What is the value of twenty-five pounds?

My talented Uncle Frederick Piercy traveled from Liverpool to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake between 1853 and 1854. His purpose was not permanent residence in America but rather to document the journey both in picture and prose, and ultimately produce an illustrated travel book to encourage British Mormons to emigrate to Utah. 

Examples of his artwork on this journey include:

Upon returning to England in 1854 he worked with the editor of the Millennial Star, James Linforth, to prepare his manuscript for publication. His sketches were made into high quality steel engravings by Charles Fenn. The result of this effort culminated in a delightfully personal and lively detailed and illustrated description of the emigration trail. 

The manuscript was first published in fifteen monthly segments from July 1854 to September 1855, after which it was sold as a bound volume.

Unfortunately, by the time the compilation was on the market in 1855, due to epidemics and illness in New Orleans, the emigration trail had been significantly changed, passing through east coast ports instead. Consequently, the volume was out-of-date by its first publication. The information and quality artwork were top-notch and valuable, but not as practical to the saints who were Zion bound. Hence, it did not sell well.

Uncle Frederick and Brother Linforth agreed to sell the engraved plates and copyright to the Church. There was miscommunication over the price and Frederick discovered that he had been paid less than Linforth, in the amount of twenty-five pounds. He prevailed upon Orson Pratt, the President of the England Mission, to correct this inequity. Brother Pratt wrote to Brigham Young, who was dealing with political emergencies in Utah at the time, having been informed that the United States Army was approaching the Salt Lake Valley, and consequently did not promptly respond to Frederick's concerns. It appears that Frederick never received what was due to him.

The Piercy family was offended by this treatment. When Brigham Young requested that they and others come to Utah in 1857, Frederick and his wife Angelina refused. In June of that year, Brother Pratt informed President Young that Frederick Piercy had apostatized and was filled with bitterness toward the Church.

From that time forward, Frederick became less prolific in his artistic work. Although he labored for the remainder of his life as an artist and teacher, only 21 of his pieces are known to have been exhibited. 

In 1881, Angelina passed away. Frederick married another artist in 1884. He passed away in 1891, having suffered paralysis to a degree for the last ten years of his life.

Many questions remain unanswered:

• What would have happened if he had forgiven the debt?
• What would have happened if he had come to Zion at Brigham Young's request?
• Would his emigration trail drawings and watercolors have marked the beginning of an illustrious career in religious artwork, rather than resulting in a decline in artistic output?
• What would have happened to his eleven children if he had make different choices?
• Where is his posterity now?
• What is the ultimate value of twenty-five pounds?
• What would each of us have done in the same circumstance?

Frederick Piercy - Liverpool to Nauvoo

In 1853 Frederick Piercy, my Great, Great, Great, Great Uncle, began a journey from Liverpool to the Great Salt Lake Valley. 

Because of his magnificent artistic talent, he had been asked to help create an illustrated guide for British converts immigrating to America. At this time the membership in Great Britain outnumbered the saints in Deseret, and included many experienced tradesmen with skills badly needed to help build up Zion. This was a mutually beneficial arrangement, as these poverty stricken workers would be blessed with economic opportunities awaiting them across the sea. It was thought that an illustrated gazetteer would help to remove the fear of the unknown for these young saints. 

As Frederick set out he wrote, 

• “On the 5^th day of February, 1853, in compliance with previous arrangements, I embarked in the Jersey for New Orleans, on my way to Great Salt Lake Valley. My object was to make sketches of the principal and more interesting places on the route.”

The resulting work, although not used widely as originally intended, is a masterful collection of high quality, skillfully created and accurate engravings and watercolors, accompanying narrative, facts, figures and statistics of the journey. Some historians have noted that his completed volume, “Route from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake Valley” is one of the most beautiful publications associated with the young church.

Frederick was nearly as talented with his prose as with his paintbrush. As the Jersey departed from Liverpool he described the mournful occasion of leaving his loved ones in this way: 

• “I knew that if I was wise I should look on the bright side of things, and like the artist with his pictures, should even make the shadow and gloom instrumental in adding interest and instruction to my trip. How tame and insipid would be his pictures if they were without shadow! Even so would our lives if they were without their occasional trying circumstances.”

After arriving in New Orleans, Frederick charted his path by the sights and scenes that he wanted to capture in his sketchbook. 

Frederick's depiction of New Orleans

Traveling on Mississippi steamboats, he traveled on to Keokuk where he drew a charming depiction of 

• “the arrangement of wagons and tents, which, with their white covers, looked extremely picturesque amidst the spring foliage of the country.”

Camp at Keokuk

He was deeply moved during his time in Carthage, the site of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. He made a number of drawings there, both inside and outside the jail.

His feelings and testimony multiplied his talent as he created beautiful and haunting drawings of Nauvoo and the temple ruins.

I am enthralled by Frederick's faith and talent as he captured the sights and scenes of the young church.

More of his work will appear in future posts.

Frederick Piercy: English Artist on the American Plains

The name Frederick Piercy may not be familiar, but his engravings are easily recognized by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The following are examples of his well known artwork:

Who is this man who contributed so much to our visual knowledge of church historical figures and places?

This amazing man is my Great, Great, Great, Great Uncle, or perhaps it is easier to say that he is my Grandmother Speas' Great Uncle. 

Frederick was born in 1830, the year the Church was restored to the earth. He was the eighth of nine children born to George and Deborah Adams Piercy of Portsea, Hampshire, England.

His baptism was on March 23, 1848, when he was 18 years old. No doubt he impressed the leaders of the English mission. In 1849 he was ordained a priest, and he served as secretary of the LDS London conference that and the following year.

He joined his life with my family tree on September 15, 1849, when he married Angelina Hawkins. He had been a member for 18 months at this time and his bride was a convert of 10 months. The following June he was set apart as a missionary and departed for Paris along with five others ordained to proselyte. His wife, Angelina, expecting their first child, stayed in England.

Frederick's artistic talents were immediately put to missionary use, preparing drawings of Apostle Taylor, the family of Orson Pratt, as well as a composite engraving of the General Authorities of the Church, based on daguerreotypes sent from Salt Lake City.

In early 1853, the idea was presented of creating a series of engravings of the "most notable places" on the emigration route from Liverpool to the Great Salt Lake Valley. 

As he embarked on this assignment, his narrative journal was as delightful as his engravings and wood carvings. The completed illustrated volume, "Route from Liverpool to the Great Salt Lake Valley"  is a treasure.

Stay tuned for more posts about his work and writings.