In speaking of Geneology & History Presidet Young Said I Care so litle about it in my feelings & spirit that as far as I am Concerned that I should not make more than one page of History. Still I like to see such things got up. Joseph would tell more in one hour about Geneology than the world Can in a year. He was particular about such things much more so than I am but I expet He will be with us. I expect if I live to be 80 years old I am in hopes to have some of the wisdom that Moses Had. He spoke of a remark that He made in the 13 ward about Harris being sent here as Governor. He also said to Brother Kimball I took the liberty to Curse those who will still sustain our Enemies. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
60 years ago today - Apr 29, 1966
[Notes from a talk with Bruce R. McConkie concerning Brother McConkie's feelings about Luke 3:38] ... He said that it was a true doctrine, that God the Father, Eloheim, a divine resurrected being, came down to this earth after its creation with a wife and produced, in a natural way of sexual intercourse, a child who grew up and became known as Adam. They did the same and brought forth a girl, who grew up and became Eve. They had bodies of flesh and bone, but were not mortal; not till they fell. They (Adam and Eve) were not resurrected and were not translated beings. God really did create their bodies on this earth. They were not transported here; only their spirits. He then said that his father-in-law told him that was a true doctrine, and that it had been taught a great deal by President Joseph F. Smith. He also added that President Joseph Fielding Smith said it was too deep now for most saints and that's the reason for saying about the creation of Adam and Even in the temple, 'it's only figurative.' [Phone call to Reed C. Durham, in Quotations Dealing with the Relationship of Our First Earthly Parents to Our Heavenly Parents (1830-1978)]
110 years ago today - Apr 29, 1916
In a letter to Walter P. Monson, president of the church's Eastern States Mission in New York, Joseph F. Smith's First Presidency orders that Gisbert L. Bossard not be rebaptized, explaining: "[T]he treachery and greed which prompted this desecration of the House of the Lord is entirely another thing, something which cannot be so easily disposed of." Five years previously Bossard had secretly entered the Salt Lake Temple and taken photographs. He had tried to sell the photographs to the Church but later sold them to gentiles. Bossard had admitted regret and sought re-entrance into the church. He was unsuccessful in regaining his membership during his lifetime. He was rebaptized by proxy in 1985, over ten years after his death. [On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
140 years ago today - Apr 29, 1886 (Thursday)
The case of Lorenzo Snow was argued in the U.S. Supreme Court. [Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
160 years ago today - Apr 29, 1866
You have heard what Elder Charles S. Kimball has said this afternoon relative to the general belief of the people in the old countries,'"That Brigham Young reads all letters before they leave this county, and if any are not written to suit him, they are destroyed by his order! In this way they account for so few letters reaching the members of the Church in distant lands from their friends here in Utah. I will now make a public request that the Saints hereafter cease to bring their letters to me, if there are any that have ever done such a thing; and I also request the postmasters throughout the Territory to stop sending all foreign letters to me for my inspection previous to mailing for abroad; that is, if they have ever done such a thing; and for this simple reason, that I have so much to do that I cannot possibly pay attention to such an extensive amount of reading. [Journal of Discourses. Liverpool, England, 1853-86. 11:212-216, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
110 years ago today - Apr 26, 1916
Joseph F. Smith rules that the Salt Lake temple have daily limits for proxy ordinances: 240 endowments and 1,200 baptisms for the dead. As an example of changes in that policy, the Salt Lake temple performs 4,718 endowments on 21 May 1967. [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
185 years ago today - Apr 28, 1841
[Wilford Woodruff] When we arose in the morning we still found strong head winds which soon increased to a great Storm & tempest which scenery I have not language to describe. The Sails were close reefed or taken in as soon as possible. It took 16 men to Close reef the main top sail. The tempest was now raging with all power the sea piling up into mountains, the Ship mountain the waves & billows & pitching into the valleys & rocking tremendiously & shiping seas occasionly. In the midst of this seenery the cry of help was herd in our Cabin. I rushed to the seene & found the ropes giving way & breaking which held the whole mass of baggage which was piled up between decks, consisting of heavy trunks, chests, Boxes & barrels which if once liberated from their Confinement would with one surge be hurled with all their force into the births of the men, women, & Children which would endanger the lives of all. On seeing the foundation of this mass give way Elder W. Richards & myself Sprang to this place of danger & braced ourselves against the barrels & held them for a few moments untill it was a little secured. I then went on deck to the captain & informed him of the situation of things below & he sent the Sailors with some ropes & secured the pile which was endangering the lives of many. After this was done I again repaired to the Aft quarter deck to behold the raging of the tempest & the wonders of the deep & the movements of the ship which was the greatest seenery I ever beheld upon the water. Elders Young, Kimball, Richard's & Smith was with me on deck for a time but all had now gone below except Elder Richards & myself & the officers & crew. We were Shiping heavy seas. It was now about sun set. I stood in the middle of the aft quarter deck holding the captains Speaking trumpet in one hand & holding to a fast bench with the other when we Shipped a tremendious Sea on the windward side of us which passed clear over the quarter deck on which I stood. On seeing that we Could not escape it Elder Richards flung himself close under the Bulwarks & the body of the wave went clear over him without wetting him but little. But as I Could not take the same advantage I flung myself upon the deck & held upon the fast seat whare I remained untill the sea passed over me & left me drenched in the Surge. I now thought it time for me to leave my seat of observation for the day & go below as I was thoroughly wet with salt water. I went to bed but did not sleep but little for the ship rocked at a dredful rate. Boxes, barrels, & tines were tumbling from one end of the Cabin to the other. And in the steerage about 15 Births were flung down 9 at one surge with all the men women & Children flung into a pile in the midst of the berths but no lives lost or bones broken. This is the 8th day in succession that we have had strong headwind. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
145 years ago today - Apr 28, 1881
[Wilford Woodruff] The forepart of this blessing of Orson Pratt ... And we further say unto you that the last official act that you performed in the flesh that of washing of feet which you performed in Connexion with your Brethren the Apostles in token of your testimony and work which you have borne and alone among this Generation are recorded among the sanctified ones among the Heavenly Hosts and we your Brethren by virtue of the Apostleship which we hold seal you up unto Eternal life and Confirm upon you all the Blessings pertaining to the Apostleship which has been Confirmed upon you. ... We commit you into the Hands of God and we fell to say his will be done and all will be right. ... I spent the fore Part of the day in Copying into this Journal The Blessing of Elder Orson Pratt which I sealed upon his head On Sunday morning Feb 20, 1881 now recorded in this Journal. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
180 years ago today - Apr 27, 1846
Voted that the Temple be sold both at Nauvoo & Kirtland to ease our burden considering that the Lord designed that the Saints should enjoy it when it was his good will & pleasure now it appears that we cannot possess it without the other buildings of the Saints & when we can possess our dwelling houses then the Temple will be redeemed & the saints will then enjoy it Bishop Whitney with reluctance assented not however until after Pres Young said that if the Bishop did not vote he would take the responsibility of voting for him & risk the blessing or cursing Pres Young related a dream that he had the previous night which was in substance as follows I saw my self employed in the services of an aged man that was a Lord' superintending the whole affairs of his dominion'among which I instructed some responsible things to be done which I considered actually necessary to be done notwithstanding the Lord had not ordered me to do'by & by the Lord came smiling his hair was as the pure wool I appraised him of what I had done and asked him if I had done right at first he was Silent but Smiled turning to me said you have done well & I intend to buy a large store of all kinds of commodities all of which shall be under your guidance & control you understand the affairs of my government [John D. Lee, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
30 years ago today - Apr 28, 1996
American Mothers, Inc. names Carolyn M. Shumway, wife of BYU—Hawaii president Eric Shumway, the National Mother of the Year.
