Heroes Buried at Sea

Heroes Buried at Sea By Henry Smith A' RE the missionaries of our Church specially guarded as they go un- selfishly into the world to pro- claim the restored Gospel? The recent sinking of the ill- fated Vestris, in which one Latter-day Saint missionary, Keith W. Burt, lost his life and another, David H. Huish, was miraculously rescued from a watery grave, has given rise on all sides to the foregoing question. When one remembers the many thousands who have gone from headquarters into strange lands, meeting the changes in climate, food, etc., one must certainly answer this question in the affirmative, in view of the exceedingly small percentage of fatalities. It is not intended in this article to offer an excuse for the Vestris disaster or for the loss of the life of the "Mor- mon" elder or of the scant few who have preceded him in death while traveling to and from their fields of labor or while serving diligently in the mission field. The intention is to review briefly just a few of the tragedies involving our missionaries while away from their homes and loved ones. Of the many thousands of elders sent out into the world as missionaries during the existence of the Church, the records show that approximately 400 have died while stationed in the various mission fields or while traveling. Of this number, three have met death by accident and four have died while at sea, and their bodies were lowered into the ocean as a final resting place. A number of elders from various causes have died and have been interred at the place of their death. ELDER KEITH W. BURT WHO WENT DOWN WITH THE "VESTRIS"

Feb.. 1929 HEROES BURIED AT SEA 279 i The most recent, and perhaps the most tragic, of the three accidental deaths was the one of Elder Keith W. Burt, bound for the South American mission, who was listed among the 111 missing passengers of the steamship Vestris, which sank in November, off the Virginia capes. Elder Burt was born in Cardston, Alberta, Canada, on Septem- ber ,19. 1908, the son of William W. and Edith Wynder Burt. He traveled from Salt Lake City to New York in company with Elder David H. Huish and, on the afternoon of November 10, boarded the S. S. Vestris, en route with Elder Huish to the South American mission. When two days out from land the vessel, which had been in distress jfor many hours, sank before many of the passengers and crew were able to leave the sinking vessel in life boats. According to the account of the accident told in the Era of last month by Elder Huish, the last seen of Elder Burt was when he was cast from a life boat which had not been loosened as the big ship turned over and settled into the ocean with a mighty plunge. The first and only other fatal accident to missionaries was the explosion of the boiler of the steamer Ada Hancock, on April 27, 1863, which resulted in serious loss of life. Among those killed were Elders Thomas Atkinson and Hiram S. Kimball, two Latter- day Saint missionaries bound for the Sandwich Islands to do mis- sionary work among the natives. Elder Atkinson was born September 9, ,1810, in Mansfield, New Jersey, the son of Collin and Nancy Atkinson. Elder Kimball was a Utah pioneer of 1850, and was the son of Phineas and Abigail Kimball. Both elders were set apart and blessed as missionaries to the Sandwich Islands on March 1, 1863, by Apostles John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff. They left Salt Lake together and boarded the Ada Hancock, a small vessel employed as a tender in carrying pas- sengers from the wharf at San Pedro, California, to the steamer Senator, which at that time was at anchor in deep water about five miles from the landing. While nearing the larger steamer, which was to carry them to their fields of labor, the boiler in (the steam room of the small boat exploded, killing forty of the passengers and crew, including the two missionaries. Because of existing laws and customs in various foreign coun- tries in which missions are established, a number of the elders have of necessity been buried at the place of their death. But the Church records show that only four of the missionaries, during the long period since its restoration, have departed from this earthly existence

