Henry Hughes
Henry Hughes, Mendon, June 15th 1862.
I, H. Hughes, the son of Robert Hughes and Martha Reed, [was] born in Flintshire, near Mold, North Wales, December 25th, 1825. I lived at Mold until I was fifteen years old. I worked in the coal mine when I was nine years old and did not see daylight, only on Saturday and Sunday, in the winter season.
I feel thankful to the Lord for my mountain home where I can bring up my family without sending them to the coal pits, for I had many a narrow escape for my life. The one which I refer to here took place in 1837 on the 9th day of May at the Argoed[1] colliery[2] about one mile distant from Mold. On the 9th day of May in that year, thirty-two souls, men and boys including myself, descended the shaft, which was seventy yards deep to work. There was an old, deserted pit close to the one where we worked which sixty-five years before had suddenly filled with water. Some of the men had been warned not to work too near to the old pit, for fear the water would break through and flood the one where we were working.
At about eight o’clock on the morning of the above date, the men and boys called out, as the water had begun to break through from the old pit and was coming in on us. When, however, we got to the shaft to be hoisted up, a man named John Owens told us to go back, as there was no danger. So we returned and resumed work.
In two hours afterwards, the water rushed in, in such quantity and force that seven of our number were drowned, and the rest of us with the exception of two rushed to a position in the highest part of what is called the air course. Twenty-two of us huddled together without any way of escape, with no air to breath and nothing to eat. Death seemed to stare us in the face. In a short time our lights went out for want of air, and to add to the horrors of the situation, we were left in total darkness.
Never shall I forget the fearful picture of human despair which was presented by a young man named William Haliute [?]. When he realized his awful situation he uttered shrieks of agony. He called over the names of his young wife and his little children, and plunged his hands into his hair and tore it from his head in handfuls.
Some sat silent and gloomy speaking not a word, apparently awaiting the visit of the grim monster death. Others wept, and I noticed two men were large and corpulent men named, respectively, Thomas Jones and William Williams. They went off a few feet aside from the others and prayed. These two last died in a few hours. Afterwards to add to the horror of our position, the mud was six inches deep where we were.
Among our number was a young man named John Jones. He had always manifested great interest and affection for me. This affection remained with him until death, as will be seen by the following incident. In order to keep me out of the mud, he took me in his arms and laid me across his lap. In this position I went to sleep. When I awoke my dear friend was dead.
The breathing of the gas which had gathered in the place where we were imprisoned caused a kind of stupor to come over us, and it was well that it was so else we might have been tempted to drink some of the sulfuric water with which the pit was flooded, which would have proved certain death. As it was, our minds were so deranged that, although suffering with burning thirst, we did not know enough to go and drink it.
We remained in this terrible condition for three days and two nights, during which time twelve of our number died. A portion of the time I lay on four dead bodies. The people outside meanwhile had not been idle. They had been doing all in their power to rescue us by emptying the pit of water as fast as possible.
On the third day relief arrived. The first person who came to us was my brother John Hughes, who was then a young man. The first man he reached was John Candrick, and the first words he said to him were, “Is Henry alive?” Candrick answered, “He was a short time since.”
My brother John continued to crawl over bodies of my fellow workmen, shaking them as he went to see whether they were alive, until he got to myself. He shook me and called me by name and I answered by making a mournful, wailing noise. He took me in his arms and, as the water was only about a foot from the roof, he got on his back and paddled himself along holding me above the water ‘til we got to the shaft.
Those of us who were alive were taken up a short distance at a time. If we had been taken up too suddenly into fresh air it might have caused instant death. After we were taken up, we were carefully nursed and fed sparingly until our strength returned. I was among the first to recover.
The incident caused great excitement all over that part of the country. There was a great fair being held at Mold on the 12th of May when we were being taken out of the pit, and all the people left the fair so that it was completely deserted, and came to see us. And when we reached the top of the shaft the assembled crowds rent the air with deafening cheers, and many of the people wept for joy.
Two men who were in another part of the pit were found dead eleven days after we were taken out. During all the time I was imprisoned in the pit I had no fear of death and, in fact, an idea of it never entered my mind.
I often feel thankful to God that my life was spared so that I have lived to hear and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel thankful for my mountain home and that I can bring my family up in the gospel of Christ.
We went to Staffordshire, England, when I was fifteen years old and lived there until I was twenty years old, and then to North of England, Wingate at Grange Colliery, where my wife Ann Howells came for the good of her health. We were married on the 4th of November, 1850, and in July 2nd, 1851, I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was sent to a place called Five Houses [England] and I raised a branch of twenty-three members.
