Money magazine ranks Provo-Orem as America's "No. 1 most-livable metropolitan area." By 1985 it also has the highest rate of church membership in the nation.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Had a conversation about the Characters of Abraham Lincoln & Stephen A. Douglas. President Young speaking of Abraham remarked if the Kingdom of God was not in the way, Abraham was a pretty good man, but he acted as if he would rather the Kingdom of God was out of the way; he was not the man to raise his voice in favor of Joseph Smith when his enemies were persecuting him, he with many others had assented to the deaths of innocent men, and through that he is subject to the influence of a wicked Spirit. -- Salt Lake City
[Brigham Young Office Journals, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
Nat Turner led about seventy slaves on a killing spree across the plantations of Southampton, Virginia, leaving fifty-five whites dead, escalating fears that and increasing rhetoric over the slave issue. Joseph Smith would prophecy on Dec 25, 1832 that "slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshaled and disciplined for war." (D&C 87:4).
In the Evening and Morning Star Extra of July 16, 1833, W. W. Phelps reassures the Missourians that "we fear, lest, as has been the case, the blacks should rise and spill innocent blood: for they are ignorant, and a little may lead them to disturb the peace of society ..."
[Grunder, Rick, Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source]
Brother [Heber J.] Grant questioned the advisability of our taking the ground that the manifesto was intended to cover the ground of our recognizing the validity of the law as far as unlawful cohabitation was concerned, as well as polygamous marriages. He thought if we went before the court stating that the manifesto was intended only to stop plural marriages, but that we recognized it to be our duty to live with our plural wives, at our own risk, it would be a better position to take. This led to Brother F[ranklin]. S. Richard explaining to Brother [John W.] Taylor that our going into court was not an original suit on our part, but that we were required to go, and explain the meaning and the scope of the manifesto, as it was on the ground that our Church funds were used for the purpose of propagating unlawful marriages that our property was escheated, and our showing the court that we were sincere in the issuing and adopting of the manifesto would be fundamental ground for the recovery of our property, besides the political standing it would give us before the nation. ... Brother Grant, having had a previous conversation with President [Joseph F.] Smith, asked him if he was now satisfied with regard to the manifesto being a revelation from God. President Smith answered emphatically no. He then went on to explain how he did regard the manifesto. He believed that President [Wilford] Woodruff was inspired to write the manifesto in consequence of the situation in which we were placed, and that because of the circumstances in which we were placed before the government, the Lord sanctioned it. But he did not believe it to be an emphatic revelation from God abolishing plural marriage. President Cannon, referring the remarks of President Smith, said he regarded President Smith's understanding upon this matter to be his [i.e., Cannon's]; that he himself did not regard the manifesto as a revelation abolishing polygamy, for the reason that that was an eternal principle, and could not be abolished by anybody; but in believing that President Woodruff was inspired to write the manifesto, he also believed it to be a revelation from God, for the reason that a revelation, as he conceived it to be, was a communication of God's will to man, irrespective of the form in which it may be written.
President Cannon's view was fully endorsed by Brother L[orenzo]. Snow and the Council generally. President Woodruff, expressing himself in this connection, said he foresaw what was coming upon us; that our temples were in danger, and the work for the dead liable to be stopped, and he believed he would have lived to have witnessed the hand of the government extended to crush us; but the Lord did not intend that Zion should be crushed, and He averted the blow by inspiring me to write and issue the manifesto, and it certainly has had the effect of doing it so far. How long it may remain in force it is not for me to say, that is for God alone to say. As for the principle, it is eternal and will stand forever. Brethren, you may call it inspiration or revelation, or what you please; as for me, I am satisfied it is from God. A general expression of endorsement was made.
[First Presidency Office Journal, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
[Abraham H. Cannon]
After breakfast we went out for a walk when Father [George Q. Cannon] told me that Bro. Moses Thatcher had preached that the people were to be robbed of all their political rights and brought into great bondage, and when it would seem as though there was no escape the people would cry unto God who would then send to them the man like unto Moses of whom the Doc. and Cov. speaks; this should be the Prophet Joseph resurrected, Bro. Thatcher claims no revelation for these things, which he says is all to occur within five years, but has made deductions from ancient and modern prophecies. Father says it has not been made known to him that this doctrine is correct, and he does not approve of its being taught. Father told me of his deep financial embarrassments. Besides his bonds, which he feels he must in honor pay, he seems on the point of losing considerable in John Beck's mine, where he invested at Pres. Taylor's wish and suggestion. He says he sees nothing but ruin ahead, though he has faith God will yet relieve him.
[Abraham H. Cannon Journal Excerpts, http://www.amazon.com/Apostles-Record-Journals-Abraham-1889-1896/dp/B000MFD1K4]
Apostle Orson Pratt preaches: "Some may inquire, 'Do you think the sun is a glorified world?' Yes, in one sense. It is not yet fully glorified, redeemed, clothed with celestial power, and crowned with the presence of the Father in all the fullness and beauty of a celestial mansion, because it is still subject to change more or less. If it were fully glorified; if it had passed through its temporal existence and had been redeemed, glorified, and made celestial, and had become the eternal abiding place of celestial and glorified beings, it would be far more glorious than our eyes could behold, the eyes of mortality could not endure the light thereof." ...
"Much might be said in this connection with regard to the doctrine of plurality of wives. There is a difference between the male and the female so far as posterity is concerned. The female is so capacitated that she can only be the mother of a very limited number of children. Is man thus capacitated? . . .Were not many of the ancient prophets and inspired men capable of raising twenty, forty, fifty, or a hundred children, while the females could only raise a very limited number on an average. . . . Would a monogamist have power to fill a world with spirits sooner than a polygamist? Which would accomplish the peopling of a world quickest, provided that we admit this eternal increase, and the eternal relationship of husband and wife-after the resurrection as well as in this world?" ...
"There are no marriages among spirits, no coupling together of the males and females among them; but when they rise from the grave after being tabernacled in mortal bodies, they have all the functions that are necessary to people worlds. As our Father and God begat us sons and daughters, so will we rise immortal males and females, and beget children and, in our turn, form and create worlds, and send forth our spirit children to inherit those worlds, the same as we were sent here, and thus will the works of God continue, and not only God himself, and His Son Jesus Christ have the power of endless lives, but all of His redeemed offspring."
[Journal of Discourses 14:242]
A legal holiday commemorates one hundred years of Mormon presence in Tonga, which issues two postage stamps for the occasion. King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV speaks at commemorative services. One-third of Tonga's population is LDS.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Brigham Young's representative "Wild" Bill Hickman and his Indian wife Margaret, both dressed in their beaded-buckskin suits, meet with forty lodges of Indians (numbering about three hundred). Gifts are distributed. The Indians believed Brigham Young had supplied the gifts, when they were in fact presents from the U.S. government.
[Letter to Mormon Battalion]
Camp of Israel, Omaha Nation, Cutler's Park, August 19, 1846. To Captain Jefferson Hunt and the Officers, and Soldiers of the Mormon Battalion:- We have the opportunity of sending to Fort Leavenworth this morning, by Dr. Reed, a package of twenty-five letters, which we improve, with this word of counsel to you all: If you are sick, live by faith, and let surgeon's medicine alone if you want to live, using only such herbs and mild foods as are at your disposal. If you give heed to this counsel, you will prosper; but if not, we cannot be responsible for the consequences. A hint to the wise is sufficient.
In behalf of the Council, BRIGHAM YOUNG, President. W. Richards, Clerk.
[1846-August 19-RCH 2:239, in Clark, James R., Messages of the First Presidency (6 volumes)]
... Most of the Crops [in the Salmon River Mission] had been destroyed by the grass hoppers but thought they had raised about 200 bushels of wheat 50 of which would be Cut & the remainder would be draged in for seed.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
The Willie handcart company leaves Florence (Winter Quarters), Nebraska, for the Salt Lake Valley.
In conformity with the foregoing item of law, 7 in the Summer and Fall of the year 1841, the brethern entered into measures to build a baptismal font in the cellar floor near the east end of the temple. President Joseph approved and accepted a draft for the font, made by Brother William Weeks; and on the 18th day of August of that year, Elder Weeks began to labor on the construction of the font with his own hands. He labored six days and then committed the work to carpenters.
[Fillerup, Robert C., compiler; William Clayton Nauvoo Diaries and Personal Writings, A chronological compilation of the personal writings of William Clayton while he was a resident of Nauvoo, Illinois. http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/clayton-diaries]
First Presidency statement that church's restriction on negroid peoples receiving priesthood "is not a matter of the declaration of policy but of direct commandment from the Lord."
[Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power, Appendix 5, Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1848-1996, http://amzn.to/extensions-power]
Apostle Orson Hyde, Albert Carrington and others arrived in G.S.L. City from Kanesville, Ia., accompanied by Perry E. Brocchus, one of the newly appointed judges for Utah; they brought with them a brass cannon.
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
[Wilford Woodruff]
It was Announced this morning that Porter Rockwell had arived in Camp And brought the Mail from Nauvoo. ... The same Paper informed us that the mob spirit was still alive in Hancock Co that they were still mobing, whiping, And killing each other in that County. The Saints were leaving as fast as possible And the new citizens had taken the matter in hand And the war was now between them And the mob.
