The Westward Emigration of the Latter-Day Saints - One Woman’s Courageous Journey to Zion
By Debby Adair
They told her not to go, that it was too dangerous, that she and her children would never make it. The Latter-day Saints were first organized in 1830. Early members of the church often encountered hostility. Violence against the church and its members caused most church members move from Ohio to Missouri, then to Illinois. Despite the frequent moves, they still faced opposition.
In early 1846 Brigham Young, the second president of the church, began leading them beyond the western frontier of the United States to settle in the Great Salt Lake Valley.
Soon after the first Mormon pioneers reached Utah in 1847, the Church leadership encouraged converts in Europe to emigrate to Utah. On December 23, 1847, the church leadership sent an epistle to the members in the British Isles. "Emigrate as speedily as possible to this vicinity." From 1849 to 1855, about 16,000 European Latter-day Saints emigrants departed from an English port and traveled by ship to New York or Boston. Many then traveled by railroad to Iowa City, Iowa, the western end of the rail line, where they would be outfitted with handcarts and other supplies. Unaware of how many emigrants to expect, the Church had ordered the construction of 100 handcarts, but soon found that number would be inadequate. The emigrants spent several weeks in Iowa City building additional handcarts and obtaining supplies before beginning their long and arduous trek of about 1,300 miles (2,100 km).
This historical background is of significant importance to Marlene Wasden Cupit of the River Trails 2nd Ward in Hurst, Texas. Marlene is the Ward Temple and Family History Consultant in her congregation. In fact, it was her great, great grandmother, Sarah Goode Marshall, who stepped out with courage, leaving England with her small children to cross the plains to make it to Zion.
Marlene took a trip to England specifically to do family research at the border of Wales and England, where her great-great grandfather and grandmother were married on May 7, 1843, in Linton Hill, Walford, Herefordshire, England and raised their six children. Before she made the journey, Marlene prayed earnestly that doors would be opened in her genealogy quest.
With her English friends, they drove right up to the church that her grandparents had attended. The door was locked, and she couldn’t find a name or phone number to call as she walked around the building. As she came back from the church, she noticed a woman walking her dog down the road. Marlene squared her shoulders and walked up to her. Introducing herself, she explained about her interest in this particular church.
The woman knew the pastor and offered to call him and have him meet Marlene, saying that the Marshall name is a very big name in their small village. As it happened, the clergyman was familiar with Marlene’s distant relatives. He and the local historian were very interested to talk with her. “We were just going through some papers, and we found something that pertained to your great, great grandmother.”
At the age of 28, Sarah Goode Marshall and her children, had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, much to the dismay of her husband, Thomas, who bitterly opposed. This caused agitation between them. To make matters worse, in the summer of 1854, he passed away leaving her penniless with six small children under the age of twelve. Sarah was determined to come to the United States. To see this happen she worked hard, making kid gloves for the wealthy and cleaning homes to save money. In addition, the Church of England saw a need in a widow and her children with this strong desire to go to America and provided her with 50 pounds from the Church funds to help finance the trip. The historian showed Marlene the document of the dispensation of funds and found the entry that the Church of England had awarded her great-great grandmother. This was quite interesting because the Church of England did not do this very often.
The night before leaving her native land, relatives and friends planned a party to show their respect for Sarah. Some of the presiding Elders of the British Mission were invited guests at this party. Unfortunately, the spirit of discouragement spread among the members who were assembled. They tried to persuade Sarah not to leave, telling her she would lose her children and her own life on the way. One of the Elders overheard the dispirited remarks. He gave her a blessing: "I will promise Sister Marshall in the name of Israel’s God that she shall go to Zion and shall not lose one of her children by the way."
The next day, Saturday, 19 April 1856, Sarah Marshall with her little family boarded the ship "Samuel Curling" and sailed from Liverpool, England. They arrived in Boston on the 23rd of May, after being at sea for about five weeks. When they reached Boston Harbor, they next traveled by train to Iowa City, Iowa where preparations were under way for the long journey across the plains. This would be the first handcart company formed with Edmund Ellsworth as Captain. Determined as ever, Sarah procured a handcart and asked the captain if she could join his company in crossing the plains. The company was large, and this was the first attempt at crossing the plains with handcarts. He answered, "Sister Marshall, it would be unreasonable for you to expect such a thing. You are a widow, with six small children. You would only be a hindrance to the company."
Her answer was, "Well, Captain Ellsworth, I'm going, and I'll beat you there.” Sarah Marshall pulled her handcart for three months and seventeen days. The trek was grueling: heat, hunger, deaths, births, inclement weather, native American attacks, sickness, sleep and food deprivation. Sarah was at a disadvantage. She was widowed. She had six children, the youngest barely two years old. However, on the very last day, while everyone else was repairing wagons and preparing to enter into the Salt Lake Valley, Sarah asked permission from Captain Ellsworth if she could start that morning at the crack of dawn so as not to be left behind. She felt she could manage an early start with her babies. She and her children began the day early and were the first of the company to be greeted by Brigham Young's welcome party from Salt Lake City. She had led the way ahead of the handcart company. Through all odds, she made it with her children to Zion without losing any of them.
She became known as the First Lady of the handcarts to enter the Salt Lake Valley with the Ellsworth Handcart Company. Today, her bonnet is in The Pioneer Memorial Museum in Salt Lake. Handcart pioneers and the handcart movement are important parts of LDS culture, history, music and annual reenactments. These journeys caused the qualities of discipline, devotion, and self-sacrifice to be shown among the Saints. The handcart pioneers are one of the greatest stories of the American West. It is interesting if you just step out in courage, like Sarah and her great-great granddaughter Marlene, if you have the desire to seek information and knowledge, by asking a strange woman with a dog if she could help, the doors will keep opening. Marlene doesn’t think it's a coincidence. ”I know the blessings I received to be able to accomplish what I set out to do were far reaching; however, it takes making that step out in courage for it to happen.”
Sources:
Personal Narrative of Marlene Wasden Cupit
Handcarts to Zion by Leroy R. and Ann W. Hafen
Researching Family History: Sarah Goode Marshall was first handcart pioneer to enter the Salt Lake Valley, Deseret News - September 20, 2011
Their Life Stories, Posterity, and Pioneer Ancestors – Life Sketch of Sarah Goode Marshall by Robert Oral and Myrtle Welch Hatch
Some Must Push and Some Must Pull, Ensign 2006 Pioneer Article
Debby Adair serves as a Hurst Stake Website Editor and Reporter. She is a former Financial Compliance Officer / Financial Fraud Examiner. She spends her days enjoying retirement, traveling internationally, cooking and interior decorating.
