A few years later, on June 4, 1863, John, Adelaide and their five children bravely boarded the Amazon in London. A fellow passenger was a young English novelist named Charles Dickens. Eugene’s grandparents on his Mother’s side, James Whitehead Taylor and Ann Rogers, endured a lengthy trip to America. It began with sailing from Liverpool, England to New Orleans on September 24, 1848 on the Sailor Prince, and then up the Mississippi River aboard a steamboat headed for St. Louis. Ultimately, as incredible as it sounds today, both sets of grandparents walked the Mormon Trail (1,300 miles / 2,092 km), pulling a handcart, to Salt Lake City, Utah. Although Eugene’s formal schooling ended with the eighth grade, his hunger for knowledge drove him to make frequent hikes to and from Salt Lake City’s library, where he would devour books. He had a special interest in learning about sugar. When he turned 16 in 1894, he applied for a job at the Lehi Sugar Factory and was hired as the chief mechanic's helper. Sometime during his first years as a mechanic at the Lehi factory, Eugene struck up a friendship with fellow worker, Angus H. Gibson. CHAPTER 1 2