Elder William Lindsay (1905-07, Age 58)Great Britain
"It is a wonderful experience a man gets working two years traveling from door to door & meeting & talking with all kinds of people & hearing them express themselves."
Summary
Mission: Great Britain
Mission President: Heber J. Grant
Companions: Thomas C. Pierce, David Andrew, Charles Dadley, George Whipple, Arthur Howard
Areas: Birmingham Conference (Nuneaton and Dudley)
Area President: President William W. Phelps, William Noble
Age: 58
Called: early 1905
Approved by first presidency: 2/14/1905
Departure: 3/21/1905
Arrival: 4/8/1905
Released: 3/15/1907
Return departure: 4/12/1907
Return home: 4/28/1907
Accepting a call
Missionary certificate (ie "call") dated March 21, 1905Signed by first presidency Joseph F. Smith and counselors.
click to enlarge
I believe that it was through [Wasatch Stake President William H. Smart] that I was called to go on a mission to Great Britain. He thought every man should have that experience. Of course the call came through Bishop Robert Duke & I responded willingly as I have always done to any call from the authorities of the church. For from my youth up I have felt perfectly sure that the Gospel was true & the leaders of the church were called of God & had authority to call others.
Preparing to leave
William Lindsay's passport application, 3/5/1905Source: ancestry.com
Click to enlarge
I was then 58 years of age & still had several children & a kind & loving wife that I would have to leave behind. But I realized that the Savior had said he that would not leave father & mother wives & children houses & lands for his sake were not worthy of him. So there was no hesitation in answering yes. I received a letter on valentines day 1905 saying my name had been accepted by the Presidency of the church to take a mission to Great Britain & asking how soon I could be ready to go. I answered about 2 weeks. Then I was notified to be in Salt Lake city ready to leave there March 21st. Of course during this time I was making all preparation possible to raise money to pay my passage & pay my expenses after I got there & also to arrange matters so my wife & children would be made as comfortable as possible in my absence. Although it was somewhat of a trial for me I knew it would be still harder for my Dear Wife who had been so loving & true through all our married life. Ours had been a happy home and we truly enjoyed each others companionship very much. But I want to say to her credit she never uttered a word of complaint or tried to hinder me from going although her heart was sore & sad at the thought of being parted for 2 or more years. Of course I had to sell several animals to raise money & I arranged with my son Andrew who was then married to take the farm on shares. There was a farewell party given in the meeting house & a little money raised to help me on my way & many wished me well & much success. Some had expressed fear that I would be sick crossing the ocean but Patriarch Robert S. Duke prophesied that I would not feel a qualm of sea sickness & this came to pass literally although many others were sick several times in crossing both ways I went & came back without ever being affected in that way.Departure
On the day I left Heber which was March 20th 1905, my wife & all of my family met at my son Will's home in Heber & had a little meeting. I talked to them a short time & especially requested them to be kind & thoughtful of their Dear Mother who had done so much to make them comfortable & happy all through their lives & to see that she did not suffer or want for anything necessary while I was gone & I told them I felt quite sure if we all did our full duty the Lord would bless & preserve us all to meet again at home. My Dear wife then stood up & told them she felt sure that this call was from the Lord & hoped that they would all join with her & help to keep the laws of God that they might be worthy of his blessings & that we might all meet again at home when father returns from his mission as they knew I had been a good kind father & had worked hard & faithfully to make us comfortable And let us all do our best to support ourselves while he is gone & I know the Lord will bless us for it. The train at that time went out of Heber at 1:30 & all went to the Depot to see me off. There was more than a hundred people also there to bid me goodbye & success in my missionary labors & in due time a safe return home. Many were in tears. My Dear old mother went on the train with me to Provo I must admit that is was one of the greatest trials of my life to part with my Dear wife & children. No man loved his family & home more than I did & no man was more loved by his wife & children And I am sure money could not have induced me to leave them But I had the blessed assurance that I was going on the Lord's business & that he would have a watch care over me & my family in my absence. When all adieu's had been said I got on the train & it began to move David my youngest son then about 15 jumped on the train & got a hold of me & I had hard work to get him to let go & get off before the train got too much speed up. But he got off without being hurt & through my tears I watched that group of my Dear ones until they were lost to my view. My feelings at that time I could not describe. I parted with my Dear faithful mother at Provo Depot not knowing it would be for the last time on earth She had been a true mother to her children & had done everything in her power to bring us as a family to his goodly land of Zion And though loth to part with me she felt it an honor to have a son going on a mission. My sister Jean was at Provo ready to take mother to her home in Springville for a short visit. So I boarded the train for Salt Lake City & arrived there before dark.Journey back to England
I visited a few friends in Salt Lake city next day but I stayed at James D. Murdock's all night & was very kindly treated. I of course went first to the Presidents office & learned we would not leave until the 22nd so I spent that day as I said before visiting. Next day I went to the annex of the Temple & was set apart by F.M. Lyman who said I would perform a good mission, make no mistakes & return home in safety. Verna Jeffs a daughter of Mark Jeffs was put in my care on the trip to England where she was going to visit a few months with her father who was there on a mission. I turned in nearly all of the money I had to agent W.C. Spence to be drawn at Liverpool.
