Wessman 14: Philip Pugsley, Part 2 of 5

The company, under Captain Jacob Gates, started with ten in a wagon and all badly provided with provisions. The wreck which had been made, in throwing away the bulk of the company’s luggage, will illustrate the frightful sacrifice of property in these early emigrations of the Mormons to Utah. Enough at various times has been left on the frontiers to have made the people comparatively comfortable, with their simple wants as first settlers, and which they had, after their arrival in the mountains, to replace by the purchase of “States goods” from our merchants, at the cost of years of toil; but Philip Pugsley preserved something from the wreck which he greatly valued at the time. With the last money he had in Liverpool he purchased a few carpentering tools and two spades and shovels, for the purpose of building himself a house on his arrival in Salt Lake City. When the company threw away two-thirds of their luggage at Keokuk, he lent his spades and shovels around, which, being so greatly needed on the journey, were thus preserved to him for their original purpose.

Arriving at Council Bluffs, the company stopped awhile for preparation to cross the Plains. Here charcoal was needed for blacksmithing purposes, but, hunting the country around, no charcoal could be found. Pugsley now came to their help, and Captain Jacob Gates, learning that he understood charcoal burning, sent him across the river to burn charcoal; the next morning the coal was ready for the waiting smiths.

The company arrived in Salt Lake City on the last day of September. Pugsley’s family at the time consisted of his wife and eldest son, Joseph, who is now the “boss” of the Salt Lake Soap Works [probably Salt Lake Soap Company]. Sister Pugsley was sick and the family possessed not so much as a cent of money. The first thing to be done on their arrival was to get something to eat, so Brother Philip went to seek employment down at Brother Ira Ames’ who was just starting in the tanning business. At this juncture Brother Ames’ son, Clark, was called to go on a mission in April with Parley P. Pratt to South America [Pratt's mission to South America was in 1851-52, too early for this sequence of events; Clark Ames was called on a mission to Santa Clara; the mission was somehow connected with Parley P. Pratt]; so Pugsley was engaged to take his place in the leather manufactory. Isaac Young and Pugsley ran the tannery for Ames for a year; and, at the death of Isaac Young, he ran it himself on shares with Ames, continuing up to the time of the move South [Added by granddaughter: "when Johnston’s Army marched through the city"]. He also ran Golding & Raleigh’s tannery on shares. The employers furnished the means and he the labor, for one third of the leather.

Those were days that tried men’s souls and the courage and self-sacrifice of the women not less. Pugsley and his wife shared with the early settlers of Utah the poverty of those times.  The first winter after their arrival was very severe, and work was stopped. Brother Philip now brought his tools into requisition, in making chairs, tables and other things for household use. The family lived in a tent for several months, until very deep snow fell, when they got into an old house, which appeared ready to tumble down about their ears. Money and provisions were very scarce; obtaining a few beets the wife boiled them down in a bake-skillet, pressed the juice out and then boiled it down into molasses. 

The first “two bits” [25 cents] that he got in money was for a piece of leather. With this he bought a shin of beef, and his wife boiled it every day for two weeks, until broth could no longer be extracted from the bones.

It is only by the narration of such personal experiences, that the reader of to-day is enabled to realize the privations which the early settlers of this Territory had to endure, for the experience of one in this respect is the story of the whole, with merely some variety, and the example of a case is suggestive of a thousand-and-one needs of the community when a bushel of wheat was worth its weight in silver.

Part 1
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

The picture is of Philip and Martha Pugsley. The photo of Council Bluffs, Iowa (red sunset) is from www.flickr.com/photos/buckchristensen/4070288629/. The photo of Kamas, Utah (aspens) is from www.flickr.com/photos/ironrodart/3800363208/.

Samuel Linton Family Reunion

Reposting from Colette from the Linton Family Organization...

Samuel Linton Family Reunion 2010

Date: Friday, July 9 - Saturday, July 10, 2010

Location: Provo/Orem, Utah

We are seeking to find the posterity of Samuel Linton (b. 1828 Ardstraw, Ireland) and Ellen Sutton AND Eleanor Coolidge. Please pass this link on to anyone you know who is part of our family.

We are putting together a fabulous reunion this summer in Provo/Orem, Utah and we hope you can make it!

*Family BBQ
*Games
*Adult Dinner
*Historical slideshow
*Family photos and family trees available at reunion

Please come!

Wessman 14: Philip Pugsley, Part 1 of 5

Philip Pugsley
b. 18 December 1822 Withypool, Somerset, England
chr. 12 May 1823 Withypool, Somerset, England
m. 28 June 1851 Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
d. 7 August 1903 Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
b. 9 August 1903 Salt Lake City Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah
Father: Philip Pugsley
Mother: Mary Baker
Wives: Martha Roach, Clarissa Ames

Among the men who have been foremost in developing the industries of Utah is Mr. Philip Pugsley. Claiming simply the rank of one of the hard workers of the country and promoters of our local enterprises, he has won a legitimate place in the history of our Territory. He was the first known among our early leather manufacturers; at a later date Pugsley & Randall built and successfully ran the Ogden Woolen Factory; still more recently he engaged in the iron and coal industries, and, indeed, there is scarcely a home enterprise with which the name of Philip Pugsley has not been identified. But we will trace his career in its biographical order, in which we shall meet with many footmarks of one of the foremost industrial men of Utah.

