home of the author—a career of thrilling experiences—his birth and parentage—early avocations—migration prom north carolina to illinois—life on the frontier—dangers to early settlers—a frontiersman—father's advice—more settlers come—churches and schools—limited opportunities—frozen feet—unimpressionable to the preaching of the time—talk of a new religion, prophets, miracles, etc.—persecution of the new church—"showers of stars"—popular adverse views of the mormons—the mormons driven from missouri into illinois—mormon elder comes to preach—converts uncle james brown—preaches again—preparations to mob the elder—his scriptural doctrine disconcerts enemies and secures him friends—his discourse—effect on young james s. brown of this first gospel sermon to him—his testimony to the spirit and truth of the elder's message.
the subject and author of this life-sketch of a pioneer is james stephens brown, now (1900) in his seventy-second year, a resident of salt lake city, utah, his home less than a quarter of a mile from and within the summer morning's shadow of the majestic temple of the lord erected on that spot which he beheld a barren and desolate wilderness, on his entrance into the valley of the great salt lake, over half a century ago. his life has been one of thrilling experiences—more than ordinarily falls to the lot even of a pioneer settler in the great west—a life in which hardship and perils by sea and land, among dusky savages and with white men, have contributed largely to the events of his career; withal one in which he has had abundant occasion to recognize and acknowledge the power and protecting care of an almighty providence.
it is at the urgent request and advice of valued friends, familiar to a considerable extent with my life and labors, that i place this autobiography in form to be easily accessible to those desirous of perusing it; and i am not unmindful of the fact that this simple recital of events is not only of intense interest in numerous episodes which it records, but is of historic value in being a plain and truthful narrative of the personal experiences of a western pioneer.
i was born on independence day, july 4, 1828, in davidson county, north carolina, u.s.a. my father was daniel brown; he was the youngest son of his father's family, and was born in rowan county, north carolina, june 30, 1804. my father's father was james brown, a native of rowan county, north carolina, 1757 being the year of his birth. his wife was the widow of a revolutionary war soldier named emerson, who was killed in the war for american independence, leaving his wife and two children, margaret and john emerson. my grandfather james brown married the widow emerson, who bore him nine children—three sons and six daughters—jane, polly, nancy, susan, patsy, william, obedience, james (captain of company c, mormon battalion), and daniel (my father); her maiden name was mary williams. all the family had an excellent reputation, being upright, thrifty, and good and industrious citizens.
with these introductory remarks, i will proceed to an account of my boyhood's days. i was reared at the farming and stock business, also at getting out saw timber and wood for cooperware. my parents had moved from north carolina to brown county, illinois, in the autumn of 1831, and had purchased an extensive tract of land. we were a large family; the country was then wild and with very few inhabitants, and the climate was unhealthy; so it was with great effort that father and mother succeeded in making a home and gathering about them the comforts of life.
we were frontier settlers, and while father had his pick of land, he also had the hardships and privations of a new country to endure. there were no churches or schoolhouses nearer than ten miles from our home, and grist mills and blacksmith shops were equally distant. thus the family was reared without the advantage of schools, or of church-going religious training. but we were thoroughly acquainted with border life, with hunting, fishing, and all the sports indulged in by hardy pioneers, and even learned to shake terribly from the ague, and burn with fever spells, while we were well dosed with quinine and calomel, and had enormous doctor's bills to pay.
in our operations we trained horses and cattle to work, stocked our own plows, made our own harrows, rakes and forks, braided our own whips from the pelts of wild beasts which we ourselves dressed, raised our own honey, and made our own sugar, with some to sell. we had a good sugar orchard, and plenty of wild fruits and nuts for the gathering. as the first settlers of new countries are more or less subject to dangers from outlaws, wild beasts, and savage men, we found it important to be well armed, and on the alert day and night to defend life and liberty.
thus we learned the use of firearms and the tomahawk. my father was an expert with the old kentucky rifle, and some of his boys were not far behind him; he trained them always to shoot with a rising sight, to keep cool, and always to have their powder dry and plenty of it. he also taught us to tell the truth, and used to say: "be honest, stand up for your rights, and fight for your country and friends."
