[Apostle John Taylor diary] Chiefly at home. (1)
-- Feb 20, 1845
[Apostle Wilford Woodruff Journal] Feb 20th 1845 This was a solmen & gloomy day to my feelings in some respect, in consequence of walking over the ground which oft had been trod by the much lamented & worthy ELDER LORENZO D. BARNES And also of viewing the tomb whare sleeps his sacred Dust.
I Left Bradford in company with Elders Sheets & Ure. Br Sheets is presiding over the Bradford Conference the one that Elder Barnes was presiding over when he died. Br Ure is presiding over the sheffield conference. We left Bradford to gether for the purpose of visiting the grave of Elder Barnes in Idle Yorkshire 3 miles from Bradford.
When we arived about half way we have a fair view of Idle & the Church whare lies the grave of Elder Barnes. We had a beautiful green vale to pass through before ariving at Idle, which is on top of a hill. The fields of grass were as green as may, though in Febuary which made a splendid appearence. We travelled on the Road that Elder Branes had walked over many scores of times in Preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I felt solumn indeed. Was filled with meditation untill I arived at Idle Containing a Population of about 7,000 inhabitants & a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of 37 members.
We Called upon Elder Thomas Cordingly & his family who had the Care of Elder Barnes through his sickness & death. They Pointed out the house & room to me whare he was sick spent his last hours, passed through his last sickness afflictions & Death.
After getting some refreshment we walked to the Church yard & I gazed upon the silent grave of our beloved Brother & Elder Lorenzo Barnes. My feelings were keene & sensitive. As I stood upon his grave I realized I was standing over the body of one of the Elders of Israel of the horns of Joseph of the Seed of Ephraim, one of the members of zions Camp who had travelled more than 1,000 miles in 1834 for the redemption of his persecuted, afflicted brethren. Offered to lay down his life for their sake. One who had the hearts & affection of thousands both in America & England, one who felt a deep interest in the welfare of his parents and kindred, One whose fidelity was stronger than death towards his Lover, his brethren eternal truth, & his God. While Standing upon his grave I offered up my vocal Prayer to Israels God, that I might die the death of the righteous when Called away & that my last end might be as wise & safe as his & that his sacred dust might be called forth in the
morn of the first resurrection.
I decreed in my heart I would not return to my native country untill I had caused to be erected a tomb stone over his grave to say to his friends that should Chance to pass that way that here sleeps the worthy LORENZO D. BARNES The first of Zions Camp who has found a grave in a foreign Land. I bowed my knees upon [--] grave & plucked some pebbles in memory of his worth. I thought of his <[--]> Lover, his Mother, his Father, his kindred & the Saints for they all loved him, & would have thought it a privilege blessing to have been permitted to have droped a silent tear upon his lonely bed.
O Lorenzo thou has fallen, in thy youth as it were A marter for the truth, in a foreign land. But if thy God permits me to tread again the Courts of his house, in Zions land, & have access to the sealing powers, endowments, & keys of the kingdom of God I'll remember thee & pray that thy exhaltations may not come short of the Chiefest of thy quorums.
I retired from his grave in company with my brethren meditating upon the life of Br Barnes. I made dilligent enquiry of the family whare he died & of others concerning his sickness & death And I obtained the following information:
That Elder Barnes during the last of Sept walked one day about 13 miles vary fast to get to the rail road in time to get the cars. Some part of the way he run, got into a high state of perspiration & ownly had time to step on board just as they were about starting. He rode on the rail road about 20 miles during which time he became entirely Chilled, which flung him into a sever Cold that settelled upon his lungs brought on the quick consumption from which he never recoverd. He attended a conference & Preached several times afterwards but was vary feble. The last time he Preached was from the following words: "There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God."
After he was confined to his bed he was asked if he would have a Physician his answer was deffi-nately [no. If] he Died he wished to Die a natural death. If he lived he should live unto the Lord. If he died he should die unto the Lord. He manifested a great desire to live if it was the will of God that he might again return to Nauvoo. He was deprived of his reason during some portion of his sickness. His whole conversation at such times was about Nauvoo, how he should get there, & his friends. Spoke of his mother freequently. The night before his death, he had his reason & bore a strong & faithful testimony of the truth of the fulness of the Gospel as taught by the Latter Day Saints. Stated that it would not be long before the Kings & great men of the earth would Call for the mountains & rocks to fall upon them to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb of God that was to be poured out upon the earth for soon would the nations of the earth be deluged with the judgments of God,
& with many other words did he testify of those things that would spedily come to Pass.
I learned that Elder Barnes suffered by going with poor boots & wet feets from place to Place. He was slow to make his wants known to the brethren & some were to slow to administer to his wants untill he got sick. But evry attention was paid him after he was confined to his bed but it was to late.
I enquired if their was any writings that he left as a Journal but could find nothing but the following lines as a Correspondance in Poetry between himself & his intended Miss Susan Conrad which shows the strong fidelity of his heart which was Characterestic of the man throug evry action of his life. ...
During the evening I preached in Idle to a good congregation, many of which had heard Elder Barnes preach. Elder Barnes was beloved by the Saints in England the same as he was in America. The congregation gave good attention. I spent the night with Br Cordingly. Distance of the day 4 m. (2)
Footnotes:
1 - 'The John Taylor Nauvoo journal, January 1845-September 1845,' BYU Studies 23:3 (1983) edited by Dean C. Jessee
2 - Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies
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