[Image and signature of Wilford Woodruff]
TULLIDGE'S
QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
No. I. OCTOBER, 1883. VOL. III.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF
CHAPTER I.
FAMILY SKETCH. MY EARLY DAYS AND
MINISTRY.
In tracing the history of my fathers, I
find it difficult to obtain a satisfactory
account of the Woodruff family for more
than three generations.
My great grandfather, Josiah Woodruff,
lived nearly one hundred years, and pos-
sessed an iron constitution, and per-
formed a great amount of manual labor
nearly up to the time of his death. His
wife's name was Sarah; she bore to him
nine children as follows:—Josiah, Apple-
ton, Eldad, Elisha, Joseph, Rhoda, Phebe,
and two names not given.
My grandfather, Eldad Woodruff, was
the third son of Josiah. He was born in
Farmington, Hartford County, Connecti-
cut, in 1751; he also possessed a strong
constitution; it was said that he per-
formed the most labor for several years
of any man in Hartford County, and
from over exertion in hewing timber he
was attacked with rheumatism in his right
hip, which caused severe lameness, for
several years before his death. He mar-
ried Dinah Woodford, by whom he had
seven children, viz:—Eldad, Elizabeth,
Samuel, Aphek, Titus, Hellen, and Ozem.
Eldad married Lewey Woodford; Eliz-
abeth, Amasa Frisby; Samuel, Miss Case;
Aphek, Beulah Thompson and Azubah
Hart; Titus, Louisa Allen; Hellen, Amos
Wheeler; and Ozem, Acksah Merrill and
Hannah Hart; all of whom had large
families.
My grandfather died in Farmington,
with the spotted fever in 1806, aged 55
years. My grandmother, Dinah, died in
1824, in the same place, with a cancer in
the left breast; her sufferings were very
great.
My father, Aphek Woodruff, was born
in Farmington, ; he
married Beulah Thompson (who was born
in 1782) . She bore
three sons, namely:—Azmon, born ; Ozen Thompson,
born ; myself, born
.
My mother died with the spotted fever,
, aged 26 years, leaving
me fifteen months old. My father's second
wife, Azubah Hart, was born ; they were married ; they had six children, viz: Philo,
born , and died by
poison administered by a physician ; Asahel Hart, born
, and died in Terrahaute,
; Franklin, born
, and died ;
Newton, born , drowned
September, 1820; Julius, born , and died in infancy; Eunice, born
. I married her to Dwight
Webster in Farmington, Connecticut
.
My father was a strong constitutioned
man, and has done a great amount of
labor. At eighteen years of age, he com-
menced attending a flouring and saw mill,
and continued about 50 years; most of
this time he labored eighteen hours a day.
He never made any profession of re-
ligion, until I baptized him with all his
household into the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints on the . He was a man of great charity,
honesty, integrity and truth, and made
himself poor by giving to the poor, and
accommodating his fellow men by loan-
ing money and becoming surety for his
neighbors, and always saying yes, to every
man who asked a favor at his hand.
I was born in the north part of the
town of Farmington, now called Avon,
Hartford County, Connecticut, . I assisted my father in attend-
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
ing 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 at-
tended three years. In May, 1830, I took
charge of the flouring mill of Mr. Col-
lins, the ax manufacturer, in South Can-
ton, Connecticut. 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. Richard B. Cowles, of New Hart-
ford, Connecticut. In the spring of 1832,
in company with my oldest brother,
Azmon, I went to Richland, Oswego
County, 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 practice, agreed with
the gospel of Jesus Christ, or the ordin-
ances 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 be-
lieved 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-estab-
lished upon the earth, and that I should
live to see it. These principles were riv-
eted 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 salvation, 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, Con-
necticut, 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 administer in the ordinances
of the gospel, but believed it was our
privilege through faith, prayer and fast-
ing, 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 Island; 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 con-
trol us, and Jonah-like, instead of going
to Rhode Island, we went to Richland,
Oswego County, New York, and there
remained until ,
when I heard Elders Zerah Pulsipher and
Elijah Cheeny preach. My brother Az-
mon and I believed their testimony, en-
tertained the elders, and offered ourselves
for baptism the first sermon we heard.
We read the Book of Mormon, and I re-
ceived a testimony that it was true.
We soon learned what the Lord wanted
of us in Rhode Island, for at the time we
were warned to go there, two of the
elders were preaching there, and had we
gone, we should have embraced the work
at that time.
—I was baptized by
Elder Zerah Pulsipher; he confirmed me
the same evening.
—I was ordained a
teacher, and my brother Azmon, an
elder, and a small branch was organized
of 12 members by Elder Pulsipher.
In February following, in company
with Elder Holton, I walked some 60
miles to the town of Fabius, to attend an
evening meeting of the Saints in that
place, where Elder Pulsipher was presid-
ing; I saw the book of commandments
or revelations given through Joseph Smith,
and I believed them with all my heart and
rejoiced therein; and after spending sev-
eral days, and holding several meetings,
we returned home rejoicing.
During the winter, we were visited by
several of the elders. , Elder
Parley P. Pratt called upon us and in-
structed the branch till midnight; we
had a precious time. I accompanied
brother Pratt to Jefferson County, and
told him my circumstances; he said
it was my duty to prepare myself to go
to Kirtland, and join the Camp of Zion.
I immediately settled my business.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
—With my horses
and wagon I took Brothers Harry Brown
and Warren Ingles and started for Zion.
I met with Orson Pratt, John Murdoch
and other elders on the way, and ar-
rived in Kirtland on the .
The Prophet Joseph invited me to
make his house my home; I accepted his
offer, and staid with him about one week.
I became acquainted with many of the
high priests, elders and Saints. I spent
one Sabbath in Kirtland and heard many
of the elders speak, and I felt to rejoice
before God for the light and knowledge
which was manifested to me during that
day.
, was ap-
pointed for the Camp of Zion to start
from Kirtland to go up to Missouri for
the redemption of their brethren. Only
a small portion of the Camp was ready.
The Prophet told those who were ready,
to go to New Portage and wait for the
remainder. I left, in company with about
twenty men, with the baggage wagons.
At night we pitched our tents. I went to
the top of the hill and looked down upon
the Camp of Israel. I knelt upon the
ground and prayed. I rejoiced and
praised the Lord that I had lived to see
some of the tents of Israel pitched, and
a company gathered by the command-
ment of God to go up and help redeem
Zion.
We tarried at New Portage until the
, when we were joined by the Prophet
and eighty-five more men. The day be-
fore they arrived, while passing through
the village of Middlebury, the people
tried to count them; but the Lord multi-
plied them in the eyes of the people; so
that those who numbered them said there
were four hundred of them.
On the , Brother Joseph organized
the camp, which consisted of about one
hundred and thirty men. On the follow-
ing day we continued our journey. We
pitched our tents at night and had prayers
night and morning. The Prophet told
us every day what we should do.
We were nearly all young men, gath-
ered from all parts of the country, and
strangers to each other; but we got ac-
quainted very soon, and had a happy
time together.
It was a great school for us to be led
by a Prophet of God a thousand miles,
through cities, towns, villages, and
through the wilderness.
When persons stood by to count us
they could not tell how many we num-
bered; some said five hundred, others
one thousand.
Many were astonished as we passed
through their towns. One lady ran to
her door, pushed her spectacles to the
top of her head, raised her hands, and
exclaimed: "What under heavens has
broken loose?" She stood in that posi-
tion the last I saw of her.
The published history of Zion's Camp
gives an account of the bones of a man
we dug out of a mound. His name was
Zelph. The Lord showed the Prophet
the history of the man in a vision. The
arrow by which he was killed was found
among his bones. One of his thigh
bones was broken by a stone slung in
battle. The bone was put into my
wagon, and I carried it to Clay County,
Missouri, and buried it in the earth.
The Lord delivered Israel in the days
of Moses by dividing the Red Sea so
they went over dry shod. When their
enemies tried to do the same, the water
closed upon them and they were drowned. [Exodus 14:21-31]
The Lord delivered Zion's Camp from
their enemies on the ,
by piling up the waters in Fishing River
forty feet in one night, so our enemies
could not cross. He also sent a great
hail-storm, which broke them up and
sent them seeking for shelter.
The Camp of Zion arrived at Brother
Burk's, in Clay County, Missouri, on
the , and we pitched
our tents on the premises. He told some
of the brethren of my company that he
had a spare room that some of us might
occupy if we would clean it. Our com-
pany accepted the offer, and, fearing
that some other company would get it
first, left all other business and went to
work, cleaning out the room, and imme-
diately spread down our blankets, so as
to hold a right to the room. It was but
a short time afterwards that our brethren,
who were attacked by cholera, were
brought in and laid upon our beds.
None of us ever used those blankets
again, for they were buried with the
dead. So we gained nothing but experi-
ence by being selfish, and we lost our
bedding.
After Joseph, the Prophet, had led
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
Zion's Camp to Missouri, and we had
passed through all the trials of that jour-
ney, and had buried a number of our
brethren, as recorded in history, the
Prophet called the Camp together, and
organized the Church in Zion, and gave
much good counsel to all.
He advised all the young men, who
had no families, to stay in Missouri, and
not return to Kirtland. Not having any
family, I stopped with Lyman Wight, as
did Milton Holmes and Heman Hyde.
We spent the summer together, laboring
hard, cutting wheat, quarrying rock,
making brick, or anything else we could
find to do.
In the Fall I had a desire to go and
preach the gospel. I knew the gospel
which the Lord had revealed to Joseph
Smith was true, and of such great value
that I wanted to tell it to the people
who had not heard it. It was so good
and plain, it seemed to me I could make
the people believe it.
I was but a Teacher, and it is not a
Teacher's office to go abroad and preach.
I dared not tell any of the authorities of
the Church that I wanted to preach, lest
they might think I was seeking for an
office.
I went to the woods where no one
could see me, and I prayed to the Lord
to open my way so that I could go and
preach the gospel. While I was praying,
the Spirit of the Lord came upon me,
and told me my prayer was heard and
that my request should be granted.
I felt very happy, and got up and
walked out of the woods into the trav-
eled road, and there I met a high priest
who had lived in the same house with me
some six months.
He had not said a word to me about
preaching the gospel; but now, as soon
as I had met him, he said, "the Lord
has revealed to me that it is your privi-
lege to be ordained, and to go and
preach the gospel."
I told him I was willing to do what-
ever the Lord required of me. I did
tell him I had just asked the Lord to let
me go and preach.
In a few days a council was called at
Lyman Wight's, and I was ordained a
Priest and sent on a mission into Ar-
kansas and Tennessee, in company with
an elder. This mission was given us by
Elder Edward Partridge, who was the
first Bishop ordained in the Church.
The law of God to us in those days
was to go without purse or scrip. Our
journey lay through Jackson County,
from which the Saints had just been
driven, and it was dangerous for a Mor-
mon to be found in that part of the
State.
We put some Books of Mormon and
some clothing into our valises, strapped
them on our backs, and started on foot.
We crossed the ferry into Jackson
County, and went through it.
In some instances the Lord preserved
us, as it were by miracle, from the mob.
We dare not go to houses and get
food, so we picked and ate raw corn,
and slept on the ground, and did any
way we could until we got out of the
county.
We dared not preach while in that
county, and we did but little preaching
in the State of Missouri. The first time
I attempted to preach was on Sunday, in
a tavern, in the early part of December,
1834. It was snowing at the time and
the room was full of people. As I com-
menced to speak the landlord opened
the door, and the snow blew on the peo-
ple; and when I inquired the object of
having the door opened in a snow storm,
he informed me that he wanted some
light on the subject. I found that it was
the custom of the country.
How much good I did in that sermon
I never knew, and probably never shall
know until I meet that congregation in
judgment.
In the southern part of Missouri and
the northern part of Arkansas, in 1834,
there were but very few inhabitants.
We visited a place called Harmony
Mission, on the Osage River, one of the
most crooked rivers in the west. This
mission was kept by a Presbyterian min-
ister and his family.
We arrived there on Sunday night at
sunset. We had walked all day with
nothing to eat, and were very hungry
and tired. Neither the minister nor his
wife would give us anything to eat, nor
let us stay over night, because we were
Mormons, and the only chance we had
was to go twelve miles further down the
river, to an Osage Indian trading post,
kept by a Frenchman named Jereu.
And this wicked priest, who would not
give us a piece of bread, lied to us about
the road, and sent us across the swamp,
and we wallowed knee-deep in mud and
water till ten o'clock at night in trying
to follow this crooked river. We then
left the swamp, and put out into the
prairie, to lie in the grass for the night.
When we came out of the swamp, we
heard an Indian drumming on a tin pail
and singing. It was very dark, but we
traveled towards the noise, and when we
drew near the Indian camp quite a num-
ber of large Indian dogs came out to
meet us. They smelt us, but did not
bark nor bite.
We were soon surrounded by Osage
Indians, and kindly received by Mr.
Jereu and his wife, who was an Indian.
She gave us an excellent supper and a
good bed, which we were thankful for
after the fatigue of the day.
As I laid my head upon my pillow, I
felt to thank God from the bottom of
my heart, for the exchange of the bar-
barous treatment of a civilized Presby-
terian priest for the humane, kind and
generous treatment of the savage Osage
Indians.
May God reward them both according
to their deserts.
We arose in the morning, after a good
night's rest. I was somewhat lame,
from wading in the swamp the night
before. We had a good breakfast. Mr.
Jereu sent an Indian to see us across the
river, and informed us that it was sixty
miles to the nearest settlement of either
white or red men.
We were too bashful to ask for any-
thing to take with us to eat; so we
crossed the river and started on our
day's journey of sixty miles without a
morsel of food of any kind.
We started about sunrise and crossed
a thirty-mile prairie, apparently as level
as a house floor, without shrub or water.
We arrived at timber about two o'clock
in the afternoon. As we approached the
timber a large black bear came out
towards us. We were not afraid of him,
for we were on the Lord's business, and
had not mocked God's prophets as did
the forty-two wicked children who said
to Elisha "Go up thou bald head," for
which they were torn by bears. [2 Kings 2:23-24]
When the bear got within eight rods
of us he sat on his haunches and looked
at us a moment, and then ran away;
and we went on our way rejoicing. We
had to travel in the night, which was
cloudy and very dark, so we had great
difficulty to keep the road. Soon a large
drove of wolves gathered around, and
followed us. They came very close, and
at times it seemed as though they would
eat us up.
We had materials for striking a light,
and at ten o'clock, not knowing where
we were, and the wolves becoming so
bold, we thought it wisdom to make a
fire; so we stopped and gathered a lot
of oak limbs that lay on the ground, and
lit them, and as our fire began to burn
the wolves left us.
As we were about to lay down on the
ground—for we had no blankets—we
heard a dog bark.
My companion said it was a wolf; I
said it was a dog: but soon we heard a
cow bell. Then we each took a fire-
brand and went about a quarter of a
mile, and found the house, which was
sixty miles from where we started that
morning.
It was an old log cabin, about twelve
feet square, with no door, but an old
blanket was hung up in the door-way.
There was no furniture except one bed-
stead, upon which lay a woman, several
children and several small dogs. A man
lay on the bare floor with his feet to the
fire-place, and all were asleep. I went
in and spoke to the man, but did not
wake him. I stepped to him, and laid
my hand on his shoulder. The moment
he felt the weight of my hand he jumped
to his feet, and ran around the room as
though he was frightened; but he was
quieted when we informed him we were
friends.
The cause of his fright was, he had
shot a panther a few nights before, and
he thought its mate had jumped upon
him.
He asked us what we wanted; we told
him we wished to stop with him all
night, and would like something to eat.
He informed us we might lay on the
floor as he did, but that he had not a
mouthful for us to eat, as he had to de-
pend on his gun to get breakfast for his
family in the morning. So we lay on
the bare floor, and slept through a long,
rainy night, which was pretty hard after
walking sixty miles without anything to
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
eat. That was the hardest day's work
of my life.
The man's name was Williams. He
was in the mob in Jackson County: and
after the Saints were driven out, he, with
many others, went south.
We got up in the morning and walked
in the rain twelve miles to the house of
a man named Bemon, who was also one
of the mob from Jackson County. They
were about sitting down to breakfast as
we came in.
In those days it was the custom of the
Missourians to ask you to eat even if
they intended to cut your throat as soon
as you got through; so he asked us to
take breakfast, and we were very glad of
the invitation.
He knew we were Mormons; and as
soon as we began to eat he began to
swear about the Mormons. He had a
large platter of bacon and eggs, and
plenty of bread on the table, and his
swearing did not hinder our eating, for
the harder he swore the harder we ate,
until we got our stomachs full; then we
arose from the table, took our hats,
thanked him for our breakfast, and the
last we heard of him he was still swear-
ing.
I trust the Lord will reward him for
our breakfast.
In the early days of the Church, it
was a great treat to an Elder in his travels
through the country to find a Mormon;
it was so with us. We were hardly in
Arkansas when we heard of a family
named Akeman. They were in Jackson
County in the persecutions. Some of
the sons had been tied up there and
whipped on their bare backs with hickory
switches by the mob. We heard of their
living on Petit Jean River, in the Ar-
kansas Territory, and we went a long
way to visit them.
There had recently been heavy rains,
and a creek that we had to cross was
swollen to a rapid stream of eight rods
in width. There was no person living
nearer than two miles from the crossing,
and no boat. The people living at the
last house on the road, some three miles
from the crossing, said we would have to
tarry till the water fell before we could
cross. We did not stop, feeling to trust
in God.
Just as we arrived at the rolling flood
a negro, on a powerful horse, entered
the stream on the opposite side and rode
through it. On our making our wants
known to him, he took us, one at a time,
behind him and carried us safely over,
and we went on our way rejoicing.
We arrived that night within five
miles of Mr. Akeman's, and were kindly
entertained by a stranger. During the
night I had the following dream:
I thought an angel came to us, and
told us we were commanded of the Lord
to follow a certain straight path, which
was pointed out to us, let it lead us
wherever it might. After we had walked
in it awhile we came to the door of a
house, which was in the line of a high
wall running north and south, so that we
could not go around. I opened the door
and saw the room was filled with large
serpents, and I shuddered at the sight.
My companion said he would not go
into the room for fear of the serpents.
I told him I should try to go through the
room though they killed me, for the
Lord had commanded it. As I stepped
into the room the serpents coiled them-
selves up, and raised their heads some
two feet from the floor, to spring at me.
There was one much larger than the rest
in the centre of the room, which raised
his head nearly as high as mine and
made a spring at me. At that instant I
felt as though nothing but the power of
God could save me, and I stood still.
Just before the serpent reached me he
dropped dead at my feet; all the rest
dropped dead, swelled up, turned black,
burst open, took fire and were consumed
before my eyes, and we went through
the room unharmed, and thanked God
for our deliverance.
I awoke in the morning and pondered
upon the dream. We took breakfast,
and started on our journey on Sunday
morning, to visit Mr. Akeman. I re-
lated to my companion my dream, and
told him we should see something strange.
We had great anticipations of meeting
Mr. Akeman, supposing him to be a
member of the Church. When we ar-
rived at his house he received us very
coldly, and we soon found that he had
apostatized. He brought railing accusa-
tions against the Book of Mormon and
the authorities of the Church.
Word was sent through all the settle-
ments on the river for twenty miles that
two Mormon preachers were in the place.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
A mob was soon raised, and warning
sent to us to leave immediately or we
would be tarred and feathered, ridden
on a rail and hanged. I soon saw where
the serpents were. My companion wanted
to leave; I told him no, I would stay
and see my dream fulfilled.
There was an old gentleman and lady,
named Hubbel, who had read the Book
of Mormon and believed. Father Hub-
bel came to see us, and invited us to
make our home with him while we stayed
in the place. We did so, and labored
for him some three weeks with our axes,
clearing land, while we were waiting to
see the salvation of God.
I was commanded of the Lord by the
Holy Ghost to go and warn Mr. Ake-
man to repent of his wickedness. I did
so, and each time he railed against me,
and the last time he ordered me out of
his house. When I went out he followed
me and was very angry. When he came
up to me, about eight rods from the
house, he fell dead at my feet, turned
black and swelled up, as I saw the ser-
pents do in my dream.
His family, as well as ourselves, felt it
was the judgment of God upon him. I
preached his funeral sermon. Many of
the mob died suddenly. We stayed
about two weeks after Akeman's death
and preached, baptized Mr. Hubbel and
his wife, and then continued on our
journey.
We concluded to go down Arkansas
River and cross into Tennessee. We
could not get passage on the boat, be-
cause of the low water, so we went on
the bank of the river and cut down a sound
cottonwood tree, three feet through, and
cut off a twelve-foot length from the
butt end; and in two days we dug out a
canoe. We made a pair of oars and a
rudder, and on the ,
we launched our canoe, and commenced
our voyage down the Arkansas River,
without provisions.
The first day we sailed twenty-five
miles, and stopped at night with a poor
family who lived on the bank of the
river. These kind folks gave us supper
and breakfast, and, in the morning, gave
us a johnny-cake and a piece of pork to
take with us on our journey.
We traveled about fifty miles that day,
and at night stopped at an old tavern, in
a village called Cadron, which was de-
serted because it was believed to be
haunted by evil spirits.
We made a fire in the tavern, roasted
a piece of our pork, ate our supper, said
our prayers, went into a chamber, lay
down on the bare floor, and were soon
asleep.
I dreamed I was at my father's house
in a good feather bed, and I had a good
night's rest. When I awoke the bed
vanished, and I found myself on the bare
floor and well rested, not having been
troubled with evil spirits or anything
else.
We thanked the Lord for His good-
ness to us, ate the remainder of our pro-
visions and continued our journey down
the river to Little Rock, the capital of
Arkansas, which then consisted of only
a few cabins.
After visiting the place, we crossed
the river and tied up our canoe, which
had carried us safely one hundred and
fifty miles.
