. . . On July 10, 1842, Mary Matthews and I were married at Thorncut, Bedfordshire, England, by Reverend Taddy, and on Jan. 1st., 1843, we left Thorncut with Mr. Coleman's family, in a large baggage wagon en route for America. George Coleman and I drove the baggage in a very cumbersome wagon with three strong horses tandem. It is against the law of England for teamsters to ride, and while both of us were riding, a policeman saw us and gave chase. We whipped up the horses and after going about three miles we outran him and slowed down again to a peaceable jog.

Leaving our wagons at Wolverhampton we went by train to Liverpool where we joined other Saints and were enrolled on the good ship Swanton--Captain Davenport--as the nineteenth company of Latter-day Saint emigrants, with Lorenzo Snow as the company's captain. We stayed at Liverpool for two weeks waiting for repairs on the ship, but we [p.4] made the vessel our home, doing our cooking and sleeping on board.

One day Brother Coleman said to me, "Chris, ain't you going to peel some potatoes and make us a pie?" So I went to work and made the meat and potatoes into a pie; and when it was baked all of the others wanted to share with us and asked for a recipe for "Chris's pie," as they called it.

On Jan. 16, 1843, we set sail from Liverpool and as we slowly saw the land disappear in the distance we sang one of the songs of Zion and cheered each other with sympathizing words. We were the first British emigrant company of the season, and numbered two hundred and twelve souls. We had a pleasant voyage across the Atlantic, during which time just before reaching the American shore Mary gave birth to a little son, whom we named William M. Layton.

After sailing for seven weeks and three days we arrived at New Orleans and were transferred to the steamer "Amaranth" in which we sailed up the Mississippi River. Our baby died before we reached St. Louis, being only [p.5] about six weeks old. It was buried on shore. We arrived at St. Louis on March 29, 1843.

We were now transferred from the steamer to a barge, and here we had to stay two weeks waiting for the ice to break up in the river. My wife was sick and delicate and the weather was raw and chilly, but we consoled ourselves with the Lord's promises and thanked Him that we were so near our journey's end. My money having given out, I was obliged to borrow $7 of Prime Coleman.

About the 7th of 8th of April a small steamer fastened a cable to our barge and tugged us up the river to Nauvoo where we arrived one very cold morning, April 12.

Now rejoiced we were when we were safely across! And there stood our Prophet on the banks of the river to welcome us! AS he heartily grasped our hands, the fervently spoken words "God bless you" sank deep into our hearts, giving us a feeling of peace such as we had never known before. The Saints had congregated in front of the old post office building to gladly welcome us to this land and the beautiful city of Nauvoo. . . .[p.6]

BIB: Layton, Christopher, Autobiography of Christopher Layton, ed. By John Q. Cannon (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1911) pp. 4-6. (CHL)
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