I was in council with the Twelve & High Council. Porter Rockwell was with us. He was kept in jail as long as they Could & when brought to Court no man appeared against him so He was discharged & came to the Camp.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
LDS Church News reports that a married couple has been "teaching folk, square and some ballroom dances" to Indians in primarily Christian Goa, while "serving as Church representatives to teach recreation in India." LDS missionary work in India is limited by laws forbidding foreigners to overtly proselytize. Since the conversion and baptism in 1965 of S. Paul Thiruthuvadoss, who sought out LDS leaders to teach him, proselytizing on the Indian subcontinent is conducted by native converts.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
A First Presidency letter that "after the expiration of one year from the date of death, temple ordinances may be performed for all deceased persons, except those of known Negro blood, without the consideration of worthiness or any other qualification." Until the 1970s the LDS Genealogical Department flags the records of "those of known Negro blood" to avoid the performance of proxy endowment and sealing ceremonies for them. In 1974 church authorities quietly agree to end this practice, after being informed of a potential NAACP lawsuit and Congressional investigation of this racially discriminatory use of such federal records as the U.S. census.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
CHURCH NEWS reports that Finland has given its "Silver Cross" to LDS mission president Henry A/ Matis for allowing one of his missionaries to coach Finnish National Basketball team for international competition.
LDS Church News reports that a married couple has been "teaching folk, square and some ballroom dances" to Indians in primarily Christian Goa, while "serving as Church representatives to teach recreation in India." LDS missionary work in India is limited by laws forbidding foreigners to overtly proselytize. Since the conversion and baptism in 1965 of S. Paul Thiruthuvadoss, who sought out LDS leaders to teach him, proselytizing on the Indian subcontinent is conducted by native converts.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
A First Presidency letter that "after the expiration of one year from the date of death, temple ordinances may be performed for all deceased persons, except those of known Negro blood, without the consideration of worthiness or any other qualification." Until the 1970s the LDS Genealogical Department flags the records of "those of known Negro blood" to avoid the performance of proxy endowment and sealing ceremonies for them. In 1974 church authorities quietly agree to end this practice, after being informed of a potential NAACP lawsuit and Congressional investigation of this racially discriminatory use of such federal records as the U.S. census.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
CHURCH NEWS reports that Finland has given its "Silver Cross" to LDS mission president Henry A/ Matis for allowing one of his missionaries to coach Finnish National Basketball team for international competition.
Wilford Woodruff continued to warn church members of the approaching "hour." At an 1881 conference in Manti he promised "that thousands of the children of the latter day saints would not die but would live to see the Saviour come."
[Larson and Larson, Diary of Charles L. Walker, 2:563-64, 14 Aug. 1881., http://signaturebookslibrary.org/?p=5708, as quoted in The Last Days and December 1890 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ, y George D. Speer Sr., privately circulated]
Wyman's Saint Louis Museum advertises in the SAINT LOUIS MISSOURI DEMOCRAT that "two mummies from the Catacombs of Egypt" are on display. These mummies formerly belonged to the LDS church. They stay in St. Louis for fifteen years before being moved to Chicago. Papyri found with the mummies are also displayed at the museum. Leipzig Egyptologist Gustavus Seyffarth was able to read the name of the person for whom Facsimile No. 3 was made. A contemporary account reports: ". . . according to Prof. Seyffarth, the papyrus roll is not a record, but an invocation to the Deity Osirus, in which occurs the name of the person, (Horus,) and a picture of the attendant spirits, introducing the dead to the Judge, Osirus." When the original of facsimile No. 1 resurfaces in 1967 the hieroglyphs in the margins give "Horus" as the person for whom the scroll was written.
William Morgan, a disaffected Freemason from Batavia, New York, registers a copyright for an exposé of Masonic rituals. (See December 1826 entry, regarding publication.)
[Wikipedia: Chronology of Mormonism, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_Mormonism]
... The small pox has been brought into Great Salt Lake county by a company which lately came in from the States ... And in case any of the inhabitants should be seized by a disease, which has been so scandalously kept secret, all parties concerned are required to use every precaution to prevent its spreading beyond such persons. Among the precautionary measures, let every locality of the disease be amply guarded by plain and abundant notices conspicuously posted at every approach thereto; and let there be no communication with the diseased, except by those who are not liable to the contagion. BRIGHAM YOUNG, HEBER C. KIMBALL, JEDEDIAH M. GRANT.
[1856-August 13-DN 6:181, in Clark, James R., Messages of the First Presidency (6 volumes)]
About this time the mobbers in Hancock County, Ill., concluded to drive the few remaining "Mormon" families from Nauvoo.
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
[William H. Smart]
After dinner Apostle [Matthias F.] Cowley desired that we take a ride up to Bro[ther]. Shanks and get some flowers. On the way he said he wanted to have a private talk with me. He said although Plural marriage had to be suspended on account of our enemies yet it is an eternal principle and he gave me to infer that in the due time of the Lord it will be again practiced. He said that the people should be taught that it is right, yet in wisdom. He said I should teach it to my wife and with prayerful hearts we should seek to be ready to embrace it when or if opportunity is afforded. He said such men as me'full of faith and integrity proven'should have this blessing. I told him my wife and I are converted to this principle and that upon recommending to the temple or ordaining to the priesthood and setting apart to offices I had often asked this question as to their belief. He heartily commended me for this.
[William H. Smart, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
Brigham Young preaches: "Why does not our government make a law to say how many children a man shall have? They might as well do so as to make a law to say how many wives a man shall have."
[Brigham Young]
... Do we wish to destroy people? We do not, not even those ignorant, bloodthirsty Lamanites. Did we ever destroy? No; it is not our doctrine; but our doctrine is to build up and save life instead of destroying it. Is it necessary on any occasion, and under any circumstances whatever? Yes, let a man meet me with a design to kill me, and I am going to get the first blow if I can. I have not come to die for the sins of the world as our Savior, Jesus Christ, did. It was necessary for him to be killed; but it is not necessary for me. ... The man who was referred to this morning has given testimony against us, respecting matters here, which is utterly false. After making such infamous statements, that man could not live here twenty-four hours, if it were not that we are Latter-day Saints who live here. By letting him alone, however, he will kill himself. There is also a man down the street who tried to exhibit the endowments to a party who was here. You will see what becomes of that man. Do not touch him. He has forfeited every right and title to eternal life; but let him alone, and you will see by and by what will become of him. His heart will ache, and so will the heart of every apostate that fights against Zion; they will destroy themselves. It is a mistaken idea that God destroys people, or that the Saints wish to destroy them. ...
[Journal of Discourses. Liverpool, England, 1853-86. 11:257-263, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
[Leonard Arrington]
... While the Mormon Heritage Series had good support from Elder [Alvin R.] Dyer and Elder [Joseph] Anderson we became aware in 1978 that it did not have full support from all members of the Twelve [Apostles]; specifically two members of the Twelve had reservation about the series: Elder [Mark E.] Petersen and Elder [Boyd K.] Packer. [Arrington describes this series: "Early volumes projected in this series were: letters of Brigham Young to his sons to be edited by Dean Jessee; letters of Brigham Young to Indian Chiefs to be edited by Dean Jessee; the holograph [handwritten] writings of Joseph Smith to be edited by Dean Jessee; the sermons of Heber C. Kimball to be edited by Stan Kimball; documents relating to the spread of the gospel overseas to be edited by Spencer Palmer].
Both had their confidence in our judgment marred by our leaving in the Brigham Young letters to his sons volume a reference in which Brigham tells his son Brigham Young, Jr., while on a mission in England that he ought to give serious consideration to giving up his use of tobacco while he was a missionary. There may have been other little things in the volume they did not like. [O]f course our own thinking was you do not build confidence in the integrity of your book if you leave out all of the passages that reflect any problems. We did have excellent reviews on the book and we felt, and continue to feel, very proud of it. We have no second thoughts about how it was handled.
But because of this observation Deseret Book, under the influence of their cautious president Marvin Ashton, have been less enthusiastic about the series than they were in the early 1970s. The result is the heavy editing of some of our things and the name "Mormon Heritage Series" has been removed from some of these books. Examples of the heavy editing are the Spencer Palmer book on The Expanding Church which was cut by about 1/3; the women book by Godfrey and Derr which was cut by about 1/3, the Dean Jessee volume of Joseph Smith holographs which apparently will be run as two volumes published in separate years. ...
[Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]
The Rev. Truman Coe writes a description of Mormonism in the Ohio Observer, including the statement that "they believe that the true God is a material being, composed of body and parts; and that when the Creator formed Adam in his own image, he made him about the size and shape of God himself." This is one of the earliest recorded statements concerning the Mormon belief on this doctrine.
[Brigham Young University Studies (various issues), Sp '77, 354; Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
The returning Elders reached McIlwair's Bend (of the Missouri river) where Wm. W. Phelps "saw in open vision, by daylight, the Destroyer in his most horrible power ride upon the face of the water; others heard the noise, but saw not the vision."
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, was officially renamed Brigham Young University-Idaho and became a four-year university.
[Church News: Historical Chronology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/58765/Historical-chronology-of-The-Church-of-Jesus-Christ-of-Latter-day-Saints.html]
[Brigham Young]
I propose that each Ward form female relief societies and not buy so much gew gaws ribbons bonnets shawls and shoes and to relieve the men from those things. The sisters are ignorant of the kind and quality from these societies and relieve themselves from a gallon of tea or coffee a day and your flum a diddles. We cannot see your knee or your shirts unless we go to bed with you or pull up your skirts and that we don't want to do...
