The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs in a nationally broadcast church service on the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for September 11 victims.
[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Newsroom, http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=036eb2987ff92110VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRDvgnextchannel=9ae411154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD]
[George F. Richards]
Attended regular weekly council meeting in temple. At this meeting J Leo Fairbanks, the artist showed to the Presidency, the Twelve & Patriarch present, sketches of new designs of painting for the newly plastered walls of the World room of the Salt Lake Temple but the brethren decided to vote to have the former painting of walls reproduced as nearly as possible from photographs and sketches taken before the plaster was removed.
[George F. Richards 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]
[Hyrum Smith]
Administers to William McLellin, who is instantly healed.
[Jeffrey S. O'Driscoll, Hyrum Smith: A Life of Integrity, A Brief Chronology of the Life of Hyrum Smith: 1800-1844]
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that David Knowlton, a social anthropologist at BYU, was called in by his stake president "less than a week" after his presentation in Sunstone in Salt Lake City about why leftist terrorists in Latin America target the church. He protests the "intimidation" in writing to his academic officers with copies to President Ezra Taft Benson. Rex Lee, president of BYU, comments, "This is just not a BYU matter."
Ca. 22 September 1991. The long-awaited Encyclopedia of Mormonism appears. Such periodicals as Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Sunstone, and Exponent II, though separately indexed, are discussed only in an article entitled "Societies and Organizations" (3:1387-90).
[Anderson, Lavina Fielding, "The LDS Intellectual Community and Church Leadership: A Contemporary Chronology," Dialogue, Vol.26, No.1]
Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, and Oliver Cowdery begin to purchase large amounts of property in Geauga County, Ohio, to sell to immigrants settling in the area.
[Mark Lyman Staker, Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith's Ohio Revelations: A Selective Chronology of Significant Events in Ohio's LDS History]
[The Freedom Censor, Fredonia NY]
"He has all necessary implements for finding and securing the fleeting treasure; the mineral rod, hazel sticks, crow-bars and bibles." ... "He has no doubt of it, provided he can vanquish the spirits that continually guard it, and break the charm that constantly surrounds it."
["Money Digging," The Freedom Censor, (Fredonia, NY), 14 September 1831, as quoted in A Topical Guide of Treasure-Seeking Rituals From the American Northeast during the 18th and 19th Centuries, Compiled by Joseph T. Antley (2010)]
David Fullmer of the Com[mittee] [Council of Fifty] to visit Gen[era]l [Uriah] Brown said he saw B[rown]. Told him our wish that he should remain-his family should be brought on-his services [to create a "liquid fire" weapon] were wanted here-and we would do by him as we do by each other...
[Selected Minutes of the Council of Fifty, Quinn Papers, Beinecke Library, as quoted in Jedediah S. Rogers (editor), The Council of Fifty: A Documentary History, Signature Books (2014)]
[Brigham Young:] But the time has come when we must have law and order in our midst. There has been some feelings of late in the camp because some unruly boys [enagaging in "night ramblings" with two of Wilford Woodruff's new teenage wives] have been floged by the Marshall for there wickedness. But if this Camp is not willing to let law & order reign here & put a stop to such wickedness I wish you to let me know it & I will go away from you. For those that wish to sustain crime & corruption let them return & strike hands with the mob & carry out there principles & be dammed. But if you want to do right say so. This people have been driven here for there desires to do righteousness. And this wickedness shall be put a stop to that has been manifest in the camp by certain young people of late. Yes it will be stoped if God come out & smites it by Judgment.
The Marshall did not whip them hard enough. If He had they would not have spit out there revenge but it would have been whiped out of them. If I am drove to the necessity of whipping a person in such A case they will not spit out revenge afterwards for I will whip it out of them.
Shall we any longer sustain in our midst men that will carry out the principles [spiritual wifery] of John C Bennet and other corrupt scoundrils? No I will sware by the Eternal God of Heaven such Conduct shall be stoped & shall not be permitted in this camp. For if they continue it I will tell the Marshall what the law is & they shall be taken Care of in a manner that they will not whine. And I will whip any man that will sustain it. For those that will sustain it shall be whiped. And I prophecy in the name of God such a man whether old or young shall be bowed down with sorrow & morning even more than this people have.
Then stop before you further go & not sport upon the brink of sorrow & morning. This people have the Law of Liberty & the gospel & the more the light & liberty & greater the privileges the stricter the Law. We are going into the wilderness & shall we suffer such things? No. I swear by the Eternal God such things shall not be while Brigham lives.
Br Kimball gave a good shot when He said no man [would] run into his waggon & swore he would shot the Marshall if he come after him except he was guilty of crime. No man is afraid except he is guilty. No man need be afraid that does right. I defy the world to say I have taken any roans right. But after we have been driven into the wilderness we are still followed by men who sware they will steal what they have in our midst. I sware they shall not have it in our midst.
Some young Elders that never preached a sermon in their lives are afraid that I shall have more blessings than they, or more wives or sumthing or other. But let them go & preach the world over as I have done in poverty and distress with Blood in my Shoes & spent years & years at it & left my wife & Children who have also suffered much. Let them do as we have done & they will not be jealous of me about blessings. If the Lord should give me a thousand women is it any mans business? No. Let such go and spend as much time as I have And there will be many clinging on to there skirts to be saved.
The majority of the men of the gentile world will be damned and the women wish to be saved by going with good men. And a woman that has the spirit of God will go with a good man who has been faithful & spent much of his time in saveing mankind and has the priesthood. Such men if they continue faithful will be saved in eternal Glory & those that are with him. I am determined that my affections shall be with God. I will not allow them to be placed on things that perish. When plagues & diseases get hold of our bodies we become loathsome & beauty fades away but our affections should be placed upon things that are Noble exhalted lasting & glorious. I love an exhalted mind for it is eternal & cannot fade. I want all my affections to be subject to God and glory & eternal life. May God bless you. Amen.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
Orson Pratt preaches: "the sectarian world say that about six thousand years ago God made all things out of nothing. When it can be demonstrated that light is thirty thousand years in coming from the fixed stars to earth, consequently that light was in existence at least twenty-four thousand years before this earth."
[John Henry Smith]
We received a letter saying Photos had been taken of the Interior of the Temple.
[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]
[William Clayton]
President Young brought me $8 in money, one half dollar bogus ...
[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]
I met in council in the evening with the 12 & H Council & we had a good time. B Young Addressed us for a time in the power of God. He spoke of the Camp being infested with some unruly young men & they had been whipped for wicked conduct ["night ramblings" with Wilford Woodruff's new teenage brides] & they had made threats and others had sustained them in it. He said evil must be put down in the camp. Our council held untill 11 oclock.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
[Mormon Tabernacle Choir]
A regularly scheduled choir concert becomes a September 11 memorial service.
[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Newsroom, http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=036eb2987ff92110VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRDvgnextchannel=9ae411154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD]
D&C 64] "... I the Lord willeth to retain a strong hold in the Land of Kirtland for the space of five years in the which I will not overthrow the wicked that thereby I may save some & after that day I the Lord will not hold any guilty that shall go with open hearts up to the Land of Zion ..."
[Book of Commandments and Revelations (Revelation Book 1) http://bit.ly/manuscript-revelations]
Anti-Masonic martyer William Morgan is released from jail in Canandaigua, 12 miles from the Smith farm. Joseph Smith would be jailed there for debt in late 1830.
[Grunder, Rick, Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source]
Heber J. Grant and his wife August act as proxies for the vicarious endowment of Warren G. Harding and his wife and for their proxy sealing. Although Apostle Wilford Woodruff was a proxy for the baptism of deceased U.S. presidents in 1877, Grant is apparently the first church president to act as a proxy for a deceased U.S. president. On 29 Sept. Grant and Apostle Reed Smoot are also proxies for the vicarious endowments of Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
President Cannon related some of the experiences of the brethren on their visit to California. He feared that the Elders were wasting valuable time in their efforts to reclaim members of the Church who had separated from the body of the Church, and had lost the spirit of the Gospel. ... Elder John Henry Smith suggested that the results of the labors of the missionaries now in the field should be known that it might be considered whether the results justified the expenditure of so much money and labor during the present time of stringency. President Cannon suggested that in the absence of President Lorenzo Snow, Elder F[ranklin]. D. Richards confer with the rest of the Apostles with a view of ascertaining what Brother Smith had suggested.
[Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
U.S. president Benjamin Harrison grants a pardon to fellow Republican and second counselor Joseph F. Smith for outstanding warrants for his arrest on polygamy.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Comedian, writer, and actor Steve (wild and crazy guy) Martin remarks at a Toronto Film Festival press conference concerning rumors that he is a Mormon: "I'm not a Mormon. That rumor dates back to Father of the Bride," explained Martin. "In one scene the shirt I was wearing was thin enough that you could see the undershirt. Apparently it looked like the garment some Mormon men wear under their clothes." Among Mormons rumors have circulated that Martin had been seen on the Tonight Show wearing a CTR ring, that he had been "secretly baptized," and that he had taught a class at BYU Education Week.