We then took the old military road,
leading from Little Rock to Memphis,
Tennessee. This road lay through
swamps, and was covered with mud and
water most of the way, for one hundred
and seventy miles. We walked forty
miles in a day through mud and water
knee-deep.
On the , after traveling
some ten miles through mud, I was taken
lame with a sharp pain in my knee, I
sat down on a log.
My companion, who was anxious to
get to his home in Kirtland, left me sit-
ting in an alligator swamp. I did not
see him again for two years. I knelt
down in the mud and prayed, and the
Lord healed me, and I went on my way
rejoicing.
On the , I arrived at
Memphis, weary and hungry. I went to
the best tavern in the place, kept by Mr.
Josiah Jackson. I told him I was a
stranger and had no money. I asked
him if he would keep me over night.
He inquired of me what my business
was.
I told him I was a preacher of the
gospel.
He laughed and said that I did not
look much like a preacher.
I did not blame him, as all the
preachers he had ever been acquainted
with rode on fine horses or in fine car-
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
riages, clothed in broadcloth, and had
large salaries, and would see this whole
world sink to perdition before they
would wade through one hundred and
seventy miles of mud to save the people.
The landlord wanted a little fun, so he
said he would keep me if I would preach.
He wanted to see if I could preach.
I must confess that by this time I be-
came a little mischievous, and pleaded
with him not to set me preaching.
The more I plead to be excused, the
more determined Mr. Jackson was that I
should preach. He took my valise, and
the landlady got me a good supper.
I sat down in a large hall to eat sup-
per. Before I got through, the room
began to be filled by some of the rich
and fashionable of Memphis, dressed in
their broadcloth and silk, while my
appearance was such as you can imagine,
after traveling through the mud as I had
been.
When I had finished eating, the table
was carried out of the room over the
heads of the people. I was placed in the
corner of the room, with a stand having
a Bible, hymn book and candle on it,
hemmed in by a dozen men, with the
landlord in the centre.
There were present some five hundred
persons who had come together, not to
hear a gospel sermon, but to have some
fun.
I read a hymn, and asked them to
sing. Not a soul would sing a word.
I told them I had not the gift of sing-
ing; but with the help of the Lord, I
would both pray and preach. I knelt
down to pray, and the men around me
dropped on their knees. I prayed to
the Lord to give me His Spirit and to
show me the hearts of the people. I
promised the Lord in my prayer I would
deliver to that congregation whatever
He would give to me. I arose and spoke
one hour and a half and it was one of
the best sermons of my life.
The lives of the congregation were
open to the vision of my mind, and I
told them of their wicked deeds and the
reward they would obtain. The men
who surrounded me dropped their heads.
Three minutes after I closed I was the
only person in the room.
Soon I was shown to a bed, in a room
adjoining a large one in which were
assembled many of the men whom I had
been preaching to. I could hear their
conversation.
One man said he would like to know
how that Mormon boy knew of their
past lives.
In a little while they got to disputing
about some doctrinal point. One sug-
gested calling me to decide the point.
The landlord said, "no; we have had
enough for once.''
In the morning, I had a good break-
fast. The landlord said if I came that
way again to stop at his house, and stay
as long as I might choose.
After leaving Memphis, I traveled
through the country to Benton County,
and preached on the way as I had oppor-
tunity.
I stopped one night with a Squire
Hardman, an Episcopalian.
Most of the night was spent by the
family in music and dancing.
In the morning, at the breakfast table,
Mr. Hardman asked me if we believed
in music and dancing.
I told him we did not really consider
them essential to salvation.
He said he did, and therefore should
not join our Church.
On the , I had the
happy privilege of meeting Elder War-
ren Parrish at the house of Brother Frys.
He had been preaching in that part of
Tennessee, in company with David W.
Patten, and had baptized a number and
organized several small branches.
Brother Patten had returned home,
and Brother Parrish was laboring alone.
I joined him in the ministry, and we
labored together three months and nine-
teen days, when he was called to Kirt-
land.
During the time we were together we
traveled through several counties in Ten-
nessee for the distance of seven hundred
and sixty miles, and preached the gospel
daily, as we had opportunity. We bap-
tized some twenty persons.
By the counsel of the Prophet Joseph
Smith and Oliver Cowdery, Elder Parrish
ordained me an Elder, and left me to
take charge of the branches that had
been raised up in that neighborhood.
As soon as I was left alone I extended
my circuit and labors. For a season I
had large congregations; many seemed
to believe and I baptized a number.
On the I had an ap-
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
pointment at the house of Brother Tay-
lor, the step-father of Abraham O.
Smoot.
I had to cross Bloody River, which I
had to swim in, in consequence of heavy
rains. While crossing, my horse became
entangled in a tree-top, and almost
drowned; but I succeeded in getting
him loose.
We swam to the shore separately. He
reached the shore first, and waited till I
came out. I got into the saddle, and
went on my way in good spirits, and had
a good meeting.
On the I baptized
three Campbellites, one of whom was a
deacon. I then rode twelve miles to Mr.
Greenwood's, who was eighty years old,
and had been a soldier under General
Washington. His wife, who was ninety-
three years old, I found quite smart, and
busy carding wool. I preached at their
house and baptized both of them.
On the following day I preached at the
house of Benjamin L. Clapp, and bap-
tized seven Campbellites and one Bap-
tist.
On the , I preached
at Brother Camp's, and baptized three.
On , it being Sunday,
I preached again at Brother Clapp's, and
baptized five. At the close of the meet-
ing I mounted my horse to ride to
Clark's River, in company with Seth
Utley, four other brethren and two sis-
ters. The distance was twenty miles.
We came to a stream, which was so
swollen by rains, that we could not cross
without swimming our horses. To swim
would not be safe for the females, so we
went up the stream to find a ford. In
the attempt we were overtaken by a se-
vere storm of wind and rain, and lost
our way in the darkness, and wandered
through creeks and mud. But the Lord
does not forsake his Saints in any of
their troubles. While we were in the
woods suffering under the blast of the
storm, groping like the blind for the
wall, a bright light suddenly shone
around us, and revealed to us our dan-
gerous situation on the edge of a gulf.
The light continued with us until we
found the road; we then went on our
way rejoicing, though the darkness re-
turned and the rain continued.
We reached Brother Henry Thomas'
in safety about nine o'clock at night,
having been five hours in the storm and
forded streams many times. None of us
felt to complain, but were thankful to
God for His preserving care.
On I preached in
Damon Creek, and organized a branch
called the Damon Creek Branch, and
ordained Daniel Thomas a teacher.
On the I again
preached at the house of Brother Clapp,
and baptized five persons; one was a
Campbellite preacher.
On I preached at
the house of Brother Henry Thomas,
when a mob of about fifty persons ccl-
lected, headed by a Baptist preacher,
who, after asking one question, advised
the mob not to lay hands on any man
on account of his principles. The advice
was good and well taken.
At the close of the meeting I baptized
three persons, one seventy-eight years
old.
This brings the year 1835 to a close—
the first year of my mission—during
which time I had traveled three thousand
two hundred and forty-eight miles, held
one hundred and seventy meetings, bap-
tized forty-three persons—three of whom
were Campbellite preachers—assisted
Elder Parrish to baptize twenty more,
confirmed thirty-five, organized three
branches, ordained two teachers and one
deacon, procured thirty subscribers for
the Messenger and Advocate, one hun-
dred and seventy-three signers to the
petition to the governor of Missouri for
redress of wrongs done the Saints in
Jackson County, had three mobs rise
against me—but was not harmed—wrote
eighteen letters, received ten, and,
finally, closed the labors of the year
1835, by eating johnny-cake, butter and
honey, at brother A. O. Smoot's.
I spent the fore part of January, 1836,
(the weather being very cold) at the
house of A. O. Smoot, in Kentucky,
studying Kirkham's English Grammar.
I continued to travel and preach in Ken-
tucky and Tennessee and baptized all
that would believe my testimony.
On the we held a
conference at the house of Brother Lewis
Clapp (father of B. L. Clapp). There
were represented one hundred and three
members in that mission. I ordained
A. O. Smoot and Benjamin Boyston
elders, and Daniel Thomas and Benja-
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
min L. Clapp priests. I also ordained
one teacher and two deacons.
After conference I took Brothers
Smoot and Clapp with me to preach.
The former traveled with me constantly
till the , when we had the
privilege of meeting with Elder David
W. Patten, who had come direct from
Kirtland, and who had been ordained
one of the Twelve Apostles.
It was a happy meeting. He gave us
an account of the endowments at Kirt-
land, the glorious blessings received, the
ministration of angels, the organization
of the Twelve Apostles and Seventies,
and informed me that I was appointed
a member of the second quorum of
Seventies. All of this was glorious news
to me, and caused my heart to rejoice.
On the we were joined
by Elder Warren Parrish, direct from
Kirtland. We had a happy time to-
gether.
On the , we held a conference at
Brother Seth Utley's, where were repre-
sented all the branches of the Church in
the South.
I was ordained on the a
member of the second quorum of Seven-
ties under the hands of David W. Patten
and Warren Parrish.
At the close of the conference we
separated for a short time. Elders Pat-
ten and Parrish labored in Tennessee,
Brother Smoot and myself in Kentucky.
On the we all met at Damon
Creek Branch, where Brother Patten
baptized two. One was Father Henry
Thomas, who had been a revolutionary
soldier under General Washington. and
father of Daniel and Henry Thomas.
A warrant was issued, on the oath of
a priest, against D. W. Patten, W. Par-
rish and myself. We were accused in
the warrant of the great "crime" of
testifying that Christ would come in this
generation, and that we promised the
Holy Ghost to those whom we baptized.
Brothers Patten and Parrish were taken
on the . I, being in another
county, escaped being arrested. The
brethren were put under two thousand
dollars bonds to appear at court. Albert
Petty and Seth Utley were their bonds-
men.
They were tried on the .
They pleaded their own cause. Although
men came forward and testified they did
receive the Holy Ghost after they were
baptized, the brethren were condemned;
but were finally released by paying the
expenses of the mob court.
There was one peculiar circumstance
connected with this trial by a mob court,
which was armed to the teeth. When
the trial was through with, the people
were not willing to permit more than one
to speak. Warren Parrish had said but
few words, and they were not willing
to let David Patten speak. But he,
feeling the injustice of the court, and
being filled with the power of God,
arose to his feet and delivered a speech
of about twenty minutes, holding them
spell-bound while he told them of their
wickedness and the abominations that
they were guilty of, also of the curse of
God that awaited them, if they did not
repent, for taking up two harmless, in-
offensive men for preaching the gospel of
Christ.
When he had got through his speech
the judge said, "You must be armed
with secret weapons, or you would not
talk in this fearless manner to an armed
court."
Brother Patten replied; "I have
weapons that you know not of, and they
are given me of God, for He gives me
all the power I have."
The judge seemed willing to get rid of
them almost upon any terms, and offered
to dismiss them if their friends would
pay the costs, which the brethren pres-
ent freely offered to do.
When the two were released, they
mounted their horses and rode a mile to
Seth Utley's; but, as soon as they had
left, the court became ashamed that they
had been let go so easily and the whole
mob mounted their horses to follow them
to Utley's.
One of the Saints, seeing the state of
affairs, went on before the mob to notify
the brethren, so that they had time to
ride into the woods near by.
They traveled along about three miles
to Brother Albert Petty's, and went to
bed. The night was dark, and they fell
asleep.
But Brother Patten was warned in a
dream to get up and flee, as the mob
would soon be there. They both arose,
saddled their animals, and rode into the
adjoining county.
The house they had just left was soon
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
surrounded by the mob, but the brethren
had escaped through the mercy of God.
I was invited to hold a meeting at a
Baptist meeting house on the . On my arrival I met a large con-
gregation; but, on commencing meeting,
Parson Browning ordered the meeting to
be closed. I told the people I had come
ten miles to preach the gospel to them,
and was willing to stand in a cart, on a
pile of wood, on a fence, or any other
place they would appoint, to have that
privilege.
One man said he owned the fence and
land in front of the meeting house, and
we might use both, for he did not be-
lieve Mormonism would hurt either.
So the congregation crossed the road,
took down the fence and made seats of
it, and I preached to them one hour and
a half. At the close Mr. Randolph
Alexander bore testimony to the truth of
what had been said. He invited me
home with him, bought a Book of Mor-
mon, and was baptized, and I organized
a branch in that place.
On the , Brother A. O.
Smoot and I arrived at a ferry on the
Tennessee River, and, as the ferryman
was not at home, the woman kindly gave
us permission to use the ferryboat. We
led our horses on board, and took the
oars to cross the river. Brother Smoot
had never used an oar, and I had not for
some years, so we made awkward work
of it. Soon he broke one oar, and I let
another fall overboard, which left us only
one broken oar to get to shore with.
We narrowly escaped running into a
steamboat. We struck shore half a mile
below the landing place, tied up the
boat, jumped on the bank with our
horses, and went on our way with blis-
tered hands, thankful to get off so well.
On Sunday, the , A. O.
Smoot and I preached at Mr. David
Crider's, Weakly County, Tennessee.
After the meeting Mr. Crider was bap-
tized. A mob gathered and threatened
us, and poisoned our horses so that the
one I rode, belonging to Samuel West,
died a few days after. This horse had
carried me thousands of miles while
preaching the gospel.
I continued to travel with Brothers
Smoot, Patten and Parrish in Tennessee
and Kentucky, and we baptized all who
would receive our testimony.
On the we held
a general conference at the Damon
Creek Branch. Elder Thomas B. Marsh,
President of the Twelve Apostles, pre-
sided. All the branches in Tennessee
and Kentucky were represented.
Brothers Randolph Alexander, Benja-
min L. Clapp and Johnson F. Lane were
ordained elders and Lindsay Bradey was
ordained to the lesser priesthood.
I assisted President Marsh to obtain
fifteen hundred dollars from the Southern
brethren, to enter land in Missouri for
the Church. The brethren made me a
present of fifty dollars, which I sent by
President Marsh to enter forty acres of
land for me. Elder Smoot and I were
released from the Southern mission with
permission to go to Kirtland.
Having returned from my Southern
mission in the autumn of 1836, in com-
pany with Elders A. O. Smoot and Jesse
Turpin, I spent the following winter in
Kirtland. During this time I received
my endowments and attended the school
of Professsor Haws, who taught Greek,
Latin and English grammar. I confined
my studies mostly to Latin and English
grammar.
This winter and the following spring,
in some respects, may be regarded as
one of the most interesting periods of
the history of the Church, when we con-
sider the endowments and teachings
given in the temple, and the great apos-
tasy which followed.
I was married to Miss Phoebe Whit-
more Carter, on the ,
and received my patriarchal blessing
under the hands of Father Joseph Smith,
the Patriarch, .
I felt impressed by the Spirit of God
to take a mission to the Fox Islands, sit-
uated east of the Maine shore, a country
I knew nothing about. I made my feel-
ings known to the Apostles, and they
advised me to go.
Feeling that it was my duty to go upon
this mission, I did not tarry at home one
year after having married a wife, as the
law of Moses would have allowed. On
the contrary, I started just one month
and one day after that important event,
leaving my wife with Sister Hale, with
whom she expected to stay for a season.
I left Kirtland in good spirits, in com-
pany with Elder Jonathan H. Hale, and
walked twelve miles to Fairport, where
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
we were joined by Elder Milton Holmes.
There we went aboard the steamer San-
dusky, and made our way to Buffalo, and
proceeded thence to Syracuse, by way of
the Erie Canal. We then walked to
Richland, Oswego County, New York,
where I met my two brothers, whom I
had not seen for several years.
After spending one night there, we
continued our journey to Sackett's Har-
bor, and crossed Lake Ontario on the
steamer Oneida, to Kingston, Upper
Canada, and from there also by steamer
along the canal to Jones' Falls, whence
we walked to a place called Bastard,
Leeds County.
Here we found a branch of the Church,
presided over by John E. Page and
James Blakesly. We accompanied them
to their place of meeting, and attended
a conference with them, at which three
hundred members of the Church were
represented.
Thirty-two persons presented them-
selves for ordination, whom I was re-
quested to ordain, in company with
Elder William Draper. We ordained
seven elders, nine priests, eleven teachers
and five deacons.
We spoke to the people several times
during this conference, and at its close
we were called upon to administer to a
woman who was possessed of the devil.
At times she was dumb, and greatly
afflicted with the evil spirits that dwelt in
her. She believed in Jesus and in us as
His servants, and wished us to adminis-
ter to her. Four of us laid our hands
upon her head and commanded the
devil, in the name of Jesus Christ, to
depart out of her. It was immediately
done, and the woman arose with great
joy, and gave thanks and praise unto
God; for, according to her faith, she
was made whole from that hour.
A child, also, that was sick, was
healed by the laying on of hands, ac-
cording to the word of God.
We walked thirty miles to visit another
branch of the Saints at Leeds, where
we met with John Gordon and John
Snider. Here we held a meeting and
bore our testimony to the people.
A Sister Carns here came to us and
requested to have the ordinance for the
healing of the sick performed for two of
her children who were afflicted. One
was a suckling child, which was lying at
the point of death. I took it in my
arms and presented it before the elders,
who laid their hands upon it, and it was
made whole immediately, and I handed
it back to the mother entirely healed.
We afterwards laid hands upon the
other, when it was also healed. It was
done by the power of God, in the name
of Jesus Christ, and the parents praised
God for His goodness.
After leaving the Saints in this place,
we returned to Kingston, and crossed
Lake Ontario in company with Isaac
Russel, John Goodson and John Snider.
Brother Russell seemed to be con-
stantly troubled with evil spirits, which
followed him when he subsequently went
on a mission to England, where Apostles
Orson Hyde and Heber C. Kimball,
when administering to him, had a severe
contest with them, as Brother Kimball
has related in his history.
Brothers Russell, Goodson and Snider
continued with us to Schenectady, where
they left us to proceed to New York, to
join Elders Kimball and Hyde to go
upon their mission to England.
After leaving these brethren we traveled
by rail to Albany, and walked from there
to Canaan, Connecticut, where we found
a branch of the Church, including Jesse
and Julian Moses and Francis K. Bene-
dict.
We held a two-days' meeting with the
Saints in Canaan, and I ordained Julian
Moses and Francis K. Benedict elders.
After holding several meetings in the
town of Colebrook, and visiting my
half sister, Eunice Woodruff, who taught
school there, I proceeded to Avon, the
place of my birth. There I visited
many of my former neighbors and rela-
tives, and the grave of my mother, Beulah
Woodruff, who died June 11th, 1808,
when twenty-six years of age. The fol-
lowing verse was upon her tombstone:
A pleasing form, a generous heart,
A good companion, just without art;
Just in her dealings, faithful to her friend,
Beloved through life, lamented in the end.
At the close of the day I walked six
miles to Farmington, where my father,
Aphek Woodruff, was living, and I had
the happy privilege of once more meet-
ing with him and my step-mother, whom
I had not seen for seven years. They
greeted me with great kindness, and it
was a happy meeting.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
After visiting with my father a day or
two, I returned to Avon, where most of
my relatives lived, and held meetings
with them, and on the , I baptized my uncle, Ozem Wood-
ruff, his wife Hannah, and his son John,
and we rejoiced together, for this was in
fulfillment of a dream I had in 1818,
when I was eleven years of age.
On the I had an appoint-
ment to preach at the house of my uncle,
Adna Hart. While there I had the
happy privilege of meeting with my wife,
Phoebe W. Woodruff, who had come
from Kirtland to meet me and accom-
pany me to her father's home in Scar-
boro, Maine.
Those who had assembled to hear me
preach were relatives, neighbors and for-
mer friends. After meeting, we returned
to Farmington to my father's home,
where I spent the night with my father,
step-mother, sister and wife. Elder Hale
was also with us.
On the , Elder Hale left
us to go to his friends in New Rowley,
Massachusetts, and on the same evening
ing house in the town of Farmington.
I had a large congregation of citizens,
with whom I had been acquainted from
my youth. My parents, wife and sister
attended the meeting. The congrega-
tion seemed satisfied with the doctrines
I taught, and they requested me to hold
another meeting; but I felt anxious to
continue my journey, and on the I parted from my father, step-
mother and sister, and took stage for
Hartford with my wife.
On my arrival at Hartford, not having
money to pay the fare of both of us, I
paid my wife's fare to Rowley, Massa-
chusetts, where there was a branch of
the Church, presided over by Brother
Nathaniel Holmes, father of Jonathan
and Milton Holmes, and I journeyed on
foot.
The first day I walked fifty-two miles,
the second day forty-eight, and the third
day thirty-six miles, and arrived at Row-
ley at two o'clock, making one hundred
and thirty-six miles in a little over two
and a half days.
I spent eight days at New Rowley,
holding meetings and visiting the Saints,
including the Holmes family, and left
there on the .
On the , in company
with my wife and Elder Hale, I visited
my wife's father, Ezra Carter, and his
family in Scarboro, Maine, it being the
first time I had ever seen any of her
relatives. We were very kindly received.
My wife had been absent from her
father's home about one year.
I spent eight days with Father Carter
and household, and one day I went out
to sea with Fabian and Ezra Carter, my
brothers-in-law, in a boat, to fish with
hooks. We caught two hundred and
fifty cod, haddock and hake, and we saw
four whales, two at a time, it being the
first time in my life I had ever seen the
kind of a fish which is said to have
swallowed Jonah.
On the , I parted
with my wife and her father's household,
leaving her with them, and, in company
with Jonathan H. Hale, started upon the
mission that I had in view when I left
Kirtland.
We walked ten miles to Portland, and
took passage on the steamboat Bangor,
which carried us to Owl's Head, where
we went on board of a sloop which
landed us on North Fox Island at 2
o'clock, A.M., on the .
