Dennis, Ronald D.,
“William Howells: First Missionary to France,” in Supporting Saints:
Life Stories of Nineteenth-Century Mormons (Provo, UT: Religious
Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1985), 43–81.
William Howells: First Missionary to France
Ronald D. Dennis
Ronald D. Dennis was
an associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Brigham Young University
when this was published. He received his BA from Brigham Young University and
his MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin. He has published in language
journals and has done research in LDS history, particularly in Wales. His
interest in William Howells relates to his skill in the Welsh language, as well
as his study of the history of the Church in Wales.
“I sincerely beseech
everyone not to give the name of ‘Saints’ to this foul mob; rather let them be
given their proper names, that is, ‘Nineteenth-century Satanists.’” This
exhortation appeared in March 1846 in the preface of a twenty-page Welsh
pamphlet aimed at bringing the “deceit of the creatures who call themselves
‘Latter-day Saints’” to the attention of the public.[1]
This epithet, coined
by W. R. Davies, was immediately adopted by other Mormon-haters throughout the
principality of Wales. W. R. Davies, a well-known Baptist minister in the Dowlais-Merthyr Tydfil area of
south Wales, ranked as Mormonism’s greatest antagonist in Wales from about 1844
to his death in 1849. He was joined in his lecturing and writing campaign
against the Mormons by many of his fellow nonconformist ministers.[2]
William Howells, a
fellow Baptist in a neighboring parish, took great interest in the raging
controversy surrounding the Latter-day Saints. He was a draper and operated a
dry goods store in Aberdare.[3] Characterizing
himself as “too bashful” to approach any of the Mormons directly for
information concerning their sect, he later wrote: “But a poor widow, supported
with her family by the poor fare of the parish, found means to get a tract,
which she gave me; which, like the little captive maid of Israel, in the house
of Naaman the leper, convinced me of the poverty of
my religion.”[4] To
certain ministers the tract Williams Howells referred to was “an odious
patchwork,” “dull and idiotic,” “blasphemous to the common sense of the Welsh,”
and “presumptious rubbish” which had been printed on
a “prostitute press” at Rhydybont.[5] But
to Howells the pamphlet was the catalyst which prompted him to seek out its
author, Dan Jones, and request baptism at his hands.
A year and a half
after casting his lot with the unpopular Mormons, William Howells, by writing a
2,100-word letter in his eloquent and flawless Welsh, answered a question posed
by John Davis, editor of Udgorn Seion (Zion’s Trumpet), as to how much good the
Reverend W. R. Davies and others had done in speaking against the Saints.
Stating that he had known very little about the Saints until the Reverend W. R.
Davies came to Aberdare to expose their deceit,
Howells wrote:
And to my surprise the
more he shouted while pounding his Bible on the pulpit, “Great fraud, devilish
hypocrisy, and miserable darkness of the Satanists of the Latter Days” all the
more the principles of the Saints, like rays of divine truth were shining to
the point of making me begin to believe that if these men were Satanic, that
his “Satanic Majesty” had more of the divine truth of the Bible than did the
religion which I professed.[6]
Howells revealed that
his love for the ministers had cooled over the years as he observed their lust
for money and their swollen, boastful spirits, so full of self-love. He had
tolerated these imperfections, blaming them on human weakness, because of his love
for the Baptist religion, but upon reading a forty-page pamphlet written by Dan
Jones in defense of Mormonism, Howells was completely won over.
Elder Dan Jones was
understandably excited at the conversion of William Howells:
Last evening, I
baptized a gentleman who is now, and has been, a Baptist minister for the last
eighteen years: he preached to his flock last Sunday, and has an appointment
for the successive Sunday. He came four miles purposely to be baptized, though
he had never heard a sermon, only reading my publications; especially my last
reply . . . finished him entirely, and he came in as good a spirit as anyone
that I ever saw, and has just returned on his way rejoicing. He is a wealthy
man of great influence, and, as he said, he feared that he was not a servant of
God, because he heard every person universally praising him, whereas the
scripture says, “Wo unto you
when all men shall speak well of you.”[7]
Since Howells was only
thirty-one years old at the time of his conversion to Mormonism, it is rather
doubtful that he had been a Baptist minister “for the last eighteen years.”
Furthermore, there is no evidence whatsoever that he had ever been ordained a
minister.[8] But
he had spent nearly twenty years with the Baptists[9] and
was a “wealthy man of great influence,” wealthy, at least, according to the
prevailing standards of the day in Wales.
Prior
to Howells’s Conversion to Mormonism
Because his journals
apparently have not survived and because much of what he wrote is in Welsh, the
short life of William Howells is not widely known; nevertheless, it is one that
deserves greater attention and one that furnishes the historian with insightful
information concerning the early days of Mormonism in Wales and of the taking
of the gospel into France.
William Howells was
christened 18 September 1816 at St. Donat’s,
Glamorganshire. St. Donat’s, in the extreme southern
portion of Wales, was at one time of considerable importance as the site where
the Normans staged their conquest of the county of Glamorgan.
The ancient castle which they erected overlooks the Bristol Channel. In 1816
there were fewer than two hundred inhabitants. Although at the time of
William’s birth his parents resided at Penmark, about
six miles east of St. Donat’s, both Lewis Howells and
Anne Priest had been born at St. Donat’s and would
later rear their family there.
Because Lewis
Howells’s occupation was a carpenter, one would expect his son, William, to
become something similar. Normally the children of Welsh laborers did not go
very far from home and became laborers themselves. In William’s case, however,
either there was some money in the family or perhaps a relative resided in
London, because as a young man he went to London and worked in a dry goods
store.[10] Whether
this was an official apprenticeship is not clear from family records, but it
was in London that he learned the trade of keeping shop. Later he would have
his own shop at Aberdare. In Aberdare
he met Martha Williams, three years his senior and the daughter of the
well-to-do Reese Williams. They were married 26 September 1839.
Mid-Nineteenth-Century
Wales
At this time the
industrial revolution in Britain was in full swing, and the massive migratory
movement from the rural area to the mining centers in the Rhondda Valley was
gaining momentum. Tenant farmers learned that they could earn four or five
times as much money in mining as they did on their farms. The rocky soil of
Wales had never been very productive, and this factor combined with the
attraction of providing a better living for themselves and their families,
tempting the country folk to break with tradition and cast their fortunes with
the underground operations in the growing population centers. Wales would never
be the same; gaping holes were made in her once luxuriant, green surface, and
the mining refuse was piled in large, unsightly, cone-shaped heaps or “tips.”
After making their
first break with tradition by moving to an urban setting, the newcomers were
prepared to make a second and equally momentous break—changing their religious
preference. In 1800 only about 10 percent of the population of Wales practiced
nonconformity. The religious census of 1851 reveals, however, that Merthyr Tydfil’s population was
composed of 60 percent religious worshippers of which 90 percent were
nonconformists.[11]
Between 1801 and 1851
Great Britain almost doubled in population,[12] and
in Merthyr Tydfil the
growth rate was even more spectacular as the population of 7,705 in 1801
increased to 46,378 by 1851.[13] Such
rapid growth was not without its problems. Crowded conditions were made worse
by lack of proper drainage, sanitation, and lighting. One of the biggest
problems, however, according to the nonconformist ministers during the second
half of the 1840s, was the menace of Mormonism.
The Mormon missionary
effort began in south Wales in late 1840. The first missionaries spoke no
Welsh; nevertheless, there were converts from both the English- and the
Welsh-speaking Welshmen. By January 1846 there were about five hundred members
of the Church, most of them in south Wales. As five hundred more were converted
during the year of 1846, the ministers became increasingly annoyed. And many of
them became nearly frantic as they witnessed almost one thousand more Welshmen
join ranks with the Mormons during 1847.[14] Their
impassioned lectures and publications failed to keep many of their most
stalwart parishioners from abandoning their pews in favor of the hated
“Latter-day Satanists.”