[J. Reuben Clark]
Mark Peterson called about the Dream Mine situation; they have information that a Joseph Geertsten, of McKay Ward, in High Council of Wells Stake, is active in this. He wanted to tell Pres. Clark about it before proceeding. Pres. Clark suggested that they get as much information as they can before proceeding. They might then get in touch with the Securities Commission about their selling the stock. The Dream Miners have weekly meetings on Thursday and the News representative is attending them. The source of information was a woman whose brother-in-law is a dream miner and has been going to the meetings with Geersten. At the meetings they learned the mine was to produce on August 27th, but it didn't happen, and the word is now that they expect it to come through any time.
[The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]
Apostle (and trained scientist) John A. Widsoe writes from England that he thinks James E. Talmadge's speech "The Earth and Man" should be published by the Church as it is. The speech accepts geologist's determination of the age of the earth and that fossils are remnants of life that lived and died before Adam. A group of three apostles, including Joseph Fielding Smith, is adamantly against publication of the speech. After two months of meetings (one lasting seven hours) the speech is published and later issued as a pamphlet.
[Brigham Young]
Br. Dimmock [Huntington] also stated the Indians occasionally had what they called a whore dance, which was lewd and wrong. President said he should drive away the boys that congregated, round the Indians, and whip the Indians that they might desist from these dances and practices. -- 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]
B[righam] Young said I will put the motion. Will the Sisters + vote to quit using tea & coffee? The Brethren have voted not to use tobaco.
I will speak of the Bishops. I spoke of them yesterday, & reproved them sharply. Some wanted me to offer an apology to them. I will not. I will see them in Hell before I will do it. If this people do not do Better than the Bishops have they will [go to hell] And if you do not do better than you have done you will go to Hell.......
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
President Young said, there would be traveling Bishops, to visit the Bishops in their respective wards, to see that they do their duty, and if they do not do it, they will be removed out of their place and others put in; when Nathaniel H. Felt, was nominated as one of the traveling Presiding Bishops, under Bishop Edward Hunter'"Carried. -- Salt Lake City
[The Latter-day Saints Millennial Star. Also Millennial Star Supplement, Manchester- Liverpool, England, 1840-1970. 14:34-35, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
[John Henry Smith]
Salt Lake City
It is announced from Cape May that Jos. F. Smith is amnestied by the President [of the United States].
[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]
a game of chess by telephone was played between Salt Lake and Ogden on Sunday. Salt Lake won. This is probably the first instance of telephonic chess on record.
[History to Go, Statehood, http://historytogo.utah.gov/timeline/statehood.html]
[Hosea Stout]
Monday September 7th 1846. Went to see President Young after breakfast and reported what [had] been done which he said was all right and perfectly satisfactory on his part but said for me to use utmost care to keep down any undue excitement from those who did not understand the Laws & ordinances of this kingdom [regarding whipping three boys for "night ramblings" with Wilford Woodruff's new teenage brides.]
I then went with the Marshall over to Hebers camp as we had understood that there was many who were hard against us over there. So we went & got G. W. Langley & W. J. Earl and went round the camp saluting every one friendly that we met & passed off and in an hour or so it was reported that we were after some four or five more to whip and so great was the excitement that some even went in their waggons & was prepared to shoot in case we came
By this means we, as we anticipated, learned who their accomplices in crime were. For of course no one was scared who was not guilty or aiding & abetting those who were and in fact some were in this way detected whom I little would have supposed to be any way engaged in such things. I still kept on the look out all day with some of the police to see that all was going right and saw A. Lyman, W. Richards, W. Woodruff in the mein time and reported to them how matters were going. Brown & Barnum [two of the punished boys] was acting very friendly and said they were going to do better.
[Diaries of Hosea Stout]
[Leonard J. Arrington]
"It was in the early 1950s, when graduate research at BYU built up, that Brother Lund put the clamps on research by insisting that each library user clear his notes with him before he could have them. Most scholars worked out various devices for clearing this hurdle: keeping carbon copies of notes; carrying out notes in inside pockets, in their stockings and soles of their shoes, etc. Brother Lund's system was an obstacle, an irritant, but did not impede or prevent honest and comprehensive research."
[Leonard J Arrington Reminiscences, 6 September 1976. USU, Arrington Collection, Series 10]
[Hosea Stout]
This morning a number of the Police and the Marshall went over into Heber camp and took Peletiah Brown another one of the young men who had been with young Barnum [who had been engaging in "night ramblings" with Wilford Woodruff's two new teenage brides] and took him into the woods and give him 18 stripes which brought blood in two places. He also protested that he was innocent. He was considerably excited when we came but after reasoning with him a short time he consented to go and in fact he & Barnum both acted manly after we took them[.] He requested go alone with me and let the others follow for he was ashamed to be taken off in a croud before the people
He took his whipping tolerable well but all the time protested he was innocent. When the Marshall had given him near what he was to have he loudly exclaimed "O Br Eldridge if you will only stop Ill never touch another girl again while hells afloat." He finished this sentence at the top of his voice. When we were through we all came homewe had now but one more case to attend to and that was A. J. Clothier or as he was more known by Jack Clothier. When I came home I was very unwell and the long walk had tired me down and I staid at home untill in the evening when George W. Langley and some more brought Jack Clothier here. He said that when he took Jack his mother and all the family railed on them and called them mobbers and every evil thing against them that they could think of and finally sent for Father Cutler to have him interfere but when he came he said he had nothing to do with it and advised him to go. His mother followed him here railing all the time which made no small stir among the people who did not know what to think of it.
We took him out of camp and gave him 23 stripes putting on five for his mean conduct while in our hands. We then gave him a long lecture on the law in the matter before us as we did the others. He did not act honorably as did the others but manifested a mean low, and grovelling spirit all the time
We then sent him home & after having a long conversation among ourselves about what was wisdom for us to do in future & the course to pursue in order to meet the excitement we came home It was now in the night.
[Diaries of Hosea Stout]
In the Ravenna Courier, Symonds Ryder publishes the first printed attack on Mormonism by a former member.
[Mark Lyman Staker, Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith's Ohio Revelations: A Selective Chronology of Significant Events in Ohio's LDS History]
William Appleman Williams, writing in THE NATION, Calls the LDS First Presidency's statement on the MX missile system a "truly radical action," which has "received far less attention than it deserves. He encourages radicals committed to social change to learn from the Mormons. Williams asserts "the left has created nothing to compare with the concentrated force of the Mormon opposition to the MX and to the American acceleration of the arms race." Williams, who teaches history at Oregon State University and is president of the Organization of American Historians, acknowledges that "the Mormons display a very, shrewd understanding of the kind of national power that can grow out of organizing a relatively small number of people in a specific region."
[J. Reuben Clark]
Told Bro McKay about Pres Grant's and my insistence that U-I [sugar company] borrow some of its funds from us, say $1,000,000.
[The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]
[Abraham H. Cannon]
Uncle Angus [M. Cannon]. . . said he felt [his son] John Q. ought to get up before the public congregation in the Big Tabernacle this afternoon and confess his sin and Uncle Angus should then propose and put it to vote that he be cut off from the Church. ... I therefore carried the latter's advice to John and he manfully agreed to follow it.... I reached meeting just in time to hear Uncle Angus put the motion to vote that John be cut off. It was unanimously sustained. Uncle Angus immediately left the meeting to again go in hiding. The affair created a great sensation because no idea was had by any, except two or three, of John's guilt and the fact that Uncle Angus came out of his hiding to put the matter before the people that it might be a warning made a profound impression. ... I drove to the farm after meeting and heard Father tell the folks what had occurred. He began in this way: "John Q. Cannon has committed adultery and was today cut off the Church." The sadness of the scene which followed beggars description. All wept and felt their spirits wounded. I went over for John Q. in the evening and after giving solicitation, he went over and met Father and the folks. He seemed to feel very penitent and humble, and will, I hope, try to live his religion hereafter. The blow has been a terrible one to us all as we all placed so much faith in John Q. He said he suffered a thousand deaths in telling Annie, Louie, and Sister Wells this afternoon of his fall from the Church.
[Abraham H. Cannon Journal Excerpts, http://www.amazon.com/Apostles-Record-Journals-Abraham-1889-1896/dp/B000MFD1K4]
[Hosea Stout]
I saw Br Wilford Woodruff who informed me of the conduct of some young men towards some young women [Woodruff's two new teenage brides]. President Young had also previously given me charge to keep a sharp look out for them and that they had undertakin to get hold of them and some one informed them what was up.
Elder Woodruff said that they and the girls had been out for fifteen nights in succession untill after two oclock and that it was his wish & the wish of the President that I should take the matter in hand and see that they had a just punishment by whipping them and for me to take my own course and use my own judgement in executing the same[.] I told him that I would see to it[.] This was I believe the first step taken since we were in the wilderness to enforce obedience to the Law of God or to punish a transgressor for a breach of the same. The crimes of these men were adultery or having carnal communication with the girls which was well known to many and the legal punishment was death
[Diaries of Hosea Stout]
Apostle Orson Pratt is the first general authority to receive an honorary college degree (M.A. from the University of the City of Nauvoo).
[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]
[Wilford Woodruff]
Elder Grooves & Boydstun heal'd by the laying on of hands.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
Gordon B. Hinckley receives the American Legion's "Good Guy Award."
