170 years ago today - May 19, 1847

[Blacks]
Here [Lowell, Mass.] I found a branch of the Church of about 20 members in tolerable good standing. ... In this Branch there is a Coloured Brother, (An Elder ordained by Elder Wm. Smith while he was a member of the Church, contrary though to the order of the Church or the Law of the Priesthood, as the Descendants of Ham are not entitled to that privilege) by the name of Walker Lewis. He appears to be a meek humble man, and an example for his more whiter brethren to follow.

[Source: Elder William I. Appleby Journal (written in mid-50s based on notes), in LDS (or related) Documents on Walker Lewis, the Lowell, Mass. Branch of the Mormon Church and its missionaries and members, and the Priesthood Ban against Blacks, Compiled by Connell O'Donovan, http://people.ucsc.edu/~odonovan/Mormon_Chronology.html]

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