The town of Vinal Haven includes
both North and South Fox Islands, in
latitude 44° north, and longitude 69° 10'
west. The population numbered, at the
time of my visit, about 1,800. The in-
habitants were intelligent and indus-
trious, and hospitable to strangers. They
got most of their wealth and living by
fishing. The town fitted out over one
hundred licensed sailing vessels, besides
smaller craft.
North Fox Island is nine miles long
by two miles in width and had a popula-
tion of 800. They had a post office,
one store, a Baptist church and meeting
house, four school houses and a tide
grist mill.
The land was rather poor, yet there
were some good farms. The products
were wheat, barley, oats, potatoes and
grass. The principal timber was fir,
spruce, hemlock and birch. Raspberries
and gooseberries grew in great abun-
dance, and some up-land cranberries
were raised. The principal stock of the
island were sheep.
South Fox Island comes as near being
without any definite form as any spot on
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
earth I ever saw. It would be difficult
for any person to describe it. It is about
ten miles in length by five in width, and
is one universal mass of rocks, formed
into shelves, hills, and valleys, and cut
up into necks and points to make room
for the coves and harbors that run
through and through the island.
The population was 1,000. The in-
habitants got their living entirely by
fishing. There is no chance for farming
upon the island, and but a few garden
patches, which are cultivated at great
expense. Some few sheep are raised
there.
Many of the inhabitants fish in the
region of Newfoundland, and bring
their fish home and cure them on flakes
and prepare them for the market. They
supply the market with great quantities
of cod, mackerel and boxed herring.
Upon this island there were two stores,
three tide saw mills, six school houses
and a small branch of the Methodist
church, presided over by a priest.
What timber there is upon this island,
such as pine, fir, spruce, hemlock and
birch, and the whortleberries, raspberries
and gooseberries, mostly grow out of
the cracks of the rocks.
Great quantities of fish, and in almost
endless variety, inhabit the coves and
harbors around the islands. The whale,
blackfish, shark, ground shark, pilot-fish,
horse mackerel, sturgeon, salmon, hali-
but, cod, polleck, tom cod, hake, had-
dock, mackerel, shad bass, alewife,
herring, pohagen, dolphin, whiting,
frost-fish, flounders, smelt, skate, shrimp,
skid, cusk, blueback, scollop, dogfish,
muttonfish, lumpfish, squid, five-fingers,
monkfish, horsefish, sunfish, swordfish,
thrasher, cat, scuppog, tootog, eyefish,
cunner, ling, also the eel, lobster, clam,
muscle, periwinkle, porpoise, seal, etc.,
are found there.
Thus I have given a brief description
of Vinal Haven. It was quite dark
when we landed there, without a farthing
in money. We made our way over the
rocks and through the cedars the best
way we could, until we found a house,
when we rapped at the door. A woman
put her head out of the window and asked
who was there and what was wanted.
I told her we were two strangers, and
wanted a bed to lie down upon until
morning.
She let us in and gave us a bed, and
we slept until quite late, it being Sunday
morning. When we came out and took
breakfast it was nearly noon. I asked
her what she charged for our entertain-
ment, and she replied that we were wel-
come.
I then asked her if there was any
religion or minister or church on the
island.
She informed me there was a Baptist
minister, by the name of Newton, who
had a congregation and meeting house
about five miles from there.
We thanked her for her kindness,
walked to the meeting house and stepped
inside the doorway. We stood there
until a deacon came to the door, when I
asked him to go and tell the minister in
the pulpit that there were two servants
of God at the door, who had a message
to deliver to that people and wished the
privilege of delivering it.
He sent for us to come to the pulpit,
so we walked through the congregation
with our valises under our arms, and
took a seat by the side of the minister,
who was about to speak as we came to
the door.
He arose and delivered his discourse
to the people, occupying about half an
hour. When he closed he asked me
what was my wish.
1 told him we wished to speak to the
people at any hour that would suit his
or their convenience; so he gave notice
that there were two strangers present
who would speak to the people at five
o'clock that evening.
We were quite a source of wonder-
ment to the people, as they had no idea
who we were.
Mr. Newton asked us home to tea
with him, and we gladly accepted the
invitation. When we arrived at his
house I opened my valise and took out
the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doc-
trine and Covenants, laid them upon
the table, and took my seat.
Mr. Newton took up the books and
looked at them, but said nothing. I
then asked him if there were any school
houses upon the island. and if so,
whether they were free to preach in.
He answered that there were four, num-
bered respectively from one to four, and
that they were free.
Mr. Newton and family accompanied
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
us to the meeting-house, where we met a
large congregation, none of whom knew
who we were, or anything about our
profession, except the minister.
Elder Hale and I went to the stand,
and I arose with peculiar feelings and
addressed the congregation for one hour,
taking for my text Galatians i. 8–9.
This was the first time that I or any
other elder of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints had (to my
knowledge) attempted to preach the
the fullness of the gospel and the Book
of Mormon to the inhabitants of any
island of the sea.
I had much liberty in speaking, and
informed the people that the Lord had
raised up a prophet and organized His
Church as in the days of Christ and the
ancient apostles, with prophets, apostles,
and the gifts as anciently, and that He
had brought forth the Book of Mormon.
At the close of my remarks Elder Hale
bore testimony.
I gave liberty for any one to speak
that might wish to. As no one re-
sponded, I announced that we would
hold meetings the next four evenings at
the school-houses, beginning at No. I.
During the first thirteen days of our
sojourn upon the island we preached
seventeen discourses, being invited by
the people to tarry with them. I left a
copy of the Doctrine and Covenants
with Mr. Newton for his perusal.
He read it, and the Spirit of God
bore testimony to him of its truth. He
pondered over it for days, and he walked
his room until midnight trying to decide
whether to receive or reject it. He and
his family attended about a dozen of my
first meetings, and then he made up his
mind, contrary to the dictation of the
Spirit of God to him, to reject the testi-
mony and come out against me. How-
ever, we commenced baptizing his flock.
The first two we baptized were a sea
captain, by the name of Justin Eames,
and his wife. Brother Jonathan H.
Hale went down into the sea and bap-
tized them on the , and
these were the first baptisms performed
by proper authority upon any of the
islands of the sea (to my knowledge) in
this dispensation.
Before we left Kirtland some of the
leading apostates there had tried to dis-
courage Brother Hale about going on his
mission, telling him he would never bap-
tize any one, and he had better remain
at home. When Captain Eames offered
himself for baptism, I told Brother Hale
to go and baptize him, and prove those
men false prophets, and he did so.
On the following Sabbath I baptized
his brother, Ebenezer Eames, another
sea captain, and a young lady.
Mr. Newton, the Baptist minister, now
commenced a war against us, and sent to
the South Island for a Mr. Douglas, a
Methodist minister (with whom he had
been at variance for years) to come over
and help him put down "Mormonism."
Mr. Douglas came over, and they got
as many people together as they could
and held a conference. He railed against
Joseph, the prophet, and the Book of
Mormon, and, taking that book in his
hand, with out-stretched arm, declared
that he feared none of the judgments of
God that would come upon him for re-
jecting it as the word of God, (I never
heard what his sentiments upon this sub-
ject were at the end of his term of
fourteen years' imprisonment in the
Thomaston Penitentiary, for an outrage
upon his daughter, the judgment of
which was given upon the testimony of
his wife and daughter.)
I was present and heard Mr. Douglass'
speech upon this occasion, and took
minutes of the same. When he closed I
arose and informed the people that I
would meet with them next Sunday
in the meeting-house, and answer Mr.
Douglass, and wished him, as well as the
people to be present.
I informed the people that Mr. Doug-
lass had made many false statements
against Joseph Smith and the Latter-day
Saints, with whom he had no acquain-
tance, and he had misquoted much Scrip-
ture, all of which I could correct.
We continued to baptize the people on
the North Island until we baptized every
person who owned an interest in the
Baptist meeting-house. I then followed
Mr. Douglass home to the South Island,
and preached the gospel to and baptized
nearly all the members of his church.
The excitement became great on both
islands, and on Sunday, the , I met a large assembly from
both islands, and took the same subject
that Mr. Douglass had dwelt upon in his
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE
remarks against the Book of Mormon
and our principles.
I spoke two and a half hours, and an-
swered every objection against the Book
of Mormon, Joseph Smith, or our prin-
ciples.
I had good attention and the people
seemed satisfied. At the close of the
meeting Elder Hale administered the
ordinance of baptism.
Mr. Newton, in order to save his
cause, went to the mainland and brought
over several ministers with him and held
a protracted meeting. They hoped by
this to stop the work of God, but all to
no avail, for the whole people would
attend our meeting and receive the word
of God, and we continued to baptize.
We visited the dwellings of most of
inhabitants during our sojourn there.
Upon one occasion, while standing
upon Mr. Carver's farm, on the east end
of the North Island, we counted fifty-
five islands in that region, the majority
of which were not inhabited. We also
saw twenty ships under sail at the same
time.
We had no lack for food while upon
the island, for if we did not wish to
trouble our friends for a dinner, we only
had to borrow a spade or a hoe, and a
kettle and go to the beach and dig a
peck of clams. These, when boiled,
would make a delicious meal, which we
often availed ourselves of.
One day Elder Hale and I ascended
to the top of a high granite rock
on the South Island, for prayer and sup-
plication. We sat down under the shade
of a pine tree which grew out of a fis-
sure in the rock, and Elder Hale read
the sixteenth chapter of Jeremiah, where
mention is made of the hunters and
fishers that God would send in the last
days to gather Israel.
Of a truth here we were upon an island
of the sea, standing upon a rock where
we could survey the gallant ships and
also the islands, which were as full of
rocks, ledges, and caves as any part of the
earth. And what had brought us here?
To search out the blood of Ephraim,
the honest and meek of the earth, and
gather them from those islands, rocks,
holes, and caves of the earth unto Zion.
We prayed, and rejoiced together.
The Spirit of God rested upon us; we
spoke of Christ and the ancient prophets
and apostles in Jerusalem; of Nephi,
Alma, Mormon, and Moroni in America;
Joseph, Hyrum, Oliver, and the apostles
in our own day, and we rejoiced that we
were upon the islands of the sea search-
ing out the blood of Israel.
While being filled with these medita-
tions and the Spirit of God, we fell
upon our knees and gave thanks to the
God of heaven, and felt to pray for
all Israel.
After spending most of the day in
praise and thanksgiving, we descended
to the settlement and held a meeting
with the people.
On the we called
upon Captain Benjamin Coombs, and
visited his flakes, where he had one
thousand quintals of codfish drying for
the market. They had mostly been
caught in the region of Newfoundland.
While we were passing Carvey's Wharf
our attention was called to a large school
of mackerel playing by the side of the
wharf. Several men were pitching them
out with hooks. We also flung in a hook
and caught all we wanted, then went on
our way.
We continued to labor, preaching and
baptizing, and organized a branch of
the Church upon each island, and,
finally, on the , we
parted with the Saints on the North
Island to return to Scarboro for a short
time.
We walked from Thomaston to Bath, a
distance of forty-six miles, in one day,
and at the latter place attended a Bap-
tist convention. I also preached there
to a large congregation in the evening,
and the people gave good attention and
wished to learn more about our doc-
trines.
On the following day we walked thirty-
six miles to Portland, and the next day
to Scarboro. Here I again met with my
wife and her father's family.
The time had come for me to give the
parting hand to Brother Jonathan H.
Hale. We had traveled during the sea-
son over two thousand miles together,
with our hearts and spirits well united.
He felt it his duty to return to his
family at Kirtland, but duty called me to
return to my field of labor upon the
islands.
On the I accompanied
Brother Hale one mile upon his journey.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
We retired to a grove and knelt down
and prayed together, and had a good
time, and, after commending each other
to God, we parted, he to return to Kirt-
land and I to Fox Islands.
I spent fourteen days visiting the
Saints and friends, and holding meetings
among them, and on the I took leave of Father Carter and
and family, and in company with my
wife rode to Portland, and spent the
night with my brother-in-law, Ezra
Carter.
A severe storm arose, so we could not
go to sea until , when we
took steamer to Owl's Head, carriage to
Thomaston and sloop to Fox Islands.
My second visit to these islands was
made under very different circumstances
to the first. On my first visit I was an
entire stranger to the people, and they
were strangers to the gospel, but upon
my second I met many Saints who had
received the gospel, and who hailed me,
and my companion also, with glad
hearts.
On Sunday, the , I
met with a large assembly of Saints and
friends, and again commenced baptizing
such as would receive my testimony.
After visiting the North Island and
holding meetings with the Saints there,
and baptizing two after meeting, I em-
barked on board a sloop, with Captain
Coombs, for another island called the
Isle of Holt. We arrived at noon, and
I preached to the people at night in their
school house, and had an attentive
audience. I spent the night with John
Turner, Esq., who purchased a copy of
the Book of Mormon.
On the following day we returned to
Fox Islands, and as St. Paul once had to
row hard to make the land in a storm,
we had to row hard to make it in a
calm.
After preaching on the North Island
again and baptizing two persons at the
close of the meeting, I returned again to
the mainland in company with Mrs.
Woodruff and others, where I spent fif-
teen days, during which time I visited
among the people, held twelve meetings
and baptized several persons.
On the I returned
again to the North Island, where I held
several meetings, and then crossed over
to the South Island.
On the I spent an
hour with Mr. Isaac Crockett in clearing
away large blocks of ice from the water
in a cove, in order to baptize him, which
I did when the tide came in. I also
baptized two more in the same place on
the , and again two others on the
.
On the I held a meeting at a
school house, when William Douglass,
the Methodist minister, came and wanted
me to work a miracle, that he might be-
lieve, and otherwise railed against me.
I told him what class of men asked
for signs, and that he was a wicked and
adulterous man, and predicted that the
curse of God would rest upon him, and
that his wickedness would be made mani-
fest in the eyes of the people. (While
visiting these Islands several years after-
wards I learned that the prediction had
really been fulfilled, and that he was
serving out a fourteen years' term of
imprisonment for a beastly crime).
Mrs. Woodruff crossed the thorough-
fare in a boat and walked ten miles, the
length of the island, to meet me, on the
last day of the year. I held a meeting
the same day in the school house, and at
the close of the meeting baptized two
persons in the sea, at full tide, before a
large assembly.
, found me standing
upon one of the islands of the sea, a
minister of the gospel of life and salva-
tion unto the people, laboring alone,
though blessed with the society of Mrs.
Woodruff, my companion. I had been
declaring the word of the Lord through
the islands many days, the Spirit of God
was working among the people, preju-
dice was giving way, and the power of
God was manifest by signs following
those who believed.
I spent this New Year's Day visiting
the Saints and their neighbors, and met a
congregation at Captain Charles Brown's,
where I spoke to them for awhile, and at
the close of my remarks led three per-
sons down into the sea and baptized
them. Two of these were sea captains,
namely, Charles Brown, and Jesse
Coombs, and the third was the wife of
Captain Coombs. After confirming them
we spent the evening in preaching, sing-
ing and praying.
I held meetings almost daily with the
Saints up to the , when I crossed to
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
the North Island. Here I found that
the seed I had sown was bringing forth
fruit. Six persons were ready for bap-
tism.
But my mission to these islands was
not an exception to the general rule:
success did not come without many
obstacles presenting themselves. Those
who rejected the word were frequently
inspired by the evil one to make an
attempt at persecution.
Some of those who felt to oppose me
went down to the harbor and got a
swivel and small arms, and planted them
close by the school house, near the sea
shore, and while I was speaking they
commenced firing their cannon and guns.
I continued speaking in great plainness,
but my voice was mingled with the re-
port of musketry.
I told the people my garments were
clear of the blood of the inhabitants of
that island, and asked if any wished to
embrace the gospel. Two persons came
forward and wished to be baptized, and
I baptized them.
On the following day when I went
down to the seaside to baptize a man,
the rabble commenced firing guns again,
as on the previous night. I afterwards
learned that notices were posted up,
warning me to leave the town, but I
thought it was better to obey God than
man, and, therefore, did not go.
The next day I baptized three persons,
and two days subsequently a couple of
others.
I had ample evidence of the fact that
lying spirits had gone out into the world,
for three persons whom I had baptized
had been visited by Mr. Douglass, who
told them that I denied the Bible and
could not be depended upon; and they
yielded to his insinuations until the devil
took possession of them, and they were in
a disaffected condition, and sent for me.
When I met them they were in great
affliction, but when I instructed them in
regard to the principles of the gospel,
and administered to them, they were
delivered from the evil influence and
rejoiced.
On the I again
crossed to the North Island, and after
remaining there seven days visiting, we
returned to Camden. Here I met Brother
James Townsend, who had just arrived
from Scarboro.
I ordained Brother Townsend to the
office of an elder, and we concluded to
take a journey to Bangor, and offer the
gospel to the inhabitants of that city.
We undertook the journey on foot in
the dead of winter, when the snow was
very deep, and the first day broke the
road for seven miles to Scarsmont. The
day following, it being Sunday, we held
two meetings, preached the gospel to the
people, and were kindly entertained.
On the evening of the next day we
wallowed through snowdrifts for a mile,
to meet an appointment to preach in a
schoolhouse, and I got one of my ears
frozen on the way; but notwithstanding
the severity of the weather, we had a
large and attentive audience. We also
spent the next two days with the people
there and held meetings.
On the evening of the , as we came out of the school-house,
a light appeared on the northeastern
horizon, and spread to the west, and
soon rolled over our heads. It had the
appearance of fire, blood, and smoke,
and at times resembled contending ar-
mies. The heavens were illuminated for
the space of half an hour. It seemed at
times as though the veil was about to rend
in twain, and the elements were contend-
ing with each other.
We looked upon it as one of the signs
in the heavens predicted by the prophets
of old, as to appear in the last days. We
were wading through deep snowdrifts
most of the time while witnessing this
remarkable scene.
The following day we walked fifteen
miles through deep snow to Belfast, and,
after being refused lodging for the night
by eight families, we were kindly enter-
tained by a Mr. Thomas Teppley.
There was an interesting incident con-
nected with our stay at his house. After
eating our supper, it being late in the
evening. Mr. Teppley placed a stand
before me with a Bible upon it, asking
me to read a chapter and have prayers
with them, he being a religious man.
I opened the Bible mechanically, when
the 25th chapter of Matthew being the
first to catch my eye, I read it, and as I
closed the book Mr. Teppley turned to
his wife and said, "Is not this a strange
thing?" Then he explained to us that
he had just read that chapter and closed
the book when we rapped at the door,
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
and he felt impressed to say, "Walk in,
gentlemen."
There is probably no other chapter in
the whole book that would have the same
influence in causing any one to feed a
person who professed to be a servant of
God and asked for bread.
After becoming acquainted with his
circumstances I thought it providential
that we were led to his house, for al-
though he was a professor of religion and
a Methodist, he was in a state of despair,
believing that he had committed the un-
pardonable sin.
However, I told him what the unpar-
donable sin was, and that he had not
committed it, but that it was a trick of
the devil to make him think so, in order
to torment him. He then acknowledged
that he went down to the wharf a few
evenings before, with the intention of
drowning himself, but when he looked
into the cold, dark water, he desisted
and returned home, and had said nothing
previous to anyone about it.
I taught him the principles of the
gospel, which proved a comfort to him.
We spent the following day in visiting
the people of Belfast, and in the evening
preached in a brick school house, pro-
vided by Mr. Teppley, and many wished
to hear more from us.
We next visited Northport and Frank-
fort, holding meetings at both places,
and on the , we en-
tered Bangor, which at that time had a
population of ten thousand. This was
my birthday, I being thirty-one years of
age.
I visited some of the leading men of
Bangor, and they granted me the use of
the City Hall, where I preached to good
audiences for two successive evenings.
This was the first time a Latter-day
Saint Elder had preached in that town.
Many were anxious to learn more about
our principles, but our visits through all
the towns from Thomaston to Bangor
were necessarily brief, owing to our ap-
pointments upon the Islands. It was
like casting our bread upon the waters
and trusting in God for the result.
On the we sailed from
Penobscot for the Isle of Holt, where I
held a meeting on the following evening.
The next day I took passage on the
mail boat for the North Island, where I
again had the privilege of meeting with
the Saints for prayer and praise before
the Lord.
On my arrival I received a package of
letters from friends abroad. One was
from Kirtland, and gave an account of
the apostasy and tribulations which the
Saints were passing through. Joseph
the Prophet and others, with their fam-
ilies, had gone to Far West, and the
Saints were following him.
Brother Townsend returned home and
I was again left alone in the ministry.
On the afternoon of the ,
Brother Sterrett and I, accompanied by
our wives, went several hundred yards
from the shore to a sand-bar (it being
now low tide), to dig clams. The
ground near the shore was much lower
than the bar we were on, and while we
were all busy digging clams and talking
Mormonism, the dashing of the waves
of the incoming tide against the shore
suddenly made us conscious that we had
fifty yards of water between us and the
shore.
The surf waves also added to our diffi-
culty, and as we had no boat, our only
alternattve was to cross our four arms,
thus forming a kind of arm chair for our
wives to sit upon, and carry them in
turn to the shore, wading through two
and a half feet of water.
By the time that we got our wives and
clams safely landed, the truth of the
old saying was firmly impressed upon our
minds, that "Time and tide wait for no
man," not even for a preacher of the
gospel.
On the I received a
letter from Zion, requesting me to coun-
sel the Saints I had baptized to sell their
property and gather up to Zion.
About this time the Lord was mani-
festing himself upon the islands in vari-
ous ways, by dreams, visions, healings,
signs and wonders. I will relate one
peculiar circumstance of this kind that
occurred.
Mr. Ebenezer Carver had been inves-
tigating our doctrines for quite a length
of time, and, having a great desire to
know the truth of our religion, he walked
to the sea shore, wishing that he might
have some manifestation in proof of its
truth.
The passage of Scripture came to his
mind that there would be no sign given
"but the sign of the prophet Jonas."