We had a son born to us in Wingate and we called him Henry. He was born June 14th, 1852. I moved to Five Houses and was ordained an Elder and was appointed to preside over the branch.
On March the 28th, 1853, we bid adieu to old England, and arrived in Great Salt Lake City October the 16th, 1853. We passed the winter in the city, [then] moved to South Mill Creek Canyon. There the Lord blessed us with another son, Charles, born June the 15th, 1855. We moved to Cottonwood Canyon in 1855, and worked there for seven years, [margin note: I was appointed teacher in Cottonwood Ward by Bishop Brinton] in which time we had born to us John, born April the 13th, 1857, and Thomas Howells, born September the 15th, 1859. May 1862 we moved to Mendon, Cache County and we had a son Edward Robert, born August the 20th, 1862. [margin note:] Edward was baptized November 17th, 1877. I was appointed teacher in Mendon in 1862 and in 1868 to preside over the quorum, and in 1870 I was appointed Bishop of Mendon by Brother Benson and Brother Maughn, and on the 7th of October, 1872, the President Brigham Young, Sr. and Brigham Young, Jun., George Q. Cannon and Orson Pratt ordained me High Priest and a Bishop. Brigham Young, Sen. was mouth.
I and my wife Ann Howells Hughes went down to Salt Lake City and were baptized for the following named persons: [Margin note: July the 10th 1872]. My father Robert Hughes and mother Martha Reed Hughes and brother John Hughes. (Father and Mother were sealed.)
We were baptized for Grandfather and Grandmother Reed on my side and for my wife’s father and mother and for my wife’s sister Mary and her husband Francis Wainright [margin note: Mary and her husband were sealed] and for a friend Emanuel Jones, and my wife’s relations, William Howells and Grandfather Howells and Grandfather Hughes and Grandmother Hughes and Artsedila Hughes. Martha Howells, my wife’s sister, was sealed to me, Henry Hughes.
During this year I labored hard for the Kingdom of God, and raised a good crop of wheat.
1873: Me and the brethren quarried and hauled 600 perch[3] of rock for the granary at the depot. In lifting a big rock I hurt my back and was healed by the ordinance of the Church and the blessing of the Lord. In September, President Brigham Young, Sen. sent me a dispatch for me to get ready for a mission to Wales, and at October conference, 1873, I was called with ninteen others to go to Europe, and left home on the 19th of October for Ogden. I left Ogden on the 20th for New York and arrived there on the 25th and we stopped here until the 1st of November. We sailed for Liverpool on board of the Oceanic, a fine steamship 437 feet long. We arrived at Liverpool on the 12th of the same month in good health, and my health was good across the sea. The Lord was good to us. The day before we got to Queenstown there was a heavy gale of wind, and we [were] kept out of it. Some of the fine steamships had to have help to come in to Liverpool, but we were blessed of the Lord and in a smooth sea all the time. When we arrived at Liverpool, we went to 42 Islenton, that being the house where the office was kept. We met with Bishop L. J. Herrick. He was left in charge when Brother Caranton left for his home in Utah.
I left Liverpool for Wigan to see my brother Thomas. I had not seen him for twenty-six years. We parted boys and met again grandfathers. I stopped with him two days and left for Jarrow on Tyne to see my sister Elizabeth. I got here on the same day I left Wigan. They keep a large hotel and are worth ($100,000) one hundred thousand dollars. I went into the parlor and called for a glass of ale, and I gave Hubert their son my satchel to put by for me. My sister saw my name on it. She [was] like to faint away. She called her husband in and told him she believed I was her brother Henry from America. They both came into the room I was in to see me, but I gave it up that I was not the man they thought I was. I asked her for some supper, told her that I had been traveling all day and that I was very hungry. She was put about and did not know what to do. I asked her if she would give me a kiss if she could not get the supper. She looked at me with vengeance and I smiled, then she knew me and fell in my arms (and I got my arms full for she was only 200 lbs.). I had a very pleasant visit with them.
Then my brother-in-law Hubert [?] Clay went with me to Durham to see Richard Jones, his wife being my wife’s sister. We had some fun here. We asked them for lodging and told them that we [were] from America. Jones wanted to know what part we came from. I told him from Mendon, Cache County, Utah. He had my address. He went and told his wife that we came from where Henry lived. We heard her telling him to ask us if we knew one Henry Hughes in that part of the country. I told him that I know him well and that we had lived together for years. He then brought my likeness to me and asked me if I knew that man. I said that was Hughes. Then he brought [a picture of] my wife. I told him that she was his wife. We had a three hour talk with them. I asked Ruth if I looked like that man they showed me. She looked me in the face and said no. I told her that I was the very man himself. She said, “What? Henry?” I said, “Yes.” She said, “Hah! You have got more wives than one and I don’t like it!”
