ENSIGN

ENSIGNTt£ ENSIGN OF THE CHJRCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATIER-DAY SAINTSMarch 1980

THE VOYAGE OF THEAMAZONA CLOSE VIEW OF ONE IMMIGRANT COMPANYBy Richard L. Jensen and Gordon IrvingIn June of 1863 the Amazon, a passenger ship with891 Latter-day Saints aboard, set sail from London.Just before the voyage, many Londoners- governmentofficials and clergymen included-came for afirsthand look at the Mormons and their travelingarrangements. Among the visitors was author CharlesDickens, who spent several hours on board the shipquestioning British Mission President George Q. Cannonand quietly observing the Saints.A month later Dickens published an account of hisvisit to the Mormon emigrant ship. He pointed out thatthese were primarily working-class people, includingcraftsmen in many trades. Though he remained skepticalabout what the Mormons would fmd when they reachedUtah , Dickens was impressed by their thoroughgoingorganization, their calmness, and their quiet self-respect:"I went on board their ship," he said , " to beartestimony against them if they deserved it, as I fully· believed they would; to my great astonishment they didnot deserve it; and my predispositions and tendenciesmust not affect me as an honest witness. I went over theAmazon's side feeling it impossible to deny that, so far,some remarkable influence had produced a remarkableresult, which better known influences have oftenmissed." Of the people themselves Dickens wrote thathad he not known they were Mormons , he would havedescribed them as , "in their degree , the pick and flowerof England. " 1Dickens was right: a remarkable influence had indeedproduced a remarkable result. The influence enabled thisgroup of Saints to become, in effect, a large family thatworked successfully together toward a difficult goal.Other observers marvelled at the success of theMormons ' emigration and often pointed to their thoroughgoingorganization as the key . But Dickens, ashrewd observer, raised the central question: What wasbehind the organization and its smooth operation? Onlythrough the Spirit of the Lord could the full answer befound .Fortunately, records kept by the British Mission andby the Amazon passengers and their descendants make itpossible to look closely at the ship 's family before,during, and after the voyage. 2PRELUDE TO EMIGRATIONMissionary work had begun in the British Isles in1837 . During the next fifty years converts were urged toemigrate and strengthen the Latter-day Saint base ofoperations in America. With such strong encouragementto emigrate, one might expect Latter-day Saints to haveleft their homelands soon after conversion to the gospel.The experience of the Amazon emigrants suggests, however,that preparation for emigration was usually a long ,slow process.For instance, Ishmael and Mary Phillips were convertedto the gospel in Herefordshire, part of the greatwave of conversions that followed Elder Wilford Woodruff'smissionary labors in 1840. But calls to Churchservice delayed their emigration. Ishmael served as abranch president and a diligent local missionary forthirteen years. Later the Phillipses moved toBirmingham, where Ishmael did missionary work foranother ten years. Finally, twenty-three years after theirconversion, they emigrated on the Amazon with their twodaughters, the two young children of the eldest daughter,who was a widow , and two other children who wereunder their care . 3Many others of the Amazon Saints, like BrotherPhillips, had also given years of Church service beforetheir emigration . William Fowler, an 1849 convert, hadserved for several years as a local missionary . He authoredthe hymn, " We Thank Thee, Oh God, for aProphet,'' which was published for the first time inLiverpool two weeks before the Amazon sailed . 4Also of prime importance in determining when a16

had great confidence in the safety of Mormon emigrationand in the treatment their families would receive whenthey arrived in Salt Lake City .PRESSURE TO STAYMany of those on board were sailing despite strongencouragement from relatives, friends, and employers toremain where they were. Amazon passenger ElijahLarkin, a Cambridge police detective, was visited by amember of the local police supervisory committee whotried to persuade him to stay with the police force .Brother Larkin took the opportunity to explain the gospel,bear his testimony, and sell the man copies of theBook of Mormon , the Doctrine and Covenants, apamphlet, and a ticket to the Cambridge Branch 'sfarewell party for the emigrants. 