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
[Joseph Fielding]
2nd I came to Preston [England]. […]
…there has been a certain Principle manifested here which I shall mention. there has been a select little Company who have looked upon themselves as better than the rest, they met together as a choice Band, where they obtained Manifestations which it was not lawful to tell to the common Saints, nor even to me, though at that time presiding, it was shewn them who should be Companions in another World, that they would not be united as they are now, (these were mostly Females). they had many strange Visions, of these things I got to hear by degrees, and one/ of their Company came to a short time ago to ask my forgiveness, as she had once pronounced a Curse [p. 74] or Woe upon me. I told her I freely forgave her, the san the Mo had not come upon me, I did not care what it was nor who were concerned in it, I did not get to know of the new Companion Revelation till a short time ago. I then said it was not of God, and if one of the Twelve should sanction it, I should still reject it, soon after I was with Elder P. P. Pratt, and asked him if it were of God, he said "no", it had been the same in Manchester while a certain Female from Preston was living there, some one had been marked out for him, and some were still believing that they should have such & such an one In Preston, they were much affraid of me knowing of these things— Others have prophesied (Females) of things pertaining to the Elders, one, that an Elder's Wife would die and he should be married to another certain Person, and the Elder for want of Experience more I think, than the Want of honesty, [p. 75] really thought it was true or from the Lord, I often cautioned this Sister to be careful about her Dreams and told her if her Eye were not single, her Dreams would be mixed with Error, I also endeavoured to show the Elders that the Priesthood was to govern and, not be led by Females Dreams or Propheizings or by anyone else, I felt much grieved for the Sis, who was to die, a faithful Sister, there kind of Prophetesses, whould also say they would see who would stand and who would not, I told them there was no defense against anyone, all might stand, and it was the Will of God that all should overcome, for it was calculated to discourage some who felt weak, and I have told the Saints that some of those who seemed to be first on the Way to the Kingdom, would find it hard work to get through, which the humble, and those who were overlooked, would be first, these things have learned me more and more the use and [p. 76] Value of the Priesthood, and the Folly of thinking to do without it, or for any one exalt himself above it, for the Lord will not authorize Men to do his Work and then direct another to go and do that which pertains to the Priesthood nor reveal things to Women to teach his Will to Men
Another thing I will mention here there had been/ too great Familiarity between the Brethren and Sisters in this Land, this I saw, but had not so much Firmness as I should have had, but rather partook in it, and when the 12 returned last year, to this Land they checked this Evil, yet some who came from America, went far beyond any thing we had ever done or sanctioned, so much so that E[lder] C— went into Bed with different Women and endeavored to persuade them it was no harm and while I was in Manchester last Week, I was informed that a Sister was in a tate of Pregnancy by an E[ld]er who persuaded her [p. 77] it mattered not how familiar they were with one another so [long as] they did not actually commit Adultery or Fornication, till they got to Bed together and were overcome, and he thus received the young Sis, and the inducement he held out to her, was that E[lder] C— had often slept with Sis P— and there was no harm in it, It seems also that E[lder] T— [Theodore Turley] has been cut off from the Church since he returned to America for the like Sin. what do their Wives think of such things, I feel myself to be weak, but the Lord has preserved me at least from outward Sin, to God be all the Praise. Yes, I am very thankful that I have been thus preserved O Lord, my God, do thou keep me unspotted to the End for Jesus Christs sake Amen.
[Joseph Fielding, Journals, 1837-1859, Church Archives, MS 1567]
[Brigham Young]
"On my return from England I found my family living in a small unfinished log cabin, situated on a low, wet lot, so swampy that when the first attempt was made to plow it the oxen mired; but after the city was drained it became a very valuable garden spot."
"Although I had to spend the principal part of my time, at the call of Brother Joseph, in the service of the Church, the portion of time left me I spent in draining, fencing and cultivating my lot, building a temporary shed for my cow, chinking and otherwise finishing my house; and as the ground was too damp to admit of a cellar underground, I built one with two brick walls about four or six inches apart, arched over with brick. Frost never penetrated it, although in summer articles would mildew in it."
[Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801-1844, ed. Elden Jay Watson (Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1968).]
In response to the increasing "personal problems of church members . . . in number and seriousness," together with the absence of "revealed truth about human behavior" among professionals "to combat these problems," BYU President Dallin Oaks proposes to the Board of Trustees that "an Institute for Studies in Values and Human Behavior be established at BYU to sponsor and conduct research that would assist in preventing and changing [deviant] behaviors which lead people away from eternal life." The trustees approve Oaks's proposal and back the appointment of BYU psychologist Allen Bergin as its director. Noting that "too many LDS behavioral scientists do not harmonize their professional concepts with their religious stands," Bergin explained that his "first project [would] be to state as clearly as possible to the behavioral scientists . . . that Jesus Christ teaches in principles of behavior. He later adds, "What we can do is receive inspiration in our research and then seek reviews by the authorities [of the church] for their interpretations, disapproval, or whatever, if doctrinal questions are raised by it." Institute member Victor Brown, Jr. writes to BYU officials, "Our basic theme is that truth lies with the scriptures and prophets, not with secular data or debate."
German mazazine DER STERN reports on a lecture by Dr. Max Haenle from Tubingen, a non-Mormon who visited Utah in the late twenties and became a friend of Anthony W. Ivins, First Counselor to Heber J. Grant. The article says that Haenle made "comparisons ... throughout the whole lecture between the Mormon state founded 86 years ago by Brigham Young in Utah and Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. . . . In its political productivity, its organization forms, and its unswerving successes in the various areas of governmental, social, and communal life," he proclaimed, "Utah bears a really striking similarity to our Germany of today. Here as well as there, the unshakable faith in and willingness to die for their Fuhrer [respective leaders] is the foundation and prerequisite for all further development."
[Heber J. Grant to Anthony W. Ivins]
"Bro[ther]s. [John W.] Taylor and [Matthias F.] Cowley have got just what they were entitled to [diciplined, including being dropped from the quorum of twelve for promoting polygamy], and did not get it as soon as they should. They presumed to be a law unto themselves. There are many things that I can tell you that will throw light on the situation. The young man [i.e., Henry S. Tanner] in the Y.M.M.I.A. will go to hell all right if he does not repent of the position he now occupies. Bro[ther]. [Francis M.] Lyman or no man that has ever lived will be able to influence Pres[ident]. [Joseph F.] Smith to accept his'the man's policy. Jos[eph]. F. Smith is the strongest man that has stood at the head of the Church since the Prophet Joseph Smith. Bro[ther]. Lyman is not in the same class when it comes to real force of character. You or no man that lives need have the least anxiety of Pres[ident]. Smith allowing Bro[ther] Lyman to dominate the President. I see from your letter that you are not at all worried in that direction. Your position is the only correct one and that is to see that every presiding man in your Stake sustains the present policy of the Church or gets out of office. There is not the least safety in any other position. I supposed the bone that you were going to pick with me was what some good friend said to you as to what I had told him, but you dropped the picking, and so did I and am now more than willing to let it wait until we meet."
[Heber J. Grant, Letter to Anthony W. Ivins, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
Young warns non-Mormon Thomas L. Kane (whom Young had just met) "that we had more influence with the indians than all other nations on the earth, & if we were compelled we would use it."
[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]
[Minutes of the Apostles]
Resolved unanimously, that we deeply feel for our beloved President Joseph Smith & his fathers family on account of the great losses they have sustained in their properties on account of /by/ the unparalleled persecutions in Missouri, as well as the other many persecutions they have sustained since the Rise of the church, which has brought them to their present destitute situation; 'Therefore, Voted unanimously, /for ourselves & the church we represent/ that we approve of whel of the proceedings of president Smith so far as he has gone, in making over certain properties to his wife & children /& friends/ for their Support. & that He continue to deed & make over certain portions of church property /which now exist, or which may be obtained by exchange/ as in his wisdom he shall judge expedient, till his own & his fathers household shall have an inheritance secured to them ...
Resolved, that on account of the peculiar situation of the Church hitherto, it has been expedient & necessary that that the deeds. Bonds. & properties of the Church should be & have been taken & holden by committees of the church'& private individuals.'but that we now have a Trustte in Trust.' viz. President Joseph Smith appointed according to the laws of the Land....
... it was, voted unanimously that President Smith., as Trustee in Trust, be requested, & instructed /by the Conference on behalf of the Church/ to extend relief to such indigent suffering brethren., either by land or goods, as the properties of the Church would admit.
[Minutes, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
Joseph Smith receives a revelation (unpublished) directing that Kirtland's sawmill operator, John Burk, and others immigrate to Missouri. The family of later sawmill owners Azariah Lyman and Austin Loud believe that this act disrupts Kirtland's sawmill operation.
[Mark Lyman Staker, Hearken, O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith's Ohio Revelations: A Selective Chronology of Significant Events in Ohio's LDS History]
... Where persons who are involved in pending divorce or annulment proceedings make application for permission to go to the temple, brethren authorized to issue temple recommends should carefully and search ingly interview the applicant, and if it is found that he or she is in no cent of any serious wrongdoing in connection with the divorce or annulment and is otherwise worthy, a temple recommend may be issued. When the final decree of divorce or annulment has been entered, a divorce clearance must be obtained from the First Presidency by the parties involved, if they were previously sealed to each other in the temple, before they may be permitted to continue temple attendance or receive a temple recommend.... Divorces or annulments of marriage need not be cleared by the First Presidency for persons who were not sealed to each other in the temple....