From a Deseret Evening News column called "Life in Utah Fifty Years Ago: Compiled From the Files of The Deseret News of 1868." April 22, 1918, Section 4, page 1.

Philip Pugsley was born December 18th, 1822 in the parish of Witheypool [Withypool], Somersetshire, England. His father’s name was also Philip; he was born in the parish of Shirwell, Devonshire. His mother’s name was Mary Baker; she was a Somersetshire woman. The father moved to Darlick, parish of North Moulton [North Molton], Devonshire. This Darlick belonged to a family of the name of Mersons [Merson], who were the head stock-raisers of the North Devon stock, and Father Pugsley was in their employ.

Somerset. 

From Wikipedia.

Devon. 

From Wikipedia.

When Pugsley, Jun., was a boy, before railroads were built, he traveled over the principal parts of England with this stock. Much of the stock was shipped to America. He traveled about fourteen years in this employ.

When the forest of Exmore [Exmoor] was cut down and divided up into farms, Pugsley soon became a principal contractor of the work, and his son had charge of his men for three years. Afterwards young Pugsley went to Bristol, in 1846, and went into the employ of H. W. Green, a large maltster, brewer and hop-dealer. For seven years he had entire charge of the brewery.

It was in Bristol that the subject of our sketch became connected with the Mormon church, and was baptized in July, 1846, by Elder George Halliday. After his baptism he influenced Elder Halliday to go down to Darlick, the result of which mission was the baptism of the Pugsley family—father, mother, and two sisters. [Added by granddaughter: "He served as conference clerk."]

It is worthy of note that while in Bristol our enterprising citizen learned the process of the japanning of leather, which was his start in the leather business in which he did so much after his emigration to Utah.

He left England in 1853, emigrating in the famous “ten-pound” companies sent to this country by Apostle F.D. Richards, crossing the sea in the ship Falcon, commanded by Captain Bennett. [Added: "Accompanying him was his wife, Martha Roach, and year-old son Joseph."] They arrived in New Orleans after a voyage of eight weeks. At Keokuk a company with wagons was organized to start for Council Bluffs, but it was found that the company had to throw away two-thirds of their luggage. Boxes were piled up in heaps on the Keokuk camping ground, but they had to further lighten up at Plank Road, opposite Nauvoo. The “Beautiful City,” as the name of Nauvoo, derived from the Book of Mormon [actually from the Hebrew], signified, still possessed sacred fascinations for the Saints; so, the company lying over for the Sunday, Philip Pugsley and others crossed the river from the Montrose side to Nauvoo, to view this place of so much historic fame, to ruminate on the memories of other days, and the sad change that had passed over the spirit of the scene since its evacuation by the great exodus to the Rocky Mountains. It was no longer the city of the beautiful, but the “Dead City,” as described in the graphic historical discourse of Colonel Thomas L. Kane. No Utah Mormon has ever visited that forsaken Zion without experiencing saddened feelings, and at the same time looking upon Nauvoo after the exodus as a remarkable sign that Latter-day Israel has indeed gone up to the chambers of the Rocky Mountains. To this day Brother Pugsley has vividly impressed upon his mind this visit to Nauvoo in his journey west. Father Wagh [George Peden Waugh] and he visited the Nauvoo House.

To be continued...

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

[Links to be added.]

The photo is of Philip and Martha Pugsley and two unidentified children. This biography comes from Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine, Vol. 2 Salt Lake City, Star Printing Company, Vol. 2, 1883. Photo of the horses on Exmoor from www.flickr.com/photos/thatbloke/286212297/. Photo of the wagon at Nauvoo from www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/3783434157/.

Mormon Migration

The Haywards and many others joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Europe and traveled across the ocean to join the Saints in Utah.

The BYU Harold B. Lee Library has an interesting new site called Mormon Migration with information from many ship records. It has tens of thousands of emigrant records, so if your ancestor crossed the ocean with the Latter-day Saints, you have a good chance of finding the ancestor in this database.

Here are links to various ancestors of mine and the information about their voyages across the ocean. After following the link, make sure you click "Accounts for this voyage" to read journal and autobiography entries from passengers on the crossing.

I am only including the head of household in this list.

Gammon Hayward (1853, International)
Philip Pugsley (1853, Falcon)
John Sutton (1853, Elvira Owen)
Samuel Bryant (1854, Julia Ann; from Australia)
Thomas Parkinson (1854, Julia Ann; from Australia)
George Jarvis (1857, George Washington)
Ann Harris Hamilton McQueen (probably 1857, Tuscarora with Alex McQueen)
Elizabeth Cripps (1861, Underwriter)
James Glade (1861, Monarch of the Sea)
David Thomas (1862, John J. Boyd)
Jens Oveson (1863, B.S.Kimball)
Charles Cripps (1863, Amazon)
Ove Oveson (1864, Monarch of the Sea; includes his account of the trip)
Jens Christensen (1866, Kenilworth)
Christiane Christensen (1866, Kenilworth)
Richard Litson (1866, John Bright)
Mary Marsden (1866, St. Mark)
Archibald Hill (1867, Manhattan; he was a returning missionary, not an immigrant, and he was in charge of the company of immigrants)
Mary Ann DeFriez (1877, Wyoming)
James Hamilton (1884, Arizona)
Lucy Green (1888, Wisconsin)

Thanks to Keepapitchinin for the link to Mormon Migration. For an article with information about the Perpetual Emigrating Fund of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including links to many sources about the fund and about Mormon migration, see the article, "The Perpetual Emigrating Fund."

