Account of the voyage of the Welsh Saints
from Liverpool
to New
Orleans, on board the “Joseph Badger”
Thursday, the 17th of
October, the ship was towed out of the dock, and a steamboat dragged it to
sea. At 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon,
the sails were hoisted, outside the N. W. Lightship, and the Saints were
organized. John Morris was made
President and Howell Williams, David Evans, and John Tingy as counselors to
him; and the Saints were distributed into 16 sections, with elders to preside
over every section, and six other elders to go around to see that each section
was keeping the place clean, and that no one would go up and down the ladder
during the prayer hour, night and morning, which is eight o’clock. It was decided that David Evans was to
superintend the giving out of the water each day and giving out the food each
week. A strong breeze from W.S.W., and
many Saints seasick before night.
—18. A strong wind from the west and most of the
Saints sick. Water was shared out in
the morning. The wind remained against us all day. At eight o’clock in the evening an earnest
prayer was sent to God, by everyone unanimously, for a fair wind; God heard our
prayer, and that same hour the wind changed to the north, and we went comfortably
through the night.
—19. A lovely breeze from N.N.E. Clear weather at 11 in the morning; Bardsey Island
was eight miles south. Many Saints beginning to improve from
seasickness, and beginning to look for their food and water. A prayer meeting was held at eight in the
morning, and eight in the evening.
—20. (Sunday) Fine weather; all the Saints well,
and on deck. We had to give out food,
because the sailors had no time
on Saturday, and several brethren and others had no food. A meeting was held Sunday night and Thomas
Sansum and Sarah Ann Chesterfield were married, by John Morris, and David
Powell and Ann Evans, by Howell Williams; and the day was ended comfortably,
with all well.
—21. Strong wind N.N.E., ship going 11 miles an
hour and leaping about. Many Saints
seasick. I took the latitude of the sun midday as 48
degrees, 48 seconds, north. Afternoon
quieter.
—22. Wind E.N.E.
Fine weather, all Saints well. At
six in the afternoon, a meeting was
held for the Welsh Saints. All content, going 11 miles every hour toward
their destination.
—23. Wind N.E.; strong breeze; fine weather. 11 miles an hour. All content, better
from sickness. A meeting for the English was held in the
evening.
—24. Fine weather, wind N.E. Ship going about 10 miles an hour. All Saints well, and
able to walk the deck. Council held in the afternoon at two, to
teach the officers about their different duties.
—25. Fine weather, wind from N.E. Ship going about 10 miles an hour. In the after-
noon two western islands called
Digo and Florence
were seen. All the rain was had in the
afternoon.
—26. Fine weather, wind E.W.E. Ship going 10 miles an hour; all the Saints
content,
going on fast toward Zion. All washing before their beds.
—27. (Sunday) Fine weather, wind from east. Ship going 10 miles an hour. A
sacrament service was held at 11
in the morning and preaching at half past two in the afternoon, and prayer
meeting at 7 in the evening. All
content, enjoying an abundance of the Spirit of God.
—28. Fine weather, wind E.S.E. strong; ship going
about 12 miles an hour in the
evening. Wet weather.
—29. Strong wind from the south. Showers of rain. Meeting held by the Saints in the
evening; all the Saints remain
in unity and love.
—30. Fine weather, a little wind N.W. Sun warm, and all the Saints about the deck.
Wind from north in the
afternoon, the ship going about 7 miles an hour. Meeting of the Saints held in the evening by
the Saints.
—31. Fine weather, wind N.N.E., and the ship going
8 miles an hour. A preaching
meeting was held among the
Welsh.
—November
1. Fine weather, wind from N.E. Ship going about 9 miles an hour. At 7 in the morning, Edward, son of Daniel
Evans, Hirwaun died, 28 months old, and he was buried at sea about mid-day, by
reading and praying by John Morris.
Preaching meeting held by the English in the evening.
—2. Fine weather. Strong wind from S.E. and the ship going
about 12 miles an hour.
Strong wind and rain in the
evening.
—3. (Sunday) Fine weather, wind from S.W. Saints meeting held, and the ordinance
shared at 11 in the morning
below deck; and there was preaching on deck at half past two, and a prayer
meeting at 7 in the evening. All the
Saints remain in unity, and love, and cooperation.
—4. A little wind, and showers of rain all
day. Food distributed.
—5. A little wind N.E. Fine weather and sun warming. I took a reading of the sun
today, and found our latitude to
be 24 degrees and 55 seconds. All Saints
well; the worst task at present is to cook food.
—6. Fine weather, wind E.S.E. Ship going about 10 miles an hour toward its
destination. I took a reading of the sun today, and found
our latitude to be 24 degrees and 6 seconds, north. A council was held at two in the afternoon,
and a meeting for the English Saints at six in the evening.
—7. Wind from the S.S.E. Fine weather, and the ship going about 9
miles an hour. All
the Saints well, and remain in
unity and love. The latitude today is 21
degrees and 26 seconds, north, and the longitude is 66 degrees and 21 seconds
east. Preaching meeting held in the
evening.
