T H E
W O M E N
OF
M O R M O N D O M.
By EDWARD W. TULLIDGE.
NEW YORK.
1877.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877,
by TULLIDGE & CRANDALL,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
Table of Contents
PREFACE.
Long enough, O women of America, have your Mormon sisters been blasphemed!
From the day that they, in the name and fear of the Lord their God, undertook to "build up Zion," they have been persecuted for righteousness sake: "A people scattered and peeled from the beginning."
The record of their lives is now sent unto you, that you may have an opportunity to judge them in the spirit of righteousness. So shall you be judged by Him whom they have honored, whose glory they have sought, and whose name they have magnified.
Respectfully,
EDWARD W. TULLIDGE.
Salt Lake City, March, 1877.
[iii]
CONTENTS.
PREFACE
CHAPTER I.--A Strange Religious Epic An Israelitish Type of Woman in the Age.
CHAPTER II.--The Mother of the Prophet. The Gifts of Inspiration and Working of Miracles Inherent in her Family. Fragments of her Narrative.
CHAPTER III.--The Opening of a Spiritual Dispensation to America. Woman's Exaltation. The Light of the Latter Days.
CHAPTER IV.--Birth of the Church. Kirtland as the Bride, in the Chambers of the Wilderness. The Early Gathering. "Mother Whitney," and Eliza R. Snow.
CHAPTER V.--The Voice, and the Messenger of the Covenant.
CHAPTER VI.--An Angel from the Cloud is Heard in Kirtland. The "Daughter of the Voice."
CHAPTER VII.--An Israel Prepared by Visions, Dreams and Angels. Interesting and Miraculous Story of Parley P. Pratt. A Mystic Sign of Messiah in the Heavens. The Angel's Words Fulfilled.
CHAPTER VIII.--War of the Invisible Powers. Their Master. Jehovah's Medium.
CHAPTER IX.--Eliza R. Snow's Experience. Glimpses of the Life and Character of Joseph Smith. Gathering of the Saints.
CHAPTER X.--The Latter-Day Iliad. Reproduction of the Great Hebraic Drama The Meaning of the Mormon Movement in the Age.
CHAPTER XI.--The Land of Temples. America the New Jerusalem. Daring Conception of the Mormon Prophet. Fulfillment of the Abrahamic Programme. Woman to be an Oracle of Jehovah.
CHAPTER XII.--Eliza R. Snow's Graphic Description of the Temple and its Dedication. Hosannas to God. His Glory Fills the House.
CHAPTER XIII.--The Ancient Order of Blessings. The Prophet's Father. The Patriarch's Mother. His Father. Kirtland High School Apostasy and Persecution. Exodus of the Church.
[vi]
CHAPTER XIV.--An Illustrious Mormon Woman. The First Wife of the Immortal Heber C. Kimball. Opening Chapter of her Autobiography. Her Wonderful Vision. An Army of Angels Seen in the Heavens.
CHAPTER XV.--Haun's Mill. Joseph Young's Story of the Massacre. Sister Amanda Smith's Story of that Terrible Tragedy. Her Wounded Boy's Miraculous Cure. Her Final Escape from Missouri.
CHAPTER XVI.--Mobs Drive the Settlers into Far West. Heroic Death of Apostle Patten. Treachery of Col. Hinkle, and Fall of the Mormon Capital. Famous Speech of Major-General Clarke.
CHAPTER XVII.--Episodes of the Persecutions. Continuation of Eliza R. Snow's Narrative. Bathsheba W. Smith's Story. Louisa F. Wells Introduced to the Reader. Experience of Abigail Leonard. Margaret Foutz.
CHAPTER XVIII.--Joseph Smith's Daring Answer to the Lord. Woman, through Mormonism, Restored to her True Position. The Themes of Mormonism.
CHAPTER XIX.--Eliza R. Snow's Invocation. The Eternal Father and Mother. Origin of the Sublime Thought Popularly Attributed to Theodore Parker. Basic Idea of the Mormon Theology.
CHAPTER XX.--The Trinity of Motherhood. Eve, Sarah, and Zion. The Mormon Theory Concerning our First Parents.
CHAPTER XXI.--The Huntingtons. Zina D. Young, and Prescindia L. Kimball. Their Testimony Concerning the Kirtland Manifestations. Unpublished Letter of Joseph Smith. Death of Mother Huntington.
CHAPTER XXII.--Woman's Work in Canada and Great Britain. Heber C. Kimball's Prophesy. Parley P. Pratt's Successful Mission to Canada. A Blind Woman Miraculously Healed. Distinguished Women of that Period.
CHAPTER XXIII.--A Distinguished Canadian Convert. Mrs. M. I. Home. Her Early History. Conversion to Mormonism. She Gathers with the Saints and Shares their Persecutions. Incidents of her Early Connection with the Church.
CHAPTER XXIV.--Mormonism Carried to Great Britain. "Truth will Prevail." The Rev. Mr. Fielding. First Baptism in England. First Woman Baptized. Story of Miss Jeannetta Richards. First Branch of the Church in Foreign Lands Organized at the House of Ann Dawson. First Child Born into the Church in England. Romantic Sequel. Vilate Kimball Agam.
CHAPTER XXV.--Sketch of the Sisters Mary and Mercy R. Fielding. The Fieldings a Semi-Apostolic Family. Their Important Instrumentality in Opening the British Mission. Mary Fielding Marries Hyrum Smith. Her Trials and Sufferings while her Husband is in Prison. Testimony of her Sister Mercy. Mary's Letter to her Brother in England.
[vii]
CHAPTER XXVI.--The Quorum of the Apostles go on Mission to England. Their Landing in Great Britain. They Hold a Conference. A Holiday Festival. Mother Moon and Family. Summary of a Year's Labor. Crowning Period of the British Mission.
CHAPTER XXVII.--The Sisters as Missionaries. Evangelical Diplomacy. Without Purse or Scrip. Picture of the Native Elders. A Specimen Meeting The Secret of Success. Mormonism a Spiritual Gospel. The Sisters as Tract Distributers. Woman a Potent Evangelist.
CHAPTER XXVIII.--Mormonism and the Queen of England. Presentation of the Book of Mormon to the Queen and Prince Albert. Eliza R. Snow's Poem on that Event. "Zion's Nursing Mother." Heber C. Kimball Blesses Victoria.
CHAPTER XXIX.--Literal Application of Christ's Command. The Saints Leave Father and Mother, Home and Friends, to Gather to Zion. Mrs. William Staines. Her Early Life and Experience. A Midnight Baptism in Midwinter. Farewell to Home and Every Friend. Incidents of the Journey to Nauvoo.
CHAPTER XXX.--Rise of Nauvoo. Introduction of Polygamy. Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. Continuation of Eliza R. Snow's Narrative. Her Acceptance of Polygamy, and Marriage to the Prophet. Governor Carlin's Treachery. Her Scathing Review of the Martyrdom. Mother Lucy's Story of Her Murdered Sons.
CHAPTER XXXI.--The Exodus To Your Tents, O Israel. Setting out from the Borders of Civilization. Movements of the Camp of Israel. First Night at Sugar Creek. Praising God in the Song and Dance. Death by the Wayside.
CHAPTER XXXII--Continuation of Eliza R. Snow's Narrative. Advent of a Little Stranger Under Adverse Circumstances. Dormitory, Sitting-Room, Office, etc., in a Buggy. "The Camp." Interesting Episodes of the Journey. Graphic Description of the Method of Procedure. Mount Pisgah. Winter Quarters.
CHAPTER XXXIII.--Bathsheba W. Smith's Story of the Last Days of Nauvoo. She Receives Celestial Marriage and Gives Her Husband Five "Honorable Young Women" as Wives. Her Description of the Exodus and Journey to Winter Quarters. Death of One of the Wives. Sister Horne Again.
CHAPTER XXXIV.--The Story of the Huntington Sisters Continued. Zina D. Young's Pathetic Picture of the Martyrdom. Joseph's Mantle Falls Upon Brigham. The Exodus. A Birth on the Banks of the Chariton. Death of Father Huntington.
CHAPTER XXXV.--The Pioneers. The Pioneer Companies that Followed. Method of the March. Mrs. Horne on the Plains. The Emigrant's Post Office. Pentecosts by the Way. Death as they Journeyed. A Feast in the Desert. "Aunt Louisa" Again.
[viii]
CHAPTER XXXVI.--Bathsheba W. Smith's Story Continued. The Pioneers Return to Winter Quarters. A New Presidency Chosen. Oliver Cowdery Returns to the Church. Gathering the Remnant from Winter Quarters. Description of her House on Wheels.
CHAPTER XXXVII--The Martyred Patriarch's Widow. A Woman's Strength and Independence. The Captain "Leaves Her Out in the Cold." Her Prophesy and Challenge to the Captain. A Pioneer Indeed. She is Led by Inspiration. The Seeric Gift of the Smiths with Her Cattle. The Race. Fate Against the Captain. The Widow's Prophesy Fulfilled.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.--Utah in the Early Days. President Young's Primitive Home. Raising the Stars and Stripes on Mexican Soil. The Historical Thread up to the Period of the "Utah War."
CHAPTER XXXIX.--The Women of Mormondom in the Period of the Utah War. Their Heroic Resolve to Desolate the Land. The Second Exodus. Mrs. Carrington. Governor Cumming's Wife. A Nation of Heroes.
CHAPTER XL.--Miriam Works and Mary Ann Angell. Scenes of the Past. Death-Bed of Miriam. Early Days of Mary. Her Marriage with Brigham. The Good Step-mother. She Bears her Cross in the Persecutions. A Battle with Death. Polygamy. Mary in the Exodus and at Winter Quarters. The Hut in the Valley. Closing a Worthy Life.
CHAPTER XLI.--The Revelation on Polygamy. Bishop Whitney Preserves a Copy of the Original Document. Belinda M. Pratt's Famous Letter.
CHAPTER XLII.--Revelation Supported by Biblical Examples. The Israelitish Genius of the Mormons Shown in the Patriarchal Nature of their Institutions. The Anti-Polygamic Crusade.
CHAPTER XLIII.--Grand Mass-meeting of the Women of Utah on Polygamy and the Cullom Bill. Their Noble Remonstrance. Speeches of Apostolic Women. Their Resolutions. Woman's Rights or Woman's Revolution.
CHAPTER XLIV.--Wives of the Apostles. Mrs. Orson Hyde. Incidents of the Early Days. The Prophet. Mary Ann Pratt's Life Story. Wife of Gen. Charles C. Rich. Mrs. Franklin D. Richards. Phoebe Woodruff. Leonora Taylor. Marian Ross Pratt. The Wife of Delegate Cannon. Vilate Kimball Again.
CHAPTER XLV.--Mormon Women of Martha Washington's Time. Aunt Rhoda Richards. Wife of the First Mormon Bishop. Honorable Women of Zion.
CHAPTER XLVI.--Mormon Women whose Ancestors were on board the "Mayflower." A Bradford, and Descendant of the Second Governor of Plymouth Colony. A Descendant of Rogers, the Martyr. The Three Women who came with the Pioneers. The First Woman Born in Utah. Women of the Camp of Zion. Women of the Mormon Battalion.
[ix]
CHAPTER XLVII.--One of the Founders of California. A Woman Missionary to the Society Islands. Her Life Among the Natives. The only Mormon Woman Sent on Mission without Her Husband. A Mormon Woman in Washington. A Sister from the East Indies. A Sister from Texas.
CHAPTER XLVIII.--A Leader from England. Mrs. Hannah T. King. A Macdonald from Scotland. The "Welsh Queen." A Representative Woman from Ireland. Sister Howard. A Galaxy of the Sisterhood, from "Many Nations and Tongues." Incidents and Testimonials.
CHAPTER XLIX.--The Message to Jerusalem. The Ancient Tones of Mormonism. The Mormon High Priestess in the Holy Land. On the Mount of Olives. Officiating for the Royal House of Judah.
CHAPTER L.--Woman's Position in the Mormon Church. Grand Female Organization of Mormonism. The Relief Society. Its Inception at Nauvoo. Its Present Status, Aims, and Methods. First Society Building. A Woman Lays the Corner-stone. Distinguished Women of the Various Societies.
CHAPTER LI.--The Sisters and the Marriage Question. The Women of Utah Enfranchised. Passage of the Woman Suffrage Bill. A Political Contest. The First Woman that Voted in Utah.
CHAPTER LII.--The Lie of the Enemy Refuted. A View of the Women in Council over Female Suffrage. The Sisters know their Political Power.
CHAPTER LIII.--Members of Congress Seek to Disfranchise the Women of Utah. Claggett's Assault. The Women of America Come to their Aid. Charles Sumner About to Espouse their Cause. Death Prevents the Great Statesman's Design.
CHAPTER LIV.--Woman Expounds Her Own Subject. The Fall. Her Redemption from the Curse. Returning into the Presence of Her Father. Her Exaltation.
CHAPTER LV.--Woman's Voice in the Press of Utah. The Woman's Exponent. Mrs. Emeline Wells. She Speaks for the Women of Utah. Literary and Professional Women of the Church.
CHAPTER LVI.--Retrospection. Apostolic Mission of the Mormon Women. How they have Used the Suffrage. Their Petition to Mrs. Grant. Twenty-seven Thousand Mormon Women Memorialize Congress.
CHAPTER LVII.--Sarah the Mother of the Covenant. In Her the Expounding of the Polygamic Relations of the Mormon Women. Fulfilment of God's Promise to Her. The Mormon Parallel. Sarah and Hagar divide the Religious Domination of the World.
CHAPTER LVIII.--Womanhood the Regenerating Influence in the World. From Eve, the First, to Mary, the Second Eve. God and Women the Hope of Man. Woman's Apostleship. Joseph vs. Paul. The Woman Nature a Predicate of the World's Future.
[x]
CHAPTER LIX.--Zion, a Type of "The Woman's Age." The Culminating Theme of the Poets of Israel. The Ideal Personification of the Church. The Bride. The Coming Eve.
CHAPTER LX.--Terrible as an Army with Banners. Fifty Thousand Women with the Ballot. Their Grand Mission to the Nation. A Foreshadowing of the Future of the Women of Mormondom.
[1] CHAPTER I.
A STRANGE RELIGIOUS EPIC--AN ISRAELITISH TYPE OF WOMAN IN THE AGE.
AN epic of woman! Not in all the ages has there been one like unto
it.
Fuller of romance than works of fiction are the lives of the Mormon
women. So strange and thrilling is their story,--so rare in its elements
of experience,--that neither history nor fable affords a perfect example;
yet is it a reality of our own times.
Women with new types of character, antique rather than modern; themes
ancient, but transposed to our latter-day experience. Women with their
eyes open, and the prophecy of their work and mission in their own
utterances, who have dared to enter upon the path of religious
empire-founding with as much divine enthusiasm as had the apostles who
founded Christendom. Such are the Mormon women,--religious
empire-founders, in faith and fact. Never till now did woman essay such an
extraordinary character; never before did woman rise to the conception of
so supreme a mission in her own person and life.
We can only understand the Mormon sisterhood by introducing them in
this cast at the very outset; only comprehend the wonderful story of their
lives [2] by viewing them as apostles, who have heard the voices of the
invisibles commanding them to build the temples of a new faith.
Let us forget, then, thus early in their story, all reference to
polygamy or monogamy. Rather let us think of them as apostolic mediums of
a new revelation, who at first saw only a dispensation of divine
innovations and manifestations for the age. Let us view them purely as
prophetic women, who undertook to found their half of a new Christian
empire, and we have exactly the conception with which to start the epic
story of the Women of Mormondom.
They had been educated by the Hebrew Bible, and their minds cast by
its influence, long before they saw the book of Mormon or heard the Mormon
prophet. The examples of the ancient apostles were familiar to them, and
they had yearned for the pentecosts of the early days. But most had they
been enchanted by the themes of the old Jewish prophets, whose writings
had inspired them with faith in the literal renewal of the covenant with
Israel, and the "restitution of all things" of Abrahamic promise. This was
the case with nearly all of the early disciples of Mormonism,--men and
women. They were not as sinners converted to Christianity, but as
disciples who had been waiting for the "fullness of the everlasting
gospel." Thus had they been prepared for the new revelation,--an Israel
born unto the promises,--an Israel afterwards claiming that in a
pre-existent state they were the elect of God. They had also inherited
their earnest religious characters from their fathers and mothers. [3] The
pre-natal influences of generations culminated in the bringing forth of
this Mormon Israel.
And here we come to the remarkable fact that the women who, with its
apostles and elders, founded Mormondom, were the Puritan daughters of New
England, even as were their compeer brothers its sons.
Sons and daughters of the sires and mothers who founded this great
nation; sons and daughters of the sires and mothers who fought and
inspired the war of the revolution, and gave to this continent a magna
charta of religious and political liberty! Their stalwart fathers also
wielded the "sword of the Lord" in old England, with Cromwell and his
Ironsides, and the self-sacrificing spirit of their pilgrim mothers
sustained New England in the heat and burden of the day, while its
primeval forests were being cleared, even as these pilgrim Mormons
pioneered our nation the farthest West, and converted the great American
desert into fruitful fields.
That those who established the Mormon Church are of this illustrious
origin we shall abundantly see, in the record of these lives, confirmed by
direct genealogical links. Some of their sires were even governors of the
British colonies at their very rise: instance the ancestor of Daniel H.
Wells, one of the presidents of the Mormon Church, who was none other than
the illustrious Thomas Wells, fourth governor of Connecticut; instance the
pilgrim forefather of the apostles Orson and Parley Pratt, who came from
England to America in 1633, and with the Rev. Thomas Hooker and his
congregation pioneered through dense wildernesses, inhabited only by
savages and wild beasts, and [4] became the founders of the colony of
Hartford, Conn., in June, 1636; instance the Youngs, the Kimballs, the
Smiths, the Woodruffs, the Lymans, the Snows, the Carringtons, the Riches,
the Hunters, the Huntingtons, the Partridges, the Whitneys, and a host of
other early disciples of the Mormon Church. Their ancestors were among the
very earliest settlers of the English colonies. There is good reason,
indeed, to believe that on board the Mayflower was some of the blood that
has been infused into the Mormon Church.
This genealogical record, upon which the Mormon people pride
themselves, has a vast meaning, not only in accounting for their
empire-founding genius and religious career, but also for their Hebraic
types of character and themes of faith. Their genius is in their very
blood. They are, as observed, a latter-day Israel,--born inheritors of the
promise,--predestined apostles, both men and women, of the greater mission
of this nation,--the elect of the new covenant of God, which America is
destined to unfold to "every nation, kindred, tongue and people." This is
not merely an author's fancy; it is an affirmation and a prophecy well
established in Mormon faith and themes.
If we but truthfully trace the pre-natal expositions of this peculiar
people--and the sociologist will at once recognize in this method a very
book of revelation on the subject--we shall soon come to look upon these
strange Israelitish types and wonders as simply a hereditary culmination
in the nineteenth century.
Mormonism, indeed, is not altogether a new faith nor a fresh
inspiration in the world. The facts dis-[5]close that its genius has come
down to the children, through generations, in the very blood which the
invisibles inspired in old England, in the seventeenth century, and which
wrought such wonders of God among the nations then. That blood has been
speaking in our day with prophet tongue; those wonderful works, wrought in
the name of the Lord of Hosts, by the saints of the commonwealth, to
establish faith in Israel's God and reverence for His name above all
earthly powers, are, in their consummation in America, wrought by these
latter-day saints in the same august name and for the same purpose. He
shall be honored among the nations; His will done among men; His name
praised to the ends of the earth! Such was the affirmation of the saints
of the commonwealth of England two hundred and thirty years ago; such the
affirmation of the saints raised up to establish the "Kingdom of God" in
the nineteenth century. Understand this fully, and the major theme of
Mormonism is comprehended. It will have a matchless exemplification in the
story of the lives of these single-hearted, simple-minded, but grand
women, opening to the reader's view the methods of that ancient genius,
even to the establishing of the patriarchal institution and covenant of
polygamy.
