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Show -- J ' r - 71 . 5 ft, ' stage to Wilmington, from there by rail to Philadelphia. Here we were obliged to wait a few days for money and then we went on to the city of New York by stage, and arrived Christmas Eve. .He visited some of the Saints while I found a boarding-placamong strangers, for it was not known except by a few of the Saints" that the sealing I found a boarding-plac- e power was practiced. and paid my. expenses with sewing. After a short time I rented a house and I commenced Mr. Pratt boarded with me. dressmaking and knitting baby socks which I sold by the dozen, earning from fifty cents to a dollar a day nearly all the time I was .there, besides doing my housework. Mr. Pratt was called home to Nauvoo on August 18, 1845. We traveled by the Erie (anal and Lakes,, journeying from Chicago to Nauvoo by land. I went to Mr. Beache3 tavern to board while Mr. Pratt went to his . e home.- - v After a while it was arranged for his wife, M try, and I to commence keeping house in rooms above Mr. Pratt's store. The Temple was completed so far as to Some time in give endowments therein. December I received my endowments and blessings therein and was again sealed over the altar. On January 1st, 1846, I had a son born who was named Xephi by his father. The persecution of the Saints became so great that the authorities of the Church and many of the Saints had to bid farewell to their homes in February, and we crossed the Mississippi River about the 14th of the month. It was extremely cold and my baby only six weeks old. I had not recovered my strength but a merciful Providence sustained me, and by degrees I gained strength. was a terrible journey from Nauvoo to the Missouri River. It stormed almost continuously, snow and rain, and the earth was so soaked that the poor horses and cattle could drag us but a few miles each day. We reached the Missouri River in July, near Council Bluffs and camped for several weeks." Sister Belinda Pratt came to Utah in 1S47 (immediately following the Pioneers). She suffered all the trials, exposures and privations incident to pioneer life. Mr. Pratt made his families comfortable homes and started a good farm and orchard which was a help to them long after he was Sister Belinda passed, thrmigh the gone. unspeakable grief of losing her husband by assassination while he was on a mission in 1857,-JLewith a family of little children ft , she strugunprovided gled through years of "more thanordi nary hardships and privations. She waslm educated, refined and gentle woman, full of sympathy, generosity and kindness. She taught school, made dresses, took boarders.. The .struggle was a brave one. She gave her children, what; education she Jt for-andunprotect- could. '. When the. Relief Society was called to gether, organized in wards in Salt Lake, she was a: teacher therein - until she moved to Fillmore in the autumn of 1870. While living in the Fourteenth Ward in Salt Lake City she. paid her tithing and fifty cents in cash each month for a fast offering. . Bishop Hoagland asked her why she did it and. if she thought a poor widow should do Q. She reminded him of the widow's mite, and told him that she wanted the blessincr and approval of God. She was for years an active, intelligent an persistent worker for the public good. While she was President of Fillmore Ward Relief Society there was a poor woman who was aided by the Society. The woman was a great gossip and talked a great deal. Some of the ward Relief Society teachers came to Sifter Pratt with the repori that the woman had said quite bad things about the Society and also about Sitter' Pratt, and they did not think it right, to help her any more. Sister Pratt said: ''You must not let her suffer no matter how she talks, give her what she needs and relieve her wants." She was the first Stake President of the Relief Society of Millard County from its organization until her removal to Salt Lake. She delighted in associating with her sisters, on one occasion arriving at the door of the room where a sewing meeting was convened, pausing a moment to listen to the hum of voices from within, she said: "The sound of their voices is like sweet music to my ears." A phrenologfsti said of her: "She has a man's ability for business and great execu tive talent with a woman's love of the fine and beautiful." It was a long time after leaving her home before her relatives knew where she was. Vlwn th?y They mourned her as dead. learned that she was in Salt Lake they were so ashamed and shocked to think that she had joined "that low, degraded people," as they styled them. They wrote to her if she would leave that church and people and come home that they would share all in the world with her; if she did not she would see She the time that she would be hungry. replied that she had suffered hunger, having nursed twins for several months without bread,- - but that so strong was her testimony that this is the true restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, that she had never for one moment been aorry for having cast her lot with the Saints of God.. Her sacrifice she counted as nothing for the Gospel; and the 'hope which she had in the eternal life, and eternal family ties more than repaid her for all, she felt to claim the fulfillment of the promise of the Savior, and felt that it included women as well as men: "There is no man that, has left house or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake, and theGospel's but he shall receive an hundred fold now in this time, houses and brethren, and sisters and children arid lands with persecutions, and in the world to come eternal life." Her mother believing all the misrepresentations and untruths of our enemies against the Saints said of her: Belinda has always been my little white peUamb, and now she is the black sheep of the" family.