quarters. Volunteers
soon plunged into the ice-cold water and readily reappeared bearing
in their hands articles recovered from the wagon, which in turn were
seized by others standing near the edge of the ice and then loaded
upon hand sleds and conveyed to the shore. Before night set in most
of the contents of the wagon had been recovered--damaged, of course,
but not completely spoiled, and all done without any intimation of a
favor being conferred thereby, much less any kind of remuneration being
expected. Depend upon it, though, Mother Lambert was not lacking in
gratitude, and in her prayers that night as she enjoyed the shelter
of Brother Harrington's hospitable roof, she thanked God with all the
fervency of which she was capable that she was a Latter-day Saint, and
for the fraternal spirit that abounded among her fellow members.
The next day, by some method not now remembered, the wagon also was
recovered.
Very soon afterwards President Young, who was then at Winter Quarters,
preparing to start on his second trip to the Salt Lake Valley,
accompanied by his family, wrote to Father Lambert in Missouri,
advising that he remain there another year, promising, as a condition
of his doing so, that he should lose nothing, but be able to go with
a much better outfit than he otherwise could. Mother Lambert and the
children accordingly returned thither, and awaited the arrival of the
spring of 1849.
The journey to the valley, which occupied six months, was full of
vicissitudes and rich in the experience that tends most to develop
character. The goal for which the family had longed and prayed, though
a wild region, forbidding in appearance, was hailed with joy, as
promising exemption from contact with a sinful world, and freedom from
persecution.
One thing that was specially disappointing to Mother Lambert and her
three proteges was, that their brother George Q., who, with his sister
Ann had reached the valley in 1847, soon after the pioneers landed,
had only the day before started on a mission to California, thence
to proceed to the Sandwich Islands. This involved a separation, as
it afterwards proved (counting from the time they parted in Winter
Quarters,) of almost eight years. He had, in anticipation of the
family's arrival, arranged for the purchase of a lot--the same lot
which was the family's home for so many years, and still in their
possession, and made some adobes from which they might construct a
house.
As illustrative of Father Lambert's disposition to follow the counsel
of the church leaders, it may here be mentioned that President Willard
Richards, one of the pioneers, and second counselor to President Young,
who entertained a very strong friendship for Father Lambert, had saved
a corner lot on Main Street--that which Walker Bros. bank occupied for
so many years--for his friend, and so informed him on his arrival.
Father Lambert expressed his gratitude for the kindness, but said, as
President Young's counsel was that no family should have more than one
city lot, and his brother-in-law, George Q., had bargained for a lot
for him a couple of blocks distant from Main Street (the price of which
must be paid) and made some adobes with which to build thereon, he felt
that he ought to decline Brother Richards' kind offer. One has only to
recall the almost fabulous value of that Main Street lot at the present
time to realize what he lost by that declination, and yet, if its
possession would have made the family become worldly-minded and think
less of their religion, Father Lambert must even now, if permitted to
know anything of mundane affairs, thank God that he did not accept it.
Those early years in Salt Lake Valley were years of desperate toil,
hardship and privation, of which the Lambert family had their full
share--perhaps more than their share; not however, from want of effort
on their part, for none were more industrious or frugal, but largely
because of their willingness to help others.
A more generous man than Charles Lambert probably never lived. He found
more pleasure in relieving the wants of others who were in need than
self gratification ever could have afforded him, and his wife was a
worthy partner in that same respect. The needy did not have to apply
to them to obtain assistance; they were sought for and their wants
relieved without ostentation. No family ever bore privation with less
complaining. When the crops failed through the ravages of grasshoppers,
weeks passed without even the children of the household and served
first the were they and bread, tasting the last to go without.
No woman in Utah probably had the faculty of preparing for her family a
more palatable meal from herbs and roots than Mother Lambert, nor more
wholesome and enjoyable fare when food was more plentiful and varied.
How she accomplished the herculean tasks which came to her, and which
she performed uncomplainingly, is incomprehensible to the present
generation. Her first three children being boys, and their services
being otherwise required, she had very little help in the household
the greater part of the time she was bearing children, and she was the
mother of fourteen. (She didn't shirk the duties of motherhood.) She
was the dressmaker and tailoress for the family, even to the carding
and spinning of the wool some of the time. Hers also was the task of
cooking for the family, and not with the present facilities either. The
open fireplace with its bake kettle and skillet and frying pan, and the
adobe oven, were her early culinary conveniences in Utah. These were
succeeded by the sheet iron stove, and that by the cast iron stove,
and so on up to the range. She did the butter making and washing and
ironing and mending for the family too, and it was always a big family,
frequently including hired male help. She was the housekeeper also,
and a good housekeeper too, the house being seldom out of order. It
presented a cheery welcome to friends and acquaintances from far and
near, and many availed themselves of it.