I foresee the government of the United States as laying a plan to rush in by societies of 10 or 50 to come six months previous to the sale and buy up the land when it comes into market and so wipe up our inheritances. I know their hearts all I want to know. I am not afraid of it...
Women why do you want to deceive us all the time? You cannot make us believe you have not shape and form like men ladies. Stop this running to the store and buying ribbons and fine things, it is virtually husband [-] I want to grind you into the grave so that you may have your liberty again. go away to hell as soon as you like.
[Thomas Bullock Minutes,in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
[Brigham Young]
... when we can he united in all things so that each will seek the interest and welfare of his brother, then the Lord will take up his abode with us.
[Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1846- 1847. Elden J. Watson, ed. Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1971.:305, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
[Joseph Fielding Smith]
[Attended] Tabernacle in the afternoon. Dr. J[ames]. E. T[almage]. spoke not edifying but questionable.
[Joseph Fielding Smith, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
Talmage delivers the address "The Earth and Man" in the Tabernacle. Under a later journal entry dated November 21, 1931, Talmage referred back to the discourse:
In speaking at the Tabernacle on August 9 last I had not forgotten that in the pronouncement of the First Presidency mentioned under date of April 7 last it was advised and really required that the General Authorities of the Church refrain from discussing in public, that is preaching, the debatable subject of the existence of human kind upon the earth prior to the beginning of Adamic history as recorded in scripture; but, I had been present at a consultation in the course of which the First Presidency had commented somewhat favorably upon the suggestion that sometime, somewhere, something should be said by one or more of us to make plain that the Church does not refuse to recognize the discoveries and demonstrations of science, especially in relation to the subject at issue. President Anthony W. Ivins, of the First Presidency, presided at the Tabernacle meeting, and three members of the Council of the Twelve were present—Elders George F. Richards, Joseph Fielding Smith and Richard R. Lyman. Of course, Elder Smith, and in fact all of us, recognize that my address was in some important respects opposed to his published remarks, but the other brethren named, including President Ivins, expressed their tentative approval of what I had said. [Journal, MSS]
[Chronology of the Life and Work of James E. Talmage, J. Trevor Antley, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MJsHY83JZL_n6CjWq11y1trT_CVXMMXAx2uYOWAwn0c/edit#heading=h.2zfdaoa]
Apostle James E. Talmage gives a talk in the Tabernacle on "The Earth and Man.: He says that plants and animals "lived and died, age after age, while the earth was yet unfit for human habitation. . . . Geologists and anthropologists say that if the beginning of Adamic history dates back but 6,000 years or less there must have been races of human sort upon the earth long before that time-without denying however, that Adamic history may be correct if it be regarded solely as the history of the Adamic race. . . . I do not regard Adam as related to-certainly not descended from-the Neanderthal, the Cro-Magnon the Peking or the Piltdown man." The talk is later published by the Church as a pamphlet. Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith later writes "False doctrine" on at least one copy of the pamphlet.
[Brigham Young Jr.]
Had some strange experiences today. After meeting in the Temple, Pres. Snow held reception for Ken. news men at Beehive. I had Sis. Effie E. Hakes sealed to me (she's dead) Sis. Falkland acted for her. Some other experience was peculiar and the Lord interposed to spare me and mine. God is good, I acknowledge Him in everything.
[Diary of Apostle Brigham Young Jr., http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
Joseph Smith, father of the Prophet, came from Merrimac River, N.H., and first settled in Palmyra, but in 1819 removed to this place. He was a Methodist; but had formerly been a Universalist, and was quite an adept at Scriptural arguments. Credulity seems to have been a pretty large ingredient in his composition, as he was a great digger, always seeing "sights;" but never realizing his expectations, he was noted for his indolence, and for generally being in some difficulty with his neighbors. Joe's mother was a far different person from his father: she is described as a woman of strong uncultivated intellect, artful and cunning, and strongly imbued with an illy regulated religious enthusiasm, and much given to vague visions of riches and greatness. As is usually the case, she had much more to do with forming the character of the son than his father, though he had more of the atrocities of the latter, so far as his habits were concerned. Mrs. Smith seems to have been the head and front of the movement; she it was who first gave vague hints that a prophet was to arise from her humble household, and as arrangements progressed towards a consummation, she named those who had been fixed upon as instruments to assist them in getting out the new revelations--always selecting men who were noted for their credulity. In these affairs her husband assisted, and was her executive officer.
ALVAH [Alvin], the eldest son, was originally intended for the prophet, but alas for all human designs, "the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak;" and one day, ALVAH being rather hungry, he indulged too freely in raw turnips, sickened and died; so the incipient prophet was lost to the world and to Mormonism. Joe Smith thereby became a great man, for it was immediately given out that the mantle of Alvah [Alvin] had fallen upon him, unworthy though he was--for rumor says he was as lazy as his father, rather intemperate in his habits, and possessed of less than ordinary intellect. He had previously professed religion at a camp meeting, and was quite an exhorter at evening meetings; but this did not last long. "Mormon Hill" had been long designated "as the place in which countless treasures were buried;" Joseph, the elder, had "spaded" up many a foot of the hill side to find them, and Joseph Jr., had on more than one occasion accompanied him. Taking all these circumstances together, how perfectly natural was it for the Smith family to be selected as the means of finding, and Mormon Hill as the repository of the long buried revelation, known as the "Gold Bible."
It has been generally believed that this celebrated book was written by Mr. Spaulding, of Ohio, but for this belief there is no foundation; the original production undoubtedly emanated jointly from the Smith family, and a schoolmaster of this village by the name of OLIVER COWDERY, who was intimately connected with the Smiths in all their movements...
The original design of the movers was undoubtedly to make money and to gain a certain notoriety, of which, as we have said, Mrs. Smith had often had visions, and they had no idea at this time of founding a sect. Joe Smith has himself said as much. As soon as the Bible had been discovered Joe commenced to prophesy and to name individuals who were, as he said, called of God, as chosen instruments to assist him in the translating, &c., of the revelation. The most noted of their assistants was MARTIN HARRIS, a respectable and honest farmer residing at Palmyra--much given to new creeds, and a monomaniac upon the subject of "spiritual manifestations." He mortgaged his farm to pay for the printing of the Gold Bible, but a contract signed by JOSEPH, and witnessed by COWDERY, secure to Harris and his heirs one half the proceeds of the sale of the Gold Bible, until he was reimbursed in the sum of $2500--the cost of printing. This, together with the fact that Harris had procured the services of a village jeweler to help him estimate the value of the plates, taking as a basis Joe Smith's description, leaves us in doubt as to whether he was altogether a dupe.
The Prophet's account of finding these plates was--that an angel appeared, and directed him where to dig; he was then compelled, against his will, to interpret them, and promulgate their contents to the world; that on the plates were the names of the ancient residents in this country, "engraved by Mormon the son of Nephi;" that in the box containing them was "a large pair of spectacles, the stone or glass set in them being opaque to all but the prophet;" that "these belonged to Mormon the engraver, and that the plates could not be read without them." Harris was the principal amanuensis, and having nearly a hundred pages of the manuscript translation in his house, his wife, who was an unbeliever, seized them, and either burned or secreted them--it was supposed the former--but for fear that she should confront them with the lost documents at some future day, the Smiths, Cowdery and Harris, agreed not to translate these again, but to let so much of the new revelation drop out, lest "the evil spirit should get up a story that the second translation did not agree with the first." . . .
Yours,
ASHES [anonymous author, probably relying on an 1851 account by Orsamus Turner]
["Mormonism in Its Infancy," Newark (New Jersey) Daily Advertiser, Circa August 1856, Charles Woodward Scrapbook, New York Public Library, New York, New York (Woodward 1880, 1:125)., as cited in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents: Manchester Resident Reminiscence]
[Helen Mar Kimball]
A few days after their return to Nauvoo the Prophet's brother Don Carlos Smith died, and being an officer in the legion as well as a Freemason he was buried with Masonic and military rites. Those of the Masonic fraternity marched next to the family to the grave which was in a little grove at the foot of the hill southwest of the temple. My mother's baby being too sick for her to leave I went in her stead and marched with my father in the Masonic procession ...
[Whitney, Helen Mar, Jeni Broberg Holzapfel, and Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, A Woman's View: Helen Mar Whitney's Reminiscences of Early Church History, Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997]
TV GUIDE article: "Cute, Cuddly, Courteous and Worth Millions: Donny and Marie Osmond's TV Success is the Latest Chapter in a Unique Family Saga."
[On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
Twenty-six-year-old Don Carlos Smith, Joseph's youngest brother, dies in Nauvoo. He was the editor of the Times and Seasons and became sick while printing in a damp cellar. He leaves three daughters.
[Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
James Gordon Bennett diary entry, Geneva, New York (sixteen miles southeast of the Smith farm near Palmyra): Joseph Smith Sr. a healer and "grand story teller--very glib" and his son a "carless, idle, indolent fellow--brought up to live by his wits." The Hill Cumorah. Mormons moved to Ohio "because the people here would not pay any attention to them."