The ocean picture is from www.flickr.com/photos/brian-m/314646922/, used under a Creative Commons license.

Sarah Hayward Letters

1621 Clay Street

Dec. 20 1900

My Dear Harry and Lizzie

I thank you very much for your kind invitation to the twenty fifth anniversary of your wedding day and regret that I cannot be with you to participate in the very enjoyable time you will have.

It causes me to look back twenty five years and reflect on the many changes we have passed through; joys and sorrows have come and gone and our burdens have been hard to bear; my earnest desire is that from now on your path may be fraught with joy and peace and that every virtue and grace may find sweet resemblance in your…[unreadable]…may live to be a comfort and blessing to you as long as you live. I wish you all a marry Xmas and Happy New Year.

We are going out on Xmas day where I hear there will be seventy guests. We expect to have a happy time, but be assured my thoughts will revert to you many times. With love to you both and the children I am

 Your loving Mother [Sarah Ann Cripps Hayward]

The 1900 census. San Francisco, California.

1340 Grove St. San Diego

Dec—31

My Dear Harry & Lizzie

They have all gone out to the ranch; Sarah, Frances, Libbie, Ernest & the two boys so there’s a jolly crowd of them, so I prefered to sty at home and write a few letters to those who have so kindly remembered me. I thank you both for your good wishes and Christmas gifts and wish you a happy and prosperous new year. We have been having it very cold the past 3 weeks but it is warmer now and to day it is beautifull, we spent Christmas at the ranch had a sucking pig, plumb pudding & ec. had a pleasant time would liked to have had more of my family with us but that could not be so we made the best of it. The fair closes tomorrow and there is to be a lively time at the exposition. I have but little news to write things are very quiet here but brighter times are looked for when spring opens; the girls keep busy and many ladies are securing time two months hence. But we are anxious to get all together but some of us must stay here for a house soon goes to rack when its rented. The girls are heart sick of sewing they have had many years of it. Lizzie is perfectly happy among the chickens. She has her pet dog, two cats. Clara has bought a watch dog so she has enough to do to take care of them. Clara will go and stay when they begin to incubate the chickens…[unreadable]…will soon be looking fine; give my love to the girls & John I would like to see them. I am glad to hear that Emma is getting along so nicely. I was very much worried about her what an unfortunate thing to happen. She sure has had her full share of sorrow. I do hope the future will be better & brighter. I will close with best wishes

from your loving Mother [Sarah Ann Cripps Hayward]

 The 1910 census with the family split onto two pages. Salt Lake City, Utah.

The 1920 census. San Diego, California. Sarah is 89 years old.

The 1930 census. San Diego, California. Sarah is 99 years old.

Sarah Ann Hayward Turns 100

The drama of American life for the past century has been an exciting one for Mrs. Sarah Hayward, 550 Fifth Street, Chula Vista, California [an address which does not seem to exist anymore], who celebrated her 100th birthday quietly Friday.

Sarah Ann Cripps Hayward (right) and two of her daughters.

Still vitally interested in passing events, Mrs. Hayward’s eyes shone Friday when a group of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren gave her a surprise party.

The huge birthday cake bore only a single candle marking one century.

Born when the picturesque Andrew Jackson was just completing his second term [beginning his first term] in the White House, Mrs. Hayward set sail from England when only 22 years old. The sailing ship took three [actually two] months to cross the Atlantic.

With a party of Mormon emigrants, Mrs. Hayward sailed up the Mississippi River to Keokuk, Iowa, where they took the covered wagons for Salt Lake City to join Brigham Young. “It took us nine months [actually less than four] to cross the plains,” she said, “But we experienced no difficulties; as a matter of fact, the first accident we had was near Salt Lake City, in Emigration Canyon, when one of the wagon wheels broke.”

Mrs. Hayward told of the day in Salt Lake City when floods of crickets “that hid the sun” swooped down and destroyed all of the crops. “We asked God for help and He sent hordes of His seagulls from the Great Salt Lake to devour the crickets,” exclaimed the 100-year-old woman. “That was the only time in my life I ever had to get‚ but we all did. We had to eat roots and sego lilies and make our tea from leaves to keep body and soul together.”

Mrs. Hayward smiled as she recalled the “Golden Spike celebration, held at Corrine, [Promontory Summit,] Utah, when the governor of California drove the golden spike that joined the steel rails from the east and west.”

The Chula Vista centenarian has five [eleven] children, 98 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Three of her great-grandchildren are married.

She has seen 20 American Presidents come and go. Three have been assassinated during her lifetime. The nation has engaged in four major wars—Mexican, Civil, Spanish-American and World—during her lifetime.

From a clipping from an unidentified newspaper. No date. Sarah Ann Hayward turned 100 on August 1, 1930, which gives an approximate date, and the papers running in San Diego County that year were Sud-California Deutsche Zeitung (which can probably be ruled out), The Evening Tribune, The Fallbrook Enterprise (unlikely), and The San Diego Sun (the most likely source).