85 years ago today - Apr 28, 1941
[J. Reuben Clark] D[avid] O M[cKay] Talked with him about Hugh Brown'Agreed with Pres Grant and D O M to make his pay $35000 per month, he to furnish his own house ... Suggested also that we denominate Bishoprics of Wards and their Ward Teachers as Home Defenders and maybe parade them next July 24th he agreed might be something an idea. [The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]
165 years ago today - Apr 28, 1861 (Afternoon)
Prest. Young attended the 13th Ward meeting, in the course of his remarks about the officers of [the] U.S. coming here he said he hoped if Harris did come, the boys and dogs would piss on him; he asked forgiveness of the congregation for condescending to describe the punishment Harris had earned ... [Historians Office Journal, quoted in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
165 years ago today - Apr 28, 1861 (Afternoon)
Bro. Brigham spoke of the things in the East. Said he hoped they would both gain the victory. Said he had as much sympathy for them as the Gods and angels had for the Devils in Hell. ... said that those [Mormons] who sell their provisions to feed our enemies either man or woman should be cursed, and said he, I curse them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the congregation shouted, Amen.... Showed the advantage we had over spirits that are evil, seeing that we have a tabernacle. -- SLC Tabernacle [Diary of Charles Lowell Walker. Andrew Karl Larson, ed. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1980. 178, quoted in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
170 years ago today - Apr 28, 1856
[Wilford Woodruff] I have been a marked victem as an attack for the power of the destroyer from my infancy up to the present day. I have faced Accident, misfortune, & apparently death so many times & in so many shapes & forms from my childhood through life thus far that it has become a proverb with me to say that there has seemed to be two powers constantly watching me & at work with me one to kill & the other to save me. ... I have never untill now been called upon to war with poison & mortification in my system untill now. But I am satisfyed to day that I have this enemy to meet & that to in the worst form. ... Several have died this spring by skining Cattle who have died. ... This morning the affected spot upon my wrist had grown about the size of a dime had risen above the arm & main [-] about half an inch & turned black as ink. My arm began to swell & pain me & I felt its workings through my system. I Called upon President Young & Showed him [my] Arm and asked his advice. He counciled me to go to immediately & clense my stomach & bowels & poultice my Arm with Onions, Earth, or any thing that would draw it from my system. He also advised me to show it to Dr Sprague. I did so & he in addition to what President Young had recommended dug me up sum dock Elecompane & Blazing Star roots & advised me to make a tea of it & drink it also to make a poultice of it & put it on my Arm. I went immediately home & began to put these things into execution for I saw that I had a strong warfare in order to save my life. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
35 years ago today - Apr 27, 1991
Fifty years after the Church began keeping individual membership records, it completed computerizing membership records worldwide. [Correlation Timeline, Compiled by Lisle Brown]
40 years ago today - Apr 27, 1986.
The ten-month speaking ban on Linda Newell and Val Avery is lifted. The story is carried by UPI and AP, and published in the Tribune and other major newspapers in the state with the exception of the Deseret News. Linda summarizes the experience: "If you're excommunicated or disfellowshipped, you know what the repentance process is and you get on with your life. But what do you do when you've been punished by people who are handing down decisions they didn't make? I thought a lot about the damage the whole incident had done to me, to the church, my friends, to my family, untold people who were distraught by it, and those who sat in judgement. I went back to my stake president and asked him to talk to Elders Oaks and Maxwell again about reconsidering the ban. I would be participating in a KSL's `Talkabout' program discussing the upcoming Mormon History Association in England, and I knew, with audience participation, that someone would ask me about the ban. I hadn't been in a public setting for the whole ten months when people hadn't discussed it. I pointed out to my stake president the advantages to everyone of being able to say that the situation had been resolved. He said he'd see what he could do. The night before I was to tape the program, he called and said that I was no longer under any restrictions." [Anderson, Lavina Fielding, "The LDS Intellectual Community and Church Leadership: A Contemporary Chronology," Dialogue, Vol.26, No.1]
65 years ago today - Apr 27, 1961
First counselor J. Reuben Clark tells the apostles: "I think it is terrible for any man in the Church to begin to use his Church position, particularly in finances, to his own advantage... So far as I know there are none of you who are trying to use the Church to your own self-advantage. That cannot be said for all our Church members." [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
95 years ago today - Apr 27, 1931
[Minutes of the Seventies] My dear President [Heber J.] Grant: ... you gave to the apparent incongruity of the First Council of the Seventy being unable to participate with members of the Twelve when out in conferences, when ordaining High Priests and bishop's counselors when occasion should arise. The answer to all this has been that the Presidency of the Seventies, not being High Priests were barred from these functions; also in regard to performing marriage ceremonies, etc. Perhaps you will remember that I said I thought the decisions that had led to this policy of excluding the Seven Presidents from such functions was too tightly drawn and that if it were considered that these brethren have an APOSTOLIC CALLING, that calling would warrant them to do along these lines whatsoever might be necessary in the course of their ministry (as stated in Doctrine and Covenants) ... I trust you will not think me over persistent in the matter, but I did think that since this information had come into my hands and also is in strict harmony with the interpretation I gave with the Seventies holding an APOSTOLIC CALLING, it would authorize the First Council to do whatever the Apostles do when necessary, and when appointed to do it, should be made known to you and your counselors and to the present quorum of the Twelve; and in this spirit I submit it to your consideration. Very truly yours, [Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015, Appendix 1: Minutes of the Seventies, 1837-1933, Excerpts]
170 years ago today - Apr 27, 1856
[Brigham Young] "some of the bishops don't know right from wrong, truth from error, nor a sheep from a jackass and men would give boot to be a home. Children must be made to know their Father and they must be corrected. Wives must submit themselves unto their husbands as unto the Lord - Men if you don't know enough, hold your tongue, but don't let your wives know they know most or they will leave you - there never was a circumstance when women were the head of the men. treat your wives kindly but if they step out of their place put them right and quick. There is not a man who magnifies his calling but can rule any woman in the kingdom. I just know that the people pray for me for I feel it every hour and I pray for you always. Martha S. Heywood Journal. I prayed my Heavenly Father that I may receive it [President Young's words] in honesty, especially the principle that a woman, be she ever so smart, she cannot know more than her husband if he magnifies his priesthood. That God never in any, any age of the world endowed woman with knowledge above the man. -- Salt Lake City " [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]
175 years ago today - Apr 26, 1851
Wilford Woodruff records: "President Young while speaking of the Resurrection said that we should Receive the same Bodies that we lay down if our dust was Blown to the four winds of Heaven." [On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
180 years ago today - Apr 26, 1846
[Nauvoo Temple] Brigham Young received a letter from Orson Hyde, who wrote that a wealthy Catholic benefactor had offered to buy the Temple for $200,000. Hyde offered to lease the Temple to him instead, but he refused and the offer fell through. Hyde asked if it might not be better to sell the Church's two temples at Kirtland and Nauvoo, and use the money to help the poor move west. [Brown, Lisle (compiler), Chronology of the Construction, Destruction and Reconstruction of the Nauvoo Temple]
180 years ago today - Sunday, Apr 26, 1846
President Young said the spirit of the Lord and keys of the priesthood holds power and dominion over all animated beings. When Father Adam transgressed the law, he did not fall all at once from the presence of the Lord, but spake face to face with him for a long time afterwards. The rising generation continued to sin and degenerate from generation to generation until they have got so far from the Lord that a veil of darkness sprung up between them, so that they could not any longer speak with the Lord save it was through a prophet. During this time the earth and all creation groaned in sin and continued to degenerate, and enmity increased and the lives of man and beast began to shorten, and the earth continued downwards to the present time. For this cause the Son of God descended below all things that he might reach the case of every man that he might return to the Father and possess all things. In this dispensation the keys that were committed to Father Adam will be restored. And we are to commence retracting, and to approximate back again into the favor and presence of the Lord by taking up the ordinances of the gospel and following them back to the starting point. [Willard Richards Journal]
80 years ago today - Apr 25, 1946
[Marion G. Romney] I had a meeting with President Clark early this morning, at which it was determined to ship immediately two carloads of food and a carload of clothing to Munich and Austria in the German Mission. [The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015, Appendix 2, The Diaries of Marion G. Romney, 1941-1961, Abridged]
60 years ago today - Apr 25, 1966
A "standing-room-only audience" listened as David O. McKay's nephew referred to the recent Birch Society president - Robert Welch banquet as a "gathering of the clan," and referred to the "Dear Brethren" letter promoting it as "a deceitful device." Alluding to the controversies of the previous month, Quinn McKay observed: "What do we do when General Authorities do not see eye to eye on political issues? Which do we follow? If each of the General Authorities were to speak on `The Contributions of the John Birch Society' you would no doubt hear some rather contrasting views. Then which apostle would one quote?" McKay's nephew then referred to the Reed Benson letter which had ignited the race hysteria preceding the October 1965 conference. [Quinn G. McKay, statements in Davies, Political Extremism Under the Spotlight, 12, 19,20-21. The "standing-room-only" reference is from the description of the meeting on the inside front cover. From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]
185 years ago today - Apr 25, 1841
A Mormon "Secret Service in detecting thiefs &c." is founded. The thieves are former Danites. [Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Appendix 7: Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47, http://amzn.to/origins-power]
105 years ago today - 1921. April 25
(Emmeline B. Wells) : Died at the age of eighty-four in her home at 1354 South 900 East in Salt Lake City; buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery near her husband Daniel. [Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
175 years ago today - Apr 25, 1851
[Wilford Woodruff] ....[I] found Walker the Utah Chief with His band. I Here saw him for the first time. He is an ugly cunning chief. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
45 years ago today - Apr 24, 1981
Apostle David B. Haight gives the keynote address at Annual Meeting of the Utah Association of Women. He states that Many of today's problems can be traced to the music of the Beatles in the early 1960s. "I witnessed the early developing of protests on college campuses, protests against the Vietnam War, with protestors using Beatle-type music to express their feelings against our government, against our military, and against authority in general."
