Show AMASA knalls HISTORY I 1 I 1 was born in the township of lyman in the county of grafton and state of new hampshire I 1 ontee on the of march I 1 was the third son of boswell lyman and diarl martha mason alason the parties parries of my grand parents patents on qu my fathers side were elias lyman and ruth Gris griswold Wild blid my aly mothe mothers rs parents were perez mason and martha barney I 1 was born on a small homb homestead stead belonging to my mothers parents so my infancy knew not tha thel blessing of a paternal pd hoine hohle in la something tess less than two years subsequent to my birth my father lef left i on a journey with one of my moth mothers ers brothers for the purpose of mending their their fortunes la in the west my uncles name was he died at utica ix in the state oc of new york leaving my father to pursue bis his doubtful way alone years flew by and our hearth was wal wa still sad nor was our domestic circle again cheered by the presence of the husband and father some six years yeara thug was passed in in which time my m eldest brother mason boswell was indentured to a farmer fanner in the tha town of lebanon county of grafton state of IN 11 my aly elder brother elijah dieh died in in infancy thus myself my younger brother elias and my sister ruth ellis remained with my with her father until her second marriage which wab waa with a mr idalah emerson km erson subsequent sui sni quent to my fathers death which from the best information vie mie have transpired near neap new orleans some sorrie six bix six bix years after he left us my myrn Myro mother other deft me with withey my grandfather with whom I 1 remained until I 1 wa was eleven years yeara of age at which time lima my grandt grandfather ather retired from hi g s farm to reside with his eldest son perley mason with whom according to the wishes of my mot mother herI herl I 1 remained without being indentured for seven years during the year 1531 1 I became somewhat thoughtful on the subject of religion and found peace with god godana and my sou in striving to break off my sins by righteousness and ano my iniquities by turning unto the lord this was however in my ny i ignorance prance go much like the tha blind groping for the he wall will at noon I 1 remained in this condition pot not united with a any ny of the churches of the times until the spring of 1832 when our place was visited by elders lyman ejohnson E johnson and orson pratt from whom 1 I first heard 16 the gospel I 1 was baptized on the of april 1832 by elder lyman E Johnq johns johnson on and was confirmed on the tha day following follo winz by elder elde r orson pratt Prati on account of the III ill teelin feelings 9 that arose inny in my uncles family because of 0 my baptism I 1 resolved to ta go 1 the e west and accordingly on the ath of may having bid adieu to my uncles family I 1 started on a journey of come miles J my earthly wealth vai 01 na vias as comprised of a sixteen pounds of half worn clothing and eleven dollars and ard thirty seven seren cents centa in cash thede these were some of the circumstances under which I 1 left leff the tha land of my birth a st ranker stranger to everything i to be encountered on my journey journe y 1 the weariness I consA consequent quent upon the first days walkin waikin walking 9 I 1 had ever performed par formed admonished me that I 1 had better rde which I 1 did by stage and canal until I 1 reached lyons in ja wayne county new york yorks here finding my funds minus I 1 walked to palmyra where I 1 sought for employment which I 1 found with mr thomas licky who bought martin harris farm when be sold it to raise the money to print the book of Mor nor maii maji 1 here liere labored one half month for which I 1 received four dollars and a half with which I 1 continued my journey aa As far fsr as buffalo where I 1 shipped ont oft onboard inboard board the steamer henry clay had a q quick but bu rough trough 11 passage to cleveland from this point I 1 traveled on foot forty five miles to the residence of br john johnson in the he town of hiram herain portage 11 county state of ohio where I 1 arrived on the ath of of june father johnson johnon was the father of br lyman E johnson who had bad baptized me ha he received me kindly and minis to my wants in which he was heartily joined jolted by mother and daughters it mag wag wass waff at this place that br joseph smith resided when he was brutally mobbed tarred and feathered feathered on the night of tha the of march previous I 1 I 1 J he was waa now absent on a visit to missouri from which he returned in july following after resting and refreshing myself for one week I 1 engaged to labo labor for father fattier johnson at ten dollars per pet month under ahlie this nga glement I 1 labored until the lot lat of july juls about which time the prophet returned to fattier father johnsons to reside this worded afforded me an opportunity to gea sea the man of god of the impressions produced I 1 will here say althou although ai there was nothing or different from other men in his personal appearance yet when he grasped my hand in that cordial way known to those who haye met him anibe in the honest simplicity af pf of truth I 1 felt as one of old in the presence presence cf of the lord my strength seemed to be gone