The Mormons proselyted
more aggressively as their numbers grew. A monthly publication,Prophwyd
y Jubili (Prophet of the Jubilee), was begun in
July of 1846; numerous pamphlets appeared in large editions from the press in Rhydybont, owned by Dan Jones’s brother, John, who at the
time was a nonconformist minister himself.[15] Lectures
were given and polemics were engaged in. The most significant polemic as far as
William Howells was concerned was the one between Dan Jones and Edward Roberts,
a Baptist minister at Rhymni, which began in
September 1847. After a couple of lectures by each, Dan Jones produced a
forty-page pamphlet entitled “A review of the lectures of the Rev. E. Roberts
(a Baptist minister in Rhymni), against Mormonism
which were delivered in Caersalem, September the 2nd,
and in Bethania (a chapel of the Independents),
September the 3rd, in Dowlais.” In it he treated the
numerous objections and accusations made by Reverend Roberts and used over
one-third of the text to shed light on the Spaulding manuscript story, a story
which Roberts had used to discount the validity of the Book of Mormon. Dan
Jones concluded the pamphlet by stating that he would much rather argue
principles than “answer the fool according to his foolishness.”[16]
Conversion
to Mormonism
It was a copy of this
pamphlet that William Howells obtained from the poor widow of his congregation.
After reading it with intense interest, he threw his allegiance to Dan Jones,
sought him, and received baptism at his hands. The two immediately became the
truest of friends. Even though Jones was but seven years older than Howells,
the latter often referred to the former as his “adored father,” no doubt
because through Jones he was figuratively born into the truth of the restored
gospel.
Membership in The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for William Howells was not without
its price. Many of his customers took their business to other shops. No longer
could the Howellses afford to send their
seven-year-old daughter, Ann, to boarding school in Swansea. William’s
father-in-law became so irate at their conversion to Mormonism that he
threatened to cut off the monthly allowance he had been giving them since their
marriage.
Although his wealth
and prestige were dwindling rapidly, Howells apparently still wielded some
influence; he immediately began proselyting friends, family, and former
parishioners. On 19 March 1849 he reported to Orson Spencer[17] his
success in bringing others into the Church, writing, “I have in the course of
the last twelve months, baptized about one hundred, which I consider a fair
commencement.”[18] It
was typical for all new converts to set about warning their friends and
neighbors of the urgency of becoming affiliated with the restored gospel, but
for one individual to bring in over one hundred converts in only a year was
truly extraordinary.
One of Howells’s great
tools in convincing others of the truth which he fervently believed he now
possessed in Mormonism was undoubtedly his power of articulation in English as
well as in Welsh. His flowery style and skillful use of imagery are typical of
the nineteenth century, and his letters to the Millennial Star and
to the Udgorn Seion were
woven from the same cloth as those of his brethren. His description of his
reaction to first hearing Mormon doctrine serves as a brief example:
But what astonished
me, was, that the armour I then wore, was nought but the traditional perplexing doctrines of the
learned, which were blown like chaff before the Euroclydon
of truth, that proceeded from the Mormon missionary [Dan Jones].[19]
Dan Jones became a
center of controversy not only among his foes from among the nonconformists but
among Church members and former members as well. Statistics printed in theUdgorn Seion and
the Millennial Star reveal that there were many excommunications
during this period. And occasionally, as in the days of Joseph Smith, these
disaffected persons would turn on those who had caused (as they supposed) their
troubles. As the mission president (his actual title was President of the
Church of Wales), Dan Jones was often the target of scorn and threats of
personal injury. These threats became so heated just prior to his departure
with the first Welsh Mormon emigrants in February 1849 that President Jones
required round-the-clock protection for his safety. His residence had to be
guarded for weeks before he left. And finally he had to flee in secret before
the scheduled time without being able to bid farewell to his wife and baby.[20]
Amidst all these
difficulties one of Jones’s most ardent defenders was William Howells. Evidence
of this loyalty is a two-thousand-word letter to Orson Spencer dated 19 March
1849. Because of the calumny which had been heaped on Dan Jones, Howells proceeded
“to describe the impression his holy conduct has made upon my heart; and . . .
thousands in Wales, besides.” The words of praise and the superlatives which
follow would cause the most flowery of funeral eulogies to pale by comparison:
In truth, it can be
said of him, that he was a man of observation and reflection; with soberness,
righteousness, and godliness, continually assimilating his mind with ardent
love and ambitious zeal to fulfil the solemn duties
of his exalted station, so that he might be approved by his master, as a good
and faithful servant. His sublime, generous, diligent spirit, applied itself
with new exertion continually, as circumstances and experience opened an
enlarged field for duty.[21]
One further example:
Our beloved brother’s
affection and humility on one hand, his resolution and courage on the other;
bearing the contempt of the world with dignity and appulse
with decency; had gained the affection of the members of the church of Jesus
Christ; particularly those holding the priesthood, to such a degree, that the
thought of parting for a short time, would cause a sensation, not to be
described by words.[22]
Such was the
expression of fierce allegiance William Howells held toward the messenger who
had brought him into Mormonism.
At Dan Jones’s last
conference prior to departing for Utah with the first group of Welsh emigrants,
Howells stated:
The Welsh Saints wish
to bear sincere witness to the faithful fulfillment of their dear brother,
Capt. D. Jones, by laboring day and night in their midst; and they are unable
to express in words the reverence they have toward him and his priceless
service in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ in Wales.[23]
He then proposed that
a suit of clothes be presented to Dan Jones and Brigham Young and that Welsh
woolen dresses be presented to their wives. His proposal received unanimous
support, and the clothes were made and given as suggested.
First
Journey to France (Le Havre)
The fervor for
gathering to Zion was so great among the Welsh during the late 1840s that it
was no doubt painful for William Howells to have to defer emigrating. Certainly
he could have made arrangements to be among the 350 who constituted the first
group of Welsh Mormons to leave Wales for their new “homeland.” His faith was
not shaken by the prediction that the emigrants would be sold into slavery as
they passed Cuba,[24] nor
was he deterred at the prospect of having to engage in physical labor upon
arriving in Utah, even though he had a frail constitution. But a mission call
to France caused him to sail east instead of west.
Prior to his
conversion to Mormonism, Howells had served for the Baptists as a missionary in
Brittany, that part of France which had been settled centuries earlier by fugitive
Britons.[25]Details of his first experience in
Brittany are not known; however, it was no doubt a sizable challenge, inasmuch
as he did not speak Breton, and his French was very limited. Nevertheless,
the fact that he had had this experience and his great missionary zeal resulted
in a call to return to Brittany, this time as a Mormon missionary.
Within six months following his conversion, the thirty-two-year-old Howells was
asked to prepare to serve, the call made official on 14 August 1848.[26] Earlier,
however, Howells had made mention of rejoicing “in the honour
of being sent as an ambassador of the gospel to France and Brittany.”[27] The
necessary preparations for such an undertaking must have posed considerable
difficulty to him, for it was nearly a year before he crossed the Channel.
Although the distance
to his assigned field of labor was but two hundred miles, bidding farewell to
his wife, Martha, his nine-year-old daughter, Ann, his six-year-old son,
William, and his ten-month-old son, Reese, was a most difficult task for
William Howells. In a report to Brother Davis, Howells inserted his journal
entry for 2 July 1849:
Last day before
starting on a mission to France; oh, how hard to part with a beloved wife and
little children, and leave them in the midst of persecuting enemies—leave her
and her young family to be provided for from a business that calls for the
presence of a person who understands the nature of such an occupation—leave
them in the midst of the plague that is reigning with deadly arrows next door
on the right and left, etc. . . . But God commands me to go! his
servants command me to![28]
The “plague” Howells
mentioned was cholera morbus, and his fears were well
founded, because, as he reported to Dan Jones, in Aberdare
alone in the space of just one month there were nearly one hundred deaths.[29] Not
much was known about the disease then except that it struck fast and was highly
contagious. Within a matter of days its victims were either improved or dead.
Clothes were systematically burned to prevent further spread, and those who had
not contracted the disease were terrified to be around those who had. It is
little wonder, then, that William Howells was reluctant to leave his wife and
children in the midst of such an epidemic, not knowing whether or not he would
see them alive again.[30]
Howells’s travels took
him first to Swansea, where he slept in the same house in which his “dear
father in the gospel,” Dan Jones, had slept just five months earlier on his way
to Zion.[31]Howells’s deep desire was to follow him;
duty, however, called him the opposite way. On the morning of 4 July 1849 he
boarded the same steamer (the Troubador) that
the first Welsh Mormon emigrants had used under the leadership of Captain Jones
to make their way to Liverpool prior to sailing west.
Howells’s purpose for
going to Liverpool was to confer with President Orson Pratt, recently called as
president of the Church in England. Orson Pratt, in size and appearance, was
very similar to William Phillips, successor to Captain Dan Jones in Wales. Howells’s
excitement ran high: “My heart is leaping with joy now, upon thinking that such
a pair who are younger than Jesus, are leading the brave hosts which are in
Wales and England.”[32] Upon
conferring with Orson Pratt, William Howells was ordained a high priest in the
High Priesthood, an honor reserved for only a select few in the early days of
the Church. The ordination was deemed necessary, in all likelihood, because he
was to be the sole representative of the Church in France.
