A Child of the Sea; and Life Among the MormonsWilliams, Elizabeth Whitney
History
A Child of the Sea; and Life Among the Mormons
Williams, Elizabeth Whitney
Beaver Island (Mich.); Latter Day Saints -- Michigan; Strang, James Jesse, 1813-1856
I was now home and yet there was a sadness about it. We were not all
together as we once had been. Father and mother had grown thin and pale.
John said he could never tell how much we children had been missed. He
had read his books, sung his songs and told his stories to pass away the
winter evenings, and they had all worried much about the Michigan,
knowing that we were out in that terrible storm when we left in the
fall. I was busy for a few days visiting our neighbors and telling them
about my trip and where I had been. My little friend Rose and her mother
were glad to see me, as I could tell them about their people on the
Headlands. Their Aunt Mary Snell and Cousins Andrus, Alva and the rest.
There was a sweet little babe at Cable's. They called her Cora, and I
was so glad, because now I could help take care of her. Somehow life had
changed. Before going away the world did not seem to reach out very far
beyond our island home, now it began to seem like a great big world to
me, and many were the questions I asked John, which he was always glad
to answer. Once I said, "John were you ever homesick?" After a minute he
answered, "Yes, sometimes." I said, "I know what homesick means now."
A MOTHER'S LONGING TO SEE HER BOY.
Though life was busy with us, we missed Charley. Brother Anthony had
returned from Green Bay, being delighted with his school, his uncle and
aunt were so kind to him. One evening I went to the beach to sit beside
the water. I wanted to hear its soft low whisperings again. I was not
there long before I heard some one sobbing. I turned and mother was
beside me. She said, "I came to look for you and I was thinking that
perhaps Charley may never come home." She sat beside me silent for a
time and then said, "Now we must not spend our time in sorrow. Sometime
Charley may come." And she told me how anxious she was about a sick
neighbor she was caring for, saying, "I shall depend on you, Elizabeth,
to help me, and I want you to be careful never to repeat anything we
talk about. There is much trouble among the Mormons themselves. Strang
has been gone all winter, and some of the apostles refuse to obey the
laws of polygamy. There are spies all about us and the Mormons are not
our friends any more." I promised her I would be careful. She said, "Mr.
Sinclair is afraid of his life, as he knows he may be made an example of
for refusing to obey Strang's laws. I have many things to think about
and do for this sick woman. And I want to tell you something else.
Elizabeth Crane is going to be married in June. Charles Angel will come
after her. Then her home will be in Saginaw and her sister Jennie will
come in her place to keep house for her father. So now do not worry
Elizabeth about anything, for she has lots of sewing and we must help
her all we can."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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