Hers was no stinted hospitality. The best she had was at the disposal
of all who called, and frequently even the floors were taxed to their
capacity to find room for the beds of those she entertained.
She was a good disciplinarian too. All her children as they grew up
were taught to work, and in turn bore their share of the burden. She
was also a famous nurse, and possessed of considerable skill in the use
of the simple remedies that served so well to maintain a standard of
health that has not been equaled in more recent years, notwithstanding
our numerous and high-priced doctors. In these latter respects her
services were not limited to members of her own household by any means.
Her own health was never especially robust, though she must have
inherited a strong constitution and possessed naturally an indomitable
will. She was seldom free from pain in her back, as a result of the
accident before mentioned. Her powers were taxed too, upon numerous
occasions, and for extended periods, in caring for an ailing husband,
although he was a man who would bear any amount of pain without
complaint. He was a great sufferer from inflammatory rheumatism, which
caused a partial loss or his eyesight several times, and for more than
six months at one time he was without the use of one arm, through
having his shoulder dislocated.
The death of her husband, which occurred more than twenty-two years
since, added an additional burden to her, but it also called forth her
self-reliance, and proved that she possessed considerable executive
ability.
In addition to all the labors and cares and duties mentioned, Mother
Lambert found time throughout a very large part of her career for
a great deal of charity work. For fifteen and a half years she was
secretary of the relief society of the 7th ward, and for the succeeding
twenty-two years was its president. She filled the last named office
up to the time she removed from the ward, and her removal was for the
purpose of being near the Temple, having been called to be one of its
regular workers at the time that edifice was completed in 1893.
She filled a mission to England with her husband in 1882-3 and spent
several months visiting different countries in Europe in 1906, mainly
for the purpose of obtaining genealogical data. She has performed
ordinances in the Temple for hundreds of her relatives and friends
who died without the privilege of accepting the Gospel. She has also
labored to a considerable extent as a missionary from the general board
of the Relief Society, her travels in this capacity extending from
Idaho in the north to Mexico in the south.
As an indication of the devotion of Mother Lambert and her family to
the cause of truth, it may be said that the missionary work performed
by herself and direct progeny (including the general work in the
Temple, by direct call of the Church authorities) amounts in the
aggregate to more than fifty-eight years.
Hers has been an unusually busy and useful life, and, according to
her opinion, a rather happy one. She feels that she has had more real
joy during her eighty-five and a half years upon earth than usually
falls to the lot of mortals. And why not? A faithful adherence to
duty throughout her life has left her comparatively little to regret,
and unhappiness is largely the result of regret and remorse for sins
committed and opportunities lost. Happiness depends less upon worldly
possessions and a life of ease than upon a pure heart and a clear
conscience. Her present joy is all the more complete for the sorrow she
has felt; the peace of her recent years all the more enjoyable for the
trials and turmoil of the past, and the comfortable competence she now
enjoys is all the more appreciated because of her early privations.
If happiness is at all dependent upon the love of kindred, she ought
to be supremely happy; for she has a numerous posterity, who almost
idolize her. She is not able to wholly gratify the wishes of her
several sons and daughters, because of her inability to spend her
remaining days in mortality as a member of the household of each; so
until recently she maintained her own modest but comfortable home and
enjoyed a hearty welcome at the home of any of them as often and as
long as she chose to visit.
During recent years the infirmity of age has led her to give up
housekeeping and take up her residence with her eldest daughter. She
receives every attention that love and duty can suggest, and is happy
and contented. She is still a model of industry, seldom being seated
for many minutes without having some kind of needlework, writing or
reading to give her attention to.
In this connection it may be mentioned that for a great many years
past it has been her habit to exhibit specimens of her needle work
produced during the previous year at the annual State Fair, and has
always received recognition, and sometimes the highest prizes, for the
excellence of her productions.