As William Howells
made his way from Liverpool to Le Havre, his first city in France, a drama was
unfolding in Aberdare. Reese Williams, his seventy-four-year-old
father-in-law, was becoming more and more antagonistic toward the Church and
especially toward the involvement of his daughter, Martha, and her family. The
call for his son-in-law, William Howells, to leave Wales to serve a mission in
France was more than he could stand. On 9 July 1849, just a few days after
Howells had left Wales on his mission, Reese Williams sent his son on a mission
of his own—to convince Martha Howells to come to her senses and leave the
Church. His express command was that she not only sever
all connections with the Mormons but also that she refrain from sending any
money to her husband in France. Noncompliance with his wishes would mean
disinheritance for Martha and a discontinuance of the monthly allowance she had
been receiving for years. When his son returned with the message that Martha
felt safer in complying with the will of her Heavenly Father than with that of
her earthly father, Reese Williams went into a rage. He struck the table with
his cane and vowed that the following day he would send for his lawyer and cut
Martha off without a penny.
Following her
brother’s visit, Martha attended the Monday night prayer meeting scheduled for
the Aberdare Branch and received not only the solace
of the meeting but an additional benefit as well. One brother arose and spoke
in tongues, and the interpretation was that the sister who was troubled about
her financial affairs should take comfort, as all things would work to her
good. Later that night Martha’s brother came by once again, this time in great
haste to get her back to their father’s home where he lay dying. Old Reese
Williams had been taken severely ill after supper and did not recognize his
daughter when she arrived sometime around midnight. He died shortly thereafter
without having had time to alter his will; consequently, Martha continued to
receive the monthly allowance and received her share of her father’s land and
his coal mine. Williams’s death on 9 July 1849 ironically coincided with the
date his son-in-law first set foot on French soil as Mormonism’s first
missionary to that country.[33]
Had anyone checked
Howells’s baggage when he landed at Le Havre on that July day of 1849, they
would have found it filled with pamphlets in both English and French. Actually,
the French publication could be better described as a flier printed on both
sides. Entitled “L’Evangile” (“The Gospel”), it
contained a series of scriptures in support of the first principles, the
necessity for proper authority to act in God’s name, the angel bringing the
everlasting gospel prophesied of in Revelation 14:6, and the spiritual gifts
mentioned in Mark 16:17–20. Nowhere in the two-page flier is “Mormonism”
mentioned; however, the full name of the Church, “L’Eglise
de Jesus Christ, aux Saints des Derniers Jours,” is given once. Then an appeal is made to the reader
to search the scriptures carefully to determine whether their church has the
proper characteristics and then to come and embrace the true gospel. No author
is mentioned, although William Howells must have had a hand in producing this
small tract, which was printed by John Davis in Merthyr
Tydfil.
The established
procedure for proselyting at that time was to loan out tracts to whoever would
accept them and then to call back for them in a few days. A person could
purchase the publications if he or she wished or simply exchange one on loan
for another. This was what William Howells did, with one exception—the tract in
French he simply gave away. Since he was laboring in a port city and had very
little knowledge of the French language, he adopted the custom of visiting the
American ships in port and encouraged other missionaries to do likewise where
possible. His visits in the city were to English families. His efforts during
the first three weeks of his mission produced very few positive results and a
sizable amount of discouragement.
His journal entry for
28 July 1849 is indicative of how the work was progressing:[34]
Rather idle in the
morning, so low spirited. Had a long conversation again with a fine young
Dutchman, whom I hoped to baptize. He refused to obey, and was taken very ill
and constrained to go home to Holland immediately. I took him to lodge with me,
believing that I should be successful in getting him into the kingdom. He was a
zealous professor of the Dutch religion, but after all my kindness to him he
left me minus of a shirit [sic], which he took away
in mistake perhaps. Distributed about fifty tracts in Rue de
Paris. They are desirous of having tracts, but will not give a sou for a dozen.[35]
But 30 July was a much
more successful day—Howells performed his first baptism as a missionary to
France. The new member was Augustus Saint d’Anna,
thirty years old, single, and a foreigner by birth.[36] He
was fluent in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Creole languages and
agreed to meet Howells in St. Malo at the end of
August after the latter had made a brief trip back to Wales to check on his
family. Whatever happened to Augustus Saint d’Anna is
not recorded in any further writings of William Howells.[37]
Two days later
Howells’s spirits got another lift as he conversed with Monsieur Piclard, a French Protestant minister who questioned
Howells through an interpreter minutely for eleven hours. Piclard
sought out the missionary the next day and took him by the arm to the
interpreter where he questioned him further about mesmerism, a topic of great
interest throughout Great Britain and on the Continent in those days. He was
apparently very happy with the responses he was receiving, for he bought a copy
of all the tracts Howells had with him and even put his hand in his pocket and
offered a handful of money, an offer declined by the missionary, as he was not
then in want. Howells later referred to Piclard as
the person “who first believed the gospel in France.”[38]Belief, however, was never translated
into action as far as the records show. Curtis Bolton recorded in his journal
that Piclard had committed to be baptized on one
occasion but backed out at the last minute.[39] Certain
members of Piclard’s congregation in Le Havre,
however, did join ranks with the Mormons.[40]
On 3 August 1849,
exactly one month from the time Howells had left Aberdare
on his way to France, and just under four weeks from the time he had first
begun his labors at Le Havre, he left for Wales to visit his family.
Back
in Wales
A tragedy that served
to strengthen the faith of the Saints and to frighten their enemies took place
during Howells’s sixteen-day stay in Aberdare. An
explosion of foul air in the coal pit at Cwembach,
three miles from Aberdare, killed several people and
brought grief to the widows, children, and friends of the victims. Knowing
there were many Latter-day Saints living in that branch, Howells accompanied
some of his brother officers down into the mine. There “in the midst of the
slaughter [they] found that the only Saint that worked in the pit had escaped
without losing a hair off his head.” Surrounding him were fifty-five corpses
who “to a man” had been persecutors of the Saints.[41]
Another experience
Howells had in connection with a mining accident was related in his daughter
Ann’s biography decades later:
One day Ann saw a
multitude of people surrounding the house of a collier, who had just been
carried home on a stretcher, apparently dying. A great lump of coal had fallen
on his back and broken his spine. . . . He had lately joined the Church but his
wife had not. Great sympathy was felt for the man, and several doctors were
sent for by various people. They held a consultation and came to the conclusion
that the man would only be able to live a couple of hours at the most. But the
injured man whispered to his wife to send for the “Mormon” elders. Brother
Howell, who was President of the branch, came with his counselors and they
administered to the sick man and Brother Howell commanded him in the name of
Jesus Christ to arise from his bed. And those who stood around the bed heard
the bones of the sick man’s body crack as they slid back into their places and the
man arose from his bed and gave thanks to God for his mercy.[42]
Martha’s brother, who
had been sent to persuade Martha to abandon the Mormons, was in a real quandary
as William Howells returned from his first journey to France. A few days after Reese Williams’s death the wife of Martha’s
brother had accepted baptism. Then her family almost caused her to
withdraw from Mormonism and return to the Baptists. Her father had nearly
convinced her that all the Mormons wanted from people was
their money. William Howells arrived back in Aberdare
just in time to steady her before she fell, and to give her added strength, he
baptized her husband, Martha’s brother, who no doubt had given much thought to
what Mormonism was doing to his life. The baptism took place on the property
which had belonged to Reese Williams. Set for 5:00 A.M. Sunday, 19 August 1849,
it represented the last item of business that Howells had to take care of
before departing a second time for France.[43]
William Howells had been
in the Church by this time just under two years. One of his biggest
disappointments had been his failure to bring his parents and his brothers and
sisters into the gospel also. During this brief interim in Wales, he visited
all of them and extracted a promise from each that he or she would be baptized
on William’s next visit to Wales.[44] His
father he described as “a worthy man, a millenarian, having many interesting
ideas in conneion [sic] with the restoration of the
Jews, the millennial reign of Jesus, the restoration of all things, etc.”[45]
Second
Journey to France (St. Malo)
Soon after baptizing
his brother-in-law, Howells departed once again to continue his mission in
France, this time accompanied by a junior companion, his nine-year-old
daughter, Ann. Thinking perhaps that she would be able to learn the French
language more readily than he and also hoping that she might soften some hearts
because of her age, William Howells had Ann by his side for the next three
months.[46]
Their first stop was
at Cardiff, the largest city in Wales, where Howells preached at the 11:00 A.M.