That America should bring forth a peculiar people, like the Mormons,
is as natural as that a mother should bear children in the semblance of
the father who begat them. Monstrous, indeed, would it be if, as offspring
of the patriarchs and mothers of this nation, America brought forth naught
but godless politicians.
[6] CHAPTER II.
THE MOTHER OF THE PROPHET--THE GIFTS OF INSPIRATION AND WORKING OF MIRACLES INHERENT IN HER FAMILY--FRAGMENTS OF HER NARRATIVE.
First among the chosen women of the latter-day dispensation comes the
mother of the Prophet, to open this divine drama.
It is one of our most beautiful and suggestive proverbs that "great
men have great mothers." This cannot but be peculiarly true of a great
prophet whose soul is conceptive of a new dispensation.
Prophecy is of the woman. She endows her offspring with that
heaven-born gift.
The father of Joseph was a grand patriarchal type. He was the Abraham
of the Church, holding the office of presiding patriarch. To this day he
is remembered and spoken of by the early disciples with the profoundest
veneration and filial love, and his patriarchal blessings, given to them,
are preserved and valued as much as are the patriarchal blessings of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob valued by their own race.
But it is the mother of the Prophet who properly leads in opening the
testament of the women of Mormondom. She was a prophetess and seeress
born. The gift of prophecy and the power to work [7] miracles also inhered
in the family of Lucy Mack, (her maiden name), and the martial spirit
which distinguished her son, making him a prophet-general, was quite
characteristic of her race. Of her brother, Major Mack, she says:
"My brother was in the city of Detroit in 1812, the year in which
Hull surrendered the territory to the British crown. My brother, being
somewhat celebrated for his prowess, was selected by General Hull to take
the command of a company as captain. After a short service in this office
he was ordered to surrender. (Hull's surrender to the British). At this
his indignation was aroused to the highest pitch. He broke his sword
across his knee, and throwing it into the river, exclaimed that he would
never submit to such a disgraceful compromise while the blood of an
American continued to flow in his veins."
Lucy Mack's father, Solomon Mack, was a soldier in the American
revolution. He entered the army at the age of twenty-one, in the year
1755, and in the glorious struggle of his country for independence he
enlisted among the patriots in 1776. With him were his two boys, Jason and
Stephen, the latter being the same who afterwards broke his sword and cast
it into the river rather than surrender it to the British.
But that which is most interesting here is the seeric gift coupled
with the miracle-working power of "Mother Lucy's" race. Hers was a
"visionary" family, in the main, while her elder brother, Jason, was a
strange evangelist, who wandered about during his lifetime, by sea and
land, preaching the gospel [8] and working miracles. This Jason even
attempted to establish a body of Christian communists. Of him she says:
"Jason, my oldest brother, was a studious and manly boy. Before he
had attained his sixteenth year he became what was then called a `seeker,'
and believing that by prayer and faith the gifts of the gospel, which were
enjoyed by the ancient disciples of Christ, might be attained, he labored
almost incessantly to convert others to the same faith. He was also of the
opinion that God would, at some subsequent period, manifest His power, as
He had anciently done, in signs and wonders. At the age of twenty he
became a preacher of the gospel."
Then followed a love episode in Jason's life, in which the young man
was betrayed by his rival while absent in England on business with his
father. The rival gave out that Jason had died in Liverpool, (being
post-master, he had also intercepted their correspondence,) so that when
the latter returned home he found his betrothed married to his enemy. The
story runs:
"As soon as Jason arrived he repaired immediately to her father's
house. When he got there she was gone to her brother's funeral; he went
in, and seated himself in the same room where he had once paid his
addresses to her. In a short time she came home; when she first saw him
she did not know him, but when she got a full view of his countenance she
recognized him, and instantly fainted. From this time forward she never
recovered her health but, lingering for two years, died the victim of
disappointment.
[9] "Jason remained in the neighborhood a short time and then went to
sea, but he did not follow the sea a great while. He soon left the main,
and commenced preaching, which he continued until his death."
Once or twice during his lifetime Jason visited his family; at last,
after a silence of twenty years, his brother Solomon received from him the
following very evangelistic epistle:
"South Branch of Ormucto,
Province of New Brunswick,
June 30, 1835.
MY DEAR BROTHER SOLOMON: You will, no doubt, be surprised to hear
that I am still alive, although in an absence of twenty years I have never
written to you before. But I trust you will forgive me when I tell you
that, for most of the twenty years, I have been so situated that I have
had little or no communication with the lines, and have been holding
meetings, day and night, from place to place; besides my mind has been so
taken up with the deplorable situation of the earth, the darkness in which
it lies, that, when my labors did call me near the lines, I did not
realize the opportunity which presented itself of letting you know where I
was. And, again, I have designed visiting you long since, and annually
have promised myself that the succeeding year I would certainly seek out
my relatives, and enjoy the privilege of one pleasing interview with them
before I passed into the valley and shadow of death. But last, though not
least, let me not startle you when I say, that, according to my early
adopted principles of the power of faith, the Lord has,in his exceeding
kindness, bestowed upon me the gift of healing by the prayer of faith, and
the use of such simple means as seem congenial to the [10] human system;
but my chief reliance is upon Him who organized us at the first, and can
restore at pleasure that which is disorganized.
"The first of my peculiar success in this way was twelve years since,
and from nearly that date I have had little rest. In addition to the
incessant calls which I in a short time had, there was the most
overwhelming torrent of opposition poured down upon me that I ever
witnessed. But it pleased God to take the weak to confound the wisdom of
the wise. I have in the last twelve years seen the greatest manifestations
of the power of God in healing the sick, that, with all my sanguinity, I
ever hoped or imagined. And when the learned infidel has declared with
sober face, time and again, that disease had obtained such an ascendancy
that death could be resisted no longer, that the victim must wither
beneath his potent arm, I have seen the almost lifeless clay slowly but
surely resuscitated and revived, till the pallid monster fled so far that
the patient was left in the full bloom of vigorous health. But it is God
that hath done it, and to Him let all the praise be given.
"I am now compelled to close this epistle, for I must start
immediately on a journey of more than one hundred miles, to attend a heavy
case of sickness; so God be with you all. Farewell!
JASON MACK."
"Mother Lucy," in the interesting accounts of her own and husband's
families, tells some charming stories of visions, dreams, and miracles
among them indicating the advent of the latter-day power; but the
remarkable visions and mission of her prophet son claim the ruling place.
She says:
"There was a great revival of religion, which extended to all the
denominations of Christians in [11] the surrounding country in which we
resided. Many of the world's people, becoming concerned about the
salvation of their souls, came forward and presented themselves as seekers
after religion. Most of them were desirous of uniting with some church,
but were not decided as to the particular faith which they would adopt.
When the numerous meetings were about breaking up, and the candidates and
the various leading church members began to consult upon the subject of
adopting the candidates into some church or churches, as the case might
be, a dispute arose, and there was a great contention among them. While
these things were going forward, Joseph's mind became considerably
troubled with regard to religion, and the following extract from his
history will show, more clearly than I can express, the state of his
feelings, and the result of his reflections on this occasion:"
"I was at this time in my fifteenth year. My father's family was
proselyted to the Presbyterian faith, and four of them joined that church,
namely, my mother Lucy, my brothers Hyrum and Samuel Harrison, and my
sister Sophronia.
"During this time of great excitement my mind was called up to
serious reflection and great uneasiness. * * * * The Presbyterians were
most decided against the Baptists and Methodists, and used all their
powers of either reason or sophistry to prove their errors, or at least to
make the people think they were in error. On the other hand the Baptists
and Methodists, in their turn, were equally zealous to establish their own
tenets and disprove all others.
"In the midst of this war of words, and tumult [12] of opinions, I
often said to myself, what is to be done? Who, of all these parties, are
right? or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which
is it? and how shall I know it?
"While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the
contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the
epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads, `If any of
you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth unto all men liberally,
and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.' Never did any passage of
scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this
time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my
heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person
needed wisdom from God, I did, for how to act I did not know, and, unless
I could get more wisdom than I then had, would never know; for the
teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passage so
differently, as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an
appeal to the Bible. At length I came to the conclusion that I must either
remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs--that
is, ask of God. I at last came to the determination to ask of God. So in
accordance with this determination I retired to the woods to make the
attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful clear day, early in the
spring of 1820. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an
attempt; for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt
to pray vocally. After I had retired into the place where I had previously
designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I knelt
down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely
done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely
overcame me, and had such astonish-[13]ing influence over me as to bind my
tongue, so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and
it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But
exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of
this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was
ready to sink into despair, and abandon myself to destruction--not to an
imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen
world, who had such a marvelous power as I had never before felt in any
being--just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly
over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually
until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered
from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw
two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing
above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and
said, pointing to the other, `this is my beloved son, hear him:'
"My object in going to inquire of the Lord, was to know which of all
these sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner,
therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than
I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the
sects was right--for at this time it had never entered into my heart that
all were wrong--and which I should join. I was answered that I should join
none of them, for they were all wrong; and the personage who addressed me
said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight; that those
professors were all corrupt. `They draw near me with their lips, but their
hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrine the commandments of men,
having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.' He again
forbade me to join any of them; and many other [14] things did he say unto
me which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found
myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven."
"From this time until the 21st of September, 1823, Joseph continued,
as usual, to labor with his father, and nothing during this interval
occurred of very great importance,--though he suffered, as one would
naturally suppose, every kind of opposition and persecution from the
different orders of religionists."
"On the evening of the 21st of September, he retired to his bed in
quite a serious and contemplative state of mind. He shortly betook himself
to prayer and supplication to Almighty God, for a manifestation of his
standing before Him, and while thus engaged he received the following
vision:"
"While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a
light appearing in the room, which continued to increase until the room
was lighter than at noon-day, when immediately a personage appeared at my
bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. He had
on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond
anything earthly I had ever seen, nor do I believe that any earthly thing
could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were
naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so also were his feet
naked, as were his legs a little above the ankles. His head and neck were
also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but his robe,
as it was open so that I could see into his bosom. Not only was his robe
exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description,
and his countenance [15] truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly
light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I
first looked upon him I was afraid, but the fear soon left me. He called
me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the
presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work
for me to do, and that my name should be had for good and evil among all
nations, kindreds and tongues; or that it should be both good and evil
spoken of among all people. He said there was a book deposited, written
upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this
continent, and the source from whence they sprung. He also said that the
fullness of the everlasting gospel was contained in it, as delivered by
the Saviour to the ancient inhabitants. Also, that there were two stones
in silver bows, and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted
what is called the urim and thummim, deposited with the plates; and the
possession and use of these stones were what constituted seers in ancient
or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of
translating the book. After telling me these things, he commenced quoting
the prophecies of the Old Testament. He first quoted a part of the third
chapter of Malachi; and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the
same prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in our
Bible. Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our books, he
quoted it thus: `For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and
all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall burn as stubble, for
they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall
leave them neither root nor branch.' And again he quoted the fifth verse
thus: `Behold, I will reveal unto you the priesthood by the hand of Elijah
the prophet, before the coming of the great [16] and dreadful day of the
Lord.' He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in
the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the
hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the
whole earth would be utterly wasted at its coming.' In addition to these,
he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah saying that it was about to be
fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and
twenty-third verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said
that that prophet was Christ, but the day had not yet come `when they who
would not hear His voice should be cut off from among the people,' but
soon would come. He also quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the
twenty-eighth verse to the last. He also said that this was not yet
fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated the fullness of the
Gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of scripture
and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned here. Again, he
told me that when I got those plates of which he had spoken (for the time
that they should be obtained was not then fulfilled), I should not show
them to any person, neither the breast-plate, with the urim and thummim,
only to those to whom I should be commanded to show them; if I did I
should be destroyed. While he was conversing with me about the plates; the
vision was opened to my mind that I could see the place where the plates
were deposited, and that so clearly and distinctly that I knew the place
again when I visited it.
"After this communication, I saw the light in the room begin to
gather immediately around the person of him who had been speaking to me,
and it continued to do so until the room was again left dark, except just
around him; when instantly I saw as it were, a conduit open right up into
Heaven, and [17] he ascended up until he entirely disappeared, and the
room was left as it had been before this heavenly light made its
appearance.
"I lay musing on the singularity of the scene, and marveling greatly
at what had been told me by this extraordinary messenger, when, in the
midst of my meditation, I suddenly discovered that my room was again
beginning to get lighted, and, in an instant, as it were, the same
heavenly messenger was again by my bedside. He commenced, and again
related the very same things which he had done at his first visit, without
the least variation, which having done, he informed me of great judgments
which were coming upon the earth, with great desolations by famine, sword,
and pestilence; and that these grievous judgments would come on the earth
in this generation. Having related these things, he again ascended as he
had done before."
"When the angel ascended the second time he left Joseph overwhelmed
with astonishment, yet gave him but a short time to contemplate the things
which he had told him before he made his reappearance and rehearsed the
same things over, adding a few words of caution and instruction, thus:
That he must beware of covetousness, and he must not suppose the record
was to be brought forth with the view of getting gain, for this was not
the case, but that it was to bring forth light and intelligence, which had
for a long time been lost to the world; and that when he went to get the
plates, he must be on his guard, or his mind would be filled with
darkness. The angel then told him to tell his father all which he had both
seen and heard.
* * * * "From this time forth, Joseph con-[18]tinued to receive
instructions from the Lord, and we continued to get the children together
every evening, for the purpose of listening while he gave us a relation of
the same. I presume our family presented an aspect as singular as any that
ever lived upon the face of the earth--all seated in a circle, father,
mother, sons, and daughters, and giving the most profound attention to a
boy, eighteen years of age, who had never read the Bible through in his
life. He seemed much less inclined to the perusal of books than any of the
rest of our children, but far more given to meditation and deep study.
"We were now confirmed in the opinion that God was about to bring to
light something upon which we could stay our minds, or that would give us
a more perfect knowledge of the plan of salvation and the redemption of
the human family. This caused us greatly to rejoice; the sweetest union
and happiness pervaded our house, and tranquillity reigned in our midst.
"During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us
some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would
describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of
traveling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, their
buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also their
religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he
had spent his whole life with them." Thus continued the divine and
miraculous experience of the prophetic family until the golden plates [19]
were obtained, the book of Mormon published, and the "Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints" was established on the 6th of April, 1830.
But all this shall be written in the book of the prophet!
[20] CHAPTER III.
THE OPENING OF A SPIRITUAL DISPENSATION TO AMERICA--WOMAN'S EXALTATION--THE LIGHT OF THE LATTER DAYS.
Joseph Smith opened to America a great spiritual dispensation. It was
such the Mormon sisterhood received.
A latter-day prophet! A gospel of miracles! Angels visiting the earth
again! Pentecosts in the nineteenth century! This was Mormonism.
These themes were peculiarly fascinating to those earnest apostolic
women whom we shall introduce to the reader.
Ever must such themes be potent with woman. She has a divine mission
always, both to manifest spiritual gifts and to perpetuate spiritual
dispensations.
Woman is child of faith. Indeed she is faith. Man is reason. His mood
is skepticism. Left alone to his apostleship, spiritual missions die,
though revealed by a cohort of archangels. Men are too apt to lock again
the heavens which the angels have opened, and convert priesthood into
priestcraft. It is woman who is the chief architect of a spiritual church.
Joseph Smith was a prophet and seer because his [21] mother was a
prophetess and seeress. Lucy Smith gave birth to the prophetic genius
which has wrought out its manifestations so marvelously in the age.
Brigham Young, who is a society-builder, also received his rare endowments
from his mother. Though differing from Joseph, Brigham has a potent
inspiration.
Thus we trace the Mormon genius to these mothers. They gave birth to
the great spiritual dispensation which is destined to incarnate a new and
universal Christian church.
Until the faith of Latter-day Saints invoked one, there was no Holy
Ghost in the world such as the saints of former days would have
recognized. Respectable divines, indeed, had long given out that
revelation was done away, because no longer needed. The canon of scripture
was said to be full. The voice of prophesy was no more to be heard to the
end of time.
But the Mormon prophet invoked the Holy Ghost of the ancient Hebrews,
and burst the sealed heavens. The Holy Ghost came, and His apostles
published the news abroad.
The initial text of Mormonism was precisely that which formed the
basis of Peter's colossal sermon on the day of Pentecost:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour
out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall dream dreams;
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those
days of my spirit; and they shall prophesy."
[22] Here was a magic gospel for the age! And how greatly was woman in its
divine programme!
No sooner was the application made than the prophesy was discovered
to be pregnant with its own fulfillment. The experience of the former-day
saints became the experience of the "latter-day saints." It was claimed,
too, that the supreme fulfillment was reserved for this crowning
dispensation. These were emphatically the "last days." It was in the "last
days" that God would pour out His spirit upon "all flesh." The
manifestation of Pentecost was but the foreshadowing of the power of God,
to be universally displayed to his glory, and the regeneration of the
nations in the "dispensation of the fullness of times."
This gospel of a new dispensation came to America by the
administration of angels. But let it not be thought that Joseph Smith
alone saw angels. Multitudes received angelic administrations in the early
days of the Church; thousands spoke in tongues and prophesied; and
visions, dreams and miracles were daily manifestations among the
disciples.
The sisters were quite as familiar with angelic visitors as the
apostles. They were in fact the best "mediums" of this spiritual work.
They were the "cloud of witnesses." Their Pentecosts of spiritual gifts
were of frequent occurrence.
The sisters were also apostolic in a priestly sense. They partook of
the priesthood equally with the men. They too "held the keys of the
administration of angels." Who can doubt it, when faith is the greatest of
all keys to unlock the gates of heaven? But the "Church" herself
acknowledged woman's [23] key. There was no Mormon St. Peter in this new
dispensation to arrogate supremacy over woman, on his solitary pontifical
throne. The "Order of Celestial Marriage," not of celestial celibacy, was
about to be revealed to the Church.
Woman also soon became high priestess and prophetess. She was this
officially. The constitution of the Church acknowledged her divine mission
to administer for the regeneration of the race. The genius of a
patriarchal priesthood naturally made her the apostolic help-meet for man.
If you saw her not in the pulpit teaching the congregation, yet was she to
be found in the temple, administering for the living and the dead! Even in
the holy of holies she was met. As a high priestess she blessed with the
laying on of hands! As a prophetess she oracled in holy places! As an
endowment giver she was a Mason, of the Hebraic order, whose Grand Master
is the God of Israel and whose anointer is the Holy Ghost.
She held the keys of the administration of angels and of the working
of miracles and of the, "sealings" pertaining to "the heavens and the
earth." Never before was woman so much as she is in this Mormon
dispensation!
The supreme spiritual character of the "Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints" (its proper name), is well typed in the hymn so often
sung by the saints at their "testimony meetings," and sometimes in their
temples. Here is its theme:
"The spirit of God like a fire is burning,
The latter-day glory begins to come forth,
The visions and blessings of old are returning,
The angels are coming to visit the earth.
[24]
Chorus--We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven
Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!
Let glory to them in the highest be given,
Henceforth and forever--amen and amen.