As an indication of her methodical habits, it may be mentioned that
she keeps a diary, or journal, in which she daily records, with her
own hand, passing events of local or general interest, and especially
happenings among her own family or progeny, and her financial
transactions, as well as how she spends her time and the condition of
her health. This has been her daily practice ever since shortly after
her husband's death, and is a continuation of the journal which he kept
during the greater part of his life.
It may be mentioned that Mother Lambert's personal accidents during
her later years have been somewhat numerous, mainly because of her
independence and disposition to do things herself rather than ask
anyone else to do them for her. She has suffered from broken ribs no
less than six different times, but she has always rallied wonderfully
quick from any injury or ailment.
She takes a great interest in all of her progeny, remembers their names
and quite generally their birthdays, and frequently visits among them.
Her children appreciate her wise counsel and motherly interest, and
feel, one and all, that whatever of merit they have accomplished in
life has been due to the inspiring example and wholesome precepts set
before them by her and their revered father.
To him not less than to her do they feel indebted, and forever shall
be though they become the best and most dutiful of sons and daughters,
for he was a model father, as loving, kind, self-sacrificing, honest,
industrious and faithful as mortal father ever was. He alone of all his
father's family embraced the Gospel as revealed anew, but from him and
Mother Lambert, through the blessing of the Lord, a direct progeny has
resulted (including three generations) to the number of 201, all of
whom are living except 29, and all in the faith for which he sacrificed
so much, and which was his guiding star through life.
Scarcely less remarkable has been the increase from the Cannon family
generally, although the posterity of Mother Lambert outnumbers those of
any one of her brothers or sisters. The direct descendants of George
Cannon (including the six children already mentioned as having been
left orphans, and their sister Elizabeth, born as a product of the
second marriage six months after her father's death) who are living
number almost 700, to say nothing of those who have died. In view of
the fact that their numerous relatives left in England and the Isle
of Man have actually decreased until their known descendents scarcely
outnumber the fingers on one's two hands, we may well exclaim, "What
hath God wrought!"
EXAMPLES OF RIGHTEOUS ZEAL.
NIGHT WORKERS WHO SERVE IN THE TEMPLE DURING THE DAY--MANY WOMEN SERVE
AT GREAT PERSONAL SACRIFICE--TEMPLE WORK A BOON TO THE BLIND.
Among those who are in daily attendance at the Salt Lake Temple,
officiating for the dead, are quite a number of men who are deserving
of special credit, because of the personal sacrifice the service
involves. Allusion is made to those who earn their living by working at
night, and then deny themselves the sleep and rest their tired natures
crave, by devoting a good half day's service to Temple work, either
for their own kindred dead or others. Indeed, it occasionally amounts
to considerably more than half a day. They usually form part of the
morning company, all the members of which are supposed to be present
and seated before 9 a. m., when the introductory service commences.
Under ordinary conditions, they may expect to emerge from the Temple
about two o'clock; but if the company be unusually large, (as it is
quite frequently,) it may be nearer 4 p. m. before they get out.
Most men object strongly to being deprived of ample and regular hours
of rest and sleep, and many persons would rather make a financial
sacrifice than forego the sleep and rest they feel that they require.
If they had to work all night they would feel that any kind of service
during the day, to which they would have to give strict attention for
several successive hours, would be absolutely out of the question.
The examples in mind are men in humble or moderate circumstances, who
possibly couldn't very well afford to hire others to officiate for
them; so if they failed to do it themselves, by sheer self denial, it
would probably not be done.
August Roth is employed at the car barn in this city, cleaning out cars
(which is very tiresome work,) from 6 p. m. to 6. a. m., every night in
the week, yet is almost invariably at the Temple two days a week, and
sometimes three. He and his wife (and a lady friend who occasionally
comes with them) have, during the past six years, done the work for
about 800 persons, mostly his or his wife's relatives. For a poor
man, he has also been very generous in his free will offerings to the
Temple. It has been his habit to contribute fifty cents every time he
comes to the Temple.
Karl Niemelka has also been employed at the car barn at night for
several years past, and done a good deal of work in the Temple (though
not as much as Brother Roth) for his dead kindred, and has just left to
fill a mission to his native land. While absent he hopes to engage in
genealogical research, and be the better prepared for Temple work on
his return.
John C. Hoggan is employed as a nightwatchman, having the care of a
large amount of business property, and is required to be on duty and
generally moving about from 8 p. m. until 6:15 a. m. every night in
the week. Notwithstanding this, he has averaged fully two days a week
at the Temple for the past eight years, working mostly for his own and
his wife's kindred, but occasionally for others, and all that he has
received for his service in behalf of others he has contributed to the
missionary fund, in the ward in which he resides.
