Emma was born February 4, 1848 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England. She was the daughter of John William and Ann Walton Townsend. Her parents were wood turners by trade. They made all kinds of toys and furniture from wood. Their address was listed on the 1851 British census as Old Inkleys or Court 8, Birmingham. This was a crowded street of row houses.

Emma recalled that food items such as bread, butter and even water were high priced. Candles, soap and other needed items were also high priced and sometimes hard to get. England was at war (Crimean War of 1853-1856) (1) and many men were away fighting. This was a time of change, challenge and hardships in England. There had been an Irish uprising in 1848 and frequent conflicts continued during Emma's childhood. England was undergoing a religious reformation that was also sweeping across the entire continent of Europe. The Church of England was losing power over the people as other churches became more common in England. Queen Victoria was at the throne and making many changes in the political government.

England had grown very rapidly in population. Many towns were overcrowded and without proper sanitation for this new population. As a result, cholera and other epidemics swept through the country every few years. Unemployment was high and the country was recovering from famine and hard winters in 1855 and 1856. Queen Victoria was promoting industry and trade but the expansion, was not enough to accommodate the growth of the nation's population.

Emma could only attend school for one half of the day. Emma recalled taking her baby brother to school with her and caring for him while at school. This would have made Emma 11 years old when she started school. In less than a year after starting school the family sailed to America. When Emma came home from school she had to care for the other siblings and do many household chores, as her mother's help was needed in the family business. Emma's older brother died when she was 2 months old. This left Emma as the oldest living child and gave her many responsibilities around the home and in caring for younger siblings.

When Emma was nearly 5 years old, her grandparents left England on Christmas Day in 1853 and sailed to America to join the saints in Utah. It was 7 years later on March 9th 1860 the family left their home and on March 10th Emma's family sailed for America. Emma was 12 years old when her family left England. The family sailed on a ship named the Underwriter. The ship was 183 feet long, 37 feet wide and 30 feet deep with 3 decks. (2)

Emma tells this story about sailing, "The sea was stormy and very rough. One morning before any of my folks were up I went for water to make tea. The boat lurched and I nearly went through one of the holes used to run water off the deck when the waves washed over."

In 1856 The British and American Passenger Acts were past. One of these acts fixed by law the provisions for ship passengers. The provisions for one adult or two children were:

3 * lbs. Bread	2 lbs. Potatoes	2 oz. Salt
1 lb. Four	1 * lbs. Beef	* oz. Mustard
1 * lbs. Oat Meal	1 lb. Pork	* oz. Pepper
1 * lbs. Rice	1 lb. Sugar	1 gill Vinegar
1 * lbs. Peas	2 oz. Tea	Three quarts of water daily, and 10 gallons daily to every 100 for cooking purposes

The new Acts also required each ship to provide "Medical Comforts," for every two hundred adults the following was required:

14 lbs. Arrowroot	2 gallons Lime Juice	25 lbs Sago
20 lbs Pearl Barley	* gallon Brandy	2 doz. Milk, in pints
30 lbs. Sugar	12 lbs. Marine Soap	1 doz. Beef Soup in lbs.
3 doz. Preserved Mutton, in * lbs.		(3)

Some common medical remedies of the day were castor oil to those with colds or fever and for dysentery a concoction of vinegar, loaf sugar and water. For coughing an elixir of paregoric, carbonate of soda and barley water, for stomach pain there was brandy in warm gruel and for colic a dose of peppermint and laudanum. (4)

If the ship encountered mostly good weather and made good time the food was sparse but adequate and if the trip was lengthened the food and water was rationed tightly. Passengers would furnish their own beds, bedding and cooking utensils.

The beds on the ship were in the lower decks. There were usually three beds, then a small isle and three more beds. The beds were often stacked three high like bunk beds. There was little privacy or place to retreat if one was feeling ill. Lanterns were usually turned on for a short time while everyone got into their beds and then turned off again.

The family landed in Castle Gardens, New York on May 1st. All applications for passage to America had to be accompanied by a one pound deposit. Once in Castle Gardens the emigration papers were finalized. After one day the family traveled by steam boat for Albany, New York and then by train to the Missouri River. (5) They continued up the river arriving in Florence on May 12, 1860. The group waited nearly two weeks for the hand carts to be completed. On June first the company weighed out their food, loaded their belongings and began their 1300 mile walk to Zion. Brigham Young had told the handcart pioneers to bring only one change of clothes, bedding, cooking utensils and food rations. All otherworldly possessions were left behind. (6)

Emma stated that she carried her youngest brother, Brigham who was ten months old when their journey began, or she pushed the handcart the entire 1300 miles. She only rode in the cart one half a day when she was ill. When her shoes wore out she walked bare foot across the plains and the mountains. She was very happy to find an old pair of Indian moccasins even though they were too big for her.