Wessman 13: Sarah Ann Cripps Hayward

13 Sarah Ann Cripps Hayward
b. 1 August 1830 Rotherhithe, Surrey, England
d. 15 February 1932 Chula Vista, San Diego, California
b. Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Husband: Gammon Hayward
Father: Charles Cripps
Mother: Elizabeth Baker

Sarah Ann Cripps Hayward was the daughter of Charles Cripps and Elizabeth Baker. She was born on August 1, 1830 [in Rotherhithe, Surrey, England, a district of London on the south bank of the Thames. Here is an interesting video about St. Mary's Church in Rotherhithe where the Cripps and Hayward families worshiped until joining the Mormon church.]



She was married to Gammon Hayward on June 1, 1850. They joined the church in 1850, and left for Utah in 1853, with their two children, Elizabeth and John Henry. They had not anticipated being able to come right through, expecting to have to stay in the States and work, but through the kindness of a man whom they befriended, they were able to come on the same year, arriving in September 1853.

She with the other pioneers of the day, suffered many hardships and privations. During the grasshopper war she knew what it was to suffer hunger. At one time they had nothing to eat and her husband walked to Farmington to try and get some flour that was promised him for work, but not finding the man at home, he walked home again empty handed. At that time President Young assisted them.

She moved to Provo at the time of the Johnston [Utah] War and her fourth child was born there. As was usual at that time, the men were called to assist in public service of all kinds which took them away from their homes a great deal and the mother had to be father and mother to the children. She was the mother of eleven children, had thirty-three grandchildren and 63 great grandchildren (in 1928).

She moved to Seattle and then to San Diego, California, twenty-five years before her death (1910) making her home with her three daughters. She had a marvelous memory, was a great reader, liked to sew and knit and had wonderful eye sight up to within the last few years of her life. She always said that she attributed her long life to the fact that she knew when to quit and she added that was a thing her own daughters had never learned. Had she lived six months longer she would have attained the age on one-hundred and two years.

She died at Chula Vista near San Diego in February 1932. She was brought to Salt Lake City for burial. Her husband and five children had preceded her in death. She was survived by: Miss Kezia Hayward of San Diego; Arthur G. Hayward, San Diego; Charles E. Hayward of Spanish Fork; Ernest M. Hayward of Auburn, Washington and Mrs. E.B. Porter of San Francisco.

Anonymous. “Biography of Sarah Ann Cripps Hayward.”


Tomorrow... a newspaper article about Sarah Hayward.

Thursday... some letters written by Sarah Hayward.


The picture of the Wasatch Mountains is from www.flickr.com/photos/aidanmorgan/3941684491/. The photo of Chula Vista looking toward Coronado is from www.flickr.com/photos/zefdelgadillo/2082295867/.

Wessman 12: Gammon Hayward

Gammon Hayward
b. 7 January 1828   Deal, Kent, England
c. 7 Mar 1828   Deal, Kent, England
m. 1 June 1850   St. Leonard, Shoreditch, Surrey, England
d. 27 February 1883   San Francisco, San Francisco, California
b. 1 March 1883   Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Wife: Sarah Ann Cripps
Father: John Gammon Hayward
Mother: Mary Clement

As previously mentioned, the best source on the Hayward family is the Wagstaff book, but here is a short biography of Gammon Hayward.

Gammon Hayward was born in Deal, County of Kent, England, January 7, 1828, the son of John and Mary Clement. His father was a boat builder and he worked with him until he left for America. He was married 1 June 1850, to Sarah Ann Cripps. They joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1850 and in common with the Saints of that time, the spirit of gathering was with them. They left England in April [February] 1853 with two children, a daughter Elizabeth and a son John Henry [Henry John]. They sailed in the ship International, arriving in Salt Lake in September 1853. 

As there was nothing to do in his line of work, he turned to carpentering and worked on the Constitution Building putting on the roof. He assisted in the building of the first grist mill in Cache Valley, working with George Surrine [Sirrine?] for a man named Allen in 1860. They had to work with their guns at hand as the bears were very troublesome. 

He built the first boat that was run on the Great Salt Lake. It was built for General Connor and was named after his daughter Kate Connor. It was used to carry ties across the lake to the Promontory at the time of the building of the railroad to California in 1868. He was a member of the Nauvoo Legion and was called to Echo Canyon at the time of the Johnson War [the Utah War].

When the families were ordered South he came home and finding that no preparation had been made for moving his family, he built a wagon and moved them. His family at this time consisted of his wife and three children. They moved to Provo and while they were there another son was born. He then worked for W.E. Godbe [sic; William S. Godbe].

After the return to their home, he went to Camp Floyd and worked at carpentering. He was one of the men who was sent to assist the hand-cart companies into the valley. He was also a member of the Nauvoo Cavalry. He went to Deep Creek with Howard Egan. He assisted in building the Social Hall. He also built a pleasure boat for Walker Brothers and boats for Hot Spring Lake. In common with the spirit of the pioneers he was always ready to assist others and do his share of civic work and he suffered the hardships of that life. 

He was the President of the Kent Road Branch of the church in England and when he left for Utah his father told him that if he ever wanted to come back the money was there for him to use at any time, so his home was in Utah from choice and not necessity. 

He kept the Lake Point Hotel in 1878. 

In 1879 he moved to San Francisco and died there in 1883. He was buried at Salt Lake City.

Anonymous. “Biography of Gammon Hayward.”

