Discover the remarkable stories of nearly 90,000 Latter-day Saint pioneers' ocean voyages to America, meticulously preserved by BYU's Saints by Sea database.
Between 1840 and 1930, nearly 90,000 Latter-day Saints immigrated to America. The stories of these seagoing Saints are often overshadowed by tales of their arduous trek across the plains.
But the stories of the pioneer trek didn't always start on land. Many Latter-day Saint pioneers recorded inspiring experiences of their voyage over the ocean towards an unknown future.
“When I arrived at Liverpool and saw the ocean that would soon roll between me and all I loved, my heart almost failed me,” wrote Priscilla Stains of her 1844 voyage across the Atlantic Ocean on the ship Fanny. “There was no turning back ... so I thus alone set out for the reward of everlasting life, trusting in God.”
Fred E. Woods, BYU professor of Church history and doctrine, is determined to keep these stories alive.
For nearly three decades, Woods and a team of colleagues, students and missionaries have collected sources and documented the experiences of convert immigrants to America in an interactive database, Saints by Sea, hosted by BYU Library.
The Saints by Sea website contains information about Latter-day Saint immigrant voyages, including names of passengers and first-hand accounts. Visitors to the site can discover the ship on which their ancestors traveled to the United States, accompanied by first-hand accounts that vividly detail the voyage. An additional collaboration between the BYU Library, the BYU Record Linking Lab, and FamilySearch guides visitors to their ancestors found in the Saints by Sea database, linked to the ancestor in FamilySearch’s Family Tree.
Joe Everett, senior librarian at the BYU Library Family History Center, oversees the maintenance of the website for public use. Everett cherishes the moments when people connect with their ancestors.
“The actual number of unique people in the database is less than 100,000,” said Everett. “But at least a couple of million people today can connect back to those people who are in the database.”
Woods worked with students at BYU Idaho and BYU’s Center for Family History and Genealogy who indexed each name from mission emigration registers preserved by the Church History Library. The index is further enriched by contemporary accounts from journals and memoirs that Woods and his team researched and transcribed. The result is an impressive resource for people to make meaningful connections with their ancestors.
During the voyages, European immigrants lived in cramped quarters on ships for weeks to months. Yet Latter-day Saint passengers were known for their joy and faith in God.
“At dusk, groups would gather and visit with each other, singing the songs of Zion and relating their history since becoming members of the Church. But oh! what a happy crowd, all bent on doing the will of the Lord and keeping his commandments.”
The voyages to America were not often smooth sailing. The Saints faced turbulent waters, seasickness and disease.
“The first day out was rather rough and the second day rougher. All the people were seasick ... some of the people came on deck, others lay in their berths afraid they would die, and others afraid they wouldn’t die.”
Approximately 670 Latter-day Saint immigrants died while crossing the oceans to gather to Zion. Yet despite these trials, Latter-day Saint immigrants retained the faith necessary to calm storms, heal the sick and even preach the gospel aboard the ships.
“Never have I seen the time that I was sorry for what I had done, I have a stronger testimony to bear today than ever before.”
Everett is certain the accounts of these seagoing Saints will strengthen Latter-day Saint testimonies today as well.
“What can I learn from their resilience — their faith to endure?” he said. “How could I apply that in my life today? What things are hard for me to do? If they could do those things, I can persevere and do the hard things that I face every day.”
Woods hopes people will use this resource to discover more than their ancestors’ ship. He wants people to understand why their ancestors were willing to sacrifice everything to make the journey to Zion.
“I’ve had sacred experiences in which I felt people from the past wanted their story told in order to testify of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and why they gathered to Zion,” said Woods.
Woods continues his research to complete the story of Latter-day Saint migration. His forthcoming database “Saints by State” will document the history of the Church within each state of the U.S., accompanied by faith-inspiring stories, interviews, bibliographies, encyclopedic entries and documentary films to be released in 2030 to commemorate the bicentenary of the Church.