[David O. McKay, Hugh B. Brown, N. Eldon Tanner, and Joseph Fielding Smith, circular letter, Aug. 30, 1966, in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]
At a testimony meeting of the general board of the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association invited guests Lillie T. Freeze and Maria Young Dougall speak in tongues and interpret. Sisters Freeze and Dougall are general board members in other auxiliaries and speak in tongues and interpret at such meetings until they die in 1937. By then glossolalia no longer occurs in LDS meetings, since all Mormons with this gift have died without successors. After 1930s LDS leaders redefine the "gift of tongues" to be xenoglossia, the ability to learn unfamiliar language (such as Japanese), rather than spontaneous speaking of "unknown tongues" which correspond to no recognized language.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Bro. Reed Smoot was all broken up over some of Bro. Roberts talk on Polatics.
[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]
[Abraham H. Cannon]
"There seems to be a regular mania to commit suicide sweeping over this city. Scarcely a day passes but what one or more cases occur."
[Abraham H. Cannon Journal Excerpts, http://www.amazon.com/Apostles-Record-Journals-Abraham-1889-1896/dp/B000MFD1K4]
[Wilford Woodruff]
"Presidents Young & Richards Met at my tent And I Called my family together & I lade before them the Conduct of Caroline Barton & Sarah Brown [teen age wives added to Woodruff's family on the 2nd] in there night Ramblings with unprincipled young men. Many things were said upon the subject. They manifested a disposition to live els whare and I wished them to do so if they would not conduct better. Elder Richards prophesyed to them in the name of the Lord that they would see the day that they would be willing to have there right arm severd from there body if that would restore them to the place & station they were now loosing. But in consequence of there bad conduct I sent Caroline to her Father & Mother & Sarah left my tent to seek some place to stay. She went to Br Bakers untill she could get one."
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
Kirtland, Ohio. While traveling to Colesville, New York, from Harmony, Pennsylvania, Joseph Smith and his company were miraculously delivered from their enemies, who were blinded and unable to identify them.
[BYU Studies Journal, volume 46, no. 4: A Chronology of the Life of Joseph Smith, http://byustudies.byu.edu]
Zina D. H. Young: Died of old age—sexton's records list "senility"—at her home at 146 Fourth Street in Salt Lake City at the age of eighty. Buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery family plot of her first husband, Henry B. Jacobs, who had died of Bright's disease in 1886. Her epitaph is the motto of the Relief Society: "Charity never faileth."
[Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
28th Met in Council this morning with the Omaho's Chiefs & braves. We smoked the pipe of peace And then President Young spoke to them through there interpeter whose name was [ ] Informing them It was our desire to winter here And if they wished we would do some work for them make them a field & fix there guns &c. And many things were said which I Cannot now name.
And the big Elk replyed My Son thou hast spoken well. I have all thou hast Said in my heart. I have much I want to say. We are poor. When we go to hunt game in one place we meet an enemy & so in another place. Our enemies kill us. We do not kill them. I hope we will be friends. You may stay on these lands two years or more. Our young men may watch your cattle. We would be glad to have you trade with us. We will warn you of danger from other Indians &c. Many other things were said. The Council closed. The Indians were fed & returned home.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
In Joseph Smith's absence some members call for David Whitmer to assume leadership of the Church. A similar situation happened during Smith's trip to Canada in July of 1837. Accounts of these two events are difficult to sort one from another. The earlier attempt to unseat Smith may possibly have been related to his affair with Miss Fanny Alger.
[Broadhurst, Dale R., Mormon Chronology, http://olivercowdery.com/history/morchrn2.htm]
[John Henry Smith]
It was agreed that the bond of George Q. Cannon should be paid. The Beck and Bullion Mine business was taken up and after a free discussion of the matter the brethren consented for President Taylor to guarantee the parties to the tune of one hundred thousand dollars. Who should become bondsmen. All of the Brethren expressed themselves as opposed to mining but the President. I gave some little offense to my brethren by my to candid expression of my feelings about the bond business.
[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]
[Brigham Young]
"Now, I wish to make this request: that the Elders who return from missions consider themselves just as much on a mission here as in England or in any other part of the world. There is no people need preaching to more than those who live in this Territory and in these mountains. The Latter-day Saints, or those who profess to be, need talking to just as much as a child who begins to prattle and run around the house. It gets into mischief continually and its mother has to keep talking to it to keep it from meddling with things that it should not. It does not know how to guide itself, and wants guiding and correcting all the time; but not more than the Latter-day Saints who gather together."
"I will turn again to the Latter-day Saints and to the world, and will say I would to God that the Latter-day Saints would take the word of Brigham Young to be law! I will defy the inhabitants of the whole earth to tell one word that he ever counseled that was wrong; or to point out a path that he ever advised man or woman to walk in but would lead to light, life, glory, immortality, and to all that is good or desirable by the intelligence that dwells upon the earth. What do you say, is that boasting? If any person has a mind to call it boasting, do so."
During the church's first area conference in Manchester, England, there is a formal meeting of a joint council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This is the first such council meeting outside of the United States in Mormon history.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
[Lorenzo Snow and Joseph F. Smith to apostle John W. Young]
Your wife Christine wrote to us recently representing herself to be in needy circumstance, and asking us to use our good offices to induce you to help her children. We wrote her in answer to this that on a previous occasion (about two years ago) she wrote a similar letter, and that you were communicated with respecting it, and that you answered in effect that inasmuch as it was a domestic affair it appeared only right and proper that she should address you direct regarding it. In reply to this letter Sister Christine has written again, from which we are sorry to learn that she failed to be informed of the contents of your letter referred to; and from her last letter quote as follows:
' ... I had neither home nor means, no parents, no relatives who were in a position to help me, he knew fully that there was nothing to keep me and his two children from want all these twelve years except the effort of my hands, and that my health was such as to make that effort a severe trial he too was mad acquainted with through letters from the children. ... I feel strongly that no man with a vestige of chivalry in his soul would humiliate a woman so as to force her to ask a favor of him that what in all human justice she has a right to claim as her due'the least reparation man can make for a life's happiness destroyed. ... '
We sympathize with Sister Young in the embarrassing position in which she is placed, and agree with her that she should not be required to ask for the assistance you may be able to render and which you should render her; and we trust therefore you will see your way clear to aid her, and that you will have the disposition to help her without further importuning on her part. We appreciate the fact that this is a delicate subject, and that you may feel sensitive about it, but there appears at present to be no other recourse for Sister Christine, and this must be our apology for writing you regarding it.
[Lorenzo Snow and Joseph F. Smith, Letter to John W. Young, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
Apostle Moses Thatcher begins treatment with Keeley Institute for his addiction to opium and morphine. First Presidency and apostles tolerated Thatcher as a "morphine fiend" and "opium eater", but on 26 Jul his family and friends considered involuntary commitment to treatment. His is most prominent drug addict in Mormon history. Twelve drop Thatcher from quorum membership on 19 Nov because of four year conflict over his insubordination in political matters, but Thatcher's drug addiction aggravates that conflict.
[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]
H[eber] C. Kimball being requested by the Prest.[,] Brigham Young stated that the business this morning was to investigate the fire works of Judge [Uriah] Brown, whether we shall purchase it, or rejected [reject it]. ... O[rson] Hyde wished to know what the expenses of the fire works would be and what would be the benefit of it if we should buy it. P[hineas] Young. He states that he [Uriah Brown] has an invention of liquid fire to destroy an army & navy. Many evidences of the power of the invention can be adduced. ... If pipes were laid in the Kanyon he could destroy an army instantly without injuring the operator. If we ever settle on a sea port he could destroy any number of vessels, any navy in an instant. A[lmon] W. Babbit referred to the favorable reception the invention met with from Pres. Jos[ep]h Smith. The Russian Mission &c. and the favorable notice of the U.S. government in regard [to it]. He then referred to the report of the committee on the experiment, which he read. He is in favor of carrying out the views of Joseph Smith and thinks it a matter worthy of our notice. … ...
[Selected Minutes of the Council of Fifty, Quinn Papers, Beinecke Library, as quoted in Jedediah S. Rogers (editor), The Council of Fifty: A Documentary History, Signature Books (2014)]
Joseph exchanges letters with Horace R. Hotchkiss concerning tardy payments for the Nauvoo lands. Apparently both Joseph and Hotchkiss assume that the Saints might get some financial compensation for their losses in Missouri, with which they might pay for the Nauvoo lands. When this does not come about, Hotchkiss begins to get quite anxious about the payment due him for his land. Joseph, of course, has little or no money of his own with which to pay for the lands.
[Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
the CINCINNATI JOURNAL AND WESTERN LUMINARY prints a letter from Truman Coe pastor of the Old South Church in Kirtland, Ohio: "Mormonism, it is well known, originated with Joseph Smith in the town of Manchester, adjoining Palmyra, in the state of New York. Smith had previously been noted among his acquaintances as a kind of Juggler, and had been employed in digging after money. He was believed by the ignorant to possess the power of second sight, by looking through a certain stone in his possession. He relates that when he was 17 years of age, while seeking after the Lord he had a nocturnal vision, and a wonderful display of celestial glory. An angel descended and warned him that God was about to make an astonishing revelation to the world, and then directed him to go to such a place, and after prying up a stone he should find a number of plates of the color of gold inscribed with hieroglyphics, and under them a breastplate, and under that a transparent stone or stones which was the Urim and Thummin mentioned by Moses."