Coming tomorrow: a biography of Gammon's wife Sarah Ann Cripps Hayward.

Additional Sources

Chad G. Nichols made a nice compilation of primary sources [sources that were created at the time] about the voyage of the ship International. A copy is available here.

For an interesting look into the history of the church in England with an emphasis on the 1851 religious census (the article includes a mention of the Kent Road Branch), see the article, Cynthia Doxey, "The Church in Britain and the 1851 Religious Census," Mormon Historical Studies, Spring 2003, 106-138.

Photo of the Great Salt Lake from www.flickr.com/photos/aidanmorgan/3941986636/. Photo of a reenactment at Camp Floyd from www.flickr.com/photos/jotor/156771552/.

The Perpetual Emigrating Fund

When Gammon and Sarah Hayward and their children and Philip and Martha Pugsley and their son emigrated to the United States from England in 1853, they traveled with the assistance of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund.

The ship's register from the International (1853) showing Gammon and Sarah Hayward and their children.

What Was the Perpetual Emigrating Fund?

Gathering to Zion, or moving to live in communities with the rest of the membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was a central principle of the faith; in fact, the tenth Article of Faith stated, "We believe in the literal gathering of Israel..." The converts to the church were Israel and they needed to be gathered to the Promised Land.

The Perpetual Emigrating Fund started in 1849 when 8,000 poor refugees from Nauvoo, Illinois, were camped on the Pottawattamie Reservation in Iowa. The Saints wanted to go to Utah, but they did not have the resources to do so. Church leaders called for funds and assistance at General Conference, and donations totaling $5,000 and several yokes of oxen were used to bring the Saints to Utah. The next year, the Church created the Perpetual Emigrating Company, which was later called the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company, or PEF.

In some cases, the PEF paid for part of the travel, and in other cases, it paid for the entire cost of the trip. Most of the beneficiaries of the PEF were converts from Western Europe.

The Church employed a PEF agent in Liverpool, England, to charter ships or arrange ocean passage. When the Saints reached New Orleans, another agent would meet them and arrange passage up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. A third agent met them in St. Louis and arranged passage up the Missouri River to the outfitting station for the wagon trip to Utah. Later, when the railroad reached St. Louis, the emigrants would travel to St. Louis via New York, Boston, or Philadelphia. The entire journey from Europe to Salt Lake City often took the better part of a year.

The Church operated the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company with donations and with money that the emigrants repaid from the funds they had received to emigrate to Zion. Not all the emigrants were able to repay the cost of their passage quickly or at all, so the PEF was usually low on funds to operate further.

With funds very low in 1855, Brigham Young started a program to cut costs by relying on handcart travel across the Plains. That program did not last long due to the tragic experience of the Martin and Willie Handcart Companies.

Brigham Young served as President of the PEF until he was succeeded by Horace S. Eldredge in 1870. Albert Carrington took over in 1873.

The last PEF emigrants were a small group of Icelanders in 1887, since the PEF was disincorporated in 1887 under the provisions of the Edmunds-Tucker Act. The federal government took control of the assets of the church, but those assets mostly consisted of $400,000 of debts to the PEF, and the debts were not collectible due to the statue of limitations.

While it was in operation from 1852 to 1887, the PEF helped 26,000 Latter-day Saints move from Europe to the United States. Another 47,000 emigrants used other means to travel to America.

Sources To Learn More About the Perpetual Emigrating Fund

Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. Perpetual Emigration Fund. From Kate B. Carter, ed., Our Pioneer Heritage, 20 vols.

Some of the information from the DUP contradicts Richard Jensen (see below). He is more reliable, but I'm including this source because it includes the PEF's Articles of Incorporation. (And the correct name is the "Emigrating Fund" not the "Emigration Fund.")

Davis, Grant. Perpetual Emigration Fund. Salt Lake City, Utah: Your Ship, 199-?.  

This book lists those who benefited from the PEF, alphabetically and by family. Available through the Family History Library or at the BYU Library.

Hartley, William G. "How Shall I Gather?" Ensign, October 1997, 5-17.

A very nice overview of Mormon emigration starting in 1838. "The late 1880s marked the end of the Perpetual Emigrating Company and PEF, thus ending a benevolent operation that for decades assisted the poor and needy. During its 38-year existence, the Perpetual Emigrating Company helped more than 100,000 persons, most of whom came from England and northern Europe. About 40,000 to 50,000 received financial assistance from the PEF. It is estimated that the Church expended approximately $12,500,000 through the PEF, which was half of the total expense of all LDS emigration during that period."

Jensen, Richard L. Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company. The Utah History Encyclopedia.

A good overview.

Jensen, Richard L. and Maurine Carr Ward. "Names of Persons and Sureties indebted to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company 1850 to 1877." Mormon Historic Sites Foundation: Mormon Historical Studies, Fall 2000, pages 141-241. 

This article starts with an interesting overview of the PEF and the reasons for the creation of this list in 1877 and then lists the 18,000 people who still owed PEF  emigration expenses in 1877. Don't miss the letter in the appendix (page 239-41).

Jenson, Andrew. "Church Emigration: Emigration from 1852 to 1855." The Contributor, Volume 13 (1892) pages 131-38.

These next three articles are from a series that Assistant Church Historian Andrew Jenson wrote for The Contributor, a short-lived magazine for the youth programs of the Church. Jenson's articles are excellent and very detailed.