-Some of her relatives'distinguished themselves by their bravery and became officers in the army; some were; fine musicians and composers of music, some were renowned for their oratory and. literature, some held' of important positions in the government the -- United States. Not one received the glad message of good tidings beside. herself,a so she the despised of all her race became savior to herlfather's household, spent much' of her hard earnings to gather genealogy, did what work she could in the temples for them and laid a fonndation for her children to build upon. L E. R. " - . IN MEflORIAfV. Thy mothellives arid once again , Where thlre's no sorrow nor distress, She'll meet her loved ones who remain In realms Vf endless happiness. E. a. . w On March :?rd, 1910, Sister Mary E. Irvine passed from this life after an illness of two years. She was horn in Bradford, Endand, December Her parents were David and Jane 7th, lSol. Rutherford. Their two children (John, who died in young manhood, and Mary) were brought up under a religious influence, their father being a Methodist minister, and their mother also being a strict Methodic , . UaAidJiutlitriorddied Jn 1S")S. In her early girlhood it became clear to Sister Irvine that the churches of the day did not follow the teachings of the Bible, and she questioned her class teachers and the ministers about many things: which they wtre not able to answer to her satisfaction, and when she persisted in questioning, they concluded by telling her that the must he a child of perdition, and not able to believe. At the age of seventeen she married John Irvine, and they made their home in Newcastle-upon-Tynher mother accompaning them. Mrs. Irvine and her husband were agreed that, though e, they both felt a strong desire for religion that would satisfy them, they could not accepfc-wha- t was offered in the Christian sects, and therefore held themselves aloof. For a time spiritualism, then beginning to be popular in Kngland. claimed their attention, and thev with a number of their friends, formed what was called a circle. Interesting though their experiences were in thi Connection, thev fully realized that thev were far from being satisfied. Indeed Sister Irvine oft'-- said aftrwards that she feared far more than' she enjoyed, and certainly found no peace in spiritualism, gladly leaving it entirely alone just as soon as something better was offered. g learned that there were In the year 1S77 th Mormon Elders in Newcastle, and they went to wir them nreach. Tie first sermon, it initrht be said, convinced thenL for from that time they were ueepiy mteresie." ;n me irumsoi meuospei, and it was not long LVore they were baptized into the Church of Jesus vhrist of Latter-daSaintg. Brother Royal B. YoMng might be mentioned here as one of the Elders most earnest in preaching the doctrines of thL'hurch to them, and was afterwards their lifelong iriend. Sister Irvine's mother was also concerted, though she at first declared she would leave the house if Mormon Elders were allowed to erer it, so strong a hold did Methodism still upon her. Mr. Irvine had a gYw position at that time, being able to maintain nice home and provide many comforts for hi family. The spirit of gathering however fitroiigly possessed them. Objections were raised iC their emigratinby their friends, among them the Elders irony '.i&nyAhe latler fearing that the changed conditions they would meet in Utah might affect their faith. But they could not be stayed, and it was not long after their baptism before they, with their five small children, were journeying to Utah, arriving here in the spring of 1879. The work of Helief Society and that of the Young Ladies' Muua Improvement Boon claimed the attention of Sistr rvine after her arrival in Utah, and in both oliese organizations she became an active workelf. holding several different positions, in each, from time to time, until the beginning of her sickn(ss, in March, 1907. She visited many of the far off stakes of Zien in the . interest of both organizations. She loved the work of the Lord with all her heart, and willingly engaged in it from the time of her conversion, her interest never flagging. She was especially gifted in nursing the sick and in comforting the sorrowful, being able to cheer with kind words and loving deeds, thus proving a strong and faithful helpjn the Relief Society in the true sense of the workT3Ianyjtime8 she arose from a bed of sickness herself to answer the call of distress and give the help that was needed. In her Church work she became acquainted with the many noble women who were likewise engaged, and her association with these friends " brought sunshine into her life. It may be truly said of her that she never lost a triena. xne young, the middle aged and. the old, once knowand ing her, loved her with an enduring love, with sickness her Jong they it was who cheered and flowers at all messages, visits, loving kindly seasons of the vear. - BuTahove and beyond all things else she was a mot her in the true sense of the word. Her public duties never caused her to neglect her home. n I y ' , - |