[Kenney, Scott, Saints Without Halos, "Mormon History 1830-1844," http://web.archive.org/web/20120805163534/saintswithouthalos.com/dirs/d_c.phtml]
[Heber J. Grant, Letter to Matthias F. Cowley]
"None of the Quorum saw fit to inform me of yours and Bro[ther]. John W [Taylor]'s resignations as members of the Quorum of the Apostles and my first official notice came from the Presidency after the April conference. No particulars as to why the resignations were given have been given to me. Toney [Anthony W. Ivins], Pres[ident]. [Joseph E.] Robinson and others gave an intimation of what was coming and I hoped and prayed that they were mistaken. I cannot possibly express to you the deep sorrow that I have felt that any such action as has been taken was considered necessary. My home coming in meeting my family and friends is looked forward to with much pleasure, but when I think of meeting in the Temple with my dearly beloved associates in our quarterly conferences and recall that you and John will not be there and that Bro[ther]s. [Marriner Wood] Merrill and [Abraham] Owen [Woodruff] will also be absent, it will indeed be a sad home coming. I am in perfect harmony with the action taken and am sure that no mistake has been made but this assurance makes no difference in the deep sorrow that I feel that there was any cause for action in yours and John's case."
[Heber J. Grant, Letter to Matthias F. Cowley, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
"At 7 30 P.M. went to High Priests (Sic) Quorum Meeting and listened to a very interesting talk by brother Samuel Richard, the last of the original company of young men organized by Joseph the Prophet to go and explore the Rocky Mountains for a dwelling place for the Saints, he spoke of a night vision he had in answer to his prayers wherein he came west all over these rigions down into California Mexico and back up to Jackson Co where he helped to build the Great Temple there." [This is a recounting of the Horse Shoe Prophecy]
[Diary Excerpts of Thomas A. Clawson, Signature Books Library, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
[Brigham Young]
He further remarked that the Government would have to acknowledge the independence of the Southern Confederacy, and after a while there would be a scarcity of grain. -- Salt Lake City
[Brigham Young Office Journals, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
[Leonard Arrington]
Word has come to us that Elder [G. Homer] Durham is working out a policy on "conflict of interest" in the Historical Department. This policy includes the following elements:
1. No employee of the Historical Department is permitted to do any research or writing at his desk. This not only includes his work time but he may not use lunch time for the purpose nor stay after work hours to do so. He may, of course, do so on annual leave time if approved by Elder Durham.
2. He has not definitely ruled on the matter but is giving serious consideration to prohibiting Gordon Irving from serving as an assistant editor of the Journal of Mormon History. [[Durham ultimately approved Irving's outside involvement in the journal, for which Irving appeared in the staff box for six years, vols. 7-12 (1980-85).]]
3. No Historical Department employee will be able to use his Historical Department position as a power base for moving into a university or other professional position.
[Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]
Brigham Young's office journal records: " In the evening Pres[ident] Wells read to the President a part of the life of Senator Stephen A. Douglass, deceased, in which it mentioned a circumstance wherein Joseph Smith (Prophet) was protected by him. The President remarked that Stephen A. Douglass was a far better man than President Abel Lincoln for he knew his feelings were hostile to this people."
The newly renovated Smith Family Cemetery in Nauvoo, Illinois, is dedicated. The cemetery contains the graves of Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum Smith, among others. A site of interest to both the RLDS and LDS Church, the dedication is performed under the joint direction of President Wallace Smith, president of the RLDS Church, and Elder M. Russell Ballard of the LDS Church.
[LDS Daily, www.ldsdaily.com]
[Leonard Arrington]
I have learned today the true story of the cricket and seagull episode in Mormon history in 1848. It is well known that birds eat seeds-grain seeds, flower seeds, millet seeds, wheat and so on. The seagulls had been over Salt Lake City for perhaps millennia. At any rate they circled over the fields of grain of the Saints, descended and began to eat the maturing grain, as they still do today. The Saints began to despair that the seagulls were eating up all their grain. Fearfully, they worried about their future. Nevertheless, they didn't want to shoot the seagulls. They many times sang the song, "Don't Kill the Little Birds." [["Don't Kill the Little Birds" was, for instance, in the church's 1909 Deseret Sunday School Songs.]] The crickets realized the position the Saints were in and so decided to be a sacrifice for a good purpose. So the crickets came in and lay down, playing dead, which attracted the seagulls away from the grain. The seagulls ate the crickets instead. Thus it was really, in essence, the crickets that saved the Saints' grain crop. This suggests that we ought to put up a new monument on Temple Square to the Mormon cricket. [[Arrington meant this as a joke, although a member of the division, William Hart- ley, found that the story of seagulls rescuing settlers by devouring crickets had grown more miraculous over time. See "Mormons, Crickets, and Gulls," 137-48.]]
[Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]
The Christian Broadcasting Network, founded and run by Pat Robertson, began broadcasting over the radio.
[Cline, Austin, History of American Religion: Timeline]
[Leonard Arrington]
... I had always wanted to ask about President Romney's sister who became a Catholic nun. How did that happen? What were the circumstances? She said that this sister's name was Lurelene. She had grown up in Mexico, along with President Romney, and then went to Rexburg [Idaho], I believe. She had married and had I think five children. She had married an LDS person whose name Dona did not recall. Then she had been divorced, say when she was in her fifties. Sometime after she became a Roman Catholic and took the vows of a nun. She is known as Mary Catherine. She lives in Holladay [Utah] along with a few other nuns, perhaps six or seven. They do work on behalf of the poor and the needy. ...
[Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]
[Charles W. Penrose]
At Pres[iden]ts office & B[isho]ps office. Note from [Josiah] Rogerson about his M/s [manuscript] on Mountain Meadows [Massacre]. Meeting at Temple. Read note rec[eive]d from Josiah Rogerson informing me that the First Presidency had 'appointed' me to hear and revise his history of the M[ountain] M[eadows] Massacre. Pres[ident] [Joseph F.] Smith denied having done so, and it was voted unanimously that the M/s [manuscript] be not published.
[Charles W. Penrose Diary, 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]
At St. Charles, Idaho, George Q. Cannon reports "having seen the Bear Lake Monster or something of that kind this evening while strolling along the lake."
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Groundbreaking for adobe Tabernacle on Temple Square.
[Timeline of Wilford Woodruff's Life in the Context of US and Church History, https://wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/timeline]
[Wilford Woodruff marriage]
Sarah Elinore [Elinor or Eleanor] Brown. She was eighteen, Wilford was thirty-nine. They were divorced four weeks later and Sarah went to live with another family. This is Sarah Elinor Brown, born on August 22, 1827, in Vinal Haven, Knox, Maine, the daughter of Charles Brown and Mary Arey.
Wilford Woodruff apparently married her sister posthumously: Rebeca Brown born in vinal Haven Maine Oct 30, 1826 / Sealed to WW Died Aug 1839 Aged 13 year /June 15 1807/."
Sarah later married Lisbon Lamb in Salt Lake City on February 15, 1849, with whom she had three children. She died on December 25, 1915 in Farmington, Utah.
[Compton, Todd, 'The Wives of Wilford Woodruff', http://toddmcompton.com/WWfamilies.htm]
[Wilford Woodruff marriage]
Mary Carolyn [Caroline] Barton. Thomas Alexander refers to her as a teenager. She and Wilford Woodruff divorced four weeks later and she returned to her parents.
Alexander writes, The two young wives [she and Sarah Brown, see below] began keeping company with three young men nearer their own ages, staying out with them until early in the morning for several days. . . . The thirty-nine-year-old Woodruff forebade his teenage wives from consorting with the men . . . they continued dating their friends, and Woodruff thought some sexual misconduct had taken place . . . As promised, he sent Carolyn Barton back to her parents and Sarah Brown to another famly, and Hosea Stout whipped the boys. Woodruff thought the girls deserved similar punishment, but expulsion sufficed . . . Brigham Young agreed to divorces between Woodruff and the two women."
I have not yet identified the genealogy of Mary Barton. In Mormon history, there is a Mary Caroline Barton who married Erastus Curtis, with whom she had eleven children, but this is probably not the same Mary Caroline Barton.
[Compton, Todd, 'The Wives of Wilford Woodruff', http://toddmcompton.com/WWfamilies.htm]
A vandal attackes the "Christus" statue in the Visitor's Center on Salt Lake Temple Square and breaks off its fingers. On 16 Dec. 1982 the same vandal breaks off its arms.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Dallin H. Oaks begins his term as the eighth president of BYU (1971-80).
[J. Reuben Clark]
Mark Petersen'Told me of a rumor about town that the underworld plus some city officialdom,'angered by Tedesco incident were going to try to get something on Hotel Utah to get even on Church.
Mr Gamble'I told Gamble at end of my lunch of what Mark Petersen had told me. I warned that if there were any truth at all to the rumor, they would "plant" something on the Hotel. He observed they had been they had been above suspicion. I repeated my caution to him.
[The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]
Major James H. Carleton writes to Army Headquarters: "Nearly all Mormons are foreigners. Among these are Welsh, English, Norwegians, Swedes, some Germans, and a few French. They are evidently of the lowest and most ignorant grade of the people in the several countries from whence they have come. Mixed in with these are a few low, unprincipled Americans. The most intelligent and crafty of these, commencing with Brigham Young, are the directors and rulers of the whole mess. . . their government is solely a hierarchy, and notwithstanding, in theory, they are assumed to be a population obedient to the laws of our common country, practically they score and deride, and set at defiance all laws that interfere with their safety or interest, save those promulgated by the great council of the church." Brigham Young's office journal records: " Br[other] W[illia]m Clayton read the Pony dispatch to the members of the Club. The first Presidency were present. This dispatch noticed considerable loss of life [in the Civil War], and confusion[.] [T]he Company took comfort in the reflection that their old enemies were getting fewer in number."
The ship Brooklyn, with over two hundred Latter-day Saints aboard, arrives at Yerba Buena (San Francisco), California. These are the first Saints to set foot in California.