90 years ago today - Apr 24, 1936
[J. Reuben Clark] [During a meeting with Will Seegmiller and Harold Morgan on April 23, 1936:] I said that I was tremendously interested in victory this Fall, and that I was trying to do what I could to further that possibility. Mr. Seegmiller said that he also is most anxious for that, and that he was sure he knew a very great deal more about Utah's politics than I knew. I reiterated two or three times that I had no personal feeling in this matter at all. He said that people were saying that I, as a member of the First Presidency, was trying to dictate politics. I told him that there was no excuse for that, that I had made my position perfectly clear at the luncheons. He replied that some people had said I could not divest from myself my Church position in the matter of politics, to which I replied that those people would have to learn that it could be done. I stated I had explained to the luncheons my position with reference to myself himself, and felt that in the interest of harmony he should do as I suggested. He said that that was a matter of opinion, and his opinion differed from mine. I replied to the effect that it was a question of opinion, but I felt very clear about my own. ... [The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]
140 years ago today - Apr 24, 1886 (Saturday)
The Supreme Court of Utah rendered a decision which practically endorsed lewd and lascivious conduct... [Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
130 years ago today - Thursday, Apr 23, 1896
Prest. Jos. F. Smith['s] sermon on the [Political] Manifesto at Provo came up for consideration but no decision was reached, only opinions expressed. I feel Bro. Jos. F. construction of the Manifesto cuts to[o] deep and will cause trouble for our people everywhere. [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]
165 years ago today - Apr 23, 1861 (Evening)
Br. George A. Smith called in and had a conversation about coal oil springs. The President [Brigham Young] said God had a design in these springs, in time the people will find they are dancing over a volcano. -- Salt Lake City [Brigham Young Office Journals, quoted in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
150 years ago today - Apr 23, 1876
Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, attends sacrament meeting at the Salt Lake City 14th ward. The Emperor is passing through Utah on his way to Philadelphia to assist President Ulysses S. Grant in opening the Centennial Exposition. The press reports him as saying that, having failed to see the harems of Turkey, he wished to visit the seraglio of Brigham Young. He is the first head of state to visit Utah.
160 years ago today - Apr 23, 1866
[Circleville Massacre] They (the Mormon townspeople) sent messengers requesting that the Paiutes go into town and hear a letter read to them. Many did. They gathered in the meetinghouse to hear Bishop William Allred address them. According to a previous plan, the Circleville men who outnumbered the Indians three to one came in unarmed and intermingled with them. The bishop read the message from Fort Sanford, stressing that the settlers wanted only peace with their band, but the Indians would have to help by lending them their guns. In return, the Paiutes could work for the whites and be paid in goods. When the Indians showed reluctance to give up their weapons, the settlers acted: "each man knowing his place and what was expected of him, grabbed hold of his Indian to disarm [him]. They all showed resistance but their bows and arrows and knives were taken from them." Next, "their arms were tied to a stick which was passed behind their backs and under their arms." Mormon militia proceeded to shoot the hand-tied Indian men, then slit the throats of their women and children one-by-one. Of this incident commanding general Daniel H. Wells, and Young's counselor, writes that these "brethren" did what was necessary. [Exploring Mormonism: Mountain Meadows Massacre Timeline, http://www.exploringmormonism.com/mountain-meadows-massacre-timeline/; The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn]
165 years ago today - Apr 23, 1861
The first of several Church wagon trains leaves the Salt Lake Valley with provisions for incoming Saints, whom they later meet at the Missouri River. This program to help immigrating Saints lasts until the railroad comes in 1869.
175 years ago today - Apr 23, 1851
[Hosea Stout] Last night a man named Custer was killed by the Indians in Toolie Valley. They had been taken prisoners by the whites & attempting to break away they were pursued by the whites & Custer was shot. The Indians were taken but permitted to keep their arms. A party is going out to night to Toolie against the Indians. [Diaries of Hosea Stout]
160 years ago today - Apr 22, 1866
[Wilford Woodruff] At the Close of the meeting President Young & Wells & John Taylor W. Woodruff F. D. Richards & G. Q. Cannon met at the Historians Office for Prayer. The subject of the History of Joseph the Prophet as Published by Mother Smith was taken up & President Young said Brother Woodruff as soon as G A Smith Comes home I want you to get Elias Smith & set down & Correct the Errors in the History of Joseph Smith as published by Mother Smith & then let it be published to the world. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
150 years ago today - Apr 22, 1876
[Wilford Woodruff] This Evening train Brought the Emperor of Brazill Dom Pedro From Ogden to Salt Lake City. "And their Kings shall be brought" is being fulfilled. He took rooms at the waker House and went to the Theater in the Evening. He is the first Emperor that Ever Visited Utah Territory in our day. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
65 years ago today - Apr 20, 1961
The First Presidency and Twelve approve the rebaptism and full reinstatement of priesthood blessings for John D. Lee, the only executed participant in Mountain Meadows Massacre. The ordinances occur on 8-9 May 1961. [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
165 years ago today - Apr 21, 1861
[Wilford Woodruff] I +***** found on the Table A Deseret Extra News Containing the latest pony dispatch which says that war has Commenced. ... This is the Commencemet of the war at South Carolina in fulfillment of the Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet in 1832. ...Presidet Brigham Young in his instructions to the missionaries said now I want you to remember what I say to you. Now take care that you do not get to Sleep & let the devil take the advantage of you. You may do that in an hour that you cannot regain through all Eternity. ... And let the women alone, or it will prove a Curse to you. Here is George Grant. Has no wife. Now let him not think of a wife untill He gets back. This Corting women while you are abroad upon a mission is a miserable business. I would not give shucks for an Elder who Cannot go on a mission & keep Clean & Come back Clean. Now remember that. I have spent my Early life without women. ... Many Elders go out get to sleep & do wrong and they Come back and are good for Nothing & never will be. ... [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
60 years ago today - Apr 21, 1966
BYU president Ernest L. Wilkinson gives what he, himself calls a "powerful address" that would "rock the campus from one end to the other." Wilkinson designs the speech to be controversial and hopes that it will generate discussion on campus, especially among "liberal" professors. He then instructs the newly-formed student spy ring to solicit and report on the "liberal" professors's reactions to the speech. One professor of political science, Ray Hillam, a target of the spy ring, learns about the spy ring and requests a formal hearing which Wilkinson uses to formally charge Hillam with being pro-communist and disloyal to BYU. Hillam, in the process of defending himself exposes the spy-ring and precipitates a major scandal for Wilkinson. Wilkinson privately confesses his role to the Board of Trustees but publicly denies it.
105 years ago today - Apr 21, 1921
The IMPROVEMENT ERA publishes an article by James E. Talmadge on church discipline which says, "Should knowledge of any case of wrongdoing, or lack of harmony between or among members, come to the attention of the Bishopric of a Ward, it is their duty to delegate two or more priests or teachers to visit the parties concerned, and to try by brotherly mediation to bring about a reconciliation."
