It was April 30, 1866 when William, Charlotte, Miriam, her son Arthur, and a grandson, Lorenzo (son of Joseph) sailed from Liverpool England on the ship John Bright. At this time William was in his sixtieth year. Miriam was twenty-eight and her son, Arthur, eleven years of age. His birth date was May 26, 1855 at Sheepscombe, England. He lived with his grandparents during his early life. He was given his mother’s surname “Richins.”

In the company on the ship there were either 747 or 764 Saints who were under the direction of C. M. Gillet. Many of these were friends or relatives of Miriam. Among those was Robert Jones who was a close friend of the William Richins Family. His wife, Harriet Tipper, had died previous to this time leaving him with three children; Robert Allen, William Seth, and Mary Jane. They also were coming to Zion to make their home.

While crossing the ocean the weather was very pleasant at times, but quite often it was very rough. Many were seasick during most of the voyage which lasted almost six weeks. One of the passengers reported in his diary that the food consisted only of the “ship’s fare” which was sea-biscuits, salt pork, oatmeal, rice, tea, and sugar. They had potatoes, partly cooked, only once. Robert didn’t enjoy his meals as he was sick most of the time.

A lady by the name of Mrs. Clark, who settled in Upton, was in the same company and tells of their experiences on board ship. She writes,

“After a few days sailing we went up on deck to see the waves of the ocean rolling as high as mountains. Sometimes they would dash over and give us a good ducking. At one time we saw five large fish with heads resembling those of horses (probably sea horses).

“A few days later the sea was still very rough, and none of us could stand on our feet. We just kept taking our turns falling down and some here hurting them. The tins and pans were rolling about, and the food was tossed around, but still we could not help laughing.<

“You have heard people say they could go to sleep with rocking. We had plenty of it that night. Talk about a swing boat, why bless your soul, it is nothing compared to being rocked on the sea. We could hardly stay in bed. We had to get up and turn our heads where our feet should be or we would not stay in bed at all. The tins and boxes were rolling about, and the slop buckets were upset and rolling, too. The sailors said it was one of the roughest nights they had ever seen, and it continued all day.

“Three days later we had a beautiful fine day. We had a concert and dancing on deck as some of the company had their musical instruments with them. A few days later it was another very rough day, and the ship goes as much backward as forward. We had to keep to our beds, and at times we were almost upright in bed. But we still had our prayers every night and morning and our meetings on Sunday. The Saints on board were divided into wards under direction of the Elders in Priesthood.”

Weary and tired from the long voyage they finally reached New York Harbor on June 6, 1866. From there the passengers went by river steamer or train until they reached the town of St. Joseph, Missouri, then by boat to Wyoming, Nebraska, which was a short distance from Nebraska City. This was an outfitting place for the emigrants and teamsters where there were ox trains and mule trains which had come from Utah to help them on their way.

It was there that Miriam and her parents joined the Captain Samuel D. Whites Company which was a mule train of 46 wagons and 230 emigrants. They left Nebraska July 7,1866, to make the trek of about a thousand miles. It was a long hard journey that took about two months. When they reached Echo Canyon, they were met by Charles Richins, who had established his home in Henneferville.

Charles brought the William Richins family, tired and weary, to his home where they rested a few days before continuing on to Salt Lake City where they arrived September 5, 1866. From there they went to Pleasant Grove, Utah, where they did farming and gardening for a livelihood. A short time later they moved to Provo to live with their son Enoch.

William was known to have a mild disposition and seldom got angry. He had a bit of pride also and always carried a cane whether he needed it or not, but it was stylish to be carrying one. After living in Provo a short time, Miriam and Lorenzo went back to Henneferville. Miriam’s son, Arthur, continued living with his grandparents and his Uncle Enoch. As a boy in England he learned to love Enoch very much, and throughout his life he loved to be with him. By going back to Hennerferville Miriam hoped to find work of some kind to provide a living for her son and also help her parents. She did some housework and some other work in Echo also.