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
While this thought was in his mind a
large fish arose to the top of the water, a
distance from him in the sea, and sud-
denly sank out of sight. He much de-
sired to see it again, and soon it arose
to the top of the water, accompanied by
another fish of about the same size, and
one of them swam on the water in a
straight line towards Mr. Carver as he
stood upon the shore. It came as near
to him the water would permit, and
then stopped and gazed at him with a
penetrating eye, as though it had a mes-
sage for him. It then returned to its
mate in the ocean, and swam out of sight.
Mr. Carver retraced his steps home-
ward, meditating upon the scene and the
wonderful condescension of the Lord.
It is proper to remark that this was at
a season of the year when fish of that
size are never known upon those shores
or seas, and they are never, at any sea-
son, known to come ashore as in the
case mentioned.
Mr. Carver was convinced that it was
intended by the Lord as a sign to him.
Two days after this event I visited Mr.
Carver at his house, and found his wife
confined to her bed with a fever, and
she requested me to administer to her. I
placed my hands upon her head, the
power of God rested upon me, and I
commanded her in the name of Jesus
Christ to arise and walk.
She arose and was healed from that
instant, and she walked down to the sea
and I baptized her in the same place
where the fish visited her husband. I
confirmed her there, and she was filled
with the Holy Ghost, and returned to
her home rejoicing.
I now called the people together and
exhorted them to sell their property and
prepare to accompany me to the land of
Zion. I had labored hard for many days
for the temporal and spiritual welfare of
the inhabitants of those islands, and the
Lord had blessed my labors and given
me many souls as seals of my ministry,
for which I felt to praise Him; and now
I felt to labor quite as zealously to gather
out those who had embraced the gospel,
and lead them to Zion.
The worst difficulty which the Saints
had to contend with in that day was
from false brethren. Warren Parrish,
who had been a prominent elder in the
Church, and had labored with me as a
missionary, had apostatized and been cut
off from the Church. Learning that I
was building up branches of the Church
upon the island, he and other apostates
conspired to block up my way by writing
lies to the people and stirring up a spirit
of mobocracy upon the islands.
They succeeded in exerting a strong
influence with the wicked, but I knew
they could not hinder the work of God.
On the I held a meeting
at Brother Ebenezer Carver's, and,
though the hearts of the wicked were
stirred up in bitterness against me, the
Spirit of God was with me, and at the
close of the meeting I baptized three
persons. One of these was Mrs. Abi-
gail Carver, the mother of Ebenezer
Carver, who was seventy years of age
and in poor health. She had not so
much as visited a neighbor's house for
six years, but upon this occasion she
walked with boldness to the sea shore
and I baptized her, and she returned
rejoicing.
On the I had the happy
privilege of again meeting with Elders
Milton Holmes, James Townsend and
Abner Rogers, who had come to the
islands to attend conference with me.
We held our conference on the , on North Fox Island, and had
a representation of the different branches
on the islands. We also preached and
bore our testimony, ordained several and
baptized one person at the close of the
meeting.
On the Mrs. Woodruff
left the islands to return to her father's
home in Scarboro, Maine, and a few
days afterwards I called the Saints of the
North Island together and communed
with and instructed them. I also in-
formed them that the Spirit of God bore
record to me that it was our duty to
leave the islands for a season and take a
western mission. They had been faith-
fully warned and the Saints were estab-
lished in the truth, while the wicked
were contending against us, and some
were disposed to take our lives if they
had the power.
On the we left the island
in an open sail-boat and made our way
to Owl's Head, and then walked twenty
miles. The following day we walked
forty miles and suffered some with weary
limbs and blistered feet, but we felt that
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
it was for the gospel's sake and did not
choose to complain. The next day a
walk of thirty miles brought us to Scar-
boro, where we spent the night at Father
Carter's.
On the I parted with Mrs.
Woodruff and Father Carter and family,
and in company with Milton Holmes
walked thirty-three miles towards Ports-
mouth, which city we reached the fol-
lowing day and spent several hours there,
visiting the navy yard. We then walked
to Georgetown, formerly New Rowley,
and spent the night with Father Na-
thaniel Holmes.
On the I visited Charles-
ton and Bunker Hill monument, and also
spent several hours in the city of Boston,
which then contained a population of
one hundred thousand. I ascended to
the cupola of the court house, from
which I had a fine view of the city. I
visited several of the Saints in the city,
and walked over the long bridge to
Cambridge and Cambridgeport.
I visited the jail there in order to have
an interview with Brother A. P. Rock-
wood, who had been cast into prison on
the plea of debt, in order to trouble and
distress him, because he was a Mormon.
This was the first time we had ever met.
The jailor permitted me to enter the
room where he was. It was the first time
in my life I had ever entered a prison.
The jailor turned the key upon us and
locked us both in.
I found Brother Rockwood strong in
the faith of the gospel. He had the
Bible, Book of Mormon, Voice of Warn-
ing and Evening and Morning Star as
his companions, which he read daily.
We conversed together for three hours
in this solitary abode. He informed me
of many things which had transpired
while he was confined there as a prisoner.
Among other things, he mentioned that
the jail had taken fire a few days previous
to my visit. He said it looked a little
like a dark hour. The fire was roaring
over his head, while uproar and confu-
sion were upon every hand. Fire engines
were rapidly playing around the build-
ing, with water pouring into every room.
The people were hallooing in the streets.
Prisoners were begging for mercy's sake
to be let out, or they would be consumed
in the fire. One was struggling in the
agonies of death, while others were
cursing and swearing. Brother Rock-
wood said he felt composed in the midst
of it until the fire was extinguished.
At eight o'clock the jailor unlocked the
prison door to let me out, and I gave
the parting hand to the prisoner of hope.
We had spent a pleasant time together,
and he rejoiced at my visit; and who
would not, to meet with a friend in a
lonely prison? I left him in good spirits,
and wended my way back to Boston.
I spent several days in Boston, hold-
ing meetings with the Saints there, and
then walked to Providence, Rhode
Island, preaching by the way.
I there took steamer and arrived in
New York on the , where I
met with Elder Orson Pratt and his
family, and Elijah Fordham and near
one hundred Saints who had been bap-
tized in the city of New York.
I spent three days in New York visit-
ing the Saints and holding meetings.
Several new converts were baptized while
I was there.
Leaving New York, I traveled through
New Jersey, and returned to Farming-
ton, Connecticut, the residence of my
father. I arrived at his house on the
.
It was with peculiar sensations that I
walked over my native land, where I
spent my youth, and cast my eyes over
the Farmington meadows and the hills
and dales where I had roamed in my
boyhood with my father, step mother,
brothers and half-sister.
On my arrival at my father's home I
had the happy privilege of again taking
my parents and sister by the hand, also
my uncle, Ozem Woodruff, who was
among the number I had baptized the
year before.
After spending an hour in conversa-
tion, we sat down around our father's
table and supped together and were re-
freshed. Then we bowed upon our
knees together in the family circle and
offered up the gratitude of our hearts to
God for preserving our lives and reunit-
ing us.
I spent the next eighteen days in
Farmington and Avon, visiting my
father's household, my uncles, aunts
cousins, neighbors and friends, preach-
ing the gospel of Jesus Christ unto them
and striving to bring them into the
kingdom of God.
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
On the , one of the
most interesting events transpired of my
whole life in the ministry.
When Father Joseph Smith gave me
my patriarchal blessing, among the many
wonderful things of my life, he promised
me that I should bring my father's house-
hold into the kingdom of God, and I
felt that if ever I obtained the blessing,
the time had come for me to perform it.
By the help of God, I preached the
gospel faithfully to my father's house-
hold and to all that were with him, as
well as to my other relatives, and I had
appointed a meeting on Sunday, the 1st
of July, at my father's home.
My father was believing my testimony,
as were all in his household, but upon
this occasion the devil was determined
to hinder the fulfillment of the promise
of the patriarch unto me.
It seemed as though Lucifer, the son
of the morning, had gathered together
the hosts of hell and exerted his powers
upon us all. Distress overwhelmed the
whole household, and all were tempted
to reject the work. And it seemed as
though the same power would devour
me. I had to take to my bed for an
hour before the time of meeting. I there
prayed unto the Lord with my whole
soul for deliverance, for I knew the
power of the devil was exercised to hin-
der me from accomplishing what God
had promised me.
The Lord heard my prayer and an-
swered my petition, and when the hour
of meeting had come I arose from my
bed, and could sing and shout for joy to
think I had been delivered from the
power of the evil one.
Filled with the power of God, I stood
up in the midst of the congregation and
preached the gospel of Jesus Christ unto
the people in great plainness.
At the close of the meeting we assem-
bled on the banks of the Farmington
River, "because there was much water
there," [John 3:23] and I led six of my friends into
the river and baptized them for the re-
mission of their sins.
All of my father's household were in-
cluded in this number, according to the
promise of the Patriarch. They were
all relatives except Dwight Webster, who
was a Methodist class-leader and was
boarding with my father's family.
I organized the small number of nine
persons, eight of whom were my relatives,
into a branch of the Church, and or-
dained Dwight Webster to the office of a
priest and administered the sacrament
unto them.
It was truly a day of joy to my soul.
My father, stepmother, and sister were
among the number baptized. I after-
wards added a number of relatives. I
felt that this day's work alone amply re-
paid me for all my labors in the min-
istry.
Now, as my mission to my native land
was accomplished, which I felt im-
pressed to take while I was upon the
islands, I felt it my duty to return here.
Monday, , was the last
day and night I spent at my father's
home while upon this mission. At the
setting of the sun I took the last walk
with my sister I ever had with her while
in my native State. We walked by the
canal and viewed the river and the
fields, and conversed upon our future
destiny.
After evening prayer with the family,
my father retired to rest, and I spent a
season with my stepmother, who had
reared me from my infancy. In conver-
sation we felt sensibly the weight of the
power of temptation, out of which the
Lord had delivered us.
I also spent a short time with my sis-
ter Eunice, the only sister I was ever
blessed with in my father's family. I
had baptized her into the Church and
Kingdom of God, and we mingled our
sympathies, prayers, and tears together
before the throne of grace.
How truly are the bonds of consan-
guinity and of the blood of Christ united
in binding the hearts of the Saints of
God together, and "how blessings
brighten as they take their flight."
This being the last night I was to
spend beneath my father's roof while
upon this mission, I felt the weight of it,
and my prayer was, "O, Lord, protect
my father's house, and bring him to
Zion!" (which prayer was granted.)
On the morning of , I took
leave of my relatives and my native
land, and started on my return to
Maine.
I arrived in Scarboro on the , and
on the my first child—a daughter—
was born at Father Carter's house. We
named her Sarah Emma.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
On the , I left my wife
and child at Father Carter's and started
once more to visit Fox Islands.
While holding meeting with the Saints
at North Vinal Haven on the , I received a letter from Thomas
B. Marsh, who was then President of the
Twelve Apostles, informing me that
Joseph Smith, the Prophet, had received
a revelation, naming as persons to be
chosen to fill the places of those who had
fallen: John E. Page, John Taylor, Wil-
ford Woodruff and Willard Richards.
President Marsh added, in his letter,
"Know then, Brother Woodruff, by this,
that you are appointed to fill the place of
one of the Twelve Apostles, and that it
is agreeable to the word of the Lord,
given very lately, that you should come
speedily to Far West, and, on the , take your leave of the
Saints here and depart for other climes
across the mighty deep."
The substance of this letter had been
revealed to me several weeks before, but
I had not named it to any person.
The time having now come for me to
prepare for leaving the islands, I had a
desire to take with me all the Saints I
could get to go to Zion. There had al-
ready been a line drawn upon the islands
between the Saints and those who had
rejected the gospel, and the enemies
were very bitter against me and the work
of God I had labored to establish. They
threatened my life, but the Saints were
willing to stand by me.
I spent four days with the Saints visit-
ing them, holding meetings and encour-
aging them, while the devil was raging
upon every hand.
I had baptized and organized into the
Church nearly one hundred persons while
upon the islands, and there seemed a
prospect of gathering about half of them
with me, but the devil raged to such an
extent that quite a number were terri-
fied.
The inhabitants of the islands had but
little acquaintance with the management
of horses or wagons; in fact, most of
them knew more about handling a shark
than a horse. However, in company
with Nathanial Thomas, who had sold
his property and had money, I went to
the mainland and purchased ten new
wagons, ten sets of harness and twenty
horses. When I got everything prepared
for the company to start, I left the affairs
with Brother Thomas, and went on ahead
of the company to Scarboro, to prepare
my own family for the journey.
The outfit which I purchased for the
company cost about two thousand dollars.
Before leaving Brother Thomas, I coun-
selled him in regard to the course to pur-
sue, and charged him not to be later
than the 1st of September in starting
from the mainland.
I arrived at Father Carter's on the , and waited with great anxiety
for the arrival of the company from the
islands, but instead of reaching there by
the they did not arrive
till the ; and when they
did arrive the wagon covers were all fly-
ing in the breeze. It took a good day's
work to nail down the covers, paint the
wagons and get prepared for the journey.
On the afternoon of the , we took leave of Father Carter and
family, and started upon our journey of
two thousand miles at this late season of
the year, taking my wife with a suckling
babe at her breast with me, to lead a
company of fifty-three souls from Maine
to Illinois, and to spend nearly three
months in traveling in wagons, through
rain, mud, snow and frost. It was such
a trial as I never before had attempted
during my experience as a minister of the
gospel.
On our arrival at Georgetown we were
joined by Elder Milton Holmes. We
traveled each day as far as we could go,
and camped wherever night overtook us.
On the , while cross-
ing the Green Mountains, I was attacked
with something resembling the cholera.
I was very sick. I stopped at a house
for about two hours, but the Elders ad-
ministered to me, and I revived.
On the I was again taken sick,
and my wife and child were also stricken
down. We also had several others sick
in the company, through the exposure of
the journey.
On the we had our first snow
storm, and the horses dragged our wagons
all day through mud, snow and water.
On the Elder Milton
Holmes left us, and took steamer for
Fairport; and two days afterwards a lit-
tle child of Nathaniel Thomas', about
six years of age, died, and we had to
bury it at Westfield.
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
The roads finally became so bad and
the cold so severe that Nathaniel Thomas
and James Townsend concluded to stop
for the winter. We parted with them on
the , near New Portage,
Ohio.
On the my wife,
Phoebe, was attacked with a severe head-
ache, which terminated in brain fever.
She grew more and more distressed daily
as we continued our journey. It was a
terrible ordeal for a woman to travel in
a wagon over rough roads, afflicted as
she was. At the same time our child
was also very sick.
The was a trying
day to my soul. My wife continued to
fail, and in the afternoon, about four
o'clock, she appeared to be struck with
death. I stopped my team, and it
seemed as though she would breath her
last lying in the wagon. Two of the
sisters sat beside her, to see if they could
do anything for her in her last moments.
1 stood upon the ground, in deep af-
fliction, and meditated. I cried unto
the Lord, and prayed that she might live
and not be taken from me. I claimed the
promises the Lord had made unto me
through the prophets and patriarchs, and
soon her spirit revived, and I drove a
short distance to a tavern, and got her
into a room and worked over her and her
babe all night, and prayed to the Lord
to preserve her life.
In the morning the circumstances were
such that I was under the necessity of
removing my wife from the inn, as there
was so much noise and confusion at the
place that she could not endure it. I
carried her out to her bed in the wagon
and drove two miles, when I alighted at
a house and carried my wife and her bed
into it, with a determination to tarry
there until she recovered her health or
or passed away. This was on Sunday
morning, .
After getting my wife and things into
the house and wood provided to keep up
a fire, I employed my time in taking
care of her. It looked as though she had
but a short time to live.
She called me to her bedside in the
evening and said she felt as though a
few moments more would end her exist-
ence in this life. She manifested great
confidence in the cause she had em-
braced, and exhorted me to have confi-
dence in God, and to keep his com-
mandments.
To all appearances she was dying. I
laid hands upon her and prayed for her,
and she soon revived and slept some dur-
ing the night.
found my wife very low.
I spent the day in taking care of her,
and the following day I returned to
Eaton to get some things for her. She
seemed to be gradually sinking, and in
the evening the spirit apparently left her
body, and she was dead.
The sisters gathered around her body,
weeping, while I stood looking at her in
sorrow. The spirit and power of God
began to rest upon me until, for the first
time during her sickness, faith filled my
soul, although she lay before me as one
dead.
I had some oil that was consecrated
for my anointing while in Kirtland. I
took it and consecrated it again before
the Lord for anointing the sick. I then
bowed down before the Lord and prayed
for the life of my companion, and I
anointed her body with the oil in the
name of the Lord. I laid my hands
upon her, and in the name of Jesus
Christ I rebuked the power of death and
the destroyer, and commanded the same
to depart from her and the spirit of life
to enter her body.
Her spirit returned to her body, and
from that hour she was made whole; and
we all felt to praise the name of God,
and to trust in Him and keep His com-
mandments.
While this operation was going on
with me (as my wife related afterwards)
her spirit left her body, and she saw it
lying upon the bed, and the sisters weep-
ing. She looked at them and at me,
and upon her babe, and, while gazing
upon this scene, two personages came
into the room, carrying a coffin, and told
her they had come for her body. One
of these messengers told her she might
have her choice—she might go to rest in
the spirit world, or, on one condition she
could have the privilege of returning to
her tabernacle and continuing her labors
upon the earth. The condition was, if
she felt that she could stand by her hus-
band, and with him pass through all the
cares, trials, tribulations and afflictions
of life which he would be called upon to
pass through for the gospel's sake unto
the end. When she looked at the situ-
ation of her husband and child she said:
"Yes, I will do it."
At the moment that decision was
made the power of faith rested upon me,
and when I administered unto her, her
spirit entered her tabernacle, and she
saw the messengers carry the coffin out
of the door.
On the morning of the , the Spirit said to me, "Arise and
continue thy journey," and through the
mercy of God my wife was enabled to
arise and dress herself, and walked to the
wagon, and we went on our way re-
joicing.
On the night of the I stopped
for the night at an inn, the weather be-
ing very cold. I there learned of the
sudden death of my brother, Asahel H.
Woodruff, a merchant of Terre Haute,
Indiana.
I had anticipated a joyful meeting
with this brother on the following day.
Instead of this, I only had the privilege
of visiting his grave, in company with
my wife, and examining a little into his
business.
I was offered the position of admin-
istrator of his affairs, but I was leading
a company of Saints to Zion, and could
not stop to attend to his temporal busi-
ness. Strangers settled his affairs and
took possession of his property. His
relatives obtained nothing from his effects
but a few trifling mementos.
I left this place and crossed into
Illinois on the , and
arrived at Rochester on the , and,
getting information of the severe perse-
cutions of the Saints in Missouri, and
the unsettled state of the Church at that
time, we concluded to stop at Rochester
and spend the winter.
Thus ended my journey of two months
and sixteen days, leading the Fox Island
Saints to the west, through all the perils
of a journey of nearly two thousand
miles, in the midst of sickness and great
severity of weather.
I took my family in the spring and
removed to Quincy, Illinois, where I
could mingle with my brethren, and I
felt to praise God for His protecting care
over me and my family in all our
afflictions.
TO BE CONTINUED.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
CHAPTER II.
ORDAINED TO THE APOSTLESHIP—MY MIS-
SION TO ENGLAND.
Joseph Smith, the Prophet, asked the
Lord what His will was concerning the
Twelve, and the Lord answered in a
revelation, given , in which
He says: "Let them take leave of my
Saints in the city Far West, on the , on the building spot
of my house, saith the Lord. Let my
servant John Taylor, and also my ser-
vant John E. Page, and also my servant
Wilford Woodruff, and also my servant
Willard Richards, be appointed to fill
the places of those who have fallen, and
be officially notified of their appoint-
ment." [Doctrine and Covenants 118:5-6##]
It will be observed that this differs
from nearly all other revelations in this
respect: a fixed day and a stated place
were given for the commencement of
the mission. When the revelation was
given, all was peace and quietude in Far
West, Missouri, the city where most of
the Latter day Saints dwelt; but before
the time came for its fulfillment, the
Saints of God had been driven out of
the State of Missouri into the State of
Illinois, under the edict of Governor
Boggs; and the Missourians had sworn
that if all the other revelations of Joseph
Smith were fulfilled, that should not be.
It stated the day and the place where the
Twelve Apostles should take leave of the
Saints, to go on their missions across the
great waters, and the mobocrats of Mis-
souri had declared that they would see
that it should not be fulfilled.
It seemed as though the Lord, having
a foreknowledge of what would take
place, had given the revelation in this
manner to see whether the Apostles
would obey it at the risk of their lives.
When the time drew near for the ful-
fillment of this commandment of the
Lord, Brigham Young was the President
of the Twelve Apostles; Thomas B.
Marsh, who was the senior Apostle, had
fallen. Brother Brigham called together
those of the Twelve who were then at
Quincy, Illinois, to see what their minds
would be about going to Far West, to
fulfill the revelation. The Prophet Jos-
eph and his brother Hyrum, Sidney Rig-
don, Lyman Wight and Parley P. Pratt
were in prison in Missouri at the time;
but Father Joseph Smith, the Patriarch,
was at Quincy, Illinois. He and others
who were present did not think it wis-
dom for us to attempt the journey, as
our lives would be in great jeopardy.
They thought the Lord would take the
will for the deed. But when President
Young asked the Twelve what our feel-
ings were upon the subject, we all of us,
as the voice of one man, said the Lord
God had spoken, and it was for us to
obey. It was the Lord's business to take
care of His servants, and we would ful-
fill the commandment, or die trying.
