Day in the Life

Aug 20, 1837

Journal Entry

August 20, 1837 ~ Sunday

20th Called at Nathaniel Dyers & retired to rest. Arose in the morning
made ourselves known as servents of GOD. we enquired concerning
meetings & learned there was to be preaching today as it was the
sabbath in the Baptist meeting house in the centre of the North Island
which was part of Vinalhaven. Mr Benjamin Kent accompanied us to

the place of meeting. When we arived the meeting had commenced, we
conversed with the Deacon of the church, & informed him we were ser-
vents of the Lord
, had a message to the people & wished to be herd. He con
versed with the Baptist Priest by the name of Gideon J. Newton upon
the subject, he did not object. We were invited into the stand, & Mr Ne-
wton gave out an appointment for us to preach at 5 oclock PM. When
he closed his discourse he invited us home with him & gave us some
refreshment, we presented him the Book of Mormon, he was mild and
said he would read it. Mr Newton accompanied us to the meeting house
the congregation assembled at the appointed time, and amid peculiar
feeling I arose and addressed them from Gal. 1 ch 8:9. this was the first
time that I or any Elder of the Church, (to my knowledge) ever arose befo-
re the inhabitants of one of the Islands of the sea to preach unto them the
fulness of the everlasting gospel and the Book of Mormon. After I closed
I gave out an appointment for each of the four following evenings to
be held in the several districts of North Island. We spent the night with
Mr Benj[amin] Kent distance of the day 8 miles


{Elder Hale and myself had a good time in secret prayer. May God bless us on the islands and help us find the blood of} Ephram

{aeiouy} AEIOUY {aeiouy au oy ou} AU OY OU

Vinal haven is in Lat. 44 North. Long 69.10 East. Pop. 1800. Maine
Vinal haven includes both North & South fox Islands. The inhabitants
are generally wealthy, healthy, intelligent, industrious, generous, and
hospitable to strangers. The people get most of their wealth & living
by fishing. The Town of Vinalhaven fits out rising of 100 licensed sail
beside small craft. North fox Island is 9 miles long & 2 miles wide. Pop
800. they have a post office, one store, a Baptist church & meeting
house & four school houses & a grist mill. The land is rather rocky
& rough yet there is many good farms which produces good wheat,
barley, oats, potatoes, & grass which is the staple production. The
principal timber is fir, spruice, hemlock & birch. Sheep are the pri-
ncipal stock upon the Island. Rasp. & Goose buries grow in great
abundance.

South fox Island comes as near being without
any form or void as any land I ever saw. It would be difficult
for the best historian to give an exact description of it. It is about
10 miles long & 5 broad and it is one universal mass of rocks formed
into shelves, hills & dales cut up into necks & points to make room for
the cooves & harbours that run through and through the Island. Pop is
1000. They get their wealth entirely by fishing. Their principal stock is
sheep. Their is some small parts of the Island under cultivation, but it is
at the expense of great labour and toil. Many of the inhabitants of this
Island fish at Newfoundland & bring their fish home & dry them upon
their own flakes & prepare them for market. they supply the market
annually with great quantities of dried fish, Mackerel & boxed
herren. There is two stores, three tide saw mills, six school houses
& a small branch of the methodist church & a priest. The timber is
pine, fir, spruce, hemlock & birch. much of the timber & whoretlebury
bushes grows out of the cracks of the rocks. Rasp & goose buries
also grow in great quantities upon this Island

There is great quantities of fish inhabit the waters, cooves & harbours
around these Islands, such as Whale, Blackfish, Shark, ground Shark,
PILOT fish, Hors Mackerel, Sturgeon, Salmon, Holloboat [halibut], Cod, Pollock,
Tom Cod, Hake, Haddock, Mackerel, Shad, Bass, Ale wives, Herren [herring],
Pohagen, Dolphin, Whiting, Frost fish, Flounders, Smelt, Skate,
Shrimp, Skid, Cusk, Blebacks, Scollop Dogfish, Muttonfish Lumpfish,
Squid, Fivefingers, Monkfish, Nursfish, Sunfish, Swordfish, Thrasher,
Cat, Scuppog, Tootog, Eyefish, Cunner, Ling, Eels. Also Lobsters, Clams,
Scollop, Mussles, Rincles, {crabs snails} and Porposes, Seal, &c &c. & many
others not named. Thus stands a brief account of the town of VINAL HAVEN

People

Browse people Wilford Woodruff mentioned on this day in his journal. Click on the person's name to view a short bio and other pages they are mentioned on or click on "View in Family Search" to view their FamilySearch profile.