[Brigham Young]
Met in council with the Twelve, when the following resolutions, among others, were unanimously passed:--
"That we sustain Joseph Smith as Trustee-in-Trust for the Church, and advise him to have all lands belonging to the Church deeded in his name as Trustee.
[Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801-1844, ed. Elden Jay Watson (Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1968).]
[J. Reuben Clark]
Mark Petersen'Lunc'Told me of conversation yesterday with Pres. Smith in re News'etc. I asked Bro Petersen to get names of Communist group from in this area, if he could. ...
[The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]
[Brigham Young Jr.]
[M]et in Council in T[emple]. Question sprung by Pres[iden]t. [Wilford] Woodruff about Alonzo Hyde & John W. Young obtaining more money from Mrs Everend under false pretenses as her letter states. I felt that all men who go out from Zion do do business on their own account it must be understood, hereafter, that the church is not, nor the authorities are backing them. Pres[iden]t [George Q.] Cannon said Apostles have no right to enter into speculation to make money especially off the saints nor anywhere, but use their talent as directed for the good of Zion, not for personal agrandisement. ...
Met Bro[ther]. B[enjamin]. Cluff Jr., discussed employing gentile proffesor in B[righam]. Y[oung]. A[cademy]. Provo [Utah]. I opposed it; Presidency voted unanimously to employ him as Geology & civ[il] Eng[ineering]. were two most important studies, and we have no Latter day saint who can fill the position. I quoted from Deed of trust all beneficiaries of this reading must be children of L[atter]. D[ay]. S[aints]. and shall we employe gentiles to teach them. No matter. Bro[ther]. Jos[eph]. F. [Smith] said in consequence of Pres[iden]t. W[oodruff's]. Remarks I move that we employ this man, I did not vote. Bro[ther]. Jos[eph]. Moved to make the vote unanimous. I said I refrain from voting in principle, nothing against the man. Agreed with Bro[ther]. Cluff Jr. in his other recommendation and he went away satisfied. It is the first time I have failed to go with my leaders, I went my way sorrowfully. There is a growing disposition with the teachers to introduce into our 'Brigham Young Academy' the spirit of the world, the refined touches and whisperings of the 'Holy Spirit' are becoming less frequent and in my spirit I fear we are drifting further from God in that institution.
[Brigham Young Jr. Diary, 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]
The rock work on the Manti Temple was completed.
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
Joseph Fielding Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve writes to Belle S. Spafford, the Relief Society General President, and her counselors: "While the authorities of the Church have ruled that it is permissible, under certain conditions and with the approval of the priesthood, for sisters to wash and anoint other sisters, yet they feel that it is far better for us to follow the plan the Lord has given us and send for the Elders of the Church to come and administer to the sick and afflicted." This ends the practice of "washings and anointings" for women (usually preparatory to childbirth). A previous Relief Society President wrote of this ordinance, "this beautiful ordinance has always been with the Relief Society, and it is our earnest hope that we may continue to have that privilege, and up to the present time the Presidents of the Church have always allowed it to us.'
[On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
[Apostle Anthony Ivins]
Conference Yellowstone Stake. St. Anthony. Arrived 10-45. First speaker after arrival repeatedly refered to the Church as Mormondom. Two lady missionaries spoke. Viola Davis & Viola Howard. These girls made good remarks. Solo. I made brief remarks & Bro. [J. Golden] Kimball followed. Bro. & Sister Thomas & Sister [Elizabeth] Wilcox were there for R[elief] S[ociety].76 1111 1111 1111 111177 2. P.M. Second Counselor [Charles] Lloyd, Bro. Thomas, H. C. Larson. I talked on Mexico. Prest. Pond. Wed. p.m. holiday. Outside merchants close stores. 296-476 present. Crops poor. Worm on beet root. Relief S[ocie]ty.
[Anderson, Elizabeth Oberdick, editor, Cowboy Apostle: The Diaries of Anthony W. Ivins: 1875-1932, Signature Books, Salt Lake City in association with the Smith-Pettit Foundation (2013) - http://bit.ly/AnthonyIvins]
The First Presidency today appropriated $300 for the Northern States Mission; $200 of which is to be expended in printing the Voice of Warning in cloth binding, 1600 copies, the stereo plates to be the property of the mission, and orders thereafter to be filled at five cents a copy, the balance of the appropriation,'$100 to be used by Elder Spencer for expenses in visiting the various Conferences.
[Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
Wesley Walters and Fred Poffarl find Justice Neely's bill for trying the case of "Joseph Smith The Glass Looker Mar 20. 1826" in Bainbridge, New York 1826. It is among dead-storage documents in the basement of the county jail in Norwich, New York. Mormons had claimed the trial never took place. This find established that it had.
[On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
[Brigham Young]
When will the Saviour make his appearance in the midst of his people? When will the vail be taken away, that we may behold the glory of God? Can any of you answer these questions? Yes, readily, when I tell you. The redemption of Zion is the first step preparatory to the two last-named events. Just as soon as the Latter-day Saints are ready and prepared to return to Independence, Jackson County, in the State of Missouri, North America, just so soon will the voice of the Lord be heard, '"Arise now, Israel, and make your way to the centre Stake of Zion.'"... If we are not very careful, the earth will be cleansed from wickedness before we are prepared to take possession of it. ... When Joseph first revealed the land where the Saints should gather, a woman in Canada asked if we thought that Jackson County would be large enough to gather all the people that would want to go to Zion. I will answer the question really as it is. Zion will extend, eventually, all over this earth. There will be no nook or corner upon the earth but what will be in Zion. ... Millions will come and live in Zion when the laws of Zion reign predominant over creation; ... Will there be Methodists there? Yes; and they will have the privilege to worship a God without body, parts, and passions, just as they do now, if they choose to. ... ... the fight [of the Civil War] will continue until the earth is empty. Will it be over in six months or in three years? No; it will take years and years, and will never cease until the work is accomplished. There may be seasons that the fire will appear to be extinguished, and the first you know it will break out in another portion, and all is on fire again, and it will spread and continue until the land is emptied. Will they all be killed? No. I shall see the day when thousands will seek succour at the hands of this people. If you say, '"Husband, I shall leave you, if you take another wife,'" you had better leave now when you may stand a chance of getting another husband. ... Young men, prepare yourselves; for a greater responsibility will come upon you than you have ever dreamed of. Millions [of women] will seek to you for salvation. ...
[Journal of Discourses. Liverpool, England, 1853-86. 9:137-144, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
Omaha Nation. About 9, the chief and some of the warriors of the Otoes came to the spring to see the Mormon chief. Wanted a beef. President Young shook hands with them and directed a beef to be given them and tears started in the Chief's eyes....
President Young asked Brother Martindale the cause of putting away his wife and taking another woman. Martindale said his trouble commenced from the time he began to investigate Mormonism. His wife began to oppose. She was not a believer and continued her opposition, etc., and spoke more than half an hour. President Young said however wrong Sister Martindale has been, it would not justify any man in taking another woman under color of the priesthood, and in opposition of the order the priesthood.
[Apostle Willard Richards Journal]
[Heber J. Grant]
I am going to try and get up to date with the several months I am behind and make an effort to stay up. There is nothing I dislike more than writing a record for my Journal. I like to work but do not like to sit down and write a record of what I have been doing no matter how brief it is.
[Heber J. Grant, Diary]
Brigham Young: "The Garden of Eden was where Jackson Co. is now in Mo. & when Adam was driven out, he crossed the river into what is now Daviess Co. The City of Enoch stood where the Gulf of Mexico is now, but these things are not written."
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Brother [Heber C.] Kimball addressed the meeting a part of the day. Among other remarks He said Jesus Christ was the first Born of the Father & He was the candidate & Elected to redeem the world. Lucipher set up as a candidate to run against Jesus Christ But He was overcome & thrust down to Hell with all that followed him. And we will have no more division Henceforth & forever in Israel. We will have but one candidate for office but No opposition. All will be Elected & proven. If a person is qualifyed to fill a greater station than He holds He will have a chance. The Presidency & Twelve will fill in Eternity those stations Appointed them. So with all men. But I expect to remain on this Earth untill I am able to create a world of my own & people it. The lord Has given us rich portions of the Earth to inherit. We have been driven from time to time from th[ere?]. We now inherit a goodly land the best land on the Earth for vegitation & it will be good for fruit & the people of the Earth will yet Come to us for fruit.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
At the funeral of Apostle Abraham H. Cannon, President Wilford Woodruff speaks upon the topic of "the plurality of wives and to the plurality of families that men possess in this Church. It is a subject I have left alone as a general thing in all my observations and instructions before the public. . . . We have had a plurality of wives and families. The principle was introduced to this people by the revelation of God through the Prophet Joseph Smith." Cannon had taken a secret post-manifesto plural wife, with Woodruff's permission, a few months before his death.
[On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
It was stated by Moses Thatcher [Jr.] that he was adicted to the Morphine habbit and part of the time insane and that they must do something for him. S. Jepson, who had been more with Moses St. than any one else, endorsed the statement. It was finally agreed to get him if possible to go of his own free will to a sanatarium in California, if he refused to do so then to insist on sending him any way.
