Born in England in 1814, James G. Willie was well educated in an English boarding school and then learned the mercantile business. When he was 21, he went to America to seek his fortune, settling in New York. Six years later, in 1842, he obtained a different kind of wealth when he joined the Church. The next year he served a mission in the East.
In 1846, James Willie and his fiancée, Elizabeth Pettit, left New York and traveled to Nauvoo. They hoped to receive their temple endowment and be sealed, but Nauvoo was nearly deserted when they arrived because the Saints had been forced to leave earlier than expected. James and Elizabeth were married civilly and traveled across Iowa to Winter Quarters, where they spent the winter of 1846–47. In the summer of 1847 they left for the Salt Lake Valley, arriving just three months after the first pioneer company.
During the next five years in Salt Lake City, James and Elizabeth built a one-room log home and had three children. Then in August 1852, when their youngest child was only three months old, James heard his name announced from the pulpit, calling him to return to England as a missionary. He did what he could to make provision for his family, then departed about three weeks after receiving the call.
James arrived in England in January 1853 and was appointed to preside over the Southampton and Dorsetshire Conferences, an area that included the place of his birth. His diaries show him traveling extensively to strengthen the Saints and teach the gospel. They also show him seeking the blessings of God on his service and his family.
During his mission, James visited several times with his sisters, whom he had not seen since leaving England 17 years earlier. They received him kindly but showed little interest in his message. He eventually concluded that “their only thought is how to live in this world, and let the next take care of itself.”
After two years in England, James was asked to serve another year, a request he willingly accepted. In his diary that day, he wrote: “This morning I received a letter from Elder [Daniel] Spencer. ... He informs me that he is to stay another year, also that I am to do the same. Well, I feel to say ‘the Lord’s will be done.’”
James was released from his mission early in 1856. Like many missionaries who were returning home, he was asked to assist the converts who were emigrating from Europe so they could gather to Zion. His first assignment came from his mission president, Franklin D. Richards, who appointed him to preside over the 764 Saints who were sailing to America on the Thornton. By the time the ship departed from Liverpool on May 4, 1856, James Willie had been away from his wife and three young children for nearly four years.
James Willie received his second major responsibility for the emigrating Saints on July 12, when Daniel Spencer appointed him to be captain of the fourth handcart company. Most of the 500 people in this company had been under James’s leadership since leaving Liverpool. Millen Atwood, Levi Savage, William Woodward, John Chislett, and Johan Ahmanson were appointed to be subcaptains, each to oversee 100 people.
The Willie handcart company left Iowa City on July 16. As he had done on the ship, James led with firm expectations for order and good conduct. He also continued to care for the sick. Nearly a week into the trek across Iowa, the people “were beat out” by a 14-mile day that required climbing hill after hill in broiling heat. They stopped at 2:00 to make camp, after which James “was busy attending upon the sick the remaining part of the day.” The oppressive heat continued the next day, causing “a great many [to be] sick and tired out” after traveling 13 miles. Once again, after they made camp, James was “engaged till quite dark administering to the sick.”
On September 30 the Willie company reached Fort Laramie, the halfway point between Florence and Salt Lake City. They had traveled the 522 miles from Florence in 45 days, averaging almost 12 miles a day despite the loss of their oxen—and sometimes traveling 20 miles a day. If they could sustain their normal pace, they would need another 44 days to travel the final 509 miles to Salt Lake City and would arrive in mid-November. Even if the weather stayed favorable, they faced a more critical problem: they had only a 15-day supply of food remaining.
The Willie company hoped to acquire additional food at Fort Laramie, but provisions were scarce and very expensive, and Captain Willie could obtain little more than a one-day supply of crackers. Near the fort he also received some troubling news about the other source of resupply he was counting on: wagons from Salt Lake City. He was informed that the soonest the company could expect to meet these wagons was at South Pass or Pacific Springs, about 280 miles away. Reaching either place would take 24 days—8 or 9 days beyond the remaining food supply.
Rations were reduced, and finally the last ration of flour was issued four days later, on October 19. The people began the day some 60 miles from their hoped-for place of resupply near South Pass. Later that morning they “encountered a very severely cold and blustering snowstorm”—the first of many such storms. They stopped to wait out the worst of it, then started again, trudging through the snow, with hopes fading. Just as they were facing their darkest hour to that point, four men rode up from the west. “Such a shout as was raised in camp I never before heard,” Joseph Elder said. These men were express riders who had been sent ahead from the rescue team five days earlier. Joseph Elder called them “saviors coming to [our] relief.” They reported that wagons loaded with flour and clothing were only a day or two away.