The Lord is extending the saints' understanding,
Restoring their judges and all as at first
The knowledge and power of God are expanding;
The vail o'er the earth is beginning to burst.
Chorus"--We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven!" etc.
What a strange theme this, forty-seven years ago, before the age of
our modern spiritual mediums, when the angels visited only the Latter-day
Saints! In that day it would seem the angels only dared to come by
stealth, so unpopular was their coming. But the way was opened for the
angels. What wonder that they have since come in hosts good and bad, and
made their advent popular? Millions testify to their advent now; and
"modern spiritualism," though of "another source," is a proof of Mormonism
more astonishing than prophecy herself.
Yet is all this not more remarkable than the promise which Joseph
Smith made to the world in proclaiming his mission. It was the identical
promise of Christ: "These signs shall follow them that believe!" These
signs meant nothing short of all that extraordinary experience familiar to
the Hebrew people and the early-day saints. We have no record that ever
this sweeping promise was made before by any one but Jesus Christ. Yet
Joseph Smith, filled with a divine assurance, dared to re-affirm it and
apply the promise to all nations wherever the gospel of his mission should
be preached. The most wonderful of tests is this. [25] But the test was
fulfilled. The signs followed all, and everywhere. Even apostates witness
to this much.
There is nothing in modern spiritualism nearly so marvelous as was
Mormonism in its rise and progress in America and Great Britain. It has
indeed made stir enough in the world. But it had to break the way for
coming ages. Revelation was at first a very new and strange theme after
the more than Egyptian darkness in which the Christian nations had been
for fifty generations. It was the light set upon the hill now; but the
darkness comprehended it not. Yet was a spiritual dispensation opened
again to the world. Once more was the lost key found. Mormonism was the
key; and it was Joseph and his God-fearing disciples who unlocked the
heavens. That fact the world will acknowledge in the coming times.
[26] CHAPTER IV.
BIRTH OF THE CHURCH--KIRTLAND AS THE BRIDE, IN THE CHAMBERS OF THE WILDERNESS--THE EARLY GATHERING--"MOTHER WHITNEY," AND ELIZA R. SNOW.
The birth-place of Mormonism was in the State of New York. There the
angels first administered to the youthful prophet; there in the "Hill
Cumorah," near the village of Palmyra, the plates of the book of Mormon
were revealed by Moroni; there, at Manchester, on the 6th of April, 1830,
the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" was organized, with six
members.
But the divine romance of the sisterhood best opens at Kirtland. It
is the place where this Israelitish drama of our times commenced its first
distinguishing scenes,--the place where the first Mormon temple was built.
Ohio was the "Great West." Kirtland, the city of the saints, with its
temple, dedicated to the God of Israel, rose in Ohio.
Not, however, as the New Jerusalem of America, was Kirtland founded;
but pioneer families, from [27] New England, had settled in Ohio, who
early received the gospel of the Latter-day Church.
Thus Kirtland became an adopted Zion, selected by revelation as a
gathering place for the saints; and a little village grew into a city,
with a temple.
Among these pioneers were the families of "Mother Whitney," and Eliza
R. Snow, and the families of "Father Morley," and Edward Partridge, who
became the "first Bishop" of Zion.
Besides these, there were a host of men and women soon numbered among
the founders of Mormondom, who were also pioneers in Ohio, Missouri, and
Illinois.
There is no feature of the Mormons more interesting than their
distinguishing mark as pioneers. In this both their Church and family
history have a national significance.
Trace their family migrations from old England to New England in the
seventeenth century; from Europe to America in the nineteenth; then follow
them as a people in their empire-track from the State of New York, where
their Church was born, to Utah and California! It will thus be remarkably
illustrated that they and their parents have been pioneering not only
America but the world itself to the "Great West" for the last two hundred
and fifty years!
As a community the Mormons have been emphatically the Church of
pioneers. The sisters have been this equally with the Brethren. Their very
religion is endowed with the genius of migrating peoples.
So in 1830-31, almost as soon as the Church was [28] organized, the
prophet and the priesthood followed the disciples to the west, where the
star of Messiah was rising.
As though the bride had been preparing for the coming! As though,
womanlike, intuitively, she had gone into the wilderness--the chambers of
a new civilization--to await the bridegroom.
For the time being Kirtland became the Zion of the West; for the time
being Kirtland among cities was the bride.
But the illustration is also personal. Woman herself had gone to the
West where the star of Messiah was looming. Daughters of the New Jerusalem
were already in the chamber awaiting the bridegroom.
Early in the century, two had pioneered into the State of Ohio, who
have since been, for a good lifetime, high priestesses of the Mormon
temples. And the voice of prophesy has declared that these have the sacred
blood of Israel in their veins. In the divine mysticism of their order
they are at once of a kingly and priestly line.
There is a rare consistency in the mysticism of the Mormon Church.
The daughters of the temple are so by right of blood and inheritance. They
are discovered by gift of revelation in Him who is the voice of the
Church; but they inherit from the fathers and mothers of the temple of the
Old Jerusalem.
And so these two of the principal heroines of Mormondom--"Mother
Whitney" and "Sister Eliza R. Snow"--introduced first as the two earliest
of the Church who pioneered to the "Great West," [29] before the advent of
their prophet, as well as introduced for the divine part which they have
played in the marvelous history of their people.
These are high priestesses! These are two rare prophetesses! These
have the gifts of revelation and "tongues!" These administer in "holy
places" for the living and the dead.
It was about the year of our Lord 1806 that Oliver Snow, a native of
Massachusetts, and his wife, R. L. Pettibone Snow, of Connecticut, moved
with their children to that section of the State of Ohio bordering on Lake
Erie on the north and the State of Pennsylvania on the east, known then as
the "Connecticut Western Reserve." They purchased land and settled in
Mantua, Portage county.
Eliza R. Snow, who was the second of seven children, four daughters
and three sons, one of whom is the accomplished apostle Lorenzo Snow, was
born in Becket, Berkshire county, Mass., January 21st, 1804. Her parents
were of English descent; their ancestors were among the earliest settlers
of New England.
Although a farmer by occupation, Oliver Snow performed much public
business, officiating in several responsible positions. His daughter
Eliza, being ten years the senior of her eldest brother, so soon as she
was competent, was employed as secretary in her father's office.
She was skilled in various kinds of needlework and home manufactures.
Two years in succession she drew the prize awarded by the committee on
manufactures, at the county fair, for the best manufactured leghorn.
[30] When quite young she commenced writing for publication in various
journals, which she continued to do for several years, over assumed
signatures,--wishing to be useful as a writer, and yet unknown except by
intimate friends.
"During the contest between Greece and Turkey," she says, "I watched
with deep interest the events of the war, and after the terrible
destruction of Missolonghi, by the Turks, I wrote an article entitled `The
Fall of Missolonghi.' Soon after its publication, the deaths of Adams and
Jefferson occurred on the same memorable fourth of July, and I was
requested through the press, to write their requiem, to which I responded,
and found myself ushered into conspicuity. Subsequently I was awarded
eight volumes of `Godey's Lady's Book,' for a first prize poem published
in one of the journals."
The classical reader will remember how the struggle between Greece
and Turkey stirred the soul of Byron. That immortal poet was not a saint
but he was a great patriot and fled to the help of Greece.
Precisely the same chord that was struck in the chivalrous mind of
Lord Byron was struck in the Hebraic soul of Eliza R. Snow. It was the
chord of the heroic and the antique.
Our Hebraic heroine is even more sensitive to the heroic and
patriotic than to the poetic,--at least she has most self-gratification in
lofty and patriotic themes.
"That men are born poets," she continues, "is a common adage. I was
born a patriot,--at least a warm feeling of patriotism inspired my
childish [31] heart, and mingled in my earliest thoughts, as evinced in
many of the earliest productions of my pen. I can even now recollect how,
with beating pulse and strong emotion I listened, when but a small child,
to the tales of the revolution."
"My grandfather on my mother's side, when fighting for the freedom of
our country, was taken prisoner by British troops, and confined in a
dreary cell, and so scantily fed that when his fellow-prisoner by his side
died from exhaustion, he reported him to the jailer as sick in bed, in
order to obtain the amount of food for both,--keeping him covered in their
blankets as long as he dared to remain with a decaying body."
"This, with many similar narratives of revolutionary sufferings
recounted by my grand-parents, so deeply impressed my mind, that as I grew
up to womanhood I fondly cherished a pride for the flag which so proudly
waved over the graves of my brave and valiant ancestors."
It was the poet's soul of this illustrious Mormon woman that first
enchanted the Church with inspired song, and her Hebraic faith and life
have given something of their peculiar tone to the entire Mormon people,
and especially the sisterhood; just as Joseph Smith and Brigham Young gave
the types and institutions to our modern Israel.
Sister Eliza R. Snow was born with more than the poet's soul. She was
a prophetess in her very nature,--endowed thus by her Creator, before her
birth. Her gifts are of race quality rather than of mere religious
training or growth. They have come down to her from the ages. From her
personal race [32] indications, as well as from the whole tenor and
mission of her life, she would readily be pronounced to be of Hebrew
origin. One might very well fancy her to be a descendant of David himself;
indeed the Prophet Joseph, in blessing her, pronounced her to be a
daughter of Judah's royal house. She understands, nearly to perfection,
all of the inner views of the system and faith which she represents. And
the celestial relations and action of the great Mormon drama, in other
worlds, and in the "eternities past and to come," have constituted her
most familiar studies and been in the rehearsals of her daily ministry.
Mother Whitney says:
"I was born the day after Christmas in the first year of the present
century, in the quiet, old-fashioned country town of Derby, New Haven
County, Conn. My parents' names were Gibson and Polly Smith. The Smiths
were among the earliest settlers there, and were widely known. I was the
oldest child, and grew up in an atmosphere of love and tenderness. My
parents were not professors of region, and according to puritanical ideas
were grossly in fault to have me taught dancing; but my father had his own
peculiar notions upon the subject, and wished me to possess and enjoy, in
connection with a sound education and strict morals, such accomplishments
as would fit me to fill, with credit to myself and my training, an
honorable position in society. He had no sympathy whatever with any of the
priests of that day, and was utterly at variance with their teachings and
ministry, notwithstanding he was strenuous on all points of honor, honesty
morality and uprightness.
"There is nothing in my early life I remember [33] with more intense
satisfaction than the agreeable companionship of my father. My mother's
health was delicate, and with her household affairs, and two younger
children, she gave herself up to domestic life, allowing it to absorb her
entire interest, and consequently I was more particularly under my
father's jurisdiction and influence; our tastes were most congenial, and
this geniality and happiness surrounded me with its beneficial influence
until I reached my nineteenth year. Nothing in particular occurred to mar
the smoothness of my life's current and prosperity, and love beamed upon
our home.
"About this time a new epoch in my life created a turning point which
unconsciously to us, who were the actors in the drama, caused all my
future to be entirely separate and distinct from those with whom I had
been reared and nurtured. My father's sister, a spinster, who had money at
her own disposal, and who was one of those strong-minded women of whom so
much is said in this our day, concluded to emigrate to the great West,--at
that time Ohio seemed a fabulous distance from civilization and
enlightenment, and going to Ohio then was as great an undertaking as going
to China or Japan is at the present day. She entreated my parents to allow
me to accompany her, and promised to be as faithful and devoted to me as
possible, until they should join us, and that they expected very shortly
to do; their confidence in aunt Sarah's ability and self-reliance was
unbounded, and so, after much persuasion, they consented to part with me
for a short interval of time; but circumstances, over which we mortals
have no control, were so overruled that I never saw my beloved mother
again. Our journey was a pleasant one; the beautiful scenery through which
our route lay had charms indescribable for me, who had never been farther
from home than New Haven, in which city I had passed a part of my time,
and to [34] me it was nearer a paradise than any other place on earth. The
magnificent lakes, rivers, mountains, and romantic forests were all
delineations of nature which delighted my imagination.
"We settled a few miles inland from the picturesque Lake Erie, and
here in after years, were the saints of God gathered and the everlasting
gospel proclaimed. My beloved aunt Sarah was a true friend and instructor
to me, and had much influence in maturing my womanly character and
developing my home education. She hated the priests of the day, and
believed them all deceivers and hypocrites; her religion consisted in
visiting the widow and the fatherless and keeping herself unspotted from
the world."
"Shortly after entering my twenty-first year I became acquainted with
a young man from Vermont, Newel K. Whitney, who, like myself, had left
home and relatives and was determined to carve out a fortune for himself.
He had been engaged in trading with the settlers and Indians at Green Bay
Mich., buying furs extensively for the eastern markets. In his travels to
and from New York he passed along the charming Lake Erie, and from some
unknown influence he concluded to settle and make a permanent home for
himself in this region of country; and then subsequently we met and became
acquainted; and being thoroughly convinced that we were suited to each
other, we were married by the Presbyterian minister of that place, the
Rev. J. Badger. We prospered in all our efforts to accumulate wealth, so
much so, that among our friends it came to be remarked that nothing of
Whitney's ever got lost on the lake, and no product of his exportation was
ever low in the market; always ready sales and fair prices. We had neither
of us ever made any profession of religion, but contrary to my early
education I was naturally religious, and I [35] expressed to my husband a
wish that we should unite ourselves to one of the churches, after
examining into their principles and deciding for ourselves. Accordingly we
united ourselves with the Campbellites, who were then making many
converts, and whose principles seemed most in accordance with the
scriptures. We continued in this church, which to us was the nearest
pattern to our Saviour's teachings, until Parley P. Pratt and another
elder preached the everlasting gospel In Kirtland."
[36] CHAPTER V.
THE VOICE, AND THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT.
And there came one as a "voice crying in the wilderness, prepare ye
the way of the Lord!"
Thus ever!
A coming to Israel with "a new and everlasting covenant;" this was
the theme of the ancient prophets, now unfolded.
There was the voice crying in the wilderness of Ohio, just before the
advent of the latter-day prophet.
The voice was Sidney Rigdon. He was to Joseph Smith as a John the
Baptist.
The forerunner made straight the way in the wilderness of the virgin
West. He raised up a church of disciples in and around Kirtland. He led
those who afterwards became latter-day saints to faith in the promises,
and baptized them in water for the remission of sins. But he had not power
to baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire from heaven. Yet he
taught the literal fulfillment of the prophesies concerning the last days,
and heralded the advent of the "one greater than I."
"The same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."
[37] That is ever the "one greater than I," be his name whatever it may.
Joseph Smith baptized with the Holy Ghost. But Sidney knew not that
he was heralding Joseph.
And the prophet himself was but as the voice crying in the wilderness
of the great dark world: "Prepare ye the way for the second advent of
earth's Lord." His mission was also to "make straight in the desert a
highway" for the God of Israel; for Israel was going up,--following the
angel of the covenant, to the chambers of the mountains.
He came with a great lamp and a great light in those days, dazzling
to the eyes of the generation that "crucified" him in its blindness.
Joseph was the sign of Messiah's coming. He unlocked the sealed heavens by
faith and "election." He came in "the spirit and power of Elijah." The
mantle of Elijah was upon him.
Be it always understood that the coming of Joseph Smith "to restore
the covenant to Israel" signifies the near advent of Messiah to reign as
King of Israel. Joseph was the Elijah of the last days.
These are the first principles of Mormonism. And to witness of their
truth this testament of the sisters is given, with the signs and wonders
proceeding from the mission of Him who unlocked the heavens and preached
the gospel of new revelations to the world, whose light of revelation had
gone out.
But first came the famous Alexander Campbell and his compeer, Sidney
Rigdon, to the West with the "lamp." Seekers after truth, whose hearts had
been strangely moved by some potent spirit, whose [38] influence they felt
pervading but understood not, saw the lamp and admired.
Mr. Campbell, of Virginia, was a reformed Baptist. He with Sidney
Rigdon, a Mr. Walter Scott, and some other gifted men, had dissented from
the regular Baptists, from whom they differed much in doctrine. They
preached baptism for the remission of sins, promised the gift of the Holy
Ghost, and believed in the literal fulfillment of prophesy. They also had
some of the apostolic forms of organization in their church.
In Ohio they raised up branches. In Kirtland and the regions round,
they made many disciples, who bore the style of "disciples," though the
popular sect-name was "Campbellites." Among them were Eliza R. Snow,
Elizabeth Ann Whitney, and many more, who afterwards embraced the
"fullness of the everlasting gospel" as restored by the angels to the
Mormon prophet.
But these evangels of a John the Baptist mission brought not to the
West the light of new revelation in their lamp.
These had not yet even heard of the opening of a new dispensation of
revelations. As they came by the way they had seen no angels with new
commissions for the Messiah age. No Moses nor Elijah had been with them on
a mount of transfiguration. Nor had they entered into the chamber with the
angel of the covenant, bringing a renewal of the covenant to Israel. This
was in the mission of the "one greater" than they who came after.
They brought the lamp without the light---nothin--more. Better the
light without the evangelical [39] lamp--better a conscientious intellect
than the forms of sectarian godliness without the power.
Without the power to unlock the heavens, and the Elijah faith to call
the angels down, there could be no new dispensation--no millennial
civilization for the world, to crown the civilization of the ages.
Light came to Sidney Rigdon from the Mormon Elijah, and he
comprehended the light; but Alexander Campbell rejected the prophet when
his message came; he would have none of his angels. He had been preaching
the literal fulfillment of prophesy, but when the covenant was revealed he
was not ready. The lamp, not the light, was his admiration. Himself was
the lamp; Joseph had the light from the spirit world, and the darkness
comprehended it not.
Alexander Campbell was a learned and an able man--the very form of
wisdom, but without the spirit.
Joseph Smith was an unlettered youth. He came not in the polished
form of wisdom--either divine or human--but in the demonstration of the
Holy Ghost, and with signs following the believer.
Mr. Campbell would receive no new revelation from such an one--no
everlasting covenant from the new Jerusalem which was waiting to come
down, to establish on earth a great spiritual empire, that the King might
appear to Zion in his glory, with all his angels and the ancients of days.
The tattered and blood-stained commissions of old Rome were
sufficient for the polished divine,--Rome which had made all nations drunk
with her spiritual fornications,--Rome which put to death [40] the Son of
God when his Israel in blindness rejected him.
Between Rome and Jerusalem there was now the great controversy of the
God of Israel. Not the old Jerusalem which had traveled from the east to
the west, led by the angel of the covenant, up out of the land of Egypt!
The new Jerusalem to the earth then, as she is to-day! Ever will she be
the new Jerusalem ever will "old things" be passing away when "the Lord
cometh!"
And the angel of the west appeared by night to the youth, as he
watched in the chamber of his father's house, in a little village in the
State of New York. On that charmed night when the invisibles hovered about
the earth the angel that stood before him read to the messenger of Messiah
the mystic text of his mission:
"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before me, and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his Temple,
even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold he shall
come, saith the Lord of Hosts."
[41] CHAPTER VI.
AN ANGEL FROM THE CLOUD IS HEARD IN KIRTLAND--THE "DAUGHTER OF THE VOICE."
Now there dwelt in Kirtland in those days disciples who feared the
Lord.
And they "spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened and
heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that
feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name."
"We had been praying," says mother Whitney, to know from the Lord how
we could obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost."
"My husband, Newel K. Whitney, and myself, were Campbellites. We had
been baptized for the remission of our sins, and believed in the laying
"on of hands and the gifts of the spirit. But there was no one with
authority to confer the Holy Ghost upon us. We were seeking to know how to
obtain the spirit and the gifts bestowed upon the ancient saints.
