History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

408
MISSIONS AND IMMIGRATION.
In later years a strong reaction set in, the members
of the church at the close of 1878 mustering only
2,904, the number of branches having decreased to
Pratt being the first editor. Issued originally as a monthly, and afterward
as a bi-monthly and then as a weekly periodical, the circulation at one time
reached -22,000 copies. Richards' Bibliog. of Utah, MS., 8-9. But for this
publication and the Frontier Guardian, it would be impossible to till the gap
which occurs in the records of the Mormon people between Feb. 15, 1846,
the date of the last issue of the Ti?nes and Seasons, and June 15, 1S50, when
appeared the first number of the Deseret News. For conferences at which
reports were received as to the condition of the church branches at Manchester
and elsewhere in 1840-1, see Millennial Star, i. 67-71, 84-9, 105-S, 301-5;
Times and Seasons, ii. 404, 463; Pratt's Autobiog., 341-2, 344, 348-50; in
1842, Millennial Star, iii. 28-32; Times and Seasons, iv. 70-S0; in 1843,
Millennial Star, iv. 32-6, 81-5; in 1845, Id., v. 166-7; in 1S46-7, Id., vii.
passim. For reports of church progress, giving minor details of no particular
value between 1840 and 1846, see Times and Seasons, ii. 529, 543, 557; iii.
596-9, 618, 636-7, 682-3, 789-90, 843, 924-5; Millennial Star, iv. 129-30,
145-S, 161-2, 174-5, 203-4; v. 25-6, 195; vi. 6-7, 13-14, 23-4, 28-9, 39-40,
73-5. For condensed reports showing progress during latter half of 1840
and spring of 1841, see Kidder's Mormonism, 191-200. For missionary work
in different towns in 1840-1, see Millennial Star, i. 71-2, 90-3, 184-5, 212-15,
23S-40, 255-6, 283-6, 305-9. With the conference of April 6, 1841, the mission
of Brigham Young and his associates ended in Eng., and soon afterward
they returned home, first sending an epistle to the church in Great Biitain,
and leaving Parley in charge. For text of epistle, see Millennial Star, i. 309-
12. Brigham, Heber, O. Pratt, Woodruff, Taylor, Smith, and Eichards left
for New York on the ship Rochester, on Apr. 20, 1841. Young arrived in
Nauvoo July 1st. Tullidge's Life of Young, 99-100. Parley remained at the
head of affairs until Oct. 29, 1842, when he sailed for the U. S. on the
Emerald, arriving in New Orleans early in Jan. 1843, leaving Thomas Ward
to succeed him, with Lorenzo Snow and Hiram Clark as assistants. During
Parley's administration, several parties of emigrants were sent to the U. S.
Pratt's Autobiog., 359, 361. The Times and Seasons of Feb. 1, 1843, announces
Pratt's arrival at Nauvoo. In June 1843, Elder Reuben Hadlock
was appointed president of the English mission, Id., iv. 232; and again in
1846, Millennial Star, vii. 42, where the name is spelled Hedlock. Ward
was associated with Hedlock in the presidency. Id., v. 140, 142. In
1846-7 Orson Hyde was president of the European mission. Richards' Narr.,
MS., 27. For 1879, 32 missionaries were appointed for the United States.
A list is given in Millennial Star, xli. 692. Further mention of missionary
work in England will be found in the pages of the Millennial Star, Frontier
Guardian, Apr. 4, July 25, Sept. 19, 1849, July 24, Dec. 11, 1S50, July 13,
Aug. 8, 1851; Lyon's Harp of Zion, 64-6; Deseret News, Nov. 29, Dec. 27,
1851, July 24, 1852, Feb. 5. 1853, Oct. 5, 1S54, July 25, 1S55, Feb. 26, 1S62,
Sept. 9, 1S03, March 9, Dec. 7, 1864, March 22, 1865, June 7, 1S65, May 8,
Nov. 20, 1S67, March 15, 1S71, July 15, 1874, June 30, 1875, Sept. 11, 1878;
Utah Scraps, 5; S. F. Bulletin, June 11, Nov. 24, 1SS3; Sac. Union, July 2,
1855, May 14, 1869. In the autumn of 1S46 John Taylor, Parley Pratt, and
Orson Hyde were ordered to proceed to England, the saints being then encamped
at Council Bluffs. Procuring a flat-bottomed boat, they voyaged
down the Missouri River to Fort Leavenworth, where they met with some
of the battalion men, and thence took the steamer for St Louis. From that
city they reached England by way of New York, Parley, however, returning
to Council Bluffs and Winter Quarters with money contributed by the saints in
the eastern states for the assistance of their families and brethren, joining his
comrades later. The missionaries visited the various churches in England,