Tom Green, a Mormon fundamentalist with five wives and 30 children, was sentenced by a court in Provo, Utah, to five years in prison in the state's biggest polygamy case in nearly half a century.
[Ratnikas, Algis, TimelinesDb, http://www.timelinesdb.com/listevents.php?subjid=201title=Utah]
The Church News prints the official reassurance of Jack H. Goaslind Jr. (First Quorum of the Seventy member on the executive board of Boy Scouts of America) that the LDS church is still in BSA: "'Learning for Life' [program for self-identified homosexual scouts] does not affect the use of traditional Scouting as a tool to further the goals of the Aaronic Priesthood. As far as the Church is concerned, we are still totally supportive of the Boy Scouts of America program as we know it." This is in response to distressed inquiries from parents about Goaslind's previously published statement that the LDS church "would withdraw from the Boy Scouts of America" if it permitted membership by self-identified homosexual teenagers. This retration represents either a reversal of a First Presidency decision or a repudiation of Goaslind's speaking out of turn.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
[Harvey Fletcher]
"You know they're not always agreeing in the Twelve on some of these things, particularly when it deals with science. He (now referring to brother [John A.] Widtsoe) said brother Joseph Fielding Smith and brother [James E.] Talmage used to have it pretty hot sometimes, and he said that brother Talmage, see he talked about fossils and that was part of his subject as a geologist, went down to Adam-ondi-aman where the altar of Adam is supposed to be and he had a pick and picked around through it and finally found a fossil right in the cement of this altar. He found two or three of them and brought them up and put them in a bag and brought them home. He said he came back at one of the meetings of the Twelve, and he said, 'Now brother Joseph, I understand that you thoroughly believe and are very sure that the first man on earth was Adam, the first life was Adam.' He said, 'I certainly do believe that.' He said, 'Well, what about these?' then, he handed out the fossils, and said, 'I found those in the altar.'"
[Oral History of BYU, #17, Harvey Fletcher, p. 11, in reference to Correspondence from First Presidency, Letter to Eugene T. Thompson (http://zackc.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/correspondence-from-first-presidency-in-re-fletchers-reminiscences.pdf, referenced 10.20.2014)]
Two weeks after the Sunstone Symposium in Salt Lake City, "the Council of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles" issues a statement expressing concern about "recent symposia . . . that result in ridiculing sacred things or injuring The Church . . . detracting from its mission, or jeopardizing the well-being of its members." Lowell Bennion, a Sunstone participant, comments, "We are asked to love the Lord with all our hearts and minds. It is a poor religion that can't stand the test of thinking."
Salt Lake City resident Christian Fonnesbeck, who wrote a letter to the First Presidency saying he was "puzzled" by the statement, is called in by his bishop, acting on instructions of his stake president, Herbert Klopfer, and relieved of his church calling as a Blazer-B instructor. He is told the action is taken on instruction of "high church officials." (He has since been put in charge of scheduling the building.) Kim Clark writes a letter to the editor, published in the Salt Lake Tribune, commenting on the statement. His stake president calls him in and tells him that he is "undertaking an investigation that could result in disfellowshipment or excommunication."
At October general conference, Elder Boyd K. Packer refers explicitly to the joint statement and comments on "the dangers of participating in symposia which concentrate on doctrine and ordinances and measure them by the intellect alone. . . . There is safety in learning doctrines in gatherings which are sponsored by proper authority." Apostle Marvin J. Ashton says, "Some of us may be inclined to study the word with the idea in mind that we must add much where the Lord has said little! Those who would `add upon' could well be guided by the anchor question of, do my writings, comments, or observations build faith and strengthen testimonies?" Elder Charles Didier of the First Quorum of the Seventy instructs Saints to build testimony "by asking your Heavenly Father in the name of his Son Jesus Christ. Do not turn to public discussions and forums."
[Anderson, Lavina Fielding, "The LDS Intellectual Community and Church Leadership: A Contemporary Chronology," Dialogue, Vol.26, No.1]
[J. Reuben Clark]
Judge Rulon Clark with First Presidency Took up question of sending sub-normals to Am. Fork School'where they are sterilized. Question really turned on Church attitude towards sterilization I strongly urged caution, that we knew too little to make our determination certain. He turned over a list of those now in question,'some 36 names. We decided we would investigate the ward membership in the area from which they came'Redwood Ward. I called Pres Child and asked him to take charge of matter and have it done (this at F.P.'s request). He said he would and got in touch with present Stake Presidency.
[The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]
Sugar House Ward congregation votes against man proposed as Bishop of new ward to divided from the old. Salt Lake stake president Angus M. Cannon furiously shouts, "Sit down! and shut your mouths, you have no right to speak!" When Cannon engages in shouting match with dissenting congregation, a ward member and policeman threaten to arrest stake president for disturbing the peace. Cannon more calmly repeats his attempt but is voted down "again several times." Secretary of the First Council in attendance writes: "I have been taught that the appointing power comes from the priesthood and the sustaining power from the people and that they have the right of sustaining or not sustaining appointees."
[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]
[James E. Talmage]
The authorities have often spoken of my age and diligent labors in public and even President Woodruff was not an exception, but I see one thing, that this very circumstance imposes on me an onerous duty—to keep opinion of self down. [...] Some think me conceited, but I think they are those that know me but little. I am not so; indeed, I am impetuous, rushing, energetic, and these trains are often taken for self-conceit.
[The Journals of James E. Talmage—Excerpts, Compiled by J. Trevor Antley, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dOE6pgN6OkBJIq-X73JGpCdt0p5b8_UdfTfLREz4uTg/]
At Council of Fifty meeting Phineas H. Young admits plotting with Indians to kill Apostle Orson Hyde in Iowa, because Hyde ordered someone to kill Phineas. Hyde mentlons William A. Hickman but doesn't admit responslblllty for an attempt on Phineas' life. Brigham successfully reconciles these two members of the Fifty.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
... ["]H[yde] advised the people to beat the Indians out of [Pottawattomie] County. [I] saw two Indians whipped there unmercifully. I said this was a bad policy. Thought such a course would stir up the Indians to prevent emigration, and thought it was done to prevent emigration. When he came through he met with the Indians. [Logan] Fontainelle complained and he told [the Indians] to take Hyde's skelp [scalp] but let the people alone.["] O[rson] Hyde-Has never had any difficulty with brother P[hin ehas]. ["]The difficulty has been with him alone. I have said or done little.["] In regard to P[hinehas] going East. He [Hyde] wanted [Bill] Hickman to let him have a horse, and advised Hickman to steal another.
… [In the afternoon] H[eber] C. Kimball [said:]. ["]The difficulty between Joseph Young and Bro. Hyde seems to be settled. But the matter between Bro Hyde and Phineas Young does not appear to be settled. Bro. Phineas Young has laid plains [plans] with the Indians to take the life of one of the anointed of the Lord, of a member of this council and we all know what our obligations are, and we cannot fellowship brother Phineas as a member of this council unless he makes full satisfaction. O[rson] Spencer accords with the sentiments advanced by coun[selor] Kimball. Also referred to the case between E[lde]r Hyde and Jos[ep]h Young. P[hinehas] Young. Wish[ed] the Council to understand that in consequence of what had taken place he had said what he did say. He acknowledges he has done wrong and wishes brother Hyde and the council to forgive him. Bro. Hyde need have no fears of him for he will not injure him. David Fullmer made remarks similar to those by O Spencer. O Hyde wished to know why P[hinehas] Young believed that H[yde] wished to kill him. P[hinehas] Young. Related the circumstances of his being at Kanesville during the election. Of his hearing of a plan being laid to assassinate him. Of his being shot at one night after dark. This made him think there were designs against his life and did not know why men should do it unless they were told to. A[lexander] Badlam thinks if bro. Hyde is willing to forgive P[hinehas Young] he don't know why he should withstand. There is wrong all around according to the acknowledgments, but he could not consent to taking life. A[lmon] W. Babbit. Referred [to the fact] that there had been wrong on both sides. Bro. Hyde acknowledged to having had [ill] feelings [against Young ever] since O[liver] Cowdrey came to Winter Quarters. Referred to what his [Babbit's] own feelings would have been towards bro. Hyde if the reconciliation had not taken place. Thinks there is more gass in Bro. Phineas than intention to injure bro. Hyde. Thinks they ought to settle the matter as it was [done] last evening. ... J[edediah] M. Grant. Said that bro. Phineas has boasted to the citizens of this place that he had advised the Indians to kill bro. Hyde. He considers the crime a great one. If the U.S. Officers become informed of the fact, the U.S. will not deal with brother Phineas as mercifully as we do. If one member of this council can be trampled upon with impunity, [then] the wild savages can be set on him with impunity. H. C. Kimball. Spake of his good feelings towards brother Phineas. He will tell brother Phineas some things which will lead him down to hell [if he persists], i.e., if he don't bind himself up and not talk so much carelessly and it will do so [anyway] by any man if they don't quit it. Pres[ide]nt Brigham Young. His feelings are if Bro. Phineas will take back what he has said wherever he has stated it, and write the letter, and then make a solemn covenant never to take a step against any member of this council or an anointed of the Lord again without proper evidence, he will feel to forgive him. If he will make a covenant to never let his tongue make a fool of him again and make restitution he may be forgiven. The above decision of the president, was then put to a vote and passed in the affirmative.