Kent, Benjamin
17 Jun 1798 - 9 Feb 1882
16 mentions
Maine Mission
119 mentions
Scriptural Figure
Newton, Gideon J.
28 Jul 1787 - 17 Feb 1859
45 mentions
Maine Mission
Hale, Jonathan Harriman
1 Feb 1800 - 4 Sep 1846
151 mentions
Missionary
Dyer, Nathaniel
abt. 1781-abt. 1848
7 mentions
Host, Maine Mission
Douglass, William Stuart
12 Dec 1799 - 16 Jun 1882
54 mentions
Maine Mission

Related Documents

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Daybook (18 August 1837 - 11 October 1837)

[page torn] 20th called at Nathaniel Dyers & retired to rest arose in the morning made inquiry concerning meeting learned there was Baptist preaching in a meeting house in the centre of the ^north^ Island part of Vinal Haven we walked to this Island is 9 miles long & 2 miles wide contaning about 800 inhabitants ^South island 1,000^ it takes North & South islands to [illegible] the [illegible]

Autobiography 1882 Leaves from My Journal Notes 1

on North Fox Islands at 2 oclock on the of Auguts August This town is called Vinal Haven it includes both North & South Fox Islands in Lat 44 North Long 69, 10, population 1800

Autobiography 1882 Leaves from My Journal Notes 1

shore shore at 2 oclock on the morning of the 20 of August ^without a farthing in money^. We made our way over the rocks & beaches the best we could untillw untill we found a home we landed without a farthing in money we rap[p]ed at the door a woman put her head out of the window and asked who was there & what we wanted I told her we were two strangers and wanted a bed to lie down untill morning, she let us in ang gave us a bed and we slept untill quite late in the morning it being sunday when we arose and took breakfast it was nearly noon I asked her what she charged us for our entertainment She said we were welcome, 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

Autobiography 1882 Leaves from My Journal

at 2 o'clock, a. m., on the .

Autobiography 1857 Draft 2

on the , it being very dark we wandered ^in the dark^ about for an hour, rambling over the rocks and bushes, found the house of Mr. Nathaniel Dyer where we ^&^ were entertained; it being sunday morning and feeling anxious to commence our work, Mr. Benj. Kent piloted us to the Baptist meeting house, occupied by Elder Gideon J. Newton, pastor of the only religious denomination upon the Island, at the door, I sent for the Deacon and told him I wished him to inform the minister that we were servants of God and wished to deliver a message to that people, the ^minister^ sent word for us to come into the pulpit, accordingly with valize in hand, we walked up into the pulpit, and took a seat on each side of him, when he closed his discourse, he asked me what hour

Autobiography 1883 Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine

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

Autobiography 1865 Millennial Star

We wandered in the dark about an hour, rambling over rocks and bushes, found the house of Mr. Natha- niel Dyer, and were entertained. It being Sunday morning, Mr. Benjamin Kent piloted us to the Baptist meet- ing-house, occupied by Elder Gideon J. Newton, pastor of the only religious denomination upon the Island. At the door, I sent for the deacon, and told him I wished him to inform the minister that we were servants of God, and wished to deliver a message to that people. The minister sent word for us to come into the pulpit; accord- ingly, with valise in hand, we walked