The express riders were not carrying enough provisions to feed the people, but William Woodward said the news that wagons were nearby “inspired our company with fresh spirits.” After staying briefly and giving encouragement, these men hurried east to search for the Martin company, which was stranded 100 miles farther back on the trail.
The Willie Saints continued to the sixth crossing of the Sweetwater, arriving at dusk after a 16-mile day. Four people died along the way, and many others fell back and had to be carried in the wagons, which were overflowing. Traveling in the dark, the wagon teams took a wrong turn and didn’t get to camp until sometime between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m.
Snow continued to fall through the night. As morning dawned, the Saints were in a precarious condition, suffering from the hunger of short rations, the toil of the previous day’s travel, and the cold of their first night in the snow. The last of their rations—the crackers that James Willie had acquired at Fort Laramie—were issued that morning.
In this desperate circumstance, James Willie decided that rather than wait for the rescuers, he would go find them and urge them to hurry forward. He asked Joseph Elder to accompany him. Jens Nielson recalled: “The captain told us there was not a pound of flour in camp. He said he would saddle his mule and ride night and day till he found a team with flour.” Susannah Stone said, “Our Captain ... told us that when he saw us again, it would be with good news.”
James Willie and Joseph Elder rode to the base of Rocky Ridge, where they expected to find the rescuers, but they were not there. James knew what this meant: he and Joseph would have to climb Rocky Ridge and perhaps travel all day to find them—a risky venture in a blizzard. James also knew what this meant for the people in camp: they would not get help for at least another day.
With each mile James traveled, questions weighed more heavily on his mind. Would they be able to find the rescuers? Had they somehow missed them? Were the rescuers even farther behind? If so, how far could he and Joseph Elder go and still survive?
As evening descended, they reached a creek and saw a signboard that pointed to the rescuers’ camp, which was off the trail. Rescuer Harvey Cluff had placed the sign just a short time earlier, making a heroic effort that was providential in its timing. “The signboard had done the work of salvation,” he later wrote. “Had Captain Willie and his fellow traveler ... continued on the road, they certainly would have perished.”
Not knowing how utterly destitute the Willie company was—and that they were just a day’s journey away—the rescuers had stopped at this camp the previous day to seek protection from the storm. Early the next morning they hitched up their wagons, and James Willie and Joseph Elder led them to the Willie camp, retracing the same grueling miles over Rocky Ridge that they had traveled the previous day.
In camp, eyes were continually looking to the west, hoping to see help coming. Susannah Stone recalled that later that day, “we saw [our] good old Captain coming over the brow of the hill waving his hat.” Behind Captain Willie were the long-awaited rescuers. When they reached camp, the people greeted them with shouts and cheers. Women embraced and kissed them, and even the men wept. “Like a thunderbolt out of the clear sky, God answered our prayers,” John Oborn said.
The rescuers distributed lifesaving food, clothing, and bedding that the Saints in Salt Lake City had donated. Harvey Cluff felt that “this was certainly the most timely arrival of a relief party recorded in history for the salvation of a people.” James Willie later wrote, “We all felt rejoiced at our timely deliverance, and attributed it entirely to the hand of God, which had been over us during the whole of our journey.”
This “timely deliverance” can also be attributed to James Willie’s decision and determination to go to find the rescuers. If Captain Willie hadn’t found them and informed them of the crisis, they might have remained in camp another day or two while waiting for the weather to improve. Had they done so, their arrival might have been too late for most of the Willie company. Mary Hurren said, “If help had not come when it did, there would have been no one left to tell the tale. ... They came just in time to save our lives.”
The next day, October 22, the rescuers divided. Several men and six wagons stayed with the Willie company, with William Kimball taking charge. Assisted by these rescuers, the Willie Saints labored onward about 10 miles and camped near the base of Rocky Ridge. George Grant and his other men continued east to find the Martin company.
When members of the Willie company arose on October 23, the hardest day of the journey loomed before them. They had to climb Rocky Ridge and travel about 16 miles to reach the next camp. They had to make that climb in another snowstorm with freezing wind. James Willie had to do it for the third time in four days. He later wrote:
In crossing the Rocky Ridge, we had to encounter a heavy snowstorm, accompanied by a strong north wind. It was the most disastrous day on the whole trip, 15 dying from fatigue and exposure to the cold.
