Autobiography of Lyman O Littlefield

Extracts from the Autobiography of Lyman O. Littlefield

On August 2 [1847] I arrived in Albany. I did not like the city much, but I saw only the lower streets. I was told it was beautiful further back. I took passage on the passenger steamer South America, left the wharf at 6:30 a.m. The North River is a most delightful stream. It is not rapid. It runs clear and deep--free from rocks, sand bars or "snags" which makes it safe and easy to navigate. No freight was carried by passenger vessels. The burthens of commerce were conveyed in sail vessels and it was interesting to view the many sails that floated over the bosom of the Hudson. The shore sceneries are romantic and beautiful. The bluffs for many miles seem to be solid rock that rise up to a great height. There is a view of the Catskill mountains towering their blue summits to the skies at the base of which are table lands and sequestered vales. We see Poughkeepsie, Newburg, West Point, Sing Sing, Nyack and Tarrytown. Beautiful bath houses were erected along the water's edge, every little distance for forty miles above New York, for the benefit of bathers in the salt water from the sea. We arrived at New York at 2 p.m.

The Saints in New York and Brooklyn were very kind in providing me with necessary comforts while I should be crossing to Liverpool.

On Monday morning, August 23, 1837, Elders Applyby, William H. Miles, Brother Burnett and four or five sisters who had just come from England, and several of the New York Saints went down to the docks and saw me on board the sail ship Liverpool, which was towed out by tug boats to the open sea.

On the evening of the 25th of August, 1848, two steamers came alongside, to which the luggage of 480 passengers was transferred, and we all were soon landed on the wharf of New York, thankful to place our feet upon land once more, after having been denied that privilege for fifty-one days.

In the midst of these interesting reminiscences we are under the necessity of closing our labors for the present. From the exodus of the Saints from Nauvoo--taking in the many unpublished incidents connected with their unexampled journey to the Rocky Mountains, and the founding of a prosperous territory--much of interest remains to be chronicled. All this, and much that has already been furnished us, may afford material for a second volume.