The Perpetual Emigration Fund (PEF) was created by leaders of the LDS Church in 1849 to assist Latter-day Saint converts in Europe and the eastern United States in emigrating to the Utah territory.

The forerunner of the new Perpetual Education Fund announced by President Gordon B. Hinckley on Saturday, the Emigration Fund grew out of church leaders' desire to gather the Saints to their newly established Zion.

According to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, more than 30,000 people were helped through the Perpetual Emigration Fund, about one-third of them from Europe.

Assistance was always given as a loan, rather than as a gift. Emigrants were expected to repay the loan as they were able.

Profits from church assets, as well as private contributions, were made available based on individual need. However, because the funds were so limited, priority was given to individuals with skills that were desperately needed in the West. Special preference was also given to those whose relatives had contributed to the fund or those with the longest faithful church membership, usually 10 years or more.

To stretch the limited funds even further, doubling up in wagons, group contracts and the organization of handcart companies were some of the processes employed.

During 1855, more Latter-day Saints emigrated from Europe than any other year. However, this also exhausted the entire PEF fund, prompting church leaders to sell some real estate in Salt Lake City to British emigrants in order to raise cash and keep the fund going.

The cash shortage also led to increasing use of handcart companies, rather than full-size wagon trains, to conserve funds. After 1856, the PEF helped pay a portion of trans-Atlantic voyage costs, but the focus of most funds was shifted to overland costs.

View Comments

Many of the emigrants eventually repaid their loans with cash, labor or commodities, even though it took many years. Some were never able to fully repay their obligations.

In 1880, the 50th anniversary of the church, President John Taylor forgave half the outstanding debt to the fund that was still owed by the poor. Those with means were still expected to repay their loans in full.

Private assistance to emigrants surpassed loans made through the PEF by the early 1880s, and the fund was dissolved in 1887 when it was no longer needed.


E-mail: lynn@desnews.com

Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.