Samuel Francis Neslen
He died in Williamsburg, New York, of consumption returning from England.
The Neslen family consisting of Samuel, his wife, Eunice Burgess Francis, and nine children, initially traveled to the Salt Lake Valley in the Claudius V. Spencer Company in 1853. Samuel and Eurnice’s nine children are: Susannah, Samuel Francis, Robert Francis, Esther Francis, Elizabeth Burgess, Eunice, Phebe, William Francis, and Hannah.
Samuel and his family left England, and sailed on the “Golconda” and arrived in New Orleans on 1 April 1853. Samuel and his family stayed in St. Louis while they prepared for their trip to the Salt Lake Valley. They then moved to Keokuk, Iowa, then on to Omaha, Nebraska. Eight months after the Neslen family left their home in England, all eleven of them arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.
After serving in the Carson Valley mission, he traveled home with the Parley P. Pratt Company in 1855, as indicated in Samuel’s biographical sketch.
According to Lucile Evans, Samuel’s grand-niece, in the Fall of 1856, Samuel was called to serve a mission to England. He sailed from New York on the ship “Toronto” on 24 November 1856, and arrived at Liverpool 3 January 1857. He labored as a missionary until 21 January 1858. He traveled home with his brother Robert and other missionaries. He arrived back in New York in March of 1858, but was too sick to continue on. Samuel and Robert remained in New York until his death on May 13, 1858, and was buried at Cypress Hill Cemetery in New York. He never married.
His travel to Utah is mentioned in the obituary of his brother William.