I lived with them when I got married to her sister Ann. We had a good chat with them the evening and the next day and evening. Then we left for my sister’s. I stopped with them until November the 22nd, then left for my brother Thomas at Wigan. I arrived there at my cousin George Hughes’s the same day at 6 p.m. I went to his house. He was out. His daughter took me where he was and as soon as I saw him I knew him. I asked him if he would have a glass of beer of me.
He said he would not until I told him who I was. I told him I was his cousin. He looked at me and said he had but four cousins, John and Robert, Thomas and Henry. He said John was older than him, that being over sixty years and was at Australia. Thomas was at Wigan, Robert was in America, and Henry was gone to America twenty-two years ago. They thought he was dead. I told him that I was one of them four. He said he could not believe me, as he knew them all but Henry and knew that I was not him. I told him that I was Henry. He asked me to tell him one circumstance that happened to me in my youth. I told him that I was down the Argoed colliery when the water broke in on us in 1837, on the 9th day of May. He put his hand around my neck and kissed me and cried. I stopped with him two days.
I went to the coal pit that I was down. It was done [being worked] years ago. I saw the place where I came up out of the pit thirty-six years ago. I looked around me to see if I could see someone and there was no one around, so I went to the wood that was close by and prayed to the Lord for his blessing to be with me on my mission. I could see my travels for thrity-sixyears, twenty-one of them in America, and came back with the gospel for that people.
I left Mold on the 25th of November for Merthyr, arrived at 7 p.m. and was met there at the station by John E. Rees from Sanpete. We went up to 24 Mary St., Merthyr, that being the Conference house kept by Brother Edmund Harmond [?].
We stopped around Merthyr a few days until Bishop L. J. Herrick of Ogden City [arrived?], and on the 2nd of December [margin note: 1873] we left for Neath and preached there at 7 p.m. On the 3rd we left for Swansea, and we had a good meeting there. We slept at the Yellow House, a very dirty hole and damp bed and had something with the Bishop. We left on the 4th but we went on the pier head and carved our name mine this: (HH Mendon 1873).
December 5th. We preached at Neath at 7 p.m. and stopped at the Vale of Neath.
December 6th. I left Neath this morning for Gloucester to visit my wife Sarah Ann’s Grandmother Moulder and Grandfather Goatman. I slept with him one night at Churchdown four miles from Gloucester, and in the morning I left for Gloucester to see Uncle and Aunt Vaughn [?]. They treated [me] very kind, took me all over town, and showed me the principal part of Gloucester.
I left on the 9th for Neath and preached there on the 11th. I left Neath for Alltwen on the 12th and preached there the same evening, and stopped with them until the 14th, then left for Swansea. Left Swansea for Merthyr the same day and I preached at Merthyr on the 15th. On the 17th I left for Aberdare and preached there the same evening. I visited Enoch Lewis’s [?] Sister and Brother. They were good to me. I preached here again on the 18th and again on the 19th. This was a funeral sermon of Brother Jonathan Thomas of Aberdare’s child [or Jonathan Thomas of Aberdare, child]. Then I returned to Merthyr. I was down to Cardiff about this time and got back to Merthyr in time to go to Pontlottyn on Christmas Day, and stopped with Brother Henry Haynes.[4] I left here for Tredegar on the 26th to preach there. I had a good meeting with the saints. I returned to Pontlottyn on the 27th, stopped here one night, then started for Merthyr. I stopped here the 29th and 30th, then left for Cardiff to attend a funeral of Brother Thomas Rees’s wife, which was buried on the 1st of January, 1874. I had a debate here on the pier head at Cardiff with some sectarian and came off good to the satisfaction of all present. I left for Merthyr and found R. V. Morris [?] here from Birmingham, he being President of that Conference.
January 3rd, 1874. Brother Morris [?] and [I] went today up to Cefn-Coed-y-Cymmer, two miles from Merthyr, to see his cousin, and when we came home in the evening we found Brother G. T. Gibbs from Liverpool office on a visit to our Conference.
January 4th. We preached here today, all three of us, and had a good time of it with the Saints. We left here on the 5th for Swansea to preach there this evening. [W]e stopped with Sister Davis at the Troubadour.
January 6th. We [left] here today for Neath to preach there this evening, and we had a good time of it, and made one convert, Sarah Evans. She sent for her lover (Brace is his name). I preached to him and he was baptized, and they married and are good Latter-day Saints.