—8. Wind S.S.E.
Fine weather, and the ship going about 9 miles an hour. At noon, St.
Domingo came into view, namely
one of the West India
Islands which is owned by the Negros. We are not
going the same way as Capt. Jones, namely past the Hole in the Wall, because
the water is shallow that way. This way
makes the journey about 800 miles longer than the way the Captain went.
—9. Light wind from the S.W., and the ship
going about 10 miles an hour, past the
northern side of St. Domingo
Island.
All enjoy health, beside two or three small children.
—10. (Sunday) Fine weather, wind from the
E.N.E. At 5 in the morning Catherine
Morris, the stepdaughter of
William Thomas from Llanelli died, a year old, and was buried in the sea at 10
o’clock in the morning, by reading and praying.
A meeting for the Saints was held at 11, and preaching at half past two,
and a prayer meeting at seven. The day
was spent comfortably, and all the Saints remain in unity and love.
—11. Fine weather, the wind from the E.N.E. Ship going about 10 miles an hour. At
eight in the morning, Cape Mais,
the eastern part of the island
of Cuba facing to the
north, about 10 miles away.
—12. Fine weather, a little wind, and the sun
warming strongly; and the ship sailing past
the south side of Cuba. A sail wind was had down to the
after-hatch. A Saints meeting was held
in the evening.
—13. Fine weather, a little wind, and the sun
warming strongly. St. Iago de Cuba
facing
N.E. about 13 miles away. At two in the afternoon, a council was
held. At three Sarah Ann Jane, the
daughter of William and Ann Probert, of Victoria Branch, Monmouth, died, one
year and ten months old, and was buried at sea by reading and prayer. A meeting of the English Saints was held in
the evening.
—14. Strong wind from the N.N.E. Fine weather, the ship going about 10 miles
an hour
past the south of Cuba. A preaching meeting was held in the
evening.
—15. Fine weather, a little wind from the
N.E. Land of Cuba
in sight. Preaching held by
the English in the evening. At 8 in the evening, Cape
Antonio, or the top of Cuba, facing to
the north 8 miles away.
—16. Fine weather, and a little wind. In the afternoon, a little wind against
us. All
enjoying good health.
—17. (Sunday) Strong wind, N.N.E., and the sea
quite rough. Many of the Saints
seasick. A prayer meeting was held at 11 in the
morning, and a prayer meeting at 6 in the evening; a Saints meeting could not
be held because of the weather.
—18. Fine weather, wind from the N.E. All are well and happy. Food given out in the
afternoon. Wind from the E.S.E.
—19. Fine weather, wind from the south.
—20. Strong wind, S.W. Rain in the morning. At two in the afternoon land was sighted,
namely the eastern entrance to New Orleans. At 3, the Pilot came to the ship, and at ten
at night the anchor was dropped outside the bar. A son was born to John Treharn today.
—21. Lovely weather, wind from the north. At 9 in the morning, the steamboat came to
meet us, and pulled us down to
the bar. At 11, two steamboats came and
pulled us over the bar and dropped anchor inside the bar, and then the
steamboat went back to fetch another ship, and it was the “James Pennell.” She had sailed from Liverpool
with a load of Saints on the second day of October, and had very rough weather,
until two of its masts were lost, and the other sprung. We are being dragged up by the steamboat.—We
do not choose to praise our own faithfulness; but we do say this, that not one
company of Saints that emigrated before had such a good voyage as us, nor so
fast either. We have 5 weeks of food not
given out. 5 died on the “James
Pennell,” namely 2 adults and 3 children.
—22. At ten o’clock in the morning we reached New Orleans. Brother Morris and I
went with Brother Cutler, and we
agreed on a steamboat to take our company and the English that came with the
“James Pennell,” to St. Louis, for 2 dollars or 8s 4d each. All together we were about 300 in number.
—23. All diligent in preparing for the coming of
the steamboat; we are expecting it at
twelve o’clock at the shipside
to take us and our possessions in. We
all as Welsh are going to St. Louis.
All of our brethren have been generous to each other, and assisting the poor so
that we can all go together. All remain
in unity and love, and through that everything works together for good, yes,
much better than expected. We all wish
to be remembered to you, and to all the Saints.
We all continue to pray to God to open the way for thousands of our
fellow countrymen to come after us. I
hope you will excuse my awkwardness in writing; I am busy with the luggage and
time is short.
DAVID
EVANS.
Dear
Brother Davis—Inasmuch as the above letter is being sent in Welsh, we did not
see any purpose in writing another in English, as everyone is content in the
presidency; and all enjoy the blessings of the kingdom of God. The Saints were glad to have Dafydd Evans
with them, and they gave him a token of gratitude for his goodness towards them,
and his kindness in doing his best for them.
Yours
in the truth,
JOHN
MORRIS.
[Translated
from the original Welsh in Udgorn Seion
(Zion’s Trumpet), December 1850, pp. 341-44, by
Ronald D. Dennis, 1529 W 1170 N, Provo
UT 84604]
