Spent the afternoon at Mr. Lucian Woodworth's in company with Brother Hyrum, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, Wilford Woodruff, and Brother Chase, with our wives; had a good time, and feasted on a fat turkey.
CHAPTER XVII.
EULOGY OF LORENZO D. BARNES—THE BEGINNING OF AUXILIARY ORGANIZATIONS IN THE CHURCH—IMPORTANT ITEMS OF DOCTRINE PROCLAIMED AT RAMUS—THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF APRIL 6TH, 1843.
Saturday, April 1, 1843.—Called at the office about ten a.m., for "the Law of the Lord;" and about noon I heard read "Truthiana" No. 3, from the Boston Bee. At two p.m., I started in company with Orson Hyde and William Clayton for Ramus. The roads were very muddy. We arrived about half-past six, p.m., and were very joyfully received by Brother Benjamin F. Johnson, where we slept for the night.
Elders Brigham Young and John Taylor went to La Harpe.
The Times and Seasons contains a well written editorial upon the signs of the times. (See vol. 4, page 153.)
Minutes of a Conference at Augusta, Lee County, Iowa, April 1st, 1843.
James Brown was appointed the presiding Elder of the Augusta branch, which numbered eighty-four members in good standing, including two high priests, eleven elders, four priests, two teachers and one deacon. Twelve persons united with the branch. Seven elders, two priests and one deacon were ordained. One of the elders was a Lamanite of the Delaware tribe. A resolution was unanimously passed to uphold the first presidency and follow their counsels, and to use their utmost endeavors to build the Nauvoo House as well as the Temple. A number of discourses were preached during the conference, and several persons requested baptism at the close.
Elder P. P. Pratt writes:
Letter of Elder Parley P. Pratt Eulogizing Lorenzo D. Barnes, the First Elder to Die while on a Foreign Mission.
Alton, April 1, 1843.
DEAR BROTHER:—Brother Lorenzo Snow arrived at St. Louis last Wednesday, from England with about two hundred and fifty emigrants. They are now lying on a boat bound for Nauvoo as soon as the river opens. They sailed from England some time in January, and bring a copy of the Millennial Star and some private letters, under date of January 1st, 1843. From these we learn the painful fact that our dear brother and fellow-laborer, Elder Lorenzo D. Barnes is gone to be with Christ. He lingered some weeks with a fever, and at length died in the triumphs of faith.
He died on the morning of tho 20th of December last, at Bradford, the first messenger of this last dispensation, who, for Christ's sake and the Gospel's, has laid down his life in a foreign land.
In this dispensation of Providence, an entire people are called to mourn. Brother Barnes was everywhere known and universally beloved as a meek, humble, and zealous minister of the Gospel, who has labored extensively for many years with great success. Such was his wisdom and prudence, and such his modesty and kindness, that he won the friendship not only of the Saints, but of thousands of various sects, and of those who made no profession. In short, his was the favored portion which falls to the lot of but few men, even among the great and good. He was loved and esteemed by many and hated by few, in all the wide circle of his acquaintance. But in the midst of a useful career on earth, he is suddenly and to us unexpectedly called away to a higher and more glorious field of action, with the spirits of the just, in the high council of the King of Kings. His spirit now justly claims an honored seat; his voice is now heard in the deliberations of the high and mighty ones, who are the principal movers in the great events of the dispensation of the fullness of times, whilst his body lies sleeping far away from his native shore, on a distant island of the sea.