Westons Go West 1 - The Call is Received

 

 

April 13, 1873,

180 Wharf Street, St Margaret’s,

Leicester

 

Mrs. Mary Weston, aged 35, is sitting down in the living room, sipping a cup of peppermint tea. There is a knock on the door, which she  goes to answer and ushers her husband’s elderly cousin, Miss Ann Weston, into the room. Ann seems very agitated.

“Ann, how lovely to see thee. Happy Easter. Please have a seat.”

Ann settled herself in the chair opposite Mary.

“Thank you, and the same to you. Where are your family? I expected to see you all here together.”

“Simon has gone to see some of his shoemaking friends, and Israel and Sammy have gone with him. Rachel has taken Joseph and Alice to the Park. We just finished our Easter lunch. Have thee eaten? I will be happy to get some for thee. We had a lovely ham, and there is sufficient left.”

“No thank you. I had to work up my courage to come here, to tell Simon what a dreadful mistake you are making, and now I find that I have wasted my time, and he isn’t even here.”

“Thee are welcome to wait. He should be home by 5. Or I could ask him to stop by thy house later on this evening.”

“I may as well say it to you and you can tell him. I’ve just heard. You are going to Utah, to join up with the Mormons there. I can hardly believe that you would do such a reckless thing.”

“Don’t fuss thyself unnecessarily. Let me get thee a cup of peppermint tea. It has brewed.”

“I would prefer real tea.”

“We are not allowed to drink tea, coffee or alcohol, thee knows.”

“Peppermint will have to do then, thank you.”

Mary gets a cup and saucer out of the dresser, and then pours a cup of peppermint tea and gives the cup to Ann, who is visible trembling, enough to make the cup rattle, and then eventually she takes a sip and seems to settle down somewhat.

“Thee must have known that Simon and I have been planning on going to Zion as soon as we were able. President Brigham Young (pictured above)  declared in 1860 that emigration 'upon the first feasible opportunity, directly follows obedience to the first principles of the gospel we have embraced' and now, we have had a message to say that the time is right.”

Ann again seemed to get very agitated. “Message? I suppose you mean you've seen the Angel Gabriel. You mean you think God has told you to go?” She puts her cup down on the side table, without having any more.

Mary laughed. “That may be the case, Ann, but he has used a human instrument in this case. The time is right because the authorities have lowered the cost of emigrating by half, and Mr. James Blake, who is in charge of missions here in England at the moment, feels that it will never again be so cheap for any of us to make the trip. So the plan is for as many of us disciples that can possibly make it should plan on going to Liverpool to set out for New York this May.”

“And taking all your children. Except the two that rest in the sod here. Have your forgotten them? Little Nephi, only five who died last year, and Mary Isabelle, only two, that you buried just a few months ago. Mary, how can you leave them behind? How can you leave your parents, your sisters and brothers, all of the rest of us, your relatives?”

“Thy never did comprehend our religion, did thee?”

“Oh, I do wish you would talk ordinary English. I get so irritated with all those thys and such. Why do you do it?”

“Our religion asks us to. It is a way of identifying us as members of the Mormon church, and reminding us, each time we speak, that what we say will reflect on everyone of our belief.”

“How long have you and Simon been members anyway?”

“Simon was the first to get the calling. He was baptised in 1860, before we were married. He wanted me to become a member too, so I studied what was involved, and decided I could do it, as much to please him, as anything else. But it is a good Christian religion, and the followers, if they live their religion properly, reflect that which would be pleasing to Jesus.”

“Good Christians, my hat! If you go there, Simon is likely to take more wives. They do that, you know. How would you feel about that?”

“I know Simon won’t. He has told me so. It isn’t every Morman male who is called to take plural wives. And usually there is a specific reason for it. Our religion tells us to scatter our seed wide - so as to provide redemption to the greatest number. Sometimes a plural wife it is woman who would not normally have the chance to be married and have children. It is a gift to them they would not otherwise receive.”

“Pish. It is the men who want free gifts, and you know what I am talking about.”

“I won’t argue the point with you, Ann. Simon says I am more than enough wife for him, and I believe him.”

“But why? Why go there? Why can’t you practice your religion here as well as anywhere else?”

“We can, of course. But Zion (which is what Salt Lake City in Utah is called) is where we believe Jesus will use for his Second Coming. And we want to be there, either in the flesh, or in the ground, to be among the first resurrected when that day comes. And we want to be with our own sort - to help promote the cause. There is strength in numbers.”

“You cannot be so gauche as to believe that Jesus has singled out one place in Utah, and that if you aren’t there, you can’t be saved.”