January 7th. We left here today for Aberdare to preach there, and we took dinner with Enoch Lewis’s Sister. He lives in Logan, Cache Co., Utah, and is a good man in the Church.
January 8th. We left here today for Merthyr. We went up to the tunnel. It was impassable. We had to return back to Aberdare and go by Knackers[5] Yard to Merthyr.
January 9th, Merthyr. We left here today for Rhymney by Dowlais Topt [?] and saw a horse burned to death. We had a good meeting at Rhymney. Stopped with Brother Henry Hines all night.
January 10. Rhymney. We left here for Merthyr today, Brother R. V. Morris [?] and [I]. We [had] an appointment this evening to visit Mr. Jones and Peter Williams of Merthyr, and we had a good time of it.
January 11th. We left here today for Abersychan, preached there at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and we left here at 5 p.m. for Newport. We had no meeting here but we gave them good counsel if they will give heed to it.
January 12th. We left here today for Cardiff at 12 a.m. and arrived here at 1 [?] p.m. We went to see Miss Williams, mother to Brother Miles [?] Williams that is here with me on a mission. We had a meeting this evening at Brother Bassett’s. The house was full and we had a good time of it.
January 13th, Cardiff. We left here today for Treorchy. We arrived at 1 p.m., took dinner with Brother Trimbly [Timothy ?] Wosley [?], preached here this evening, and went to see the great Welsh singer Cradoc [?].
January 14th. We left here for Merthyr at 11 a.m. We arrived at 1 p.m. [We] went to see Mr. Jones the artist and took tea with him, and went to meeting in the evening and preached and had a good time of it. I had a letter from Andrew Andersen[6] from Mendon, Cache County, Utah.
January 15th, 1874, Merthyr. Stayed at home today and went to see R. V. Morris [?] off to Birmingham all right.
January 16th. Went to see Brother George T. Gibbs [?] off to Liverpool and wrote a letter for A. Andresen,[7] [?] Mendon, Cache Co.
January 17th. I left Merthyr today for Alltwen to preach there, took supper with Brother John Davis and slept at his sister’s house. She is a good Sister.
January 18th, 1874. I left Alltwen for Ystalyfera to preach there. Walked four miles there and back and preached at Alltwen in the evening.
January 19th. I left Alltwen for Swansea to preach there this evening, had a slim house and I would say that this Branch is dead as to the gospel.
January 20th, Swansea. I stopped here today to try to do the Saints some good, and took dinner with Brother Samuel Allen [?] and tea with Brother W. Williams, and had a chat with Brother Morgan.
January 21st. Swansea. I had a walk by the seaside, a very fine day. [I] went up to the ___ to Brother John Allan for dinner, then left for Alltwen to preach there this evening. I sent a letter home, being the 5th letter since I left home.
January 22nd. I left here today for Neath and walked 5 miles, a very fine day. Arrived at 4 p.m. and had a good time with the brethren and sisters.
January 23rd, Neath. A great day here today. The duke of Edinburgh is being married to a Russian Princess and the town is being illuminated tonight but the wind is too high for it. Had dinner with Sister Rees and stopped here all day and had a good time of it.
January 24th. Neath. I left here today for Aberkenfig at 10 a.m. Arrived at Bridgend at 11 a.m. and walked to Aberkenfig, stopped with Brother D. Lloyd [?]. They were very good to me. I sent a letter home to Father G. Goatman.
January 25th. Took a walk with brother Daniel Lloyd up to the Cefn [Cefn-Coed-y-Cymmer] to see the Saints, and dined with Brother Job Butler and came back to Aberkenfig and held two meetings, one at two and the other at 6 p.m. There is a good branch here. The president is a fine man.
January 26th. I went with Sister to Maesteg to see Brother Powell. He is 74 years of age and is going to Utah in the Spring. I left here for Bridgend to Brother G. Shearn [?], took dinner with them. They gave me four shillings, and[I left for Neath to preach there this evening.
January 27th. Neath. This branch was in a bad state when I first came here, but is good now. I baptized 7 last night and had a good meeting. Left for Merthyr at 3 p.m., got 3 letters from home and good news.
January 28th. Merthyr. I sent a letter home today and I am getting ready to start to North Wales to travel with Brother L. J. Herrick from Ogden.
January 29th. I [left] Merthyr today at 8 a.m. for North Wales. I stopped at Ruabon where my mother was born[8] at Rhosllanerchrugog two miles off from Ruabon. I went to Uncle John Owens and found him at home, over 80 years old.