"Sister Eliza Snow was also a Campbellite. We were acquainted before
the restoration of the gospel to the earth. She, like myself, was seeking
for the fullness of the gospel. She lived at the time in Mantua.
"One night--it was midnight--as my husband [42] and I, in our house
at Kirtland, were praying to the father to be shown the way, the spirit
rested upon us and a cloud overshadowed the house.
"It was as though we were out of doors. The house passed away from
our vision. We were not conscious of anything but the presence of the
spirit and the cloud that was over us.
"We were wrapped in the cloud. A solemn awe pervaded us. We saw the
cloud and we felt the spirit of the Lord.
"Then we heard a voice out of the cloud saying:
"`Prepare to receive the word of the Lord, for it is coming!'
"At this we marveled greatly; but from that moment we knew that the
word of the Lord was coming to Kirtland."
Now this is an Hebraic sign, well known to Israel after the glory of
Israel had departed, It was called by the sacred people who inherited the
covenant "the daughter of the voice."
Blindness had happened to Israel. The prophets and the seers the Lord
had covered, but the "daughter of the voice" was still left to Israel.
From time to time a few with the magic blood of the prophets in them,
heard the voice speaking to them out of the cloud.
Down through the ages the "daughter of the voice" followed the
children of Israel in their dispersions. Down through the ages, from time
to time, some of the children of the sacred seed have heard the voice.
This is the tradition of the sons and daughters of Judah.
It was the "daughter of the voice" that Mother [43] Whitney and her
husband heard, at midnight, in Kirtland, speaking to them out of the
cloud. Mother Whitney and her husband were of the seed of Israel (so run
their patriarchal blessings); it was their right and privilege to hear the
"voice."
He was coming now, whose right it is to reign. The throne of David
was about to be re-set up and given to the lion of the tribe of Judah. The
everlasting King of the new Jerusalem was coming down, with the tens of
thousands of his saints.
The star of Messiah was traveling from the east to the west. The
prophet--the messenger of Messiah's covenant--was about to remove farther
westward, towards the place where his Lord in due time will commence his
reign, which shall extend over all the earth.
This was the meaning of that vision of the "cloud" in Kirtland, at
midnight, overshadowing the house of Newel K. Whitney; this the
significance of the "voice" which spoke out of the cloud, saying: "Prepare
to receive the word of the Lord, for it is coming!"
The Lord of Hosts was about to make up his jewels for the crown of
his appearing; and there were many of those jewels already in the West.
[44] CHAPTER VII.
AN ISRAEL PREPARED BY VISIONS, DREAMS AND ANGELS--INTERESTING AND MIRACULOUS STORY OF PARLEY P. PRATT--A MYSTIC SIGN OF MESSIAH IN THE HEAVENS--THE ANGEL'S WORDS FULFILLED.
The divine narrative leads directly into the personal story of Parley
P. Pratt. He it was who first brought the Mormon mission west. He it was
who presented the Book of Mormon to Sidney Rigdon, and converted him to
the new covenant which Jehovah was making with a latter-day Israel.
Parley P. Pratt was one of the earliest of the new apostles. By
nature he was both poet and prophet. The soul of prophesy was born in him.
In his lifetime he was the Mormon Isaiah. All his writings were Hebraic.
He may have been of Jewish blood. He certainly possessed the Jewish
genius, of the prophet order.
It would seem that the spirit of this great latter-day work could not
throw its divine charms around the youthful prophet, who had been raised
up to open a crowning spiritual dispensation, without peculiarly affecting
the spiritual minded everywhere --both men and women.
It is one of the remarkable facts connected with the rise of
Mormonism in the age that, at about the [45] time Joseph Smith was
receiving the administration of angels, thousands both in America and
Great Britain were favored with corresponding visions and intuitions.
Hence, indeed, its success, which was quite as astonishing as the
spiritual work of the early Christians.
One of the first manifestations was that of earnest gospel-seekers
having visions of the elders before they came, and recognizing them when
they did come bearing the tidings. Many of the sisters, as well as the
brethren, can bear witness of this.
This very peculiar experience gave special significance to one of the
earliest hymns, sung by the saints, of the angel who "came down from the
mansions of glory" with "the fullness of Jesus's gospel," and also the
"covenant to gather his people," the refrain of which was,
"O! Israel! O! Israel! in all your abidings,
Prepare for your Lord, when you hear these glad tidings."
An Israel had been prepared in all their "abidings," by visions and
signs, like sister Whitney, who heard the voice of the angel, from the
cloud, bidding her prepare for the coming word of the Lord. Parley P.
Pratt was the elder who fulfilled her vision, and brought the word of the
Lord direct from Joseph to Kirtland.
And Parley himself was one of an Israel who had been thus
mysteriously prepared for the great latter-day mission, of which he became
so marked an apostle.
Before he reached the age of manhood, Parley had in his native State
(N.Y.) met with reverses [46] in fortune so serious as to change the
purposes of his life.
"I resolved," he says, "to bid farewell to the civilized world, where
I had met with little else but "disappointment, sorrow and unrewarded
toil; and where sectarian divisions disgusted, and ignorance perplexed
me,--and to spend the remainder of my days in the solitudes of the great
West, among the natives of the forest." In October, 1826, he took leave of
his friends and started westward, coming at length to a small settlement
about thirty miles west of Cleveland, in the State of Ohio. The country
was covered with a dense forest, with only here and there a small opening
made by the settlers, and the surface of the earth was one vast scene of
mud and mire.
Alone, in a land of strangers, without home or money, and not yet
twenty years of age, he became somewhat discouraged, but concluded to stop
for the winter.
In the spring he resolved to return to his native State, for there
was one at home whom his heart had long loved and from whom he would not
have been separated, except by misfortune.
But with her, as his wife, he returned to Ohio, the following year,
and made a home on the lands which he cleared with his own hands.*
* She died in the early persecution of the church, and when
Parley was in prison for the gospel's sake her spirit visited and
comforted him.
Eighteen months thereafter Sidney Rigdon came into the neighborhood,
as a preacher. With this reformer Parley associated himself in the
ministry, and organized a society of disciples.
[47] But Parley was not satisfied with even the ancient gospel form
without the power.
At the commencement of 1830, the very time the Mormon Church was
organized, he felt drawn out in an extraordinary manner to search the
prophets, and to pray for an understanding of the same. His prayers were
soon answered, even beyond his expectations. The prophesies were opened to
his view. He began to understand the things which were about to transpire.
The restoration of Israel, the coming of Messiah, and the glory that
should follow.
Being now "moved upon by the Holy Ghost" to travel about preaching
the gospel "without purse or scrip," in August, 1830, he closed his
worldly business and bid adieu to his wilderness home, which he never saw
afterwards.
"Arriving at Rochester," he says, "I informed my wife that,
notwithstanding our passage being paid through the whole distance, yet I
must leave the boat and her to pursue her passage to her friends, while I
would stop awhile in this region. Why, I did not know; but so it was
plainly manifest by the spirit to me.
"I said to her, we part for a season; go and visit our friends in our
native place; I will come soon, but how soon I know not; for I have a work
to do in this region of country, and what it is, or how long it will take
to perform it, I know not; but I will come when it is performed.
"My wife would have objected to this, but she had seen the hand of
God so plainly manifest in his dealings with me many times, that she dared
not oppose the things manifested to me by his spirit. [48] She, therefore,
consented; and I accompanied her as far as Newark, a small town upwards of
one hundred miles from Buffalo, and then took leave of her, and of the
boat.
"It was early in the morning, just at the dawn of day; I walked ten
miles into the country, and stopped to breakfast with a Mr. Wells. I
proposed to preach in the evening. Mr. Wells readily accompanied me
through the neighborhood to visit the people, and circulate the
appointment.
We visited an old Baptist deacon, by the name of Hamlin. After
hearing of our appointment for the evening, he began to tell of a book, a
strange book, a very strange book, in his possession, which had been just
published. This book, he said, purported to have been originally written
on plates, either of gold or brass, by a branch of the tribes of Israel;
and to have been discovered and translated by a young man near Palmyra, in
the State of New York, by the aid of visions, or the ministry of angels. I
inquired of him how or where the book was to be obtained. He promised me
the perusal of it, at his house the next day, if I would call. I felt a
strange interest in the book.
Next morning I called at his house, where for the first time my eyes
beheld the Book of Mormon,--that book of books--that record which reveals
the antiquities of the `new world' back to the remotest ages, and which
unfolds the destiny of its people and the world, for all time to come.
As he read, the spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he knew and
comprehended that the book was [49] true; whereupon he resolved to visit
the young man who was the instrument in bringing forth this "marvelous
work."
Accordingly he visited the village of Palmyra, and inquired for the
residence of Mr. Joseph Smith, which he found some two or three miles from
the village. As he approached the house, at the close of the day, he
overtook a man driving some cows, and inquired of him for Mr. Joseph
Smith, the translator of the Book of Mormon. This man was none other than
Hyrum, Joseph's brother, who informed him that Joseph then resided in
Pennsylvania, some one hundred miles distant. That night Parley was
entertained by Hyrum, who explained to him much of the great Israelitish
mission just opening to the world.
In the morning he was compelled to take leave of Hyrum, the brother,
who at parting presented him with a copy of the Book of Mormon. He had not
then completed its perusal, and so after traveling on a few miles he
stopped to rest and again commenced to read the book. To his great joy he
found that Jesus Christ, in his glorified resurrected body, had appeared
to the "remnant of Joseph" on the continent of America, soon after his
resurrection and ascension into heaven; and that he also administered, in
person, to the ten lost tribes; and that through his personal ministry in
these countries his gospel was revealed and written in countries and among
nations entirely unknown to the Jewish apostles.
Having rested awhile and perused the sacred boor; by the roadside, he
again walked on.
[50] After fulfilling his appointments, he resolved to preach no more
until he had duly received a "commission from on high." So he returned to
Hyrum, who journeyed with him some twenty-five miles to the residence of
Mr. Whitmer, in Seneca County, who was one of the "witnesses" of the Book
of Mormon, and in whose chamber much of the book was translated.
He found the little branch of the church in that place "full of joy,
faith, humility and charity."
They rested that night, and on the next day (the 1st of September,
1830), Parley was baptized by Oliver Cowdery, who, with the prophet
Joseph, had been ordained "under the hands" of the angel John the Baptist
to this ministry,--the same John who baptized Jesus Christ in the River
Jordan.
A meeting of these primitive saints was held the same evening, when
Parley was confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost, and ordained an
elder of the church.
Feeling now that he had the true authority to preach, he commenced
his new ministry under the authority and power which the angels had
conferred. "The Holy Ghost," he says, "came upon me mightily. I spoke the
word of God with power, reasoning out of the scriptures and the Book of
Mormon. The people were convinced, overwhelmed with tears, and came
forward expressing their faith, and were baptized."
The mysterious object for which he took leave of his wife was
realized, and so he pursued his journey to the land of his fathers, and of
his boyhood.
He now commenced his labors in good earnest, [51] daily addressing
crowded audiences; and soon he baptized his brother Orson, a youth of
nineteen, but to-day a venerable apostle--the Paul of Mormondom.
It was during his labors in these parts, in the Autumn of 1830, that
he saw a very singular and extraordinary sign in the heavens.
He had been on a visit to the people called Shakers, at New Lebanon,
and was returning on foot, on a beautiful evening of September. The sky
was without a cloud; the stars shone out beautifully, and all nature
seemed reposing in quiet, as he pursued his solitary way, wrapt in deep
meditations on the predictions of the holy prophets; the signs of the
times; the approaching advent of the Messiah to reign on the earth, and
the important revelations of the Book of Mormon, when his attention was
aroused by a sudden appearance of a brilliant light which shone around him
"above the brightness of the sun." He cast his eyes upwards to inquire
from whence the light came, when he perceived a long chain of light
extending in the heavens, very bright and of a deep fiery red. It at first
stood stationary in a horizontal position; at length bending in the
centre, the two ends approached each other with a rapid movement so as to
form an exact square. In this position it again remained stationary for
some time, perhaps a minute, and then again the ends approached each other
with the same rapidity, and again ceased to move, remaining stationary,
for perhaps a minute, in the form of a compass. It then commenced a third
movement in the same manner, and closed like the closing of a compass,
[52] the whole forming a straight line like a chain doubled. It again
remained stationary a minute, and then faded away.
"I fell upon my knees in the street," he says, and thanked the Lord
for so marvelous a sign of the coming of the Son of Man. Some persons may
smile at this, and say that all these exact movements were by chance; but
for my part I could as soon believe that the alphabet would be formed by
chance and be placed so as to spell my name, as to believe that these
signs (known only to the wise) could be formed and shown forth by chance."
Parley now made his second visit to the prophet, who had returned
from Pennsylvania to his father's residence in Manchester, near Palmyra,
and here had the pleasure of seeing him for the first time.
It was now October, 1830. A revelation had been given through the
mouth of the prophet in which elders Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Tiber
Peterson and Parley P. Pratt were appointed to go into the wilderness
through the Western States, and to the Indian Territory.
These elders journeyed until they came to the spiritual pastorale of
Sydney Rigdon, in Ohio. He received the elders cordially, and Parley
presented his former friend and instructor with the Book of Mormon, and
related to him the history of the same.
"The news of our coming," says Parley, "was soon noised abroad, and
the news of the discovery of the Book of Mormon and the marvelous events
connected with it. The interest and excitement now became general in
Kirtland, and in all the region round about. The people thronged us [53]
night and day, insomuch that we had no time for rest or retirement.
Meetings were convened in different neighborhoods, and multitudes came
together soliciting our attendance; while thousands flocked about us
daily, some to be taught, some for curiosity, some to obey the gospel, and
some to dispute or resist it.
"In two or three weeks from our arrival in the neighborhood with the
news, we had baptized one hundred and twenty-seven souls; and this number
soon increased to one thousand. The disciples were filled with joy and
gladness; while rage and lying was abundantly manifested by gainsayers.
Faith was strong, joy was great, and persecution heavy.
"We proceeded to ordain Sidney Rigdon, Isaac Morley, John Murdock,
Lyman Wight, Edward Partridge, and many others to the ministry; and
leaving them to take care of the churches, and to minister the gospel, we
took leave of the saints, and continued our journey."
Thus was fulfilled the vision of "Mother Whitney." Kirtland had heard
the "word of the Lord." The angel that spoke from the cloud, at midnight,
in Kirtland, was endowed with the gift of prophesy. The "daughter of the
voice" which followed Israel down through the ages was potent still--was
still an oracle to the children of the covenant.
[54] CHAPTER VIII.
WAR OF THE INVISIBLE POWERS--THEIR MASTER-- JEHOVAH'S MEDIUM.
"You have prayed me here! Now what do you want of me?"
The Master had come!
But who was he?
Whence came he?
Good or evil?
Whose prayers had been answered?
There was in Kirtland a controversy between the powers of good and
evil, for the mastery. Powers good and evil it would seem to an ordinary
discernment. Certainly powers representing two sources.
This was the prime manifestation of the new dispensation. This
contention of the invisibles for a foothold among mortals.
A Mormon iliad! for such it is! It is the epic of two worlds, in
which the invisibles, with mortals, take their respective parts.
And now it is the dispensation of the fullness of times! Now all the
powers visible and invisible contend for the mastery of the earth in the
stupen-[55]dous drama of the last days. This is what Mormonism means.
It is a war of the powers above and below to decide who shall give
the next civilization to earth; which power shall incarnate that supreme
civilization with its spirit and genius.
Singular how exactly this has been repeated since Moses and the
magicians of Egypt, and Daniel and the magicians of Babylon, contended.
One had risen up in the august name of Jehovah. Mormonism represents
the powers invisible of the Hebrew God.
Shall Jehovah reign in the coming time? Shall he be the Lord God
omnipotent? This, in its entirety, is the Mormon problem.
Joseph is the prophet of that stupendous question, to be decided in
this grand controversy of the two worlds--this controversy of mortals and
immortals!
There are lords many and gods many, but to the prophet and his people
there is but one God--Jehovah is his name.
A Mormon iliac, nothing else; and a war of the invisibles--a war of
spiritual empires.
That war was once in Kirtland, when the first temple of a new
civilization rose, to proclaim the supreme name of the God of Israel.
No sooner had the Church of Latter-day Saints been established in the
West than remarkable spiritual manifestations appeared. This was exactly
in accordance with the faith and expectations of the disciples; for the
promise to them was that these signs should follow the believer.
[56] But there was a power that the saints could not understand. That it
was a power from the invisible world all readily discerned.
An influence both strange and potent! The power which was not
comprehended was greater, for the time, in its manifestations, than the
spirit which the disciples better understood.
These spiritual manifestations occurred remarkably at the house of
Elder Whitney, where the saints met often to speak one to the other, and
to pray for the power.
The power had come!
It was in the house which had been overshadowed by the magic cloud at
midnight, out of which the angel had prophesied of the coming of the word
of the Lord.
The Lord had come!
His word was given. But which Lord? and whose word? That was the
question in that hour of spiritual controversy.
Similar manifestations were also had in other branches of the church;
and they were given at those meetings called "testimony meetings." At
these the saints testified one to the other of the "great work of God in
the last days," and magnified the gifts of the spirit. But there were two
kinds of gifts and two kinds of spirits.
Some of these manifestations were very similar to those of "modern
spiritualism." Especially was this the case with what are styled physical
manifestations.
Others read revelations from their hands; holding them up as a book
before them. From this book [57] they read passages of new scriptures.
Books of new revelations had been unsealed.
In letters of light and letters of gold, writing appeared to their
vision, on the hands of these "mediums."
What was singular and confounding to the elders was that many, who
could neither read nor write, while under "the influence," uttered
beautiful language extemporaneously. At this these "mediums" of the Mormon
Church (twenty years before our "modern mediums" were known), would
exclaim concerning the "power of God" manifested through them; challenging
the elders, after the spirit had gone out of them, with their own natural
inability to utter such wonderful sayings, and do such marvelous things.
As might be expected the majority of these "mediums" were among the
sisters. In modern spiritual parlance, they were more "inspirational."
Indeed for the manifestation of both powers the sisters have always been
the "best mediums" (adopting the descriptive epithet now so popular and
suggestive).
And this manifestation of the "two powers" in the church followed the
preaching of the Mormon gospel all over the world, especially in America
and Great Britain. It was God's spell and the spell of some other
spiritual genius.
Where the one power was most manifested, there it was always found
that the power from the "other source" was about equally displayed.
So abounding and counterbalancing were these two powers in nearly all
the branches of the church in the early rise of Mormonism, in America and
[58] Great Britain, that spiritual manifestations became regarded very
generally as fire that could burn as well as bless and build up the work
of God.
An early hymn of the dispensation told that "the great prince of
darkness was mustering his forces;" that a battle was coming "between the
two kingdoms;" that the armies were "gathering round," and that they would
"soon in close battle be found."
To this is to be attributed the decline of spiritual gifts in a later
period in the Mormon Church, for the "spirits" were poured out so
abundantly that the saints began to fear visions and angels, and prophesy.
and the "speaking in tongues."
Thus the sisters, who ever are the "best mediums" of spiritual gifts
in the church, have, in latter years, been shorn of their glory. But the
gifts still remain with them: and the prophesy is that some day, when
there is sufficient wisdom combined with faith more than the primitive
power will be displayed, and the angels will daily walk and talk with the
people of God.
But in Kirtland in that day there was the controversy of the
invisibles.
It was in the beginning of the year 1831 that a sleigh drove into the
little town of Kirtland. There were in it a man and his wife with her
girl, and a man servant driving.