To fully understand the risk the
Twelve ran in making this journey, my
readers should remember that Lilburn
W. Boggs, governor of the State of Mis-
souri, had issued a proclamation, in
which all the Latter-day Saints were re-
quired to leave that State or be exter-
minated. Far West had been captured
by the militia, who were really only an
organized mob; the citizens had been
compelled to give up their arms; all the
leading men who could be got hold of
had been taken prisoners; the rest of
the Saints—men, women and children—
had to flee as best they could out of the
State to save their lives, leaving all their
houses, lands and other property which
they could not carry with them to be
taken by the mob. In fact they shot
down the cattle and hogs of the Saints
wherever they could find them, and
robbed them of nearly everything they
could lay their hands upon. Latter-day
Saints were treated with merciless cruelty
and had to endure the most outrageous
abuses. It was with the greatest diffi-
culty that many of them got out of the
State, especially the prominent men; for
there were many men of that State at
that time, who acted as though they
thought it no more harm to shoot a
Mormon than a mad dog. From this
brief explanation you will be able to un-
derstand why some of the brethren
thought we were not required to go back
to Far West to start from there upon our
mission across the ocean to Europe.
Having determined to carry out the
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
requirement of the revelation, on the
, I took into my
wagon Brigham Young and Orson Pratt:
and Father Cutler took into his wagon
John Taylor and George A. Smith, and
we started for Far West.
On the way we met John E. Page, who
was going with his family to Quincy,
Illinois. His wagon had turned over,
and when we met him he was trying to
gather up a barrel of soft soap with his
hands. We helped him get up his wagon.
He drove down into the valley below,
left his wagon, and accompanied us on
our way.
On the night of the ,
we arrived at Far West, and spent the
night at the home of Morris Phelps, who
was not there, however, himself; he,
having been taken prisoner by the mob,
was still in prison.
On the morning of the , notwithstanding the threats of our
enemies that the revelation which was to
be fulfilled this day should not be, and
notwithstanding that ten thousand of the
Saints had been driven out of the State
by the edict of the governor, and though
the Prophet Joseph and his brother, Hy-
rum Smith, with other leading men were
in the hands of our enemies, in chains
and in prison, we moved on to the tem-
ple grounds in the city of Far West, and
held a council, and fulfilled the revela-
tion and commandment given unto us,
and we performed many other things at
this council.
We excommunicated from the Church
thirty-one persons, who had apostatized
and become its enemies.
The "Mission of the Twelve" was
sung, and we then repaired to the south-
east corner of the temple ground, and,
with the assistance of Elder Alpheus
Cutler, the master workman of the
building committee, laid the southeast
chief corner stone of the temple, accord-
ing to revelation.
There were present of the Twelve
Apostles: Brigham Young, Heber C.
Kimball, Orson Pratt, John E. Page,
and John Taylor, who proceeded to
ordain Wilford Woodruff and George
A. Smith to the Apostleship.
The Twelve then took their leave of,
and gave the parting hand to the follow-
ing Saints, agreeable to revelation: A.
Butler, Elias Smith, Norman Shearer,
William Burton, Stepen Markham, Shad-
rach Roundy, William O. Clark, John
W. Clark, Hezekiah Peck, Darwin
Chase, Richard Howard, Mary Ann
Peck, Artimesia Granger, Martha Peck,
Sarah Granger, Theodore Turley, Hi-
ram Clark, and Daniel Shearer.
Bidding good-by to the small remnant
of the Saints who remained on the temple
ground to see us fulfill the revelation and
commandments of God, we turned our
backs on Far West and Missouri, and
returned to Illinois. We had accom-
plished the mission without a dog moving
his tongue at us, or any man saying,
"Why do you do so?"
We crossed the Mississippi river on the
steam ferry, entered Quincy on the , and all had the joy of reaching
our families once more in peace and
safety.
There was an incident connected with
our journey that is worthy of record.
While we were on our way to fulfill
the revelation, Joseph, the Prophet, and
his companions in chains had been liber-
ated, through the blessings of God, from
their enemies and prison, and they passed
us. We were not far distant from each
other, but neither party knew it. They
were making their way to their families
in Illinois, while we were traveling to
Far West into the midst of our enemies.
So they came home to their families and
friends before our return.
was a very interesting day
to me, as well as to others. In company
with five others of the quorum of the
Twelve, I rode four miles out of town to
Mr. Cleveland's, to visit Brother Joseph
Smith and his family.
Once more I had the happy privilege
of taking Brother Joseph by the hand.
Two years had rolled away since I had
seen his face. He greeted us with great
joy, as did Hyrum Smith and Lyman
Wight, all of whom had escaped from
their imprisonment together. They had
been confined in prison six months, and
had been under sentence of death three
times; yet their lives were in the hands
of God, and He had delivered them,
and they were now mingling with their
wives, children and friends, and out of
the reach of the mob. Joseph was
frank, open and familiar as usual, and
our rejoicing was great.
No man can understand the joyful sen-
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
sations created by such a meeting, ex-
cept those who have been in tribulation
for the gospel's sake.
After spending the day together, we
returned to our families at night.
On the day following, , we
met in conference at Quincy, the Prophet
Joseph presiding, which caused great joy
and rejoicing to all the Saints.
On Sunday, , Joseph Smith
addressed the assembly, followed by
Sidney Rigdon and the Twelve Apostles.
The Spirit of the Lord was poured out
upon us, and we had a glorious day.
On , I met with the Seventies,
and we ordained sixty men into the
quorums of elders and seventies. Brother
Joseph met with the Twelve, bishops and
elders, at Bishop Partridge's house; and
there were a number with us who were
wounded at Haun's Mill. Among them
was Isaac Laney, who had been in com-
pany with about twenty others, at the
mill, when a large armed mob fired
among them with rifles and other
weapons, and shot down seventeen of the
brethren, and wounded more. Brother
Laney fled from the scene, but they
poured a shower of lead after him, which
pierced his body through and through.
He showed me eleven bullet holes in his
body. There were twenty-seven in his
shirt, seven in his pantaloons, and his
coat was literally cut to pieces. One
ball entered one arm-pit and came out
at the other.
Another entered his back and came
out at the breast. A ball passed through
each hip, each leg and each arm. All
these shots were received while he was
running for life, and, strange as it may
appear, though he had also one of his
ribs broken, he was able to outrun his
enemies, and his life was saved. We
can only acknowledge this deliverance
to be by the power and mercy of God.
President Joseph Young was also
among the number. He also fled, and
although the balls flew around him like
hail, he was not wounded. How myste-
rious are the ways of the Lord!
Before starting on our missions to
England, we were under the necessity
of settling our families. A place called
Commerce, afterwards named Nauvoo,
was selected as the place at which our
people should settle.
I left Quincy, in company with
Brother Brigham Young and our families
on the , and arrived in
Commerce on the . After an inter-
view with Joseph we crossed the river at
Montrose, Iowa. President Brigham
Young and myself, with our families,
occupied one room about fourteen feet
square. Finally Brother Young obtained
another room and moved into it by him-
self. Then Brother Orson Pratt and
family moved into the same room with
myself and family.
While I was living in this cabin in the
old barracks, we experienced a day of
God's power with the Prophet Joseph.
It was a very sickly time and Joseph had
given up his home in Commerce to the
sick, and had a tent pitched in his door-
yard and was living in that himself.
The large number of Saints who had
been driven out of Missori, were flock-
ing into Commerce; but had no homes
to go into, and were living in wagons,
in tents, and on the ground. Many,
therefore, were sick through the ex-
posure they were subjected to. Bro-
ther Joseph had waited on the sick,
until he was worn out and nearly sick
himself.
On the morning of the , he arose reflecting upon the sit-
uation of the Saints of God in their
persecutions and afflictions, and he
called upon the Lord in prayer, and the
power of God rested upon him mightily,
and as Jesus healed all the sick around
Him in His day, so Joseph, the Prophet
of God, healed all around on this occa-
sion. He healed all in his house and
door-yard, then, in company with Sidney
Rigdon and several of the Twelve, he
went through among the sick lying on
the bank of the river, and he com-
manded them in a loud voice, in the
name of Jesus Christ, to come up and
be made whole, and they were all healed.
When he healed all that were sick on
the east side of the river, they crossed
the Mississippi river in a ferry-boat to
the west side, to Montrose, where we
were. The first house they went into
was President Brigham Young's. He
was sick on his bed at the time. The
Prophet went into his house and healed
him, and they all came out together.
As they were passing by my door, Brother
Joseph said: "Brother Woodruff, fol-
low me." These were the only words
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
spoken by any of the company from the
time they left Brother Brigham's house
till we crossed the public square, and
entered Brother Fordham's house. Bro-
ther Fordham had been dying for an
hour, and we expected each minute
would be his last.
I felt the power of God that was
overwhelming His Prophet.
When we entered the house, Brother
Joseph walked up to Brother Fordham,
and took him by the right hand; in his
left hand he held his hat.
He saw that Brother Fordham's eyes
were glazed, and that he was speechless
and unconscious.
After taking hold of his hand, he
looked down into the dying man's face
and said: "Brother Fordham do you
not know me?" At first he made no
reply; but we could all see the effect of
the spirit of God resting upon him.
He again said: "Elijah, do you not
know me?"
With a low whisper, Brother Ford-
ham answered, "Yes!"
The Prophet then said, "Have you
not faith to be healed?"
The answer, which was a little plainer
than before, was: "I am afraid it is too
late. If you had come sooner, I think
it might have been."
He had the appearance of a man wak-
ing from sleep. It was the sleep of
death.
Joseph then said: "Do you believe
that Jesus is the Christ?"
"I do, Brother Joseph," was the re-
ponse.
Then the Prophet of God spoke with
a loud voice, as in the majesty of the
Godhead: "Elijah, I command you, in
the name of Jesus of Nazareth, to arise
and be made whole!''
The words of the Prophet were not
like the words of man, but like the voice
of God. It seemed to me that the
house shook from its foundation.
Elijah Fordham leaped from his bed
like a man raised from the dead. A
healthy color came to his face, and life
was manifested in every act.
His feet were done up in Indian meal
poultices. He kicked them off his feet,
scattered the contents, and then called
for his clothes and put them on. He
asked for a bowl of bread and milk, and
ate it; then put on his hat and followed
us into the street, to visit others who
were sick.
The unbeliever may ask: "Was there
not deception in this?"
If there is any deception in the mind
of the unbeliever, there was certainly
none with Elijah Fordham, the dying
man, nor with those who were present
with him, for in a few minutes he would
have been in the spirit world, had he
not been rescued. Through the bless-
ing of God, he lived up till 1880, in
which year he died in Utah, while all
who were with him on that occasion,
with the exception of one, are in the
spirit world.
Among the number were Joseph and
Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Brigham
Young, Heber C. Kimball, George A.
Smith, Parley P. Pratt and Orson Pratt.
Wilford Woodruff is the only one living
who was present at that time, and he
will soon mingle with those who have
gone.
As soon as we left Brother Fordham's
house, we went into the house of Joseph
B. Noble, who was very low and danger-
ously sick.
When we entered the house, Brother
Joseph took him by the hand, and com-
manded him, in the name of Jesus
Christ, to arise and be made whole.
He did arise and was immediately
healed.
While this was going on, the wicked
mob in the place, led by one Kilburn,
had become alarmed, and followed us
into Brother Noble's house.
Before they arrived there, Brother
Joseph had called upon Brother Ford-
ham to offer prayer.
While he was praying, the mob en-
tered, with all the evil spirits accom-
panying them.
As soon as they entered, Brother
Fordham, who was praying, fainted and
sank to the floor.
When Joseph saw the mob in the
house, he arose and had the room cleared
of both that class of men and their at-
tendant devils. Then Brother Fordham
immediately revived and finished his
prayer.
This case of Brother Noble's was the
last one of healing upon that day. It
was greatest day for the manifestation of
the power of God through the gift of
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
healing since the organization of the
Church.
When we left Brother Noble, the
Prophet Jeseph went, with those who
accompanied him from the other side to
the banks of the river, to return home.
While waiting for the ferry-boat, a
man of the world, knowing of the mir-
acles which had been performed, came
to him and asked him if he would not
go and heal two twin children of his
about five months old, who were both
lying sick nigh unto death.
They were some two miles from Mon-
trose.
The Prophet said he could not go;
but, after pausing some time, he said
he would send some one to heal them;
and he turned to me and said: "You go
with the man and heal his children."
He took a red silk handkerchief out
of his pocket and gave it to me, and
told me to wipe their faces with the
handkerchief when I administered to
them, and they should be healed. He
also said unto me: "As long as you will
keep that handkerchief, it shall remain
a league between you and me.''
I went with the man, and did as the
Prophet commanded me, and the chil-
dren were healed.
I have possession of the handkerchief
unto this day.
On the , Joseph
Smith and his counselors, Sydney Rig-
don and Hyrum Smith, crossed the river
to Montrose, to spend the day with the
Twelve, and set them apart and bless
them, before they started upon their
missions. There were twelve of us who
met there, and we all dined in my
house.
After dinner, we assembled at Brother
Brigham Young's house for our meeting.
Brother Hyrum Smith opened by
prayer; after which the Presidency laid
their hands upon our heads and gave
each of us a blessing.
President Rigdon was mouth in bless-
ing me, and also blessed Sisters Young,
Taylor and Woodruff.
The prophet Joseph promised us if we
would be faithful, we should be blessed
upon our mission, have many souls as
seals of our ministry, and return again
in peace and safety to our families and
friends; all of which was fulfilled.
Brother Hyrum advised me to preach
the first principles of the gospel; he
thought that was about as much as this
generation could endure.
Then Joseph arose and preached some
precious things of the kingdom of God
unto us, in the power of the Holy Ghost;
some of which I here copy from my
journal:
"Ever keep in exercise the principle
of mercy, and be ready to forgive our
brethren on the first intimation of their
repentance and desire for forgiveness;
for our Heavenly Father will be equally
as merciful unto us. We also ought to
be willing to repent of and confess our
sins, and keep nothing back. Let the
Twelve be humble and not be exalted,
and beware of pride and not seek to ex-
cel one another, but act for each other's
good, and honorably make mention of
each other's names in prayer before the
Lord and before your fellow-men. Do
not backbite or devour a brother. The
elders of Israel should seek to learn by
precept and example in this late age of
the world and not be obliged to learn
everything we know by sad experience.
I trust the remainder of the Twelve will
learn wisdom and not follow the example
of those who have fallen. When the
Twelve, or any other witnesses of Jesus
Christ, stand before the congregations
of the earth, and they preach in the
power and demonstration of the Holy
Ghost, and the people are astonished
and confounded at the doctrine, and say
'That man has preached a powerful ser-
mon,' then let that man or those men
take care that they do not ascribe the
glory unto themselves, but be careful
that they are humble, and ascribe the
glory to God and the Lamb; for it is by
the power of the Holy Priesthood and
the Holy Ghost that they have the power
thus to speak.
"Who art thou, O man, but dust! and
from whom dost thou receive thy power
and blessings, but from God?
"Then let the Twelve Apostles and
Elders of Israel observe this key, and be
wise: Ye are not sent out to be taught,
but to teach.
"Let every man be sober, be vigilant,
and let all his words be seasoned with
grace, and keep in mind it is a day of
warning, and not of many words.
"Act honestly before God and man;
beware of sophistry, such as bowing and
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
scraping unto men in whom you have no
confidence. Be honest, open, and frank
in all your intercourse with mankind.
"I wish to say to the Twelve and all
the Saints, to profit by this important
key, that in all your trials, troubles,
temptations, afflictions, bonds, imprison-
ments and deaths, see to it that you do
not betray Jesus Christ, that you do not
betray the revelations of God, whether
in the Bible, Book of Mormon, or Doc-
trine and Covenants, or any of the
words of God.
"Yea, in all your troubles, see that
you do not this thing, lest innocent
blood be found upon your skirts, and ye
go down to hell.
"We may ever know by this sign that
there is danger of our being led to a fall
and apostasy when we give way to the
devil, so as to neglect the first known
duty; but whatever you do, do not be-
tray your friend."
The foregoing are some of the instruc-
tions given to the Twelve by the Prophet
Joseph, before they started upon their
missions.
Inasmuch as the devil had been in a
measure thwarted by the Twelve going
to Far West, and returning without
harm, it seemed as though the destroyer
was determined to make some other at-
tempt upon us to hinder us from per-
forming our missions; for it seemed that
as soon as any one of the Apostles began
to prepare for starting, he was smitten
with chills and fever or sickness of some
kind.
Nearly all of the quorum of the
Twelve or their families began to be
sick, so it still required the exercise of a
good deal of faith and perseverance to
start off on a mission.
On the , for the first time
in my life, I was attacked with chills and
fever; and this I had every other day,
and, whenever attacked, I was laid pros-
trate.
My wife, Phoebe, was also soon taken
down with the chills and fever, as were
quite a number of the Twelve.
I passed thirteen days in Montrose
with my family, after I was taken sick,
before I started on my mission.
The was the last day I
spent at home in Montrose, and although
sick with the chills and fever the most of
the day, I made what preparations I
could to start on the morrow on a mis-
sion of four thousand miles, to preach
the gospel to the nations of the earth,
and this, too, without purse or scrip,
with disease resting upon me, and a
stroke of fever and ague once every two
days.
Early upon the morning of the , I arose from my bed of sickness,
laid my hands upon the head of my
sick wife, Phoebe, and blessed her. I
then departed from the embrace of my
companion, and left her almost without
food or the necessaries of life.
She parted from me with the fortitude
that becomes a Saint, realizing the re-
sponsibilities of her companion. I quote
from my journal:
"Phoebe, farewell! Be of good cheer;
remember me in your prayers. I leave
these pages for your perusal when I am
gone. I shall see thy face again in the
flesh. I go to obey the commands of
Jesus Christ."
Although feeble, I walked to the
banks of the Mississippi river. There
President Young took me in a canoe
(having no other conveyance) and pad-
dled me across the river.
When we landed, I lay down on a
side of sole leather, by the post office,
to rest.
Brother Joseph, the Prophet of God,
came along and looked at me.
"Well, Brother Woodruff," said he,
"you have started upon your mission."
"Yes," said I, "but I feel and look
more like a subject for the dissecting
room than a missionary."
Joseph replied: "What did you say
that for? Get up, and go along; all
will be right with you!"
I name these incidents that the reader
may know how the brethren of the
Twelve Apostles started upon their mis-
sions to England, in 1839.
Elder John Taylor was going with me,
and we were the first two of the quorum
of the Twelve who started on their
mission.
Brother Taylor was about the only
man in the quorum that was not sick.
Soon a brother came along with a
wagon, and took us in. As we were
driving through the place, we came to
Parley P. Pratt, who was stripped to the
shirt and pants with his head and feet
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
bare. He was hewing a log, preparing
to build a cabin.
He said: "Brother Woodruff, I have
no money, but I have an empty purse,
which I will give you." He brought it
to me, and I thanked him for it.
We went a few rods further, and met
Brother Heber C. Kimball, in the same
condition, also hewing a log, towards
building a cabin.
He said: "As Parley has given you a
purse, I have got a dollar I will give you
to put in it."
He gave me both a dollar and a bless-
ing.
We drove sixteen miles across a prairie,
and spent the night with a Brother Mer-
rill. The day following we rode ten
miles, to a Brother Perkins', and he took
us in his wagon to Macomb, and from
thence to Brother Don Carlos Smith's.
I rode four hours during the day over
a very rough road of stones and stumps,
lying on my back in the bottom of the
wagon, shaking with the ague, and I
suffered much.
We held a meeting in a grove near
Don Carlos Smith's, and here Elder
Taylor baptized George Miller, who
afterwards was ordained a bishop.
At the meeting the Saints gave us nine
dollars, and George Miller gave us a
horse to help us on our journey.
I rode to Rochester with Father Col-
trin, where I had an interview with
several families of the Fox Island Saints,
whom I had brought up with me from
Fox Islands in 1838. I spent several
days with them and at Springfield, where
Elder Taylor published fifteen hundred
copies, in pamphlet form, of a brief
sketch of the persecutions and sufferings
of the Latter-day Saints, inflicted by the
inhabitants of Missouri.
We sold our horse, and in company
with Father Coltrin, Brother Taylor and
myself left Springfield, and continued
our journey.
I had the chills and fever nearly every
other day, which made riding in a lum-
ber wagon very distressing to me, es-
pecially when I shook with the ague.
On the , we rode to
Terre Haute, and spent the night with
Dr. Modisett. I suffered much with the
chills and fever.
Elder John Taylor up to this time had
appeared to enjoy excellent health, but
the destroyer did not intend to make
him an exception to the rest of the
Apostles. On the , he
fell to the ground as though he had been
knocked down. He fainted away, but
soon revived. On the following day,
however, the enemy made a powerful
attack upon his life. He fainted away
several times, and it seemed as though
he would die. We stopped several hours
with him at a house by the wayside.
We then took him into the wagon and
drove to Horace S. Eldredge's, and
spent the remainder of the day and night
doctoring him.
In the morning Brother Taylor was so
far recovered that he thought he would
be able to ride. So we started on our
journey on the morning of the , and
we traveled forty miles, to Louisville,
and spent the night with the family of
Brother James Townsend.
We felt terribly shaken up, being in
such a weak state. Brother Townsend
was away from home, but we were kindly
entertained by Sister Townsend.
In the morning Elder Taylor, though
very weak, felt disposed to continue his
journey. We traveled fourteen miles to
Germantown. He was quite sick at
night, and the bilious fever seemed to
settle upon him. I was also very feeble,
myself.
On the day following, ,
being Sunday, Brother Taylor concluded
to remain there for the day, and hold a
meeting.
It was a German settlement. He
wished me to speak, and I spoke upon
the first principles of the gospel. He
followed me, and spoke until he was ex-
hausted.
After we returned to the inn where we
were stopping, I was taken with a chill
and fever, and had a very bad night.
Brother Taylor was also very sick.
The following day, , was
a painful day to my feelings. It was
evident that Brother Taylor had a settled
fever upon him, and would not be able
to travel.