135 years ago today - Apr 21, 1891
[Brigham Young Jr.] I have had curious feelings lately. When father [Brigham Young] was verysick in St. George [Utah] in the spring of [18]77 previous to his death, he was taking a vapor bath in his house when he called for me to take him out of the box; 'quick, quick' he said. He fell into my arms fainting I laid him in his easy chair, he gasped twice, his eyes set, underjaw fell, his Bowels gave away and he lay as if dead I looked over and beyond him and saw a deep dark gulf, I was terrified and the horrible depths seemed to represent what was before us if father died. I believed him dead and my very soul cried out 'You must not die father,' the future was too terrible to contemplate. I laid my palsied hands upon his head and in a quivering voice prayed God to restore my father to life. At the end I opened my eyes and looked upon his face. His eyes were wide open and were clear and glittered like blue steel and in his natural voice he quietly said 'Well your not much of a soldier.' Twice within the last week I have been perfectly unmaned, for perhaps ten seconds each time, and the same sensations experienced on the occasion when I believed my father dead and I was gazing over his body into that gulf of dispair have the same feelings of despair assailed me. I never knew the torture of terror but these three times. I was wide awake each time and it took all the power I have in the priesthood to overcome this unknown terror. I know to some extent what the prophet Joseph [Smith] experienced when seized upon in the woods by that soul destroying power just previous to the appearing of our God & his Christ. [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]
115 years ago today - Apr 20, 1911
It was decided to try to make arrangements with the publishers of Collier's Weekly to obtain, say, six thousand copies of that paper containing the reply of ex-President [Theodore] Roosevelt to the slanderous attacks of one of the magazine writers made on himself and President Smith, with a view of having the same sent as marked copies to prominent people at home and abroad. ... Pres[iden]t. Smith reported attendance at the funeral of Isaac Manning, a negro who was employed as a servant by the Prophet Joseph Smith. President Smith spoke at the services. President Smith said that Brother Manning dug the first grave of the Prophet and Patriarch, and helped remove the bodies, perhaps, twice. The first time they were buried in the northwest room of the Nauvoo House, and were afterwards removed to the private burying ground of the old home, where his uncles, Don Carlos and Samuel were buried. In 1846, just before the departure of the Twelve from Nauvoo [Illinois], his aunt Emma had the bodies removed again, this time to the Hibbard Woods, below the Nauvoo House, near the river. There they were supposed to be when David Smith wrote the poem entitled 'The Unknown Grave.' Later they were removed back to the old place, and although the graves are without headstones, their location is known by his cousin Joseph. ... [Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
60 years ago today - Apr 20, 1966
Stephen Hays Russell organized a dozen other Birch students in a room of BYU's Wilkinson Center. A non-student chapter leader of the Birch Society acted as guard for this organizing meeting of the BYU spy ring, the only time all would be together at once. These student-spies included the president of BYU's Young Americans For Freedom, three other members of YAF, and also Cleon Skousen's nephew. Academically, their majors included economics, political science, history, Asian studies, math, and zoology. Stephen Hays Russell acknowledged choosing ten students to assist in the "monitoring," yet his reservation for the room was for twenty persons and chairs. Fellow-spy Ronald Ira Hankin consistently claimed that Russell selected fifteen to twenty students to monitor the BYU professors. However, less than fifteen student-spies have been identified. What linked all these student-spies was their participation in the Provo chapter of the John Birch Society. The student-organizer of [the BYU] 1966 surveillance emphasized his association with Ezra Taft Benson. "On one occasion, the head of the John Birch Society in Utah County took me to the Church Office Building at Salt Lake City to meet Apostle Ezra Taft Benson," Stephen Hays Russell later wrote. "I was introduced to Brother Benson as a `key conservative student at Brigham Young University.'" [Interview of Ronald Ira Hankin by Ray C. Hillam and Louis C. Midgley, 17 Sept. 1966, Provo, Utah, transcript, 4-5, signed at the bottom of each page by Ronald I. Hankin, folder 5, Hillam Papers, and box 34, Buerger Papers; "Birchers Spied On Professors, Hialeah Student Said," Miami Herald, 3 Mar. 1967, A-32; Bergera and Priddis, Brigham Young University, 208; Stephen Hays Russell, Personal History of Stephen Hays Russell (N.P., 1983), 99. From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]
100 years ago today - Apr 20, 1926
[George F. Richards] I met D[avid] O. McKay, Jos[eph] F[ielding] Smith, S[tephen] L. Richards and J[ohn] A. Widtsoe of the Twelve at the Temple as a committee at 8:00 A.M. where we spent about 1 1/2 hours in consideration of the Temple ordinances with the purpose of suggesting certain changes in the reading of the Ritual of End[owment] & the ceremonies of the Temple. [George F. Richards diary, Apr. 20, 1926, quoted in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]
140 years ago today - Apr 20, 1886
[St. George Temple President] Advised all to get recommends from their Bishops signed by their President and by Pres[iden]t [John] Taylor and return[ed] to them before they leave home. Said those who marry outside of the church could attend to adoptions if they were recommended but should not [be] give[n] their endowments, because when they get their endowments they enter into covenants to have no sexual intercourse with the sons of Adam, except their lawful husbands, to whom they are given in the authority of the Holy Priesthood. (Pres[iden]t [John D. T.] McAllister Temple Pres[iden]t.) [Temple Minute Book, St. George, Apr. 20, 1886, quoted in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]
170 years ago today - Apr 20, 1856
[Wilford Woodruff] "I met with the Presidency & Twelve in the prayer Circle. After prayers President Young asked those who were going away if they were satisfied with him & felt satisfied that He was keeping up with the spirit of the times. They all said they were. They asked if he was satisfied with them. He said he was. He Advised Elder G A. Smith not to indulge in Arguing any point question or principle which he did not believe for the sake of Argument or to draw something out of others as it was dangerous ground. Brother Smith thanked him for his Advise & promised to follow it. Brother G. A. Smith spoke in plainness of his feelings concerning some principles of Elder O. Pratt wherein he differed from President Young concerning the creation of Adam out of the Dust of the Earth & the final consummation of knowledge & many other things. I am afraid when he comes to write he will publish in opposition to President Youngs views but he promised he would not. Many remarks were made which Thomas Bullock took & it is filed in the Historians office." [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
120 years ago today - Apr 19, 1906
In view of the appalling accounts of distress resulting from the destruction by earthquake and fire of the city of San Francisco and other towns of California, it was decided, on motion of President [John R.] Winder, that the Church donate $10,000. towards the relief of the sufferers, and that Governor George C. Pardee be informed by telegraph that this amount has been placed to his credit for this purpose in the State Bank of Utah. [Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
130 years ago today - Apr 19, 1896
Joseph F. Smith preaches: "It is an established rule in the Church, and the discipline of the Church requires that a member of the Fourth ward desiring to remove to the First ward shall make application to the Bishop of the Fourth ward and shall say to him in effect: "Bishop, I have determined to move out of this ward, and my purpose is now to settle in the First ward, and I desire from you a letter of recommendation, that I can carry with me, certifying that I am a member of the Church, in good fellowship in the Fourth ward, so that I may be entitled to be received as a member of the Church, in good standing, in the ward to which I shall remove." The Bishop of the Fourth ward, agreeable to his request, issues a letter of standing to him, certifying that he and his family are members of the Church, in good standing, in his ward, and as such he recommends them to the confidence and fellowship of any ward that they may desire to join. Now, no man is exempt from this discipline of the Church. No man can override this rule and still be regarded as a member in good standing. The moment a man undertakes to take the bit in his own mouth and say, "I will not ask my Bishop for a letter of standing; I will move to where I please, and claim standing in the Church wherever I please to locate," that moment he becomes insubordinate and certainly could not be regarded as a member in good standing or as a type of good membership in the Church."
190 years ago today - Apr 19, 1836
[Wilford Woodruff] .... Br Smoot related the news to me from Br Patten which was glorious in the first degree. He gave me an account of the endowment at Kirtland Ohio. The heavens Was opened unto them. Angels & Jesus Christ was seen of them sitting at the right hand of the father. He also informed me that ... the second seventy was chosen & that I was one of the number. O God prepare me for the Battle while combating error with everlasting truth. The above are great blessings indeed. ... [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
85 years ago today - Apr 18, 1941
President Grant at my desk re division of his salary'$35 per month of which was paid to Emeline Wells until her recent death. The last payment of said amount was added to President Grant's monthly allowance check. He explained that the relatives of Emeline Wells have asked that the contribution be continued in favor of her relatives. He will think the matter over and advise us. [Frank Evans, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
115 years ago today - Apr 18, 1911
Elder [Gustavus A.] Gamble was invited to make a statement in reply to the accusation. ... Since coming to Utah, some six years ago, I have tried to associate with what I regarded as the best members of the Church. I have sought the society of temple-workers and others supposed to be in good standing. I had not been blessed with children, as my domestic affairs were such that this privilege was denied me. I desired to have offspring, and was told that by embracing the principle of plural marriage, I might have posterity. I received encouragement in this from what I thought were responsible brethren, and I made every effort possible to avoid publicity and everything that might bring disgrace upon the Church, but my attempt has been a failure, and I feel that I have greatly sinned against the Church. ... A ceremony was performed, uniting me in plural marriage, but I am not certain as to the identi[t]y of the one who officiated... I understood from conversation on the subject, that it would be best for me not to know that name of the man who officiated in the ceremony. ... [Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015, Appendix 7: The Salt Lake Stake High Council and Post-1904 Plural Marriage: Minutes of Meetings, 1909-1914]
120 years ago today - Apr 18, 1906
San Francisco earthquake. The room of Matthias F. Cowley, recently dropped from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, "is the only one in [his hotel that is] undamaged." [In the ensuing fire, the mission home is destroyed. The fire results in the California Mission headquarters being moved to Los Angeles in Southern California.] [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
155 years ago today - Apr 18, 1871 (Tuesday)
Ralph Waldo Emerson, the eminent litterateur, arrived in Salt Lake City, on a visit. [Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
160 years ago today - Apr 15, 1866
Of all Western outlaws, none are more fondly remembered in story and folklore than the "Robin Hood of the West," Butch Cassidy--the alias of Robert LeRoy Parker. Parker was born 15 April 1866 in Beaver, Utah, and was raised by Mormon pioneer parents on a ranch near Circleville, Utah. While a teenager, Parker fell under the influence of an old rustler named Mike Cassidy. Parker soon left home to ride the outlaw trail. [Utah History Encyclopedia: Butch Cassidy, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/]
35 years ago today - Apr 17,1991
Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Utah "ranks last in proportion of students who are female" throughout the United States. This is result of Utah's "traditions that inhibit the educational progress of women." [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]
45 years ago today - Apr 17, 1981-Friday
In almost every group to which I am invited to speak, the speaker introduces me as the Church Historian. When they ask me my position, I tell them of my BYU professorship and the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute directorship. And when they ask my secretary for a sheet to use in introducing me, I very clearly indicate the professorship and directorship. Yet they continually say Church Historian. I have finally developed a rationale for this. For me personally it is significant that I was sustained as Church Historian by the general conference in April 1972 and have never been released by the general conference. Elder [G. Homer] Durham says that I was released in 1978, and he and Earl Olson say that publicly, yet there has been no public statement from the First Presidency saying this, nor any letter to me saying so. My assumption is that Elder Durham wrote a letter for the First Presidency to himself, had them sign it, and this suggests in ambiguous terms that I was released in favor of the bureaucratic title Director, History Division. But in the minds of the Saints I am still the Church Historian. It now occurs to me that this is part of a general church practice of continuing to refer to people by titles they have held for a considerable period of time, and which it is tradition to continue to call them by. Thus, once a bishop always a bishop, and people continue to call him Bishop Jones long after he is released. Or President Smith long after his release from a stake presidency. Students of USU who used to know me as counselor to [stake] President Reed Bullen continue to call me President Arrington. In that same sense, then, people continue to call me Church Historian Leonard Arrington. From that point of view it is still true even if Elders Durham and Olson say it isn't. And who is the Church Historian? Elder Durham? People would never do it-he was never sustained as such, never called that, never will be unless formally sustained as such. Without a replacement, it is natural for them to assume that I must still be Church Historian. [Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]
60 years ago today - April 16, 18, 1966
McKay reversed his previous position: "I told Clare that I did not wish these paragraphs deleted; that I gave them and the statement should stand as given; that many people have recordings of the full statement…. These things are very upsetting to me, and the deletion of what I said at Priesthood Meeting is causing a lot of people to question and to wonder what is going on." The deleted paragraphs were restored in the official Conference Report and Improvement Era. His Secretary Clare Middlemiss tried to get the full version published in the next issue of the Church News, but was thwarted by Lawrence McKay. [David O. McKay diary; Gregory A. Prince and Wm. Robert Write, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press (2005)]
190 years ago today - Apr 16, 1836
Future-apostle Charles C. Rich describes his endowment ceremony-experience in the Kirtland Temple: "We then continued to fast and pray until the setting of the sun when we Broke Bread and Drank wine[.] we prophesied all night pronouncing blessings and cursings until the morning light[.] there was Great manifestations of the power of God . . . and I was filled with the spirit of prophesy and I was endued with power from on high."
