The Horizon by Kenneth L. Rasmussen

On May 21st and 22nd 1856 the passengers boarded the Horizon in preparation for sailing to Boston Harbor. This included my great-great-grandmother Mary Taylor, her husband, William Upton, her parents and an aunt. I’ll be posting info about her journey for the next 5 months.

From the Journal of Henry Hamilton:

Wednesday, May 21st – Landed at 11 a.m. As soon as we got upon the pier, there was men, lots of them that come to us, we’ll take your things &c &c. Aren’t you some of the brethren? What brethren say I. So they told me they would go on that way to get [-] boxes to carry. I & Joseph then went to see about the porter that Pastor Parks told us about, but could not find him. We returned to the boat, saw a Brother Jessie [Jesse] Haven. We then got a porter to take our chests off to the Horizon, the vessel that we was to go with. We then went & had some dinner & went to the office to see about our going away. We got that settled that I was to go as passenger cook. So we went & got mattresses bought &c. Slept on board the vessel all night.

From the Journal of Joseph Beecroft:

Wed. 22nd [May 21, 1856] We arose soon and I wrote and after breakfast we got our luggage [to] our office in Islington Street and got names signed to the ship and then the luggage to the ship in Bramley Moore Dock and our tickets for our certificates. [At] night I got my certificate for my birth and had a walk in Liverpool, retired to bed.

We came on board in the afternoon and of all the sights that I ever saw, it was the most astonishing. Luggage was piled on a piece of ground in front of the ship to a considerable, and hundreds were busy in getting in their [p.8] luggage. And about half past 10 or 11 I went to bed , where my wife and son already were, but I did not sleep until the noise of talking and laughing had subsided. I then slept better than I had done for some time and awoke refreshed in body and mind, grateful to my Father in Heaven for his blessings and favors.

From the Life History of John Jaques:

Thurs. 22: About 7 o’clock I sent my wife, her sister, Tamar, and my daughter, Flora, in a cab to the Horizon, 2/6. I went with our luggage in the cart 4/, and 6 demies to the man. Got Brother Thomas Dodd to assist me in getting our things on board. Paid him 1/0. We engaged berth number 401 for myself and wife, and the half of number 400 for her sister, Tamar, both on the second or lower deck. Ann Johnson, servant of Brother Linforth was to have the other half of 400. Brother W. Paul and wife engaged the berth next to mine. Brother William Taylor and wife from Stratfordshire had engaged one next to theirs. We did not get out of dock this day. The ship had 856 passengers on board, 635 of whom were P.[Perpetual] E.[Emigrant] Fund emigrants, 212 ordinary , and 7 cabin passengers. Elder Edward Martin, president of the company, assisted by Elder Jesse W. Haven and George P. Waugh; steward, John Thompson; cook, Henry Hamilton and Joseph Jackson; historian, myself; sergeant of the guard, Elder F.C. Robinson. We made our beds of our spare clothing, bought a pound of molasses 3 demies, a pound of marine soap 6 demies, some round lamp wick, six one penny packets of violet powder, and six one penny boxes of wax lights and six red herrings.

More info on the Horizon: Liverpool to Boston.