[Jean Bickmore White (editor), Church, State, and Politics: The Diaries of John Henry Smith, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1990, http://bit.ly/johnhenrysmith]
[Wilford Woodruff]
I went to the Endowment House & had 40 dead persons sealed to me. Joseph F Smith sealed 11, & D H Wells sealed 29 persons to me also 22 to other person Total 51. W Woodruff sealed 10 persons.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
First counselor J. Reuben Clark speaks concerning embezzelment by a local bishop: "The Church could not use its funds for such a means as proposed to save any embarassment to the Church, and it could not and should not require the [local] brethren there to sacrifice unless their friendship for the [bishop's] family prompted them to do so on their own accord, and that he didn't worry about the resultant effect upon the Church if we did not attempt to cover up, but insisted upon justice."
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Wm. Yokum lost his leg by amputation, as the result of a wound received in the massacre at Haun's Mill.
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
Joseph Smith and several leading Mormons (Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery, etc.) leave Kirtland to seek buried treasure in Salem, MA
[Broadhurst, Dale R., Mormon Chronology, http://olivercowdery.com/history/morchrn2.htm]
On Pioneer Day, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules Utah's ban on alcohol advertisements "irrational," saying it might be causing irreparable harm to local liquor, brewing and publishing companies.
[Harward, Randy; Utah Brewing Timeline, Salt Lake City Weekly, Aug 24, 2011]
[Wilford Woodruff]
Met in council with the Twelve in a tent on a High prairie ridge. Eleven of the quorum of the Twelve were present. We put on our robes And offered up our prayers to God. Conversed upon principle. Decided in council that no man has a right to Attend to the ordinance of sealing except the President of the Church or those who are directed by him so to do And that the ordinance should be confined to Zion or her stakes. This was the last Council we were expecting to hold Altogether before O. Hyde, P. P. Pratt & J Taylor took there departure for England.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
Oliver Cowdery writes to his sister referring to polygamy as a "folly and "abomination.
[Hales, Brian C., Joseph Smith's Polygamy: History and Theology, 3 vols., Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2013 (www.JosephSmithsPolygamy.com)]
[Leonard Arrington]
The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve announced this morning that Elder Gordon B. Hinckley has been made a member of the First Presidency [3rd counselor] and that Elder Neal Maxwell has been added to the Quorum of the Twelve in his place. Presumably Elder Hinckley will handle many of the assignments which President [N. Eldon] Tanner has been handling. Apparently they want to retain President Tanner's name as a member of the Presidency. [Hinckly would be referred to as the "acting president of the church" in the press.]
This move will surely be beneficial to our Historical endeavors, particularly because Elder Hinckley is familiar with what we are doing, and because he is positive. He has a positive, favorable view on what we are doing.
[Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]
Elder Gordon B. Hinckley is called as third counselor in the First Presidency due to the physical weakness of Presidents Spencer W. Kimball, N. Eldon Tanner, and Marion G. Romney. Hinckley is referred to in the press as the "acting president of the church" because Kimball, Tanner, and Romney are largely out of the public eye.
[Neal A. Maxwell is called as an apostle to replace Gordon B. Hinckley]
[Wikipedia, 20th Century (Mormonism), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_century_(Mormonism)]
The question of a wife being sealed to a man who had committed suicide was discussed by the Presidency and other brethren. President Joseph F. Smith said that in his opinion people who commit suicide should be given the full benefit of doubt as to their sanity before the doors of the Temple should be closed against them. Those who take their own life wilfully of course are barred.
[Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
First counselor J. Reuben Clark recommends that the Communist candidate for U.S. president be denied use of the Salt Lake Tabernacle for a speech. He also recommends to "confidentially" advise Utah's governor to have Mormon members of the American Legion armed with "picks and ax-handles" to attend the Communist Party's rally in Liberty Park.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Presidents George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith (President [Wilford Woodruff] being at home unwell) had an interview with Elder Marriner W[ood]. Merrill, President of the Logan Temple. Some complaint had been made in regard to the salaries of some of the Temple hands, who had been paid only half their salary during the two months vacation. It was shown that the hands did not work at all on Saturdays, but they were provided with dinner at the Temple, and that the work on Mondays was very light. Taking all things into consideration, the salaries were ample for services rendered. President Cannon said that if the brethren employed in the Recorder's office could obtain more remunerative labor they should be at liberty to make the change, and he believed that lady scribes could be obtained at an much less salary than that now paid. The conclusion was that the brethren had no good grounds of complaint.
[Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
[Charles W. Penrose]
Prof[essor] O[sborne]. J[ohn]. P[eter] Widtsoe came ... Had Talk with him on Man's Origin.
[Charles W. Penrose, Diary]
The WARSAW SIGNAL in Warsaw, Illinois: "How MILITARY these people are becoming! Every thing they say or do seems to breathe the spirit of military tactics. Their PROPHET appears, on all great occasions, in his splendid regimental dress, signs his name Lieut. General, and more titles are to be found in the Nauvoo Legion, than any one book on military tactics can produce; and now comes a public journal, the name of which is composed of two military words. Truly FIGHTING must, be a part of the creed of these Saints!"
Mary Fielding (Smith), later the wife of Hyrum Smith and mother of Joseph F. Smith, is born in Bedfordshire, England.
Because the Korean War reduced the number of young elders being called as missionaries, the First Presidency issued a call for seventies to help fill the need. Many married men subsequently served full-time missions.
[Church News: Historical Chronology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/58765/Historical-chronology-of-The-Church-of-Jesus-Christ-of-Latter-day-Saints.html]
Chief of Salt Lake City's detectives begins sending to the First Presidency reports of surveillance and infiltration of the Communist Party in Utah.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
[Charles W. Penrose]
"Bro[ther] [David O.] McKay home with a broken leg. Bro[ther] [George F.] Gibbs read his a/c [account] of matters connected with plural marriage of Abra[ha]m H Cannon [who had just died] and Miss Hamlin which was not ordered published but to be filed and preserved."
[Charles W. Penrose Diary, 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]
A day before the Russian government passes anti-terror laws restricting most religious proselyting, the LDS Church promises to comply with these laws and designates missionaries serving in Russia as "volunteers".
[Wikipedia, 21st Century (Mormonism), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_century_(Mormonism)]
Joseph Fielding Smith: Born Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., in Salt Lake City to Julina Lambson and future Church President Joseph F. Smith. He was the grand-nephew of Joseph Smith, grandson of Church Patriarch Hyrum Smith, nephew of Church Patriarch John Smith, brother of Apostle Hyrum Mack Smith, and father-in-law of Apostle Bruce R. McConkie.
[Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
A warrant for the arrest David W. Patten, Warren Parrish, and Wilford Woodruff is issued in Tennessee on the grounds that they have been "prophesying falsely, by saying that four persons who were baptized should receive the Holy Ghost in twenty-four hours, and that Christ should come the second time before this generation passed away." Charges dropped against Wilford since he wasn't present at the time. The other two are acquitted the next day.
[Kenney, Scott, Saints Without Halos, "Mormon History 1830-1844," http://web.archive.org/web/20120805163534/saintswithouthalos.com/dirs/d_c.phtml]
A Deseret News Church Section photograph of an LDS youth conference in Germany with Apostle Joseph F. Merrill in front of the Swastika banner of the Nazi Party. This is an intentional association of visual symbols, since the 7 Aug. 1937 issue also prints a photograph of church president Heber J. Grant seated in front of a Swastika banner at an LDS meeting in Frankfurt.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Remarks, Pres. Lorenzo Snow. ... We were born in the other life, were born children to the Lord there. In the contemplation of what we shall be in the spirit world, we should be very happy. We should be careful to do right that our consciences may not trouble us. He felt to say "God bless you all."
[Stan Larson (editor), A Ministry of Meetings: The Apostolic diaries of Rudger Clawson, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1993, http://bit.ly/rudgerclawson]
President Young said the captains [of the Mormon Battalion] must be fathers to their companies, and in their companies manage the whole affair by the power of the priesthood, and you will have power to preserve your lives and the lives of their companies and escape many difficulties. [He] would not be afraid to pledge his right hand that every man will return alive if they will go in the name of the Lord and pray every morning and evening in every tent. ... All the officers but three had been in the temple. Let no man be without his undergarment, and always wear a coat or vest. Keep neat and clean, teach them gentility, civility, no swearing. It must not be admitted. Insult no man. Have no conversation with the Missourians, Mexicans, or any class of people. Preach only where people want it, and then by wise men.
Impose not your principles on any people. Take your Bibles, Books of Mormon. Burn up cards. Let the officers regulate all the dances. If you come home and say the captains have managed all dancing and it will all be right to dance, etc. Card playing cannot be admitted. ... Don't lay out your money for bacon and provision on credit for your families. Elder Kimball ... God will lead you in paths and before the people, that you will get as great a name as any people since the days of Moses. Hold your tongues and mind your own business. If you are sick, you have the privilege of calling the elders and rebuking all manner of disease.
... President Young spoke ... You will have no fighting to do. Go about your business. We shall go in the Great Basin where [it] is the place to build temples. ...
[Apostle Willard Richards Journal]
The announcement that Relief Society dues would be discontinued and all assets turned over to the appropriate Priesthood officers. Relief Society assets were turned over to the Church (estimated value at over two million dollars, equal to more then seven million 2012 dollars).
