I was recently contacted by my cousin, Mary Margaret Hawkins, who discovered a picture of an oil painting of the sailing ship Emerald Isle. Timothy Gilbert, father of Mary Georgena Jackson, and other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints sailed on the Emerald Isle from England to the New York City in 1855.  The Emerald Isle was the last of 21 ships carrying over 3,000 saints in 1855.  More on Timothy’s journey can be found in Mary Margaret Hawkin’s The World of Timothy Gilbert (see pages 19-27).  Mary has spent years trying to find a picture of the Emerald Isle.  Below is a fasinating account of how she found the paining:

 

“I had been searching all over for a picture of the ship and found it at last by a direct tender mercy from the Lord.  One day in Rexburg, where we were living, I was (just happened to be at the right time) at a framing shop and overheard the framer talking to another customer who was explaining how he had acquired a huge painting of a ship.  He was interested in all things about LDS history, and had an agent who frequented antique shops back east who would try to locate things for him which related to LDS Church history.  The agent had found this painting of the Emerald Isle.  On the original you can see the name painted on the ship. It is a genuine, original painting. The ship was important because it carried so many companies of immigrating Saints to the United States.  (Timothy Gilbert sailed on the Emerald Isle.)  He had instructed his agent to buy the painting for him and was now having it framed to hang his business office.  Not long after he had made the purchase, the Church had contacted him because THEY wanted the painting for their collection because of its historical importance in Church History.  At the time, he still owned it; I don’t know if he ever gave in to the Church request.  He had had the picture scanned and shared the scan with me.”