Dear brothers and sisters,--I greatly rejoice that our brother Mr. Joseph Cain is going to England, and will have the pleasure of visiting you; and as he is respected and esteemed here, and though worthy of confidence and trust, your will be much edified by his testimony; but beware of other spirits who may even come from this place, and whom it would not be prudent to name, " By their fruits ye shall know them;" they will not bear a straightforward testimony to the work of the Lord. Believe them not. If my testimony and Brother Cain's goes hand in hand, you then have two witnesses, and I will only simply state what I have seen and heard, and my own conclusions thereon, believing I have a right to think and judge for myself. I am no enthusiastic girl in her teens, but have seen a good deal of the world, and am accustomed to be extremely cautious, and weigh well all circumstances and things ere I jump to a conclusion. A statement of simple facts will enable you to judge for yourselves; truth needs no ornament. I shall endeavor to use the most plain and simple language, for the express purpose that I may be understood by everyone. From a child I had studied the scriptures, and in secret poured out my heart to the Lord. Mr. Taylor and others providentially came to our house on the North Quay, and boarded with us. In spite of my Jewish unbelieving heart, I could not deny baptism and at the same time believe the New Testament; however, I was so resolved not to be deluded, that I thought I would just get baptized, and only go so far as I could see was right. Slow and cautious ever, I received the truth; many ran before me, while I crept slowly along. I soon felt, in common with many of my brethren, a spirit of gathering pervading my bosom, and a strong desire to be enabled to visit Nauvoo, to see and judge for myself; at the same time there seemed to be no possible chance for me ever to go; however, by faith I believed I should go, though so very unlikely, and frequently testified the same in the meetings. To be short, the Lord opened my way, I knew beforehand by prophesy that it would be so. I sailed in the ship Palmyra, and left a kind father and friends. When the farewell hymn was sung on shipboard, I felt what it was to leave all for the truth; I had before gone through much persecution as many of you know. Unkindness in all its forms I could cheerfully bear, but to leave a kind and aged parent, was almost more than I could endure. Well did St. John say, " These are they who have come through great tribulation,"&c. We had soon something else to think of than farewells, friends, or any thing else, for the winds arose and our fears with them; wave dashed on wave, and storm on storm, ever hour increasing; all unsecured boxes, tins, bottles, pans, &c., danced in wild confusion, cracking, clashing, jumbling, rolling, while the vessel pitched and tossed and bounced till people flew out of their berths on the floor, while others held on with difficultly; thus we continued for eight days - no fires made - nothing cooked - biscuits and cold water; the waves dashed down the hold into the interior of the vessel, hatchway then closed, all in utter darkness and terror, not knowing whether the vessel was sinking or not; none could tell - all prayed - an awful silence prevailed - sharks and sins presenting themselves, and doubts and fears; one awful hour after another passing, we found we were not yet drowned; [p.12] some took courage and lit the lamps; we met in prayer, we pleaded the promises of our God - faith prevailed; the winds abated, the sky cleared, the fires were again lit, then the luxury of a cup o tea and a little gruel. Oh! how ungrateful are we for our mercies, because they are so common. We soon sailed joyfully and pleasantly along, rescued a sinking vessel with nine human beings from a watery grave; they had been seventeen days up to their waists in water, sleeping by turns, held up by the others. Oh! we wept for joy to be the means of saving them, remembering our own perilous condition. We arrived at New Orleans. The sight of land caused every face to smile, though on a foreign shore. Refreshed, we started up the noble Mississippi; the beauty of the scenery would take me too much time to describe; orange trees, houses, plantations, villages, pass in quick succession. We arrive at St. Louis - the great emporium of the west, all bustle, animation, and full of interest, leave St. Louis for Nauvoo. Our hearts now began to feel lively and warm with emotions as the captain form time to time proclaims our near approach to Nauvoo. It was a beautiful moonlight night, our vessel glided silently and gracefully over the moon-lit waters. Spontaneously we sung a hymn, and never before or since has music seemed so sweet - it was from the heart; we had surmounted every difficulty, had braved every danger, and now were nearing our desired port. The bell rang - the vessel stayed - we were at Nauvoo. Soon friends welcomed friends. We seemed alone. I thought I knew no one there, when we heard a voice, "Is any here from the Isle of Man," we gladly responded "yes," when our two kind brothers, Mr. Joseph Cain and Mr. James Cowley gave us a right Mormon welcome. It is impossible to describe our sensations, when seven thousand miles from our natural home, on being received with such brotherly kindness and attention. It was midnight, but a warm comfortable meal was provided, a conveyance got for us and our goods, a house warm and comfortable found for us—and our joy seemed full. . . .
[p.13]

BIB: Pitchforth, Ann, "To the Saints in the Isle of Man,"
Latter-Day Saints' Millennial Star 8:1 (July 15, 1846), pp. 12-13. (CHL)
(source abbreviations)