280 IMPROVEMENT ERA Feb.. 1919 while on board a ship at sea, and found a final grave at the bottom of the ocean. Superstitious beliefs of the sailors or inadequate embalming facilities have in the past made it almost impossible for a body to be carried on board ship longer than twenty-four hours after death. The first "Mormon" elder to die and be buried at sea was Knowlton F. Hanks. Elder Hanks left Nauvoo June 1, 1843, after being set apart for the Pacific Islands mission, and on October 9, ar- rived in New Bedford, Mass., in company with Elders Addison Pratt, Noah Rogers and Benjamin F. Grouard, all of whom were bound for the same mission. Their journey took them around Cape Horn, so much dreaded by sailors, and after nearly a month of the long voyage had been completed, Elder Hanks became ill and died on November 3. He was the first missionary of the Church to be buried at sea. [ The second recorded death of this nature was that of Elder Feramorz L. Young, a son of Brigham Young and an intimate boyhood companion of President Heber J. Grant. Elder Young was born in Salt Lake City, September 16, 1858, and passed his early boyhood there, studying at his father's private school and later at the University of Deseret, now the University of Utah. He entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in September, 1874, having been appointed to the place by Delegate George Q. Cannon. He continued there successfully for two years and resigned in favor of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institution at Troy, N. Y., which he entered in 1877, and was graduated two years later with high honors. On November 13, 1880, he was set apart for the Mexican mission by Apostle Wilford Woodruff and accompanied Elder Moses Thatcher to that country, arriving in Mexico City in December of that year. Elder Young was an intelligent, refined and lovable young man and became a most exemplary missionary, traveling about our neighbor republic on the south, preaching the Gospel to the natives. On September 6, 1881, he became ill with a slight fever, and as he gradually grew worse he was placed on the steamer Knickerbocker, bound for home. Elder Moses Thatcher accompanied him. When about one hundred and ten miles from Havana, on September 27, 1881, Elder Young died and was buried at sea. Elder Willard Snow, a brother of the late Apostle Erastus Snow, was born in St. Johnsburg, Vermont, May 6, 181 1. In the spring of 1834, with other members of his family, he journeyed to Kirtland, Ohio, and while there became a member of the first quorum of Seventy.

^..1929 HEROES BURIED AT SEA 281 Elder Snow spent a number of years in various eastern missions and traveled from place to place with the much-persecuted Saints and finally, after many privations, arrived in Great Salt Lake valley, where he immediately became a counselor to President Daniel Spencer of the Salt Lake stake. Brother Snow was called to the European mission in September, 1851, and arrived in Liverpool the following March. On March 18, 1852, he was appointed to succeed his brother, Erastus, as pres- ident of the Scandinavian mission. He traveled from England to Denmark, where he labored diligently to learn the language and to discharge successfully the duties of his calling. While addressing a conference of elders in Copenhagen on August 15, 1853, he was attacked by a violent illness. He was blessed by the elders and three days later took passage on board the steamer Transit, bound for Hull, England. When only a few miles from Hull, on August 21, Elder Snow died. Despite the earnest pleading and entreaties of Elders P. O. Hanson and H. P. Jenson, who were accompanying him to England, the body was laid at rest in the ocean. , The latest burial at sea was that of Elder Rulon C. Haacke, of the Second ward in Salt Lake, who died February 25, 1911, while re- turning from a mission to New Zealand, where he had labored very faithfully. Elders traveling with the boy pleaded with the captain of the ship to be allowed to take the body to Salt Lake City. The captain refused the offers of extra fare and only under considerable pressure were the accompanying elders allowed to hold short services before the body was lowered into the ocean. A sad feature of this death was that Elder Haacke's father was awaiting the arrival of his son in San Francisco, and did not know of his death and burial until the other elders had landed. All these gallant soldiers of the Gospel, these devoted followers of the Master, deserve the admiration of their fellows. They went out in humility and in self-sacrificing spirit with but one desire — to do good to others, to bring to their fellow-men a message of salvation which they testified with their last breath to be the living truth revealed in this day by the Almighty. They, of course, did not ex- pect to die while away from home and loved ones; but even that supreme offering they were ready, if need be, to make for those for whose benefit they were working. These incidents are singularly sorrowful ones, made more so perhaps because of their rarity, and condolences with the families of these heroes are widespread and sincere.