The Willie company resumed travel the next day, their situation critical. Two more people died that morning, and many others were near death. They were 250 miles from Salt Lake City, and no additional rescuers would reach them for a week. Most of these Saints would have to continue pulling their handcarts another nine days, grinding out 135 miles to Fort Bridger.
At Fort Bridger there were enough rescue wagons that everyone could ride the final 113 miles to the Salt Lake Valley. A week later, on November 9, the Willie company reached their journey’s end.
James Willie's oldest son, eight-year-old William, had not seen his father for four years. When he learned that his father was about to arrive home, he was so excited that he walked to the mouth of Emigration Canyon to meet him. It was an emotional meeting for both father and son. James lifted William into the wagon, and they rode into town together.
Young William may have been troubled to see his father's condition. James Willie's feet and legs were badly frozen and wrapped in burlap sacks. For a time it looked as though his feet would have to be amputated, but both were saved. His wife, Elizabeth, believed that "there was nothing but his faith and the power of the priesthood and administration that saved his legs."
What kind of leader was James Willie on the handcart trek? His service is best summed up by George Cunningham: "Our captain . . . did his duty. He was badly frozen and came very close to dying. . . . [He] showed us all a noble example. He was furnished a mule to ride on our start from Iowa City, but he said, 'I will never get on its back. I shall show the example; you follow it.' He did so, and the captains of hundreds followed him. They would crowd on ahead to be the first into the streams to help the women and children across. . . . They waded every stream, I might say, a dozen times between Iowa City and Green River, with the exception of the Missouri River. [Toward the end] they were completely exhausted and had to be hauled the balance of the way, some of them not being able to stand on their feet."
Mary Hurren also paid tribute to James Willie: "We all loved Captain Willie. He was kind and considerate and did all that he could for the comfort of those in his company. Many times he has laid his hands upon my head and administered to me."
James Willie must have felt worn out after four years of missionary service and the four-month handcart ordeal, but he had little opportunity to rest. Six weeks after returning home, he was called to be bishop of the Salt Lake 7th Ward. He served in this position until the spring of 1859, when Brigham Young called him to help settle Cache Valley. He moved his family and made his home in Mendon, where he lived the last 36 years of his life. Using the training he had received as a young man, James Willie became superintendent and clerk of the local cooperative store. He also served in many civic positions, including mayor, water master, and postmaster.
James and Elizabeth Willie had two more children after James returned from his mission, for a total of five. James also had a daughter by a plural wife.
James Willie's Church service in Mendon was extensive and is well documented. He served in a bishopric and as a patriarch, among other callings. For many years, records from the Mendon Ward show him speaking in church nearly every month. He was considered an inspirational speaker whose life matched his words from the pulpit.
James Willie died in 1895, nearly 40 years after the handcart trek, at the age of 80. Showing the high esteem in which he was held, the people in Mendon closed their stores and came in from their fields for his funeral, with nearly everyone in town attending. James was buried in Mendon.
His great-great grandson,Paul Willie, had this to say about him, "While restoring the 1865 rock home of my great-great grandfather, James G. Willie, I spent many hours removing coats of paint and shoring up the stones and timbers that were carefully fit together in his sturdy pioneer home. As I peeled back the layers of history of this home, I often marveled at its construction and craftsmanship. As I worked alone late at night and into the wee hours of the morning, I would find myself reflecting on James G. Willie, whose life was as remarkable as the house he had lived in. I wondered what it might have been like to walk in his shoes as he migrated from England, to New York, to Nauvoo, to Mendon, Utah. How could he possibly leave a wife and young family in the Salt Lake Valley to return to England and eventually lead a group of nearly 400 people back to Utah, traveling a good part of the way pulling handcarts?
On another occasion, I climbed to the top of Machu Picchu and marveled at the precisely fit stone ruins of that ancient civilization. Again and again, as I looked at those incredible stone buildings, I asked myself, How did they do this? And then, perhaps more importantly, Why did they do this? These are fitting questions to contemplate when remembering the handcart pioneers. How did they do it? Why did they do it?
The answers to these questions seem to have been the cornerstones of James G. Willie’s life. He was a man of deep faith and absolute commitment. The legacy of the handcart saga is more than a story of hardship and survival. Almost everyone encounters a variety of challenges in this life—difficult situations, seemingly insurmountable odds, and daunting tasks. I only have to remember James G. Willie to remind myself that our heritage teaches us that we can do hard things when motivated by the truths of the gospel. And if we are motivated by correct principles, we can not only endure life’s challenges but even thrive and grow from them. That is the valuable lesson our family has been blessed with from the legacy of our grandfather, James G. Willie.
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