He was baptized on Christmas Day that same year. James immigrated to America, and urged his brothers and sister to follow.
James received a call to return to Bedford as a Mission President and used the home of his brother Thomas (my Great, Great, Great Grandfather) as the mission headquarters.
 |
| Thomas Lavender |
After converting Thomas's family, James encouraged them to emigrate to America. It was decided that the three girls - Susan, Mary and Elizabeth would go first; then the next year the remainder of the family would follow. On Mar. 30, 1860, the three girls sailed on the ship Underwriter.
The rest of the family followed later on the packet ship, Manchester. The journey on the Manchester was very perilous and the passengers suffered much sickness and hardship.
On one of the particularly stormy days of the ship's tossing and turning, Thomas fell, injuring one of his legs and crippling him for the rest of his life.
The roughest day of the voyage came on May 7th. At noon they were off shore where danger could come from the rocks. The waves were mountainous, and the ship was nearly on her beam ends. It was dangerous to be moving about, especially on deck, and many were sick, however the passengers were calm and hushed into silence.
It was a different matter with the crew who were extremely alarmed. The Captain and first mate rushed below and the first mate spoke to the Saints in a trembling voice, "We will be all drowned in a few minutes. I have been on sea 20 years, and never experienced such an awful storm before."
Then the captain spoke to David John, one of the Bishops, saying: "I wish you Bishops would unite yourselves together with the saints, and pray the Lord to save us, and have mercy on us, for I have heard that your people can perform miracles, and if you can--now is the time one is needed."
Bishop John explained that they could not perform miracles, however they had already prayed before their journey for a safe voyage. He felt God would preserve them. The Captain replied, "If you do not need to pray for yourselves, pray for our sake."
So, the Saints gathered together and prayed that the storms and the waves would become quiet and calm. In half an hour or less, the waters became perfectly calm. One week later the ship cast anchor nine miles off New York and after a period of quarantine, the company continued their journey to join the saints.
