William Clayton — Miraculous preservation during 1840 voyage from England to America

William Clayton recorded multiple related entries in 1840 describing the same trans-Atlantic journey in which Saints were preserved despite storms, sickness, quarantine, and near-disaster. On September 9, 1840, Clayton described a perilous gale aboard the ship North America in which the vessel was caught "in two whirlpools near to a rock" and the captain expected them to be dashed against it; much of the company (nearly all) was very ill and many confined to their beds, the rigging was damaged, and the ship was driven back and held for hours — yet, Clayton wrote, "the Lord delivered us." Ten days later (September 19, 1840) he recorded receiving a letter from his brother-in-law John Moon reporting that Moon’s family had completed their voyage — 41 days on the water including three days’ quarantine — enduring three storms and considerable sickness but arriving "safe and in good spirits," further testimony of the Lord’s protecting hand. In a later entry (November 29, 1840) Clayton reflected on the overall journey from Liverpool to Commerce (Nauvoo), noting the long passage (eleven weeks and eleven hours between leaving Liverpool and landing at Commerce), the hardships, and the remarkable preservation and blessing: Thomas Moon had suffered only a little seasickness, Sister Mary Ware was "grown very fat and healthy," the William Poole family did well, and Clayton himself was healthier than ever. Together these accounts record the same voyage and the same core event — miraculous deliverance and preservation of the Saints during the 1840 crossing to America — naming those involved (including Elder Turley and members of the company) and reporting the storms, sickness, quarantine, and safe arrival in Commerce/Nauvoo.