They seemed to be travelers, and to have come a long distance rather
than from a neighboring village; indeed they had come from another State;
hundreds of miles from home now; far away in [59] those days for a man to
be thus traveling in midwinter with his wife. But they were not emigrants;
at least seemingly not such; certainly not emigrants of an ordinary kind.
No caravan followed in their wake with merchandise for the western
market, nor a train of goods and servants to make a home in a neighboring
State.
A solitary sleigh; a man with his wife and two servants; a solitary
sleigh, and far from home.
That they were not fugitives was apparent in the manly boldness of
the chief personage and the somewhat imperial presence of the woman by his
side. This personal air of confidence, and a certain conscious importance,
were quite marked in both, especially in the man.
They were two decided personages come West. Some event was in their
coming. This much the observer might at once have concluded.
There was thus something of mystery about the solitary sleigh and its
occupants.
A chariot with a destiny in it--a very primitive chariot of peace,
but a chariot with a charm about it. The driver might have felt akin to
the boatman who embarked with the imperial Roman: "Fear not--Caesar is in
thy boat!"
The sleigh wended its course through the streets of Kirtland until it
came to the store of Messrs. Gilbert & Whitney, merchants. There it
stopped.
Leaping from the primitive vehicle the personage shook himself
lightly, as a young lion rising from his restful attitude; for the man
possessed a royal strength and a magnificent physique. In age he [60] was
scarcely more than twenty-five; young, but with the stamp of one born to
command.
Leaving his wife in the sleigh, he walked, with a royal bearing and a
wonderfully firm step, straight into the store of Gilbert & Whitney. His
bearing could not be other. He planted his foot as one who never turned
back--as one destined to make a mark in the great world at his every
footfall. He had come to Kirtland as though to possess it.
Going up to the counter where stood the merchant Whitney, he tapped
him with hearty affection on the shoulder as he would have done to a long
separated brother or a companion of by-gone years. There was the magnetism
of love in his very touch. Love was the wondrous charm that the man
carried about him.
"Well, Brother Whitney, how do you do?" was his greeting.
"You have the advantage of me," replied Whitney, wondering who his
visitor could be. "I could not call you by name."
"I am Joseph, the prophet!"
It was like one of old making himself known to his brethren--"I am
Joseph, your brother!"
"Well, what do you want of me?" Joseph asked with a smile; and then
with grave solicitude added:
"You have prayed me here, now what do you want of me? The Lord would
not let me sleep at nights; but said, up and take your wife to Kirtland!"
An archangel's coming would not have been a greater event to the
saints than the coming of Joseph the prophet.
[61] Leaving his store and running across the road to his house, Elder
Whitney exclaimed:
"Who do you think was in that sleigh at the store?"
"Well, I don't know," replied Sister Whitney.
"Why, it is Joseph and his wife. Where shall we put them?"
Then came to the mind of Sister Whitney the vision of the cloud that
had overshadowed her house at midnight, and the words of the angel who had
spoken from the pavilion of his hidden glory. The vision had now to them a
meaning and fulfillment indeed. The sister and her husband who had heard
the "voice" felt that "the word of the Lord" was to be given to Kirtland
in their own dwelling and under the very roof thus hallowed.
One-half of the house was immediately set apart for the prophet and
his wife. The sleigh drove up to the door and Joseph entered with
Emma--the "elect lady" of the church--and they took up their home in the
little city which, with his presence, was now Zion.
It was the controversy of these two powers in the churches in the
West which had called Joseph to Kirtland in the opening of the year 1831.
The church in the State of New York--its birthplace--had been commanded by
revelation to move West, but Joseph hastened ahead with his wife, as we
have seen.
He had been troubled at nights in his visions. He had seen Elder
Whitney and his wife and the good saints praying for his help. This is how
he had known "Brother Whitney" at sight; for Joseph [62] on such occasions
saw all things before him as by a map unfolded to his view.
"Up and take your wife to Kirtland," "the Lord" had commanded. And he
had come. The church, from the State of New York, followed him the ensuing
May.
The master spirit was in Kirtland now. All spirits were subject to
him. That was one ruling feature of his apostleship. He held the keys of
the dispensation. He commanded and the very invisibles obeyed. They also
recognized the master spirit. He was only subject to the God of Israel.
"Peace, be still!" the master commanded, and the troubled waters of
Kirtland were at peace.
There in the chamber which Sister Whitney consecrated to the prophet
the great revelation was given concerning the tests of spirits. There also
many of the revelations were given, some of which form part of the book of
doctrine and covenants. The chamber was thereafter called the translating
room.
Perchance the mystic cloud often overshadowed that house, but the
angel of the new covenant could now enter and speak face to face with
mortal; for Jehovah's prophet dwelt there. To him the heavens unveiled,
and the archangels of celestial spheres appeared in their glory and
administered to him.
Wonderful, indeed, if this be true, of which there is a cloud of
witnesses; and more wonderful still if hosts of angels, good and bad, have
come to earth since that day, converting millions to an age of revelation,
unless one like unto Joseph has indeed unlocked the new dispensation with
an Elijah's keys of power!
[63] CHAPTER IX.
ELIZA R. SNOW'S EXPERIENCE--GLIMPSES OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SMITH--GATHERING OF THE SAINTS.
"In the autumn of 1820," says Eliza R. Snow, the high priestess, "the
tidings reached my ears that God had spoken from the heavens; that he had
raised up a prophet, and was about to restore the fullness of the gospel
with all its gifts and powers.
"During my brief association with the Campbellite church, I was
deeply interested in the study of the ancient prophets, in which I was
assisted by the erudite Alexander Campbell himself, and Walter Scott,
whose acquaintance I made,--but more particularly by Sidney Rigdon, who
was a frequent visitor at my father's house.
"But when I heard of the mission of the prophet Joseph I was afraid
it was not genuine. It was just what my soul had hungered for, but I
thought it was a hoax.
"However, I improved the opportunity and attended the first meeting
within my reach. I listened to the testimonials of two of the witnesses of
the Book of Mormon. Such impressive testimonies I had never before heard.
To hear men [64] testify that they had seen a holy angel--that they had
listened to his voice, bearing testimony of the work that was ushering in
a new dispensation; that the fullness of the gospel was to be restored and
that they were commanded to go forth and declare it, thrilled my inmost
soul.
"Yet it must be remembered that when Joseph Smith was called to his
great mission, more than human power was requisite to convince people that
communication with the invisible world was possible. He was scoffed at,
ridiculed and persecuted for asserting that he had received a revelation;
now the world is flooded with revelations.
"Early in the spring of 1835, my eldest sister, who, with my mother
was baptized in 1831, by the prophet, returned home from a visit to the
saints in Kirtland, and reported of the faith and humility of those who
had received the gospel as taught by Joseph,--the progress of the work,
the order of the organization of the priesthood and the frequent
manifestations of the power of God.
"The spirit bore witness to me of the truth. I felt that I had waited
already a little too long to see whether the work was going to `flash in
the pan' and go out. But my heart was now fixed; and I was baptized on the
5th of April, 1835. From that day to this I have not doubted the truth of
the work.
"In December following I went to Kirtland and realized much happiness
in the enlarged views and rich intelligence that flowed from the fountain
of eternal truth, through the inspiration of the Most High.
[65] "I was present on the memorable event of the dedication of the
temple, when the mighty power of God was displayed, and after its
dedication enjoyed many refreshing seasons in that holy sanctuary. Many
times have I witnessed manifestations of the power of God, in the precious
gifts of the gospel,--such as speaking in tongues, the interpretation of
tongues, prophesying, healing the sick, causing the lame to walk, the
blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. Of such
manifestations in the church I might relate many circumstances.
"In the spring I taught a select school for young ladies, boarding in
the family of the prophet, and at the close of the term returned to my
father's house, where my friends and acquaintances flocked around me to
inquire about the `strange people' with whom I was associated. I was
exceedingly happy in testifying of what I had both seen and heard, until
the 1st of January, 1837, when I bade a final adieu to the home of my
youth, to share the fortunes of the people of God.
"On my return to Kirtland, by solicitation, I took up my residence in
the family of the prophet, and taught his family school.
"Again I had ample opportunity of judging of his daily walk and
conversation, and the more I made his acquaintance, the more cause I found
to appreciate him in his divine calling. His lips ever flowed with
instruction and kindness; but, although very forgiving, indulgent and
affectionate in his nature, when his godlike intuition suggested that the
good of his brethren, or the interests of the [66] kingdom of God demanded
it, no fear of censure, no love of approbation, could prevent his severe
and cutting rebukes.
"His expansive mind grasped the great plan of salvation, and solved
the mystic problem of man's destiny; he was in possession of keys that
unlocked the past and the future, with its successions of eternities: yet
in his devotions he was as humble as a little child. Three times a day he
had family worship: and these precious seasons of sacred household service
truly seemed a foretaste of celestial happiness."
Thus commenced that peculiar and interesting relationship between the
prophet and the inspired heroine who became his celestial bride, and whose
beautiful ideals have so much glorified celestial marriage.
There were also others of our Mormon heroines who had now gathered to
the West to build up Zion, that their King might appear in his glory."
Among them was that exalted woman--so beloved and honored in the Mormon
church--the life-long wife of Heber C. Kimball. There were also Mary
Angel, and many apostolic women from New England, who have since stood,
for a generation, as pillars in the latter-day kingdom. We shall meet them
hereafter.
And the saints, as doves flocking to the window of the ark of the new
covenant, gathered to Zion. They came from the East and the West and the
North and the South.
Soon the glad tidings were conveyed to other lands. Great Britain
heard the word of the Lord," [67] borne there by apostles Heber C.
Kimball, Orson Hyde and Willard Richards, and others.
Soon also the saints began to gather from the four quarters of the
earth: and those gatherings have increased until more than a hundred
thousand disciples--the majority of them women--have come to America, as
their land of promise, to build up thereon the Zion of the last days.
[68] CHAPTER X.
THE LATTER-DAY ILIAD--REPRODUCTION OF THE GREAT HEBRAIC DRAMA--THE MEANING OF THE MORMON MOVEMENT IN THE AGE.
It was "a gathering dispensation." A strange religion indeed, that
meant something more than faith and prayers and creeds.
An empire-founding religion, as we have said,--this religion of a
latter-day Israel. A religion, in fact, that meant all that the name of
"Latter-day Israel" implies.
The women who did their full half in founding Mormondom,
comprehended, as much as did their prototypes who came up out of Egypt,
the significance of the name of Israel.
Out of Egypt the seed of promise, to become a peculiar people, a holy
nation, with a distinctive God and a distinctive destiny. Out of modern
Babylon, to repeat the same Hebraic drama in the latter age.
A Mormon iliac in every view; and the sisters understanding it fully.
Indeed perhaps they have best understood it. Their very experience
quickened their comprehension.
The cross and the crown of thorns quicken the conception of a
crucifixion. The Mormon women [69] have borne the cross and worn the crown
of thorns for a full lifetime; not in their religion, but in their
experience. Their strange destiny and the divine warfare incarnated in
their lives, gave them an experience matchless in its character and
unparalleled in its sacrifices.
The sisters understood their religion, and they counted the cost of
their divine ambitions.
What that cost has been to these more than Spartan women, we shall
find in tragic stories of their lives, fast unfolding in the coming
narrative of their gatherings and exterminations.
For the first twenty years of their history the tragedy of the
Latter-day Israel was woeful enough to make their guardian angels weep,
and black enough in its scenes to satisfy the angriest demons.
This part of the Mormon drama began in 1831 with the removal of the
church from the State of New York to Kirtland, Ohio, and to Jackson, and
other counties in Missouri; and it culminated in the martyrdom of the
prophet and his brother at Nauvoo, and the exodus to the Rocky Mountains.
In all these scenes the sisters have shown themselves matchless heroines.
The following, from an early poem, written by the prophetess, Eliza
R. Snow, will finely illustrate the Hebraic character of the Mormon work,
and the heroic spirit in which these women entered into the divine action
of their lives:
My heart is fix'd--I know in whom I trust.
'Twas not for wealth--'twas not to gather heaps
Of perishable things--'twas not to twine
Around my brow a transitory wreath,
A garland decked with gems of mortal praise,
[70] That I forsook the home of childhood; that
I left the lap of ease--the halo rife
With friendship's richest, soft, and mellow tones;
Affection's fond caresses, and the cup
O'erflowing with the sweets of social life,
With high refinement's golden pearls enrich'd.
Ah, no! A holier purpose fir'd my soul;
A nobler object prompted my pursuit.
Eternal prospects open'd to my view,
And hope celestial in my bosom glow'd.
God, who commanded Abraham to leave
His native country, and to offer up
On the lone altar, where no eye beheld
But that which never sleeps, an only son,
Is still the same; and thousands who have made
A covenant with him by sacrifice,
Are bearing witness to the sacred truth--
Jehovah speaking has reveal'd his will.
The proclamation sounded in my ear--
It reached my heart--I listen'd to the sound--
Counted the cost, and laid my earthly all
Upon the altar, and with purpose fix'd
Unalterably, while the spirit of
Elijah's God within my bosom reigns,
Embrac'd the everlasting covenant,
And am determined now to be a saint
And number with the tried and faithful ones,
W hose race is measured with their life; whose prize
Is everlasting, and whose happiness
Is God's approval; and to whom 'tis more
Than meat and drink to do his righteous will.
Although to be a saint requires
A noble sacrifice--an arduous toil--
A persevering aim; the great reward
Awaiting the grand consummation will
Repay the price, however costly; and
The pathway of the saint the safest path
Will prove; though perilous--for 'tis foretold,
All things that can be shaken, God will shake;
Kingdoms and governments, and institutes,
Both civil and religious, must be tried--
Tried to the core, and sounded to the depth.
Then let me be a saint, and be prepar'd
For the approaching day, which like a snare
[71] Will soon surprise the hypocrite--expose
The rottenness of human schemes shake off
Oppressive fetters--break the gorgeous reins
Usurpers hold, and lay the pace of man--
The pride of nations, low in dust!
And there was in these gatherings of our latter-day Israel, like as
in this poem, a tremendous meaning. It is of the Hebrew significance and
genius rather than of the Christian; for Christ is now Messiah, King of
Israel, and not the Babe of Bethlehem. Mormondom is no Christian sect, but
an Israelitish nationality, and even woman, the natural prophetess of the
reign of peace, is prophesying of the shaking of "kingdoms and governments
and all human institutions."
The Mormons from the beginning well digested the text to the great
Hebrew drama, and none better than the sisters; here it is:
"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country, and
from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will
shew thee;
"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and
make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing;
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth
thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
And so, for now nearly fifty years, this Mormon Israel have been
getting out of their native countries and from their kindred, and from
their father's house unto the gathering places that their God has shown
them.
But they have been driven from those gathering [72] places from time
to time; yes, driven farther west. There was the land which God was
showing them. At first it was too distant to be seen even by the eye of
faith. Too many thousands of miles even for the Spartan heroism of the
sisters; too dark a tragedy of expulsions and martyrdoms; and too many
years of exoduses and probations. The wrath of the Gentiles drove them
where their destiny led them--to the land which God was showing them.
And for the exact reason that the patriarchal Abraham and Sarah were
commanded to get out of their country and from their kindred and their
father's house, so were the Abrahams and Sarahs of our time commanded by
the same God and for the same purpose.
"I will make of thee a great nation." "And I will make my covenant
between me and thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly." "And thou
shalt be a father of many nations." "And I will establish my covenant
between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an
everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and thy seed after thee."
To fulfill this in the lives of these spiritual sons and daughters of
Abraham and Sarah, the gathering dispensation was brought in. These
Mormons have gathered from the beginning that they might became the
fathers and mothers of a nation, and that through them the promises made
to the Abrahamic fathers and mothers might be greatly fulfilled.
This is most literal, and was well understood in the early rise of
the church, long before polygamy was known. Yet who cannot now see that in
such [73] patriarchal covenant was the very overture of patriarchal
marriage--or polygamy.
So in the early days quite a host of the daughters of New England
earnest and purest of women--many of them unmarried, and most of them in
the bloom of womanhood--gathered to the virgin West to become the mothers
of a nation, and to build temples to the name of a patriarchal God!
[74] CHAPTER XI.
THE LAND OF TEMPLES--AMERICA THE NEW JERUSALEM--DARING CONCEPTION OF THE MORMON PROPHET--FULFILLMENT OF THE ABRAHAMIC PROGRAMME--WOMAN TO BE AN ORACLE OF JEHOVAH.
Two thousand years had nearly passed since the destruction of the
temple of Solomon; three thousand years, nearly, since that temple of the
old Jerusalem was built.
Yet here in America in the nineteenth century, among the Gentiles, a
modern Israel began to rear temples to the name of the God of Israel!
Temples to be reared to his august name in every State on this vast
continent! Thus runs the Mormon prophesy.
All America, the New Jerusalem of the last days! All America for the
God of Israel! What a conception! Yet these daughters of Zion perfectly
understood it nearly fifty years ago.
Joseph was indeed a sublime and daring oracle. Such a conception
grasped even before he laid the foundation stone of a Zion--that all
America is to be the New Jerusalem of the world and of the future--was
worthy to make him the prophet of America.
[75] Zion was not a county in Missouri, a city in Ohio or Illinois; nor is
she now a mere embryo State in the Rocky Mountains.
Kirtland was but a "stake of Zion" where the first temple arose.
Jackson county is the enchanted spot where the "centre stake" of Zion is
to be planted, and the grand temple reared, by-and-by. Nauvoo with its
temple was another stake. Utah also is but a stake. Here we have already
the temple of St. George, and in Salt Lake City a temple is being built
which will be a Masonic unique to this continent.
Perchance it will stand in the coming time scarcely less a monument
to the name of its builder--Brigham Young--than the temple of Old
Jerusalem has been to the name of Solomon.
But all America is the world's New Jerusalem!
With this cardinal conception crowding the soul of the Mormon
prophet, inspired by the very archangels of Israel, what a vast Abrahamic
drama opened to the view of the saints in Kirtland when the first temple
lifted its sacred tower to the skies!
The archangels of Israel had come down to fulfill on earth the grand
Abrahamic programme. The two worlds--the visible and the invisible--were
quickly engaging in the divine action, to consummate in this "dispensation
of the fullness of times," the promises made unto the fathers.
And all America for the God of Israel.
There is method in Mormonism--method infinite. Mormonism is Masonic.
The God of Israel is a covenant maker; the crown of the covenant is the
temple.
[76] But woman must not be lost to view in our admiration of the prophet's
conceptions.
How stands woman in the grand temple economy, as she loomed up in her
mission, from the house of the Lord in Kirtland?
The apostles and elders laid the foundations, raised the arches, and
put on the cap stone; but it was woman that did the "inner work of the
temple."
George A. Smith hauled the first load of rock; Heber C. Kimball
worked as an operative mason, and Brigham Young as a painter and glazier
in the house; but the sisters wrought on the "veils of the temple."
Sister Polly Angel, wife of Truman O. Angel, the church architect,
relates that she and a band of sisters were working on the "veils," one
day, when the prophet and Sidney Rigdon came in.
Well, sisters," observed Joseph, "you are always on hand. The sisters
are always first and foremost in all good works. Mary was first at the
resurrection; and the sisters now are the first to work; on the inside of
the temple."
'Tis but a simple incident, but full of significance. It showed
Joseph's instinctive appreciation of woman and her mission. Her place was
inside the temple, and he was about to put her there,--a high priestess of
Jehovah, to whose name he was building temples. And wonderfully suggestive
was his prompting, that woman was the first witness of the resurrection.