We left Salt Lake on the D. & R.G. about 5 P.M. passed Provo just at dark & sped on our journey toward the east We saw some fine scenery next day passing up the grand & eagle rivers over the Tennessee pass & through the Royal gorge & down the Arkansaw river. Arrived at Denver about dark & changed on to the Burlington & Quincy cars & traveled on. We sat & slept what we did sleep right in our seats all the way to Boston. Next day we passed Omaha & on through Iowa & into Illinois crossed the Mississippi in the night Changed cars at Chicago on to the Nickle Plate Railroad & sped on into Indiana & Ohio stopped at Buffallo & visited Niagara Falls a wonderful sight. Here we were charged 75 cts each for a very poor breakfast. We passed on through New York State & into Massachussets & reached Boston. Here we stopped at a Hotel & had a bed to sleep on. Next day we visited the old South church from where Paul Revere started on his memorable ride to warn the American Army of what was going on. We also visited Bunker hill & climbed to the top of the monument & Boston common & Tremont St. & the day after the 28th I think we got on board the Steamship Canadian bound for Liverpool said to have 11 hundred head of cattle on board & 150 passengers of course the cattle were all down below out of sight & the passengers on the 2 upper decks There were some 20 missionaries some going to Germany & Scandinavia some to Great Britain & 2 to South Africa. We had very good food on the ship & plenty of it. We had a very nice dining room & a nice place to meet for the evenings where' concerts were held almost every night. We had several good singers among the missionaries a brother Christiansen was put in charge of our company & we had meetings at times. We had no real bad weather but some were seasick I however escaped it. Every day at noon the log was taken & a report made of the distance traveled. We were ten days crossing, sighting Ireland, passing the coast of Wales & landing in Liverpool on the 8th of April 1905 late in the afternoon.Arrival
Photo from Church Archives Group of missionaries in England in 1906 withJoseph F. Smith (President of the church) and
Heber J. Grant (apostle and mission president at the time).
Brother Jeffs met us at the dock & I turned his daughter into his care. We were met by some of the brethren & directed to a hotel for the night. Next day we went to 10 Holly Road then the headquarters of the British mission Pres. Heber J. Grant was then in charge. He explained that no missionaries were being sent to Scotland or Wales just then but if anyone preferred he could be assigned to almost any conference in England. I would have rather went to Scotland, but in England I had no choice so I said nothing. So I with 2 others was assigned to the Birmingham1st area: Nuneaton
conference.
Arrivals and appointments
Source: Millenial Star, 1905
Next day in the afternoon went on the train & arrived after dark in a large strange city no one there to meet us but of course we had the address our luggage was on the train with us & was given to us & we hired a man with a low wheeled handbarrow to haul it to 60 Waterloo St. & we got a policeman to show us what car to take & got there all right & were kindly received by the Elders there Pres. Phelps was off visiting for a day or two. So we stayed 2 days got shaved & bath bought books & tracts.
