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August 26, 1885. I received a good cheering letter from my stepmother, Aunt Rebecca. My attorney, J. C. Herndon, called on me this morning and read me a letter addressed to myself from District Attorney Zabriskie to be sent to the President of the United States. (Heretofore set forth). Herndon says I have every reason to hope for a pardon within three months. H. B. Clawson called to see me at four p.m. He gave me $10 with which I shall buy me a shirt and a toothbrush, etc. August 27. Received letters from Ida, which are a comfort to me. I am locked in my cell 12 hours out of the 24 (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.). Sleep much better at night now. The days seem dreadfully long. August 29. On this day at six a.m. I left Prescott, Arizona, for the House of Correction at Detroit, Michigan, in charge of Deputy Marshal Bert Foster and A. E. Foote, clerk of 3rd district court, and a Mr. Hickey, jailer of the Prescott jail. They had in charge one other prisoner. Brother H. B. Clawson rode on the same coach to Ash Fork but was refused permission to ride with us. He was with me at every opportunity during the day. Arrived at Ash Fork at seven p.m. Brother Clawson left at ten p.m. on the west-bound train. His visit has been very encouraging. We stayed at the Cottage Hotel and on the morning of the 30th we boarded the train for Detroit. At Navajo Springs I received a package of
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books and some underwear from my family, brought by Joseph Crosby. The officer broke the package and examined its contents. This is the station where we get off to go to St. Johns. The thoughts of wives and children, home and friends, and the many indignities I had to endure was almost unbearable. Nothing of special Dote took place on the journey. We arrived at Detroit at 11:30 p.m. on September 2nd. We bad staterooms and Pullman sleeper by me paying my share of the bill. It was a little crowded but comfortable. The officers used a great deal of liquor and they urged me to drink but, of course, I refused. They seemed to desire to make it as comfortable for me as they could, and said that if it were not for Sterling they would extend more liberties to me. My humiliations are almost unbearable. I was required and did sleep with Mr. Sterling in the upper berth. At the station in Detroit we were met by Mr. Sullivan, the prison guard, where the other officers turned us over to him. He handcuffed me to Mr. Sterling (this is the first time I have bad irons on) and had us get into a light rig, and we were driven very rapidly for about a mile to the House of Correction. About nine a.m. the morning of the 3rd I was taken to the basement and shaved and shingled. I also took a bath and then I was given back my garments and given my prison clothes, consisting of hickory shirt, Kentucky jeans, coat, pants and cap; also brogan shoes and cotton socks, all of which appeared to be new. From here I was taken to the shop where Brother Christopherson works. Brother Tenney works in shop B and Brother Kempe in shop C. I recognized Brothers Kempe and Christopherson but mistook another man for Brother Tenney. It was three weeks before we were permitted to meet and converse, as prisoners are not allowed to speak to each other. When I first went into the shop the overseer took me in charge and bad me stand by the side of his table for two or three hours. I supposed be wanted the other 30 prisoners to look at me. No prisoner is permitted to leave his bench or machine without the permission of the overseer, this he obtains by holding up his hand, even to go to the closet or get a drink. The shop foreman took
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and put me to work at a cut-off saw machine and check machine with a halfbreed Indian boy by the name of Bill Hamen from Indian territory. At six p.m. we went to our cells. The fixtures in the cell are an iron bed made to fold up to the wall, a mattress, one pair of blankets, a pillow and a sheet. The bed linen was washed every week and there was a washdish and towel, chair, looking glass, comb, a "whatnot" for books and so forth, and a carpet on the floor. The rules and regulations are as follows: At three taps of the gong at 5:30 a.m. we get up, dress, wash, etc. At six a.m. on two taps of the gong we prepare for breakfast. At 6:30 on one tap of the gong we go to breakfast, which we eat upstairs. At seven a.m. we go to work, taking with us our night-pails. We walk in lines of about 50 with right hand on the shoulder of the man ahead of us. We are required to walk as close as possible, which is very humiliating. On the first of October my dear little Mary died. I received the word by a telegram from my