130 years ago today - Apr 16, 1896; Thursday
I had a long conversation with one of his [Scott Anderson's] sons in reference to the Holy Ghost on which there had been some dispute in Sunday Schools. [Charles W. Penrose, Diary]
135 years ago today - Apr 16, 1891
The First Presidency learns that the U.S. solicitor general and Utah's district attorney have formally agreed "to let loose of our Temple." [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
185 years ago today - Apr 16, 1841
[Wilford Woodruff] [Upon preparing to leave England] "It hath truly been a miricle what God hath wrought by our hands in this land since we have been here & I am asstonished when I look at it for during our Stay here we have esstablished churches in all the most noted cities & towns in this Kingdom have Baptized more than 5,000 souls Printed 5,000 Books of mormon 3000 Hymn Books 2,500 Volumes of the Millennial Star & about 50,000 tracts, & gatherd to the land of Joseph 1,000 Souls & esstablished a great influence among those that trade in ships at sea & lacked for nothing to eat drink or ware. Truly the Lord hath been good." [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
115 years ago today - Apr 15, 1911
Collier's magazine published a letter from Theodore Roosevelt refuting many charges made against Utah Sen. Reed Smoot and the Church. This action helped defuse an anti-Mormon propaganda surge of 1910-11. [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]
180 years ago today - April 15 or Aug 2, 1846
[Wilford Woodruff marriage] Mary Ann Jackson (married at the Nauvoo Temple or at Winter Quarters) Mary Ann was twenty-eight, Wilford was thirty-nine. They had one child, James Jackson, but divorced in 1848. ... Wilford Woodruff met her on his English mission. In his journal, on August 8, 1845, he wrote: I recieved 2 letters & wrote 2. 4 m. Sister Mary Jackson commenced labour with us this day." On August 2, 1846, Woodruff wrote: During the evening President Young And Dr Richards Called at my tent. President Young deliverd an interesting lecture upon the priesthood And the principal of sealing there being present: Phebe W. Woodruff / [Mary] Caroline Barton / Caroline [mistake for Sarah] Brown / Mary Jackson." There is a picture of a large heart with four keys. This is a typical pre-1852 cryptic reference to plural marriages. On August 8, at a time of rebaptisms, Woodruff baptized the trio, and got the names right: Caroline, Sarah, Mary." He also has the names correct on August 26: Caroline Barton and Sarah Brown." He describes them there as members of my family." ... Working for the Woodruffs as housekeeper [in Liverpool], she returned with Phebe and a party of emigrants via New Orleans in January 1846. On April 15, two days after his return to Nauvoo for a reunion with his wife and children, Wilford and his family and friends visited the temple. The records are contradictory, but he married Mary Ann on that occasion or on August 2, at Winter Quarters. ... [Compton, Todd, 'The Wives of Wilford Woodruff', http://toddmcompton.com/WWfamilies.htm]
170 years ago today - Apr 15, 1856
While reading the revelation upon the patriarchal marriage & While reading that paragraph relating to the sheding of innocent Blood President Young remarked that that was a vary nice point to distinguish between innocent Blood & that which is not innocent. Were we now Commanded to go & avenge the Blood of the prophets whare it wood reach infants from the Cradle to the third & forth generation would they know what to do in such a case? They would not. But there is one thing that is a consolation to me And that is I am satisfied that the Lord will not require it of this people untill they become sanctifyed & are led by the spirit of God so as not to shed inocent Blood. Again what does the saying mean that sayes all shall be damned that does not keep this Law unto whom it is revealed? Does it mean that they shall take more wives than one? I think it includes the whole law with its covenants. ... President B. Young then wrote the following words to be put upon one of the Stones of the Temple: Holiness to the Lord The Temple of our God Built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Commenced on the 6th day of April A.D. 1853. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
175 years ago today - Apr 15, 1851
24 free Blacks living in Utah in 1851 [http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/Chronology-Pertaining-to-Blacks-and-the-LDS-Church]
180 years ago today - Apr 15, 1846
[Hosea Stout] [A description of shuffling of assignments of individuals involved in Nauvoo church security is given -- a group with ties to the earlier Danites.] Thus the distinction of the old Police was entirely done away & we could say according to the prophecy of Joseph "Where is the old Police" &c [Diaries of Hosea Stout]
180 years ago today - 1846 Apr 15
Warsaw Signal: Endowment exposé [https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ttN3vOzf2UcVhruCrvDf9pF27T0o0PP0Xj1X98tKBc/edit?fbclid=IwAR3HXLgL-X-M_c5LT2W-_F7AYqsqqaQ0yIhfNuyeFsX85irSPuEO6_Q993A]
150 years ago today - Apr 11, 1876
Stake president and future apostle Francis M. Lyman spends the day studying Buddhism and Confucianism. Four days later he studies Hindu philosophy for half-day. [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
170 years ago today - Apr 14, 1856
I hear that Jacob Lance who was under arrest in Lehi Utah County for an assault with an intent to commit a Rape? on a Danish woman, this morning while his guards were snoozing and he either asleep or nodding had his head split asunder by a woman supposed to be the injured one, who came in and split his head with an axe then gently retiring with out saying a word [Diaries of Hosea Stout]
60 years ago today - Apr 13, 1966
Ernest Wilkinson and Skousen conversed about the John Birch Society: "We would probably agree with 90% of their principles but we both believe that Ezra Taft Benson has made some tactical or procedural errors in trying to vouch President McKay in on everything he has done . . ." [Wilkinson diary, 13 Apr. 1966. From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]
130 years ago today - Apr 13, 1896
[Brigham Young jr.] [Ephraim, Sanpete Co. Considerable excitement over action on former apostle Moses Thatcher] People think he has been reigned up now in his sickness, when the fact is he has been rebellious since the death of Pres[iden]t Jno. Taylor. He has continued to seek to thwart his brethren of the Presidency and Twelve since, he became enraged about "Bullion Beck" business. His spite against Geo[rge] Q. Cannon--and unjustly too [as] far as I know--has soured his mind Pres[iden]t Woodruff says he has sought to rule over his brethren other apostles say Moses has sought to exercise unrighteous dominion over his brethren. How we have wept and prayed over this man. He has caused more tears to flow from my eyes than all my other griefs private & public since the death of Pres[ident] Jno. Taylor. I pray for Moses--for the Lord to soften his heart. Some say he has bad advisers. He is weak now in mind & body but his rebellion began when he was in health. [Diary of Apostle Brigham Young Jr., http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
100 years ago today - Apr 13, 1926
[Heber J. Grant] I know of no instance where the Lord has appeared to an individual since His appearance to the Prophet Joseph Smith. [Heber J. Grant, Letter to Mrs. Claud Peery, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
160 years ago today - 1866. April 13
Butch Cassidy: Born Robert LeRoy Parker in Beaver, Utah, the eldest of thirteen children. He was baptized at the age of eight. Temple work was performed in his behalf by his brother-in-law in 1945. [Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
170 years ago today - Apr 13, 1856
[Orson Pratt] Our first parents through transgressing the law of God, brought death into the world, but through the death of Jesus Christ, life and immortality were introduced. The one brings into bondage; the other gives us hope of escape, of redemption, that we may come forth with the same kind of body that Adam had before the fall, a body of immortal flesh and bones. Adam and Eve were immortal, the same as resurrected beings, but previous to their transgression they had no knowledge of good and evil. After the redemption we will not only have the same kind of bodies that they possessed in the garden of Eden before the fall, but we will have a knowledge of good and evil through our experience. [J. D. 3:344; Discourse by Orson Pratt delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City; April 13, 1856, quoted in Quotations Dealing with the Relationship of Our First Earthly Parents to Our Heavenly Parents (1830-1978)]
165 years ago today - Apr 12, 1861
Officially, Governor Cumming was on a leave of absence, but the citizens of Utah knew that his hasty departure meant that he did not intend to return. General Albert Sidney Johnston, another leading figure in the territory, also left the area during the same period. Both men's actions were a result of events in South Carolina on 12 April 1861, when the Confederate Army attacked the federal garrison at Fort Sumter. [Utah History Encyclopedia: Civil War, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/]
60 years ago today - Apr 12, 1966
