. . . I received a notification to be in Liverpool with my wife & child on the 29th of April. I made the best preparations I could, and was there at the time appointed and at once went on board the sailing ship John J. Boyd. Here was a company of Latter-day Saints of near 700 all bound for Utah, about 6/7 of these were from the Scandinavian Mission the remainder made up of English, Welsh, Scotch & Irish families. The next day Apr. 30th we were towed out into the River Mersey and on out to sea and thus commenced our journey to Utah.

Our journey across the Atlantic was made in safety & we landed in New York on May 29th . My wife however was confined to her berth nearly the whole journey, our darling little girl stood the journey across the water most bravely, she was a little hero. I was well, with a slight exception all the way across. As we neared New York my wife improved, but our darling child sickened.

We took the railroad cars at New York, traveled up near the Hudson River to Albany. Changed cars & on to Niagara, crossed the river just below [p. 351] the Falls into Canada, run across a portion of Canada to Windsor, then crossed a small lake to the American side at Detroit. From Detroit on the Chicago, then again to Quincy on the Mississippi River, cross the River to Hannibal, then to Palmyra and on to St. Joseph City, Missouri. Here ended our journey by rail. We then went on board a river steamboat and traveled up the Missouri River to Florence, Nebraska, being on the boat 3 days and 2 nights. We were about 2 weeks on this part of our journey from New York. Here myself & wife were called to meet one of the greatest trials of life. Our darling little Polley who was sickening when we left the ship at New York, daily grew worse as we traveled west, and a few days after we reached Florence on June 19th she died. At her death she was 1 year, 9 months, & 15 days old. Since that time we have become more sadly familiar with the sickness that took her from us, having lost two other children in a similar manner in Payson, from that complication of children's diseases often spoken of as summer complaint, embodying, teething, canker, diarrhea, fever &c. We buried her the next day in what is known as the Latter-day Saints old burying ground at Florence. Here is buried many Latter-day Saints who died on the way from Nauvoo & other places to the Valley, or Utah. Florence is located on the bank of the Missouri River, some 6 or 8 miles from Omaha.

At Florence we were to commence our journey across the plains with ox teams that were on the way from Utah to meet us. They, or a least some companies arrived here a few days after our arrival from the east, and it was only about two weeks after we arrived here that all was ready to start out one company on their journey across the plains.

Myself and wife (We could carry our darling no further) were in the [p. 352] first company under the charge of Captain John Murdock, then of Lehi, Utah, we commenced this part of our journey on June 30th/ 63. . . .

. . . We arrived in Salt Lake City on the 29th of August, making just one day less that 4 months from the time we were towed out of Liverpool docks. One month on sea, one month passing through the States and remaining at Florence, and two months on the plains & passing through the mountains. . . . [p. 353]

BIB: Redington, John. Journal (Ms 4514), pp. 351-53. (CHL)
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