meeting and then again at 6:00 P.M. They left the following morning headed for
the Channel Islands, where they arrived on Tuesday morning, 21 August. There
they were met by Brother William C. Dunbar, one of the very early converts in
England and a member of the Church for nine years, who was then serving a
mission on these out-of-the-way islands. Elder Dunbar was having a great deal
of success in baptizing the English as well as the French on the Isle of
Jersey. Howells offers a possible answer for such astounding success: “Brother
Dunbar seems to suit the place exceedingly well; both himself,
brother officers, and the cholera, are exerting themselves, bringing in a fine
harvest of souls to the kingdom.”[47] Also
a factor was the tracts and pamphlets. Howells had given Dunbar four hundred of
his French tracts and proudly reported of one of the converts that “she was
convinced, and converted to the truth by reading my little tract.”[48] Memories
of Howells’s days as a Baptist missionary came to him during his brief stay at
Jersey: “Thursday afternoon I preached to a group of Jerseyites
in English. It was very strange to me, for two years ago I preached for the
Baptist Church here at the request of the minister, who, I was sorry to hear,
has just got out of jail!”[49]
On Friday morning, 24
August, father and daughter left Jersey for St. Malo,
three hours distant. Elder Dunbar promised that a French brother officer should
follow Howells there in about a month’s time. It would certainly have been a
boost to the effort had someone fluent in the French language been assigned to
work side-by-side with Howells. But there is no indication that he ever
received such assistance; furthermore, his first convert in France, Augustus
Saint d’Anna, apparently did not keep his commitment
to meet Howells in St. Malo at the end of August.
In St. Malo the newly arrived Mormon missionaries visited a few
English families. On Sunday, two days after their arrival, they attended
services at an Episcopalian chapel, which was small but “well filled with pride
and lukewarm religionists, without even the form of godliness.”[50] Follow-up
visits to the clergymen and flocks triggered from them insulting abuse and
accusations of blasphemy. One man who was particularly upset was a Mr. Huddlestone, an American. On the morning of 29 August he
called at the lodgings of Howells and asked that the Mormon missionary be sent
for. Howells describes the ensuing encounter thus:
Trembling with
passion, grinding his teeth, and shaking his clenched fist in my face, he said,
“You villain. If you bring any more of these accursed tracts
to my house . . .” and a volley of threatenings which
I do not remember. When he heard that I was going to open a place for
preaching not far from his house, he vowed that he should attend, and if I
attempted to do so that he would break every bone in my body (he had never
tried I suppose, the toughness of a Welshman’s bones).[51]
Howells was then
negotiating for the rental of Ebenezer Chapel[52] in
St. Servan. The first meeting of the Mormons in
France was held there less than one month later on 23 September 1849. Huddlestone, however, was not in attendance. Howells
received information which he was unable to substantiate that two of Huddlestone’s children had died in the interim.
Many years later Ann
recalled some of their experiences in St. Malo and
St. Servan, a very short distance away. She said that
many times while distributing tracts they were driven away with threats and
that she had to run as fast as she could to escape trouble. On one occasion,
had it not been for the intervention of friends, Howells would have been thrown
into a pond of water. Their first night at St. Servan
mob violence forced them into a grove where they succeeded in eluding the mob
until towards morning. Then Ann’s father told her to stay where she was while
he went into the city to ascertain how matters stood at their lodgings. He said
he would return soon with some breakfast. Shortly after his departure some of
the mob returned and found the little girl. They took her with them as they
continued their search for her father, but a lady who lived near the entrance
to the grove convinced the mob to let her take the girl and care for her.
Fortunately, they agreed. Ann kept a close watch for her father to return and
had a joyous reunion a short time later.[53]
Howells reported that
his landlady and all in the house except the servant joined together in calling
him a “false prophet.” But the intrepid father-and-daughter team continued
their distribution of French and English tracts in spite of any and all
opposition. Said Howells: “Welsh blood is not to be daunted
easily, as the devil shall well know before the end comes; he is daily kicking
me here, and also taking my halfpence away, but I expect to master him
shortly.”[54] The
“halfpence” reference has to do with the expense to Howells each time someone
returned his tracts by post; to retrieve them he had to pay postage due.
Instead of paying the postage due, however, he would use the situation as an
excuse to return to the sender to ask them for money to get his tracts from the
post! He does not state, however, whether such attempts were successful.
The Howellses did succeed in making a few friends despite all
the hostility, and these friends informed them that their enemies were going to
arrange for the mayor to prosecute Howells for distributing tracts in St. Servan. Howells went to St. Malo
to the English consul for advice, and the advice was to refrain from
distributing tracts, even though it was not illegal. Howells seized the
opportunity and preached the gospel to the consul, “but he actually refused to
be baptized for the remission of his sins.”[55] One
sees these occasional specks of humor in Howells’s writings, evidence that the
persecution and discouragement were not totally overwhelming.
Having completed all
necessary arrangements for the rental of Ebenezer Chapel, Howells scheduled the
first meeting for 23 September 1849. The two meetings held there represent the
first official meetings of the Mormons in France. The attendance was slight in
the morning, but more came for the 6:00 P.M. service, and Howells was elated.
Attendance at both meetings was no doubt affected by such things as one brewery
master who threatened his workers with immediate dismissal should they venture
forth to the Mormon meeting.[56]
Several who went to
the meetings were touched by the spirit of conversion. The first one to request
baptism was Mademoiselle Ann Browse, “a Lady of Fortune and great learning,
member with Mr. Penlee’s Church of England for the
last 20 years with great influence with all the great folks of the place,
Protestants and Catholics.”[57] After
her confirmation, she rose and presented William Howells with a “small
cassette” containing a precious gold ring. He was greatly flattered and
commented to his friend Dan Jones in a letter, “Really when I put it on my
finger I looked like a gentleman, and no mistake.”[58] The
Sunday of Ann Browse’s baptism was very cold, and because of a lingering
illness she had had for years, her friends warned her that her baptism would
cost her her life. Undaunted, she went down into the
water of a bay near St. Malo. Howells was ecstatic at
the result:
The disease that had
preyed upon her constitution for years, and baffled the power of the physician,
was completely eradicated. The pallid cheek from that moment showed the healthy
bloom of youth, so much so that all congratulated her, and the report
circulated that a ducking in the sea on such a cold morning was a sure cure.[59]
While in Wales,
Howells had been able to observe the conflict between the established religion
and the various nonconformist sects. In France he was able to see yet another
dimension of this conflict between the nonconformists and the Catholics.
Catholicism was not something he was very familiar with, since it was rare
among the Welsh. He noted with some amusement the rivalry between the Catholic
and Protestant professors of Christianity in France and was unable to say which
hated the other more. The way the Catholics shunned the Bible particularly
interested him. After conversing with a learned Catholic priest for some hours,
Howells was astonished to hear his views of the Bible: “‘I believe the Bible to
be true, because the church gave it me as such, otherwise I should think no
more of it than Punch [a humorous British periodical].’”[60] Howells
learned of a member of a missionary society who had visited families which he
was then visiting. The society was distributing tracts and copies of the Bible.
Although received with great politeness, the publications were promptly burned
at the departure of the donor according to the general plan the Catholics had
adopted. As for Mormon tracts, both Protestants and Catholics took delight in
using them to light their fires.
After two months in
St. Servan, Howells reported that the persecution was
not diminishing. Rather, because of the opening of a place for preaching and
the baptism of a Brother William Peddle, the opposition increased to the point
of causing Howells and daughter to continue their proselyting elsewhere for a
time. So he ordained Brother Peddle to the priesthood, presented him with a
number of French tracts, and made his way to Dinan,
about twenty miles distant.[61]
At 7:00 P.M. on 23
October 1849 on the steamer for Dinan he met an
English clergyman who informed him that should he fail to locate lodgings for
himself and daughter that they would have to return to the packet (boat).
