Autobiography 1858 Deseret News
1804; myself born .
Conn., . I assisted my father
in attending the Farmington Mills, until I was
twenty years of age.
In April, 1827, I took the flouring mill of my
aunt, Hellen Wheeler, which I attended three
years. In May, 1830, I took charge of the
flouring mill of Mr. Collins, the ax manufac-
turer, in South Canton, Conn. At the end of
one year it was demolished to make way for
other machinery. In March, 1831, I took
charge of the flouring mill owned by Mr. Rich-
ard B. Cowles of New Hartford, Conn. In
the spring of 1832, in company with my oldest
brother, Azmon, I went to Richland, Oswego
Co., New York, and purchased a farm and
saw mill, and settled in business.
At an early age my mind was exercised upon
religious subjects, although I never made a
profession until 1830. I did not then join any
church, for the reason that I could not find any
denomination whose doctrines, faith or prac-
tice, agreed with the gospel of Jesus Christ,
or the ordinances and gifts which the apostles
taught. Although the ministers of the day
taught that the faith, gifts, graces, miracles
and ordinances, which the ancient saints en-
joyed, were done away and no longer needed,
I did not believe it to be true, only as they
were done away through the unbelief of the
children of men. I believed the same gifts,
graces, miracles and power would be manifest
in one age of the world as in another, when
God had a church upon the earth, and that
the church of God would be re-established
upon the earth, and that I should live to
see it. These principles were rivetted
upon my mind from the perusal of the Old
and New Testament, with fervent prayer
that the Lord would show me what was right
and wrong, and lead me in the path of salva-
tion, without any regard to the opinions of
man, and the whisperings of the Spirit of the
Lord for the space of three years, taught me
that he was about to set up his church and
kingdom upon the earth in the last days. I
was taught these things from my youth by
Robert Mason, an aged man, who lived in
Simsbury, Conn., who was frequently called
the old prophet Mason: he taught me many
things which are now coming to pass. He did
not believe that any man had authority to ad-
minister in the ordinances of the gospel, but
believed it was our privilege through faith,
prayer and fasting, to heal the sick, and cast
out devils by the laying on of hands, which
was the case under his administration, as
many could testify.
In 1832, I was inspired to go to Rhode Is-
land; my brother, Asahel, was also directed
by the Spirit of God to go to the same place.
When we met, we both told our impressions,
and it caused us to marvel and wonder, what
the Lord wanted of us in Rhode Island; but as
we had made preparations to move to the
west, we let outward circumstances control us,
and Jonah-like, instead of going to Rhode Is-
land, we went to Richland, Oswego Co., New