Son of Ezra Taft Benson -- Reed Benson escalated both the Birch conflict and racial tensions in Mormonism with a memorandum to all Birch Society chapters in Utah on 2 September 1965:
It is common knowledge that the Civil Rights Movement is Communist controlled, influenced and dominated. . . . Our founder and guide, Mr. Robert Welch, has instructed us that when necessary we must adopt the communist technique in our ever present battle against Godless Communism. It is urged that in the coming weeks the Utah Chapters begin a whispering campaign and foster rumors that the Civil Rights groups are going to organize demonstrations in Salt Lake City in connection with the forthcoming LDS conference. . . . A few well placed comments will soon mushroom out of control and before the conference begins there will be such a feeling of unrest and distrust that the populace will hardly know who to believe. The news media will play it to the very hilt. No matter what the Civil Rights leaders may try to say to deny it the seed will have been sown and again the Civil Rights movement will suffer a telling blow.
[Reed A. Benson, "Memo to the Utah Chapters," 2 Sept. 1965, on letterhead of the John Birch Society, photocopy in Williams Papers; Quinn G. McKay to J. D. Williams, 20 May 1966, Williams Papers. From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]
150 years ago today - Sep 2, 1875
The day after his father (George A. Smith, First Counselor to Brigham Young) dies Apostle John Henry Smith writes, "Father still lays in the ice and is keeping very nicely."
[On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
[On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
170 years ago today - Sep 2, 1855 (Sunday)
The Ute and Shoshone Indians met in front of the Deseret News office, G.S.L. City, and entered into a treaty of peace.
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
170 years ago today - Sep 2, 1855
P P Pratt[:] I told Sam Brannan's Mother in law, that Sam would never die, until he saw the time, that he wanted money to buy a piece of bread'- B Y[:] I sa[y] Amen to that'-H[eber] C K[imball]. Amen'- ... B Y[:] San Bernardino is the half way house this side of hell'-
[Minutes, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910-1951, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah 2010]
[Minutes, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910-1951, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah 2010]
175 years ago today - Sep 2, 1850
Joseph E. Johnson is on trial impregnating one of Apostle Lorenzo Snow's plural wives. A Church court in Kanesville, Iowa, had already decided that "his priesthood was required to be laid down [i.e., he was disfellowshipped] until he came here" to Salt Lake City. Johnson said "I never heard any conversation to say it was right to go to bed with a woman if not found out--I was aware the thing [with Mrs. Snow] was wrong." He told the court "He was familiar with the first frigging -- that was done in his house with his mother in law [Mary Heron Snyder (Snider)] -- by Joseph [Smith]." He added " I knew at the time I was doing wrong [with Mrs. Snow] -- I never av [have] taken any body as a[n] excuse -- I never plighted my faith on Joseph's transactions."
In 1850 Joseph E. Johnson was not an uninformed novice about Joseph Smith's polygamy a decade earlier. Two of his sisters (Delcena in 1842, then Almera in 1843) married the Prophet, who also performed the polygamous marriage for their brother Benjamin F. Johnson, after which Joseph Smith unsuccessfully asked to marry yet another of the Johnson family's daughters in the spring of 1843 (16-year-old Esther).
[Council meeting and trial of Joseph E. Johnson, 2 September 1850, Miscellaneous Minutes, Brigham Young Papers, referenced in "Evidence For The Sexual Side of Joseph Smith's Polygamy," Comments by D. Michael Quinn on Session #2A "Reconsidering Joseph Smith's Marital Practices," Mormon History Association's Annual Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 29 June 2012 (unabbreviated version, revised during July)]
In 1850 Joseph E. Johnson was not an uninformed novice about Joseph Smith's polygamy a decade earlier. Two of his sisters (Delcena in 1842, then Almera in 1843) married the Prophet, who also performed the polygamous marriage for their brother Benjamin F. Johnson, after which Joseph Smith unsuccessfully asked to marry yet another of the Johnson family's daughters in the spring of 1843 (16-year-old Esther).
[Council meeting and trial of Joseph E. Johnson, 2 September 1850, Miscellaneous Minutes, Brigham Young Papers, referenced in "Evidence For The Sexual Side of Joseph Smith's Polygamy," Comments by D. Michael Quinn on Session #2A "Reconsidering Joseph Smith's Marital Practices," Mormon History Association's Annual Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 29 June 2012 (unabbreviated version, revised during July)]
180 years ago today - Sep 2, 1845
Patriarchal Blessing of Polly Colten given by William Smith ... for of thy posterity shall spring up mighty men and they shall wield the sword in Zion[']s defence and go forth to avenge the blood of Prophets ...