6family would emigrate was the matter of fmances . Inspite of great faith , many would-be emigrants found itdifficult to save enough money to pay for their passageand other expenses. Charles and Eliza West joined theChurch in 1849 and began in 1853 to put money into theindividual emigrating accounts kept by local Churchleaders. But the expenses of a growing family madesaving difficult. "We had children faster than we couldget means for our emigration,'' Charles told a visitingmissionary in 1862. 5 That year the Wests arranged for anemigrating couple from their branch to take two of theWest daughters with them. The family then had extraincentive to save so they could join their daughters thenext year.The Wests were apparently typical. Half the marriedadults aboard the Amazon had been Latter-day Saints forthirteen years or more. Even those with a larger incomefound it difficult to save for emigration. But singleadults, without the expense of a family, generallyemigrated three to four years sooner after baptism thanmarried adults. Though some of the Amazon passengerswere recent converts, eighty-five percent of the adultshad been members more than five years before theyemigrated.Some husbands and fathers of Amazon passengershad emigrated earlier, hoping to establish a home inUtah and earn enough to pay for their families'emigration. This was not an uncommon practice amongemigrants . On the other hand, some wives-evenexpectant mothers- and children aboard the Amazonwere leaving their husbands and fathers behind; thesebreadwinners hoped to join their families the next yearafter earning the rest of the emigration money andclosing out their financial affairs. Such men must haveFAMILY ORGANIZATIONEight of every ten Amazon passengers came aboardwith a family group. Most of these groups consisted ofhusbands and wives and their children, but other familieswere headed by widows, widowers, or individual parentswhose spouses had sailed earlier or would sail later.Thirty brothers or sisters were traveling together ingroups of two; there were also a few grandchildren andother relatives . This family-based organization spread toindividuals traveling alone, who became " attached" toparticular families during the voyage. Elijah Larkinwrote in his diary , ''I organized my family consisting of9 persons having added Ruth Coe, Hannah Webb,Martha Larkins, Wm & Chas Read to it to draw ourrations together .... 7 The Larkins felt a special responsibilityfor their new ' 'family members' ' throughout thejourney to Utah.The ship's family was also well organized to providefor the many needs of the Saints aboard. Mission presidentGeorge Q. Cannon appointed a president and twocounselors for the Amazon emigrants. President WilliamBramall and second counselor Richard Palmer werereturning missionaries from Utah; first counselor EdwardL. Sloan had been a local Church leader and editorialassistant for the Millennia[ Star and was now emigratingwith his family. As the voyage progressed these appointedofficers would supervise the provisions, worship services,and the care of the sick. They were assisted by asergeant of the guard, two cooks, two stewards, alamplighter, and a man who took charge of the lost-andfounddepartment. The presidency also divided the entirecompany into fifteen ' 'wards'' of about sixty personseach, and appointed a president for each ward.LIFE ABOARD SlllPMorale was high as the ship embarked. The entiremembership of a brass band from the Cardiff Branch inWales was emigrating together, and their music madethe occasion festive. They would provide accompanimentfor dancing and other enjoyment during the voyage.Elijah Larkin soon organized a choir. The ship 's officerspassed out provisions, helped the emigrants settle com-18

fortably between decks, and fastened down looseluggage. A baby girl born three days after departure waschristened Amazon Seaborn Harris.The voyage had its share of challenges anddifficulties, which gave the emigrants opportunity to usetheir religious teachings and their ward organizations. At5:30 each morning the Saints were to ''rise, receivewater, clean out berths, scrape the decks and prepare forprayers in the various Wards at 7 o'clock. " 8 However,because many became seasick right away, caring for andadministering to the sick caused a relaxation of thatrigorous schedule. At times the ship was becalmed; attimes the crew fought headwinds. One Sunday the shipwas hit by a violent squall while ward meetings werebeing conducted on the lower deck. One sail was "tominto ribbons like paper, '' and water poured down thehatches before they could be closed. But the singing ofthe hymns continued. The second mate was heard toexclaim how astonished he was at ''the nonchalancedisplayed by the sisters in such a season of apparentperil. " 9English Saints aboard the ship outnumbered theWelsh five to one, but tha! did not deter some membersof each group from squabbling over the relative merits nftheir homelands. The ship's presidency