[David O. McKay] Attention was called to the application of Sister I--- R------- P----- for permission to do the sealing work in the Temple for her father, Joseph E. Robinson, and his three wives. ... Attention was also called to a ruling made by me on March 3, 1964, [that] * "in the case of polygamous marriages performed in Mexico before the Manifesto, and there [is] no official record, the work should be done again." ... I stated that if the polygamous marriage took place prior to the state ment by President Joseph F. Smith in 1904 to the effect that polygamous marriages could not be solemnized anywhere in the world, * the work could be performed for the parties concerned or the President of the Church could ratify the marriages that had been performed. It was agreed that the simpler way would be to ratify the marriages * We reversed the decision made in our meeting of March 23, 1966, and ruled that it would be inadvisable to ratify purported sealings performed for Joseph E. Robinson and three women. In giving this matter further consideration, we had in mind that were the Church to adopt the policy of ratifying polygamous marriages that took place prior to the announcement by President Joseph F. Smith in 1904 * it would let down the flood gates and descendants of many polygamous marriages performed after the Manifesto would make application for permission to have the purported sealings of their parents or grandparents ratified, and perhaps in some cases where the individuals entering into these relationships have been excommunicated from the Church, there would be individuals such as cultists and others. The former action was therefore rescinded and it was decided to notify Sister I--- R------- P----- that the case of Joseph E. Robinson and the three women referred to would have to be left in the hands of the Lord for decision by Him in the Hereafter. [David O. McKay diary, Mar. 23, Apr. 12, 1966; hyphens added to conceal the individual's identity, in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]
60 years ago today - Apr 11, 1966
The son of a previous First Presidency counselor publicly called Ezra Taft Benson "the most divisive influence in the church today." [H. Grant Ivins, "Most Divisive Influence," Salt Lake Tribune, 11 Apr. 1966,18. His father was Anthony W. Ivins, First Presidency counselor from 1921 to 1934. From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]
165 years ago today - Apr 11, 1861
The President [Brigham Young] had some conversation with Pres- [ident] D.H. Wells about the Signs of the times. They were speaking of the Spirit of Secession that prevails in California. The President remarked the Lord will first disunite them. He could not establish his Kingdom while they were united together, so he separates them. ... This Nation continued the President will become like the Toes of the Image, and the toes will be ground first, then the ankles and so on. -- 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]
185 years ago today - Apr 11, 1841
Joseph Smith and Rigdon rebaptize each other for remission of sins and "renewal of covenants." Church leaders would promote rebaptism for all members during a religious reformation beginning May 1842. In the future, four temples would perform 7,788 baptisms for renewal of covenants from 1877 through 1893. This ordinance would be officially discontinued in 1922. [Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Appendix 7: Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47, http://amzn.to/origins-power]
125 years ago today - Apr 11, 1901
The Daughters of Utah Pioneers was organized April 11, 1901 under the leadership of Annie M. Taylor Hyde (daughter of John Taylor) in Salt Lake City. Forty-six women, all of pioneer decent, gathered at her home for the first meeting. At the meeting she stated that she ". . .felt deeply impressed with the importance and desirability of the children of pioneers becoming associated together, in some kind of organization which would have for its object the cementing together in the bonds of friendship and love the descendants" of the early pioneers. [Utah History Encyclopedia: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/]
170 years ago today - Apr 11, 1856
[Heber C. Kimball marriage] wife #42. Elizabeth Doty (Cravath Murray Brown), 1808-1889. Mother of Helen Mar's sister-wife, time only. [Hatch, Charles M. and Compton, Todd M. editors, 'A Widow's Tale: 1884-1896 Diary of Helen Mar Kimball Whitney' p. 37]
135 years ago today - Apr 9, 1891
The polygamist [Hans] Jespersen, who is now in prison, and was married in the Endowment House just before it was demolished, threatens to tell who performed the ceremony unless something is done for him immediately. The person [Franklin D. Richards] is liable, if discovered, to two years' imprisonment and a $1,000.00 fine, for officiating in a plural marriage. It was decided that F[rancis] M. Lyman and James Jack visit him and others of the 18 brethren now imprisoned, tomorrow, and assure them that no pains shall be spared to effect their release. They will be advised to sign a dispatch to the U.S. Att[orne]y. Gen[era]'l in Washington [D.C.], promising hereafter to obey the law. Jespersen is to be counseled to telegraph to Utah Pros[ecuting] Att[orne]y [Charles S.] Varian, who is now in Washington, making a similar promise. Thus the effort will be made to immediately relieve these brethren, who are now confined in their cells for 22 out of 24 hrs., and are not by themselves, but mixed up with the "toughs." Warden [Oscar] Vandercook will be asked to authenticate the prisoners' messages. [Abraham H. Cannon (Author), Edward Leo Lyman (Editor), Candid Insights of a Mormon Apostle: The Diaries of Abraham H. Cannon, 1889-1895, Signature Books]
30 years ago today - Apr 10, 1996
Mormon investors announce they are purchasing Southern Virginia College (SVC), four months after it loses accreditation as a two-year school and one month before its closing, to turn it into a Mormon school without official sponsorship by LDS headquarters. The likely success of this unprecedented idea is indicated by its announcement in the Church News and choice of David Ferrel as the college's new president. He is a senior employee of recently appointed general authority Richard B. Wirthlin who formally endorses the school. Having arranged for LDS congressmen to pressure the accrediting association to reconsider its decision, the newly installed Mormon trustees announce that SVC will be a four-year college with a starting freshman class of 400 students who meet the same standards of conduct and entrance requirements as at BYU. [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
70 years ago today - Apr 10, 1956
[J. Reuben Clark] [During a telephone conversation with Utah Governor J. Bracken Lee:] Gov. Lee: I said to them [non-members] you are never going to have any success in Utah unless you let the leaders of the Church give you some advice. You better make it a point to talk with the Church officials to find out if they are going along with it or not. [The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]
75 years ago today - Apr 10, 1951
[Letter on behalf of the First Presidency] "... The hearts of the Brethren bleed with sorrow over the lot of yourself and millions of others [black people] who find themselves in the same situation but for which neither the Brethren nor the Church is in any way responsible... I am happy to tell you that from the very beginning the Brethren have said that ultimately the restraint under which you now rest will be removed, and that, as President Woodruff expressed it, 'The day will come when all that race will be redeemed and possess all the blessings which we now have.' ... Under this principle there is no injustice whatsoever involved in this deprivation as to the holding of the priesthood by the negroes.' ... there is nothing the Brethren can do about removing the restraints until the Lord speaks again. Your place was determined by the Lord himself, and the only underlying principle of which we are aware is that which the Lord himself announced. The point I should like to leave with you is briefly that the Lord assigned you your place for reasons which He himself had, and a part of which, at least, he has given to us." [Joseph Anderson, Letter to Herbert A. Ford, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
120 years ago today - Apr 10, 1906
[George F. Richards] "Pres[iden]t Lyman and John Henry Smith especially were emphatic in the denunciation of the actions of those brethren who had been teaching and practicing plural marriage since the issuance of the manifesto [illegible] and in sustaining Pres[iden]ts [Wilford] Woodruff, [Lorenzo] Snow & [Joseph F.] Smith in the attitude they have taken on that question. We by motion [e]ndorsed Pres[iden]t Lymans views." [George F. Richards, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
75 years ago today - Apr 9, 1951
Conference sustains David O. McKay as church president with Stephen L. Richards and J. Reuben Clark as counselors. This demotion of Clark from first counselor stuns many Mormons, including the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. For the first time in its history, the Twelve "ordains" the church president and then sets apart McKay and his counselors. McKay is also the first church president who graduated from college (University of Utah). [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
120 years ago today - Apr 9, 1906
.... At the conclusion of the meeting, the Presidency and Apostles repaired to the Temple, where we received valuable instructions from President Joseph F. Smith, after which the new members were ordained and set apart as members of the Quorum by President Joseph F. Smith as follows: George F. Richards, Orson F. Whitney, David O. McKay. All the members of the Twelve were present except George Teasdale, Heber J. Grant, and Reed Smoot. We had regular a Pentacost and brethren wept in one another's embrace. At 5:00 P.M. we and our wives met at President [John R.] Winder's home at 49 West Temple Street where we partook of a bountiful repast, after which President Smith dedicated the home of President Winder. Had talks, singing and music and a wonderful evening. [George F. Richards, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
120 years ago today - Apr 09, 1906
Apostles Taylor and Cowley resignations made public. David O McKay was one of the new apostles appointed, and was the first apostle in over 60 years who was not connected by polygamy. [Exploring Mormonism: Polygamy Timeline, http://www.exploringmormonism.com/polygamy-timeline/]
120 years ago today - Apr 9, 1906
