William G. Hartley Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 By the mid-1850s LDS church leaders needed less expensive ways to move poor immigrants to Utah. The Perpetual Emigrating Fund that loaned to the needy was depleted, and costs for wagons and ox-teams were high. Therefore, Brigham Young announced on 29 October 1855 a handcart system by which the church would provide carts …
Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company
Richard L. Jensen Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 Initiated in 1849 primarily to help Mormon refugees from Nauvoo, Illinois, migrate to Utah, the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company (PEF) also became a major instrument for gathering Latter-day Saint converts to Utah from abroad. It assisted some 26,000 immigrants–about 36 percent of the approximately 73,000 Latter-day Saints who emigrated from Europe to the …