Memoirs of John R. Young, Utah Pioneer, 1847Young, John R.
History
Memoirs of John R. Young, Utah Pioneer, 1847
Young, John R.
Latter Day Saint pioneers -- Utah -- Biography; Young, John R., 1837-
Ever since that day Aunt Patience has been as kind and gentle to me as
my own mother. So did the Father answer my prayers.
Brother Whipple had a large number of logs scattered among the timber,
ready to be hauled to the mill. I took four yoke of his oxen and went
to logging. One day, as I came in muddy and tired, I met a gentleman
who asked for Mr. Young. I answered: "That's my name." But he wanted
Elder Young, the Mormon preacher; and he could hardly comprehend how
a man could be an ox driver and a minister of the Gospel at the same
time. After supper I held meeting in the kitchen, and talked to a house
full of earnest listeners until midnight.
On Saturday, February 6, 1858, I went home with Mr. Bradford, the
gentleman who came the previous evening. I stayed a week with him.
Daytimes I threshed barley with a flail, at two dollars a day; evenings
I gave Gospel talks to his family and a few invited friends. At the end
of the week, his wife wanted to be baptized. The doctors and ministers
visited her, and said that if she went into the water it would kill
her, as her health was delicate, and she had been heavily dosed with
calomel.
Nevertheless, at three o'clock Sunday morning, we put her into a spring
wagon and drove fifteen miles to a secluded place on a sparkling
mountain stream. Mr. Bradford helped me carry her into the water, and I
baptized her for the remission of her sins, and confirmed her a member
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I then returned to the Redwoods and held a meeting at Brother
Whipple's. A good many strangers attended; and as a result of these
meetings seven persons were added to the Church, for which I greatly
rejoiced.
About this time my Brother Franklin W. arrived from the islands.
Chapter 15.
Start for a Thirteen-Hundred-Mile Walk.--Become Indian Scout--Meet
Jacob Hamblin, the Indian Peacemaker.--Surrounded by Forty Indian
Warriors.--Shooting a Dove Saves our Scalps.
By the first of March forty persons had gathered at the Redwoods, 40
miles south of San Francisco, prepared to go to Utah. We organized a
company by appointing Eli Whipple, captain; Sextus E. Johnson, sergeant
of the guard; John R. Young, chaplain; and Elemuel Sawtell, clerk.
Brother Whipple furnished the provisions, and hauled the blankets
for the returning elders, thirteen in number; and with hearts full
of hope and joy we started out for a walk of thirteen hundred miles.
Before setting out, Joseph A. Kelting and I went to San Francisco and
purchased thirty-five rifles and one hundred pounds of powder.
At the start grass was short, and teams were heavily loaded, so we
traveled slowly. By the middle of April, it was evident that our
provisions would not last us through. Our meat was nearly gone, and I
began to urge the brethren to lie over a day and hunt. However, as we
saw but little game, and killed none, there was no spirit for hunting.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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