Nuneaton postcard from 1905Pres. Phelps sent me alone to Nuneaton in Warwickshire 20 miles off.I got there all right & found the 2 Elders. T.C. Pierce & David Andrew who had just been in that town a very short time but they had baptized a few persons in villages close by.Reports written by Elders David Andrew and Thomas C. Pierce, William's companions already in the area prior to arrival, are found in the Millenial Star and highlight the situation in Nuneaton and surrounding areas immediately prior to William Lindsay's arrival.
Source: Millenial Star, 1905I got a regular Prince Albert suit made to order & started out to tract the town of some 25 to 30 thousand people. The very first day an old man threatened to kick me out of his yard if I did not get out quick I told him I wasnt used to being kicked & I would get out if he didnt try to hurry me. I went on my way & gave out quite a lot of tracts & did get 2 or 3 persons to talk a little & ask a few questions & told people to read the tracts & later I would bring them more to read. I took a certain part of the town & kept steadily at work every day & giving tracts to all who would receive them & getting a few conversations each day. We paid so much for our lodgings & bought our own food & the lady cooked the potatoes & meat for dinner & we held meetings 2 nights each week at the villages where the few Saints lived & Sunday school also each Sunday. Before long we got a few interested & soon were visiting families nearly every night & that helped to pass the time. Of course I got letters once each week from home & I sent them letters also each week. I found it was best for me to be at work trying to convert people every minute as that kept me from worrying about the Dear folks at home.Proselytizing environment
District meeting reports from 7/16/1905
Source: Millenial Star, 1905
We had Conference every 3 months when we all went to Birmingham & passed hand bills inviting people to come to our conference meetings & we of course made reports as to how we were getting along & what prospects we had in our districts.
Account of the Birmingham Conference 11/19/1905
Source: Millenial Star, 1905
Click to enlarge
William Lindsay already states that he wasn't exactly made welcome in Nuneaton. The anti-Mormon climate in England at the time was fierce and accounts from missionaries such as Heber J. Grant and Hugh B. Brown) England at the time highlight the nasty feelings towards Mormons in general during this time. However, there wasn't much of more than a mention of it from William Lindsay. Within 5 years of leaving Nuneaton however, it was the site of a violence towards church members:
"A similar series of episodes occurred at Nuneaton in the spring of 1912. The failure of the elders to comply with an expulsion decree led to a series of incidents in which the local chapel was attached. On one occasion two "mobocrats" came to the door while a meeting was in session. Two elders stepped to the door and one was struck in the face, resulting in the loss of several teeth. On another occasion, about thirty antii-Mormons gained entrance into the worship service and disrupted the proceedings. The local Mormon leader, Albert Smith, described as a frail man of sixty, decided to leave the building as a result of the disturbance. While on the stairs he was accosted by Charles H. Smith, one of the local agitators: "On about the second step he [Albert Smith] felt feathers flying all over him and after that he felt something very warm on his head and running down his face, and over his clothing. By the smell he could tell it was ... tar." According to Clawson "The tarring and feathering of Elder Albert Smith at Nuneaton is quite the worst experience we have yet had in this mission."Similarly as in Birmingham, folklore, vandalism and anti-mormon propaganda was rampant in reports from the time. It became difficult to even find people who would allows the Elders to rent space in order to hold meetings.
Source: Thorp, Malcolm R. "The Mormon Peril": The Crusade against the Saints in Britain, 1910-1914 Journal of Mormon History. 1975. 2. p. 69.
Current Ward Building in Nuneaton"One of the Elders was sent to another locality & the two of us were left to tract that town & several villages within 3 or 4 ~miles. Elder Pierce the one left with me was a very fine young man' a good singer & quite an intelligent fellow good looking & a good conversationalist & had made a few friends before I arrived. But I soon made some friends & investigators also so we used to divide our visits & go together & spend the evenings with those who got interested enough to invite us to their homes. Six months after my arrival Elder Pierce was released to return home & a young Elder named Charles Dadley was sent to me as a helper but by this time I had a number of people quite interested in our principles & doctrines & who were reading books that I had either loaned or given to them & we were kept busy visiting them & explaining our views to them & holding meeting & Sunday schools at Hartshill & Plowhill twice each week 2 1/2 miles from Nuneaton."