Jenson, Andrew. "Church Emigration: Mode of Conducting the Emigration." The Contributor, Volume 13 (1892) pages 181-85.

Jenson, Andrew. "Church Emigration: Detailed Emigration Account, 1853." The Contributor, Volume 13 (1892) pages 458-67.

Larson, Gustive O. Prelude to the Kingdom: Mormon Desert Conquest, a Chapter in American Cooperative Experience. Francestown: N. H., Marshall Jones Co., 1947, 155-167. 

A copy of Larson's material on the PEF is available here.

Lyon, John. Perpetual Fund. [Poem.] 1850.

Read this poem on this blog or on Keepapitchinin.

Mormon Migration.

This database includes trans-Atlantic migration information for many pioneers. It also includes the PEF Record books, where available, showing the notifications given to the emigrants as well as some information about them. 

Mormon Overland Pioneer Database. 

This source often lists the PEF as a resource for the pioneers who used it.

Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company. Names of Persons and Sureties Indebted to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company, From 1850 to 1877 Inclusive. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Company, 1877.

This book has been digitized by the University of California Libraries and includes many names of recipients of PEF funds. Available on archive.org here. You can download a .pdf version.

Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company Ledgers.

Available at the Church History Library. If you are not close to the Library, you can write to churchhistorylibrary@ldschurch.org to ask if your ancestor's name is in the index for the ledgers. Not every person who benefited from the PEF is listed, but those who are will have the following information: name, amount loaned, interest charged, amount repaid.

Tracing Mormon Pioneer Ancestors. 

My guide to researching your pioneer ancestors.

The PEF Today

No discussion of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund would be complete without mentioning the current replacement for the program, the Perpetual Education Fund, which began with the goal of educating members of the church in less-privileged countries around the world. Here is a talk by Gordon B. Hinckley describing the start of the new PEF. And here is a link to the PEF website.

An Index to the History of the Southern States Mission, 1875-1888

John Hamilton Morgan was one of the first missionaries called to serve in the Southern States Mission, and he subsequently served as President of the Mission for many years. In an attempt to grasp the details of his missionary service, I typed up and posted the histories of the Southern States Mission from the Latter Day Saints Southern Star.

After Ben Rich was called as president of the mission in June 1898, he began a mission newspaper called the Latter Day Saints Southern Star. The Southern Star featured reports from the various areas of the mission, news items, talks, devotionals, and letters, and also featured a regular history of the Southern States Mission. It is not clear what sources were used to compile the histories, but they were probably written by a succession of missionaries who served as editors of the paper. The first editor was David P. Felt, followed by Ray Ashworth and his assistant, Ariel F. Cardon. When these missionaries were released, Lewis R. Anderson, mission bookkeeper and a member of the mission presidency, ran the paper until George E. Maycock arrived from Utah and took over.

Here are links to each of the sections, and a brief explanation of the contents. The histories included on this blog stop with the end of John Morgan's service, although he continued to be mentioned in the mission history from time to time. If time permits, I will return and finish the series.

An Introduction to the Latter Day Saints Southern Star

More on the Southern Star

Lula Falls, Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

Part 1

Beginning of the mission 1875-77 under President Henry G. Boyle, with the mission containing the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Virginia.

Part 2

1877. Missionary efforts extend to Texas. Over 240 converts move to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.

Part 3

1878. President Boyle released and John Morgan called as president of the mission. Headquarters moved to Rome, Georgia. Missionary work, yellow fever, first report of mob activity.

Part 4

January-July 1879. Missionary work in Georgia. Fields of labor opened in other states including North Carolina. Church members move to Colorado. Rudger Clawson and Joseph Standing arrive in the mission. Mobs gather.

Part 5

July 1879. Mob violence toward missionaries. Joseph Parry beaten by a mob. Joseph Standing murdered by a mob. Rudger Clawson's life spared.

Pilot Mountain in North Carolina.

Part 6

August-December 1879. The aftermath and trial for the murder of Joseph Standing. Missionary efforts in Georgia. Converts leave for Colorado.

Part 7

February 1879 (?)-March 1880.  Henry Barnett and Mathias Cowley preach in Kentucky and Virginia. Henry Barnett and Seth Langton continue working in Virginia while Mathias Cowley and Frank Benson preach to people who had heard Jedediah Grant preach many years before. Many converts.

Part 8

Links to the article “The Martyrdom of Joseph Standing” by John Nicholson.

Part 9

January-May 1880. President Morgan and Matthias F. Cowley hold conferences and open up new areas of the mission. Saints emigrate to Colorado. Baptisms in Tennessee due to the influence of the mysterious preacher, Robert Edge.

Part 10

June-November 1880. Sarah Church serves in the mission in Tennessee and Mississippi. Other missionaries come to the mission. Many new branches and converts and some persecution. More information on the mysterious Mr. Edge. The Saints from many branches, including Henderson County, Tennessee, emigrate to Colorado.

An old church in Neshoba, Mississippi.

Part 11

November 1880-July 1882. Saints move to Manassa, Colorado. Mathias Cowley and John W. Taylor preach and baptize in Georgia. Elder Cowley and others preach in St. Louis and publish in the local papers. Anti-Mormon sentiment in St. Louis. More Saints move to Colorado.