.... Nineteen years ago this coming summer, Apostle John W. Taylor predicted to me that I would be an Apostle. We were travelling together south and were on the train about opposite Murray. I little dreamed, nor did he, that I would succeed him in the Quorum. He was always very good to me. ' For several years I had paid little or no attention to religion, and though naturally of a spiritual temperament, and possessed of deep veneration, for the Supreme Being had become careless and indifferent, like many others, and had contracted a distaste for sacred things. This was due largely to the company I kept, but most of all to ignorance of the true meaning and import of religion. I had, for some reason, despite the best of teachings, come to regard meetings and sacred gatherings more as laces of punishment than of instruction. I carried this aversion to such an extent that if I picked up a book and saw the word 'God' or 'angel' or anything about heaven religion in it, I would at once lay it down, as of no interest. All this time I never doubted God's existence or that I was one of his children and would often, though not regularly, pray. to Him It was reported that I was an infidel, but this was not true; I was only reckless and disobedient. [Orson F. Whitney, Diary and Autobiography, pp. 35-36, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
120 years ago today - Apr 9, 1906
Our Dear Brother George F. Richards: In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by virtue of the Melchizedek Priesthood conferred upon us, we lay our hands upon your head and ordain you an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and say unto you, receive ye the spirit, the witness and testimony of this Apostleship, to the end that you may have power to testify of the redemption and salvation that comes through Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, and that the Prophet Joseph Smith was chosen and ordained of God to accomplish the mission given to him, to establish the gospel of salvation anew to the world, never more to be taken from the earth. ... [Ordination Blessing of George F. Richards, in 'Record of Conference Addresses Delivered by George F. Richards in the Salt Lake Tabernacle', as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
95 years ago today - Apr 7, 1931
[George F. Richards] "I was all forenoon with the Presidency & other General Authorities receiving decision of Presidency in the case of B. H. R[oberts]. vs. J[oseph]. F[ielding]. S[mith]. Jr. Free discussion ensured and decision approved. The subject of Pre-Adamites not to be discussed in public by the brethren either for or against the theory, as the Church has not declared itself and its attitude on the question." [George F. Richards, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
155 years ago today - Apr 9, 1871
Apostle Orson Pratt: "... a temple will be reared on the spot [Jackson County] that has been selected, [by the finger of the Lord] and the corner-stone of which has been laid, in the generation when this revelation was given; we just as much expect this as we expect the sun to rise in the morning and set in the evening.... But says the objector, "thirty-nine years have passed away." What of that? The generation has not passed away; all the people that were living thirty-nine years ago have not passed away; but before they do pass away this will be fulfilled." (1832 September 22, D&C 84:1-5,31,32) [Journal of Discourses, vol. 14, p. 275 http://journalofdiscourses.com/14/38, as quoted in The Last Days and December 1890 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ, y George D. Speer Sr., privately circulated]
130 years ago today - Apr 7, 1896
President Joseph F. Smith addressed the Assembly which filled the body of the hall. He dwelt on the importance of every officer of the Church being united in spirit and in harmony with the First Presidency and the Twelve. He thought it would be much better for such officers as were unable to be in harmony to ask to be released from their official positions, than to continue in office while entertaining feelings of hostility to those whom God had placed to lead and direct the Church. He expressed regret that he could not speak with that freedom which he desired in consequence of the feeling that there were some present in whom his confidence was not very strong... President Cannon ... gave some counsel on the subject of recommendations for second annointings. Worthy old people should be selected as a rule, and Bishops should select faithful persons and confer with their Stake Presidents before recommending them for that blessing. ... [Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
75 years ago today - Sun Apr 8, 1951
[David O. McKay Office Journal] 4:30 p.m.--Special council meeting was held in the Salt Lake Temple. Presented to the Twelve the names of my counselors--Elder Stephen L. Richards as First Counselor, and Pres. J. Reuben Clark, Jr. as Second Counselor. [McKay, David O., Office Journal]
120 years ago today - Apr 8, 1906
[J. Golden Kimball] Apostles Jno. [John] W Taylor and Mat[t]hias F Cowley resigned from the Apostleship. It is a political move to protect the Church of L[atter]. D[ay]. S[aints]., as the Church is on trial before Congress. Bro[ther] Taylor & Cowley are the rams caught in the thicket and are offered as a sacrifice. [J. Golden Kimball, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
125 years ago today - Apr 8, 1901; Monday
Meeting of Presidency, Apostles & Church Officers. Prest. [Lorenzo] Snow said that persons who are recom- mended for second anointings should be those who have made an exceptional record, that they are persons who will never apostatize. Prests. of Stakes assume a great responsibility when they recommend persons for second anointings. ... Conference Report, Apr. 1901, 57-58. Now I [Lorenzo Snow] wish to say a word in regard to going back to Jackson County [Missouri]. The time is nearer than many of us suppose. I want to impress upon the minds of all that they cannot go back to Jackson Co. unless the[y] obey the law of tithing. Jos[eph] Smith had a book in which all of the names of tithe payers was recorded which was called the Book of the law of the Lord. This church as a church will never go back to Jackson Co. till the people learn to observe the law of the Lord. I fear that some of the bishops do not fully believe in the law of tithing. Excellent counsel. Heber [J. Grant] sang ["]The Holy City.["] Should Masquerade balls be permitted among the Saints? We do not approve of such parties but they should be controlled by kindness & persuasion & not by coer[c]ion. Bro. Jos[eph]. F. Smith said no man receives a fullness of the Melchisedec Priesthood till he has recd his second anointings. Men recommended for this sacred ordinance should be men of God whose faith & integrity are unquestioned. Heber J. Grant spoke. Referred to his singing as an example that a person can accomplish anything which he undertakes to do. ...Apostle John W. Taylor said when the Apostles or Priests. of 70 visited the stakes don't put 2 in 1 bed but give them a clean bad & good house keeper. He killed 143 bed bugs in one bed at one time. [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]
145 years ago today - Friday, Apr 8, 1881
At 10 rode with Prest. [John] Taylor to the Council of 50-George Reynolds admitted a member. G[eorge] Q. C[annon] gave charge &c. etc. Prest Taylor occupied morning with a Discourse upon the nature & objects of the Council[.] Adj[ourned] till 2.p.m. 2 p.m. John R. Winder & John T. Ca[i]ne were admitted to membership & received charge obligation & pass word from the Secretary Geo Q. Cannon. Prest. J[oseph] F. Smith justified the course of the last Legislature [as] also did Prest L[orenzo] Snow[,] Prest of Legislative Council[.] Adjournd til May 18-10 a.m. to consider certain points. [Franklin D. Richards journal, as quoted in Jedediah S. Rogers (editor), The Council of Fifty: A Documentary History, Signature Books (2014)]
165 years ago today - Apr 7, 1861
In the afternoon Presidet Brigham Young Spoke to the people in the spirit & power of God upon Principle. He spoke upon the subject of the Patriarchal Marriage. He said if a man took more than one wife upon the principle of passion instead of principle it will prove a Curse instead of a Blessing. If a woman is sealed to a good man she should be satisfied & attend to her own business & let her husband alone & not be watching him all the time. Women are sealed to men to bring forth Children & not to gratify passion & much was said upon this subjet. ... Before leaving the Circle room Presidet Young said I want to say a few words to Brother Orson Hyde. At the opening of this general Conference I was there one minute before the time, & Brother Hyde had opened the Conference had prayers & singing & I must say I was mortified. I am the president of the whole Church & it is my place to preside at a general Conference. Did you ever know me [to] step foreward in the days of Joseph & take his place & open a General Conference without he directed me to do it? Or did you ever know me interfere with the rights of any man? No you have not. I should have waited an hour after the time before I should have opened the Conference but Brother Hyde opened it before the time & he has served me the same several times and I dont want to see it any more. Elder Orson Hyde said it never Entered my heart that I was doing wrong. ... Presidet Young said Now I will ask all of you how would you feel if you had a work to do which God & the heavens held you responsible for & just as you was about to step forth to do it another man should rise up & take it out of your hands Before the people as though you was not qualifyed to Do it or was neglecting your duty. You would not like it. ... [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
175 years ago today - Apr 7, 1851
Brigham Young is sustained "prophet, seer, and revelator," first time since 1836. He presents himself this way at conferences until 1859 and again, 1872 to his death. [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
185 years ago today - Apr 6, 1841
In celebration of the twelfth anniversary of the Church, 16 companies of the Nauvoo Legion march in review before a huge crowd. Sidney Rigdon then gives a speech before those who have gathered to watch the parade. The southeast cornerstone of the temple, representing the First Presidency, is laid with great ceremony. (The basement of the temple was dug and walled before this time in readiness for the cornerstone.) The high priests then lay a second cornerstone; the high council lays the third cornerstone; and the bishops lay the fourth cornerstone. [Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
195 years ago today - Apr 07, 1831
Martin Harris sells part of his farm and pays E. B. Grandin for the cost of printing the Book of Mormon.
