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.