Once again woman had become an oracle of a new dispensation and a new
civilization. She can only properly be this when a temple economy comes
[77] round in the unfolding of the ages. She can only be a legitimate
oracle in the temple.
When she dares to play the oracle, without her divine mission and
anointing, she is accounted in society as a witch, a fortune-teller, a
medium, who divines for hire and sells the gift of the invisibles for
money. But in the temple woman is a sacred and sublime oracle. She is a
prophetess and a high priestess. Inside the temple she cannot but be as
near the invisibles as man--nearer indeed, from her finer nature, inside
the mystic veil, the emblems of which she has worked upon with her own
hands.
Of old the oracle had a priestly royalty. The story of Alexander the
Great and the oracle of Delphi is famous. The conqueror demanded speech
from the oracle concerning his destiny. The oracle was a woman; and
womanlike she refused to utter the voice of destiny at the imperious
bidding, of a mortal. But Alexander knew that woman was inspired--that he
held in his grip the incarnated spirit of the temple, and he essayed to
drag her to the holy ground where speech was given.
"He is invincible!" exclaimed the oracle, in wrath.
"The oracle speaks!" cried Alexander, in exultation.
The prophetess was provoked to an utterance; woman forced to obey the
stronger will of man; but it was woman's inspired voice that sent
Alexander through the world a conquering destiny.
And the prophet of Mormondom knew that woman is, by the gifts of God
and nature, an inspired being. If she was this in the temples of [78]
Egypt and Greece, more abundantly is she this in the temples of Israel. In
them woman is the medium of Jehovah. This is what the divine scheme of the
Mormon prophet has made her to this age; and she began her great mission
to the world in the temple at Kirtland.
But this temple-building of the Mormons has a vaster meaning than the
temples of Egypt, the oracles of Greece, or the cathedrals of the Romish
Church.
It is the vast Hebrew iliac, begun with Abraham and brought down
through the ages, in a race still preserved with more than its original
quality and fibre; and in a God who is raising up unto Abraham a mystical
seed of promise, a latter-day Israel.
Jehovah is a covenant maker. "And I will make with Israel a new and
everlasting covenant," is the text that Joseph and Brigham have been
working upon. Hence this temple building in America, to fulfill and
glorify the new covenant of Israel.
The first covenant was made with Abraham and the patriarchs in the
East. The greater and the everlasting covenant will restore the kingdom to
Israel. That covenant has been made in the West, with these veritable
children of Abraham. God has raised up children unto Abraham to fulfill
the promises made to him. This is Mormonism.
The West is the future world. Yet how shall there be the new
civilization without its distinctive temples? Certainly there shall be no
Abrahamic dispensation and covenant unless symbolized by temples raised to
the name of the God of Israel!
All America, then, is Zion!
[79] A hundred temples lifting their towers to the skies in the world's
New Jerusalem. Temples built to the name of the God of Israel.
Mark this august wonder of the age; the Mormons build not temples to
the name of Jesus, but to the name of Jehovah--not to the Son, but to the
Father.
The Hebrew symbol is not the cross, but the sceptre. The Hebrews know
nothing of the cross. It is the symbol of heathenism, whence Rome received
her signs and her worship. Rome adopted the cross and she has borne it as
her mark. She never reared her cathedrals to the name of the God of
Israel, nor has she taught the nations to fear his name. Nor has she
prophesied of the New Jerusalem of the last days, which must supersede
Rome and give the millennial civilization to the world.
The reign of Messiah! Temples to the Most High God! The sceptre, not
the cross!
There is a grand Masonic consistency in the divine scheme of the
Mormon prophet, and the sisters began to comprehend the infinite themes of
their religion when they worked in the temple at Kirtland, and beheld in
the service the glory of Israel's God.
[80] CHAPTER XII.
ELIZA R. SNOW'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE AND ITS DEDICATION--HOSANNAS TO GOD--HIS GLORY FILLS THE HOUSE.
The erection of the Kirtland temple was a leading characteristic of
the work of the last dispensation.
It was commenced in June, 1833, under the immediate direction of the
Almighty, through his servant, Joseph Smith, whom he had called in his
boyhood, like Samuel of old, to introduce the fullness of the everlasting
gospel.
At that time the saints were few in number, and most of them very
poor; and, had it not been for the assurance that God had spoken, and had
commanded that a house should be built to his name, of which he not only
revealed the form, but also designated the dimensions, an attempt towards
building that temple, under the then existing circumstances, would have
been, by all concerned, pronounced preposterous.
Although many sections of the world abounded with mosques, churches,
synagogues and cathedrals, built professedly for worship, this was the
first instance, for the lapse of many centuries, of God having given a
pattern, from the heavens, and man-[81]ifested by direct revelation how
the edifice should be constructed, in order that he might accept and
acknowledge it as his own. This knowledge inspired the saints to almost
superhuman efforts, while through faith and union they acquired strength.
In comparison with eastern churches and cathedrals, this temple is not
large, but in view of the amount of available means possessed, a
calculation of the cost, at the lowest possible figures, would have
staggered the faith of any but Latter-day saints; and it now stands as a
monumental pillar.
Its dimensions are eighty by fifty-nine feet; the walls fifty feet
high, and the tower one hundred and ten feet. The two main halls are
fifty-five by sixty-five feet, in the inner court. The building has four
vestries in front, and five rooms in the attic, which were devoted to
literature, and for meetings of the various quorums of the priesthood.
There was a peculiarity in the arrangement of the inner court which
made it more than ordinarily impressive--so much so that a sense of sacred
awe seemed to rest upon all who entered; not only the saints, but
strangers also manifested a high degree of reverential feeling. Four
pulpits stood, one above another, in the centre of the building, from
north to south, both on the east and west ends; those on the west for the
presiding officers of the Melchisidec priesthood, and those on the east
for the Aaronic; and each of these pulpits was separated by curtains of
white painted canvas, which were let down and drawn up at pleasure. In
front of each of these two rows of pulpits, was a sacrament table, for the
administration of that sacred ordi-[82]nance. In each corner of the court
was an elevated pew for the singers--the choir being distributed into four
compartments. In addition to the pulpit curtains, were others,
intersecting at right angles, which divided the main ground-floor hall
into four equal sections--giving to each one-half of one set of pulpits.
From the day the ground was broken for laying the foundation for the
temple, until its dedication on the 27th of March, 1836, the work was
vigorously prosecuted.
With very little capital except brain, bone and sinew, combined with
unwavering trust in God, men, women, and even children, worked with their
might; while the brethren labored in their departments, the sisters were
actively engaged in boarding and clothing workmen not otherwise provided
for--all living as abstemiously as possible so that every cent might be
appropriated to the grand object, while their energies were stimulated by
the prospect of participating in the blessing of a house built by the
direction of the Most High and accepted by him.
The dedication was looked forward to with intense interest; and when
the day arrived (Sunday, March 27th, 1836), a dense multitude
assembled--the temple was filled to its utmost, and when the ushers were
compelled to close the doors, the outside congregation was nearly if not
quite as large as that within.
Four hundred and sixteen elders, including prophets and apostles,
with the first great prophets of the last dispensation at their head, were
present--men who had been "called of God as was Aaron," [83] and clothed
with the holy priesthood; many of them having just returned from missions,
on which they had gone forth like the ancient disciples, "without purse or
scrip," now to feast for a little season on the sweet spirit of love and
union, in the midst of those who had "tasted of the powers of the world to
come."
At the hour appointed, the assembly was seated, the Melchisidec and
Aaronic priesthoods being arranged as follows: West end of the house,
Presidents Frederick G. Williams, Joseph Smith, Sr., and William W.
Phelps, occupied the first pulpit for the Melchisidec priesthood;
Presidents Joseph Smith, Jr., Hyrum Smith and Sidney Rigdon, the second;
President David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer, the third; the
fourth pulpit was occupied by the president of the high-priest's quorum
and his councilors, and two choristers. The twelve apostles were on the
right, in the highest three seats; the president of the elders, his two
councilors and clerk in the seat directly below the twelve. The High
Council of Kirtland, consisting of twelve, were on the left, on the first
three seats. The fourth seat, and next below the High Council, was
occupied by Warren A. Cowdry and Warren Parrish, who officiated as
scribes.
In the east end of the house, the Bishop of Kirtland--Newel K.
Whitney--and his councilors occupied the first pulpit for the Aaronic
priesthood; the Bishop of Zion--Edward Partridge--and his councilors, the
second; the President of the priests and his councilors, the third; the
President of the teachers, and his councilors, and one chorister, the
fourth; [84] the High Council of Zion, consisting of twelve councilors, on
the right; the President of the deacons, and his councilors, in the next
seat below them, and the seven presidents of the seventies, on the left.
At nine o'clock, President Sidney Rigdon commenced the services of
that great and memorable day, by reading the ninety-sixth and
twenty-fourth Psalms; "Ere long the vail will be rent in twain," etc., was
sung by the choir, and after President Rigdon had addressed the throne of
grace in fervent prayer, "O happy souls who pray," etc., was sung.
President Rigdon then read the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth
verses of the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, and spoke more particularly
from the last-named verse, continuing his eloquent, logical and sublime
discourse for two and a half hours. At one point, as he reviewed the toils
and privations of those who had labored in rearing the walls of that
sacred edifice, he drew tears from many eyes, saying, there were those who
had wet those walls with their tears, when, in the silent shades of the
night, they were praying to the God of heaven to protect them, and stay
the unhallowed hands of ruthless spoilers, who had uttered a prophesy,
when the foundation was laid, that the walls should never be erected.
In reference to his main subject, the speaker assumed that in the
days of the Saviour there were synagogues where the Jews worshipped God;
and in addition to those, the splendid temple in Jerusalem; yet when, on a
certain occasion, one proposed to follow him, withersoever he went, though
heir of [85] all things, he cried out in bitterness of soul, "The foxes
have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath
not where to lay his "head." From this the speaker drew the conclusion
that the Most High did not put his name there, neither did he accept the
worship of those who paid their vows and adorations there. This was
evident from the fact that they did not receive the Saviour, but thrust
him from them, saying, "Away with him! Crucify him! Crucify him!" It was
therefore evident that his spirit did not dwell in them. They were the
degenerate sons of noble sires, but they had long since slain the prophets
and seers, through whom the Lord had revealed himself to the children of
men. They were not led by revelation. This, said the speaker, was the
grand difficulty--their unbelief in present revelation. He then clearly
demonstrated the fact that diversity of, and contradictory opinions did,
and would prevail among people not led by present revelation; which
forcibly applies to the various religious sects of our own day; and
inasmuch as they manifest the same spirit, they must be under the same
condemnation with those who were coeval with the Saviour.
He admitted there were many houses--many sufficiently large, built
for the worship of God, but not one, except this, on the face of the whole
earth, that was built by divine revelation; and were it not for this, the
dear Redeemer might in this day of science, intelligence and religion, say
to those who would follow him, "The foxes have holes, the birds of the air
have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head."
[86] After the close of his discourse, President Rigdon presented for an
expression of their faith and confidence, Joseph Smith, Jr., as prophet,
seer and revelator, to the various quorums, and the whole congregation of
saints, and a simultaneous rising up followed, in token of unanimous
confidence, and covenant to uphold him as such, by their faith and
prayers.
The morning services were concluded by the choir singing, "Now let us
rejoice in the day of salvation," etc. During an intermission of twenty
minutes, the congregation remained seated, and the afternoon services
opened by singing, "This earth was once a garden place," etc. President
Joseph Smith, Jr., addressed the assembly for a few moments, and then
presented the first presidency of the church as prophets, seers, and
revelators, and called upon all who felt to acknowledge them as such, to
manifest it by rising up. All arose. He then presented the twelve apostles
who were present, as prophets, seers, and revelators, and special
witnesses to all the earth, holding the keys of the kingdom of God, to
unlock it, or cause it to be done among them; to which all assented by
rising to their feet. He then presented the other quorums in their order,
and the vote was unanimous in every instance.
He then prophesied to all, that inasmuch as they would uphold these
men in their several stations (alluding to the different quorums in the
church), the Lord would bless them, "yea, in the name of Christ, the
blessings of heaven shall be yours; and when the Lord's anointed shall go
forth to proclaim the word, bearing testimony to this gen-[87]eration, if
they receive it they shall be blest; but if not, the judgments of God will
follow close upon them, until that city or that house which rejects them,
shall be left desolate."
The hymn commencing with "How pleased and blest was I," was sung, and
the following dedicatory prayer offered by the prophet, Joseph Smith:
"Thanks be to thy name, O Lord God of Israel, who keepest covenant
and showest mercy unto thy servants who walk uprightly before thee, with
all their hearts; thou who hast commanded thy servants to build a house to
thy name in this place. And now thou beholdest, O Lord, that thy servants
have done according to thy commandment. And now we ask thee, Holy Father,
In the name of Jesus Christ, the son of thy bosom, in whose name alone
salvation can be administered to the children of men, we ask thee, O Lord,
to accept of this house, the workmanship of the hands of us, thy servants,
which thou didst command us to build; for thou knowest that we have done
this work through great tribulation; and out of our poverty we have given
of our substance, to build a house to thy name, that the Son of Man might
have a place to manifest himself to his people. And as thou hast said in a
revelation, given to us, calling us thy friends, saying, Call your solemn
assembly, as I have commanded you; and as all have not faith, seek; ye
diligently, and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the
best books, words of wisdom; seek learning even by study, and also by
faith. Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a
house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a
house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.
That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoings
may be in the name of the Lord, [88] that all your salutations may be in
the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands to the Most High.'
"And now, Holy Father, we ask thee to assist us, thy people, with thy
grace, in calling our solemn assembly, that it may be done to thy honor,
and to thy divine acceptance. And in a manner that we may be found worthy
in thy sight, to secure a fulfillment of the promises which thou hast made
unto us, thy people, in the revelations given unto us; that thy glory may
rest down upon thy people, and upon this thy house, which we now dedicate
to thee, that it may be sanctified and consecrated to be holy, and that
thy holy presence may be continually in this house, and that all people
who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord's house may feel thy power,
and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that
it is thy house, a place of thy holiness. And do thou grant, Holy Father,
that all those who shall worship in this house, may be taught words of
wisdom out of the best books, and that they may seek learning even by
study, and also by faith, as thou hast said; and that they may grow up in
thee, and receive a fullness of the Holy Ghost and be organized according
to thy laws, and be prepared to obtain every needful thing; and that this
house may be a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a
house of glory and of God, even thy house; that all the incomings of thy
people, into this house, may be in the name of the Lord; that all the
outgoings from this house may be in the name of the Lord; and that all
their salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with holy hands,
uplifted to the Most High; and that no unclean thing shall be permitted to
come into thy, house to pollute it: and when thy people transgress, any of
them, they may speedily repent, and return unto thee, and find favor in
thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be
poured out upon those who shall reverence thee in thy [89] house. And we
ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house,
armed with thy power, and thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be
round about them, and thine angels have charge over them; and from this
place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto
the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that
thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfill that which thou hast spoken by
the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days. We ask thee, Holy
Father, to establish the people that shall worship and honorably hold a
name and standing in this thy house, to all generations, and for eternity,
that no weapon formed against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a
pit for them shall fall into the same himself; that no combination of
wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon
whom thy name shall be put in this house; and if any people shall rise
against this people, that thy anger be kindled against them, and if they
shall smite this people thou wilt smite them, thou wilt fight for thy
people as thou didst in the day of battle, that they may be delivered from
the hands of all their enemies.
"We ask thee, Holy Father, to confound, and astonish, and to bring to
shame and confusion, all those who have spread lying reports abroad, over
the world, against thy servant, or servants, if they will not repent when
the everlasting gospel shall be proclaimed in their ears, and that all
their works may be brought to naught, and be swept away by the hail, and
by the judgments which thou wilt send upon them in thy anger, that there
may be an end to lyings and slanders against thy people; for thou knowest,
O Lord, that thy servants have been innocent before thee in bearing record
of thy name, for which they have suffered these things; therefore we plead
before thee a full and complete deliverance from under this yoke; break;
it off, O Lord; break [90] it off from the necks of thy servants, by thy
power, that we may rise up in the midst of this generation and do thy
work.
"O Jehovah, have mercy on this people, and as all men sin, forgive
the transgressions of thy people, and let them be blotted out forever. Let
the anointing of thy ministers be sealed upon them with power from on
high; let it be fulfilled upon them as upon those on the day of Pentecost;
let the gift of tongues be poured out upon thy people, even cloven tongues
as of fire, and the interpretation thereof, and let thy house be filled,
as with a rushing mighty wind, with thy glory. Put upon thy servants the
testimony of the covenant, that when they go out and proclaim thy word,
they may seal up the law, and prepare the hearts of thy saints for all
those judgments thou art about to send, in thy wrath, upon the inhabitants
of the earth, because of their transgressions; that thy people may not
faint in the day of trouble. And whatsoever city thy servants shall enter,
and the people of that city receive their testimony, let thy peace and thy
salvation be upon that city, that they may gather out of that city the
righteous, that they may come forth to Zion, or to her stakes, the places
of thy appointment, with songs of everlasting joy; and until this be
accomplished, let not thy judgments fall upon this city. And whatsoever
city thy servants shall enter, and the people of that city receive not the
testimony of thy servants, and thy servants warn them to save themselves
from this untoward generation, let it be upon that city according to that
which thou hast spoken by the mouths of thy prophets; but deliver thou, O
Jehovah, we beseech thee, thy servants from their hands, and cleanse them
from their blood. O Lord, we delight not in the destruction of our fellow
men! Their souls are precious before thee; but thy word must be fulfilled;
help thy servants to say, with thy grace assisting them, thy will be done,
O Lord, and not [91] ours. We know that thou hast spoken by the mouth of
thy prophets terrible things concerning the wicked, in the last days--that
thou wilt pour out thy judgments without measure; therefore, O Lord,
deliver thy people from the calamity of the wicked; enable thy servants to
seal up the law, and bind up the testimony, that they may be prepared
against the day of burning. We ask thee, Holy Father, to remember those
who have been driven (by the inhabitants of Jackson county, Missouri),
from the lands of their inheritance, and break off, O Lord, this yoke of
affliction that has been put upon them. Thou knowest, O Lord, that they
have been greatly oppressed and afflicted by wicked men, and our hearts
flow out with sorrow, because of their grievous burdens. O Lord, how long
wilt thou suffer this people to bear this affliction, and the cries of
their innocent ones to ascend up in thine ears, and their blood come up in
testimony before thee, and not make a display of thy testimony in their
behalf? Have mercy, O Lord, upon that wicked mob, who have driven thy
people, that they may cease to spoil, that they may repent of their sins,
if repentance is to be found; but if they will not, make bare thine arm, O
Lord, and redeem that which thou didst appoint a Zion unto thy people.
