Close Calls

Reminder: NEED $4,100 BY END OF SEPTEMBER 2008, another $4,100 BY END OF JANUARY 2009, last $4,100 at completion. Current balance in Chauncey W. West Monument Fund is $1,517.64.

Excerpts from A Biographical Sketch of Chauncey Walker West by his son Joseph A. West on page 38 of his 1911 paper entitled Francis West of Duxbury, Mass., Some of His Ancestors and Descendants.

"The night previous to their arrival at Calcutta, Elder West dreamed of seeing a little boy standing on the wharf among a crowd of people waiting for the arrival of the Elders, and sure, enough, when they did arrive, there he stood. Upon going ashore, Elder West picked him out and remarked to his companions as he did so: "This is the little boy that I saw in my dream." Upon inquiry it was found that Sister Matthew McCune, learning of the expected arrival of the Elders and having no one else to send to meet them (her husband being away with the British army at the time) sent her son to the wharf. That son was Henry McCune, now a resident of Ogden, Utah, who but a little time ago related the incident to the writer.

During their voyage from Ceylon to Bombay the Elders encountered a terrific storm, and through an error in the captain's calculations, the ship was driven so near the shore that the vessel grounded and came near being broken to pieces. The life boats were launched, but immediately foundered. In the midst of these dreadful scenes, Elders West and Dewey rebuked the winds and waves in the name of the Lord, and almost immediately the raging elements were calmed, and the vessel swung off into deeper water. Although greatly damaged, and having several feet of water in the hold, the ship was taken safely to port and no lives where lost.

When homeward bound Elder West engaged passage for himself and Elder Dewey from Canton to San Francisco on the American vessel "Riega," and had gone as far as Hong Kong, China, when the Lord warned him in a dream to leave the ship, which he, in a vision, had seen wrecked upon the coral reefs. The warning was promptly obeyed, and the vessel put out to sea never to return. It was wrecked in precisely the manner seen by Elder West in his vision, for the captain, whom he afterwards met, told him the whole occurrence, and wanted to know why he had left his ship in such a mysterious manner. To his great astonishment Elder West related his dream, when the captain said with an oath, "Why did you not tell me?" The Elder replied that if he had he would have paid no attention to the warning, but denounced him as a fool. The captain replied with another oath, "I guess you are right."

While waiting to secure another passage home, Elder Dewey was taken violently ill with chills and fever at a boarding house kept by a Mr. Young. In the meantime Elder West had arranged with Captain Miller of the vessel "Cressy" to ship as a sailor to San Francisco, for $15 per month, provided his companion was able to accompany him by the time the vessel was ready to sail. Most fervently did they pray for Elder Dewey's recovery; and one day, while thus engaged, they were irresistibly impressed to leave the hotel and go on board the ship. For some days past it had been raining very hard, and soon after they left the hotel, the storm loosened a large rock from the mountain side nearby, which came rolling down with terrific force and struck the hotel, completely demolishing it. One of the inmates was killed and several were wounded.

Next episode will be about his contributions to the building of Ogden City