[Selected Minutes of the Council of Fifty, Quinn Papers, Beinecke Library, as quoted in Jedediah S. Rogers (editor), The Council of Fifty: A Documentary History, Signature Books (2014)]
Money magazine ranks Provo-Orem as America's "No. 1 most-livable metropolitan area." By 1985 it also has the highest rate of church membership in the nation.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Had a conversation about the Characters of Abraham Lincoln & Stephen A. Douglas. President Young speaking of Abraham remarked if the Kingdom of God was not in the way, Abraham was a pretty good man, but he acted as if he would rather the Kingdom of God was out of the way; he was not the man to raise his voice in favor of Joseph Smith when his enemies were persecuting him, he with many others had assented to the deaths of innocent men, and through that he is subject to the influence of a wicked Spirit. -- Salt Lake City
[Brigham Young Office Journals, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
Nat Turner led about seventy slaves on a killing spree across the plantations of Southampton, Virginia, leaving fifty-five whites dead, escalating fears that and increasing rhetoric over the slave issue. Joseph Smith would prophecy on Dec 25, 1832 that "slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshaled and disciplined for war." (D&C 87:4).
In the Evening and Morning Star Extra of July 16, 1833, W. W. Phelps reassures the Missourians that "we fear, lest, as has been the case, the blacks should rise and spill innocent blood: for they are ignorant, and a little may lead them to disturb the peace of society ..."
[Grunder, Rick, Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source]
Brother [Heber J.] Grant questioned the advisability of our taking the ground that the manifesto was intended to cover the ground of our recognizing the validity of the law as far as unlawful cohabitation was concerned, as well as polygamous marriages. He thought if we went before the court stating that the manifesto was intended only to stop plural marriages, but that we recognized it to be our duty to live with our plural wives, at our own risk, it would be a better position to take. This led to Brother F[ranklin]. S. Richard explaining to Brother [John W.] Taylor that our going into court was not an original suit on our part, but that we were required to go, and explain the meaning and the scope of the manifesto, as it was on the ground that our Church funds were used for the purpose of propagating unlawful marriages that our property was escheated, and our showing the court that we were sincere in the issuing and adopting of the manifesto would be fundamental ground for the recovery of our property, besides the political standing it would give us before the nation. ... Brother Grant, having had a previous conversation with President [Joseph F.] Smith, asked him if he was now satisfied with regard to the manifesto being a revelation from God. President Smith answered emphatically no. He then went on to explain how he did regard the manifesto. He believed that President [Wilford] Woodruff was inspired to write the manifesto in consequence of the situation in which we were placed, and that because of the circumstances in which we were placed before the government, the Lord sanctioned it. But he did not believe it to be an emphatic revelation from God abolishing plural marriage. President Cannon, referring the remarks of President Smith, said he regarded President Smith's understanding upon this matter to be his [i.e., Cannon's]; that he himself did not regard the manifesto as a revelation abolishing polygamy, for the reason that that was an eternal principle, and could not be abolished by anybody; but in believing that President Woodruff was inspired to write the manifesto, he also believed it to be a revelation from God, for the reason that a revelation, as he conceived it to be, was a communication of God's will to man, irrespective of the form in which it may be written.
President Cannon's view was fully endorsed by Brother L[orenzo]. Snow and the Council generally. President Woodruff, expressing himself in this connection, said he foresaw what was coming upon us; that our temples were in danger, and the work for the dead liable to be stopped, and he believed he would have lived to have witnessed the hand of the government extended to crush us; but the Lord did not intend that Zion should be crushed, and He averted the blow by inspiring me to write and issue the manifesto, and it certainly has had the effect of doing it so far. How long it may remain in force it is not for me to say, that is for God alone to say. As for the principle, it is eternal and will stand forever. Brethren, you may call it inspiration or revelation, or what you please; as for me, I am satisfied it is from God. A general expression of endorsement was made.
[First Presidency Office Journal, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
[Abraham H. Cannon]
After breakfast we went out for a walk when Father [George Q. Cannon] told me that Bro. Moses Thatcher had preached that the people were to be robbed of all their political rights and brought into great bondage, and when it would seem as though there was no escape the people would cry unto God who would then send to them the man like unto Moses of whom the Doc. and Cov. speaks; this should be the Prophet Joseph resurrected, Bro. Thatcher claims no revelation for these things, which he says is all to occur within five years, but has made deductions from ancient and modern prophecies. Father says it has not been made known to him that this doctrine is correct, and he does not approve of its being taught. Father told me of his deep financial embarrassments. Besides his bonds, which he feels he must in honor pay, he seems on the point of losing considerable in John Beck's mine, where he invested at Pres. Taylor's wish and suggestion. He says he sees nothing but ruin ahead, though he has faith God will yet relieve him.
[Abraham H. Cannon Journal Excerpts, http://www.amazon.com/Apostles-Record-Journals-Abraham-1889-1896/dp/B000MFD1K4]
Apostle Orson Pratt preaches: "Some may inquire, 'Do you think the sun is a glorified world?' Yes, in one sense. It is not yet fully glorified, redeemed, clothed with celestial power, and crowned with the presence of the Father in all the fullness and beauty of a celestial mansion, because it is still subject to change more or less. If it were fully glorified; if it had passed through its temporal existence and had been redeemed, glorified, and made celestial, and had become the eternal abiding place of celestial and glorified beings, it would be far more glorious than our eyes could behold, the eyes of mortality could not endure the light thereof." ...
"Much might be said in this connection with regard to the doctrine of plurality of wives. There is a difference between the male and the female so far as posterity is concerned. The female is so capacitated that she can only be the mother of a very limited number of children. Is man thus capacitated? . . .Were not many of the ancient prophets and inspired men capable of raising twenty, forty, fifty, or a hundred children, while the females could only raise a very limited number on an average. . . . Would a monogamist have power to fill a world with spirits sooner than a polygamist? Which would accomplish the peopling of a world quickest, provided that we admit this eternal increase, and the eternal relationship of husband and wife-after the resurrection as well as in this world?" ...
"There are no marriages among spirits, no coupling together of the males and females among them; but when they rise from the grave after being tabernacled in mortal bodies, they have all the functions that are necessary to people worlds. As our Father and God begat us sons and daughters, so will we rise immortal males and females, and beget children and, in our turn, form and create worlds, and send forth our spirit children to inherit those worlds, the same as we were sent here, and thus will the works of God continue, and not only God himself, and His Son Jesus Christ have the power of endless lives, but all of His redeemed offspring."
[Journal of Discourses 14:242]
A legal holiday commemorates one hundred years of Mormon presence in Tonga, which issues two postage stamps for the occasion. King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV speaks at commemorative services. One-third of Tonga's population is LDS.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
Brigham Young's representative "Wild" Bill Hickman and his Indian wife Margaret, both dressed in their beaded-buckskin suits, meet with forty lodges of Indians (numbering about three hundred). Gifts are distributed. The Indians believed Brigham Young had supplied the gifts, when they were in fact presents from the U.S. government.
[Letter to Mormon Battalion]
Camp of Israel, Omaha Nation, Cutler's Park, August 19, 1846. To Captain Jefferson Hunt and the Officers, and Soldiers of the Mormon Battalion:- We have the opportunity of sending to Fort Leavenworth this morning, by Dr. Reed, a package of twenty-five letters, which we improve, with this word of counsel to you all: If you are sick, live by faith, and let surgeon's medicine alone if you want to live, using only such herbs and mild foods as are at your disposal. If you give heed to this counsel, you will prosper; but if not, we cannot be responsible for the consequences. A hint to the wise is sufficient.
In behalf of the Council, BRIGHAM YOUNG, President. W. Richards, Clerk.
[1846-August 19-RCH 2:239, in Clark, James R., Messages of the First Presidency (6 volumes)]
... Most of the Crops [in the Salmon River Mission] had been destroyed by the grass hoppers but thought they had raised about 200 bushels of wheat 50 of which would be Cut & the remainder would be draged in for seed.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
The Willie handcart company leaves Florence (Winter Quarters), Nebraska, for the Salt Lake Valley.
In conformity with the foregoing item of law, 7 in the Summer and Fall of the year 1841, the brethern entered into measures to build a baptismal font in the cellar floor near the east end of the temple. President Joseph approved and accepted a draft for the font, made by Brother William Weeks; and on the 18th day of August of that year, Elder Weeks began to labor on the construction of the font with his own hands. He labored six days and then committed the work to carpenters.
[Fillerup, Robert C., compiler; William Clayton Nauvoo Diaries and Personal Writings, A chronological compilation of the personal writings of William Clayton while he was a resident of Nauvoo, Illinois. http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/clayton-diaries]
First Presidency statement that church's restriction on negroid peoples receiving priesthood "is not a matter of the declaration of policy but of direct commandment from the Lord."
[Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power, Appendix 5, Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1848-1996, http://amzn.to/extensions-power]
Apostle Orson Hyde, Albert Carrington and others arrived in G.S.L. City from Kanesville, Ia., accompanied by Perry E. Brocchus, one of the newly appointed judges for Utah; they brought with them a brass cannon.