"And if it cannot be otherwise, that the cause of thy people may not
fail before thee, may thine anger be kindled, and thine indignation fall
upon them, that they may be wasted away, both root and branch, from under
heaven; but inasmuch as they will repent, thou art gracious and merciful,
and wilt turn away thy wrath, when thou lookest upon the face of thine
anointed. Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have
mercy upon the rulers of our land; may those principles which were so
honorably and nobly defended, viz.: the constitution of our land, by our
fathers, be established forever. Remember the kings, the princes, the
nobles, and [92] the great ones of the earth, and all people, and the
churches, all the poor, the needy and afflicted of the earth, that their
hearts may be softened, when thy servants shall go out from thy house, O
Jehovah, to bear testimony of thy name, that their prejudices may give way
before the truth, and thy people may obtain favor in the sight of all,
that all the ends of the earth may know that we thy servants have heard
thy voice, and that thou hast sent us; that from all these, thy servants,
the sons of Jacob, may gather out the righteous to build a holy city to
thy name, as thou hast commanded them. We ask thee to appoint unto Zion
other stakes, besides this one which thou hast appointed, that the
gathering of thy people may roll on in great power and majesty, that thy
work may be cut short in righteousness. Now these words, O Lord, we have
spoken before thee, concerning the revelations and commandments which thou
hast given unto us, who are identified with the Gentiles; but thou knowest
that thou hast a great love for the children of Jacob, who have been
scattered upon the mountains, for a long time, in a cloudy and dark day;
we therefore ask thee to have mercy upon the children of Jacob, that
Jerusalem, from this hour, may begin to be redeemed, and the yoke of
bondage begin to be broken off from the house of David, and the children
of Judah may begin to return to the lands which thou didst give to
Abraham, their father; and cause that the remnants of Jacob, who have been
cursed and smitten, because of their transgressions, be converted from
their wild and savage condition, to the fullness of the everlasting
gospel, that they may lay down their weapons of bloodshed, and cease their
rebellions; and may all the scattered remnants of Israel, who have been
driven to the ends of the earth, come to a knowledge of the truth, believe
in the Messiah and be redeemed from oppression, and rejoice before thee. O
Lord, remember thy servant, [93] Joseph Smith, Jr., and all his
afflictions and persecutions, how he has covenanted with Jehovah, and
vowed to thee, O mighty God of Jacob, and the commandments which thou hast
given unto him, and that he hath sincerely striven to do thy will. Have
mercy, O Lord, upon his wife and children, that they may be exalted in thy
presence, and preserved by thy fostering hand; have mercy upon all their
immediate connections, that their prejudices may be broken up, and swept
away as with a flood, that they may be converted and redeemed with Israel,
and know that thou art God. Remember, O Lord, the presidents, even all the
presidents of thy church, that thy right hand may exalt them, with all
their families, and their immediate connections, that their names may be
perpetuated, and had in everlasting remembrance, from generation to
generation. Remember all thy church, O Lord, with all their families, and
all their immediate connections, with all their sick and afflicted ones,
with all the poor and meek of the earth, that the kingdom which thou hast
set up without hands, may become a great mountain, and fill the whole
earth; that thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness,
and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an
army with banners, and be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt
unveil the heavens, and cause the mountains to flow down at thy presence,
and the valleys to be exalted, the rough places made smooth; that thy
glory may kill the earth, that when the trump shall sound for the dead, we
shall be caught up in the cloud to meet thee, that we may ever be with the
Lord, that our garments may be pure, that we may be clothed upon with
robes of righteousness, with palms in our hands, and crowns of glory upon
our heads, and reap eternal joy for all our sufferings.
"O Lord God Almighty, hear us in these peti-[94]tions, and answer us
from heaven, thy holy habitation, where thou sittest enthroned, with
glory, honor, power, majesty, might, dominion, truth, justice, judgment,
mercy, and an infinity of fullness, from everlasting to everlasting. O
hear, O hear, O hear us, O Lord, and answer these petitions, and accept
the dedication of this house unto thee, the work of our hands, which we
have built unto thy name! And also this church, to put upon it thy name;
and help us by the power of thy spirit, that we may mingle our voices with
those bright shining seraphs around thy throne, with acclamations of
praise, singing hosanna to God and the Lamb; and let these thine anointed
ones be clothed with salvation, and thy saints shout aloud for joy. Amen,
and amen."
The choir then sang, "The spirit of God like a fire is burning,"
etc., after which the Lord's supper was administered to the whole
assembly. Then President Joseph Smith bore testimony of his mission and of
the ministration of angels, and, after testimonials and exhortations by
other elders, he blest the congregation in the name of the Lord.
Thus ended the ceremonies of the dedication of the first temple built
by special command of the Most High, in this dispensation.
One striking feature of the ceremonies, was the grand shout of
hosanna, which was given by the whole assembly, in standing position, with
uplifted hands. The form of the shout is as follows:
"Hosanna--hosanna--hosanna--to God and the Lamb--amen--amen, and amen."
The foregoing was deliberately and emphatically pronounced, and three
times repeated, and with such power as seemed almost sufficient to raise
the roof from the building.
A singular incident in connection with this shout [95] may be
discredited by some, but it is verily true. A notice had been circulated
that children in arms would not be admitted at the dedication of the
temple. A sister who had come a long distance with her babe, six weeks
old, having, on her arrival, heard of the above requisition, went to the
patriarch Joseph Smith, Sr., in great distress, saying that she knew no
one with whom she could leave her infant; and to be deprived of the
privilege of attending the dedication seemed more than she could endure.
The ever generous and kind-hearted father volunteered to take the
responsibility on himself, and told her to take her child, at the same
time giving the mother a promise that her babe should make no disturbance;
and the promise was verified. But when the congregation shouted hosanna,
that babe joined in the shout. As marvelous as that incident may appear to
many, it is not more so than other occurrences on that occasion.
The ceremonies of that dedication may be rehearsed, but no mortal
language can describe the heavenly manifestations of that memorable day.
Angels appeared to some, while a sense of divine presence was realized by
all present, and each heart was filled with "joy inexpressible and full of
glory."
[96] CHAPTER XIII.
THE ANCIENT ORDER OF BLESSINGS--THE PROPHET'S FATHER--THE PATRIARCH'S MOTHER--HIS FATHER--KIRTLAND HIGH SCHOOL--APOSTASY AND PERSECUTION--EXODUS OF THE CHURCH
Concerning affairs at Kirtland subsequent to the dedication of the
temple, and people and incidents of those times, Eliza R. Snow continues:
With the restoration of the fullness of the gospel came also the ancient
order of patriarchal blessings. Each father, holding the priesthood,
stands as a patriarch at the head of his family, with invested right and
power to bless his household, and to predict concerning the future, on the
heads of his children, as did Jacob of old.
Inasmuch as many fathers have died without having conferred those
blessings, God, in the order of his kingdom, has made provisions to supply
the deficiency, by choosing men to officiate as patriarchs, whose province
it is to bless the fatherless. Joseph Smith, Sr., was ordained to this
office, and held the position of first patriarch in the church. He was
also, by appointment, president of the Kirtland stake of Zion,
consequently the first presiding officer in all general meetings for
worship.
A few words descriptive of this noble man may [97] not be deemed
amiss in this connection. Of a fine physique, he was more than ordinarily
prepossessing in personal appearance. His kind, affable, dignified and
unassuming manner naturally inspired strangers with feelings of love and
reverence. To me he was the veritable personification of my idea of the
ancient Father Abraham.
In his decisions he was strictly just; what can be said of very few,
may be truly said of him, in judging between man and man: his judgment
could not be biased by either personal advantage, sympathy, or affection.
Such a man was worthy of being the father of the first prophet of the last
dispensation; while his amiable and affectionate consort, Mother Lucy
Smith, was as worthy of being the mother. Of her faith, faithfulness and
untiring efforts in labors of love and duty, until she was broken down by
the weight of years and sorrow, too much cannot be said.
I was present, on the 17th of May, when a messenger arrived and
informed the prophet Joseph that his grandmother, Mary Duty Smith, had
arrived at Fairport, on her way to Kirtland, and wished him to come for
her. The messenger stated that she said she had asked the Lord that she
might live to see her children and grandchildren once more. The prophet
responded with earnestness, "I wish she had set the time longer." I
pondered in silence over this remark, thinking there might be more meaning
in the expression than the words indicated, which was proven by the
result, for she only lived a few days after her arrival. She was in the
ninety-fourth year of her age--in appearance not over [98] seventy-five.
She had not been baptized, on account of the opposition of her oldest son,
Jesse, who was a bitter enemy to the work. She said to Mother Lucy Smith,
"I am going to have your Joseph baptize me, and my Joseph (the patriarch)
bless me."
Her husband, Israel Smith, died in St. Lawrence county, New York,
after having received the Book of Mormon, and read it nearly through. He
had, long before, predicted that a prophet would be raised up in his
family, and was satisfied that his grandson was that prophet. The
venerable widow was also well assured of the fact.
The next day after her arrival at the house of the prophet, where she
was welcomed with every manifestation of kindness and affection, her
children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren--all who were residents of
Kirtland, and two of her sons, who arrived with her--came together to
enjoy with her a social family meeting; and a happy one it was--a season
of pure reciprocal conviviality, in which her buoyancy of spirit greatly
augmented the general joy. Let the reader imagine for a moment this aged
matron, surrounded by her four sons, Joseph, Asael, Silas and John, all of
them, as well as several of her grandsons, upwards of six feet in height,
with a score of great-grandchildren of various sizes intermixed; surely
the sight was not an uninteresting one. To her it was very exciting--too
much so for her years. Feverish symptoms, which were apparent on the
following day, indicated that her nervous system had been overtaxed. She
took her bed, and survived but a few days. I was with her, and saw her
calmly fall asleep. About ten [99] minutes before she expired, she saw a
group of angels in the room; and pointing towards them she exclaimed, "O,
how beautiful! but they do not speak." It would seem that they were
waiting to escort her spirit to its bright abode.
But to return to the temple. After its dedication, the "Kirtland High
School" was taught in the attic story, by H. M. Hawes, professor of Greek
and Latin. The school numbered from one hundred and thirty to one hundred
and forty students, divided into three departments--the classics, where
only languages were taught; the English department, where mathematics,
common arithmetic, geography, English grammar, reading and writing were
taught; and the juvenile department. The two last were under assistant
instructors. The school was commenced in November, 1836, and the progress
of the several classes, on examinations before trustees of the school,
parents and guardians, was found to be of the highest order.
Not only did the Almighty manifest his acceptance of that house, at
its dedication, but an abiding holy heavenly influence was realized; and
many extraordinary manifestations of his power were experienced on
subsequent occasions. Not only were angels often seen within, but a pillar
of light was several times seen resting down upon the roof.
Besides being devoted to general meetings for worship and the
celebration of the Lord's Supper every first day of the week, the temple
was occupied by crowded assemblies on the first Thursday in each month,
that day being observed strictly, by the [100] Latter-day Saints, as a day
of fasting and prayer. These, called fast-meetings, were hallowed and
interesting beyond the power of language to describe. Many, many were the
Pentecostal seasons of the outpouring of the spirit of God on those days,
manifesting the gifts of the gospel and the power of healing, prophesying,
speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues, etc. I have there seen
the lame man, on being administered to, throw aside his crutches and walk
home perfectly healed; and not only were the lame made to walk, but the
blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and evil spirits to
depart.
On those fast days, the curtains, or veils, mentioned in a preceding
chapter, which intersected at right angles, were dropped, dividing the
house into four equal parts. Each of these sections had a presiding
officer, and the meeting in each section was conducted as though no other
were in the building, which afforded opportunity for four persons to
occupy the same time. These meetings commenced early in the day and
continued without intermission till four P. M. One hour previous to
dismissal, the veils were drawn up and the four congregations brought
together, and the people who, in the forepart of the day were instructed
to spend much of the time in prayer, and to speak, sing and pray, mostly
in our own language, lest a spirit of enthusiasm should creep in, were
permitted, after the curtains were drawn, to speak or sing in tongues,
prophesy, pray, interpret tongues, exhort or preach, however they might
feel moved upon to do. Then the united faith of the saints brought them
into [101] close fellowship with the spirits of the just, and earth and
heaven seemed in close proximity.
On fast days, Father Smith's constant practice was to repair to the
temple very early, and offer up his prayers before sunrise, and there
await the coming of the people; and so strictly disciplined himself in the
observance of fasting, as not even to wet his lips with water until after
the dismissal of the meeting at four P. M. One morning, when he opened
meeting, he prayed fervently that the spirit of the Most High might be
poured out as it was at Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost--that it might
come "like a mighty rushing wind." It was not long before it did come, to
the astonishment of all, and filled the house. It appeared as though the
old gentleman had forgotten what he had prayed for. When it came, he was
greatly surprised, and exclaimed, "What! is the house on fire?"
While the faithful saints were enjoying those supernal privileges,
"the accuser of the brethren" did not sleep. Apostasy, with its poisonous
fangs, crept into the hearts of some who but a few months before were in
quorum meetings, when heavenly hosts appeared; and where, in all humility
of soul, they united with their brethren in sublime shouts of hosanna to
God and the Lamb. And now, full of pride and self-conceit, they join hands
with our enemies and take the lead in mobocracy against the work which
they had advocated with all the energies of their souls.
What a strange and fearful metamorphosis! How suddenly people become
debased when, having, grieved away the spirit of God, the opposite takes
[102] possession of their hearts! We read that angels have fallen, and
that one of our Saviour's chosen twelve was Judas, the traitor. Inasmuch
as the same causes produce the same effects in all ages, it is no wonder
that Joseph Smith, in introducing the same principles, should have to
suffer what was to the philosophic Paul the greatest of all trials--that
among false brethren.
Illegal, vexatious lawsuits, one after another, were successively
instituted, and the leading officers of the church dragged into court,
creating great annoyance and expenditure. This not being sufficient to
satisfy the greed of persecution, the lives of some of the brethren were
sought, and they left Kirtland, and sought safety in the West.
At this time my father was residing one mile south of the temple.
About twelve o'clock one bitter cold night he was startled by a knock at
the door, and who should enter but Father Smith, the patriarch! A State's
warrant had been served on him for an alleged crime, and the officer in
whose custody he was placed, although an enemy to the church, knowing the
old gentleman to be innocent, had preconcerted a stratagem by which he had
been let down from a window in the room to which he had taken him,
ostensibly for private consultation, but purposely to set him at liberty,
having previously prepared a way by which he could reach the ground
uninjured. He also told him where to go for safety, directing him to my
father's house. The officer returned to the court-room as though Father
Smith followed in the rear, when, on a sudden, he looked back, and not
seeing his prisoner, he hurried [103] back to the private room, examining
every point, and returned in great apparent amazement and confusion,
declaring that the prisoner had gone in an unaccountable manner, saying,
ludicrously, "This, gentlemen, is another Mormon miracle." No vigorous
search was made--all must have been convinced that the proceedings were as
unjust as illegal. To return to my father's house: We were proud of our
guest, and all of the family took pleasure in anticipating and supplying
his wants. He remained with us two weeks, and in the meantime settled up
all his business matters, and, having been joined by his youngest son, Don
Carlos, and five other brethren, whose lives had been threatened, he bade
a final adieu to Kirtland, at one hour past midnight, on the 21st of
December, 1837. The night was intensely cold, but, as they had no
conveyance except one horse, they had sufficient walking exercise to
prevent freezing. They found a few Latter-day Saints in a southern county
of Ohio, where they stayed till spring, when they left for Missouri.
The pressure of opposition increased, and before spring the prophet
and his brother Hyrum had to leave; and, in the spring and summer of 1838,
the most of the church followed; leaving our homes, and our sacred,
beautiful temple, the sanctuary of the Lord God of Hosts.
[104] CHAPTER XIV.
AN ILLUSTRIOUS MORMON WOMAN--THE FIRST WIFE OF THE IMMORTAL HEBER C. KIMBALL--OPENING CHAPTER OF HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY--HER WONDERFUL VISION--AN ARMY OF ANGELS SEEN IN THE HEAVENS.
One of the very queens of Mormondom, and a woman beloved by the whole
church, during her long eventful lifetime, was the late Vilate Kimball.
To-day she sleeps by the side of her great husband for Heber C. Kimball
was one of the world's remarkable men. He soon followed her to the grave;
a beautiful example she of the true love existing between two kindred
souls notwithstanding polygamy. Her sainted memory is enshrined in the
hearts of her people, and ever will be as long as the record of the
sisters endures.
"My maiden name," she says, in her autobiography, "was Vilate Murray.
I am the youngest daughter of Roswell and Susannah Murray. I was born in
Florida, Montgomery county, New York, June 1st, 1806 I was married to
Heber Chase Kimball November 7, 1822 having lived until that time with my
parents in Victor, Ontario county.
[105]"After marriage my husband settled in Mendon, Monroe county. Here we
resided until we gathered in Kirtland in the fall of 1833.
"About three weeks before we heard of the latter-day work we were
baptized into the Baptist Church.
"Five elders of the Church of Latter-day Saints came to the town of
Victor, which was five miles from Mendon, and stopped at the house of
Phineas Young, the brother of Brigham. Their names were Eleazer Miller,
Elial Strong, Alpheus Gifford, Enos Curtis and Daniel Bowen.
"Hearing of these men, curiosity prompted Mr. Kimball to go and see
them. Then for the first time he heard the fullness of the everlasting
gospel and was convinced of its truth. Brigham Young was with him.
"At their meetings Brigham and Heber saw the manifestations of the
spirit and heard the gift of speaking and singing in tongues. They were
constrained by the spirit to bear testimony to the truth, and when they
did this the power of God rested upon them.
"Desiring to hear more of the saints, in January, 1832, Heber took
his horses and sleigh and started for Columbia, Bradford county, Penn., a
distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles. Brigham and Phineas Young
and their wives went with him.
"They stayed with the church about six days, saw the power of God
manifested and heard the gift of tongues, and then returned rejoicing,
bearing testimony to the people by the way. They were not baptized,
however, until the following spring. [106] Brigham was baptized on Sunday,
April 14th, 1832, by Eleazer Miller, and Heber C. Kimball was baptized the
next day.
"Just two weeks from that time I was baptized by Joseph Young, with
several others.
"The Holy Ghost fell upon Heber so greatly, that he said it was like
a consuming fire. He felt as though he was clothed in his right mind and
sat at the feet of Jesus; but the people called him crazy. He continued
thus for months, till it seemed his flesh would consume away. The
Scriptures were unfolded to his mind in such a wonderful manner by the
spirit of revelation that he said it seemed he had formerly been familiar
with them.
"Brigham Young and his wife Miriam, with their two little girls,
Elizabeth and Vilate, were at the time living at our house; but soon after
her baptism Miriam died. In her expiring moments, she clapped her hands
and praised the Lord, and called on all around to help her praise him; and
when her voice was too weak to be heard, her lips and hands were seen
moving until she expired.
"This was another testimony to them of the powerful effect of the
everlasting gospel, showing that we shall not die, but will sleep and come
forth in the resurrection and rejoice with her in the flesh.
"Her little girls sister Miriam left to my care, and I did all I
could to be a mother to her little ones to the period of our gathering to
Kirtland, and the marriage of Brigham to Miss Mary Ann Angell.
"The glorious death of sister Miriam caused us to rejoice in the
midst of affliction. But enemies [107] exulted over our loss and threw
many obstacles in the way of our gathering with the saints.
"To my husband's great surprise some of the neighbors issued
attachments against his goods; yet he was not indebted to any of them to
the value of five cents, while there were some hundreds of dollars due to
him. However, he left his own debts uncollected, settled their unjust
claims, and gathered to Kirtland with the saints about the last of
September, 1832, in company with Brigham Young.
"Here I will relate a marvelous incident, of date previous to our
entering the church.
"On the night of the 22d of September, 1827, while living in the town
of Mendon, after we retired to bed, John P. Green, who was then a
traveling Reformed Methodist preacher, living within one hundred steps of
our house, came and called my husband to come out and see the sight in the
heavens. Heber awoke me, and Sister Fanny Young (sister of Brigham), who
was living with us, and we all went out of doors.