[Correlation Timeline, Compiled by Lisle Brown]
[Hosea Stout]
There was a meeting at Taylors camp today at which there was a number of Bishops appointed to look to the families of the [Mormon Battalion] soldiers
[Diaries of Hosea Stout]
Revelation (west of Independence) for Oliver Cowdery, W. W. Phelps, Joseph Coe, and Ziba Peterson as they were about to commence a mission to Native Americans in Missouri, as recalled by W. W. Phelps in 1861: "For it is my will, that in time, ye should take unto you wives of the Lamanites and Nephites, that their posterity may become white, delightsome and Just, for even now their females are more virtuous than the gentiles." Since three of the four were already married, and the fourth--Ziba Peterson--would marry Rebecca Hooper within a month--this passage is sometimes used as an argument that plural marriage was envisioned as early as 1831.
Phelps recorded the revelation, apparently from memory,
Ezra Booth refers to this revelation in 1831. P Ezra Booth Letters (8-9)
[Kenney, Scott, Saints Without Halos, "Mormon History 1830-1844," http://web.archive.org/web/20120805163534/saintswithouthalos.com/dirs/d_c.phtml]
By O. Hyde, all present voted that E. T. Benson be ordained an apostle. At 5, the Quorum kneeled before the Lord in prayer, led by President Young, then arose and laid their hands on Ezra T. Benson, and ordained him an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with all the keys and power and blessings pertaining to the apostleship in the Church and kingdom of God in these last days, and take the crown of him who has fallen from the Quorum of the Twelve (J. E. Page)...
Before council adjourned, papers were received from Captain Allen and the chiefs and braves of the Pottawattamie [Pottawatamie] nation, giving permission for the Mormons to stop on Indian lands.
[Willard Richards Journal]
On 16 July 1846 some 543 men enlisted in the Mormon Battalion. From among these men Brigham Young selected the commissioned officers... Also accompanying the battalion were approximately thirty-three women, twenty of whom served as laundresses, and fifty-one children.
[Utah History Encyclopedia: Mormon Battalion, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/]
[Brigham Young]
Mormon Battalion Speech: "Now, brethern you are going as soldiers at your country's call. You will travel in a foreign land, in an enemy's country; and if you will live your religion, [etc...] if you obey this counsel, attending to your prayers to the Lord, I promise you in the name of the Lord God of Israel that not one should of you shall fall by the hands of the enemy. You will pass over battlefields; battles will be fought in your front and in your rear, on your right hand and on your left, and your enemies shall flee before you. Your names shall be held in honorable remembrance to the latest generation."
[Discourses of Brigham Young]
[Brigham Young said] the remainder of the 12 to get the soldiers together and instruct them how to behave, etc., on their expedition, wear their temple garments, and prove themselves the best soldiers, and instruct the other brethren con [?] in carrying out the decisions of the council of yesterday. Lots were cast between O. Hyde, P. P. Pratt and J. Taylor, which two should go to England, and the lot fell on Brothers Hyde and Taylor to go. "Soldiers can tarry and go to work when they are disbanded, and the next temple should be built in the Rocky Mountains," and he wanted the Twelve and the old brethren to live in the mountains where the temple is to be, and where the brethren will have to come to get their endowments.
President Young said he would prophecy that the time would come when some one of the Twelve, or a high priest, would come up and say can't we have a temple at Vancouver Island, or at California, etc., etc., but it is wisdom to unite all our forces to build one house in the mountains.
[Willard Richards Journal]
TIMES and SEASONS prints a "Dialogue on Mormonism" which presents LDS doctrine and claims in dialogue form. Speaking of the Book of Mormon peoples: "Mr. M. You will observe by this account Mr. R. that this people who landed here were Jews, this you know agrees with the idea, which many learned men have had, that the Indians are descendants of the Jews. Mr. R. I am aware that this idea is generally entertained among the learned."
Joseph's party arrives in Independence, Mo. There is a glorious reunion with missionaries there. Jackson County population at this time is less than 3,000, and land costs $1.25 per acre. Joseph records that the people are nearly a century behind the times; Parley Pratt notes that they are still living in skins and very primitive conditions. Because of the primitive land, Joseph wonders how Zion can ever be built in her glory in such a place, and receives D&C 57. The first Sunday after their arrival, W. W. Phelps preaches at the western boundary of the United States to a congregation made up of all races and peoples. Two are baptized.
[Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology; History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (7 volumes) 1:188-89.]
Sidney Rigdon dies; now believed to have had Bipolar Affective Disorder, or Manic-Depressive Illness.
[Mormon Chronology, N. R. Tidd, http://www.exmormon.org/mhistory.html]
[Brigham Young]
These [preexistent] intelligent beings that I now see, that I behold as we say with the natural eye, Br. Kimball would call it the natural eye, the eye of the spirit, very well, the eye that God has given me and the power of sight: How long is it since they were in chaos? all that pertains to man independent of the intelligence that dwells within his body, independent of that spirit of life, light and intelligence? I see the faces of these, my brethren and sisters. ...
Jesus Christ came here because his Father came here and he was begotten of the Father, and he was born of the virgin Mary as my mother bore me and as my father begot me and as you begot your children. What, is it possible that the Father of Heights, the Father of our spirits, could reduce himself and come forth like a man [Adam?]? Yes, he was once a man like you and I are and was once on an earth like this, passed through the ordeal you and I pass through. He had his father and his mother and he has been exalted through his faithfulness, and he is become Lord of all. He is the God pertaining to this earth. He is our father. He begot our spirits in the spirit world. ...
We will go and build up temples. We started a temple here. Shall we finish it? I don't know whether we shall or not before we go back to Jackson County, but it will be finished by and bye, and we will enter into this temple and receive the ordinances for the just.
[The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
The second payment on the Smiths' Farmington (Manchester) farm come due . Lucy says there were three payments, that the first was broken up into several installments and that her family had "made nearly all of the first payment" in one year but that "the second payment was now coming due and no means as yet of meeting it." She further states that Alvin left home to find work and raise "the second payment and the remainder of the first" and returned with "the necessary amount of money for all except the last payment".
[Vogel, Dan, Early Mormon Documents, Appendix B: Chronology, 1771-1831, http://amzn.to/T5nY8w]
The formation of the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a corporatiom sole, which was formed to have equal control of certain property owned by the Church. From 1890 until this date most Church property was held by the local leaders, which was subsequently transferred to the Presiding Bishop.
[Correlation Timeline, Compiled by Lisle Brown]
This evening Elder O. Hyde who had moved over the river to the main camp there, came here to his camp and called a meeting and spoke at length to them on the law of adoption. The first sermon I ever heard publickly. He desired all who felt willing to do so to give him a pledge to come into his kingdom when the ordinance could be attended to but wished all to select the man whom they chose &c
[Diaries of Hosea Stout]
[Brigham Young]
"The business to be laid before you today is, the call upon us from the War department to furnish five hundred volunteers for the army of the West to march to California [Mormon Battalion]."
[Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1846- 1847. Elden J. Watson, ed. Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1971.:234-238, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
Joseph Smith, Sr., is born at Topsfield, Mass.July 8, 1775Lucy Mack Smith is born at Gilsum, N. H.Jan. 24, 1796. Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith, Sr., are married.About 1797. The first son of Lucy and Joseph Smith, Sr., is born and dies shortly there after.
[Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
At meeting of First presidency and Twelve "[John Henry Smith] Had devoted considerable thought during the night to the question of selling beer at Saltair and wondered if we were not inclined to take rather an extreme view of the case-whether, if we cut off the privilege entirely, we were not to some extent invading the rights of the Latter-day Saints. The revelation on the Word of Wisdom speaks of barley for mild drinks [D&C 89:17]. It is a question that demands serious thought. Have we taken an extreme view of the word of God? Where can we strike the limit, where can we reach the spirit of the Word of Wisdom? (Apostle Heber J. Grant asked Apostle Smith if beer that is intoxicating is to be considered a mild drink. The revelation, he said, forbids the use of strong drink.) Apostle Smith continued and said that the German beer was very light and mild and would not intoxicate, though he conceded that the beer of the United States is of a very different character and will cause drunkenness. Apostle Brigham Young [Jr Spoke]. Topics treated[:] Said that he believed the temperance movement among our people a proper movement. If we give an inch, the people and the world will take advantage of it-and drunkenness is the crying evil of the age. The Word of Wisdom! "Who can cut it off and patch it on for me?" Each must be judge for himself. Many times water, he said, would distress him, while a little Danish beer would bring a feeling of comfort and ease. However, he believed in the Word of Wisdom as we teach it. As to the matter of selling liquor, said that he was simply disgusted with what he saw at Saltair on the occasion of the "old folks" excursion. He came across a lot of old men-members of the church-smoking old pipes and guzzling beer." First Presidency and apostles agree that Danish beer is not harmful or in violation of Word of Wisdom and release an official statement to the same affect. President Lorenzo Snow tells the Quorum of Apostles, "Some of the brethren are worrying about the matter, and feel that they ought to have other wives. Brethren do not worry; you will lose nothing.... Brethren, don't worry about these things, and if you don-t happen to secure the means you would like, don-t feel disappointed." In these remarks, President Snow referrs specifically to Heber J. Grant who concluds that these instructions to the entire Quorum repealed the private authorization to take a plural wife the Church president had given him in May; he "dropped the matter" and left within a few days for Japan."