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
[Wilford Woodruff]
It was Announced this morning that Porter Rockwell had arived in Camp And brought the Mail from Nauvoo. ... The same Paper informed us that the mob spirit was still alive in Hancock Co that they were still mobing, whiping, And killing each other in that County. The Saints were leaving as fast as possible And the new citizens had taken the matter in hand And the war was now between them And the mob.
I was in council with the Twelve & High Council. Porter Rockwell was with us. He was kept in jail as long as they Could & when brought to Court no man appeared against him so He was discharged & came to the Camp.
[Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
LDS Church News reports that a married couple has been "teaching folk, square and some ballroom dances" to Indians in primarily Christian Goa, while "serving as Church representatives to teach recreation in India." LDS missionary work in India is limited by laws forbidding foreigners to overtly proselytize. Since the conversion and baptism in 1965 of S. Paul Thiruthuvadoss, who sought out LDS leaders to teach him, proselytizing on the Indian subcontinent is conducted by native converts.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
A First Presidency letter that "after the expiration of one year from the date of death, temple ordinances may be performed for all deceased persons, except those of known Negro blood, without the consideration of worthiness or any other qualification." Until the 1970s the LDS Genealogical Department flags the records of "those of known Negro blood" to avoid the performance of proxy endowment and sealing ceremonies for them. In 1974 church authorities quietly agree to end this practice, after being informed of a potential NAACP lawsuit and Congressional investigation of this racially discriminatory use of such federal records as the U.S. census.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
CHURCH NEWS reports that Finland has given its "Silver Cross" to LDS mission president Henry A/ Matis for allowing one of his missionaries to coach Finnish National Basketball team for international competition.
LDS Church News reports that a married couple has been "teaching folk, square and some ballroom dances" to Indians in primarily Christian Goa, while "serving as Church representatives to teach recreation in India." LDS missionary work in India is limited by laws forbidding foreigners to overtly proselytize. Since the conversion and baptism in 1965 of S. Paul Thiruthuvadoss, who sought out LDS leaders to teach him, proselytizing on the Indian subcontinent is conducted by native converts.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
A First Presidency letter that "after the expiration of one year from the date of death, temple ordinances may be performed for all deceased persons, except those of known Negro blood, without the consideration of worthiness or any other qualification." Until the 1970s the LDS Genealogical Department flags the records of "those of known Negro blood" to avoid the performance of proxy endowment and sealing ceremonies for them. In 1974 church authorities quietly agree to end this practice, after being informed of a potential NAACP lawsuit and Congressional investigation of this racially discriminatory use of such federal records as the U.S. census.
[The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
CHURCH NEWS reports that Finland has given its "Silver Cross" to LDS mission president Henry A/ Matis for allowing one of his missionaries to coach Finnish National Basketball team for international competition.
Wilford Woodruff continued to warn church members of the approaching "hour." At an 1881 conference in Manti he promised "that thousands of the children of the latter day saints would not die but would live to see the Saviour come."
[Larson and Larson, Diary of Charles L. Walker, 2:563-64, 14 Aug. 1881., http://signaturebookslibrary.org/?p=5708, as quoted in The Last Days and December 1890 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ, y George D. Speer Sr., privately circulated]
Wyman's Saint Louis Museum advertises in the SAINT LOUIS MISSOURI DEMOCRAT that "two mummies from the Catacombs of Egypt" are on display. These mummies formerly belonged to the LDS church. They stay in St. Louis for fifteen years before being moved to Chicago. Papyri found with the mummies are also displayed at the museum. Leipzig Egyptologist Gustavus Seyffarth was able to read the name of the person for whom Facsimile No. 3 was made. A contemporary account reports: ". . . according to Prof. Seyffarth, the papyrus roll is not a record, but an invocation to the Deity Osirus, in which occurs the name of the person, (Horus,) and a picture of the attendant spirits, introducing the dead to the Judge, Osirus." When the original of facsimile No. 1 resurfaces in 1967 the hieroglyphs in the margins give "Horus" as the person for whom the scroll was written.
William Morgan, a disaffected Freemason from Batavia, New York, registers a copyright for an exposé of Masonic rituals. (See December 1826 entry, regarding publication.)
[Wikipedia: Chronology of Mormonism, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_Mormonism]
... The small pox has been brought into Great Salt Lake county by a company which lately came in from the States ... And in case any of the inhabitants should be seized by a disease, which has been so scandalously kept secret, all parties concerned are required to use every precaution to prevent its spreading beyond such persons. Among the precautionary measures, let every locality of the disease be amply guarded by plain and abundant notices conspicuously posted at every approach thereto; and let there be no communication with the diseased, except by those who are not liable to the contagion. BRIGHAM YOUNG, HEBER C. KIMBALL, JEDEDIAH M. GRANT.
[1856-August 13-DN 6:181, in Clark, James R., Messages of the First Presidency (6 volumes)]
About this time the mobbers in Hancock County, Ill., concluded to drive the few remaining "Mormon" families from Nauvoo.
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
[William H. Smart]
After dinner Apostle [Matthias F.] Cowley desired that we take a ride up to Bro[ther]. Shanks and get some flowers. On the way he said he wanted to have a private talk with me. He said although Plural marriage had to be suspended on account of our enemies yet it is an eternal principle and he gave me to infer that in the due time of the Lord it will be again practiced. He said that the people should be taught that it is right, yet in wisdom. He said I should teach it to my wife and with prayerful hearts we should seek to be ready to embrace it when or if opportunity is afforded. He said such men as me'full of faith and integrity proven'should have this blessing. I told him my wife and I are converted to this principle and that upon recommending to the temple or ordaining to the priesthood and setting apart to offices I had often asked this question as to their belief. He heartily commended me for this.
[William H. Smart, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
Brigham Young preaches: "Why does not our government make a law to say how many children a man shall have? They might as well do so as to make a law to say how many wives a man shall have."
[Brigham Young]
... Do we wish to destroy people? We do not, not even those ignorant, bloodthirsty Lamanites. Did we ever destroy? No; it is not our doctrine; but our doctrine is to build up and save life instead of destroying it. Is it necessary on any occasion, and under any circumstances whatever? Yes, let a man meet me with a design to kill me, and I am going to get the first blow if I can. I have not come to die for the sins of the world as our Savior, Jesus Christ, did. It was necessary for him to be killed; but it is not necessary for me. ... The man who was referred to this morning has given testimony against us, respecting matters here, which is utterly false. After making such infamous statements, that man could not live here twenty-four hours, if it were not that we are Latter-day Saints who live here. By letting him alone, however, he will kill himself. There is also a man down the street who tried to exhibit the endowments to a party who was here. You will see what becomes of that man. Do not touch him. He has forfeited every right and title to eternal life; but let him alone, and you will see by and by what will become of him. His heart will ache, and so will the heart of every apostate that fights against Zion; they will destroy themselves. It is a mistaken idea that God destroys people, or that the Saints wish to destroy them. ...
[Journal of Discourses. Liverpool, England, 1853-86. 11:257-263, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
[Leonard Arrington]
... While the Mormon Heritage Series had good support from Elder [Alvin R.] Dyer and Elder [Joseph] Anderson we became aware in 1978 that it did not have full support from all members of the Twelve [Apostles]; specifically two members of the Twelve had reservation about the series: Elder [Mark E.] Petersen and Elder [Boyd K.] Packer. [Arrington describes this series: "Early volumes projected in this series were: letters of Brigham Young to his sons to be edited by Dean Jessee; letters of Brigham Young to Indian Chiefs to be edited by Dean Jessee; the holograph [handwritten] writings of Joseph Smith to be edited by Dean Jessee; the sermons of Heber C. Kimball to be edited by Stan Kimball; documents relating to the spread of the gospel overseas to be edited by Spencer Palmer].
Both had their confidence in our judgment marred by our leaving in the Brigham Young letters to his sons volume a reference in which Brigham tells his son Brigham Young, Jr., while on a mission in England that he ought to give serious consideration to giving up his use of tobacco while he was a missionary. There may have been other little things in the volume they did not like. [O]f course our own thinking was you do not build confidence in the integrity of your book if you leave out all of the passages that reflect any problems. We did have excellent reviews on the book and we felt, and continue to feel, very proud of it. We have no second thoughts about how it was handled.
But because of this observation Deseret Book, under the influence of their cautious president Marvin Ashton, have been less enthusiastic about the series than they were in the early 1970s. The result is the heavy editing of some of our things and the name "Mormon Heritage Series" has been removed from some of these books. Examples of the heavy editing are the Spencer Palmer book on The Expanding Church which was cut by about 1/3; the women book by Godfrey and Derr which was cut by about 1/3, the Dean Jessee volume of Joseph Smith holographs which apparently will be run as two volumes published in separate years. ...
[Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]
The Rev. Truman Coe writes a description of Mormonism in the Ohio Observer, including the statement that "they believe that the true God is a material being, composed of body and parts; and that when the Creator formed Adam in his own image, he made him about the size and shape of God himself." This is one of the earliest recorded statements concerning the Mormon belief on this doctrine.
[Brigham Young University Studies (various issues), Sp '77, 354; Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]
The returning Elders reached McIlwair's Bend (of the Missouri river) where Wm. W. Phelps "saw in open vision, by daylight, the Destroyer in his most horrible power ride upon the face of the water; others heard the noise, but saw not the vision."
[Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]
Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, was officially renamed Brigham Young University-Idaho and became a four-year university.