Father Coltrin was resolved to con-
tinue his journey, and, in conversing
with Brother Taylor, he thought it better
for one sick man to be left than for two,
as I was so sick with the chills and fever
that I was not able to render him any
assistance, nor, indeed, to take care of
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE
myself. Under these circumstances,
Brother Taylor advised me to continue
my journey with Brother Coltrin, and
make the best of my way to New York.
After committing Elder Taylor into
the hands of the Lord, though painful
to me, I gave him the parting hand and
started. I left him in Germantown,
Wayne County, Indiana, in the hand sof
a merciful God and a kind and benevo-
lent family, who promised to do every-
thing in their power to make him com-
fortable until his recovery.
This they did, though he passed
through a severe course of the billious
fever, and was sick nigh unto death.
Through the mercy of God, however,
he recovered from his sickness, and con-
tinued his journey. We next met in the
City of New York.
I continued my journey with Father
Coltrin, and we reached Cleveland on
the . We there took
steamer for Buffalo, but were three days
and a night in a storm before we made
the harbor. We landed at midnight,
and in doing so we ran into a schooner,
and stove it in.
From Buffalo I traveled to Albany in
a canal boat, and had a stroke of the
ague daily.
While on my journey, at Albany, I
took a stage in the night, and rode to
my father's home in Farmington, on the
.
I was glad to meet with my father's
family and the other members of the
small branch of the Church which ex-
isted there upon this occasion, as I found
them all strong in the faith of the gos-
pel, and glad to meet with me.
I was still suffering with the ague
daily.
On the , my grand-
mother (on my mother's side), Anna
Thompson, died at Avon. She was
eighty-four years of age.
It was a singular coincidence that she
with her husband, Lot Thompson, also
Mercy Thompson and Samuel Thomp-
son, all of one family, died when they
were eighty-four years of age. I was
not able to attend my grandmother's
funeral.
On the , my
uncle, Adna Hart, died, aged forty-three
years. I had visited him in his sickness,
and preached the gospel to him, and he
was believing. I had also been associated
with him from my youth up.
On his death-bed he sent me a request
that I would preach his funeral sermon.
I was having the chills and fever
daily at the time, attended with a very
severe cough, so much so, that my father
thought that I would never leave his
home alive. But when they brought me
the request of my dying uncle, and the
day came for his burial, I told my father
to get his horse and buggy ready, for I
was going to attend the funeral.
He thought I was very reckless in re-
gard to my own life, as I had suffered
with the chills and fever some fifteen
days, and to attempt to speak in my
weak state, and to begin at the same
hour that my chill was to come on,
seemed to him foolhardy.
My parents were quite alarmed, yet
according to my request my father got
up his team, and I rode with him and
my stepmother five miles, through a
cold, chilly wind, and I commenced
speaking to a large congregation, at the
same hour that my chill had been in the
habit of coming on.
I spoke over an hour with great free-
dom, and my chill left me from that
hour, and I had no more attacks for
many days.
On the Monday following, , I felt sufficiently restored to health
to continue my journey. I took leave of
my father and sister, and left for New
York, where I arrived on the morning
of the .
I spent two months and seven days
after my arrival in New York, in travel-
ing and preaching in that city, New
Jersey and Long Island, a portion of the
time with Parley and Orson Pratt. I
had frequent attacks during this time of
the chills and fever, but I preached al-
most daily.
On the I attended
our conference in New York City, with
Parley P. Pratt, and on this day Elder
John Taylor arrived in our midst, and it
was a happy meeting.
He had passed through a severe siege
of sickness after we parted, but through
the mercy of God had been preserved,
and was able to continue his journey.
He also informed us that others of the
Twelve had suffered a great deal of sick-
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
ness, and that it was with difficulty that
they could travel.
After spending six days in New York,
Elder John Taylor, in company with
Elder Theodore Turley and myself sailed
out of New York Harbor for Liverpool,
on board the packet ship Oxford, on the
.
We took steerage passage, which cost
fifteen dollars each. We had storms and
rough weather, but most of the winds
were favorable for a quick passage.
While on the ship, a Methodist min-
ister got into a discussion with some Cath-
olics who were in the company, and the
arguments of the minister ran rather
more into abuse than sound argument.
Elder Taylor told the Methodist min-
ister that he did not think it was becom-
ing in a daughter to find so much fault
with the mother as they did, for as the
Methodists came out of the Catholics,
Elder Taylor thought the mother had as
much right to enjoy her religion un-
molested as the daughter had. That
ended the argument.
Our company consisted of 109 souls,
composed of Americans, English, Scotch,
Irish, Welsh and Dutch.
We arrived in Liverpool dock on the
, having made
the voyage from New York in twenty-
three days.
On , after visiting
Mr. George Cannon, the father of Presi-
dent George Q. Cannon, and his family,
we took cars in the evening, and arrived
in the midst of the Preston branch of
the Saints, built up in 1837, by Elders
Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde and
Willard Richards.
We very soon had a pleasant interview
with Elder Willard Richards, who had
remained in Preston to take care of the
Church, while the rest had returned
home to America.
We spent three days at Preston in
visiting the Saints, and on the we
held a council at Elder Richards' home
in that place.
After consulting upon the best course
for us to pursue, it was finally resolved
that Elder John Taylor and Joseph
Fielding go to Liverpool, Elder Wood-
ruff to Staffordshire Potteries, Theodore
Turley to Birmingham, Elder Richards
wherever the Spirit might direct him,
and that William Clayton preside over
the branch in Manchester.
After various principles of the Church
had been expounded by the Apostles
present, the council adjourned.
Elder Willard Richards had been
called to be one of the quorum of the
Twelve Apostles, but had not yet re-
ceived his ordination.
On the day following I parted with
Elders Taylor and Fielding, who went
to Liverpool, and with Elder Richards,
who tarried in Preston. Elder Turley
and I went to Manchester.
It was the first time I ever visited that
city. I here first met with Elder Wm.
Clayton. As soon as I had an introduc-
tion to him, he informed me that one of
the sisters in that place was possessed of
the devil, and he asked me to go and
cast it out of her, thinking that one of
the Twelve Apostles could do anything
in this line he might wish to.
However, I went with him to the
house where the woman lay, in the hands
of three men, in a terrible rage, and
trying to tear her clothing from her.
I also found quite a number of Saints
present, and some unbelievers, who had
come to see the devil cast out and a
miracle wrought.
If I had acted upon my own judg-
ment I should not have attempted to ad-
minister to her with the company pres-
ent, but as I was a stranger there, and
Brother Clayton presided over the
branch, I joined him in administering to
the woman. But the unbelief of the
wicked present was so great, we could
not cast the devil out of her, and she
raged worse than ever.
I then ordered the room to be cleared,
and when the company left the house,
except the few attending to her, we laid
hands upon her, and I commanded the
devil to come out of her, in the name of
Jesus Christ. The devil left her, and
she was entirely cured and fell asleep.
The next day being the Sabbath, she
came before a large congregation of peo-
ple, and bore testimony to what the
Lord had done for her. We had a large
assemblage through the day and evening,
to whom I preached the gospel.
On Monday morning, the devil, not
being satisfied with being cast out of the
woman, entered into her little child,
which was but a few months old.
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
I was called upon to visit the child.
I found it in great distress, writhing
in its mother's arms. We laid hands upon
it and cast the devil out of it, and the
evil spirits had no power over the house-
hold afterwards.
This was done by the power of God,
and not of man. We laid hands upon
twenty in Manchester who were sick,
and they were mostly healed.
On the , I arrived in Burslem by
coach, and met, for the first time, with
Elder Alfred Cordon. This being my
field of labor, I stopped and commenced
work.
Elder Turley stopped in the pottery
district some eight days, then went to
Birmingham, his field of labor.
I received a letter on the , from Elder John Taylor, who was
at Liverpool, saying they had commenced
there and baptized ten persons.
I labored in the Staffordshire Potteries,
in Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Lane End,
and several other villages, from the ,
of January until the ,
preaching every night in the week and
two or three times on the Sabbath.
I baptized, confirmed and blessed
many, and we had a good field open for
labor. Many were believing, and it ap-
peared as though we had a door open to
bring many into the Church in that part
of the vineyard.
, was my birthday,
when I was thirty-three years of age. It
being Sunday, I preached twice through
the day to a large assembly in the City
Hall, in the town of Hanley, and ad-
ministered the sacrament unto the
Saints.
In the evening I again met with a large
assembly of the Saints and strangers, and
while singing the first hymn the Spirit of
the Lord rested upon me, and the voice
of God said to me, "This is the last
meeting that you will hold with this peo-
ple for many days."
I was astonished at this, as I had
many appointments out in that district.
When I arose to speak to the people,
I told them that it was the last meeting
I should hold with them for many days.
They were as much astonished as I was.
At the close of the meeting four
persons came forward for baptism, and
we went down into the water and bap-
tized them.
In the morning I went in secret before
the Lord, and asked Him what His will
was concerning me.
The answer I got was, that I should
go to the south, for the Lord had a great
work for me to perform there, as many
souls were waiting for the word of the
Lord.
On the , in fulfill-
ment of the word of the Lord to me, I
took coach and rode to Wolverhampton,
twenty-six miles, and spent the night
there.
On the morning of the I again
took coach, and rode through Dudley,
Stourbridge, Stourport and Worcester,
and then walked a number of miles to
Mr. John Benbow's, Hill Farm, Castle
Frome, Ledbury, Herefordshire. This
was a farming country in the south of
England, a region where no Elder of the
Latter-day Saints had visited.
I found Mr. Benbow to be a wealthy
farmer, cultivating three hundred acres
of land, occupying a good mansion, and
having plenty of means. His wife, Jane,
had no children.
I presented myself to him as a mission-
ary from America, an Elder of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, who had been sent to him by the
commandment of God as a messenger of
salvation, to preach the gospel of life
unto him and his household, and the in-
habitants of the land.
Mr. Benbow and his wife received me
with glad hearts and thanksgiving. It
was in the evening when I arrived, hav-
ing traveled forty-eight miles by coach
and on foot during the day, but after
receiving refreshments we sat down to-
gether, and conversed until two o'clock
in the morning.
Mr. Benbow and his wife rejoiced
greatly at the glad tidings which I
brought unto them of the fulness of the
everlasting gospel, which God had re-
vealed through the mouth of His Prophet,
Joseph Smith, in these last days.
I rejoiced greatly at the news that Mr.
Benbow gave me, that there was a
company of men and women—over six
hundred in number—who had broken off
from the Wesleyan Methodists, and taken
the name of United Brethren. They
had forty-five preachers among them,
and had chapels and many houses that
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
were licensed according to the law of the
land for preaching in.
This body of United Brethren were
searching for light and truth, but had
gone as far as they could, and were con-
tinually calling upon the Lord to open
the way before them, and send them
light and knowledge that they might
know the true way to be saved.
When I heard these things I could
clearly see why the Lord had command-
ed me, while in the town of Hanley, to
leave that place of labor and go to the
south, for in Herefordshire there was a
great harvest-field for gathering many
Saints into the kingdom of God.
I retired to my bed with joy after
offering my prayers and thanksgiving to
God, and slept sweetly until the rising
of the sun.
I arose on the morning of the ,
took breakfast, and told Mr. Benbow I
would like to commence my Master's
business, by preaching the gospel to the
people.
He had a large hall in his mansion
which was licensed for preaching, and he
sent word through the neighborhood
that an American missionary would
preach at his house that evening.
As the time drew nigh many of the
neighbors came in, and I preached my
first gospel sermon in the house. I also
preached on the following evening at the
same place, and baptized six persons,
including Mr. John Benbow and his wife,
and four preachers of the United Brethren.
I spent most of the following day in
clearing out a pool of water, and
preparing it for baptizing in, as I saw
many to be baptized there. I afterwards
baptized six hundred in that pool of
water.
On Sunday, the , I preached at
Frome's Hill in the morning, at Stand-
ley Hill in the afternoon, and at John
Benbow's, Hill Farm, in the evening.
The parish church that stood in the
neighborhood of Brother Benbow's, pre-
sided over by the rector of the parish,
was attended during the day by only fif-
teen persons, while I had a large congre-
gation, estimated to number a thousand,
attend my meeting through the day and
evening.
When I arose in the evening to speak
at Brother Benbow's house, a man en-
tered the door and informed me that he
was a constable, and had been sent by
the rector of the parish with a warrant
to arrest me.
I asked him "For what crime?"
He said, "For preaching to the peo-
ple."
I told him that I, as well as the rec-
tor, had a license for preaching the gos-
pel to the people, and that if he would
take a chair I would wait upon him after
meeting.
He took my chair and sat beside me.
I preached the first principles of the
everlasting gospel for an hour and a
quarter. The power of God rested upon
me, the Spirit filled the house, and the
people were convinced.
At the close of the meeting I opened
a door for baptism, and seven offered
themselves. Among the number were
four preachers and the constable.
The latter arose and said, "Mr. Wood-
ruff, I would like to be baptized."
I told him I would like to baptize
him. I went down to the pool and bap-
tized the seven. We then met together
and I confirmed thirteen, and broke
bread unto the Saints and we all rejoiced
together.
The constable went to the rector and
told him if he wanted Mr. Woodruff
taken up for preaching the gospel, he
must go himself and serve the writ, for
he had heard him preach the only true
gospel sermon he had ever listened to in
his life.
The rector did not know what to make
of it, so he sent two clerks of the Church
of England as spies, to attend our meet-
ing, and find out what we did preach.
But they were both pricked in their
hearts and received the word of the
Lord gladly, and were baptized and con-
firmed members of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The rector became alarmed and did
not dare to send anybody else.
The ministers and rectors of the South
of England called a convention and
sent a petition to the Archbishop of
Canterbury, to request parliament to
pass a law prohibiting the Mormons
from preaching in the British dominion.
In this petition the rector stated that
one "Mormon" missionary had baptized
fifteen hundred persons, mostly members
of the English church, during the last
seven months.
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
But the archbishop and council, know-
ing well that the laws of England gave
free toleration to all religions under the
British flag, sent word to the petitioners
that if they had the worth of souls at
heart as much as they had the ground
where hares, foxes and hounds ran, they
would not lose so many of their flock.
I continued to preach and baptize
daily.
On the I baptized
Elder Thomas Kingston. He was super-
intendent of both preachers and members
of the United Brethren.
The first thirty days after my arrival
in Herefordshire, I had baptized forty-
five preachers and one hundred and
sixty members of the United Brethren,
who put into my hands one chapel and
forty-five houses, which were licensed
according to law to preach in.
This opened a wide field for labor,
and enabled me to bring into the
Church, through the blessings of God,
over eighteen hundred souls during eight
months, including all of the six hundred
United Brethren except one person; also
including some two hundred preachers
of various denominations.
This field of labor embraced Hereford-
shire, Gloucestershire and Worcester-
shire, and formed the conference of Gar-
way, Gadfield Elm and Frome's Hill.
I was visited by President Young and
Dr. Richards.
Brother Benbow furnished us with
£300 to print the first Book of Mor-
mon that was published in England: and
on the , Brigham
Young, Willard Richards and I held a
council on the top of Malvern Hill, and
there decided that Brigham Young go
direct to Manchester and publish 3,000
copies of the Hymn Book and 3,000
copies of the Book of Mormon, this
being the first publication of these books
in England.
The power of God rested upon us and
upon the mission.
The sick were healed, devils were cast
out, and the lame were made to walk.
One case I will mention: Mary Pitt,
who died in Nauvoo, sister to Wm. Pitt,
who died in Salt Lake City, had not
walked upon her feet for eleven years.
We carried her into the water and I bap-
tized her.
On the evening of the ,
1840, at Brother Kingston's house in
Dymock, Elders Brigham Young, Wil-
lard Richards and I laid hands upon her
head and confirmed her.
Brigham Young, being mouth, re-
buked her lameness, and commanded
her to arise and walk, in the name of
the Lord. The lameness then left her,
and she never afterwards used a staff or
crutch.
She walked through the town of Dy-
mock next day, which created a stir
among the people; but the wicked did
not feel to give God the glory.
The whole history of this Hereford-
shire mission shows the importance of
listening to the still small voice ot the
Spirit of God and the revelations of the
Holy Ghost.
The Lord had a people there prepared
for the gospel. They were preparing for
light and truth, and the Lord sent me to
them, and I declared the gospel of life
and salvation unto them, and some
eighteen hundred souls received it, and
many of them have been gathered to
Zion in these mountains. Many of them
have also been called to officiate in the
bishopric, and have done much good in
Zion. But in all these things we should
ever acknowledge the hand of God, and
give Him the honor, praise and glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
On the , I took
the parting hand of the Saints in Here-
fordshire and started on a mission to
London, in company with Apostles
Heber C. Kimball and George A.
Smith. We rode from Leigh to Chel-
tenham, where we tarried for the night
and in the morning took coach and rode
forty miles through a most delightful
country, which everywhere wore the
golden hue of a plentiful harvest, passed
through Oxfordshire, in sight of Stowe,
the family residence of the Duke of
Buckingham, and at Farmington Station,
took train for London where we arrived
at 4 p. m. We changed conveyance
to the center of the city by omnibus,
walked across London Bridge into the
Borough, and called upon Mrs. Allgood
the sister of Elder Theodore Turley's
wife. She treated us with kindness,
gave us refreshments and then directed
us to a public house, the King's Arms,
King Street, Borough. Here we tarried
for the night.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
We were now in England's great met-
ropolis to sound to it the first procla-
mation of the Latter-day Work: for Heber
C. Kimball, George A. Smith, and my-
self were the three first elders in London
to preach the Gospel and establish the
Church of Latter-day Saints.
We took a walk into the city, passed
London Bridge twice, and returned and
spent the night at the King's Arms.
On the following day we called
upon the Rev. J. E. Smith, Lin-
coln's Inn Fields, also visited John
Pye, 16 Curiosity Street, Chancery
Lane. He was a strong believer in the
prophecies of Joanna Southcott and was
one of the society. We then returned
and had a view of St. Paul's Cathedral,
the largest in the world except St. Peter's
at Rome. We crossed London Bridge,
took tea at 19 King Street, and then
went to Union Chapel, Waterloo Road,
and heard a comical sermon delivered
by an Aitkenite preacher. I spent the
night at 58 King Street at Mrs. Loftus.
The next day, , was
the most interesting sight-seeing day in
my life, as far as viewing the splendid
works of man. I started in company
of Elders Heber C. Kimball and George
A. Smith for a walk over the City of
London. We crossed London Bridge,
passed through King William Street,
and several other streets, and visited
Covent Garden; then through St. Mar-
tin Street and Court, Leicester Square,
Sidney Alley, Coventry Street, Pica-
dilly, Glass House Street and through
most of Regent Street,—one of the
most splendid streets in the world. We
passed through Langham Place, and All
Souls Church, which has a spire naked
from its base to the top, then through
Oxford Street, and returned by way of
St. Paul's, ending our sight-seeing of the
day by visiting the noted monument
erected in commemoration of the great
fire in London in 1666, and built under
the direction of that famous architect,
Sir Christopher Wren. We entered a
door at its base, paid six pence on enter-
ing, and ascended three hundred and
forty-five black marble steps, which
brought us up two hundred feet into the
air and about one hundred feet higher
than the highest houses. We stepped on
the outside of the pillar, which is sur-
rounded by an iron railing, and here we
had presented to our view an indescrib-
able scenery on every hand of the great-
est city in the world, which can boast of
a history of nearly two thousand years.
At our feet, as it were, lay a historical
panorama, stretching out to our view
around.
We were situated so as to overlook
nearly every part of the city. East of
us lay the ancient Tower of London;
east of us also lay the Mint; north the
Mansion House of the Lord Mayor of
London; north-west, St. Paul's Church;
west, Westminster Abbey and the House
of Parliament; south lies the River
Thames with five of the large bridges
across in full view and one not seen from
the Monument, making six. These six
bridges are fine sights in themselves.
They are the architectural monuments
of the Thames, and our view of them
from our high pinnacle with their crowds
of moving and ever changing human
masses, and cabs, omnibuses, carriages,
drays, etc., which dash along, presented
to us a picturesque sight. In addition
to all this, within our view, was London
Borough, on the south of the river, and
all around us hundreds of churches,
chapels, and spires, standing in the
midst of one universal mass of buildings,
covering about six square miles of
ground. While viewing this prospect on
a clear day, we conversed with a Prussian
traveler, a citizen of Berlin, who had
traveled much over Europe and Asia and
other parts of the world, and he declared
that we could not find another spot on
the face of the earth that would present
to our view so grand a scenery as the
one before us.
we went to Zion's chapel
and heard the celebrated Rev. Robert
Aitken preach two sermons. He de-
livered a powerful warning to the
Gentiles, and presented some of the
most sublime truths I ever heard from a
sectarian priest; but he was building
without the foundation.
On the we removed our lodgings
to Mr. Robert Merryfields, No. 15
Gloucester Row, Grange Road, where
we obtained a room for all three of us.
On the we attended a
meeting of the Temperance Society, at
their hall, which we engaged, but could
not have it until the of the next
month. Brother Smith made a short
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
speech. On the following day, we
started out to try to get some doors
opened for preaching. Brother Kimball
went to one part of the city and Brother
Smith and myself to another. We called
upon two Baptist ministers and asked
one for his chapel. In the evening we
attended a Methodist meeting in Long
Lane.
Next day we again went to the Tem-
perance Hall, in St. George's Road near
the Elephant and Castle, and by the re-
request of the committee I addressed the
meeting upon the subject of temperance,
followed by George A Smith. We gave
out an appointment to preach the Gos-
pel at that place .
