By Faith All Things Are Fulfilled
Compiled by Leatrice Nelson Hunsaker
(Great Granddaughter of Ninian Nelson)
In
Ether 12:3 we read, "By faith all things are fulfilled.' That surely was
true for the 457 Passengers on board the ship, The Constitution, who began
their journey from Liverpool, England to the land of America on 24 June
1868, They were a company of people who
had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, believing it was
the True Church of Christ which had been restored upon the earth in this modern
day. On board that ship were 45 from
Switzerland, Bavaria, Württemberg, and the Netherlands, and 412 were from the
British Isles. There were also a number
of missionaries included in that group, returning from their missions: Elders Joseph S. Horne and John Hoagland from
the Swiss and German missions; Elders Harvey H. Cluff, C. P. Liston, Hyrum T.
Spencer, and Nephi R. Fawcett from the British Mission. Also Elder Hugentobler from the Switzerland
Mission and Elder Van Stetter having served in the Netherlands Mission. Elder Harvey H. Cluff was appointed president
of the company with Elder Joseph S. Horne and C. P. Liston as has counselors.
Ninian Nelson and his son Edward Nelson
were among that group of people from Scotland who had joined that Church. Ninian and his wife Christina were baptized
in 1847. It became their great desire
and goal to come to America, which seemed to be the land of opportunity for
them. Things had not been going very
well for them in Scotland. They were not
able to make that trip, however, until more than twenty years later, when
Ninian and his oldest son Edward came to America in 1868 intending to prepare a
place where they could soon bring the rest of the family. Ninian left behind his wife and five children.
When and Edward got to Liverpool to board
the ship, The Resolute, which they were scheduled to cross the ocean on, that
ship was not in port. There were two
ships scheduled to bring the immigrants across the ocean at that time, The
Emerald Isle and The Resolute. They
loaded The Emerald Isle and it left Liverpool on 20 June 1868. The Resolute had not yet arrived in
port. The immigration officers went in
search of another ship to carry the rest of the immigrants across the
ocean. The only ship they found was The
Constitution, a ship that had been condemned and was considered to not be sea
worthy. They sought out the Captain of
that ship, Captain Hatten and asked him if he would take his ship across the
ocean one more time. He hesitated at
first about taking that old vessel on another ocean voyage. Upon learning that the passengers would be
Mormons, he no longer hesitated but agreed to cross the ocean one more
time. "You can't drown the
Mormons!" he is reported to have said.
The passengers on board that ship soon
learned that was indeed a brave statement.
That ship leaked so much that it was necessary to pump water out both
day and night. That was the last sailing
vessel to carry a large group of Saints across the Atlantic Ocean.
Three days into their voyage they
encountered a strong wind which caused the ship to sail faster across the
ocean. Captain Hatten said they were in
the midst of a cyclone. He said,
"The fury of that storm somehow seemed to pass around us. That was fortunate for us. Our frail vessel could not have endured the
full force of a cyclone."
The ship was required to have a doctor on
board. Mr. Johnson was the doctor on
board The Constitution. His services
were only called upon once during the entire voyage. That was to see a child. The mother of that child became alarmed when
her son got sick and she desired the doctor to see her sick child. Elder Cluff went to get the doctor and
brought him to see the child. Dr Johnson
prescribed that the young boy be given one quart of beer and a pint of wine
daily. The doctor was unable to walk the
deck along, so Elder Cluff helped him return to his room on the upper
deck. When Elder returned to the mother,
he found the mother in tears. He asked
her, "Do you wish to follow the advice of the doctor?" She said, "No!" "What would
you like done for the child?" he asked.
"I desire the Elders to administer to my child." Elder Cluff got the Elders and they
administered to the child and the next morning the child was quite well. The doctor entered a complaint to the ship's
Captain because Mr. Cluff did not give that young boy one quart of beer and a
pint of wine as he had prescribed. He
also complained because he was not called upon to visit the sick. The Captain said to him, "Doctor, these
people are Mormons and do not believe in doctors. But, of course, the government compels us to
have a doctor on board, hence, you are here, and unless Mr. Cluff requests your
services you are not to go among the people."
On Sunday 5 August 1868, late in the
evening, after six weeks of rugged sailing, The Constitution arrived safely at
Castle Gardens, New York, with 457 passengers on board four days ahead of The
Emerald Isle, which was considered to be a good sea worthy vessel, which left
Liverpool four days ahead of The Constitution.
Elder Cluff is reported to have said this
about that journey, "How can we feel grateful enough to our Heavenly
Father for the blessings which He has so graciously bestowed upon the passengers
of The Constitution? Considering the
kind of ship, the passengers crowed into a cave, as it were, and the leakage of
the old tub, makes our preservation still more to be thankful for. While it is true, we had some sickness, yet
the perseverance of the Elders in watching their wards and looking after the
health of the people, administering to the afflicted and giving comfort to the
despondent and cheering up the downcast, we arrived in port at New York without
losing a single passenger and without any contagion, four days ahead of The
Emerald Isle which was considered a good sea worthy vessel. Dr. Johnson was the most feeble person on
board The Constitution. He remained on
his bed most of the time under the influence of opium."
The Constitution was reloaded with cotton
for the return trip to England. On the
third day out the ship went down but no lives were lost. The crew were all rescued and most of the
cargo was saved.
Leatrice says she is convinced that it was
the combined faith of those emigrants and their diligent use of the power of
humble prayer that engaged the Lord in helping them cross the turbulent waters
of the Atlantic Ocean safely.
Sources: Church Records, Constitution Ship Roster,
Ship, Rail and Wagon to Zion.