Autobiography 1858 Deseret News

We wandered in the dark about an hour, rambling over rocks and bushes, found the house of Mr. Nathaniel Dyer, and were enter- tained. It being Sunday morning, Mr. Benj. Kent piloted us to the Baptist meeting-house, occupied by Elder Gideon J. Newton, pastor of the only religious denomination upon the island. At the door, I sent for the deacon, and told him I wished him to inform the min- ister that we were servants of God, and wish- ed to deliver a message to that people. The minister sent word for us to come into the pul- pit; accordingly, with valize in hand, we walk- ed up into the pulpit, and took a seat on each side of him. When he closed his discourse, he asked me what hour we would like to speak; I told him at five; he gave out our ap- pointment, and invited us to his house. I asked him how many school houses were on the island; he said four, and gave me their names. I asked him if they were free for any one to preach in; he answered in the affirma- tive. I took out my Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, and laid them all upon his stand; he promised to read them. The hour of meeting arrived, and I preached to a full house upon the first principles of the gospel, and bore testimony that the Lord had raised up a prophet, and had commenced to establish his church and kingdom again upon the earth, in fulfillment of his word, as spoken through the ancient prophets and apostles. This was the first discourse ever delivered by any Latter-day Saint upon this chain of is- lands; Elder Hale bore testimony. I gave out appointments for preaching in the four school houses. The people came out en masse to in- vestigate the principles which we taught. In fourteen days we preached nineteen discourses. Capt. Justice Ames and wife were baptized by Elder Hale. Elder Newton, the Baptist minister, with his family, attended twelve of our meetings, read the books, and was con- vinced by the Spirit of the Lord that our doc- trine was true, and he had a hard struggle in [Column 3] his mind to know which to do, receive or re- ject it; he finally resolved to reject it, and commenced preaching against us. He sent for Mr. Douglass, Methodist minister, on the South Island, to come and help him; he had been long at variance with Mr. Douglass, but they became very friendly and united in a war against us. We continued preaching daily until we baptized most of the members of Mr. Newton's church, and those who owned the meeting house. I followed Mr. Douglas to his own island, and commenced preaching to his church, and baptized a good share of his members, among whom were several sea captains. Ministers from the main land were sent for, who came over and tried to put a stop to the work by preaching and lying about us; but the work continued to roll on. They wished me to work a miracle to convince them that my doctrine was true. I told them they had rejected the truth, and they would see signs, but not unto salvation. Vinal Haven, which includes both north and south Fox Island, is in lat. 44°, long. 69° 10'. The inhabitants are generally healthy and in- dustrious, and hospitable to strangers. The peo- ple obtain most of their wealth by fishing, and fit out annually over one hundred licensed ves- sels, beside many smaller crafts. The north island is nine miles long and two wide; popu- lation 800, and contains a post office, a store, a grist mill, four school houses, and a Baptist church. The land is rocky and rough, yet there are farms which produce good wheat, barley, oats, potatoes and grass; the principal timber is fir, spruce, hemlock and birch. The rasp and gooseberry grow in great abundance. Sheep are the principal stock. South Fox island is about ten miles long and five wide, and is a mass of rocks, principally granite, formed into shelves, hills, hollows, and cut up into nooks, points and ravines by coves and harbors; population, 1000. There are some small patches under cultivation, at the expense of great labor and toil. Many resident fishermen fish at Newfoundland, and bring them home, and dry them upon flakes; they annually supply the market with a great amount of cod fish, mackerel and boxed her- ring. The latter island contains two stores, three tide saw mills, six school houses, a small branch of the Methodist church and a priest. The timber is pine, fir, spruce, hemlock and birch, also gooseberries, raspberries, whortle- berries and upland cranberries; bushes and timber grow out of the crevices of the rocks. There is a great amount and variety of fish in the waters around these islands, viz.: whale, black fish, shark, ground shark, pilot fish, horse mackerel, sturgeon, salmon, halibut, cod, pollock, tom cod, hake, haddock, macker- el, shad, bass, alewives, herring, pohagen, dolphin, whiting, frost fish, flounders, smelt, skate, shrimp, shad, cusk, bluebacks, scollop, dogfish, muttonfish, lumpfish, squid, five fin- gers, monkfish, nursefish, sunfish, swordfish, thrasher, cat, scuppog, twotog, eyefish, cunner, ling eels, lobsters, clams, mussels, winkles, porpoises, seals, &c. &c.

Autobiography 1857 Draft 1

on the morning of the , it being very dark and we not all acquainted with the country we wandered about for about an hour stumbling over the rocks and ^bushes^ [c◊◊◊s] finally found the house ^of Mr Nathaniel Dyer^ where we were ^entertained^ taken in and furnished with a bed and went to rest after sleeping several hours we arose were furnished with a breakfast by Mr Nathaniel Dyer who occupied the house. It being Sunday morning and feeling anxious to commenced our work I inquired if their was any religion on the Island and what kind, any preachers or Meeting Houses and what kind I was informed their was a Baptist Meeting house, Baptist Minister, Church and meeting the ministers name was Gideon J. Newton as it was late we did not go till the after noon meeting. Mr Benjamin Kent piloted us to the place ^Baptist Meeting House^ when we arrived ^occupied by Elder Gideon J Newton pastor of the ownly religious denomination upon the Island. At the^ at the door the meeting had begun, I sent for the Deacon who came to the doors I told him I wished him to inform the minister that there was two servants ^we were servants^ of God at the door who ^and^ wished to deliver a message to that people. He sent word for us to come into the pulpit accordingly with valiece in hand we walked up into the pulpit and took a seat one on each side of him, when he closed his discourse he asked me what hour we would like to speak to the people I told him at 5 oclock he gave out our appointment and invited us to his house to take tea we accepted the invitation on arriving at his house I asked how many school houses there was on the Island he said four ^4^ ^four^ and gave me their names ranging from West to East I asked him

Events

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Aug 20, 1837