Click link to view William Lindsay Mission 1905-1907 in a larger map
"We also held street meetings & hired buildings to hold public meetings to which the public were invited. And we took tracts to practically every home & shop in that vicinity 3 & 4 times over so that in one way or another everybody was reached & warned. My health generally speaking was good & I seemed to stand the traveling back & forth to those meetings in the out lying districts most of the time in the dark rainy nights as well as the younger ones. Of course we met some who abused us with their tongues & only the strict laws of that country kept them from harming us I was threatened a number of times with being kicked, burned, & blown up with dynamite but I managed to keep cool & when I asked them why they wanted to abuse me they could not give any reason & later I am sure they felt ashamed of their conduct as I could see when I met them on the street. When I had been there a little more than a year I had a number who were anxious to be baptized so we got a conveyance to carry those going to Coventry some 9 miles off where there was a font used for that purpose & I baptized nine persons 7 adults & 2 children. Two of these however were Elder Peirce's converts; One of the men I baptized was told by his wife if he joined the Mormons she would never speak to him again. But a year or 2 later circumstances came around that caused her to be glad to come to Utah & afterwards to join the church & become a worker in some of the organizations. They now live in Salt Lake city & own a nice little home & are happy & contented & all are very glad that a Mormon Elder found them back in England & converted him."[Note: One of these converts was Sarah Hill, and the date of her baptism on the church records was May 13th, 1906, which fits in the timeline. If we were able to see a version of the 1906 Millenial Star, we may be able to see a list of those who joined the church on this date. I always thought it interesting that William didn't list the names of the family that moved to SLC, and wonder if their identity could be determined.]
We then organized a Sunday school & held meetings in the room where we were lodging & in these Sunday schools & meeting ,we taught church members, children & strangers the principles of the Gospel to the best of our ability & all seemed to enjoy the meetings quite well. Of course we met many strange characters & had very strange experiences. Catholic's would not receive tracts at all usually. One woman said she would suffer her arm to cut off rather than take one of them tracts. Another said if I should offer a sovereign to take one she would not take it. Another whose husband was a catholic took a tract but seeing the word Priesthood on it she said take it back my husband would almost be ready to whip me if he found out I had taken such a tract. One young catholic woman took a tract out of my hand & in a vicious manner tore it to pieces right before my face. I said young woman that is not a lady like thing to do good day. I didn't take her any more tracts to tear up. I finally met a young man who was a catholic who was willing to talk with me but he told they were under strict orders not to read any other church literature. After getting the little branch fairly settled down & in running order, Pres. Wm A. Noble came down & requested me to leave Nuneaton & go to Dudley & try to raise up a branch of the church there had been no Elders their for many years. So of course I made arrangements as soon as possible & went to Dudley. I felt sorry to leave that little branch & those whom I had brought into the church & a few other kind friends who lived there. And they too seemed very sorry to have me leave them.Ailing Mother
Excerpt on the 1905 Birmingham Conference
Source: Deseret news 12/23/1905
About this this time July 1st 1906 my Dear old mother was very ill she had been ailing for 2 or 3 months of course I had been hearing of her illness through my good wife who spent a good part of her time doing all she could to help my Mother & make her comfortable. I got letters regularly all the time I was gone. Her illness was a source of grief to me. However I got a lodging place in Dudley & got a start made as soon as possible I was given a young man named George Whipple to help me. Then there came a call from Pres. H.J. Grant for all the Elders to meet in a conference at Bradford in Yorkshire on the 24 of July 1906 of course we went & had a splendid conference some 300 Elders present. While at the conference I visited my mother's brother Wm Howie & his family in Leeds. I had visited him once before he is old & feeble. I had a premonition of mother's death which occurred July 25th 1906. I composed a few lines on 2 different occasion & sent home to my wife on Dear old mothers illness & praying for God's blessings to be upon her & hoped her life might be spared till I would return home. She had been a kind & loving mother to her children & to to the best of her ability had set a good example & taught her ·children the principles of the gospel. Even when our father had been taken from us by being killed in a coal mine her faith in God and the Gospel never failed her. She really acted the part of a real heroine. In starting on that journey of six thousand miles over sea & land to bring her 8 children to this blessed land of freedom & opportunity. As one of her sons I feel to honor & revere her memory.Second Area: Dudley
