I was reading my great-great grandfather's journal as I prepared for my primary sharing time on Sunday. It was fascinating. William Henry Branch was born August 9, 1820. He and his wife were baptized January 16, 1850. After his baptism, he immediately started making plans to go west. He went to visit friends and family assuming he would never see them again. When he visited his father, Elisha, he told him he was now a mormon and was headed west. His father said, "William, I do not expect to see you again on this earth, but if your religion calls you to leave your home and friends, go, and the God of Heaven bless and prosper you that we may meet where parting will be no more. I will not have it to think of on my dying bed that I ever said one word to stop you from serving God according to the dictates of your conscience." Wow. How wonderful.
April 7, 1857 he attended conference in Salt Lake and heard his name called out to serve a mission to the Eastern United States. He served in Connecticut, and while serving there was able to baptize his father. Nicely done.
Cool story! I am so glad that we don't have to watch conference every six months and worry that our husbands might be called to leave and serve a mission. That would be really tough!
ReplyDeleteI know! I have a hard enough time when Mike is gone - even with all our modern conveniences. I can't imagine what it would be like back then! Not to mention, this wasn't his first mission.
ReplyDeleteSide note: His second wife was a woman named Ella Coombs. She is our great great grandma, and the person we named our girl after.
ReplyDeleteI love reading his journal. He is also my great-great grandfather. What a small world this is!
ReplyDeleteIf this "journal" is the one that includes family lineage, as well as biographical sketches and a Mayflower connection that was thought to be true (it has since been proven by the Mayflower Society it is not), that was published by my Great Aunt Olive Branch, William Henry Branch Sr's daughter, then I am on page 88, as it was published and printed in early 1953 and I was born in 1952. He was my great grandfather,and his second wife Ella Elvira Coombs Branch was my great grandmother. We share the same birth date, and their daughter, Arabella Branch, was my grandmother, and after whom I was named. (isn't genealogy fun?)
ReplyDeletep.s. if anyone has actual photos that can be scanned and sent via email, please contact me! Thank you so much!
p.s. how did my comment become attributed to someone named "booklearner"? My name is Bella Pace Conner, not "book learner". My email is: bellaconner327@gmail.com
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