Family History

If a person was emigrating from Northern Europe and heading for North America in the mid-nineteenth century, they most likely left from the Liverpool docks. I know for a fact that parts of my family left from Liverpool around that time. The feeling of returning to that spot, of seeing the place where they must have felt so much sadness, fear, and hope, that feeling is indescribable.

Along the docks there is a statue to the emigrant families who sailed from Liverpool. As it was given to Liverpool by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as thousands of saints left from Liverpool, we gathered by the statue so that our professors could have a special discussion of the history and emigration. So we all stood out in the very cold wind, in mud from the previous night's rain. Professor Wimmer talked about a man who spent twenty years helping people leave for America, twenty years watching his family and friends leave, while he had to stay behind. Professor Wimmer's wife then shared the lyrics of a song he wrote, a song about watching everyone leave and then finally being able to join them. One of the girls in our group, Danielle, shared a poem her ancestor had written while travelling over the ocean, about the hardships of leaving everything behind, but the hope in the future as well. Then Dr. Paul shared a story of a woman whose son had gone on ahead to America and then out to the West and to Utah, and who sent back money enough for his elderly mother to join them comfortably in a wagon. The 72 year old lady, after crossing with a few families who lost members on the journey across the sea, spent the money instead on handcarts for all of them. Crossing the plains in the Willie Handcart Company, many more died, including the lady. But she died she asked them to tell her son that she died facing Zion. To finish we all sang the first and last verse of O Come Come Ye Saints. Though many were crying before the song, I wasn't crying until we started singing. The song was written by a member of my family that crossed from England and went on to Utah. Even remembering the powerful feelings we all had I have to grab a tissue. It was an experience like no other.

After everyone had wiped their eyes, we went to the Merseyside Maritime Museum to see its exhibit on emigration. It was very good with its displays and walk through of a Liverpool street and passenger ship as they would have been, but it was not so powerful as our meeting on the dock.

We then left Liverpool for Preston. On the way to Preston we stopped just outside the city in the town of Chorley, the location of the Preston Temple. The grounds and temple were incredibly beautiful. I found it very interesting that unlike the San Diego Temple, and many others, that the people of the area actually wanted the Mormon temple built. Someone had described the beauty of Mormon temple grounds and architecture to the people of the area. They then petitioned for it, and even voted to resection the area so it could be built. The area was sectioned for industrial buildings, and religious buidlings are banned from industrial sections. Having voted against factories, hotels, and countless other buildings, the area was finally resectioned and the temple was built.

We then had a guided walking tour of Preston. The industrial town was once a leader in inventions and once home to the branch of the Clayton family I hail from. It was the first city to have gas lamps on the streets, gas lit homes, and gas lit churches. It was a leading area in the tea totaling movement, and its art school invented double glazed glass windows to cut down on noise (industrial noises weren't good for studying). After seeing the town and all the surrounding countryside, I am so very proud of my Lancashire blood. Out of all the other areas I've seen, Lancashire is my favourite. I think I like it better than the Lake District I visted just after, and I know I like it better than the southern coasts of Devon and Cornwall. One day I will go back to Preston and visit the village church where William Clayton was married and our ancestors were buried. Of course, the problem with returning to Preston is that I may never come back again.