As soon as the conference was over we returned to Dudley & began our labors in earnest but Whipple's health was not good & he was allowed to go & visit for a time with some of his relatives & I was given a young Elder just arrived from Utah named Arthur Howard a very fine young man & a very willing worker. So we got along very well indeed. Dudley is said to contain 50 thousand inhabitants so we had a large field to tract over only 2 of us & only 2 families of saints in the town & we also were required to hold meetings in a place called The Lye & at Blackheath & in Dudley we had a Sunday school. I had very much the same experience here as I had around Nuneaton. Some would accept tracts & a few would read them but many I am sure were never read even when they accepted them. Others would not accept them usually catholics. However we soon made some good kind friends & got some of them quite interested in the gospel message & anxious to have us visit at their homes. I was tracting one day I gave a lady tract & of course told her I was from Utah as I turned to go away she called me back & said I have a picture I want you to see. I looked at it & said I am well acquainted with that man & he has a son here in Liverpool now who is anxious to find some of his relations. Well she said this picture is my father's half brother but I don't know his name well. I said his name is James Price & he lives near my home in Utah. I wrote to Robert Price in Liverpool telling of this interview & he said he felt sure the Lord led me to that woman's door as he said no other Elder in all England would have recognized that picture he got information from this woman regarding his fathers relations. He had been trying hard before this to get a clew but had failed.Return journey
We soon had invitations to visit families in the evenings when we did not have meetings to attend. I went to man's door with a tract he said he would read it. I went again he said the tract was fine he believed it. I gave him later tracts & several books & he never had a question to ask why he says I cant understand why I did not know these things before as they are perfectly plain to me as soon, as I read them. He & his wife got baptized some 3 months after I came home by Elder Howard & also another man & wife that I found while tracting & got them thoroughly interested. I also had a number of families who made us welcome in their homes in the evenings. And most of them were quite interested in the Gospel but only those 4 became members of the church. It is a wonderful experience a man gets working two years traveling from door to door & meeting & talking with all kinds of people & hearing them express themselves. I was invited into the home of a church of England minister who had read tracts I had left at his home & in our conversation he admitted we had the correct mode of baptism as taught in the scriptures. But said he the church of England you know teaches sprinkling of infants as the correct form & of course I have to preach it to the people. Here was a man who admitted he was preaching doctrine contrary to the scriptures because his salary would be cut off if he did not preach their doctrines. I felt very thankful that I was not in that condition & I thoroughly endorsed every principle I was trying to teach to others.
The only Book of Mormon I sold was to a young clerk in a book store in conversation he said he knew we had a golden bible we called the Book of Mormon but we dare not let any but Mormons read it I told him we had such a book & I would sell him one for half a crown. Oh he said I know you dare not sell it to me & dared me to bring him one. So of course I brought him the book & it seemed to be a surprise him & he paid for it as he could go back on his bargain. Another smarty also in a shop said he knew that people who joined the Mormons & went to Utah were not allowed to write & tell people what conditions they found there. Said he knew a young boy who went to Utah a few years & left his poor old parents in England & they never could hear anything about him. I asked him to give the name of the young man & he said his man was Reginald Evans it happened I had just learned of this young man's arrival in Liverpool & so I said how would you like it if I was to bring Mr. Evans to see you oh he he said that is only talk you cant do it. Bro. Evans of course had come to fill a mission & was assigned to the Birmingham conference & came to see his folks. I met him & told him that I had promised to take him to see this man & he went into the store & I said here is the man you said I couldnt bring does he look the man you knew & he said yes I believe that's him. Well I said I'll let him tell you his own story & he did. I got the credit of distributing more tracts & having more conversations than any Elder in that conference according to our quarterly reports. But I did not hold as many street meetings as some.