in the year 1835, people began to settle in around us, and then the circuit riders, as they were called—the ministers—commenced to call around and hold meetings in private houses. there were baptists, freewill baptists, methodists, campbellites, and others. from 1836 to 1838 some small churches and schoolhouses were built, so that we began to get spiritual food, such as it was; and also some schooling, with the benefit of the hickory rod that always was kept "in soak," so to speak, and woe to the unruly student when it was called into service!
so far as the author is concerned, he managed to get along without the rod the short time he was permitted to attend school. he was kept close at work on the farm in summer, and in the winter months was engaged getting out timber and hauling to market the farm products. once his feet were frozen so that he lost every nail from his toes. as to the religious teachings of the time, there was a great deal of thundering and thundering, but it failed to indicate any lightening of the author's path, for he fished and hunted on the sabbath day, just the same.
some time in the '30s we began to hear a little about false prophets, a new religion, miracles, money-diggers, thieves, liars, miracle-workers, deceivers, witches, speaking in tongues and interpretation of the same, walking on the water, and visits from angels. as time went on, all these things were combined to form a grand excuse for raising mobs to expel the new church from the borders of civilization. then came news of murder, rapine, house-burning, and destruction of towns and cities in missouri. there were great "showers" of stars in the firmament about this time. on popular rumor, and from hearing only one side of the story, almost everybody decided that such a previously unheard-of people as the mormons ought to be shot or burned at the stake. this was the sentiment to be found on every hand.
as a culmination of these things came the tidings that the missourians had driven the mormons from the state of missouri into illinois. a little later, and a latter-day saint elder named jacob pfoutz entered the neighborhood of my uncle james brown's home, converted him, his wife, and several of the neighbors. this elder was brought down by my uncle to see his two sisters, aunts polly and nancy brown.
elder pfoutz was given permission to preach in the schoolhouse about three miles from my father's house. the news spread like a prairie fire that the mormons had come and would preach on friday. i think this was in the autumn of 1840. i was at my aunt's at the time, and decided to go and hear the strange preacher. like most of the people, i went out of curiosity, more than anything else. i had just turned my twelfth year, and had begun to take some interest in religion, going to every meeting for which i could obtain permission from my parents, yet not thinking for a moment but that all religions were right.
at the first meeting held by the mormon, the house was pretty well filled. some who attended did so with the thought that after the services were over they would tar and feather the elder and ride him on a rail, as such things had been indulged in in missouri, and threats had been made freely. others were going to confound him, and still others wanted to see the fun, as they said.
the preacher was a plain-spoken man of thirty-five to forty years old, of german descent. he was plainly dressed, and without that urbane polish which ministers usually have. when he began his discourse, he raised up very calmly and deliberately and read from matthew, seventh chapter, verses fifteen to twenty. he spoke from that text and corroborating passages, supporting his argument throughout by scripture. at the conclusion of his address, some of the people said they did not want to mob a man who preached like that, while others "sniffed" their noses and tried to get up a sneering laugh, but failed. the elder was invited to my aunt's house and was granted permission to preach on sunday in their oak-grove, while several of the religiously inclined followed him to his stopping place and plied him with questions.
as to myself, it seemed that i had not only heard it thunder, but i had seen the lightning and felt it through every fibre of my system, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. i was revived as the showers of heaven revive the parched earth and impart life to the languishing vegetation. notwithstanding the fact that i knew the latter-day saints, or mormons, were looked upon as filth, in fact as even worse than rubbish, that they had been called the very off-scourings of the earth, that they were regarded as deserving to be put to death, yet from that very day i received their doctrine in or by the spirit.
now that sixty years have rolled by since the events here narrated; that i have passed through mobbings, robbings, fines and penalties; have been banished and once sentenced to death; paul-like have fought with wild beasts, have been shipwrecked and almost starved; have famished on thirsty deserts; have had the scalping-knife wielded over my head while the indian warwhoop saluted my ears and the savage warrior danced with tomahawk in hand, exulting over the victim intended to be slain and scalped in trophy of victory; have laid in dungeons for my religion's sake—thanks be to god that i yet live and bear a faithful testimony of the truth and spirit that possessed my soul from that first gospel sermon i ever heard. i have listened to ministers of various christian denominations advocate good and virtuous principles, but i never knew any of them to preach the fullness of the gospel of the lord jesus as did that humble mormon elder.
