"WILLARD RICHARDS,
"Clerk."
CHAPTER 23.
IN THE BRITISH MISSION, 1844-45-46.
Departure.—Route.—Visits Home of Solomon Mack.—A Peculiar Dream.—On the Ocean.—Copyright of Doctrine and Covenants.—Visit to Scotland.—Lemington.—Troubles in Nauvoo.—Condition of the Mission.—Preparation for His Return.
August 28th, 1844, was the day appointed for the departure of Wilford Woodruff and his companions to the British Mission. Those who were to accompany him were his wife and two children, Hyrum Clark and wife, and Captain Dan Jones and wife. He said good-by on the Temple Block at Nauvoo to his fellow members of the Twelve and started at once for Chicago whither he and his companions were conveyed by teams.
On the 8th of September, they left Chicago on the propellor, Oswego, and made their journey eastward on the Lakes. They stopped about three hours at Manatou Islands where he with others had been wrecked on the Chesapeake in September, 1841. While here they carved their names on some white stones, and also the events associated with the wreck. At midnight while on their way a fire alarm was sounded and the passengers were brought together by terror of the alarm. The flame, however, was soon extinguished and they all retired again to their rest. They continued their journey on Lake Erie, the Williams Canal, and Lake Ontario.
Elder Woodruff then went by rail to his birthplace in Farmington, Connecticut, where he paid his aged father another visit. While he was laboring among the Saints in and about Boston, his wife paid a visit to her home in Scarboro, Maine. The branches of the Church in Boston and Lowell were not in a healthy condition. He, therefore, worked zealously to bring about a reformation and to warn the Saints against some iniquities which had crept into the Church.