Albert A. Quellmalz is janitor in a large office building and a number
of stores, to which he has to devote eight hours work between the
time business closes at night and opens in the morning. Yet he never
fails to serve in the Temple on Tuesday, the day devoted to baptisms,
as well as the three succeeding days of the week. He has during the
past eight years officiated for about 650 dead relatives and friends.
Brother Quellmalz is a very studious, methodical man, and enjoys quite
a reputation for efficient service in other capacities in the Church.
John N. Swift is employed as a janitor by one of the railway companies
every night in the week, being on duty from 5 p. m. until 8 a. m. In
addition to this, he has served regularly in the Temple during the past
six years on Thursday and Friday. Some indication of the sacrifice this
service involves is conveyed in the statement that, although his home
is in Sugar House Ward, not a great distance away, he is necessarily
absent therefrom continuously from Wednesday at 4:30 p. m. until
Saturday at 9 a. m. His service in the Temple has been entirely in the
interest of his own relatives.
John S. Muir has been employed by the Church for twenty years past as
nightwatchman, formerly at the tithing office and yards, but since its
erection at the Bishop's Building, every night in the week. During
the past twelve years he has spent from one to two days a week in the
Temple, having done the work for rather more than 600 persons.
Jedediah M. Brown, of South Bountiful, has been janitor at the large
public school building in that region for the past twenty years, and
during six years of that time was also nightwatchman at the Deseret
Live Stock Co. Store. Yet during all that period, with the exception of
fourteen months while he was absent on a mission, he has spent on an
average two days a week in the Temple. For a number of years past his
health has been quite poor, having contracted chills and fever while
on his mission, which later developed into chronic rheumatism, from
which he has suffered ever since. Whatever the condition of his health,
however, he has never yet felt willing to give up his service in behalf
of the dead. In addition to the service mentioned, he is under the
necessity of traveling about twenty miles by train or otherwise every
day he serves in the Temple.
Ernest R. S. Schnelle is also employed as a nightwatchman, in an
outlying business district, and is responsible for a great deal of
valuable property, some of which tramps are specially liable to prey
upon, so that he has to be constantly wide awake and alert for twelve
hours at a stretch every night, but he is among the most regular and
devoted of the Temple workers.
Robert Hunter, who is nightwatchman at Z. C. M. I., is a frequent
attendant at the Temple, mostly laboring for others, because of lacking
names of his own kindred dead, and is in the habit of voluntarily
contributing to the Temple expense fund all that he receives for his
service.
Doubtless many of the women who are in daily attendance at the Temple,
so serve at very great personal sacrifice. Self denying women seldom
expect or receive full credit in this life for what they do in the
way of service. Perhaps only the All-seeing Father or recording
angels know all of the heroism involved in the nightly toil and rigid
self-denial with which many, possibly most, of the sisters patiently
and uncomplainingly serve in the Temple for the benefit of those who
are powerless to repay them in this life. It would be difficult to find
a more devoted and truly charitable class of women than those laboring
in the Salt Lake Temple.
The women in attendance at the Temple almost invariably far outnumber
the men--sometimes two to one. Another characteristic of the regular
attendants is that there is a preponderance of foreigners. A very large
proportion of the regular workers are Scandinavians. The Swiss and
Germans are also quite largely represented.
One of the most self-denying and devoted women who ever served in
the Salt Lake Temple was Sister Berger, or (as she was known in the
Temple, by the name of her first husband) Catherina B. Moosheer. She
was a native of Zurich, Switzerland, being born January 25, 1823. From
the time she embraced the Gospel she was very much concerned about
the salvation of her dead kindred, and took care to obtain all the
information possible about her ancestors.
She arrived in Utah July 4, 1872, accompanied by her son and daughter.
She purchased a home and exerted herself to the utmost to make her
own way in the world by engaging as a nurse, by which she accumulated
considerable property. She had the work done for her immediate
ancestors as early as 1876, in the Endowment House. After that she
found an opportunity of having her genealogy traced up by a party who
was engaged in that line, and spent money very freely for that purpose.