brother, Joseph, on the Monday following. My heart sank within me at this sad news. The poor little sufferer! The very night she died I dreamed of her. It seemed I was with her and we were playing, and she was so beautiful and heavenly. Brother John W. Young called on us on October 19th. By the courtesy of the prison superintendent Brothers Tenney, Christopherson, Kempe and myself had the privilege and blessing of an interview with Brother Young. This was in the presence of the assistant superintendent, Mr. Wolfer, to whom Brother Young presented a paper cutter with a handle made of Colorado agate. We conversed on many subjects--our family and friends at home, the severity of the persecution of our people in Arizona and Utah. A few days after Brother Young's visit to the prison we were placed two in a cell. This was the first time we bad been permitted to speak to one another as a "silent system" prevailed in the prison. From this time on, every night we had milk and fruit put into our cells for supper where before it had been straight bread and water as we did not use coffee. The prison officials notified us that John W. had placed $12.50 to the credit of each of the four of us. (With
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out this kindly deed from this generous friend I should have been turned out of prison onto the streets of Detroit with no means to get me home on that December day when my Presidential pardon came. Through his generosity and the kindness of the other brethren, from whom I borrowed the money he bad left them, I bought myself a ticket to Arizona. It will always be a sweet memory to me and my family that one of God's servants came along in our distress and ministered to our needs, verifying as it were the scripture, "I was in prison and he visited me." I did not meet John W. Young again.) On October 21, I received two letters from Attorney F. S. Richards of Salt Lake City, then in Washington, D.C. He states that he bad called upon and seen the federal pardon clerk. The clerk told him that the petitions, letters, etc. from Arizona asking for a Presidential pardon for me bad been received and were satisfactory. The clerk stated that it was One of the plainest cases they bad ever bad upon which a pardon could be granted. Brother Richards thought I would be pardoned by the last of this month.
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December 6, 1885. Up to this time I have received many consoling and encouraging letters from my family and many friends, which have been a great strength to me. How good it is to have true friends in these sad times of imprisonment and trouble. I have bad many sad and lonely hours since being imprisoned; my indebtedness, the poverty and scattered condition of my family, and of our ward and the death of our sweet little Mary, with the hard work and the many, many humiliations that we have to endure. I fully realize the necessity of divine aid to be able to endure these trials and I feel that the Lord has greatly blessed me for which I truly thank Him and I pray for continued strength to endure this without murmurs or complaining. We go to Bible class at five p.m. Sundays and morning services at nine o'clock nearly every Sunday in the chapel in the north wing of the prison over the four tiers of cells situated in that wing, which makes the chapel quite elevated. The hospital joins the chapel. We go to night school nearly every Tuesday night at 6:30 where we study arithmetic and reading. Prisoners teach the dif-
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ferent classes under one general teacher. In the first days of October a young man by the name of Tom attempted to commit suicide by stabbing himself in the side with a knife. This transpired at his work bench a short distance from where I work. One man had a fit the same day. There is no more notice taken of these things than though they were brutes. All these circumstances bring such evil bad feeling with them. Sunday, December 13. On the 10th I met Bishop R. T. Burton and son (the architect) with a Gentile friend who came to visit us. Brother Burton had very kindly feelings for us. We thank the Lord for their visits. We have cold wintry weather this week, still our cell and the shop are quite pleasant as they are steam heated. My work has been as usual. I have received many cheering letters this month. On the 29th of October the deputy permitted me to write a special letter. I took advantage of the opportunity and wrote to Ida. Yesterday Ammon unthinkingly spoke to another fellow prisoner. The overseer saw him and he was punished by being stood up before the library for a few minutes. This is very humiliating to him and to us. Monday, the 14th. Mr. Ferrell, our overseer, left our shop today and