Howells replied that he had been refused permission to remain on deck. The
clergyman made no further comment. Unsuccessful in finding a place to stay,
Howells spent the dark, cold night of 23 October with his daughter in his arms
at the base of a monument erected in honor of a celebrated person who had
conquered the English on the spot five hundred years before. Howells pointed
out: “Had the gentleman-clergyman taken us as his guests, ‘forgetting not to
entertain strangers,’ we could not have spent the night more happy.”[62]
During the month
Howells spent with his daughter in Dinan, apparently
no one chose to join the Church. At least no one is mentioned in his lengthy
letter about this period of time which was printed in the Millennial
Star. In addition to the regular tract distributing, William and Ann
also visited a Roman Catholic seminary which contained eleven tutors and one
hundred and thirty students. They were received with patience and politeness as
Howells presented the “plain truths and hard sayings” of his sermons. The visit
must have made a great impression on Howells, for he promised President Orson
Pratt a more complete account of a “Latter-day Saint’s visit to a Catholic
college” when they both settled in “Zion’s happy land.”[63] This
he intended to take from his journal, an item that lamentably has yet to
surface.
An Irish gentleman who
was then in prison in Dinan for debt began
circulating anti-Mormon reports as soon as he received word that a Mormon
missionary had come to Dinan. French law at that time
authorized the creditor to take the body of a debtor without any previous notice;
consequently, this Irishman had been put in jail although his coach and horses
would have been sufficient to pay his whole debt. Howells spent some time with
him and explained the gospel to him and the next day sent him some tracts to
convince him to cease from spreading the negative reports.[64]
After having spent one
month by himself in Le Havre and three months with his daughter in St. Servan, St. Malo, and Dinan, Howells summed up his efforts: “I have not as yet
reaped a rich harvest, but the few that have entered the kingdom by being ‘born
of water and of the Spirt’ [sic] have received
glorious testimonies of the power of the truth as it is in Jesus.”[65]
Back
in Wales Again
After completing the
three months of missionary activity with his daughter in St. Malo, St. Servan, and Dinan, William Howells returned to Wales to visit his
family, stopping briefly at Jersey Island to visit Brother William C. Dunbar
and the Saints, and also at Southampton and Bristol. Father and daughter
reached Wales on 27 November 1849 and found that all was well with Martha and
the other two children. There is little doubt that Howells rejoiced in being in
familiar and somewhat less hostile territory once again. In his 21 December
1849 letter to Orson Pratt, Howells reported having baptized since his arrival
in Wales “an intelligent Baptist minister, upwards of 60 years old.”[66]
Just prior to
Howells’s departure for France, William Phillips replaced Dan Jones as Church
leader in Wales. Upon Howells’s return to Wales, he did not hesitate to throw
his allegiance to this new leader. In his 25 January 1850 letter to Orson Pratt
Howells expressed great confidence in William Phillips, and in his two
counselors, Abel Evans and John Davis. He referred to President Phillips as
“another Samson brought up amongst his brethren, flesh of their flesh, bone of
their bone, who would fight the Philistines and cause their dagon to fall more perplexed than ever.” President
Phillips carried out his new responsibilities with such energy and courage,
according to Howells, that “the Saints shouted aloud
for joy, for truly the vacuum left by the absence of Brother Captain Dan Jones
is amply filled by our young president Brother W. Phillips, in the Church, the
families, and the hearts of the Saints of God in Wales.”[67]
From all outward
appearances the work of the kingdom seemed to be progressing reasonably well in
Wales. Thus, one year after Phillips began his tenure, the appointment of Elder
Levi Richards, an American, to be representative of the Church in Wales must
have come as somewhat of a surprise. It was not intended that Elder Richards
replace Phillips, but rather that he work with him in a supervisory capacity,
something to which Dan Jones had not been subjected. Furthermore, the Welsh
were requested to offer support, both moral and financial, to Elder Richards
and his wife during their time in Wales. Although there may well have been some
murmuring among the Welsh at this kind of treatment, Howells wished for the
Church leaders in Liverpool to know of his loyalty and undeviating support:
The officers present
in council, with few exceptions, were all Welsh, yet they received the
intelligence about Brother Richards, with as much pleasure as the English
officers themselves; they saw that the appointment was pleasing to Brother
Phillips, therefore to themselves also, so Brother Levi Richards will be
received, not by the English only, but also with open bosom by the Welsh, and
by none more than by Brother Phillips and Davis, and also by your humble
servant and Brother.[68]
Third
Journey to France (Boulogne-sur-mer)
After ten weeks in
Wales over the Christmas of 1849, William Howells once again returned to
France. This time he went to Boulogne-sur-mer,
another seaside city, and it appears that he went without his daughter, Ann.
After meeting with and addressing the brethren in London on 11 February 1850,
Howells started toward the steamboat which would take him to a “strange country
bound with more snares of the devil than any country under the sun.” His task
was “to undo the knots, in spite of the teeth of the roaring lion and all the
fiery spears of his faithful servants.”[69]
Upon arriving in
Boulogne, he took lodging on the Grande Rue with a Wesleyan family by the name
of Gregory. For some reason Howells did not inform the Gregorys
concerning his religious persuasion or his purpose for being in France. A
couple of days after his arrival, however, Mr. Gregory asked some questions
about religion and determined that his lodger was a Mormon missionary. At this
point Mrs. Gregory revealed that she had a sister and brother-in-law who had
lived at Nauvoo and had gone to Great Salt Lake City. The Gregorys
had received letters from their Mormon relatives persuading them to accept
baptism; however, there is no indication that they ever did.[70]
On 17 February 1850, a
Sunday, just five days after Howells landed at Boulogne, all the Wesleyan
churches were called together to hear a sermon concerning the “false prophet”
who had just come into their midst and the false doctrine he was distributing
throughout the town in the form of scurrilous pamphlets. Howells was there in
attendance and called the sermon “one of the most clever and cunning” he had
ever heard. Earlier Howells had been to the minister’s home and had offered him
tracts and conversation about the gospel. The minister refused him with the
answer “that he knew sufficient concerning the matter.”[71]
Upon returning to his
lodgings, Howells encountered a group of individuals awaiting him, among them
“one of the leading gentlemen of the place, the expert of Boulogne in debate, a
perfect enemy of Mormonism.”[72] And
although the spirit of this powerful individual influenced Howells “like
mesmerism,” the Mormon missionary judged himself to come out victorious on
every topic during three evenings of debate. At last his opponent “had a fit of
temper, clenched his fist, and shouted with others to see miracles.”[73] At
that Howells arose and left them. Having kept with the first principles, he
believed that all present had been able to see how easily he had confused his
adversary. Undaunted by it all, Howells continued his proselyting activities
and soon had copies of “The Kingdom of God” in the hands of fifty families in
Boulogne.
On 28 February 1850 a
newspaper of Boulogne, the Interpreter, gave in English and
French an assessment of Howells’s efforts to that point and a
prediction concerning his chances for the future:
It seems we have been
lately favoured with the visit of a Mormon prophet
here, who has taken up his abode in Grande rue. We fear that the poor fellow’s
chance of success is very faint indeed, as, although he has been now resident
nearly a fortnight, during the course of which he has had several controversies
(in all of which it is needless to say, he has been worsted;)
he has not yet succeeded in making a single convert.[74]
Naturally, Howells did
not see it that way and reported to Orson Pratt that “Mormon doctrinescannot be worsted” and that
there were already families in Boulogne who had believed the gospel.[75]
About this time
Howells received the welcome news that other missionaries had been called to
France. John Taylor, Curtis E. Bolton, and John Pack were then on their way
from Utah to officially open up the proselyting effort among the French.
Howells was ecstatic at the knowledge that soon it would no longer be a one-man
effort.
Howells secured a room
in Capicure, just in the center of the lower town,
for the holding of Sunday services. At the first sermon which he preached at
Boulogne on 3 March 1850 there were seven persons present from five different
places: France, England, Scotland, Germany, and Wales. Some of the English residents
warned the owners of the rented room that various curses would follow should
they continue to cooperate with the Mormon missionary and that the family would
surely be struck blind. Their response to the ominous warning was to accept
payment from Howells for five more weeks of use.[76]
In attendance at the
first service held in Boulogne was George Viett, a
teacher of languages in the public school. Before the month was out Viett, his wife, and son received baptism. He then
proceeded to write the first principles in the German tongue. Mrs. Viett’s baptism was held in a river two miles from home,
and she had to walk the distance afterwards in wet clothes in cold weather, yet
she testified the next day that she had never felt as healthy and happy as she
did then.[77]
Some in attendance at
Mrs. Viett’s baptism expressed their desire to
receive baptism soon. And by 6 April 1850 Howells was able to commemorate the
twentieth anniversary of the organization of the Church with a branch organized
at Boulogne.[78]
Just before the
organization of the small branch in Boulogne, Howells was cheered with letters
from Sister Anne Browse in St. Malo, Brother William
Peddle in St. Servan, and Mr. Piclard
in Le Havre. Sister Browse announced that one gentleman by the name of Mr. de
Pau, who had been present when Howells was arguing the principles of Mormonism
with the learned Catholic priests, was now ready to accept baptism.