She worked in the Temple almost from the time it opened. In 1895 she
was partially paralyzed, and never fully recovered therefrom. This made
her if possible more anxious than ever to hasten the work for her dead
kindred. She sold her home to obtain the means necessary to secure
as many names as possible of her dead kindred, and to employ men and
women to help her in doing the work for them. Her records show that
in all sixty-five different people were employed to assist her. For a
period of two and a half years she had twelve persons--six men and six
women--constantly employed in helping her in the Temple. She had the
work fully done for 1,748 of her dead kindred, and sacrificed all that
she possessed in order to accomplish it.
It may be of interest to note that Sister Moosheer was the first Temple
worker to complete a record of 1,000 names.
She died in Salt Lake City June 9, 1899, shortly after completing the
work for the last name she had of her dead kindred.
Her son and daughter and their families gave her every possible
encouragement in the Temple work while she lived, and are now more
proud of what she accomplished therein than they would be if she had
left them fortunes.
Another very devoted woman in the Temple work is Sister Catherina Z.
Schuler. She is also a native of Switzerland, having been born in
Glarus, May 22, 1834. She not only sacrificed her home there for the
Gospel's sake, but left her husband also because of his determined
opposition to her religion.
Bringing her son with her, she came to Utah and located first at Logan,
where she remained for several years, and where her son subsequently
died. She was present at the dedication of the Logan Temple, and did
a good deal of work there for her dead kindred, of whom she had or
subsequently obtained a very extensive list.
She removed to Salt Lake City in 1892, and witnessed also the
dedication of the Temple in this city. She was dependent entirely
upon her own earnings, and went out sewing as she found opportunity,
and did Temple work occasionally. Since 1898 she has devoted herself
exclusively to her Temple work, in which she has been assisted by many
friends, and devoted every cent she could save to hiring men to work
for her male kindred. In all, she has done, or had done, the work for
fully 2,400 of her kindred dead.
A look at Sister Schuler's face is sufficient to convince any person
that hers is a joyful work. Though she is now past eighty years of
age, and has always been used to hard work, she is well preserved and
active, and, though not mirthful, she is ever good natured, patient
and contented. As in the case of many others who are active in Temple
work, that labor has doubtless added years to her life, and rendered
her declining days in mortality about the happiest she has ever spent.
The consciousness of being a savior of others has brought her more joy
than the possession of wealth or worldly honors ever could.
Sister Annie Davis Watson, widow of the late Joseph M. Watson, was a
worker in the Temple for seventeen years, and only gave up the work
because of her hearing growing so bad that she could not continue. Her
husband died in the year 1895. She never had any children, and her life
would have been extremely lonely if she had not interested herself in
the work for the dead. She had a desire to devote herself to working
for her husband's dead kindred, and mentioned the matter to President
Snow, telling him if she could not so labor she had no desire to live;
also that she had no genealogy of her husband's kindred farther back
than his parents, for whom the work had already been done. He told her
she would be able to obtain the genealogical information necessary,
advised her to take up the work and promised there should be no end
to it. He also told her that her husband in the spirit world would
be familiar with every circumstance connected with the work as it
progressed.
She has since devoted her life and her income to the work, and either
officiated herself, or employed others to officiate, for 15,247 dead
persons, most of whom are her husband's kindred.
She says it is the most glorious work she ever engaged in, and she has
felt the presence of her husband's spirit upon many occasions.
There is one special class to whom the vicarious work in the Salt Lake
Temple must be a very great boon. The blind, of whom there are quite a
number of both sexes, in daily attendance, seem to find special comfort
in the work. The opportunities people have of making themselves useful
to their fellows, after being deprived of the priceless gift of sight,
are extremely limited. People of independent minds dislike to be always
treated as objects of charity. They like to feel that they are of some
use in the world, and it is doubtful if there is any other work in
which the average blind person can engage with so much satisfaction
as that in the Temple. It is usually conceded that the loss of sight
by a normal person has the effect of quickening and strengthening
his remaining senses, and it is quite possible that the most of the
sightless workers in the Temple get more enjoyment out of the work than
the average person who retains his sight. He is perhaps able to think
more profoundly, and is more susceptible to the impressions of the
Spirit than if he had the use of his eyes.
Perhaps no man that ever labored in the Temple enjoyed the Spirit of
the work more and shed a better influence among his associates than did
Samuel W. Jenkinson, a blind brother of rather unusual intelligence and
devotion, who died about three years since, and of whose experiences
more may be said hereafter.