Part 12

January-June 1881. Debate in Wilson County, Tennessee. April 1881 Mission headquarters moved from Rome, Georgia, to Nashville, Tennessee. A bright period of success followed by mob threats and violence in Alabama.

Part 13

July 1881-March 1882. Due to the success of Elders Cowley and Parkinson in St. Louis, the 1881 Mission Conference was held in that city. Much success in the end of 1881 but 1882 began with much agitation against the church and missionaries in the population and press. Persecution particularly bad in Georgia so several missionaries were released home. Many elders threatened and persecuted and shot at. Very heavy rains in March flooded much of the mission and made work difficult. Emigrants led to Colorado by President Morgan and Elder Cowley. West Tennessee Conference opened.

Part 14

July-November 1882. Mission conferences help keep the morale up. Threats of mob violence in Kentucky delay the Conference meeting. A marked increase in baptisms reported with 204 the first half of 1882. President Morgan arranges with the railroads for better fares for emigrants. Mission headquarters is moved from Nashville to Chattanooga on October 10, 1882. President Morgan released as Mission President after arranging the Fall emigration. [His service actually continues until 1888.]

Part 15

November 1882-June 1883. One hundred Saints and eight elders leave for Colorado and Utah. New Elders arrive in December and another party of emigrants leaves North Carolina. In January a new set of Elders arrive from the Colorado settlements and are assigned to labor in their native states. New missionaries arrive each month. In March, John Morgan and 166 Saints and 12 or 15 missionaries leave for Utah and Colorado. Elder B.H. Roberts begins his service as Assistant President of the Southern States Mission.

A winter scene in Tennessee.

Part 16

June-September 1883. Elder J.T. Alexander is beaten by a mob. More mob violence. Meeting of the Mississippi Conference. Conference in Alabama sparsely attended due to violent threats. Other Conferences held, and one was actually held without threats of violence in South Carolina. Missionary work begins among the Catawba Indians. President Roberts continues to hold meetings. Mission statistics reported. Elder Charles E. Robinson dies in the mission field.

Part 17

October 1883-May 1884. Elder Robinson's body taken home by Elder Easton. Missionaries receive transfers and releases and arrive in the mission. President Roberts holds meetings. President Morgan comes to accompany a party of emigrants to the West. Many baptisms. More emigrants leave the South. A new Northwest Tennessee Conference organized. Judge Stark given particular notice due to his support of religious liberties. Tensions continue to build. 

Part 18

May 1884. Missionaries chased out of Etowah County, Alabama. Elder Charles Flake has tar poured on him in Mississippi. The Mississippi Conference meets.

Part 19

June 1884. President Roberts meets with the missionaries in Alabama and advises them to go to quieter areas. Missionaries harassed in Tennessee. The church building in St. Clair County, Alabama, burned by arson.

Part 20

July 1884. A mob kidnaps and severely beats Elders Joseph Morrell and John William Gailey in Neshoba County, Mississippi.

A historic photograph of a rail fence in Saint Clair County, Alabama.

Part 21

August 1884. Elders John Henry Gibbs, William H. Jones, William Shanks Berry and Henry Thompson met in Cane Creek, Lewis County, Tennessee. They planned to hold meetings on Sunday, August 10th at the home of the Condor family. On his way to the meeting Elder Jones was detained by a mob and was being held in the woods when he heard shooting from the Condor home.

Part 22

The other missionaries had arrived earlier at the Condor home and sang some songs as they waited the start of the meeting. The mob rushed upon the home and seized Brother Condor who called to his son Martin Condor and step-son J.R. Hudson for aid. Elder Gibbs, Elder Berry, and Martin Condor were killed by the mob and then J.R. Hudson was killed but not before killing mob leader David Hinson. Elder Thompson escaped.

Part 23

The mob continued to shoot into the house, wounding Sister Condor. The mob left with Hinson's body. The other bodies were washed and buried. Elder Jones, who had fled the area, met J. Golden Kimball and enlisted his aid. They traveled toward Cane Creek and encountered Elder Thompson who related the bad news. The three men went immediately to a telegraph station to notify President B.H. Roberts of the events. Roberts wired to President Morgan for assistance to remove the bodies to Utah but not wanting to wait, Roberts approached a Mr. Moses in Chattanooga for a loan to cover the costs of caskets and transportation.

Part 24

The Cane Creek Area was in a furor and it was not considered safe for the missionaries to enter the area, so President Roberts disguised himself and with the assistance of J. Golden Kimball, a Brother Emmons, Robbin Church, Henry Harlow, William Church, Robert Coleman, and other local Saints, he removed the bodies of Elders Berry and Gibbs to Nashville where they were taken to Salt Lake City.

Part 25

A discussion about the causes of the murders in Cane Creek and efforts to seek justice. Notes about the missionary service of Elders Berry and Gibbs.

A blackjack oak, a species of tree mentioned by B.H. Roberts in his account of the events at Cane Creek.

Part 26

August-September 1884. Violence and threats continue through the end of August. Elders Woodbury and Fuller were staying at the Jenkins home in Alabama and Elder Fuller was beaten by a mob. Sister Jenkins, who had been in poor health, almost died of the stress of the event but was blessed to return to health by the missionaries. Many missionaries were taken very ill in September. The South Carolina and North Carolina and Virginia Conferences meet.