The day after, we all started out to go
through the city of London to see if we
could find a man with the Spirit of God,
and after wandering through the city,
not knowing whither we went, we came
upon a man and stopped him and spoke
to him. Brother Kimball asked him
if he was a preacher? He said
he was. He seemed to have a good
spirit, and informed us that he had been
to America, and had come to London
for the purpose of going to South Aus-
tralia, but had just buried one child and
another lay at the point of death. Broth-
er Kimball told him his child should
live. He gave us some information
where we could preach. On the same
day we called upon him and found his
child better, but he was not at home.
We then went and heard a Calvinist
preach, and he gave us an invitation to
call and see him.
Next day we again went over the city
to see if we could find any of the chil-
dren of God. We found one man and
his household who received our testi-
mony, and he opened his doors for us to
preach. We appointed a meeting at his
house for Sunday evening. His name
was Corner, and he lived at 52 Iron-
monger Row, St. Luke's Parish, near
the church.
We had spent twelve days in going to
and fro through London, trying to find
a people willing to receive our testi-
mony, but finding the doors shut against
us, we determined in the name of God
to go into the streets and lift up our
voices.
Accordingly, Elders Kimball, Smith,
and myself started out on Sunday morn-
ing, , walked three miles
and stopped in Tabernacle Square, Old
Street, where we found an Aitkenite
preaching to the people, who was fol-
lowed by a Presbyterian. Just as the
latter was about to begin, Elder Kimball
informed him that there was a preacher
from America present who would like to
speak when he got through. The preacher
then informed the people that there was
an American minister present, and pro-
posed that he should speak first. Elder
George A. Smith then got into the chair,
and spoke about twenty minutes, and
then the Presbyterian spoke. George A.
had informed the people that there were
two other American preachers present
who would like to address them, and,
when the Presbyterian closed, Elder
Kimball asked him if there would be any
objection to our preaching there at three
o'clock. He answered, "No, not at all.
What denomination do you belong to?''
"To the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat-
ter-day Saints," was the reply.
"Oh, I have heard of them," he said.
"They are a bad people; they have done
much hurt; they divide churches; we
don't want to hear you."
He then mounted the chair again and
said to the people, "I have just heard
that the last man who spoke belongs to
the Latter-day Saints," and he began to
rail against us.
Elder Kimball asked him to let him
step into the chair to give out an ap-
pointment for a 3 o'clock meeting, but
he would not let him. Brother Kimball
then raised his voice and informed the
people that some American preachers
would preach there at 3 o'clock.
At the appointed time we were at the
place. The conduct of the preacher and
the excitement upon the subject brought
a large congregation to hear us. I
opened the meeting by singing and
prayer and spoke about twenty minutes,
from Gal. I. 8-9 v., and was followed by
Elder Kimball for about the same length
of time. The people gave good attention
and seemed to be much interested in
what they heard.
After meeting, Mr. Corner invited us
home; but soon after we arrived, at his
house, Elder Kimball felt impressed to
return to the place of preaching. When
he got there he found a large company
talking about the things which they had
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
heard, and they wished him to speak to
them again. He did so and addressed
them at considerable length, and after-
ward several invited him home to their
houses.
While he was away a man who had
been a preacher came to Mr. Corner's;
I gave him a brief account of the great
work of God in the last days and they
received the things which I spake unto
them. Mr. Corner offered himself for
baptism. This was the first man in the
city of London who offered himself for
the ordinance of the Gospel. We ap-
pointed the next evening to administer
the ordinance of baptism unto him.
After supping with him we returned
home. I was weary and unwell during
the night, but felt thankful unto the
Lord for the privilege of preaching to
the inhabitants of this great city and to
have gained one soul as a seal to our
ministry.
On the we reaped the
first fruits of our labors and laid the first
living stone of the Church of Jesus Christ
in England's great metropolis.
We walked into the city and called
upon Mr. Corner, who went forward
with us to the public baths and received
the initiatory ordinance of the Gospel.
He was baptized by Brother Kimball.
Returning to the house of Brother
Corner, Elders Kimball, Smith and my-
self laid our hands upon his head and
confirmed him a member or the Church.
We returned to our homes that night,
thankful unto God for his goodness in
blessing our labors even thus much.
On the I was quite
ill. I had been unwell for several days,
but now I was obliged to keep to my
room; but Elders Kimball and Smith
went into the city to visit the people and
found some who hearkened to them favor-
ably. We had by this time found that
London was the hardest place for a mis-
sion that we had ever undertaken, but
we did not feel discouraged in the least,
and were determined in the name of the
Lord to set up the standard of the King-
dom in that city.
The following day I was still confined
to my room most of the time, but on
the next, Elders Kimball and Smith went
to Debtford, and I took a walk into the
city, called upon Brother Corner and
found him in good spirits. I also called
upon Mr. Panther, 17 Warf, City Road,
Basin, who was a director of a Methodist
chapel. I asked him for the chapel to
preach in. He said he had a school
house which would hold two hundred,
and that I might have that on Sunday.
So I gave out an appointment at Bowl
Court, 137 Shordeitch. I conversed
with several others who received my tes-
timony, and one woman said she would
be baptized.
Sunday, , I preached
in the morning at Bowl Court, 137
Shoreditch, and was followed by Elders
Kimball and Smith. We also held a
meeting in Tabernacle Square, at 3
o'clock in the afternoon, at which Elders
Kimball and Smith preached and I bore
my testimony to their words. One man
arose and opposed us, and was angry be-
cause of the truth of God. He continued
opposing, until the police stopped the
conversation.
We met again in the evening at Bowl
Court, to preach to the people, but
when we got there we found a plan con-
trived by several of the preachers for
one of them to preach, lest some should
believe our testimony. We went our
way and found four persons who re-
ceived our testimony and offered them-
selves for baptism.
Next day I wrote to Elder Browett of
my Herefordshire field of labor, and
walked to Brother Corner's and visited
several other friends. Two offered them-
selves for baptism. I visited St. Paul's
and then returned home. Elders Kim-
ball and Smith had just returned from a
visit to the Rev. Robert Aitken. He
received them kindly, acknowledged
their doctrine true, but was afraid of
deception. His mind was in a disturbed
state.
In the evening we held a meeting in
the Temperance Hall; but we had al-
most the bare walls to preach to, there
being only about thirty present. I
preached to the few present for about an
hour, and Elder Kimball followed me.
After paying seven shillings and six
pence for the use of the hall we returned
to our lodgings.
On I paid my bills
and called upon the friends, in company
of Brothers Kimball and Smith, and on
the day following I parted from the
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE
brethren and friends in London to re-
turn to Herefordshire.
We had spent twenty-three days in
that great Babylon of modern times and
had found it harder to establish the
Church there than in any place where
we had ever been. We had baptized
one man, and ordained him a priest;
and six others had given in their names
to be baptized on the following Sunday;
and at this time there was some little
prospect of the Rev. Robert Aitken re-
ceiving the work. I, therefore, left
London feeling that our mission and
labors had not been altogether in vain.
I was rejoiced on my return to the
churches to find that the work was uni-
versally and rapidly progressing in Here-
fordshire. In some cases it was even
reaching the nobility, and a lady of
title had become convinced of the work
of God through our ministry.
Lady Roberts was of the nobility of
England and a lady of wealth, and had
withdrawn from the Church of England
and had traveled much in search of truth
looking for the fulfillment of the Pro-
phets.
She became acquainted with the ful-
ness of the Gospel through a female
servant in the employ of Squire Dowds-
well. She began to investigate the sub-
ject; the Spirit of God rested upon her
and convinced her of the truth of the
work. She obtained the four numbers
published of the Millennial Star, and,
fearing that she should not be able to
obtain them for herself, copied the
whole of them with her pen. She also
read the Book of Mormon and copied a
part of that, and became perfectly con-
vinced of the truth of the work of
which she read, and said she would go a
thousand miles but what she would see
some of the Twelve and be baptized
under their hands. Hearing that I was
in London she was about to take a
journey there to see me, and the other
brethren, and be baptized. She had
two brothers, ministers of the Church of
England.
On the , we
held the Frome's Hill Conference, at
which were represented 24 churches,
with 754 members: 14 elders, 51 priests,
9 teachers and 1 deacon. The Bran
Green and Frome's Hill Conferences
were now composed of 40 churches,
1,007 members: 19 elders, 78 priests,
15 teachers and one deacon.
These two conferences, with their
forty branch churches, and over a thou-
sand organized members, under the di-
rection of one hundred and thirteen
ordained officers, had been raised up
within six months and a half. Surely
the work of God had been marvelous,
unparalleled perhaps in the history of
any new religious movement.
I meditated upon these things, and in
my journal of date , I wrote thus:
"This has been a busy day with me.
After standing upon my feet from morn-
ing till evening I am called to shake
hands with hundreds of Saints with glad
hearts and cheerful countenances. It is
with no ordinary feelings that I meditate
upon the cheering fact that a thousand
souls have been baptized into the new
and everlasting covenant in about half a
year in one field which God has enabled
me to open. I pray him to accept the
gratitude of my heart for his mercies
and blessings unto me in this thing, and
enable me to stand with these Saints
and all the righteous in His celestial
kingdom."
This day I had stood upon my feet
eight hours in conference, conversed
much of the time in suggesting, speak-
ing, motioning, etc.; ordained about
thirty, confirmed some, healed many
who were sick, shook hands with about
four hundred Saints, walked two miles,
and ended with about four hours chim-
ney corner preaching. I then laid down
to rest and dreamt of catching fish.
The church ministers at this time were
very much stirred up in this region be-
cause of the success of the work of God
in the midst of the people, and every
exertion was made by them to stay its
progress. They were finding that the
Lord was delivering their flocks out of
their hands and giving them unto the
shepherds of the Church of the Saints.
They were alarmed and were holding
conventions and meetings to contrive
plans and adopt means to overthrow the
latter-day work of God, which they un-
derstood not, and believed not, yet
feared its power. And well indeed they
might, for in some instances they did
not have more than ten or fifteen at their
churches on the Sabbath, while around
them on every hand they had seen forty
branches of two organized conferences
of the Church of Latter-day Saints
spring up in about six months, with over
a thousand members and between one
and two hundred officers ordained to
scatter the seed of the Gospel every-
where in this prolific field.
On the , I again took leave of the
Saints in my Herefordshire field of labor
to attend the conference at Staffordshire,
which was held at Hanley.
The day after the conference I bap-
tized one and preached at Tunstell, and
on the next evening at Burslem to a
crowded audience, and the power of
God rested upon me. Great solemnity
pervaded the congregation. The Spirit
of God was moving the people and they
felt that the Lord was doing a work in
their midst.
-[TO BE CONTINUED.]-
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
CHAPTER III.
CONTINUATION OF MY MISSION TO ENG-
LAND. ORGANIZATION OF THE LON-
DON CONFERENCE. I BID FAREWELL
TO THE HEREFORDSHIRE SAINTS.
RETURN TO AMERICA.
On the , a
general conference of the British mission
was held at Manchester. There were
present of the Twelve Apostles, Brigham
Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Rich-
ards, Orson Pratt, George A. Smith and
Wilford Woodruff. The presiding officers
of the mission represented twenty-seven
conferences, besides other churches not
yet organized into conferences. The
number of membership was 3,621, being
an increase since the last general con-
ference of 1,113 members.
The next evening we attended a dis-
cussion held between a sectarian minister
and Elder Alfred Cordon on the subject
of the Book of Mormon. There were
present 1,500 people. This was the first
discussion of any note on Mormonism
held in Great Britain.
I left Manchester on the
to return to my labors in London; and
on my way, with Elder Alfred Cordon,
I visited the Staffordshire Potteries and
Birmingham. On the 17th I arrived in
London, where I found Elder George A.
Smith, and we were glad to meet each
other once again.
We hired lodgings, board and sitting
room at No. 40 Ironmonger Row, St.
Luke's. Everything was dear, and we
found with the greatest economy we
could not do with much less than a pound
per week each. What few Saints there
were in London were very poor and
unable to assist us. Most of the means
used in my labors in London was sup-
plied by my converts of Herefordshire.
The prospect in London at that time
was the darkest I had ever been in since
entering the vineyard, but the Lord was
with us and we were not discouraged.
Sunday we met with the Saints at
Brother Corner's three times, read in the
Book of Mormon, gave instruction and
broke bread unto them. We had a good
time, though there was only about half
a dozen present. I felt the spirit bear
testimony that there would be a work
done in London.
I fell asleep, having retired to rest in
good season, and slept until midnight,
when I awoke and meditated upon the
things of God until 3 o'clock in the morn-
ing, and while forming a determination
to warn the people in London and over-
come the power of darkness by the assist-
ance of God, a person appeared unto me
whom I consider was the prince of dark-
ness. He made war upon me and at-
tempted to take my life. He caught me by
the throat and nearly choked me to death.
He wounded me in my forehead and I
also wounded him in a number of places
in the head. As he was about to over-
come me I prayed to the Father in the
name of Jesus Christ for help. I then
had power over him and he left me,
though much wounded. Afterwards
three persons dressed in white came to
me and prayed with me and I was im-
mediately healed of all my wounds and
delivered of all my troubles.
During the following week we visited
the British Museum and other notable
places, and also attended a Wesleyan
Methodist mission meeting over which
the Lord Mayor presided; while in the
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
performance of our own missionary
labors we circulated and posted hand-
bills. The following is a copy of the
first placard of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints posted in
England's great metropolis.
"He that judgeth a matter before he heareth is
not wise."
THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS meet for pub-
lic worship at Mr. J. Barrett's Academy,
57 King's Square, Goswell Road—(en-
trance door in President Street) every
Sabbath at 3 and half past 6 o'clock p. m.;
also on Tuesday and Thursday Evenings,
each week at 8 o'clock.
LECTURES
will be delivered by Elders Woodruff
and Smith (late from America), who re-
spectfully invite the citizens of London
to attend.
The first principles of the Everlasting
Gospel in its fullness. The gathering of
Israel. The second coming of the Savior
and "the restitution of all things'' spoken
of by all the holy prophets, will be among
the subjects illustrated.
The Latter-day Saints Millenial Star,
published monthly, and other publications
can be had at 52 Ironmonger Row, St.
Luke's. (City press, Long Lane, Doud-
ney & Seryngour.)
The following Sunday we preached for
the first time in Barrett's Academy at
3 o'clock. There were present about
fifty persons, unto whom I preached and
Elder Smith preached in the evening;
but it was the hardest matter to awaken
an interest upon the subject that I had
ever found.
Next day I received a package of letters
from America, one from my wife an-
nouncing the death of my little daughter,
Sarah Emma.
There is so much going on in this great
modern Babylon to draw the attention of
the people that it seemed almost to re-
quire the trumpet's blast from heaven to
awaken the attention of the inhabitants
to our proclamation of the restoration of
the fullness of the Gospel.
We were here like the Apostles of old
without purse or script to warn the City
of London, where we had to pay high
for everything we required, and to pay
for a place to preach in. We were at
this time about out of money, but still
we felt to trust in God.
I preached in the after-
noon in the Academy to about thirty,
and in the evening to about fifty. We
broke bread unto the Saints, and this
evening there seemed to be some interest
manifested in inquiring into the work.
We preached again on the following
Sunday. During the week we received
counsel from our brethren of the Twelve
for George A. Smith to go immediately
to the Potteries and spend his time with
the churches there. After his departure
I felt very lonely for several days, but
Elder William Pitt from Dymock came
and labored with me for a short time,
after which he took a mission to Ipswich.
Brother Hulme, a captain of one of
the "Pickford's Boats" on the London
Canal, was present at my next preaching
after the departure of Elder Pitt, and
with him were two of his hands whom
he had baptized. On the following day
I dined with him and the two brethren
on board their boat.
On the afternoon and evening of Sun-
day, the , I held public
meeting at the Academy, when four
offered themselves for baptism; and on
the following Sunday I again preached
twice and baptized and confirmed three
more. These were the first fruits of my
labors in London.
Next day I took a very interesting
walk with Dr. Wm. Copeland through
every part of the College of Surgeons at
Lincoln's Inn Fields, and on my return
home I was soon joined by Elders Brig-
ham Young and Kimball, who had come
to spend a week or two in London. This
was the first time ever President Brigham
Young was in the metropolis of Eng-
land.
We met for service at the Academy
Wednesday evening, when Brother Brig-
ham preached, followed by Brother
Heber. We had a good time.
In company with Presidents Young
and Kimball on the I
visited the Tower of London, without
seeing which the traveler would lose a
capital page of the history of his travels
in Europe, and during the week also
visited St. Paul's, Buckingham Palace,
Westminster Abbey, the Queen's stables,
and saw many other noted sights of
London.
Sunday we held public meeting at the
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
Academy, at which there were about fifty
present. Brother Kimball preached.
An Independent minister invited me
home to take tea with him. I accepted
his invitation, had an interesting time
and preached the Gospel to him and he
received my testimony and offered me his
chapel, which would hold 800. He said he
thought he would be baptized and would
try and get his society to do the same.
We met again in the evening and had
more at our meeting than ever before.
Brother Brigham Young preached and
was followed by Brothers Kimball, Wil-
liams, Corner, Hulme and myself.
We had a very interesting time and
one offered himself for baptism. There
were some of the Aikenites present, one
of whom purchased a hymn book. They
wished us to call upon them and thought
they would be baptized. We then met
at Father Corner's and communed with
the Saints and had a good time.
I rejoiced at the prospect which was
opening before us, for we labored a long
time and the work had gone slow, but
now a wide opening was being made to
roll on the work of the Lord in the me-
tropolis of England.
Having spent about ten days in Lon-
don President Young left for Cheltenham.
On the same day I visited Mr. James
Albon, a minister of the Independent
order, who with his household believed
our doctrine, and on the Sunday we found
more than ever an interest being awak-
ened in London, and our prayer meeting
the next evening was attended by the
Reverend James Albon, who received our
testimony. We walked home with him
and found his household growing in the
faith and ready for the work of the Lord.
Two days after in the evening we bap-
tized four, two of whom were Mr. and
Mrs Morgan, with whom we lodged,
Christopher, Smith their apprentice, and
Henry Corner, Jun.
The afternoon of the following day
Dr. Copeland spent with us, and he re-
ceived our testimony, and in the evening
we preached at our meeting place.
I had visited the Rev. James Albon
several times and given him an account
of the rise and progress of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He believed in our mission and offered
me his chapel to preach in, which would
seat about a thousand.
Sunday morning we accompanied our
reverend friend and convert to his chapel
and were introduced to the committee,
one of whom was a preacher who had
traveled much in Russia and other parts
of the world. At the close of the meet-
ing the Rev. James Albon gave out an
appointment for us to preach on the next
Sabbath evening.
In the afternoon we met with the
Saints, confirmed four and had a full
house, and in the evening we preached
again and a good feeling prevailed.
After meeting the Rev. James Albon
called upon us at our room and told us
that he had given out our appointment
to preach in his chapel and had informed
his congregation that he was a Latter-day
Saint, and should be baptized and join
our Church, and that they need not
longer consider him a member of their
body unless they with him joined the
Saints. He told us this made a division
among the committee; some were for
going with him and some against follow-
ing their pastor into the true fold which
he had found.
The Sunday following in the evening
we preached, by the appointment of its
minister, in the Independent chapel to
the largest congregation we had ever dis-
coursed before in London. There were
present priests and people of many de-
nominations. I addressed them for
about the space of one hour. A Wes-
leyan minister arose and opposed me,
which had a good effect, for the congre-
gation seeing the spirit he was of turned
against him, and the committee refused
him the permission to speak there any
more. I was much bound by the oppos-
ing spirit, still the conduct of the enemy
gave us friends.
The next evening we attended what
was said to have been the largest temper-
ance meeting ever held in London, and
the next two days brought us to the
close of the year.
SYNOPSIS
of the Travels and Labors of Wilford
Woodruff, in 1840.
Places Visited or Labored in—Liver-
pool, Preston, Manchester, Newcastle,
Tunstell, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Long-
ton, Stafford, Wolverhampton, Birming-
ham, Worcester, Hereford, Ledbury,
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
Malvern Hill, Gloucester, Cheltenham,
Oxford, London. Traveled 4,469 miles;
held 230 meetings, and established 53
places for preaching; I planted 47
churches and jointly organized them.
These churches were chiefly comprised
in the two conferences raised up in Here-
fordshire, consisting of about 1,500
Saints, 28 elders, no priests, 24 teachers,
and 10 deacons.
The baptisms of the year were three
hundred and thirty-six persons under my
own hands, and I assisted in the baptism
of eighty-six others. I baptized 57
preachers, mostly of the connection of
the United Brethren, and also 2 clerks of
the Church of England. I confirmed
420, and assisted in confirming 50 others.
I ordained 18 elders, 97 priests, 34
teachers and 1 deacon. I blessed 120
children, and administered to 120 sick
by prayer, anointing and the laying on
of hands, and in many instances the
sick were healed, and devils cast out. I
assisted in procuring £1,000 for the pub-
lication of 3,000 copies of the hymn
book, 5,000 copies of the Book of Mor-
mon, and for the printing of the Mil-
lennial Star, and to assist two hundred
Saints to emigrate to Nauvoo. I wrote
200 letters and received 112.
The new year, 1841, found Elder
Kimball and myself in the metropolis of
England in the enjoyment of good
health. We celebrated New Year's day
by baptizing two into the fold of Christ.
The church in London now numbered
twenty-one members.
The next Sunday we held a meeting in
the Academy, confirmed two, and par-
took of the sacrament.
During the week I baptized the
daughter of the Rev. James Albon, and
the day after Elder Kimball started to
Woolwich to break up new ground. On
the Sunday he preached there for the
first time, when four persons offered
themselves for baptism. Next day they
came to London, and we immediately
repaired to our private bath in Taber-
nacle Square, and Elder Kimball bap-
tized five persons, one of whom was Dr.
Wm. Copeland.
This was indeed an interesting occa-
sion and we felt thankful to God to see
the cloud beginning to break, for we had
struggled hard to do the little which had
been done.