The President [Brigham Young] observed it would not do for the northern and Southern party to fight too much at once [IE civil war]. The Lord used wisdom to bring about his purposes, and they were frequently he waits until the wrath of man is ready, England is to have a hand in the struggle with the north and South, and England will be slow in her movements. -- Salt Lake City
[Brigham Young Office Journals, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
[Wilford Woodruff]
I called upon President Young. Read a peace of History on Book E-1 page 1681-2 concerning Hyram leading this Church & tracing the aaronic Priesthood. It was in detached sentences. President Young thought it was not essential to be inserted in the History & had better be omitted. He spoke of the peace of History published in the News Vol VI No 18 Concerning Josephs words [prophecy] upon South Carolinia. He wished it not published.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
Dr. Romney presented to the Education Committee its revised recommendations. It was proposed to adopt a system of correlation that would permit the reorganization of Church curriculum based on age group levels, which would coordinate not only the curriculum, but activities and other programs of the several age groups. To accomplish the goal, it was recommended that "a general All-Church Coordinating Council (ACCC) should be formed," under whose direction three age group committees (children, youth, and adults) would coordinate the activities of the groups through the existing priesthood and Auxiliary organizations. This recommendation was approved. Elder Lee, subsequently, was appointed the chairman of the new All-Church Coordinating Council.
[Correlation Timeline, Compiled by Lisle Brown]
President George Albert Smith writes in his diary: "Met in office with Council of Presidency & Twelve .... Jos Patriarch case considered. Bad situation. Am heartsick." President Smith is referring to Presiding Patriarch Joseph Fielding Smith [Not the Apostle of the same name] and to the recent discovery of his homosexual activities. Forty-seven-year-old Patriarch Smith is "released due to ill health" the following Oct.
Regarding military service in WWII, the First Presidency says "The Church is and must be against war . . . but the Church membership are citizens or subjects of sovereignties over which the Church has no control.
[1941-July 10-Original circular letter, L.D.S. Church Archives, in Clark, James R., Messages of the First Presidency (6 volumes)]
John W. Taylor suggested that the church finances could be increased, by paying Church agents a percentage on all tithings remitted to the head office, instead of all received. Thus there would be an incentive to diligent effort in order to cash the products received at the different offices.
[Abraham H. Cannon (Author), Edward Leo Lyman (Editor), Candid Insights of a Mormon Apostle: The Diaries of Abraham H. Cannon, 1889-1895, Signature Books]
The Prest [Brigham Young] joined and said he and Carrington were Vermonters, and that they were both for the Constitution, but each earnestly prayed for the success of both North & South. At the request of the President Br[other] Carrington read the extract from a newspaper Pres[ident] Young remarked to H.C. Kimball who had come in that Old Abe the President of the U.S. has it in his mind to pitch in to us when he had got through with the South. President Kimball observed that men that he had met with whether they had little or much of the Spirit of God were in favor of the South. Pres[ident] Young, as of [the] opinion the sympathy of the people for the South was in case they should be whipped, and the Northern party remain in power he thought they wanted the War to go that both parties might be used up...Br[other] H.C. Kimball told the vision that he saw on the night Joseph Smith obtained the plates. He described the Soldiers in the sky with their accoutrements on. He said Father Young was with him and he clapped his hands and rejoiced saying that it was a sign that the Coming of the Son of Man was nigh. Br[other] Heber said the whole world would be involved in this war. -- Salt Lake City
[Brigham Young Office Journals, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
Joseph Smith receives a revelation (later section 126 of D&C) at Brigham Young's house: "Dear and well-beloved brother Brigham Young, verily thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Brigham, it is no more required at your hand to leave your family as in times past, for your offering is acceptable to me; I have seen your labour and toil in journeyings for my name. I therefore command you to send my word abroad, and take special care of your family from this time, henceforth, and forever. Amen." However, Young is called to leave his family and go on a mission three years later.
[Heber J. Grant]
At 10 am attended a meeting of the Apostles in the Temple. Pres[iden]t Lorenzo Snow offered the opening prayer, and he very earnestly supplicated the Lord in behalf of Apostle Moses Thatcher. John Henry Smith said that he did not look on him the same as a man who had become addicted to the use of liquor to the extent that he was not responsible for his actions. Bro[ther] Moses had been addicted to the use of morphine.
[Heber J. Grant, Diary]
Lucy Mack Smith: Born in Gilsum, New Hampshire. In 1796 she married Joseph Smith; they had eleven children: Alvin (1798-1823), Hyrum (1800-1844), Sophronia (1803-?), Joseph (1805-1844), Samuel Harrison (1808-1844), Ephraim (1810-1810), William (1811-1894), Catherine (1812-1900), Don Carlos (1816-1841), and Lucy (1824-1882). Their first child, an unnamed daughter, died shortly after birth in 1797.
[Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
The Saints who make up the Martin handcart company arrive at Iowa City to outfit themselves for their journey west.
Lorenzo Snow presides at the Salt Lake temple's monthly fast meeting, "and Sister Lillie T. Freeze sang in tongues."
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
[In Lewiston, Utah:] Apostle M[arriner]. W[ood]. Merrill was not present tho[ugh], he knew I would be there. He failed to come nor send word why he did not come. This is just as he has treated me ever since I rendered a decision in political case wherein he was in a clash with others of his brethren in the days of President [Wilford] Woodruff.
[Brigham Young Jr., Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
Brigham Young [Jr.] ... spoke of the Gardo House incident, when Moses Thatcher accused George Q. Cannon with dishonesty, and threatened a lawsuit. He referred to the fact that Moses had never been called to account for thus wrongfully accusing one of his brethren, and wondered if we had not done wrong in this and other similar cases, in not demanding from Bro[ther] Moses, that he make restitution. He thought it was mistaken sympathy to allow men to do wrong, and not taking prompt action to require them to make proper restitution.
[Heber J. Grant, Diary]
Neal A. Maxwell, later the Church commissioner of education and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, is born in Salt Lake City, Utah.
[Heber J. Grant]
I have unbound faith in the success of the business and I should be delighted to see the benefits go to the Church. I feel sure that the profits will be at least twenty five percent and as the Church can get the money for not more than eight percent there will be a good margin of profit for them ... I shall be pleased and thankful when the Church has more funds than it has at the present [which was coping with a recession, as well as debt due to confiscated properties by the government].
[The Diaries of Heber J. Grant, 1880-1945, Abridged, Digital Edition Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015]
A Democratic convention, held in Salt Lake City, placed the first Democratic ticket for Salt Lake County officers in the field, after the division of the People's Party [controlled by the church] on party lines.
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
Presidt Young [in Soda Springs] got a telegraph [-] from presidt Wells that all right in the Celebration of the 4. Our Enemies were Defeated & we triumped.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
Brigham Young's office journal records: "President Young mentioned that he enjoyed his dancing last evening it caused him to perspire, he said it rested his mind and did him good, and relieved him from his onerous every day duties."
George A. Smith writes an obituary of Lucy Mack Smith for 'The Mormon', then being published in New York City, in which he praises Lucy and criticizes her book as inaccurate.
[Anderson, Lavina Fielding, Editor, Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir, 2001, Signature Books, http://bit.ly/lucys-book]
Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs at the United States Bicentennial.
[Wikipedia, 20th Century (Mormonism), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_century_(Mormonism)]
Elder Melvin J. Ballard famously prophesies that the Church in Latin America will grow "as an oak grows slowly from an acorn."
Zeal is a good thing but too big a stock of it sometimes runs us on to the snag.
[John Henry Smith, Letter to Heber J. Grant, 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]
[Leonard Arrington]
Harriet and I arose early and at 8:30 we were on our way to Susan and admiring a little dog. Elder Packer ... gushes: 'He sits, he heels, he rolls over. He never gives you any trouble,'" which Oaks thinks would make "The perfect historian!"
[Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]
[Wilford Woodruff]
At 10 oclock Br Pratt returned in company with Br Benson who had been nominated to fill the place [apostleship] And wear the Crown of John E Page.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
At the Independence Day celebration the Nauvoo Legion comes out in parade and Joseph gives a patriotic speech, closing with the words, "I would ask no greater boon, than to lay down my life for my country."
[History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (7 volumes) 4:382, in Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
"Security leader and de facto second in command" of the Russian Republic publicly apologizes a week after calling Russia's Mormons "filth and scum." The LDS church has no more than 5,000 converts and 300 missionaries there. The apology occurs because LDS members (Republicans) of the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate ask the Democratic "Clinton administration to reconsider aid to Russia because of [Aleksandr] Lebed's stand."
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
The "Liberal Institute" is dedicated in Salt Lake City at the corner of Second South and Second East. This architectural landmark seats over 1000 and is constructed mostly by Godbeites and disaffected Mormons. Susan B. Anthony, who attended the dedication, writes that the reformers "sang their songs of freedom, poured out their rejoicings over the emancipation from the thrall of the Theocracy of Brigham, and told of the beatitudes of soul-to-soul communion with the All-Father." The Institute became a home for Methodists, Presbyterians, Jews, Swedish Lutherans and "Reorganite Mormons" as well as suffragettes, spiritualists (including mediums and their debunkers), and free thinkers.
[Wilford Woodruff]
P[arley] P. Pratt asked Presidet Young what He should do with regard to tithing. Said he had been travelling & preaching a good deal & had not paid any tithing. Presidet Young Said the Law of tithing reached evry man. He should pay his tithing if he had to have five times as much from the tithing office in order to live & all that he had from the tithing office should be charged to him & he should Consecrate what he had to the Church. He said that he should consecrate what he had to the Church that his children when he was dead should not squander his property & go to Hell upon it.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
CHURCH NEWS article, "Mission Presidents Get Uniform Plan For Teaching Gospel," introduces the new six-discussion proselytizing plan in which the discussions are to be memorized verbatim by the missionaries.