1861-06-20-New York Herald-An Invasion of Mormons

An Invasion of Mormons

New York Herald, 20 June 1861, p. 2

AN INVASION OF MORMONS.—During the past month we have had a large influx of Mormons to the city, on their way to Salt Lake City. The first division came here on the 14th of May, in the ship Manchester, and numbered 379; the second force reached the harbor on the 23d of May in the ship Underwriter and numbered 618; and the rear guard was brought up yesterday by Elder Jabez Woodward, who conducted 949 of these singular people to the city, from Liverpool, in the ship Monarch of the Seas. Thus the total of the Mormon emigration to the city since the 14th of May has been 1,946. These are made up of people of all ages and of both sexes. Of course the ladies always predominate numberrically, though not otherwise, in Mormon society. They come also from nearly all the countries in Europe—Sweden and other northern regions being largely represented. These countries pour a continuous stream of these eccentric strangers to the great land of the setting sun. Captain Gardner, of the Monarch of the Seas, reports that while on the passage the most perfect harmony prevailed among the Mormons, and that they seemed pretty much like one large "happy family." A kind of discipline of a fanatical nature was preserved among them by their leaders, who appear to control them without the slightest effort. Simplicity, in fact, seems to be the striking feature in the Mormons who have arrived here, and the plainness of their attire is a striking contrast to the gayety of every day experience in this respect among "the world.' They are a world, however, in themselves, and seem to be as far removed from the world as if they had never belonged to it. There are eighteen elders with the company of Mormons who arrived yesterday. They have something of a clerical, demagogical air about them, which is in about as much contrast to their flock as that of a Roman Catholic priest is to an Irish congregation, when it is not a Protestant one.

There is a Mormon agent in this city by whom the Mormons are received. His name is Nathaniel Jones, of Salt Lake City. He protects them against the vandalic runners who frequent Castle Garden, and sees that they are forwarded to their wilderness home in the far-off West.

One woman, aged 59 years, died while on the passage from Liverpool, and also six children. The number that arrived here, however, was nearly as great as the number that sailed, for six young Mormons were born on the passage. Their country at present in the Salt Lake region is the most fortunate section of the United States territory. It is altogether beyond the influence of the war, and the crops are flourishing. Let the Mormon pioneers subdue the wilderness and cause it to bloom, and they do well; but let them be true to the government of the glorious Union.