"Mrs. Horne's father was a Methodist, and her mother a member of the Church of England. Mrs. Horne as a child, had very strong religious tendencies, and when requested by her Sabbath School teacher to commit to memory two or three verses from the Bible, she would learn a whole chapter or perhaps two, and recite without being prompted. "When only in her eleventh year, she became so fascinated with the Bible that her leisure hours after the labors of the day were over, were employed in reading and studying the history and incidents, the sublime parables and teachings contained in that sacred work; thus prepared to receive in due time the Gospel of the new and last dispensation. In 1832, Mrs. Horne's parents decided to emigrate, and concluded to go to upper Canada. April 6th, they left England with a family of five sons and two daughters. "One little boy died upon the way. On the 16th of June, they arrived in York, strangers in a strange land, where the cholera was making fearful ravages, but the Lord preserved them all in health. The following spring, 1833, the family removed to the country, about eight miles from York. Mrs. Hales' health was delicate and the care of the whole family devolved upon Mary Isabella, only fifteen years of age. "In the spring of 1834, she attended a Methodist camp meeting in the neighborhoood, where she first met Mr. Joseph Horne, and two years afterward, Joseph Horne and Mary Isabella were united in marriage on the 9th of May, 1836." Only about one month of their wedded life had passed when they heard a rumor that a man professing to be sent of God, to preach to the people would hold a meeting about a mile distant. Mr. and Mrs. Horne attended this meeting and there they first heard the Gospel, proclaimed by Elder Orson Pratt, but little knew how the course of their life would be changed by receiving this great light. Mrs. Horne was baptized in July, 1836, by Elder Orson Hyde, and ever after her house was a home for the elders, and a place where meetings were held. In the latter part of the summer of 1837, she first saw the Prophet Joseph, also Sidney Rigdon and Thomas B. Marsh." She says: "On shaking hands with the Prophet Joseph Smith, I received the holy spirit in such great abundance that I felt it thrill my whole system from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. I had never beheld so lovely a countenance, nobility and goodness were in every feature. I said to myself, 'O Lord, I thank thee for granting the desire of my girlish heart in permitting me to associate with prophets and apostles.'" "In March 1838, while the weather was still wintry, Mr. and Mrs. Horne bade farewell to their home, and with a few saints started for the gathering-place of the people of God.