Brother Peddle
informed Howells that some of their chief enemies in St. Servan
were then willing to give nearly everything they had to be baptized and
accepted into the Church.[79] Mr.
Piclard stated that he still believed in Mormonism.
Although it had been seven months since he first met Howells in Le Havre, he
had not yet requested baptism.
Fourth
and Final Journey to France
Sometime during April
or May, William Howells returned to Wales in order to make preparations to
return with John Taylor and his party. On 9 June 1850 Howells attended a
special general conference held in Merthyr Tydfil to receive the Apostle on his visit to Wales. John
Taylor had visited Wales on one previous occasion in January 1847, and he had
received an enthusiastic welcome at that time as the first Apostle to be in
Wales. There were fewer than one thousand members of the Church then.[80] By
the time of his June 1850 visit there were four times that
number to hail his presence.[81]
Addressing an audience
in which a majority could not understand English was a new experience for John
Taylor. There is no evidence that simultaneous interpreting was furnished for
the Welsh monoglots. Apparently they were left to
rely on understanding by the Spirit. Others, however, were called on to speak
in Welsh so that all would be considered. Among those to address the conference
in Welsh was William Howells, greatly beloved by his compatriots, who took
pride in his being the first missionary to France. John Davis was elated as he
reported the proceedings of the conference to Orson Pratt in Liverpool: “We
shall never forget such a conference . . . It makes our hearts to burn within
us; our first love is kindled anew.”[82]
After the conference
sessions on Monday, a group accompanied Brother Taylor to Cardiff, about an
hour’s train ride from Merthyr Tydfil,
where a large congregation had gathered to hear him. The following evening
William Phillips, president of the Welsh Mission, went with Elder Taylor to
Bristol. Two days later William Howells met John Taylor in Bristol; together
they traveled to London to meet with Curtis Bolton and John Pack prior to
crossing the Channel to France. William Howells was thrilled to serve as escort
to this little group and filled with awe to spend so much time in the presence
of an Apostle.
The three days in
London prior to their journey to France were days of meetings, mingling
together, and rejoicing. Almost constantly at their side was Monsieur Piclard. Still unbaptized and still unable to understand
English, Piclard was fascinated by this strange group
of people who called themselves Mormons. He stayed at their side in London and
joined with them a few days after their arrival in Boulogne, where he spent
time with them every day for about two weeks. Howells was no doubt pleased to
have living proof of his initial success in France to show to his colleagues.
The procedures used by
John Taylor to get established in new circumstances varied somewhat from those
which William Howells had used. It was an advantage to come from America, a
credential which carried far more weight than merely coming from across the
Channel. Elder Taylor brought with him official letters and papers from the
governor of Deseret. When these were presented to the mayor of Boulogne with a
request to be allowed to preach the gospel in his city, permission was “granted
nobly with the greatest amiability.”[83] A
visit to a gentleman by the name of Monsieur Tatar resulted in permission to
preach in his Sale de Concerts located at 21 Rue Montseigny.
Monsieur Pater, editor of the newspaper Interpreter, gave the group a favorable
reception as well as permission to write about Mormonism in his paper. The
earlier taunting which had appeared in this same paper concerning the supposed
lack of success of William Howells apparently did not constitute an obstacle to
the editor’s cooperation.
One week following the
missionaries’ arrival in Boulogne they all gathered at the seashore where a
prayer was offered by Elder Taylor. Present were John Taylor, Curtis Bolton,
and John Pack from America; William Howells from Wales; and Elders Piercy and Stayner from England. Howells was so moved by the prayer
that he translated it and sent it to be published in the Udgorn Seion.[84]Among
other things, Elder Taylor prayed for “wisdom to lay before this people the
principles of eternal truth,” and further to “. . . help us to fulfill the
callings that devolve upon us, in a manner that shall bring glory to thy name,
do honor to ourselves, and lead many to a knowledge of the truth; that
thousands in this land may rejoice in the fulness of
the blessings of the Gospel of peace.”[85] He
also asked that no legal obstruction would be in their way. Thirteen years
before this the gospel had been introduced to England and a short time after
that to Wales. The converts came in large numbers in both places. There was no
reason to believe that France’s outcome would be any different. But a century
would pass before the number of converts would reach into the thousands.
Initially, a more modest counting system would have to be used. There were no
legal obstructions; the missionaries were experienced and had known great
success in other settings, and the French people were no more apathetic than
the English. Why, then, had Howells’s success been so small and why were the
seats empty at the sermons and the debates?
Certainly the lack of
effective communication constituted a major barrier. Curtis Bolton had been to
France years before as a student and knew something of the language, but he was
far from fluent. William Howells’s knowledge of French was severely limited.
Furthermore, the only thing in print for Frenchmen to read about the restored
gospel was still the two-page leaflet which Howells had written a year before.
Another factor was the
stifling effect which Catholicism had on its members in France. The various
Protestant sects were allowed to exist in that country but had experienced only
a modicum of success. In America, England, and Wales, the converts came from
Protestantism and were consequently accustomed to change. With centuries of
tradition in their background, the French Catholics were less inclined to
accept any radical changes in their lives.
Before any of this
became apparent to the hopeful half-dozen, it was decided to stage a “public
discussion” in accepting the challenge thrown out to the Mormons by three
Protestant ministers. Placards were posted all over town in the full
expectation that scores of people would crowd the hall which had a seating
capacity of four to five hundred. But the number on the stage exceeded that in
the audience. John Taylor published the proceedings of the “Three Nights’
Public Discussion” in hopes that more people would be reached by the printed
than by the spoken word. But because the publication was written in English, it
would have little impact on the French.
During the debate
William Howells was called on to relate his experience with gifts of the
Spirit. He gave the following instance:
A person of the name
of John M’Manmouth, from Hindostan,
intimately acquainted with Dr. Cary, a Baptist Missionary at Calcutta, and a
member in his church, understanding seventeen oriental languages, came to
reside in the neighborhood of Merthyr Tydvil. He was induced to attend a Saints’ meeting; in the
meeting, he understood seven languages, spoken in by the gift of tongues by the
brethren and sisters present. He testified that the young servant girl I had,
prayed in the Malabar tongue. The said girl, on another occasion, prayed in the
Hebrew tongue. A Jew present stating he understood what she said, but not the
whole, she having spoken in the ancient Hebrew and not the modern.[86]
William Howells stayed
with Elder Taylor and the others for about two more months. He went with them
to Paris and continued to proselyte. John Taylor made the following statement
concerning William Howells:
Brother Howell who has
been labouring here, is a faithful good man, and has laboured with indefatigable zeal, yet, from want of books,
and being but imperfectly acquainted with the language, he has, like ourselves, had many difficulties to contend with.[87]
On 25 September 1850
Howells received a release from his mission to return to Wales and prepare to
journey to Zion.[88]
Final
Four Months in Wales
Once again in Wales,
Howells divided his time between assisting in the proselyting effort there and
preparing for the journey to Zion. In December he accompanied William Phillips
and a couple of other brethren to a conference held in Brecon,
about twenty miles north of Merthyr Tydfil. Missionaries had been sent to Brecon
a few months before and had encountered much resistance. The mayor of the town
sprang to defend the townspeople against the Mormons. Howells, in a letter to
Orson Pratt and F. D. Richards, describes the situation:
On the right he was
well supported by the great folks, and also the Protestant parties, with their
clergymen, learned tutors, students, and a host of local preachers; and for the
left in such emergency, the alliance and help of the Roman Catholic church, “the
old Mother,” was not to be despised; besides they had barracks filled
with soldiers, and noble officers in reserve in case of necessity; so the mayor
with great confidence informed the two little Mormon officers, that they should
not preach within the confines of the town![89]
Then the battle
commenced, and the victory went to the Mormon underdogs. Soon they had their
headquarters established in the Bull Inn, and a branch was organized. By the
time the December conference was held Brecon had a
new mayor. He along with the superintendent of police and other distinguished
citizens of the town were “acting with Christian kindness and benevolence to
the brethren.”[90]
Toward the end of
December John Taylor paid his third and final visit to Wales. He honored his
predecessor in the French Mission with a visit to his home in Aberdare. While there, Elder Taylor took ten-year-old Ann
Howells aside with her parents and gave her a special blessing. At a Sunday
meeting Ann was requested to sing, “Home, Sweet Home.” Elder Taylor was so
delighted with her singing that he had the song printed on pink silk and gave
it to her as a keepsake. Many decades later Ann, who at age nine had also
served in France as a missionary, still treasured the blessing and the
keepsake.[91]
From
Wales to Liverpool to America
Just a few weeks later
William Howells, his wife, Martha, then four months pregnant, their daughter,
Ann, their seven-year-old son, William, and their two-year-old son, Reese, plus
two servant girls, began their journey to Liverpool on their way to Zion. In
spite of his longing to join the main body of Saints in Salt Lake City, William
Howells waxed poetic at the prospect of turning his back on his beloved Wales:
The mountains and vallies [sic], towns and villages, of his [the Welshman’s]
native land, enchanted as it were by the various romantic elegies of the Welsh
Bards, cause his heart to cleave to the home of his fathers, shuddering at the
thought of having his death bed surrounded by strangers, and his grave in a
foreign land.[92]
But he received
encouragement from a song which had become very popular among the emigrating
Saints:
The Upper California,
Oh! That’s the land for me;
It lays
between the mountains, and great Pacific Sea;
The Saints can be
supported there, and taste the sweets of liberty;
In Upper California,
Oh! that’s the land for me.[93]
Martha Howells did not
record her feelings as she left Wales, but they were doubtless mixed. With her
family members begging her to stay, her share of her father’s estate having to
be put in court of Chancery, and the awesome uncertainty of several weeks on
the sea followed by several months of journeying to some remote spot in a
foreign country during which time she would be required to give birth to the
child then growing in her womb, she faced enough to give pause to even the most
stalwart of women. Had she known of some other hardships that would be required
of her—the loss of her husband before the year was out followed by the loss of
her eight-year-old son—one can only conjecture what her response would have
been.
