Jane was born in Scotland in 1820. As a young girl, she and her widowed mother worked in the “bleaching fields” near Paisley, where they turned wet cotton and linen fabrics that were being bleached by the sun. Jane had joined the Church by the time she met Archibald, and they continued making plans to emigrate. They sold most of their possessions to help pay for the family’s emigration.
One final event took place before the McPhail family left Scotland: the adoption of Jane McPhail’s three-year-old niece, Jane McDonald, at the request of her mother.
The McPhail family would sail on the ship Thornton to America. They would arrive in New York City on June 14. From New York the McPhail family traveled by rail and steamboat to Iowa City. There Archibald was assigned responsibility for a group of about 20 people in the Willie handcart company.
In mid-July the Willie company was finally ready to pull up stakes and move from the Iowa City outfitting camp. As they passed through the small towns of Iowa, the Saints could sometimes work for supplies or purchase them from local farmers. One evening Henrietta called at a nearby farmhouse to secure some milk for a sick child in the company. What happened at this farmhouse was later recorded by Henrietta’s daughter Rachel:
"There she met a wealthy lady from New York who became very much interested in her. She tried to persuade Henrietta to go back to New York with her, offering her a lovely home and everything a young girl could want. Such promises seemed like the realization of a dream, and Henrietta was all aglow with excitement when she returned to the camp.
Her father listened to her story with sympathetic understanding but impressed on her youthful mind the importance of her religion, which they had already sacrificed so much for. After some reluctance, she dismissed the thought from her mind and resumed her labors pushing and pulling the handcart."
By October, flour rations were reduced and winter storms began, making the journey extremely difficult for the Willie company. On October 23 they crossed Rocky Ridge, traveling nearly 16 miles in a blizzard, and arrived at Rock Creek Hollow late at night. They were cold, damp, and exhausted, but Archibald McPhail still had duties to perform. Besides attending to the welfare of his family, he found that one of the women in his group was missing.
It was a cold, lonely walk as Archibald returned to seek the lost one. He eventually found her freezing, fearful, and without hope. She had reached a creek that she was afraid to cross because the ice might break and she would fall in. She reasoned that she was dying anyway and did not want to die with wet clothing frozen to her body.
Archibald called for her to come across the ice to him, but no amount of coaxing would change her mind. He finally went to her, gathered her up, and started back across the creek. Their combined weight broke the ice. Archibald was soaked in the frigid water, but the rescued woman was safe and dry.
After trudging almost four miles through wind and cold, they stumbled into the camp, where “few tents were pitched.” Archibald was met by his loving teenage daughter, who helped him under a handcart, covered it with a half-frozen tent, and then kept a vigil by his side the rest of the night. Three times the wind blew the tent cover off the rude shelter. Three times Henrietta replaced it and brushed the snow from her father’s face.
Thirteen members of the company died from the trek over Rocky Ridge and were buried the next morning. Archibald was still clinging to life when the company left this camp on October 25.
On November 5, Archibald was being carried in a wagon while Jane walked behind, probably taking turns with Henrietta in carrying little Jane. That was a difficult day for the Willie company. They traveled 23 miles and crossed Yellow Creek, jolting Archibald at every turn.
Jane did not sleep in a tent that night but watched and waited in the wagon with Archibald, gently cradling his head in her lap. Jane knew that her husband was dying, and she could not bear the thought of him dying in the dark, so she held a small tallow candle near his head. Her desire was to look on his loving face to the last. She prayed that the flicker of the little candle would stay with them until Archibald passed away. “Her prayer was answered, for the light of the candle and the life of her husband went out at the same time.” The Willie company journal for November 6 recorded: “Archibald McPhail, from Greenock, Argyleshire, Scotland, died about 2 a.m., aged 40 years. Much snow on the ground this morning & still more falling.”
Archibald McPhail died when he was only three days from reaching his goal of Zion. To the end of the journey, he had given his all in the service of his family and others. His wife, daughter, and adopted daughter arrived safely in the Salt Lake Valley on November 9, 1856. The sacrifices made by their husband and father would continue to inspire his posterity and others for generations to come.
I really just loved this story as it is such a sweet story of devotion. Archibald truly was an amazing man who took his priesthood responsibility seriously. It is almost unimaginable that under the circumstances, weak from hunger, exhausted from a long cold day pulling his handcart over Rocky Ridge he would leave camp in search of one of the women he had responsibility over. She was not his family, just his responsibility. It is remarkable that he would sacrifice so much for her. Truly an example to us all of discipleship.
Have a great week!
Sister McHood
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