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.
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, Wilford 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 already 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 visiting them, holding meetings and encouraging 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 terrified.
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
Column 2
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 counselled him in regard to the course to pursue, 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 flying 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 crossing 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 administered 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 little child of Nathaniel Thomas', about
six years of age, died, and we had to
bury it at Westfield.
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