goner so that it required an effort on my ray part to stand on I 1 my feet but in all thia this the thera rewis was no fear but the serenity and nd peace of beaverr per pet evaded my soul and the still small voice of me the spirit whispered its living testimony in the depths of my soul where i it i t has ever remained that lie he wae was was the man of god I 1 continued laboring forgather for Father johnson until some t inie 1036 in the month of august when one sabbath evenia eve eveni nil nii 17 7 after aften r a social prayer meeting with the few members id I 1 d our peace p lace the prophet in his own familiar way o me roe or the lord requires your youn you xou labors in the vineyard I 1 without thought replied I 1 will go and on the of or august 1832 myself and br Zeru babel snow werf ordained to the office of elders in the church under the hands ot of joseph smith and frederick William sand un d on oil the following day started 00 to proclaim the gospel of salvation I 1 had heard five sermons preached three by br orlou orson pratt one by br joseph smith one ghe by br rathbone but strong in the lord and in the conviction of our own honesty we started about the time of our starting there was an application came to prest smith to visit an old gentleman who was afflicted with a severe pain in his hia head from a press of business br joseph could not riot go but instructed br snow and myself to call upon the old man which we didi did and as we came near his house houe before reentered we entered we heard his groans extor ettor extorted ted from him by pain which seemed ia intolerable tolerable we entered and introduced ours ourselves elves being stranger strangers we prayed for and laid our hands upon him in the naine of jebus jesus and rebuked his pain which was instantly removed and the sufferer rejoiced and praised god who had so signally blessed himself and us as his ministers the old gent lemans name was harrington from br harrin tons tong we continued our journey and as the close of the week drew near we found folind ourselves in the township of chippeway Chip eway where we found a few members of the church ch we stopped with br baldwin welton weitong a br bosinger Bos lager iager lived near here we made our first appointment for meeting on the sabbath the day campf caal and the hog hor gocr ar but the people did not a dull prospect this for converting the world the day passed but we con concluded eluded that we would have a prayer meeting at night the hour came and br wyl Wil tons family and some of br Bosi bosl singers Bo tigers family who did not belong churach came in and with a migs smith were seated the latter reclining on a bed in the tha corner of the room we sang and prayed and br snow proceeded to make matte some remarks in an instant a ph shilling illing sensation pervaded my entire body aud a cry of alarm from the bed attracted the attention of all on stepping I 1 to the he 11 odside we discovered that miss aliss smiths face and arid her entine entire form were distorted in the moat most shock krug fiig manner her eyes were glaring wildly but apparently sightless her respiration was very difficult and her limbs were rigid as iron the common restora restorative tives were used without effect we ald laid aid our hands upon her and rebuked the devil when she was in instantly relieved but rrt another moment she was bound ag as before we kneeled down by her ber bed and prayed when she was again released release and asked for baptism stating that she had been acting against her convictions vict ions of right in some conversations we had held with her during the day we repaired tv tor the water and there under the tha mantle of n night ight introduced the first soul into the tha church chuoc h as the fruits of our labor labors thus the he lord in the tha days of our weakness strengthened and comforted us with th the assurance that his pow power powen er could us while we trusted irr in him we lve blessed our friends and proceeded on our way as our destination was the southern part of the state of ohio where elders seymour brunson and luke johnson Jo lunson linson had been laboring and had built up a small branch branch of the church I 1 we at length reached our field of labor some time in sept having preached by the way ve we continued here and in cabell county virginia until the following tpring during 11 which time there were rome gome forty boub added to the church we then started for kirtland where we arrived early in fa the tha spring herana met wath the prophet and many of the tha theldora th eiders eiders eldora with whom we we had a good and instructive time here I 1 parted with b br snow he being ap appointed poin eoin ted teA a mission to the eastern states and had for his partner horace cowen r was appointed on a mission to the east and had for my partner pawner wm win F cahoon with whom 1 started from kirtland Ki rlland on my second mission about the of march 1833 1 I continued in may ray y labors for eight months during which time I 1 traveled as far east bast as Chaut augue and cat taraez gus gils counties new york during this time I 1 held one hundred and fifty two meetings meeting and sai sav saw one hundred souls added to the church and about the first of dec br cahoon clon having previously returned to