[Church News: Historical Chronology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, http://www.ldschurchnewsarchive.com/articles/58765/Historical-chronology-of-The-Church-of-Jesus-Christ-of-Latter-day-Saints.html]
[Brigham Young]
I propose that each Ward form female relief societies and not buy so much gew gaws ribbons bonnets shawls and shoes and to relieve the men from those things. The sisters are ignorant of the kind and quality from these societies and relieve themselves from a gallon of tea or coffee a day and your flum a diddles. We cannot see your knee or your shirts unless we go to bed with you or pull up your skirts and that we don't want to do...
I foresee the government of the United States as laying a plan to rush in by societies of 10 or 50 to come six months previous to the sale and buy up the land when it comes into market and so wipe up our inheritances. I know their hearts all I want to know. I am not afraid of it...
Women why do you want to deceive us all the time? You cannot make us believe you have not shape and form like men ladies. Stop this running to the store and buying ribbons and fine things, it is virtually husband [-] I want to grind you into the grave so that you may have your liberty again. go away to hell as soon as you like.
[Thomas Bullock Minutes,in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
[Brigham Young]
... when we can he united in all things so that each will seek the interest and welfare of his brother, then the Lord will take up his abode with us.
[Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1846- 1847. Elden J. Watson, ed. Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1971.:305, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
[Joseph Fielding Smith]
[Attended] Tabernacle in the afternoon. Dr. J[ames]. E. T[almage]. spoke not edifying but questionable.
[Joseph Fielding Smith, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
Talmage delivers the address "The Earth and Man" in the Tabernacle. Under a later journal entry dated November 21, 1931, Talmage referred back to the discourse:
In speaking at the Tabernacle on August 9 last I had not forgotten that in the pronouncement of the First Presidency mentioned under date of April 7 last it was advised and really required that the General Authorities of the Church refrain from discussing in public, that is preaching, the debatable subject of the existence of human kind upon the earth prior to the beginning of Adamic history as recorded in scripture; but, I had been present at a consultation in the course of which the First Presidency had commented somewhat favorably upon the suggestion that sometime, somewhere, something should be said by one or more of us to make plain that the Church does not refuse to recognize the discoveries and demonstrations of science, especially in relation to the subject at issue. President Anthony W. Ivins, of the First Presidency, presided at the Tabernacle meeting, and three members of the Council of the Twelve were present—Elders George F. Richards, Joseph Fielding Smith and Richard R. Lyman. Of course, Elder Smith, and in fact all of us, recognize that my address was in some important respects opposed to his published remarks, but the other brethren named, including President Ivins, expressed their tentative approval of what I had said. [Journal, MSS]
[Chronology of the Life and Work of James E. Talmage, J. Trevor Antley, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MJsHY83JZL_n6CjWq11y1trT_CVXMMXAx2uYOWAwn0c/edit#heading=h.2zfdaoa]
Apostle James E. Talmage gives a talk in the Tabernacle on "The Earth and Man.: He says that plants and animals "lived and died, age after age, while the earth was yet unfit for human habitation. . . . Geologists and anthropologists say that if the beginning of Adamic history dates back but 6,000 years or less there must have been races of human sort upon the earth long before that time-without denying however, that Adamic history may be correct if it be regarded solely as the history of the Adamic race. . . . I do not regard Adam as related to-certainly not descended from-the Neanderthal, the Cro-Magnon the Peking or the Piltdown man." The talk is later published by the Church as a pamphlet. Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith later writes "False doctrine" on at least one copy of the pamphlet.
[Brigham Young Jr.]
Had some strange experiences today. After meeting in the Temple, Pres. Snow held reception for Ken. news men at Beehive. I had Sis. Effie E. Hakes sealed to me (she's dead) Sis. Falkland acted for her. Some other experience was peculiar and the Lord interposed to spare me and mine. God is good, I acknowledge Him in everything.
[Diary of Apostle Brigham Young Jr., http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
Joseph Smith, father of the Prophet, came from Merrimac River, N.H., and first settled in Palmyra, but in 1819 removed to this place. He was a Methodist; but had formerly been a Universalist, and was quite an adept at Scriptural arguments. Credulity seems to have been a pretty large ingredient in his composition, as he was a great digger, always seeing "sights;" but never realizing his expectations, he was noted for his indolence, and for generally being in some difficulty with his neighbors. Joe's mother was a far different person from his father: she is described as a woman of strong uncultivated intellect, artful and cunning, and strongly imbued with an illy regulated religious enthusiasm, and much given to vague visions of riches and greatness. As is usually the case, she had much more to do with forming the character of the son than his father, though he had more of the atrocities of the latter, so far as his habits were concerned. Mrs. Smith seems to have been the head and front of the movement; she it was who first gave vague hints that a prophet was to arise from her humble household, and as arrangements progressed towards a consummation, she named those who had been fixed upon as instruments to assist them in getting out the new revelations--always selecting men who were noted for their credulity. In these affairs her husband assisted, and was her executive officer.
ALVAH [Alvin], the eldest son, was originally intended for the prophet, but alas for all human designs, "the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak;" and one day, ALVAH being rather hungry, he indulged too freely in raw turnips, sickened and died; so the incipient prophet was lost to the world and to Mormonism. Joe Smith thereby became a great man, for it was immediately given out that the mantle of Alvah [Alvin] had fallen upon him, unworthy though he was--for rumor says he was as lazy as his father, rather intemperate in his habits, and possessed of less than ordinary intellect. He had previously professed religion at a camp meeting, and was quite an exhorter at evening meetings; but this did not last long. "Mormon Hill" had been long designated "as the place in which countless treasures were buried;" Joseph, the elder, had "spaded" up many a foot of the hill side to find them, and Joseph Jr., had on more than one occasion accompanied him. Taking all these circumstances together, how perfectly natural was it for the Smith family to be selected as the means of finding, and Mormon Hill as the repository of the long buried revelation, known as the "Gold Bible."
It has been generally believed that this celebrated book was written by Mr. Spaulding, of Ohio, but for this belief there is no foundation; the original production undoubtedly emanated jointly from the Smith family, and a schoolmaster of this village by the name of OLIVER COWDERY, who was intimately connected with the Smiths in all their movements...
The original design of the movers was undoubtedly to make money and to gain a certain notoriety, of which, as we have said, Mrs. Smith had often had visions, and they had no idea at this time of founding a sect. Joe Smith has himself said as much. As soon as the Bible had been discovered Joe commenced to prophesy and to name individuals who were, as he said, called of God, as chosen instruments to assist him in the translating, &c., of the revelation. The most noted of their assistants was MARTIN HARRIS, a respectable and honest farmer residing at Palmyra--much given to new creeds, and a monomaniac upon the subject of "spiritual manifestations." He mortgaged his farm to pay for the printing of the Gold Bible, but a contract signed by JOSEPH, and witnessed by COWDERY, secure to Harris and his heirs one half the proceeds of the sale of the Gold Bible, until he was reimbursed in the sum of $2500--the cost of printing. This, together with the fact that Harris had procured the services of a village jeweler to help him estimate the value of the plates, taking as a basis Joe Smith's description, leaves us in doubt as to whether he was altogether a dupe.
The Prophet's account of finding these plates was--that an angel appeared, and directed him where to dig; he was then compelled, against his will, to interpret them, and promulgate their contents to the world; that on the plates were the names of the ancient residents in this country, "engraved by Mormon the son of Nephi;" that in the box containing them was "a large pair of spectacles, the stone or glass set in them being opaque to all but the prophet;" that "these belonged to Mormon the engraver, and that the plates could not be read without them." Harris was the principal amanuensis, and having nearly a hundred pages of the manuscript translation in his house, his wife, who was an unbeliever, seized them, and either burned or secreted them--it was supposed the former--but for fear that she should confront them with the lost documents at some future day, the Smiths, Cowdery and Harris, agreed not to translate these again, but to let so much of the new revelation drop out, lest "the evil spirit should get up a story that the second translation did not agree with the first." . . .
Yours,
ASHES [anonymous author, probably relying on an 1851 account by Orsamus Turner]
["Mormonism in Its Infancy," Newark (New Jersey) Daily Advertiser, Circa August 1856, Charles Woodward Scrapbook, New York Public Library, New York, New York (Woodward 1880, 1:125)., as cited in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents: Manchester Resident Reminiscence]
[Helen Mar Kimball]
A few days after their return to Nauvoo the Prophet's brother Don Carlos Smith died, and being an officer in the legion as well as a Freemason he was buried with Masonic and military rites. Those of the Masonic fraternity marched next to the family to the grave which was in a little grove at the foot of the hill southwest of the temple. My mother's baby being too sick for her to leave I went in her stead and marched with my father in the Masonic procession ...
[Whitney, Helen Mar, Jeni Broberg Holzapfel, and Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, A Woman's View: Helen Mar Whitney's Reminiscences of Early Church History, Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997]
TV GUIDE article: "Cute, Cuddly, Courteous and Worth Millions: Donny and Marie Osmond's TV Success is the Latest Chapter in a Unique Family Saga."
[On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]
Twenty-six-year-old Don Carlos Smith, Joseph's youngest brother, dies in Nauvoo. He was the editor of the Times and Seasons and became sick while printing in a damp cellar. He leaves three daughters.
[Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology]