Description

Almost an Angel

Margaret Pierce Young was born in Aston Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. She said, “My parents, Robert and Hannah, were Quakers. My mother was well educated, a gifted writer and spiritually inclined. My father,” she said, “was a prosperous farmer.” Well, her parents lived in various parts of Pennsylvania but then in 1832, as fate would have it, they moved to Brandywine. She said, “Our house was beautifully situated on a low hill affording a fine view of a large part of our farm, which was green and pretty.” It sat about 45 miles from Philadelphia.

She says, “When I was but a young girl, I took cold (meaning she got a cold) on the ice ponds and fever and heart trouble followed.” She said, “I was ill for many months.” Then she describes that, “One evening two men passing our way stopped and knocked at our door and announced, ‘We are Latter-Day Saints and have been directed to this house by the Spirit. Have you sickness here?’ to which Margaret’s mother answered, ‘Yes, come in!’” She brought them to Margaret’s bedside. The two men took Margaret by the hand, looked down on her for just a moment and then, turning to her mother, said, “If she will obey the Gospel of Christ and put her trust in Him, who is able to save, she will be healed from this very moment.”

And then the two men, not identifying themselves, refused to sit down or take any refreshments. They left and went on their way. Margaret said, “I was healed and next morning was on my feet. We knew not who these servants of God were, from whence they came, nor did we ever after hear aught concerning them.”

In the summer of 1839, shortly thereafter, there came two elders preaching the Gospel of Christ in that area. They were Elijah Davis and Lorenzo Barnes. Margaret said, “From them we heard the gospel explained in its fullness and in power. Their words sank deep into our hearts.” The first baptisms resulted on the 29th of July and on 28th of October, following, the Brandywine Branch was organized. “Weekly meetings were held” Margaret said, “at our house, which was commodious and freely opened. People came from miles around to hear the principles of Mormonism expounded.”

In January of 1840, word came, at the Brandywine branch, that Joseph Smith the prophet was going to pay them a visit on his way from Philadelphia. Margaret’s father said, “Let us get our carriage and go to meet him. So,” she said, “Father, and others brought him to our home. Mother served a splendid supper and then the neighbors gathered in to hear the Prophet’s discourse. I wish that I might describe my feelings at that meeting. Though they are fresh and green in my memory today, I cannot but fall short of expressing myself. So animated with loving kindness, so mild and gentle, yet big and powerful and majestic was the Prophet that to me he seemed more than a man. I thought almost an angel. We were all investigating but none of my people had entered the waters of baptism, however it was a great joy to us to entertain Joseph Smith and hear his wonderful words of wisdom.” She continued, “It was 2 o’clock in the morning, when we permitted him to retire. I wanted to listen to him all night.” When the Prophet was finally allowed to go to bed and had left the room, Margaret said, “My mother said, ‘I don’t see how anyone can doubt his being a Prophet of God. [You] can see it in his countenance which is so full of intelligence.’ ‘Yes, truly,’ Father replied, ‘He is a Prophet of God.’”

The next day Margaret’s mother was ready for baptism. The ice was 6 inches thick. They cut it, and she entered the waters of baptism, receiving that ordinance under the hands of Elder Lorenzo Barnes and was confirmed by the Prophet Joseph. Margaret’s sister Mary followed, but Mother made Margaret wait until the weather was milder. So, it was April 1840 when Margaret became a member of the Church. Her father joining the day after she did. Then her father sold all of his property with the fixed purpose of gathering with the Saints. “One lovely day 22 September 1841,” she said, “we bade farewell to the land of our Quaker parentage. Traveling by rail and by steamboat we soon landed in beautiful Nauvoo. At the landing, who should meet us but the Prophet and his wife, who took us home and entertained us most hospitably. Their family was always very friendly to all of us, seeming never to forget my Father’s hospitality in Pennsylvania.”

Source: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/LC7D-4V8