January 30th, Rhosllanerchrugog. I visited my friends here today and had a good time of it, and took tea with Brother Amos Clark’s wife’s aunt who [i.e. Amos Clark’s wife?] lives at Newton, Cache County, Utah.
January 31st. I left here today for Mold near Ruabon, and went to the churchyard at Ruabon, and I found my great grandfather’s grave. He was buried in the year 1782. Arrived at Mold at 7 p.m. and went to George Hughes, Esq., my cousin.
February 1st. I visited old familiar places, which brought many things to my mind that happened in my youth. My cousin Thomas Hughes was with me. We came back and took dinner with his family. His wife was not well. She died shortly after.
February 2nd. I went to Mold churchyard with George Hughes and found some record of my grandfather’s family. I left here and went up to Mynydd Isa and found my old friend Thomas Hughes, not my cousin. He went with me to the house that I was born in. I returned to Mold, it only being two miles off to my cousin G. Hughes.
February 3rd, Mold. George and I went again to the church and got some record of our family. I left for Liverpool 11 a.m. and arrived at 2 p.m.
February 4th, Liverpool. I found the brethren at 42 Islenton all right and I went to see Robert Williams, my cousin. I had not seen him for 32 years. He did not know me, but I knew him as soon as I saw him. We went to Thomas Hughes my cousin, and we had a good time of it together talking of old times.
February 5th. Today I went to see a sister to Joseph Jones of Wellsville, Cache Co., and we had a warm time of it, but I think she is a good woman.
February 6th. We looked for Brother L. J. Herrick to go with to North Wales. He came in time for me to go by the 3 p.m. train for Bagillt, so I left Liverpool at 3 p.m., arrived at Bagillt at 6 p.m. at Brother Thomas Green’s [?].
February 7th, Bagillt. I went to Flint today and sent a letter home. From here I went back to Bagillt to meet B[rother] Herrick from Liverpool. He came by the 6 p.m. train.
February 8th. Today we went to Holywell four miles from here, that is from Bagillt, and came back and held two meetings, then left for Prestatyn at 6 p.m. We stopped here all night. This is a nice village on the seashore, and the mountain on the other side.
February 9th, Prestatyn. We [left] here this morning for Mostyn and walked eight miles on the seashore, and took the train for Chester. We had a lunch here then we parted, Brother Herrick for Liverpool and me for Wrexham. I stopped here all night and went to see Brother Gittens [?], now here at Mendon.[9]
February 10th. I left this morning for Merthyr at 9 a.m. I arrived at Merthyr at 4 p.m. and got a letter from Brother R. Forster, Mendon, Utah.
January 20th, Swansea. I stopped here today to try to do the Saints some good, and took dinner with Brother Samuel Allen [?] and tea with Brother W. Williams, and had a chat with Brother Morgan.
January 21th, Swansea. I had a walk by the seaside, a very fine day. [I] went up to the ___ to Brother John Allan for dinner, then left for Alltwen to preach there this evening. I sent a letter home, being the 5th letter since I left home.
January 22nd. I left here today for Neath and walked 5 miles, a very fine day. Arrived at 4 p.m. and had a good time with the brethren and sisters.
January 23rd, Neath. A great day here today. The duke of Edinburgh is being married to a Russian Princess and the town is being illuminated tonight but the wind is too high for it. Had dinner with Sister Rees and stopped here all day and had a good time of it.
January 24th. Neath. I left here today for Aberkenfig at 10 a.m. Arrived at Bridgend at 11 a.m. and walked to Aberkenfig, stopped with Brother D. Lloyd [?]. They were very good to me. I sent a letter home to Father G. Goatman.
January 25th. Took a walk with brother Daniel Lloyd up to the Cefn [Cefn-Coed-y-Cymmer] to see the Saints, and dined with Brother Job Butler and came back to Aberkenfig and held two meetings, one at 2 and the other at 6 p.m. There is a good branch here. The president is a fine man.
January 26th. I went with Sister to Maesteg to see Brother Powell. He is 74 years of age and is going to Utah in the Spring. I left here for Bridgend to Brother G. Shearn [?], took dinner with them. They gave me four shillings, and[I left for Neath to preach there this evening.
January 27th. Neath. This branch was in a bad state when I first came here, but is good now. I baptized seven last night and had a good meeting. Left for Merthyr at 3 p.m., got 3 letters from home and good news.
January 28. Merthyr. I sent a letter home today and I am getting ready to start to North Wales to travel with Brother L. J. Herrick from Ogden.
