Joseph Elder, age 21, joined the Church in the Midwest in 1855. The next year, while he was attending McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois, he decided to visit the Saints in St. Louis. There he met with Church leaders, who ordained him an elder and counseled him to change his plans so he could help the emigrants who would be crossing the plains that year. Feeling that it was his duty to serve, he left college and said farewell to his family and friends. He helped buy cattle and herd them to Florence, where he planned to stay until he could travel to Salt Lake City with a company of returning missionaries led by Elder Franklin D. Richards. However, when the Willie company arrived in Florence, emigration leaders approached Joseph and asked him to leave immediately with the company and drive an additional wagon, which would give them more provisions and supplies.
Despite the short notice, Joseph willingly joined the handcart company. He quickly proved himself capable of important tasks. He thought that he would travel with the company only until Elder Richards and the missionaries caught up with them, but when Elder Richards arrived, he saw that it would be beneficial for Joseph to stay with the company for the rest of the journey, and Joseph willingly did so.
“I chose to remain with the handcart company and to assist them all that I could,”
Joseph couldn’t have known at that time how important he would be in the survival of many members of the Willie company. When they arrived at the Sixth Crossing of the Sweetwater, they knew that rescue wagons were nearby, but their circumstances were so desperate that they couldn’t wait for the wagons to arrive. The next morning, James Willie and Joseph Elder went to search for the rescuers. They climbed Rocky Ridge, with “snow and an awful cold wind” blowing in their faces all day, and finally reached the rescuers after
a journey of more than 25 miles.
“When they saw us, they raised a shout and ran out to meet us,” Joseph wrote. “They could scarcely give us time to tell our story they were so anxious to hear all about us.”
The next morning, James Willie and Joseph Elder led the rescuers back to the Willie company’s camp. The plight of the company was shocking to the rescuers. They saw “men, women, and children weakened down by cold and hunger, weeping and crying,” Joseph wrote.
“Oh, how my heart did quake and shudder at the awful scenes which surrounded me.”
If he and James Willie hadn’t found the rescuers and guided them to the Willie camp, the rescue efforts may have come too late. The rescuers gave the company food, clothing, and hope.
Joseph Elder was a person who put the needs of others before his own. Throughout the emigration of 1856, he showed that he had a willing heart and was ready to do whatever he was asked. He didn’t murmur or voice regrets when the journey of the Willie company became difficult. In his later life, he maintained his disposition to be of service whenever needed. He served the Lord in many ways, such as completing multiple missions, one of them to Europe in 1878.