William Howells was
appointed president of the emigrating company on the Olympus. On
board were two hundred fifty Saints, and fifty-two non-Mormons and members of
the crew. On board also was a large supply of books—Howells’s personal library,
which he intended to contribute to the library in Zion. They set sail from
Liverpool on 4 March 1851.
In his account of the
crossing, Howells paints a blissful picture: religious services on Sunday,
daily prayer meetings morning and evening, daily school classes for the study
of English and French and other topics, evening lectures, and the like. All
these involvements, according to Howells, left no time for faultfinding,
backbiting or quarrelling. Certainly, there must have been some moments when
total harmony did not prevail, but they were apparently rare, for nearly every
one of the fifty-two non-Mormons were impressed with their strange fellow
passengers, especially with the Saints’ singing songs of joy, praise, and
thanksgiving during rough weather.[94] Their
admiration, combined with the proselyting efforts of William Howells and
others, was such that twenty-one of them accepted baptism during the crossing.
These baptisms were performed on a platform thrown overboard and lowered to the
water. The captain was kind enough to devise this unique way of baptizing on
the high seas. As they reached New Orleans, twenty-nine more received the
ordinance and joined forces with their new brothers and sisters.[95]
And the success did
not end once the emigrants reached their new land. It was reported in theMillennial Star:
And no less singular
[than the fifty baptisms on board the Olympus] is a circumstance that occurred
on the “Statesman” after her arrival here [at Kanesville];
her cooks and deck hands left her, preferring rather to be teamsters across the
plains for the Mormons, and have their society in fair Utah, than remain any
longer cooks and deck hands on the muddy waters of the Missouri.[96]
William Howells and
Orson Pratt were both on board the Statesman and most likely
had something to do with the decision of the cooks and deckhands.
In
Council Bluffs
After such a pleasant
crossing, there was no reason to expect anything other than continued good
fortune. Once in Council Bluffs, William Howells set up a store. Martha gave
birth to a son, Lewis, on 20 June 1851. Plans and preparations were being made
for the trek across the plains the following year. A few short months later,
however, William Howells was stricken with sickness. His frail constitution was
not able to throw off the illness, and he died 21 November 1851 just barely
thirty-five years of age.[97]
Those
Left Behind
Howells’s untimely
demise left Martha with the enormous challenge of getting herself, her
babe-in-arms and her three other children 1,500 miles across the plains to Salt
Lake City. She was forced to sell the large supply of books at a sacrifice. The
money was needed, and the books constituted too heavy a cargo to transport such
a great distance. During the wagon journey toward Utah, Martha suffered yet
another personal tragedy—the death of nine-year-old William. He had fallen
asleep beneath a wagon wheel and did not hear anything when the wagon started
in motion.[98]
Martha, a true
stalwart in every sense of the word, continued faithful to her conviction of
the truthfulness of Mormonism right up to her death nearly thirty years later
in 1879. After ten years of a harsh existence in Utah she made a one-year visit
to Wales, where she finally received her share of her father’s estate.[99]
Martha and William’s
son Reese later became a wealthy merchant in Ogden. Their daughter, Ann
Howells, also continued faithful until her death in 1916. Her life was filled
with the many hardships of a pioneer existence. And, in addition to her brief
mission to France as a nine-year-old in 1849, she later served two years in the
Sandwich Islands as a missionary with her husband.[100]
In the four years from
his conversion to Mormonism to his death, William Howells brought in nearly two
hundred other converts, opened up the missionary effort in France, had miracles
performed through him, and presided over a company of Mormon emigrants across
the ocean. What other accomplishments he might have been responsible for had he
been permitted to live another two or three decades one can only imagine. One
would suppose that the name of William Howells would have become well known in Mormondom if an early death had not claimed him first.
Notes
I wish to thank the
Religious Studies Center for their assistance in making it possible for me to
do research in Wales in person.
[1] W. R. Davies, Y
Sentiau Diweddaf Sylwedd Pregeth a Draddodwyd ar y Gwyrthiau, er mwyn
Goleuo y Cyffredin, a Dangos Twyll y Creaduriaid a Alwant eu Hunain yn
“Seintiau y Dyddiau Diweddaf”(Merthyr Tydfil: David Jones,
1846), iv. Translated title: “The Latter Saints [sic]: Substance
of a Sermon Which Was Delivered on the Miracles, in order to Enlighten the
Public and Show the Deceit of the Creatures Who Call Themselves ‘Latter-day
Saints.’” All translations from Welsh into English are mine.
[2] The term nonconformist has
reference to any of the Protestant sects which did not conform to the practice
of being members of the Church of England.
[3] Aberdare is about seven miles from Merthyr
Tydfil. According to his marriage certificate,
William Howells resided at “Penpound,” that part of Aberdare town where the Baptist chapel “Carmel” stood. In
all likelihood Howells frequented this chapel. I am indebted and grateful to
Mr. D. L. Davies of Aberdare for this information.
[4] “Extract from a
Work by Elder John Taylor about to be Published in France,” 15 March 1851,Millennial Star 13:80.
[5] Seren Gomer 30:374–75. Translated title: Star of Gomer. This
was a periodical published by the Baptists at the town of Carmarthen.
[6] William Howells
to John Davis, Udgorn Seion 1 (May 1849): 94. Translated title: Zion’s
Trumpet.This
periodical was the sequel to Prophwyd
u Jubili (Prophet of the Jubilee) and was
published by several editors from January 1849 to April 1862.
[7] “Extracts from
Elder Dan Jones’s Letters to Orson Spencer,” 3 November 1847, Millennial
Star9:364.
[8] Neither the
denominational journals nor the chapel histories of the period contain any
reference to a “Reverend William Howells, of Aberdare.”
It is far more likely that Howells became, as many others did, a recognized
Baptist lay preacher. Furthermore, in the 1841 census for Aberdare,
he gives as his “condition” (i.e., occupation) that of “Draper.” Had he trained
for the ministry or been ordained, Howells would no doubt have stated his
theological role. Thanks again to D.L. Davies for this clarification.
[9] William Howells
to the Editor, 11 May 1848, Millennial Star 10:175.
[10]William Louis Howell,
“Life of William Howell” 1. An eighteen-page typewritten nonpublished manuscript. A copy is in Special
Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. William Howells’s name appears frequently
without the final s, a form currently
used by his descendants. I have chosen to spell his name with the final s, however, inasmuch as he himself signed
it that way in his 27 September 1849 letter to Dan Jones, the original of which
is housed in Salt Lake City at the Library-Archives, Historical Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter
cited as LDS Church Archives).
[11] E.T. Davies, Religion
in the Industrial Revolution of South Wales (Cardiff: University of
Wales Press, 1965), 33-38.