January 29th. I [left] Merthyr today at 8 a.m. for North Wales. I stopped at Ruabon where my mother was born[8] at Rhosllanerchrugog two miles off from Ruabon. I went to Uncle John Owens and found him at home, over eighty years old.
January 30th, Rhosllanerchrugog. I visited my friends here today and had a good time of it, and took tea with Brother Amos Clark’s wife’s aunt who [i.e. Amos Clark’s wife?] lives at Newton, Cache County, Utah.
January 31th. I left here today for Mold near Ruabon, and went to the churchyard at Ruabon, and I found my great grandfather’s grave. He was buried in the year 1782. Arrived at Mold at 7 p.m. and went to George Hughes, Esq., my cousin.
February 1st. I visited old familiar places, which brought many things to my mind that happened in my youth. My cousin Thomas Hughes was with me. We came back and took dinner with his family. His wife was not well. She died shortly after.
February 2nd. I went to Mold churchyard with George Hughes and found some record of my grandfather’s family. I left here and went up to Mynydd Isa and found my old friend Thomas Hughes, not my cousin. He went with me to the house that I was born in. I returned to Mold, it only being two miles off to my cousin G. Hughes.
February 3rd, Mold. George and I went again to the church and got some record of our family. I left for Liverpool 11 a.m. and arrived at 2 p.m.
February 4th, Liverpool. I found the brethren at 42 Islenton all right and I went to see Robert Williams, my cousin. I had not seen him for 32 years. He did not know me, but I knew him as soon as I saw him. We went to Thomas Hughes my cousin, and we had a good time of it together talking of old times.
February 5th. Today I went to see a sister to Joseph Jones of Wellsville, Cache Co., and we had a warm time of it, but I think she is a good woman.
February 6th. We looked for Brother L. J. Herrick to go with to North Wales. He came in time for me to go by the 3 p.m. train for Bagillt, so I left Liverpool at 3 p.m., arrived at Bagillt at 6 p.m. at Brother Thomas Green’s [?].
February 7th, Bagillt. I went to Flint today and sent a letter home. From here I went back to Bagillt to meet B[rother] Herrick from Liverpool. He came by the 6 p.m. train.
February 8th. Today we went to Holywell four miles from here, that is from Bagillt, and came back and held two meetings, then left for Prestatyn at 6 p.m. We stopped here all night. This is a nice village on the seashore, and the mountain on the other side.
February 9th, Prestatyn. We [left] here this morning for Mostyn and walked eight miles on the seashore, and took the train for Chester. We had a lunch here then we parted, Brother Herrick for Liverpool and me for Wrexham. I stopped here all night and went to see Brother Gittens [?], now here at Mendon.[9]
February 10th. I left this morning for Merthyr at 9 a.m. I arrived at Merthyr at 4 p.m. and got a letter from Brother R. Forster, Mendon, Utah.
February 11th, Merthyr. I wrote a letter to my sister Elizabeth Clay, Jarrow on Tyne, County of Durham.
February 12th, Merthyr. I left here today for Neath to preach there tonight. Take with me Sister Edwards. We had a good time here with the Saints. Stopped all night with Brother Thomas Evans.
February 13th. Neath. I left here at 1 p.m., arrived at Swansea [at] 1:42 p.m., and stopped with Sister Davis all night.
February 14th. I left Swansea at 8 p.m. for Henllys and stopped with Brother John Williams, and preached to the Saints here and had a good time of it. I don’t think it will be wisdom for me to write all my travels while on my mission, as it can be found in my diary. I would here say that it was the best time I ever had in all my life. I left my home at Mendon October the 19th, 1873, and got home June the 3rd, 1875, in good health. [I did] a good work in Wales.
The Following names are those that I Found at Mold Church Yard. —(A listing several pages long of family names and etc. for temple work, not included here.)
1877 has passed away with its great events. President Brigham Young died the 29th of August. I went down to Salt Lake City to his funeral and when I was down, my son George B. Hughes was born on the 1st of September.
This event [Brigham Young’s death] caused great gloom over the people, and there [were] over 24,000 people in the city. The presidency of the Church falls on the Twelve.
24 Mary St., Merthyr[12]
My Dear Sister Smyth,
Though in much uncertainty whether this letter will reach you so far away in the western part of America, anyway I shall venture to dispatch it, hoping that under whatever circumstance it may arrive you will not deem it too great a trespass on your time to receive my kindest wishes and most affectionate farewell, as you know that I was called at October conference 1873 to take a mission to my native land, and you and yours, down at Salt Lake City.