...We were counseled to lodge with people who did not belong to the church that our manner of living might have a good impression on them. And it sure did make friends for us every time & in every place. One time especially we had to move from a house where we had lived some 6 or 8 months. The lady came to me in tears & said I do hate to have you leave us. I have had a great many people of all classes stay in my home But you men are by far the best of any. And it was practically the same story wherever we went. One landlady gave a man a great scolding for having spoken crossly to me. We surely gained the confidence of most of the people we associated with for any length of time. Pres. Grant was released to come home & Pres. C.W. Penrose took his place as President of the European mission while I was there. I celebrated my 60th anniversary at Dudley England. I want to say that I was greatly blessed all the time I was gone & was able to keep my mind on my missionary work & enjoy it very much. And never got real homesick although I always was a great lover of my Dear wife my children my friends & my blessed home in Utah the Queen of the west, & the land of Zion. I had the spirit of my mission for one thing. My family at home wrote regularly once each week & the letters were always cheerful & encouraging never complaining or wishing I would come until I was honorably released & of course all these things helped me to be happy & contented with my lot.
I received my release about the 15th of March & informing me that I could do what visiting I wanted from then till the 11th of April when I would be expected to cross the Atlantic on the Steamship Cymric.... We got on board the steamship Cymric & started on the voyage across the ocean on the 11th of April 1907. I had been on British soil 2 years & three days. Having arrived in Liverpool April 8th 1905. My cough still troubled me & I had a pain in my side especially when I laid down in bed. Brigham Price was President of the company & I was his first counselor. We called at Queenstown Ireland on our way out into the great Atlantic & started across that 3 thousand miles of water. We had a very favorable voyage but of course most of the passengers were seasick whenever the sea was a little rough. I however escaped that sickness & felt fairly good when up & moving about so I was usually the first passenger on the deck each morning. One brother named North from London suffered greatly all the way over being very bad whenever it was the least bit rough I used to do what I could to help him & make him comfortable & he was grateful. We held meetings several times while on board & us Elders did what we could to make the saints comfortable & happy. A few families had to go down below in the steerage on account of lack of money to pay for a second class passage. We used to carry some of our good food in our pockets to give to them. As their food was very poor. Of course we saw many fishes large & small. Whales & Sharks & especially Porpoises & almost every day we would see other ships mostly going toward Liverpool. Saw one that was partly disabled but able to travel slowly. We were 10 days on the water.
Steamship Cymric, which William Lindsay traveled on his10 day return voyage from Liverpool to Boston
Arrived at Boston all right I was very glad to put my feet on American soil once more. I found my trunk with the lid smashed in but nothing out of it paid a man to fix it up. We got past the Custom officers without trouble & next day got all our luggage transferred to the railroad & started towards home. Had to sleep in the seats as we came along. At Buffalo there was a stop so that people could visit & see Niagara falls I stood guard over the baggage & let all the others see that wonderful sight. We came on practically the same lines we went out on 2 years before. Passed several large cities & went through several States. At Omaha we laid over a few hours & one of our saints was very ill but she soon got better. From there we came by way of the Union Pacific railroad following very closely the old Mormon trail. In the daytime I could recognize some of the old landmarks I had seen in early days. I felt some better after leaving the ship.Welcome home
Excerpt from the Deseret News 05/04/1907
We arrived in Salt Lake City about the 27 but had to wait a day or more for our luggage. I however telephoned to my wife from Salt Lake city telling of the delay & she said come on home & never mind the luggage. I was sure glad to hear her dear voice once more but I said it will be best for me to wait till the luggage comes so I can bring it with me & she said all right. As she always has done to anything I proposed I stayed at cousin Martin's while in Salt Lake & got home on the 30th of April having been gone 25 months & 10 days.
I got a royal welcome home all the family & many friends were at the depot & all were seemingly as glad to see me as I was to see them. This I think is just a taste of what the faithful will enjoy when they meet the loved ones who have gone on before. Mary had a table set out in the dooryard in front of the little old log house in Heber where she had lived all the time I was gone & my children & brothers were there to eat dinner with us & we spent a joyful time together all free from care & sorrow. I felt very thankful for the experience I had gained & the good I had been able to accomplish & for the health & prosperity that had attended my family in my absence. Of course my Dear Mother had passed from this life while I was gone but 2 grand children had been born. In a Patriarchal blessing given me by John M. Murdock just before leaving home he said my family would not be diminished in number while I was gone. I took my place in the High Council as before & visited the different wards on Sunday's as a missionary & got some work to do on the streets repairing bridges & sidewalks & laying stone crossings across the main traveled streets.
