He took about half of the bottle of oil, which caused nausea, and he really felt for awhile as if he was dying, but after vomiting very freely, and thus relieving his system of a good deal of the poison which had accumulated therein, he felt better, and from that time improved.
As the winter approached Thomas felt the necessity of seeking a warmer climate to recuperate in, after being confined to his bed for eight or nine weeks, so went south to New Orleans, where he was soon rejoined by his father. They obtained work and did well, and had every encouragement to remain there permanently, but Thomas especially felt that his destiny would not be completely filled until he had joined his fortunes with the body of the Saints in the mountains. Furthermore, he felt that he had reached a proper age for marriage, and as he had made the acquaintance of a young woman in St. Louis, of his own faith, and in every way suitable, he was anxious to marry her. He laid his plans before his father, and they were heartily approved.
They accordingly returned to St. Louis, where Thomas was shortly afterwards married to the girl of his choice, Miss Ann Kirkham, by the Presiding Elder in St. Louis, Brother Horace S. Eldredge. He and his wife set up a temporary home in St. Louis, hoping to have the father live with them while making preparations for the journey, and then go with them to Utah.
The summer of 1853 was very hot in St. Louis, and much sickness prevailed, and many deaths occurred. On Sunday, the 27th of August, Thomas and his wife entertained his sister and his wife's sister at luncheon, and afterwards walked to the cemetery and looked at his mother's grave. While standing around it he was impressed to say, "Girls, it will not be long before we shall lay another in this cemetery lot!" It produced a profound feeling, and he tried, but in vain, to reason away the idea.
They returned home, feeling very sad and filled with foreboding. Even Thomas, though he felt sure his premonition would be fulfilled, was uncertain as to who the victim would be. When they arrived home, to their surprise they learned that Father Briggs had just been brought there in a cab, stricken with yellow fever. His feet were very cold, and when they were placed in hot water he said he could not feel any warmth in them. Thomas realized then that his symptoms meant death, but kept his thoughts to himself. The father, though confident when first brought home that he would recover, evidently soon changed his opinion, for he said to his son: "Tom, I shall never get to the mountains; but you will, and you must never forget the dead!" He died the following day (August 18, 1853), and was buried beside his wife, thus fulfilling the son's unwitting prediction, and leaving his son bereft of both mother and father within one short year.
CHAPTER II.
THOMAS' RESPONSIBILITY—JOURNEY TO WISCONSIN—DISAPPOINTMENT—A NEW HOME SOUGHT—STRENUOUS LIFE—KNEE INJURED—INTENSE SUFFERING—GIVEN UP TO DIE—STIMULATING VISION—BIRTH OF A DAUGHTER—NOVEL RUNAWAY—REMEDY FOR HIS LAMENESS—SUNDRY EFFORTS TO EARN A LIVING—CHINCH BUGS THREATEN DESTRUCTION OF CROP—CROP SAVED BY INSPIRATION.
THOMAS felt keenly his responsibility, in being left at the age of twenty-one without earthly father and mother to appeal to for counsel, in being the only male member of his parents' kindred upon whom the duty rested of redeeming the dead, and in being so far separated from the body of the Saints, with a wife and sister to care for, without home of his own, and living in a city where death was stalking abroad and smiting his victims by the thousand. The prospect, though gloomy, only filled him with a determination to be faithful.
In October, 1853, Thomas and his wife and her parents left St. Louis to locate at Baraboo, in Wisconsin, where, they had been informed, land and stock were abundant, and could be had on easy terms. They expected to go up the river by steamboat to Galena, but on reaching Keokuk, Iowa, the water was found to be too shallow to float the boat, and the freight was transferred to flat boats, and hauled up to Montrose, opposite Nauvoo. But the boat, thus lightened, was three days getting over the rapids, and the passengers were without shelter and suffered from cold. On reaching Galena they hired teams to convey them to Baraboo, and when they arrived at that place they found they had been deceived in regard to it, as there was neither land nor stock to be had; the soil was very poor and the residents couldn't sell what little they did raise.