When I left my home at Mendon on the 19th of October I did not have the privilege of seeing you and Brother Smyth, which would have given you the privilege of seeing what a simpleton I was, as I took my home with me. I found it a great load and had no time to be comforted with sights on the way.
I sailed from New York on the 1st of November on the Steamship Oceanic, 438 feet long, 5000 ton burden. She is sailing now between San Francisco and China. My health was good all the way from home to Liverpool. We arrived in Liverpool on the 12th, went to 42 Islenton, and reported.
I left the same day to see my brother Thomas, at Wigan. We parted boys and met again grandfathers. I stayed with him two days, then left for the north of England, County of Durham, City of Jarraw on Tyne, to see my sister Elizabeth here. I had some fun. She keeps a large hotel.
I gave her my valise with my name on it. I heard her telling her husband that she thought I was her brother Henry. I asked her for some supper, as I was hungry after traveling all day. She showed me to the parlor, then came in to see to the fire and to get a peep at me. [She] went back and told her husband that it could not be me. Then he came in for the same purpose. They gave it up that it could not be Henry although the name on the valise looked somewhat suspicious.
The supper was [a] long time a coming, and she thought that I took too much liberty with her when I wanted to know if there was going to be any supper and I told her a kiss would do as well. She was going to put me out, [but] when I smiled at her she knew me and fell into my arms and screamed. Then came the whole family and saw [their] wife and mother in a stranger’s arms fainting away. There [were] many strangers in the house and all came to see the sights which [were] seen [?].
I stopped with them two days, then Mr. Clay and [I] left for Durham to see my wife’s sister. They kept a tavern. We went in and called for some beer [and] told them we [were] from America. Jones (that being my brother-in-law’s name) asked us what part. I told him Mendon, Cache County, Utah. He wanted to know if we knew a H. Hughes. I told him I did and that [he] and [I] had lived together for many years and that I knew the whole family— his wife and children. He brought my photograph. I told him that was Mr. Hughes. We had a good time of it that night, which is too lengthy for this letter.
We left the next day for Jarrow. I left them on the 22nd of November, for Wigan. [I] stopped there until the 24th, left for Mold, [and] arrived at 6 p.m. [the] next day. I went to the coal pit that I was down three days and two nights, the water line forty-eight feet up the shaft. Twenty-one lost their lives. Twelve died where I was. This happened in 1837. I [held] on four days while there unconscious of what I was doing.
One young man by the name of John Jones took me in his arms, and here I slept. When I awoke, he was dead with me in his arms. The nature of the gas was so that some could not stand [it]. Out of thirty-one, eight boys and two men came up alive after being down three days and two nights. The history of the event can be seen in the Juvenile Instructor Vol. 6, No. 2.
I went to a wood close by and knelt down in praise to my Father in Heaven for his blessings towards me. [Then the] 33 years that I had been absent from there passed like a panorama before me. I saw my travels in Utah and other places, my good and bad deeds. Yet the Lord had called me to bring a message to that people which would prove a salvation to them if they would receive it.
While here I visited the place of my childhood, the fields and the woods [in which] I used to gather wild primroses and daisies, and the spring that I used to go [to] for water with my mother.[She used to cut a willow for me to ride home. I sat upon the mossy stone by the singing, dribbling stream, imagining that I could see the footprints of my mother. Here I fancied that I could hear the echo of gone-by days and the same birds singing and the noises of the boys of my boyhood days.
But alas, [in] the thrity-three year absence everything beautiful had lost his charms. By long use my eyes soon grew tired of the most beautiful landscape and my ears of the sweet songs of the thrush, and there was nothing that could give comfort to me. My heart was in the West, those that I loved [were] far, far away, and my two-year mission not yet begun. I had to pray for the Lord to take away the thoughts of home, family and friends from me so that I could begin my labor.
I left Mold on the 26th of November, arrived at Merthyr at 7 p.m., and the next day began my labor.
Dear Sister, I must bring my letter to a close. Remember me kindly to Brother Smyth, and believe me most affectionately yours in the gospel,
November the 28th, 1886. As I have not written much of late, I thought I would write now, as I cannot go out of doors and let the good folks of Mendon know I am home. This may seem strange for a man to say in a free country like this. Because I have three wives and I will own them as my wives [and] honor them as such, I had to leave home on the 17th of October at 10 p.m. in a covered wagon, as there [were] three deputies came to town that night and as I had not lost any deputies I thought that I would leave for a short time.
