HODGKINSON Shipboard Romance

Hodgkinson Line

The Ship Nevada

William and Hephzibah Hodgkinson, like Joseph and Charlotte Cornwall, met on the ship leaving England to join the saints in Salt Lake City. That is where both of their romances started.  

We have a detailed account of William and Hephzibah from each of their histories.  Here is the story from Hephzibah's perspective:

"When I left England, my father took me to the station, he told me to be prayerful, and put my trust in the Lord, and the Lord would see me safely to Salt Lake City, and that my brother John would meet me at Salt Lake City.  I came without a guardian or protector. After leaving home, we arrived in Liverpool about three o'clock in the afternoon. We were taken out to the ship, Nevada, that evening in a large flat tug barge, and set sail the next morning. There were thirteen hundred and eighty four people on the ship. There were about fifty Mormons, as I remember, and it was a very crude way of travel, as I came by steerage.I was twenty years old the day I set sail. When we got about half way across the ocean,there was a terrible storm came up, and we were all ordered off the deck, and the Captain said, "To stay off". We had to stay down in the cabin, and couldn't see any light, only through the port holes.  The anchor was dropped, but yet we went back six hundred miles. The storm kept up for three and a half days, we all thought the ship would go down. Much damage was done to the ship, and the main mast was broken.

The Mormon Elders conjointly with the rest of the Latter-day Saints on board, held prayer meetings, asking the Lord for our safety. The Lord

answered our prayers. After being three weeks on the ship, we arrived in New York, and stayed at Castle Gardens for two days, while we were waiting for our train.  We arrived in Salt Lake City about the 30th of May 1874.  The first time I met my husband was on the docks at Liverpool, he emigrated to Salt Lake City in the same company as I. He was very kind and courteous to me all the way over, through his great kindness I gained great love and respect for him. Our real courtship began after we arrived in Pleasant Grove."

Here is the story from William's perspective:

On May 7, 1874, William was on the docks at Liverpool, England.  The day was bleak and a storm was threatening.  The docks were cold and misty.  The ship "Nevada" was being loaded.  Approximately fifty Mormons were among the 1, 384 passengers whose destination was America.  As they waited, William saw a most beautiful young woman highlighted in the throng.  His heart skipped a beat.  He looked again.  Yes!  He was sure!  It was the face he had seen in his vision - the one who would become his wife.  But, she was so young and attractive.  To look at her made his heart pound.  

That evening the passengers were taken to the ship in a large, flat tug barge.  They set sail the following morning.  William watched the young woman intently.  He longed for a way to get acquainted with her.  However, she kept her face straight ahead, looking neither to the right nor to the left.  "Good," he thought, "she is not the flirty type."  Her face seemed to say, "I am going to Zion!"  As he watched, he noticed she was thinly clad.  She was shivering with only a thin cape over her shoulders.  He obtained a steamer robe, then mustered enough courage to approach.  He offered her the robe to keep warm.  She would not accept it.  She firmly declined and, with resolution, turned her face straight ahead, then moved away.  William added a "plus" to her wisdom.  Now he was sure this was the face he had seen in vision.  He would wait.   William caught fragmentary glimpses of Hephzibah, but never once did she forget the instructions of her father.  She was prayerful and put her trust in the Lord.  She did not look at, nor accept attentions from any man.  Nevertheless, William was ever aware of her whereabouts.  When he learned she was sea sick he procured some dainties hoping she might enjoy such refreshment and change from the ship's menu, thereby easing her distress.  These she graciously accepted with thankfulness.  This special consideration for her comfort helped dispell the severity of her earlier aloofness.  After three weeks on the ocean, the ship arrived in New York harbor.  The Mormon immigrants stayed at Castle Gardens for two days while they were waiting for a train.  William and Hephzibah arrived in Salt Lake City Utah on 30 May 1874.  
Their real courtship began after they arrived in Pleasant Grove.  As soon as occasion permitted, William told Hephzibah he had seen her in a vision before he saw her on the dock at Liverpool.  He also told her he would like to have her become his wife for all eternity if she would have him.  She prayed about it and was given assurance that he was the one for her.  In one day less than a month, all plans were made for their wedding."

Ship Manifest - William Hodgkinson first name at the top, Hephzibah's name 2/3 down.  LOVE THE HANDWRITING!!!