165 years ago today - Apr 6, 1861
Brigham Young tells conference it is necessary "to grease the wheels" (bribe federal officials). "To show how minutely corruption prevails where justice should exist," Young gives example where it was necessary to pay $1,300 bribe "to get our claims paid for expenditures in quelling Indian disturbances in 1853." This is the first announcement of the First Presidency's policy to bribe federal officials when necessary. Historian Wallace D. Farnham once described the frequent graft in nineteenth-century federal government as the "weakened spring of government" in America. [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
170 years ago today - Apr 6, 1856
[George A. Smith] The inaccurate "Milk Strippings" story is first preached in General Conference. [Journal of Discourses, http://jod.mrm.org]
180 years ago today - Apr 6, 1846
At a Strangite high council meeting, Jehiel Savage testifies against the conduct of the Twelve at Nauvoo: "There was an institution called Aunt Peggy, by means of which one Carl was whip[p]ed &...one Peck was annointed [with human excrement]." [Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Appendix 7: Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47, http://amzn.to/origins-power]
185 years ago today - April 6, 7, 8, 9, 1841. Tuesday-Friday.
.... The names of the official characters [as presented in General Conference] are as follows Joseph Smith first president Sidney Rigdon and Wm. Law councillor. Brother Law was appointed councillor at this conference in the stead of Hyrum Smith who was appointed a Prophet Seer and Revelator according to a revelation given January 19, 1841. Brother Law was objected to by our quorum but honourably elected after investigation. On account of the ill health of Sidney Rigdon John C. Bennett was appointed in his stead until Brother Rigdons health improved. ... [George D. Smith, An Intimate Chronicle; The Journals of William Clayton, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1995, http://bit.ly/WilliamClayton]
185 years ago today - Apr 6, 1841
Cornerstones laid for Nauvoo Temple; among other books and items, a Bible is laid but only after the Apocryphia is added to it (torn from one of the member's family Bible) to make it complete [Samuel Miles]. Sidney Rigdon officiates at the ceremony and gives a hour long speech. This is practically Rigdon's last official act in the Church until the spring of 1844. [Broadhurst, Dale R., Mormon Chronology, http://olivercowdery.com/history/morchrn2.htm]
60 years ago today - Apr 5, 1966
[Mark E. Anderson to David O. McKay, 5 Apr. 1966, MS 3744, LDS archives. From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]
85 years ago today - Apr 5, 1941
After the Priesthood meeting I had a little talk with Harold B. Lee and told him we had decided that he should fill the vacancy in the quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was overwhelmed and shed tears. I feel sure that we shall be very happy with his work.
[The Diaries of Heber J. Grant, 1880-1945, Abridged, Digital Edition Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015]
120 years ago today - Apr 5, 1906
[Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
125 years ago today - Apr 5, 1901
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
130 years ago today - Apr 5, 1896
[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]
130 years ago today - Apr 5, 1896
[Regarding the political manifesto] "I was spoken to privately by Pres[iden]t Woodruff that he wanted me to carry it to M. Thatcher if he chooses to sign it. All seemed anxious that I should have a partner I wanted Pres[iden]t L. Snow." Thatcher was not up when they arrived and kept the document by permission and sent it to the office without his signature. "He could not coincide with the whole doctrine but hoped when he got better in health he might see it." Young notes that he has had the principles before him for two years; "I was full of sorrow so were all the Brethren." Document was read and accepted unanimously by the Conference.
[Diary of Apostle Brigham Young Jr., http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
145 years ago today - Apr 5, 1881
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
150 years ago today - Apr 5, 1876
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
185 years ago today - Apr 5, 1841
Though Mormon history and press indicate Beaman was not baptized until May 11, 1843, she had migrated with Mormons to Nauvoo in 1839 or 1840. She has been called the "first plural wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith" [although he had at least one earlier relationship]. After Smith's death, Beaman remarried, becoming the ninth wife of Brigham Young. They had five children together, all of whom predeceased Beaman, who died young at age 35. Listed as a Smith plural wife by Joseph F. Smith, who noted 1869 affidavit of Beaman's brother-in-law Joseph B. Noble, stating he officiated at the wedding, William Clayton said Smith told him in February 1843 that Beaman was one of his plural wives. This would have been prior to her baptism.
[Wikipedia: List of the Wives of Joseph Smith, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_wives_of_Joseph_Smith]
45 years ago today - Apr 4, 1981
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
75 years ago today - 1951. April 4
As church president, he also was president of many church-controlled corporations: Beneficial Life Insurance Company, Utah Hotel Company, Utah Home Fire Insurance Company, Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, Utah First National Bank, Zion's Savings Bank and Trust, ZCMI, and Zions Securities Corporation. He was president of the Church Board of Education, which controlled LDS educational institutions, and was also editor of the church's official magazines. He expedited welfare shipments to Latter-day Saints in Europe at the end of World War II, supervised the reconciliation of 1,200 Latter-day Saints in Mexico who had formed a schismatic group, and expanded programs to help American Indians. A person of compassion, he worked especially in the interests of the youth of the church, the troubled, the poor, and the underprivileged.
[Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies;Utah History Encyclopedia: George Albert Smith, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/]
95 years ago today - Apr 4, 1931
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
115 years ago today - Apr 4, 1911
Spent the day in Quarterly Meeting with the Apostles. Presented to the Council my proposition that a portion of our time in these meetings be devoted to the reading and discussion of leading questions of the day, religious, scientific, political, philosophical, &c. [including evolution], with a view to a common understanding and unanimity of view concerning the same. The brethren were pleased with the suggestion and it was adopted unanimously.
[Orson F. Whitney, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
125 years ago today - Thursday, Apr 4, 1901
Apostle M. F. Cowley called attention to the labors of the Seven Presidents of Seventies. Said they had been very faithful and through their labors he was satisfied that the tithing of the church had been greatly increased. Inasmuch as some of them were in straightened circumstances, notably Brother B. H. Roberts (the latter was now acting as a life insurance agent), he felt that the compensation of the Seven Presidents of Seventies should be increased.
President Snow said that nothing could be done in the matter at present. We have not arrived at a point where we can say to the general authorities of the church: "Give up all your financial affairs, devote your whole time to the work, and the church will provide fully for you; but that time is coming."
[President Snow:] Said that there are many bishops in the church, who are not capable and efficient in their official calling, many of them not being naturally endowed with the qualifications for the bishopric. In all such cases they should be released and others planted in their stead. ...
The sacrament was then administered, Pres. J. F. Smith being month in pronouncing the blessing upon the bread and wine. ...
[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]
130 years ago today - Apr 4, 1896 (Saturday)
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
145 years ago today - Apr 4, 1881
Report of Logen Temple was Given. Donations from Cache Stake was $143,433, Bear Lake $38,134.64 Box Elder $36,733.49, Trustee in trust $78,705.19, from other sources $660, Total $297,666.32. Sanpete [Manti] Temple Reported as having Received $250,235.40. Total in the two Temples $547,901.72.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]