So Brother and Sister Sonne let me go with them to Levan, Juab County, in Southern Utah. We reached Levan [on the] 22nd and it stormed all the way. We found Bishop Neils Aagarde and family well, his wife being Sister Sonne’s sister. We had a good time with them a visiting with friends. Brother Peterson’s wife was Sister Sonne’s sister. We stayed with them until the 29th of October. We left Levan for Gunnison, Sanpete County. We went up the Sevier River to Gunnison got to Bishop Matesen at 5 p.m. [The] next day being Sunday, [we] preached at 2 pm. and 6 p.m. the same day. We had a good time of it with the brethren and sisters of Gunnison. We went six miles South of Gunnison to Brother Axel [?] to dinner, got back the same day, and partook of supper at Brother Neals Sorenson, brother of Sister Sonne.
We left on Wednesday the 3rd for Manti to see the Temple. The same day, W. H. Folsom, the supervisor of the Temple took us through the Temple. It is the finest building I ever was in. I stayed with him that night. We left on the morrow for Moroni. I stopped with Bishop James Starts [?]. [I] started on the 5th for Fountain Green. [I] stayed with Bor [?]. Here, Brother Sonne, bishop Aagarde [and their?] wives and [I] parted, they for Mount Pleasant and me for Wales [Utah] eleven miles south of Fountain Green. Here I met with old friends I made when I was on a mission to Wales in 1873, and we had a good [time]. I preached here on Saturday to the Seventies at 10 a.m., Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and 7 a.m. We had a good time of it whilst I was in Wales [Utah]. I stopped at Brother Henry Thomas's. I left Wales on the 10th for Fountain Green. I stopped with Reese R. Hamblin [?], and went to singing meeting. Brother A. C. Smyth, in charge, called on me to speak. I [did] so. [On the 11th I] took the train for Nephi, and went that day to Levan and met again with Brother and Sister Sonne, and on the 12th got ready to start for home. On the 13th I took the train at Nephi for Salt Lake City and stopped at the tithing office. Next morning being Sunday, I went to W. E. Bassett, Bishop of the 20th Ward and my brother-in-law. [I] stopped in the city until Brother and Sister Sonne came along, and [I] got home on the 19th, and here I am hid up from by brethren and sisters, a prisoner in my own house, and no man knoweth when the end of this crusade will be, for many of my brethren are today in the pen for the gospel's sake, and it is where I would be if they could find me.1
1. Personal History of Henry Hughes of Mendon, Cache County, Utah, 1862-1886. © Ted S. Meikle, 1998, 5/24/1998 REVISION. I want to thank Ted for making this work available to us. This history of Henry Hughes was produced by Ted S. Meikle. It is the modernized form of the original, and works best for the general reader as adapted here. This is an abridged version, leaving out the many pages of genealogical data pages. The notes below are from Ted's work above.
1. Henry Hughes refers to the colliery as "Argoyd" or possibly "Argayd." I could not find this name on my map of Wales. I use the spelling Argoed, consistent with the spelling used in records submitted to the Ancestral File of the L.D.S. Church.
2. Coal mine.
3. A perch is a "measure of length, varying locally in different countries, as in France, from 18 to 22 pied, but by statute in Great Britain and the United States equal to 5 1/2 yards, or 16 1/2 feet; a rod, or pole." "In measuring masonwork or stone, [a perch is] usually 24 3/4 cubic feet (5 1/2 yards by 1 foot by 1 1/2 feet); by statute in several States 25 cubic feet, and in a few States 16 1/2 cubic feet." Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition Unabridged, 1936. Thus, 600 perch of rock would build a stone wall one-and-one-half feet wide, 8 feet tall and nearly a quarter-mile long.
4. Henry Hines? See entry for January 9, 1874.
5. "Knacker" is "one who buys and slaughters worn-out or useless horses and sells their flesh for dog's meat, etc." Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition Unabridged, 1936. (That this was the meaning of Henry Hughes’s "Gnacker" was suggested by Dorothy Schimmelpfennig in her letter to me of February 23, 1997.)
6. See entry for January 16, 1874, two paragraphs down.
7. See entry for January 14, 1874, two paragraphs up.
8. It is not clear whether he means his mother was born at Ruabon, specifically at Rhosllanerchrugog two miles away, or whether he is simply referring to Rhosllanerchrugog because that is where he went to visit his uncle John Owens.
9. "Now" being years later in Mendon, as Henry Hughes is writing this summary down in his history from, apparently, his missionary diary.
10. See below.
11. See below.
12. This is written on the pages of Henry Hughes's history, after the page on which he wrote of the events of the year 1877 and before his next entry of 1886. I suspect that, some years after his mission in England was over, Mrs. Smyth showed him his letter that he had sent to her while on his mission, and he copied it into his history