Friday, 11 Nov 1853 was a red-letter day for William: “at 10 A. M. I
Steped my feet of the Shores of America again. I Spent the day in Serching for
some information from the west, but in vain. I could not find a Later-day Saint
in Boston. I went to the Reading room and to a number of Printing Offices, but
could not find a paper from G. S. Lake Citty. I hired my board at a tavern for
4 Dollars per Week.” It is not
surprising that news would be his first concern. During the prior year he hadn’t heard anything
from home.
The following day (12 Nov 1853) while still looking for news William
had a couple of interesting transactions – selling two copies of the Book of
Mormon for $2.00 each to first mate, Mr. Birt, and second mate, Mr.
Anderson. He then made an interesting
comment: “…as for our Capt Sheen he
was one the Meanist men that I ever saw. He was Disliked by all on
board.” I doubt he offered the captain a
copy of his book.
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| Boston and Maine train engine from William's day |
On Sunday, 13 October 1853, William, still unable to find any LDS
people in Boston, attended a Methodist Meeting.
The next morning at 7 am the “took the cars for Scarboroiugh” and
arrived five hours later at noon at the depot in Oak Hill.
This reference to “cars” has to mean he
traveled by railroad to his ancestral home in Scarborough.
The five-hour trip compares favorably with
the 3 and half hour trip today by rail over the same basic route.
He most likely traveled on the Boston and
Maine Railroad as it had been in operation for about 10 years at this time.
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| Richard Carter home - Scarborough |
His first stop was at his Uncle Richard Carter’s home.
Richard was actually Richard Jr. – the brother
of his father John Carter.
Richard and
his wife Sally Holmes lived in the family home where John was born John’s
father Richard Carter Sr. was buried.
It
was here that he began to learn some family news – of the deaths of Jacob Dooley
(his sister Mary Jane’s husband), Aunt Eliza (Eliza Carter, sister of John
Carter and wife of George Libby of Scarborough, and Uncle Cyrus King (husband
of Hannah Carter, a sister of John Carter and had died 6 years previously in
Saco, Maine.)
Over the next several weeks William, while nursing a bad cold and
trying to recover from his illness contracted in India, he visited with several
of his relatives.
On Thanksgiving Day,
he had breakfast with Daniel Carter (probably the Daniel who was the son of
Richard Jr) and dinner with his Uncle Richard.
The following Wednesday (November 23) he was with Betsy and Mary Jane Meserve
(children of Uncle Richard Carter who married Meserves.)
On Sunday, November 27 he was visiting with
his mother’s brothers Timothy and David Libby.
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| Uncle Richard Carter Jr. |
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| Sally Holmes Carter - Richard's wife |
Finally, on Monday, Dec 5, 1853 he left his home land in Maine and
began his trek west to Utah.
He took the
train back to Boston that day and immediately bought a ticket through to
Cincinnati, Ohio.
The next morning, he
left Boston and arrived in Albany, New York at 6 pm the next day (Dec. 6.)
The next day he left for Buffalo and arrived
there on Dec. 8.
There he had a problem
as railroad bridges between Buffalo and Erie had been burned down by mobs.
William, due to a lack of funds, had to sell
some of his things to get money to help him continue his trip by steamboat to
Cleveland and to cover his expenses during the delay.
On Saturday December 10 he went on board the steamship and arrived in
Cleveland the next day. On Monday December
12 he left Cleveland by the railroad and traveled through Columbus to
Cincinnati that day. On Tuesday,
December 13 he took a steamship to Louisville, Kentucky, where he boarded another
steamship and headed for Saint Louis, arriving there on December 15, 1853. On
the next day he boarded another steamer for Quincy, Illinois and arrived there
on Monday, December 19th. He
spent the night with Nathan Pinkham.
Nathan Pinkham wasn’t just anyone but a friend from at least William’s
Missouri period. Nathan Pinkham Sr. was
born in Maine and became a convert of Joseph Smith and was in Far West,
Missouri by 1836. His son Nathan Jr.
became a member of the infamous “Danites” and settled in Quincy in 1839 where
he went into the livery business. When
his wife and only child died in 1845 he chose not to leave Illinois with the
Saints when they were drive from the state.
Later he would remarry and become a wealthy businessman in Quincy.
The next day, Tuesday, December 20, 1853, he finally arrived back with
his family as reported in his journal: “I took the stage at Day light and
landed at A. Tripps in Lima [Hancock County, Illinois] at 12 Oclock. I took
some Diner and then went to see Mary Jane Dewley. She had just ben confined.
she Has a son. I went to Phillips and stayed all Night. I found the folks all
well. I saw Letters that Dominicus [his brother] and Arlitta [his daughter] wrote
here which gave to understand that my Folks were all well, which greatly
Cheered my heart, it Being the firs sound that I had heard from them since I
left them.”
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| William's brother, Philip Libby Carter |
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| Mary Jane Carter Dooley |
Thus, ended the missionary journal of William Furlsbury Carter. For the rest of his trip home and essentially
the rest of his mission we will have to use other sources.
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