[Marquardt Papers, U of U]
[Marquardt Papers, U of U]
30 years ago today - Sep 1, 1995
The Ensign magazine publishes the First Presidency message by second counselor James E. Faust which denounces "the false belief of inborn homosexual orientation." Next month's Ensign contains what appears as one apostle's direct challenge to the First Presidency's unequivical statement. In his October article "Same-Gender Attraction," Dallin H. Oaks writes: "There are also theories and some evidence that inheritance is a factor in susceptibilities to various behavior-related disorders like aggression, alcoholism, and obesity. It is easy to hypothesize that inheritance plays a role in sexual orientation."
[, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
[, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
60 years ago today - Sep 1, 1965
On 17 August the society's "Major Coordinators" sent instructions to all the Birch officers in California to take "immediate action" to "expose the so-called Civil Rights Movement." On 1 September 1965, the day before [apostle Ezra Taft Benson's son] Reed Benson's letter, a follow-up letter instructed Birch Society leaders in Los Angeles County to "take advantage of the current situation" as a means of repudiating civil rights activism.
[D. Richard Pine and Charles R. Armour to "All Coordinators, Section Leaders and Chapter Leaders in California," 17 Aug. 1965, and D. Richard Pine to "Coordinators, Section Leaders and Chapter Leaders—L.A. County," 1 Sept. 1965, in Harvey B. Schechter, How To Listen to a John Birch Society Speaker, 3d. ed. rev. (New York: Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1967), 25-26; Benjamin R. Epstein and Arnold Forster, The Radical Right: Report on the John Birch Society and Its Allies (New York: Random House, 1967), 12; Lipset and Raab, Politics of Unreason, 268. For the position of Major Coordinator, see Welch, The Blue Book of the John Birch Society, 152. From D.. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]
[D. Richard Pine and Charles R. Armour to "All Coordinators, Section Leaders and Chapter Leaders in California," 17 Aug. 1965, and D. Richard Pine to "Coordinators, Section Leaders and Chapter Leaders—L.A. County," 1 Sept. 1965, in Harvey B. Schechter, How To Listen to a John Birch Society Speaker, 3d. ed. rev. (New York: Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1967), 25-26; Benjamin R. Epstein and Arnold Forster, The Radical Right: Report on the John Birch Society and Its Allies (New York: Random House, 1967), 12; Lipset and Raab, Politics of Unreason, 268. For the position of Major Coordinator, see Welch, The Blue Book of the John Birch Society, 152. From D.. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]
115 years ago today - Sep 1, 1910
[Mormon Tabernacle Choir]
Under Evan Stephens, the first recording of the choir was made on 1 September 1910.
[Utah History Encyclopedia: Mormon Tabernacle Choir, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/]
Under Evan Stephens, the first recording of the choir was made on 1 September 1910.
[Utah History Encyclopedia: Mormon Tabernacle Choir, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/]
135 years ago today - Sep 1, 1890
Federal officials indicate that they intend to confiscate the LDS temples. Presidents Woodruff and Cannon soon leave for San Francisco to avoid a subpoena to testify.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
155 years ago today - Sep 1, 1870
Salt Lake City's 9th Ward reports that only thirty-one of its 181 families attends Sunday services regularly and 50 percent of families are "perfectly indifferent."
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
185 years ago today - Sep 1, 1840
John C. Bennett arrives in Nauvoo. Within eight months he joins the Church, helps secure a city charter, is cited by revelation to "help [Joseph Smith] in your labor in sending my word to the kings and people of the earth, and stand by . . . Joseph Smith, in the hour of affliction, and its reward shall not fail, if he should receive counsel," is elected mayor of Nauvoo, becomes chancellor of the University of the City of Nauvoo, is appointed Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion, and becomes assistant president in the First Presidency.
[On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
[On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
190 years ago today - Sep 1, 1835
Joseph writes a letter to the elders of the Church ...[which] outlines the problems in Missouri. Joseph admits that some members may have caused some of the problems in Missouri because "many, having a zeal not according to knowledge, and not understanding the pure principles of the doctrine of the Church, have no doubt, in the heat of enthusiasm, taught and said many things which were derogatory to the genuine character and principles of the Church; and for these things we are heartily sorry, and would apologize, if apology would do any good."
[Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
[Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
195 years ago today - Sep 1, 1830
W. W. Phelps is the Canandaigua, N.Y. seller of the 'Anti Masonic Almanac, for the year 1831.' It includes details of Masonic signs, grips, penalties, the five points of fellowship, etc...
[Grunder, Rick, Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source]
[Grunder, Rick, Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source]
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