Pioneer Story - James Kirkwood

James Kirkwood Born 1845, Scotland, Age 11 when traveling with the Willie Handcart Company.

James and his family were among the first converts in Scotland in 1840. Their home was always open to the missionaries. James was baptized by Elder James MacGregor on April 28, 1856, just prior to sailing for America. James’s father and two sisters had died in 1852, but his determined mother gathered her four sons and set her sights on Zion. Margaret sold precious possessions, including her beautiful handwork to help with finances. Margaret’s prominent family were fabric designers who had disowned Margaret for joining the Church. 

Robert (age 21) and his mother pulled Thomas (age 19) in the handcart as Thomas was crippled and could not walk. James was primarily responsible for his younger brother, Joseph Smith Kirkwood (age 4). One night Margaret put their only loaf of bread in bed with them to protect it from freezing. Joseph knew not to touch it, but was so hungry he began to pinch off small pieces. “The temptation was too great for such a hungry four-year-old and by morning, Margaret and her sons’ day’s rations had disappeared.”

On October 23, the Kirkwoods made the 15-mile journey up Rocky Ridge in a storm. This 15 mile journey took up to 27 hours for some to complete. Margaret had one eye freeze and was blind in that eye the rest of her life. James and Joseph became separated from their mother and fell behind. Margaret waited for her sons by a small fire until late that night. When the pair finally arrived at the campfire that night, James set his brother down, whom he had carried most of the way up Rocky Ridge and then died from exhaustion and exposure, literally giving his life for his brother.  With determination, he had faithfully carried out his task and saved his brother. 

The biography of Joseph by his daughter, Mary, states: “Next morning when arriving in camp the brother James fell dead due to starvation and cold. He was buried on the banks of the Sweetwater in a grave with twelve others.”

James' story is a fairly familiar and commonly told story about Willie Company. But his story is oft repeated for great reasons. It is a beautiful example of love and devotion for ones own family. I ache for his mother when I think of what she must have been feeling. I cannot imagine her pulling her handcart with only her 21 year old son to help and the added weight of her 19 year old son in the handcart. Then to lose her two younger sons in the blizzard and wait for their arrival. How her heart must have warmed to see her 11 year old James carrying his 4 year old brother on his back into camp. And then her sadness when James passed away. 

Elder M. Russel Ballard said this:"We cannot begin to understand the journeys made by those who laid the foundation of this dispensation until we understand their spiritual underpinnings. Once we make that connection, however, we will begin to see how their journeys parallel our own. There are lessons for us in every footstep they took–lessons of love, courage, commitment, devotion, endurance, and, most of all, faith. Handcarts were heavily laden with faith–faith in God, faith in the restoration of His Church through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and faith that God knew where they were going and that He would see them through. We all face rocky ridges, with the wind in our face and winter coming on too soon. Always there is a Devil’s Gate, which will swing open to lure us in. Occasionally we reach the top of one summit in life, as the pioneers did, only to see more mountain peaks ahead, higher and more challenging than the one we have just traversed. And how will we feel then, as we stand shoulder to shoulder with the great pioneers of Church history? How will they feel about us? Will they see faith in our footsteps? I believe they will. We will learn, as did our pioneer ancestors, that it is only in faith–real faith, whole souled, tested and tried–that we will find safety and confidence as we walk our own perilous pathways through life. We are all bound together–19th and 20th century pioneers and more–in our great journey to follow the Lord Jesus Christ and to allow His atoning sacrifice to work its miracle in our lives. While we all can appreciate the footsteps of faith walked by Joseph Smith and his followers from Palmyra to Carthage Jail and across the Great Plains, we should ever stand in reverential awe as we contemplate the path trod by the Master. His faithful footsteps to Gethsemane and to Calvary rescued all of us and opened the way for us to return to our heavenly home. Joy will fill our hearts when we fully come to know the eternal significance of the greatest rescue–the rescue of the family of God by the Lord Jesus Christ. For it is through Him that we have promise of eternal life. Our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the source of spiritual power that will give you and me the assurance that we have nothing to fear from the Journey."

Have a great week!

Sister McHood