Mr. Patrick Fitzpatrick, formerly overseer of shop B, took his place. I think it is a good change for us. My foreman, John Mackley, is much kinder than formerly. Tuesday, the 15th. One of the two turners within 15 feet of my saw threw a chisel at the general foreman and our overseer, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and then ran out of the shop to the hall where he smashed the large library windows and those in the small room with a chair leg. He acted like he was crazy but they say it is his wicked heart. He was knocked down and put in solitary confinement. Wednesday, the 16th. The usual monotonous work. My health is good. Thursday, the 17th. This morning Mr. Wolfer, the deputy, came to make known to me the cheery news that my Presidential pardon bad come. I feel to thank and praise the Lord. This was about 11 a.m. About two p.m. the deputy sent for me to come to the hall, where I was measured for a new suit of clothes and the
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brethren were sent for and I conversed with them for an hour. I feel so sorry to leave them here. I put on citizen's clothes about five p.m. and breathed the free air about 5:30.I bought some fruit, etc. for the brethren and visited Mr. Wolfer, who had been friendly to me. I borrowed $20in cash from each of the brethren to come home on. Superintendent Nicholson gave me $5 and also my suit of clothes and hat. This was a personal gift. I had $12.50 of my own. The chief clerk of the house escorted me to the depot. My ticket to Albuquerque cost me $42.50. I left Detroit by the eight p.m. train for Chicago. I praised the Lord for this deliverance. What a great boon liberty is! If my brethren were only going with me I would feel perfectly happy, but to leave them makes my heart break. When I went to prison I weighed 171 pounds and when I came out today I weighed 181. I bought a second-class ticket and arrived in Chicago at seven a.m. on the 18th. All night long I could think of nothing but my brethren in prison and bow I had left them behind. The officers have treated me and the brethren with kindness considering the rigid rules. Before I left I desired to look through the shops and the prison but it was not permissible. I thank the Lord that I am released and my desire is to serve Him faithfully in the future. I feel the prediction of the patriarch has been fulfilled when he said I would be tried like Joseph in Egypt, but the Lord remembered him and He would remember me. My health is better if anything than when I went to prison. The superintendent told me that the government would have paid my fare home if I had been there seven months. Chicago. December 18. I sent telegrams of my pardon to my family and friends in Arizona and Utah, also to theDeseret News, three in all. I also wrote letters to Brother A. M. Tenney in Detroit, and to Ida. I came on the Michigan Central R.R. from Detroit. I left Chicago today at 12:30 on the C. B. & 1. for Kansas City. December 19. I arrived in Kansas City at nine a.m. What little sleep I have bad the two nights I have been on the road has been disturbed by unpleasant dreams of my brethren and my prison life. It is hard for me to write while the train is moving. I left Kansas City at 10:40 a.m. for Albuquerque on the A. T. & S. F.
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Arrived in Albuquerque, N.M., at four a.m. on the 21st. I remained there one day. The agent of the A. & P. R.R. sold me a half-rate ticket to Navajo for $6.45. I left Albuquerque. at three a.m. on the 22nd, arriving at Navajo station at 11:40 a.m., where I found my sister, Eliza, and my first counselor, William H. Gibbons, awaiting my arrival. They bad Brother Simon Hanson's team and John Murdock's buggy. We camped for the night seven miles from the Salt Lakes, arriving home at 4:30 p.m. on the 23rd. My wife, Ella, and several friends came to meet me two miles from town. That evening I was given a saint-like reception in the Assembly Hall. I thank God for my freedom and that my life has been spared to return home to my family. I found my family well, but Ella much depressed by the death of our little Mary. May God bless us all in our family life. * * *
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Will close
this account of a trying episode in my life by inserting the following:
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[ Note: Bucky O'Neil, of Rough Rider fame, was the court reporter at the time of the trial. Father paid him $50 for a copy of the transcript of the proceedings. It is written in longhand on foolscap paper and is now in the possession of the family. ]
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Published by Arizona Silhouettes
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1959