tried to calm therivalry by preaching against nationalism. A littleirritation which developed over family cookingarrangements also had to be smoothed over. And apparentlya few were guilty of ''finding'' articles that hadnot been lost. Still, on the whole, the voyage appears tohave been a positive and memorable experience.THE OVERLAND JOURNEYAfter their arrival in New York on July 18, theAmazon Saints were taken by rail and river steamer toFlorence, Nebraska, Though the Civil War was raging atthe time, they were largely unaffected by it. AtFlorence, teams and wagons provided by the Church metthose who could not afford to provide their own transportation.They then divided into several companies forthe final leg of their journey.From Salt Lake City, Elder George A. Smith of theCouncil of the Twelve sent Charles Dickens a finalreport on the progress of the Amazon's emigrants:"The whole company arrived in this city, andencamped on the Union square on Saturday & SundayOct. 3rd & 4th, in good health and fine spirits. Afterattending the General Conference, they distributedthemselves among the people of the Territory, like thewater of a river as it empties .into the sea, and could nowonly be found by searching 25,000 square miles of country,and by their industrious habits, they are placedwhere they will soon put themselves in possession of thenecessary comforts of life. " 10SETTLING IN THE WESTThe temporary " family" which had worked so closelytogether aboard the Amazon now dispersed. Mostbecame part of another kind of family, the ward organizationsof the various Latter-day Saint settlements. Ahigh proportion settled first in Utah. Of the Amazonpassengers for whom information has been located, ninety-eightpercent lived in Utah during 1863-65. By 1891-1900, eighty-four percent still lived in Utah, whilethirteen percent were in Idaho and three percent wereelsewhere.Success and tragedy alike met the immigrants in thewestern United States . One was struck and killed by arailroad train, leaving a large family. Another committedsuicide, apparently in despair over the recent death of hiswife. William Fowler became a school teacher in Manti,Utah , but died only two years after he immigrated. Somehad marital difficulties. A few became disillusioned withtheir religion and left it entirely or abandoned churchinvolvement. From all indications, however, the vastmajority remained faithful to the Church, and most receivedthe sacred ordinances of the Endowment House,which was used before temples were completed in Utah.The Amazon immigrants' achievements as individualswere notable. Lavinia Triplett became Utah's leadingfemale vocalist in her day. Edward L. Sloan was anoutstanding writer and newspaper editor. The Castletonfamily became prominent merchants, the Larkins respectedmorticians. William McLachlan became the firstpresident of the Pioneer Stake in Salt Lake City. AndGeorge Sutherland, an infant when the Amazon sailed,became a U.S. Senator and a justice of the United StatesSupreme Court. Others were bishops, patriarchs, statelegislators, and fine parents- people who contributed inmany ways to the building of their communities. To useCharles Dicken's phrase, they became the "pick andflower" of western America. 0Richard L. Jensen. a high councilor in the Salt Lake Hunter WestStake, and Gordon Irving, assistant stake clerk in the Bountiful UtahSouth Stake. are both research historians in the Church HistoricalDepartment.Notesl. Charles Dickens, " The Uncommercial Traveller," All the YearRound, 4 July 1863 , pp. 444, 446.2. Statistical information in this article is based on a computerassistedstudy of data compiled from the passenger list of the Amazonin the British Mission's Emigration Records on file in the Church Hi st.Dept. Archives, family group sheets in the Church Genealogical Dept.Archives, and other basic sources of biographical and genealogicalinformation.3. Andrew Jenson , Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4vols . (1901 ; reprinted. , Salt Lake City: Western Epics, 1971), 2:692.4. J. Spencer Cornwall, Stories of Our Mormon Hymns, 2nd ed. ,(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1963), pp . 207-211 .5. Charles Henry John West Journal, 1833-1906, photocopy of typescriptin the possession of the authors , p. 4.6. Elijah Larkin Diary, 2 Apr. 1863, photocopy of typescript, Hi st.Dept. Archives, p. 431 ."7. Ibid. , 3 June 1863 , p. 454.8. William Bramall, E. L. Sloan, and Richard Palmer letter toGeorge Q. Cannon, 19 July 1863, Millennia/ Star, 25:542.9. Edward L. Sloan Diary, 28 June 1863, holograph, Hist. Dept.Archives.10. George A. Smith letter to " Mr. Uncommercial," 14 Oct., copy inHistorian 's Office Letterpress Copybook, 1859-69, Hist. Dept.Archives.THE ENSIGN/MARCH 1980 19