“It has to be somewhere. He singled out Bethlehem.”

“All right. I accept that you are going. I presume that Simon will be even more determined than you are. What about you taking your children away? Do they share your excitement and pleasure in making such a horrendous change to your lives. And it must be very expensive - for how many of you - seven? What will it cost you anyway, if I might be so bold to ask.”

“That is one of the reasons why we are going now. The tickets for the ship from Liverpool to New York now cost half what they did a year ago. There is some sort of price competition going on between the shipping companies, and we disciples are called to make the most of it, as we would be going anyway. We have been saving for this time, for years now, but we hadn’t quite saved enough until we heard that we can now go at half price. The tickets will cost £2 per adult, and half fare for children under 7. Rachel, as thee knows is working as a florist, and has a young man who has shown an interest in her. She plans to stay here for now, and perhaps join us in the future, after a few years. So that leaves Israel and Simon, who will both pay full fare, and Joseph and Alice who will only need pay half. £10 all together.”

“Are they not financing you at all then?”

“In 1849 the Church organized the perpetual emigrating fund (PEF) to solicit donations and provide emigrants with loans, the repayment of which would aid others. Such loans were most often made available to individuals with needed skills, to those whose relatives or friends donated to the PEF, or to those who had been faithful Church members for ten years or longer. There are three categories of immigrants: the independent, who pay their own way to Utah; "states" or "ordinary" immigrants, who paid only enough to reach a port of entry and PEF immigrants, assisted by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund. We will be borrowing from the PEF about £30 which will give us the means to buy the necessary equipment, and also to pay our train fares to Salt Lake City. They have assured us a place to stay and employment when we get there.”

“And you trust them? You believe them? How can they possibly know that?”

“We have been approached by James Blake with great encouragement for us to emmigrate, as Simon has a great skill which they have much need of in Utah. He will for sure get work with his skill as a shoe maker. The towns there are small, and many of the apostles from the United States who join are farmers, or poor and unskilled. Mr. Blake says they particularly want people from England and Europe who have skills to come, not only to work, but also to teach those skills to others. We will of course, repay the PEF as soon as we are able and then that money can go towards helping another pilgrim.”

“Do you actually know where you are going? Will it be Salt Lake City?”

“Mr. Blake will be coming with us on the journey, and has indicated that there are several settlements to the north and south of Salt Lake City which are just developing, and would better be able to cope with an influx of newcomers. We think we will probably be going to Ogden. It is about fifty miles north of Salt Lake City.”

“Will anyone else from here be going? Anyone that you know to help you with the journey?”

“Not that I know of, but why don’t thee come with us Ann? Now that thy cousin that you were housekeeper for, Thomas Day, has died, and your mother, the same year, thee must be free to do as thou wishest. How difficult that must have been for thee, to lose them both at once. Surely thee has no ties to keep thee here and thee doesn’t have to convert to come along with us. The ship will no doubt contain many who are not of our calling.”

“I was left a small inheritance, enough to live on, and I have asked my great niece Mary Tealby to live with me. We get along well. I’m sure that will do nicely for me, and for her. But, thank you for asking, but going thousands of miles away from home to a god-forsaken place like that is more than I could possibly do. Even without having to put up with a crack-pot religion.”

“I’m sorry thee feel that way Ann. We will pray for thee. I have heard that it is a wonderful place. Beautiful mountains, and good clean air. There is hardly any poverty, and people all work hard and it is almost like a utopia.”

“Don’t you realise that they tell you things like that to make you want to go. It's called brainwashing.”

“The Apostles don’t lie. It is a firm facet of our religion that we are truthful in all things. They did, of course, mention things that are not so pleasant - sometimes there are locusts that eat the crops. The winters can be very cold, I understand. And we will be a very long way from home. But we are told that more than half of the Mormons in Zion are English, and I cannot but believe that it will be a good thing for us and for our children.”

Ann Weston got up, and glanced out the window. “Well, I can see that there is nothing that I can say that will change your mind. I had best be leaving, as I see your brood coming back up the road. And I do wish you good sailing and a happy life. I will miss you, and Simon too, of course. But if it all goes wrong, don’t forget that I warned you. I will pray for you too! That you see sense before the middle of May.”

Mary gave her a warm hug. “Thank thee Ann Weston for thy good wishes, and also for thy warnings. I know thee do it with the best intentions. I will write to thee when we reach Zion to let thee know how things really are, but I have faith in God, and faith in our church. And I wish thee health and happiness in thy life here in Leicestershire.”