[12] Report of the
Population Panel (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, March
1973), 29.
[13] E.T. Davies, Religion
in the Industrial Revolution of South Wales, 8.
[14] Millennial
Star 9:107; 10:121, 253.
[15] Rhydybont is located about fifty miles to the northwest of Merthyr Tydfil. There is evidence
that John Jones joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but not
until several years later in 1854.
[16] Capt. D. Jones, Adolygiad ar Ddarlithoedd y Parch. E. Roberts (Merthyr Tydfil: D. Jones, 1847),
40. Translated title: “A Review of the Lectures of the Rev.
E. Roberts.”
[17] Orson Spencer’s
title was then “President of the Church in the British Isles.”
[18] W. Howells to
Editor, 19 March 1849, Millennial Star 11:121.
[19] W. Howells to
Editor.
[20] Dan Jones to
John Davis, 18 April 1849, printed in Hanes Ymfudiad
y Saint i Galifornia (Merthyr Tydfil: J. Davis, 1849),
8. Translated title: “An Account of the Saints’ Emigration to
California.”
[21] Howells to
Editor, 19 March 1849, Millennial Star 11:119.
[22] Howells to
Editor, 120. The word applause is misspelled appulse in the Millennial Star.
[23] “Glamorganshire
Conference,” Merthyr-Tydfil, Udgorn
Seion 1:21.
[24] “A Review of
Mormonism and the Reverend T. Williams,” signed “Anti Humbug,” Seren Comer 31:305.
[25] Dan Jones to the
Editor of the Deseret News, 22 October 1850. Original is at
LDS Church Archives. No details of Howells’s mission for the Baptists to
Brittany have survived among his descendants.
[26] “Conference
Minutes,” Manchester, England, 13 August 1848, Millennial Star 10:254.
[27] Howells to
Editor, 11 May 1848, “Conference Minutes,” 175.
[28] Howells to
Davis, 10 September 1849, Udgorn Seion 1:171–72.
[29] William Howells
to Dan Jones, 27 September 1849. The original is at LDS Church Archives.
[30] One of the
fatalities which caused very little sorrow among the Mormons was the death of
the infamous W. R. Davies, who fell ill at 9:00 on the morning of 1 September
1849. By 7:00 the same evening the cholera had claimed another victim (see J.
Ronald Williams and Gwyneth Williams,History
oj Caersalem, Dowlais, Welsh Baptist Church [Llandysul:
Gomerian Press, 1967], 35).
[31] Howells to
Davis, 10 September 1849, Udgorn Seion 1:172.
[32] Howells to
Davis.
[33] Howell, “Life of
William Howell,” 13.
[34] The “journal
entry” is actually part of his 9 August 1849 letter to Orson Pratt. It has the
appearance of a journal entry and was probably transcribed from his journal.
[35] Howells to Editor,
9 August 1849, Millennial Star 11:263.
[36] Howells does not
specify his nationality.
[37] Curtis E. Bolton
does not make mention of Augustus Saint d’Anna in his
journals either.
[38] William Howells
to William Phillips and John Davis, 8 August 1850, Udgorn
Seion 2:235.
[39] Curtis Edwin
Bolton, Pioneer, Missionary: History, Descendants and Ancestors, comp. Cleo
H. Evans (Fairfax, Va.: n.p., 1968), 45. Entry for 1
December 1850.
[40] Curtis Edwin
Bolton, pp. 68–70. Entries for 27 October and 1 November 1851.
[41] Howells to
Editor, 11 August 1849, Millennial Star 11:267.
[42] Howell, “Life of
William Howell,” 13, 14.
[43] Howells to
Editor, 26 August 1849, Millennial Star 11:295.
[44] Howells to
Editor, 26 August 1849.
[45] Howells to
Editor, 26 August 1849.
[46] Howells made two
subsequent journeys to France of three months each. There is no indication that
Ann accompanied him on either of these.
[47] Howells to
Editor, 26 August 1849, Millennial Star 11:296.
[48] Howells to
Editor, 26 August 1849.
[49] Howells to
Davis, 10 September 1849, Udgorn Seion 1:174.
[50] Howells to
Editor, 26 August 1849, Millennial Star 11:296.
[51] Howells to
Jones, 27 September 1849.
[52] It is not clear
from Howells’s letter, but this appears to be a Protestant chapel.
[53] Sophy Valentine, Biography of Ann Howell Burt (Brigham
City, Utah: n.p. 1916), 10. The only time William
Howells mentions in his writings about spending a night out-of-doors was their
first night in Dinan where they arrived late and were
unable to find lodging. Perhaps Ann confused her experience there with the one
which she attributed to St. Servan.
[54] Howells to
Editor, 26 August 1849, Millennial Star 11:296.
[55] Howells to
Editor, 26 August 1849.
[56] William Howells
to William Phillips and John Davis 23 September 1849, Udgorn Seion 1:217.
[57] Howells to
Jones, 27 September 1849.
[58] Howells to
Jones.
[59] William Howells
to Orson Pratt, 21 December 1849, Millennial Star 12: 12.
[60] Howells to Orson
Pratt, 11.
[61] Howells to Orson
Pratt, 11–12.
[62] Howells to Orson
Pratt, 12. The monument is most likely the equestrian statue of the
fourteenth-century hero, Bertrand Du Guesclein.
Unlike many statues in France which were melted down for ammunition by the
Germans during World War II, this one still stands. It was allowed to remain
because it symbolized supremacy over the British.
[63] Howells to
Oliver Pratt, 13.
[64] Howells to
Oliver Pratt, 13.
[65] Howells to
Oliver Pratt, 14.
[66] Howells to
Oliver Pratt, 14.
[67] Howells to
Editor, 25 January 1850, William Howells to Oliver Pratt, 90.
[68] Howells to
Oliver Pratt, 91.
[69] Howells to
Phillips and Davis, 23 February 1850, Udgorn
Seion 2:83.
[70] Howells to Orson
Pratt, 7 April 1850, Millennial Star 12:158.
[71] Howells to
Phillips and Davis, 23 February 1850, Udgorn
Seion 2:83.
[72] Howells to
Phillips and Davis.
[73] Howells to
Phillips and Davis, 84.
[74] Interpreter, 28
February 1850, cited in Millennial Star 12:158.
[75]Howells to Orson
Pratt, 7 April 1850, Interpreter, 28 February 1850, cited in Millennial
Star 12:158.
[76] Howells to Orson
Pratt, 7 April 1880.
[77] William Howells
to William Phillips and John Davis, 11 April 1850, Udgorn
Seion 2:94.
[78] Howells to
Phillips and Davis, 11 April 1880.
[79] The number, if
any, of these “chief enemies” to actually receive baptism is not a matter of
record.
[80] “Merthyr Tydfil Conference,” 3
January 1847, Prophwyd
y Jubili 2:16,17.
[81] Udgorn Seion 2:202.
[82] John Davis to
Orson Pratt, 13 June 1850, Millennial Star 12:219–20.
[83] Howells to
Phillips and Davis, 8 August 1850, Udgorn
Seion 2:233.
[84] Howells to
Phillips and Davis, 233–35.
[85] John Taylor to
the Editor, 21 July 1850, Millennial Star 12:269.
[86] “Three Nights'
Public Discussion between the Revds., C. W. Cleeve, James Robertson, and Philip Cater, and Elder John
Taylor of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Boulogne-sur-mer, France” (Liverpool: Published by John
Taylor, 1850), 32.
[87] Taylor to the
Editor, 21 July 1850, Millennial Star 12:270.
[88] Curtis Edwin
Bolton, 43. Entry for 25 September 1850.
[89] William Howells
to Orson Pratt and F. D. Richards, 11 December 1850, Millennial Star 13:11.
[90] Howells to Pratt
and Richards.
[91] Valentine, Biography
of Ann Howell Burt, 9.
[92] William Howells
to F. D. Richards, 15 February 1851, Millennial Star 13:78.
[93] Howells to
Richards, Incidentally, “The Upper California, Oh! That’s the Land for Me” was
written by John Taylor.
[94] Letter of
William Howells, 27 April 1851, Howells to Richards, 189.
[95] Howells to
Richards, 190–191.
[96] “Arrivals”
quoted from Frontier Guardian, Howells to Richards, 255.
[97] Howell, “Life of
William Howell,” 18.
[98] Valentine, Biography
of Ann Howell Burt, 16–17.
[99] Valentine, Biography,
19.
[100] Valentine, Biography,
27.