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Margaret's Autobiography
My birthplace, Tranent, was a small village located near the sea shore on the banks of the mouth of the Firth of Forth not many miles from Edinburgh. From the village one may view the beautiful scenes of grasses and hills and waters so typical of picturesque Scotland.
When I was five years old my little baby brother Peter Reid McNeil died. He was only one year old. His death made me very sad and I cried over it many times. He was buried in the church yard at Tranent
When I was eight years old my father baptized me a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-it was May 28, 1854. He had joined the Church and was baptized when I was about a year old. He was a coal miner and had to be at work every morning at four o'clock. Therefore, when I was baptized, I had to go early in the morning. It was a beautiful May morning when I walked to the sea shore. We carried a lantern to light our way. As I came up out of the water, the day was just beginning to dawn, and the light was beginning to creep over the eastern hills. It was a very beautiful sight-one that I shall never forget. At this time I was filled with a sweet heavenly spirit which has remained with me to this day.
That night all of the saints met at our home and I was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was given my choice to either sing, pray or bear my testimony. I offered up a simple prayer, for my heart was filled with great joy and thanks to God for the privilege of becoming a member of His Church, and this gratitude has remained in my heart and has increased as the years have gone by.
The first ten years of my childhood was spent in Tranent, but because of being a "Mormon" I was not permitted to attend the schools, and so I was entirely deprived of schooling while in the old country, and in pioneering there was little opportunity for education. During those ten years our family enjoyed the association of the Elders and Saints. My father was President of the Edinburgh Conference for a number of years. Therefore, the Elders visited our home often, and we were always glad to receive them, although many times I went to bed hungry in order to give my meal to the visiting Elders.
We had waited a long time to come to Zion, but my father was called by the Church to stay in Scotland and preside over the Saints in that Branch. When Father was finally given the chance to leave Scotland he tried to persuade my mother to wait awhile-Mother was about to give birth to her sixth child. Mother insisted upon coming for she had faith that the Lord would take care of her.
Before we left, my mother took us to say good-bye to our grandmother, my mother's mother, Margaret (Martin) Reid, but she would not come to the door or let us in. My aunt came to the door and said Grandmother didn't want to see us for we had broken her heart because we had joined the Mormon Church. Mother took us by the hand and we went home. Mother cried all the way home.