Emma found a turtle when crossing one of the rivers. She carried it with her for days before it got away from her. When they would come to a settler's cabin she would take her baby brother in her arms and go to the cabin for a drink of water. She was always hoping she would get a drink of milk or a piece of bread.

She remembered gathering buffalo chips during the day. The chips would be placed in the cart and used at night for a fire and cooking the food. The company would travel fifteen to twenty-two miles a day. Every person walked pulled or pushed. The company sang a number of songs to lift theirspirits. John D. T. McAllister wrote one of the more popular songs

THE HAND CART SONG

Ye Saints that dwell on Europe's shores,

Prepare yourselves with many more

To leave behind your native land

For sure God's Judgments are at hand,

Prepare to cross the stormy main

Before you do the valley gain

And with the faithful make a start

To cross the plains with your cart

Chorus

Some must push and some must pull

As we go marching up the hill,

As merrily on the way we go

Until we reach the valley, oh.

The land that boasts of liberty

You ne'er again may wish to see

While poor men toil to earn their bread

And rich men are much better fed,

And people boast of their great light,

You see they are as dark as night

And from them you must make a start

To cross the plains with our handcarts.

But some will say it is too bad

The Saints upon their feet to pad

And more than that to push a load

As they go marching up the road.

We say this is Jehovah's plan

To gather out the best of men,

And women too, for none but they

Will ever gather in this way.

As on the way the carts are hurled

"Twould very much surprise the world

Too see the old and feeble dame

Lending her hand to push the same.

The young girls they will dance and sing,

The young men happier than a king,

The children they will laugh and play

Their strength increasing day by day.

But ere before the valley gained

We will be met upon the plains

With music sweet and friends so dear

And fresh supplies our hearts to cheer.

Then with the music and the song,

How che4rfully we will march along

So thankfully you make a start

To cross the plains with our hand carts.

When we get there amongst the rest

Industrious be and we'll be blessed,

And in our chambers be shut in

While judgment cleanse the earth from sin.

For well we know it will be so,

God's servants spoke it long ago,

And tell us it's high time to start

To cross the plains with our handcarts

The Ninth Handcart Company arrived in Salt Lake on August 27, 1860. The company was met in Emigration Canyon by Emma's grandparents and others from Salt Lake. She said her grandparents brought bread and butter for them and that was certainly a real luxury for the children.

As the family settled in Salt Lake they began their life with only what they had carried in the handcart. The family found themselves working hard for the necessities of life. Emma remembers going to the canyon to gather bark. A wagonload of bark would be traded for 3 or 4 bars of soap. The family would gather firewood.

Emma recalled having shoes with the soles cut from wood, and leather tops taken from another pair of shoes. The soles were nailed on and when they wore out she went barefoot. Many times in the winter she would have to get out of bed, which was on the floor, put on her frozen shoes, go out in the freezing weather to see what was wrong with the animals when they were making a disturbance. When Emma was 16, she worked for neighbors and others in town for her board and room.

Emma married Henry Lovesy, February 19th 1867. Henry had been married to Jane Shepherd while in England. Jane died in 1948 before Henry left England. He had 2 children by this marriage. Emma and Henry had 5 daughters but only two lived to reach maturity.

Emma worked hard all her life. She was a polygamist wife and had to work to support her children. She gleamed wheat where Liberty Park is on Seventh East in Salt Lake and picked watercress where the Salt Lake City and County building currently stands. Emma would pull the watercress in a wagon and sell it for ten cents a bunch. (7)

Emma never received an education but always had a great desire to read and write. She always had faith in the Lord and knew that her prayers would be answered. She stated, "through my faith in Him, He has surely answered my prayers, as in the last ten or twelve years I can read almost anything." One day Emma was sitting by her table wondering what she could do and wishing she could read. When suddenly a voice seemed to say to her "Why don't you go and get your Doctrine and Covenants?" The voice seemed so real that she went to the door to see who had spoken. Finding no one there, she returned to sit by the table. A second time the voice instructed her to get the Doctrine and Covenants. She immediately went and got her book. As she ran her finger along the lines the words seemed to come easily to her. She has since read the Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon several times along with other church books.

Henry died July 12, 1880. Emma later married Charles Pearce. No children were born to this marriage.

Emma took her mother in and gave her a home the last nine years of Ann's life. Emma died December 2, 1932 at the age of 84. She was at the home of her daughter, Annie Bourne in Farmington when she died. She is buried in the Farmington City Cemetery.

(1) British History and Monarchs
(2) U.S. Government Passenger List, Film #175,538
(3) Professor Larsen's Study, reported in the Millennial Star, January 12, 1856
(4) LDS Passenger list, Remedies on the Ship
(5) Handcarts to Zion, by Leroy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen
(6) Handcarts to Zion, by Leroy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen
(7) Emma Amelia Townsend Lovesy Pearce's story as she told it to her granddaughter