On the of the month we baptized
three more of Brother Morgan's house-
hold, and on the following Sunday I
preached to a full house and to many
new hearers. Several offered themselves
for baptism, and there had been during
the week added unto the Church seven
souls.
Next day Elder Kimball received a
letter from Elder Young, who wished us
to be ready to set sail for home early in
April.
Several days later I baptized the Rev.
James Albon and Mr. Hender, and be-
fore the close of January I baptized three
others into the Church.
I visited Greenwich and Woolwich,
where Elder Kimball had raised up a
small branch of the Church. I returned
to London with Elder Kimball. On the
Sunday we communed with the Saints,
and in the evening we both preached to
a full congregation.
On the , having re-
ceived a package of twenty Books of
Mormon and two dozen hymn books.
Heber C. Kimball and myself went to
Stationer's Hall and secured the copy-
right of the Book of Mormon in the
name of Joseph Smith, Jr. We left five
copies of the book, and paid three shil-
lings for the copyright.
In the evening we baptized four per-
sons, one of whom was the wife of Rev.
James Albon, who had already received
the Gospel.
Elder Brigham Young, per letter, in-
formed us of the large emigration of
that season. There were to go on one
ship 235, and on another 100.
To the reader acquainted with the im-
mense emigrations of the Saints in later
years, our consideration of the sailing of
three or four hundred as a large emigra-
tion will be noteworthy.
Elder Lorenzo Snow arrived in Lon-
don on the , to take charge of the
Church after our departure. I was truly
glad to once more greet him for I had
not seen him since 1837.
On the same day Elder Wm. Pitt also
arrived at our lodgings, and we had an
interesting meeting in the evening.
Brother Snow preached, and Elder Kim-
ball and myself followed him, and the
next day Brothers Heber and Lorenzo
went to Woolwich to give impetus to
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
the work of God in that important town.
MINUTES
of the First London Conference, held at
the Academy, 57 King's Square, Goswell
Road, .
There were present of officers of the
Church, Elders H. C. Kimball, Wilford
Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow and Wm. Pitt,
besides 4 priests.
The meeting was called to order by
Elder H. C. Kimball, at 2 o'clock p. m.,
Sunday, the 14th of February, 1841,
when it was moved by Elder Kimball,
and seconded by Elder Pitt, that Wilford
Woodruff be the president of the Con-
ference.
Moved by Elder Kimball and seconded
by Elder Woodruff, that Dr. Wm. Cope-
land be the clerk. Carried unanimously.
The meeting was then opened by sing-
ing, and prayer from Elder Kimball.
The president then called for the
representation of the branches of the
London Conference.
The Church at Bedford was represented
by Priest Robert Williams, containing
42 members and one priest; seven re-
moved, and two dead.
The Church at Ipswich, represented
by Elder Wm. Pitt, consisted of 12
members, 1 elder, 1 priest and 1 teacher.
The Church at Woolwich, represented
by Priest John Griffith, consisted of 6
members and 1 priest.
The Church at London, represented
by H. C. Kimball, consisted of 46 mem-
bers, 1 elder and 2 priests. Excellent
prospect of continued increase.
ORDINATIONS.
Moved and seconded by Elders Kim-
ball and Woodruff, that James Albon be
ordained an elder; moved and seconded
by Elders Kimball and Snow, that
Thomas Barnes be ordained a teacher;
moved and seconded by Elders Kimball
and Pitt, that Robert Williams be or-
dained an elder to oversee the Church at
Bedford; moved and seconded by Elders
Robert Williams and Pitt, that Wm.
Smith, at Bedford, be ordained a priest;
moved and seconded by Elders Kimball
and Pitt, that Richard Bates be ordained
a priest in the Woolwich branch; moved
and seconded by Elders Robert Williams
and Pitt, that John Sheffield be ordained
a teacher at Bedford; moved and sec-
onded by Elder Kimball and Brother
Griffith, that Brother A. Painter be or-
dained a teacher at Woolwich. These
motions were carried unanimously, and
those present were then ordained under
the hands of Elders Kimball, Woodruff
and Snow.
Afterward Elder Kimball moved and
Elder Woodruff seconded that Elder
Lorenzo Snow be appointed president of
this Conference and to lake the superin-
tendency of the Church in London.
Much valuable instruction was given
by Elders Kimball and Woodruff in re-
lation to the duties of official members,
and afterward it was moved by Elder
Kimball and seconded by Elder Snow
that this Conference be adjourned till
Sunday the ; after
which the Conference closed.
WILFORD WOODRUFF, President.
DR. WM. COPELAND, Clerk.
During this Conference meeting we
also broke bread with the Saints and con-
firmed four. At half-past 6 in the evening,
we met again and had the largest con-
gregation which had assembled at our
preaching place. One came forward for
baptism.
This was a day which we had long de-
sired to see, for we had labored exceed
ingly hard to establish a Church in Lon-
don and at times it seemed as though we
should have to give it up, but by holding
on to the work of our Divine Master and
claiming the promises of God, we were
now to leave an established London Con-
ference with a prosperous Church planted
in the metropolis, under the care of our
beloved Brother Lorenzo Snow.
Brother Kimball, on the , received
a letter from his wife, informing us that
the Prophet Joseph had written for the
Twelve to come immediately home.
At this time there was a prospect of
war between America and England, over
the imprisonment of McCloud, a British
officer, by the State of New York, and
the northeastern boundary question.
In consequence of this prospect the
Prophet Joseph wrote for the Twelve to
come home, after first thoroughly organ-
izing the British mission and calling out
a number of native elders to send in
every direction throughout Great Britain.
I spent the in visit-
ing the Saints previous to my departure
and in the evening preached for the last
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
time in London before my return to
Nauvoo. Next day I parted from Lor-
enzo Snow and the London Saints and
took train for Bristol, to visit the branch
which had been raised up there by my
convert Elder Thomas Kington, who it
will be remembered was the superin-
tendent of the Frome's Hill Circuit of
United Brethren.
Leaving Bristol I visited the churches
which I had raised up, for the purpose of
holding conferences and bidding farewell
to the Saints, hundreds of whom I had
myself baptized.
When I arrived at Monmouth, Elder
James Morgan was waiting my coming,
and had given out an appointment for
me to preach in the town at 7 o'clock, at
the house of Robert Davis. There was a
crowded meeting and many could not get
into the house. Four offered themselves
for baptism. The Spirit witnessed to me
that there would many embrace the Gos-
pel in Monmouthshire, and I said, "the
harvest is great and the laborers few."
I arose in the morning refreshed by
sleep, and having taken breakfast with
Mr. Matton, I walked ten miles through
mud and water in a driving March rain
storm to sister Mary Morgan at Little
Garway, where I found a pleasant family
of the Saints. We were drenched with
rain but found a good fire and spent the
day comfortably and in the evening I had
an interesting interview with Elder Little-
wood; the next day at Sister Morgan's,
reading the history of Rome, with much
interest, and in the evening I met the
officers of the Church there in council and
had a good time. Sunday I preached in
the morning at the house of Brother
Thomas Rood, and in the evening at the
Kitchen upon the Book of Mormon, and
had the place full.
The Garway Conference, held —I met the Garway conference
at the Kitchen. Elder Levi Richards was
chosen president and Elder James Mor-
gan, clerk. There were present one of
the Quorum of the Twelve, one High
Priest, seven Elders, eleven Priests, two
Teachers and one Deacon. The meeting
opened with prayer by Elder Woodruff,
after which the churches were represented
as follows: Members, 134; Elders, 4;
Priests, 5; Teachers, 3; Deacons, 1.
After the representation it was moved
that John Needham be ordained elder,
William Morris priest and Thomas Rough
teacher. These were ordained under the
hands of Elders Woodruff and Richards.
The meeting adjourned till 3 o'clock and
one person was baptized.
In the afternoon Elder Levi Richards
spoke and I followed him. After meet-
ing the Saints contributed one pound to
help me, and sold them three books of
Mormon and fifty addresses to the citi-
zens of London. I then walked five
miles with Brother Richards to Brother
Holley's and spent the night. This was
the first time I had seen Brother Levi for
about two years.
Next day in company of Elders Levi
Richards and Thomas Pitt I walked to
the city of Hereford, where Elder Ray
and others had been preaching.
On Sunday a preacher arose before two
or three thousand people in the market
house and informed the multitude that
he had a fresh letter direct from America,
showing the origin of the Book of Mor-
mon. So he read the old Spaulding
story. When he got through Elder Levi
Richards arose and informed the people
that instead of its being a new story it
had been published for seven years
throughout the United States and in
England. This caused a great uproar, for
while some were for driving the man out
of the place for lying, others were crowding
around Elders Richards and Ray to hear
them preach. The crowd, however, was so
excited that they left the ground with
hundreds following them. There never
was a time when the people were so much
stirred up and eager to hear the Latter-
day Saints as at the present, and it was
expected that we should not get through
the city without having crowds around
us. We did, however, and had a view of
Hereford Cathedral as we passed along
and reached Sister Bufton's.
There was at this time a small branch
of the Church at Hereford, numbering
seven members. We parted from Brother
Pitt at Hereford, and continued to Lug-
wardine, where I met with the Church for
the last time and preached from the 24th
of Isaiah.
On the morrow I walked to Shucknell
Hill and had an interesting meeting with
the Saints and preached upon the gather-
ing to Zion and Jerusalem. It was my
last meeting with them and I bid them
farewell. Next day I walked to Standley
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
Hill and dined with Brother Ockey, whom
I was truly glad to see once more. We
went together through Standley Hill and
called upon the Saints. Six months had
passed since I had parted from the
churches in this region, but now I was
again in the field where the Lord by His
blessing and the power of the Holy
Ghost had made my labors so abundantly
fruitful.
Next day I went to Greenway and
preached, blessed a child, confirmed a
member and administered the ordinance
of the Gospel to five sick persons; and
on the morrow continued to Turkey Hill.
Here on the Sunday I communed with
the saints and preached to a large con-
gregation upon the gathering. I found
the Saints in the region around very de-
sirous to gather to the body of the
Church, but they were poor and had not
the means.
Conference at Gadfield Elm Chapel.—
On the , the
Bran Green and Gadfield Elm con-
ference again assembled, when the meet-
ing was called to order by Elder Wood-
ruff.
There were present one of the quorum
of the Twelve Apostles, 1 high priest; 10
elders 21 priests 6 teachers and 1
Deacon, besides the congregation of the
Saints. There were represented nineteen
churches; 367 members, 8 elders, 33
priests, 11 teachers, 1 deacon, removed
41, died 1, expelled 2.
WILFORD WOODRUFF, President.
JOHN HILL, Clerk.
We had a very interesting time at the
conference and a large assembly of the
Saints. It was the last time that I should
attend in that part of my old and beloved
field of labor, during my present mission
to England, and whether or not I should
ever meet here in a conference assembly
of Saints again was one of the secrets of
my future life for time to reveal. We
had held our meeting without disturbance
from the mob who were present, for
they were kept quiet by the police in at-
tendance who were in disguise.
No sooner had the meeting closed than
multitudes of the Saints crowded around
me and hands were presented me on
every side, to bid me farewell. Many
called for me to bless them before I de-
parted. Others cried out, "Lay hands
upon me and heal me before you go."
One came with, "Brother Woodruff, I am
turned out of doors for my religion;
what shall I do?'' Another with, "I am
ready to go to Zion, but my wife won't go
with me; shall I leave her to gather with
the Saints?" A wife in turn says, "My
husband beat me and turned me out of
doors because I have been baptized. I
have money enough to carry me and the
children to Zion; will you let me go with-
out him?" "Brother Woodruff, my
mother is over 80 years of age and has
willed me 60 pounds at her death, but
will not emigrate with me; must I stay
for her to die or leave her now to go with
the Saints?" One said, "I have sold
my little place and shall have 30 pounds
to-morrow, but must go out into the
street. I have not enough to carry my
family to America; can you help me to a
few pounds or tell me what to do?" And
an Elder cried out, "How much longer
must I preach in England before you will
let me go to America?" "Brother Wood-
ruff, would you come and preach in Chel-
tenham?" "My head is in great pain,
would you heal me? " "I want you to
consecrate this bottle of oil before you
go?" "Will you write to me?" "I
have been waiting a long time to get a
chance to speak to you; good by, remem-
ber me to Mrs. Woodruff, good by! God
bless you!''
Thus was I for more than an hour after
the close of the meeting assailed with
the affectionate outbursts and adieus and
a host of perplexities of these Saints who
crowded around me as children to their
father.
Many of the Saints parted from me
in tears and many followed me to
Turkey Hill where I spent the night and
they filled the house until a late hour,
begging counsel and instruction of me.
One of these was a Baptist minister who
had just been baptized into the Church.
On the morrow, in company with El-
der Needham, I walked to Keysend
Street, where I preached to a crowded
congregation of Saints. On the follow-
ing day I walked to Wind Point, where
I visited the Saints, and thence con-
tinued to Colwall. Here I met with a
large congregation of Saints and
preached to them upon the gathering.
Next day, with Elder Levi Richards, I
walked over Malvern Hill and called
upon Elder Samuel Jones; thence
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
through Great Malvern to Crowcat; I
held a meeting at Brother George Brooks'
and had an interesting time with a large
number of Saints whom I had baptized
about a year before. I went to Dunclose
the day after, visiting many of the Saints
by the way, laying hands upon the sick,
and blessing and counseling others of the
flock. They all were happy to see me,
for I had baptized most of them when I
first opened that field of labor. Next
day we traveled to Frome's Hill, and
visited the Saints by the way.
At Frome's Hill I met with the Saints
on Sunday morning, and had a crowded
house; in the afternoon we held a meet-
ing at Standley Hill, where I communed
with the church. At the close of the
meeting I had a busy time shaking hands
with the Saints and parting from them.
Many of them wished me to bless them,
and others to heal them. I spent the
night with Brother Levi Richards at
Elder Edward Ockey's, and on the mor-
row we held the Frome's Hill conference
at Standley Hill.
There were present of the traveling
high council, 2 high priests, 20 elders,
30 priests, 9 teachers, and 2 deacons.
After calling the meeting to order, I
moved that Elder Levi Richards should
preside over the conference, and he was
sustained by the meeting. I was chosen
clerk.
After singing and prayer, the presi-
dent called upon the officers for the rep-
resentation of the various branches,
which was given as follows: branches,
33; members, 957; elders, 24; priests,
68; teachers, 27; deacons, 8.
Robert Gummery, Edward Philips and
John Spires were ordained to the office
of elder, under the hands of Elders
Richards, Kington and myself; Thomas
Bishop to the office of priest, and Wm.
Rowley to the office of deacon.
In the afternoon, after speeches from
Elders Richards and Kington, I delivered
my farewell address and pronounced the
benediction on the conference.
After the meeting was dismissed, I was
almost three hours shaking hands with
the Saints, healing the sick and giving
counsel to the multitude who surrounded
me, many of whom were in tears when
we parted. Nearly fifty came to me to ask
me to take them to Zion, when I had not
means to take myself. I, however, gave
Sister Foxal five pounds to help her and
her husband and children to the land of
America. She had made every exertion
for six months to save money to gather
with the Saints, and had raised thirty
pounds. The five pounds I gave to her
was a donation from Elder Edward
Ockey, who was imparting of his sub-
stance to help the poor of the church to
gather.
After bidding the multitude of Saints
farewell, I went to Elder Ockey's, to
spend the night, accompanied by Elders
Richards, Kington and Ray.
We had been in the house but a short
time when three of Edward Ockey's
brothers came in for the purpose of hav-
a contest, because their brother and sis-
ter had embraced the gospel and was
about to gather with the Saints. They
manifested much wrath against me, and,
after conversing with them about three
hours, they left the house, and we were
once more in peace.
After conversing together until the
third watch of the night, we retired to
rest, closing one of the busiest days of
my life.
I arose in the morning, refreshed by
sleep, and, after conversing several hours
with Elders Richards, Kington, Kay,
Ockey and others, I was under the ne-
cessity of parting with the Saints in this
region.
In bidding them farewell I found in
our hearts and memory of our associa-
tion many ties which bound me to those
I were leaving behind and among the
faithful ones were the Ockeys.
Brother Edward Ockey and his sister
Ann were of a good and wealthy family.
They had many trials to pass through to
do the will of God and to gather with
the Saints, for their brothers were exceed-
ingly set against them. But Brother
Edward had maintained his integrity like
a man of God and was making every
preparation to gather with the Saints, but
his sister Ann had fears that her brothers
would hinder her gathering.
Having bid farewell to the Saints of
Standley Hill, I walked to Frome's Hill
and conversed with the elders until two
o'clock, when I took the parting hands
of Elders Richards, Kington, Ray and
others, and with my carpet bag with about
20 pounds weight in it, walked fifteen
miles to Worcester in four hours.
TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
When I arrived there I was so very
lame and weary with my heavy load and
fast walking that I could scarcely walk
at all. I then took rail and arrived in
Birmingham at 10 o'clock at night, but
was exceedingly lame and weary. I
spent the night with Elder James Riley,
24 Park Street.
I had now fairly ended my Hereford-
shire mission, and bidden a last farewell
to that field of labor where the Lord had
blessed me beyond all my expectations.
I now left three conferences in the re-
gion which I opened one year before, on
the of the same month that I left this
vineyard, planted all over with churches,
numbering fifteen hundred Saints.
The minutes which I have recorded
will show at a glance the rise and pro-
gress of the churches in Herefordshire,
and the regions around.
On Sunday, the , the
Staffordshire conference met, and there
were present of the Twelve, George A.
Smith and Wilford Woodruff, with 1
high priest, 13 elders, 28 priests, 10
teachers, and 8 deacons. The confer-
ence was held in the Magistrate's Assem-
bly Room.
At the close of the conference it was
voted that "this conference grant unto
Elders Woodruff and George A. Smith a
letter of recommendation manifesting
that the Church in this region accept of
their labors and consider that they have
filled their mission with honor and dig-
nity."
We had a very interesting time on this
occasion. The conference was held in a
place which would hold 800 and it was
crowded; but there was perfect order
and much good feeling manifested dur-
ing the day. There was prospect of a
continued increase in the Potteries.
George A. Smith was the president of
the conference and T. J. Fitcher and O.
Shaw, clerks.
Next day George A. Smith and my-
self met the officers in council at the
Hanley Meeting Rooms and gave such
advise as we deemed wisdom, and then
took our farewell.
On the following day we also parted
from the Saints at Burslem, took coach
to Manchester, and called upon Parley
P. Pratt, 47 Oxford Street, and found
him and his family enjoying good health.
On the , the general
conference of the British mission was
held in Carpenter's Hall, Manchester, at
which there were present nine of the
quorum of the Twelve, namely: Presi-
dent Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball,
Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, Orson
Pratt, Willard Richards, Wilford Wood-
ruff, John Taylor, and George A. Smith.
The total members of the British mission
at that time was represented as 5,814, and
800 besides had emigrated to America
under the shipping arrangements of the
Church. At this conference the Twelve
blessed and set apart Orson Hyde for his
mission to Jerusalem to which he had
been called by the Prophet Joseph.
This was the first and only time in this
dispensation that the Twelve Apostles sat
in conference as a quorum in a foreign
land.
Immediately after the general confer-
ence, those of the Twelve who were
about to return home hastened to Liver-
pool and embarked for America on the
, on board of the ship
Rochester. Next day, the wind being
favorable, the ship weighed anchor.
There were on board Brigham Young,
Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, George
A. Smith, Wilford Woodruff, Willard
Richards and John Taylor, of the Twelve,
with Elder Reuben Hedlock and 120 of
the British Saints.
On our passage across the Atlantic we
had some very tempestuous weather and
became familiar with "a storm at sea."
On the we landed in New
York, and on the next day George A.
Smith and myself took up our abode for
a few days at Brother Foster's. While
here I met my brothers-in-law, Ezra and
llus Carter, and also Dr. Charles Fabyan,
my wife's relative.
On the , at the house of
Brother Foster and in the presence of the
quorum of the Twelve, I performed the
service of marriage between Mr. Edward
Ockey and Miss Eliza Brewer, both of
them my converts of Castle Frome.
This was the first marriage ceremony at
which I officiated.
On the I arrived at
Scarborough per stage, and was per-
mitted to embrace my wife, and also my
first born son, whom I had not before
seen. After two years of separation
from my wife, it was a happy reunion
indeed. Here I staged with my father-
in-law until the , and then
left for my native place, Farmington,
where I arrived the third day after.
While tarrying at my father's house I
married my sister Eunice Woodruff to
Mr. Dwight Webster. At my sister's
marriage there were between forty and
fifty persons, mostly our relatives. This
was on the .
A few days afterwards my aunt Bulah
Hart was baptized into the Church, and
on the of the month I bade fare-
well to my father's house after a stay of
forty-one days. This was a longer visit
than I had paid to any of my friends for
the last ten years.
On the , a little
company, consisting of myself, wife and
son, and four others, started on board the
boat Sandusky for Albany. Our ulti-
mate destination was Nauvoo, where we
arrived on the of the next month.
When I left Nauvoo, two years before,
there were not more than a dozen houses
in the place, but, on my return to the
city, there were several hundred.
We passed by the Temple, then build-
ing, and had a view of it; we then
called at the house of Elder Brigham
Young, and there spent the night.
Brother Brigham was sick, and Heber
C. Kimball and Willard Richards were
with him. We laid hands upon him and
he soon recovered.
I saw many of my old friends and ac-
quaintances, and was informed that others
of them were dead.
I met with many friends on the day
after my return to Nauvoo, and also sat
in counsel with the Twelve and was
happy once more to meet with my
quorum. I moved my things to Elder
Kimball's. My wife and child were sick.
On the the city coun-
cil met and among its business I was ap-
pointed one of the city council of
Nauvoo.
-[TO BE CONTINUED.]-