Part 27

October-December 1884. The year ended much more quietly although threats continued and members had to leave the Cane Creek area. A large company of Saints emigrates in November. While B. H. Roberts was absent at various times during the year, J. Golden Kimball took charge of the mission. John Morgan and B.H. Roberts met in December and advised church leadership on the state of the mission. President Wilford Woodruff and his counselors advised the mission leadership to continue missionary work but to immediately leave contentious areas.

Part 28

January-April 1885. President Morgan visited the mission in January and sent B.H. Roberts home for a "much needed rest." A company of Saints emigrated in February. Elder Wilson was staying in Putnam County, Tennessee, when he was kidnapped and beaten before being released with a warning to leave the county. In March President Morgan returned from accompanying some Saints to Utah. He released Elder J. Golden Kimball. President Morgan returned home in April for the funeral of his young daughter Flora.

Part 29

May-June 1885. Elders Garner and Christensen arrested and charged with violating a state law against the preaching of polygamy. They awaited trial in prison in Elizabethton, Tennessee, until President Morgan arranged bail, at which point they continued their labors in the mission. Elders Cragun and Fraughton were staying outside the Catawba Reservation when they were shot at and beaten.

Part 30

July-December 1885. Georgia Conference meets in Haywood Valley. The case against Elders Christensen and Garner returned to court and Elder Christensen was indicted but Elder Garner was not. Work progressed in East Tennessee. In August Elders Christensen and Garner were sent home and President Morgan visited Elizabethton and found that their bail bond had been recorded as $5 rather than $500, so Elder Christensen was only liable for a sum of $5. Two Catawba members of the church were called to serve a mission to the Cherokee Indians. The year ended quietly.

Seneca Creek, West Virginia.

Part 31

1886. Emigration. Preaching the gospel. President Morgan tours the mission and holds conferences. Elder Harper arrested and taken to Stanardsville where he was acquitted.

Part 32

October 1886-May 1887. Mission conferences in Georgia and Tennessee. Elders harassed. President Morgan visits at home then returns to lobby in Nashville against a bill prohibiting the preaching of polygamy. Bill tabled. Emigration. Successful work. Mission to the Cherokee Indians. More use of printed materials for public relations.

Part 33

June-December 1887. President Morgan returned from the West and immediately prepared and led a company of 120 emigrants to the West. Mob violence directed against missionaries resulting in threats, kidnapping, and beatings. Many missionaries sick during the summer. Baptisms increase as the summer ends. Conference held in Mississippi then Tennessee. President Morgan attacked at the West Tennessee Conference held in Cowpens Creek, Alabama. The Alabama Conference split and work started in Northern Florida. Conference held in Georgia followed by the East Tennessee Conference. Middle Tennessee Conference created. Maryland split from Virginia. West Virginia Conference followed by the North Carolina and South Carolina Conferences. Large emigration in November. Elders Tate and Hendricks threatened and injured by buckshot. A generally successful year.

Part 34

January-July 1888. Wilford Woodruff releases John Morgan as president of the Southern States Mission. William Spry begins his service as president on January 4. Missionaries arrive and depart. In April 177 members emigrate under the direction of John Morgan and William Spry. Mobs organized and violence threatened. Elder Shipp beaten, Elder Wright almost lynched. President Spry returns and holds conferences and encourages the missionary work and cautions the missionaries to be careful during the most violent season in late summer.

Part 35
July-September 1888. Quiet summer. Elder Edmund Z. Taylor dies. Elder Stookey or Stucki of the mission office retrieves his body and sends it to Ogden. President Spry holds Maryland Conference in West Virginia. Mob violence targets Elders James Douglas, Thomas Holt, Asahel Fuller, and their host James Brooks. They are severely beaten.




Additional Southern States Mission Content

He Being Dead, Yet Speaketh
The Faucett family provides the mission publication with some letters written by murdered missionary Joseph Standing. See follow-up post on Ancestral Ties.

The First Relief Society in the Southern States
Newspaper clipping from the Deseret News. See additional information at Amateur Mormon Historian (The First Relief Society Presidency in the Southern States) and Ancestral Ties (The First Relief Society Presidency in the Southern States).

Burned the Church (Introduction—Part 1—Part 2—Part 3)
1895. The Saints and missionaries in the West Virginia Conference at Two Mile, Kanawha County, organize a conference. The church meeting was burned. The community rallies and provides support to finish the conference.

Southern Star Obituary for John Morgan
J.G. Kimball: "I picked up a Chattanooga Times one morning, and I was very much delighted to see in print these words, speaking of Elder John Morgan. It said: 'To shake his hand was to be his friend.' I have never forgotten it. When you shook John Morgan's hand and he looked into your face you always knew that you were his friend."

Pictures of the Cane Creek Area
Missionaries are still visiting this area to pay tribute to the fallen.

The photos are from the Southern Star, www.flickr.com/photos/brent_nashville/116196125/, www.flickr.com/photos/skrobotic/21197208/, www.flickr.com/photos/nataliemaynor/149312252/, www.flickr.com/photos/sminor/387003576/, www.flickr.com/photos/lonecellotheory/519362995/, www.flickr.com/photos/dwineman/153502758/, and www.flickr.com/photos/auburnuniversitydigitallibrary/2925082092/, courtesy of the Auburn University Libraries.