kirtland I 1 made my to return to ohio and while on the way I 1 mel mei with ars lyman E johnson orson patt pratt and john Murdo clr dir in the tha girard branch brandhof of cf the church ia 14 erie county pennsylvania here we held aa a conference on the lith of dec 1833 at which ti alma ea I 1 was ordained to the high andera th hands of lyman E johnson and oraon orion pratt bratt pratt from this place I 1 accompanied bra ciatto piatto pratt Al murdock and others to livingston county if lf yr Y where we labored for a length of time tine in settling difficulties in a branch of the church in the hiiva town of Genese geneseea eo under the presidency of elder elden landon who with some boms twenty five others othen were vera cut off from the church perhaps la some tome ing ini rather prematurely the above labor with considerably consider abia abla other oth er preaching in the country occupied the t ime until near spring when I 1 parted with the elde Elder re ich t whom I 1 had so pleasantly spent a portion of oi th the winter and in company wah brA bracal lal IaL IvaL tippetts Tippet tt started for the land of my nativity we journeyed eastward preaching by tha wiy wy as opportunity offered until we reached laks lais george georte in warren wan en county ii N Y oa ow the iho sho short 1 ro of this lake I 1 found a small branch brinch of the church conff eted with which was elder john johi n tanner tannen to effect the adjustment of some ciffa ek existing between some members of labs bradsh branch I 1 i went to new hampshire to cicur secure e tha dow sow dob do ao b tion of some high priests white making maing this jou journey aney f flie te cah cat to 6 gio go io to zion reached eastern new york through lyman E johnson responding to this call cal I 1 chanced changed my plan of operation and after filling fillini my in this regi region orf I 1 went directly to kirila kirtland Kirt lahd rid tid taking i I 1 ng in in charge as a contribution some money m on ey and 8 tid teams and the tha two sons of john tanner jo lohn john u ll 11 J and nathan 3 I 1 here received reserved on my own account between nine and ten dollars in mones money to lo provide m self seif I 1 for the tha journey the above money I 1 of sister polly beswick it was all she had hid ri we journeyed westward aa ns fa far r as kirtland where we arrived about the first of mayb af did not join the camp until the day previous ious lous T lo 10 belr heln leaving new Por portage tame which wabron was on t the ith of may alay 1835 at tah point wo ivo identified ours ourt eivet elvet with the camp by enrol enrolment nent and paying over orver our abney to the credit of 0 father rather Tan tanner lier iier from front t this place I 1 travel traveled ed with the c cemp par P ar in all the vicissitudes it encountered and shared in ita ito toils and labors as w well weil 1 efi as ae its iti varied and rich instruction th that at we ace received ive lve d ff from time to time from tha prophet thus we pursued our anomalous arid and strange journey jour fiey the vicissitudes ot of which afforded uv ample opportunity to evince our faith baabe by the offering of our lives for the truth thus proving ing inc by tha the patient endurance of our toils and our un tiring perseverance in iii the accomplishment of our puT purposes poses that the interests of 0 the kingdom when they should be committed to our keeping would be faithfully cared for thus thug laying la 11 the e dounda tion for the effectual redemption of zion in in its th development of a faithful and end energetic ministry on the lath of june on grand river I 1 met inet for the first time with bishop edward partridge I 1 traveled and conversed conver zed with him the tha moat of he the day june the wi wa arrived ta in the vicinity of fishing river and encamped near a baptist meet et iii ing lug b house during the night we lve were visited by a severe storm of rain and high wind accompanied by thunder and lightning which prostrate th most of gur pur tents teats soine some of the ioviti vad aroln irons the fury of the storm founis found shelter in the tha most salvation it pro probably baby ever ministered in 01 1 1 t the mornin morning 11 found jound me minus ln my tent aad pd a depression I 1 in a the ground in which my bed t had been inadi inadvertently i made was full ot vf at la which mys elfand fand tand bed were submerged 1 I C june oa on moving from our cur camp morning four miles to br john coopers we found the country abouna around us was visited during the abe night previous loup ioup with a terrific storm of hail ball I 1 which in its destructive course demolished fields of grain and made liberal liberal pruning ng of 0 tha the forest over which it passed and what more directly effected effect etl eil our safety it held in fil check check so ay therould the dould not move a large mob force that were we re ass assembled e ambled to question our pre presence since in oi or dispute our passage through the country we remained near br Coo coopers peri perg until the nth during our stay here bore we were we revisited visited by some gentleman from chy clay and rby bay co cou nth amons amors them were general atchison Atch lson ison col sconce aad add a mr cameron cameren Cam eren cren I 1 with them the prophet troph et hai lad an |