"It was one of the most beautiful starlight nights, so clear we could
see to pick up a pin. We looked to the eastern horizon, and beheld a white
smoke arise towards the heavens. As it ascended, it formed into a belt,
and made a noise like the rushing wind, and continued southwest, forming a
regular bow, dipping in the western horizon.
"After the bow had formed, it began to widen out, growing
transparent, of a bluish cast. It grew wide enough to contain twelve men
abreast. In this bow an army moved, commencing from the [108] east and
marching to the west. They continued moving until they reached the western
horizon. They moved in platoons, and walked so close the rear ranks trod
in the steps of their file leaders, until the whole bow was literally
crowded with soldiers.
"We could distinctly see the muskets, bayonets and knapsacks of the
men, who wore caps and feathers like those used by the American soldiers
in the last war with Great Britain. We also saw their officers with their
swords and equipage, and heard the clashing and jingling of their
instruments of war, and could discern the form and features of the men.
The most profound order existed throughout the entire army. When the
foremost man stepped, every man stepped at the same time. We could hear
their steps.
"When the front rank reached the western horizon, a battle ensued, as
we could hear the report of the arms, and the rush.
"None can judge of our feelings as we beheld this army of spirits as
plainly as ever armies of men were seen in the flesh. Every hair of our
heads seemed alive.
"We gazed upon this scenery for hours, until it began to disappear.
"After we became acquainted with Mormonism, we learned that this took
place the same evening that Joseph Smith received the records of the Book
of Mormon from the angel Moroni, who had held those records in his
possession.
"Father Young, and John P. Green's wife (Brigham's sister Rhoda),
were also witnesses of this marvelous scene.
[109] "Frightened at what we saw, I said, Father Young, what does all this
mean? He answered, Why it is one of the signs of the coming of the Son of
Man.
"The next night a similar scene was beheld in the west, by the
neighbors, representing armies of men engaged in battle.
"After our gathering to Kirtland the church was in a state of poverty
and distress. It appeared almost impossible that the commandment to build
the temple could be fulfilled, the revelation requiring it to be erected
by a certain period.
"The enemies were raging, threatening destruction upon the saints;
the brethren were under guard night and day to preserve the prophet's
life, and the mobs in Missouri were driving our people from Jackson
county.
"In this crisis the `Camp of Zion' was organized to go to the defence
of the saints in Jackson, Heber being one of the little army. On the 5th
of May 1834, they started. It was truly a solemn morning on which my
husband parted from his wife, children and friends, not knowing that we
should ever meet again in the flesh. On the 26th of July, however, the
brethren returned from their expedition.
"The saints now labored night and day to build the house of the Lord,
the sisters knitting and spinning to clothe those who labored upon it.
"When the quorum of the twelve apostles was called, my husband was
chosen one of them, and soon he was out with the rest of the apostles
preaching the gospel of the last days; but they returned on the 27th of
the following September [110] and found their families and friends
enjoying good health and prosperity.
"The temple was finished and dedicated on the 27th of March, 1836. It
was a season of great rejoicing, indeed, to the saints, and great and
marvelous were the manifestations and power in the Lord's house. Here I
will relate a vision of the prophet concerning the twelve apostles of this
dispensation, for whose welfare his anxiety had been very great.
"He saw the twelve going forth, and they appeared to be in a far
distant land; after some time they unexpectedly met together, apparently
in great tribulation, their clothes all ragged, and their knees and feet
sore. They formed into a circle, and all stood with their eyes fixed on
the ground. The Saviour appeared and stood in their midst and wept over
them, and wanted to show himself to them, but they did not discover him.
"He saw until they had accomplished their work and arrived at the
gate of the celestial city. There Father Adam stood and opened the gate to
them, and as they entered he embraced them one by one, and kissed them. He
then led them to the throne of God, and then the Saviour embraced each of
them in the presence of God. He saw that they all had beautiful heads of
hair and all looked alike. The impression this vision left on Brother
Joseph's mind was of so acute a nature, that he never could refrain from
weeping while rehearsing it.
On the 10th of May, 1836, my husband again went East on a mission,
and I made a visit to my friends in Victor, where Heber and I met, and
after [111] spending a few days, returned to Ohio, journeying to Buffalo,
where a magistrate came forward and paid five dollars for our passage to
Fairport.
"The passengers were chiefly Swiss emigrants. After sitting and
hearing them some time, the spirit of the Lord came upon my husband so
that he was enabled to preach to them in their own language, though of
himself he knew not a word of their language. They seemed much pleased,
and treated him with great kindness.
"We returned to Kirtland to find a spirit of speculation in the
church, and apostacy growing among some of the apostles and leading
elders. These were perilous times indeed.
"In the midst of this my husband was called on his mission to Great
Britain, this being the first foreign mission.
"One day while Heber was seated in the front stand in the Kirtland
temple, the prophet Joseph opened the door and came and whispered in his
ear, `Brother Heber, the spirit of the Lord has whispered to me, let my
servant Heber go to England and proclaim the gospel, and open the door of
salvation.'"
Here we may digress a moment from Sister Vilate's story, to
illustrate the view of the apostles "opening the door of salvation to the
nations," and preaching the gospel in foreign lands without purse or
scrip.
At a later period the Mormon apostles and elders have deemed it as
nothing to take missions to foreign lands, but in 1837, before the age of
railroads and steamships had fairly come, going to Great [112] Britain on
mission was very like embarking for another world; and the apostolic
proposition to gather a people from foreign lands and many nations to form
a latter-day Israel, and with these disciples to build up a Zion on this
continent was in seeming the maddest undertaking possible in human events.
This marvelous scheme of the Mormon prophet, with many others equally bold
and strangely uncommon for modern times, shall be fully treated in the
book of his own life, but it is proper to throw into prominence the
wondrous apostolic picture of Heber C. Kimball "opening the door of
salvation to the nations that sat in darkness;" and for the gathering of
an Israel from every people and from every tongue. Relative to this, by
far the greatest event in his life, Heber says, in his family journals:
"The idea of being appointed to such an important; mission was almost
more than I could bear up under. I felt my weakness and was nearly ready
to sink under it, but the moment I understood the will of my heavenly
Father, I felt a determination to go at all hazards, believing that he
would support me by his almighty power, and although my family were dear
to me, and I should have to leave them almost destitute, I felt that the
cause of truth, the gospel of Christ, outweighed every other
consideration. At this time many faltered in their faith, some of the
twelve were in rebellion against the prophet of God. John Boynton said to
me, if you are such a d--d fool as to go at the call of the fallen
prophet, I will not help you a dime, and if you are cast on Van Dieman's
Land I will not make an effort to help you. [113] Lyman E. Johnson said he
did not want me to go on my mission, but if I was determined to go, he
would help me all he could; he took his cloak from off his back and put it
on mine. Brother Sidney Rigdon, Joseph Smith, Sr., Brigham Young, Newel K.
Whitney and others said go and do as the prophet has told you and you
shall prosper and be blessed with power to do a glorious work. Hyrum,
seeing the condition of the church, when he talked about my mission wept
like a little child; he was continually blessing and encouraging me, and
pouring out his soul in prophesies upon my head; he said go and you shall
prosper as not many have prospered."
"A short time previous to my husband's starting," continues Sister
Vilate, "he was prostrated on his bed from a stitch in his back, which
suddenly seized him while chopping and drawing wood for his family, so
that he could not stir a limb without exclaiming, from the severeness of
the pain. Joseph Smith hearing of it came to see him, bringing Oliver
Cowdery and Bishop Partridge with him. They prayed for and blessed him,
Joseph being mouth, beseeching God to raise him up, &c. He then took him
by the right hand and said, `Brother Heber, I take you by your right hand,
in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and by virtue of the holy
priesthood vested in me, I command you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to
rise, and be thou made whole.' He arose from his bed, put on his clothes,
and started with them, and went up to the temple, and felt no more of the
pain afterwards.
"At length the day for the departure of my husband arrived. It was
June 13th, 1837. He was [114] in the midst of his family, blessing them,
when Brother R. B. Thompson, who was to accompany him two or three hundred
miles, came in to ascertain when Heber would start. Brother Thompson, in
after years, writing an account in Heber's journal of his first mission to
Great Britain, in its preface thus describes that solemn family scene:
"The door being partly open I entered and felt struck with sight which
presented itself to my view. I would have retired, thinking I was
intruding, but I felt riveted to the spot. The father was pouring out his
soul to
That God who rules on high,
Who all the earth surveys;
That rides upon the stormy sky,
And calms the roaring seas.
that he would grant unto him a prosperous voyage across the mighty ocean,
and make him useful wherever his lot should be cast, and that he who
careth for the sparrows, and feedeth the young ravens when they cry, would
supply the wants of his wife and little ones in his absence. He then, like
the patriarchs, and by virtue of his office, laid his hands upon their
heads individually, leaving a father's blessing upon them, and commending
them to the care and protection of God, while he should be engaged
preaching the gospel in foreign lands. While thus engaged his voice was
almost lost in the sobs of those around, who tried in vain to suppress
them. The idea of being separated from their protector and father for so
long a time, was indeed painful. He proceeded, but his heart was too much
affected to do so regularly; his emotions [115] were great, and he was
obliged to stop at intervals, while the big tears rolled down his cheeks,
an index to the feelings which reigned in his bosom. My heart was not
stout enough to refrain; in spite of myself I wept and mingled my tears
with theirs at the same time. I felt thankful that I had the privilege of
contemplating such a scene. I realized that nothing could induce that man
to tear himself from so affectionate a family group--from his partner and
children who were so dear to him--but a sense of duty and love to God and
attachment to his cause.'
"At nine o'clock in the morning of this never-to-be-forgotten-day,"
continues Sister Vilate, "Heber bade adieu to his brethren and friends and
started without purse or scrip to preach the gospel in a foreign land. He
was accompanied by myself and children, and some of the brethren and
sisters, to Fairport. Sister Mary Fielding, who became afterwards the wife
of Hyrum Smith, gave him five dollars, with which Heber paid the passage
of himself and Brother Hyde to Buffalo. They were also accompanied by her
and Brother Thompson and his wife (Mary Fielding's sister), who were going
on a mission to Canada. Heber himself was accompanied to Great Britain by
Elders Orson Hyde, Willard Richards, J. Goodson and J. Russell, and Priest
Joseph Fielding."
Here, for the present, we must leave Brother Heber to prosecute his
important mission, and this illustrious woman to act her part alone as an
apostle's wife, while we introduce others of the sisters, and follow the
church through its scenes of persecution and removal from Missouri to
Illinois.
[116] CHAPTER XV.
HAUN'S MILL--JOSEPH YOUNG'S STORY OF THE MASSACRE--SISTER AMANDA SMITH'S STORY OF THAT TERRIBLE TRAGEDY--HER WOUNDED BOY'S MIRACULOUS CURE--HER FINAL ESCAPE FROM MISSOURI.
Towards the close of October, 1838, several small detachments of
migrants from Ohio entered the State of Missouri. They were of the
refugees from Kirtland. Their destinations were the counties of Caldwell
and Davies, where the saints had located in that State.
Haun's Mill, in Caldwell county, was soon to become the scene of one
of the darkest tragedies on record.
The mill was owned by a Mormon brother whose name it bore, and in the
neighborhood some Mormon families had settled.
To Haun's Mill came the doomed refugees.
They had been met on their entrance into the State of Missouri by
armed mobs. Governor Boggs had just issued his order to exterminate the
entire Mormon community.
The coming of the refugees into the inhospitable State could not have
been more ill-timed, though when they left Kirtland they expected to find
a brotherhood in Far West.
[117] "Halt!" commanded the leader of a band of well-mounted and
well-armed mobocrats, who charged down upon them as they journeyed on
their way.
"If you proceed any farther west," said the captain, "you will be
instantly shot."
"Wherefore?" inquired the pilgrims.
"You are d--d Mormons!"
"We are law-abiding Americans, and have given no cause of offense."
"You are d--d Mormons. That's offense enough. Within ten days every
Mormon must be out of Missouri, or men, women and children will be shot
down indiscriminately. No mercy will be shown. It is the order of the
Governor that you should all be exterminated; and by G--d you will be."
In consternation the refugees retreated, and gathered at Haun's Mill.
It was Sunday, October 26. The Mormons were holding a council and
deliberating upon the best course to pursue to defend themselves against
the mob that was collecting in the neighborhood, under the command of a
Colonel Jennings, or Livingston, and threatening them with house-burning
and killing.
Joseph Young, the brother of Brigham, was in the council. He had
arrived at the mill that day, with his family, retreating from the mob.
The decision of the council was that the neighborhood of Haun's Mill
should put itself in an attitude of defence. Accordingly about
twenty-eight of the brethren armed themselves and prepared to resist an
attack.
But the same evening the mob sent one of their [118] number to enter
into a treaty with the Mormons at the mill. The treaty was accepted on the
condition of mutual forbearance, and that each party should exert its
influence to prevent any further hostilities.
At this time, however, there was another mob collecting at William
Mann's, on Grand River, so that the brethren remained under arms over
Monday, the 29th, which passed without attack from any quarter.
"On Tuesday, the 30th," says Joseph Young, "that bloody tragedy was
enacted, the scenes of which I shall never forget.
"More than three-fourths of the day had passed in tranquillity, as
smiling as the preceding one. I think there was no individual of our
company that was apprised of the sudden and awful fate which hung over our
heads like an overwhelming torrent, and which was to change the prospects,
the feelings and sympathies of about thirty families.
"The banks of Shoal Creek, on either side, teemed with children
sporting and playing while their mothers were engaged in domestic
employments. Fathers or husbands were either on guard about the mills or
other property, or employed in gathering crops for winter consumption. The
weather was very pleasant, the sun shone clearly, and all was tranquil,
and no one expressed any apprehension of the awful crisis that was near
us--even at our doors.
"It was about four o'clock P. M., while sitting in my cabin, with my
babe in my arms, and my wife standing by my side, the door being open, I
cast my eyes on the opposite bank of Shoal Creek, and [119] saw a large
body of armed men on horses directing their course towards the mills with
all possible speed. As they advanced through the scattering trees that
bordered the prairie, they seemed to form themselves into a three-square
position, forming a vanguard in front. At this moment David Evans, seeing
the superiority of their numbers (there being two hundred and forty of
them, according to their own account), gave a signal and cried for peace.
This not being heeded, they continued to advance, and their leader, a man
named Comstock, fired a gun, which was followed by a solemn pause of about
ten or twelve seconds, when all at once they discharged about one hundred
rifles, aiming at a blacksmith's shop, into which our friends had fled for
safety. They then charged up to the shop, the crevices of which, between
the logs, were sufficiently large to enable them to aim directly at the
bodies of those who had there fled for refuge from the fire of their
murderers. There were several families tented in the rear of the shop,
whose lives were exposed, and amid showers of bullets these fled to the
woods in different directions.
"After standing and gazing at this bloody scene for a few minutes,
and finding myself in the uttermost danger, the bullets having reached the
house where I was living, I committed my family to the protection of
heaven; and leaving the house on the opposite side, I took a path which
led up the hill, following in the trail of three of my brethren that had
fled from the shop.
"While ascending the hill we were discovered by [120] the mob, who
fired at us, and continued so to do till we reached the summit. In
descending the hill I secreted myself in a thicket of bushes, where I lay
till 8 o'clock; in the evening. At this time I heard a voice calling my
name in an undertone. I immediately left the thicket and went to the house
of Benjamin Lewis, where I found my family--who had fled there in
safety--and two of my friends, mortally wounded, one of whom died before
morning. Here we passed the painful night in deep and awful reflections
upon the scenes of the preceding evening.
"After daylight appeared some four or five men, with myself, who had
escaped with our lives from this horrid massacre, repaired as soon as
possible to the mills to learn the condition of our friends whose fate we
had but too truly anticipated.
"When we arrived at the house of Mr. Haun, we found Mr. Merrick's
body lying in the rear of the house, and Mr. McBride's in front, literally
mangled from head to foot. We were informed by Miss Rebecca Judd, who was
an eye-witness, that he was shot with his own gun after he had given it
up, and then cut to pieces with a corn-cutter by a man named Rogers, of
Davies county, who kept a ferry on Grand River, and who afterwards
repeatedly boasted of this same barbarity. Mr. York's body we found in the
house. After viewing these corpses we immediately went to the blacksmith's
shop where we found nine of our friends, eight of whom were already
dead--the other, Mr. Cox, of Indiana, in the agonies of death, who soon
expired."
[121] But to sister Amanda Smith must be given the principal thread of
this tragedy, for around her centres the terrible interest of the Haun's
Mill massacre, which even to-day rises before her in all the horrors of an
occurring scene. She says:
"We sold our beautiful home in Kirtland for a song, and traveled all
summer to Missouri--our teams poor, and with hardly enough to keep body
and soul together.
"We arrived in Caldwell county, near Haun's Mill, nine wagons of us
in company. Two days before we arrived we were taken prisoners by an armed
mob that had demanded every bit of ammunition and every weapon we had. We
surrendered all. They knew it, for they searched our wagons.
"A few miles more brought us to Haun's Mill, where that awful scene
of murder was enacted. My husband pitched his tent by a blacksmith's shop.
"Brother David Evans made a treaty with the mob that they would not
molest us. He came just before the massacre and called the company
together and they knelt in prayer.
"I sat in my tent. Looking up I suddenly saw the mob coming--the same
that took away our weapons. They came like so many demons or wild Indians.
"Before I could get to the blacksmith's shop door to alarm the
brethren, who were at prayers, the bullets were whistling amongst them.
"I seized my two little girls and escaped across the mill-pond on a
slab-walk. Another sister fled [122] with me. Yet though we were women,
with tender children, in flight for our lives, the demons poured volley
after volley to kill us.
"A number of bullets entered my clothes, but I was not wounded. The
sister, however, who was with me, cried out that she was hit. We had just
reached the trunk of a fallen tree, over which I urged her, bidding her to
shelter there where the bullets could not reach her, while I continued my
flight to some bottom land.
"When the firing had ceased I went back to the scene of the massacre,
for there were my husband and three sons, of whose fate I as yet knew
nothing.
"As I returned I found the sister in a pool of blood where she had
fainted, but she was only shot through the hand. Farther on was lying dead
Brother McBride, an aged white-haired revolutionary soldier. His murderer
had literally cut him to pieces with an old corn-cutter. His hands had
been split down when he raised them in supplication for mercy. Then the
monster cleft open his head with the same weapon, and the veteran who had
fought for his country, in the glorious days of the past, was numbered
with the martyrs. "Passing on I came to a scene more terrible still to the
mother and wife. Emerging from the blacksmith shop was my eldest son,
bearing on his shoulders his little brother Alma.
"Oh! my Alma is dead!" I cried, in anguish.
"No, mother; I think Alma is not dead. But father and brother Sardius
are killed!"
"What an answer was this to appal me! My [123] husband and son
murdered; another little son seemingly mortally wounded; and perhaps
before the dreadful night should pass the murderers would return and
complete their work!
"But I could not weep then. The fountain of tears was dry; the heart
overburdened with its calamity, and all the mother's sense absorbed in its
anxiety for the precious boy which God alone could save by his miraculous
aid.
"The entire hip joint of my wounded boy had been shot away. Flesh,
hip bone, joint and all had been ploughed out from the muzzle of the gun
which the ruffian placed to the child's hip through the logs of the shop
and deliberately fired.
"We laid little Alma on a bed in our tent and I examined the wound.
It was a ghastly sight. I knew not what to do. It was night now.
"There were none left from that terrible scene, throughout that long,
dark night, but about half a dozen bereaved and lamenting women, and the
children. Eighteen or nineteen, all grown men excepting my murdered boy
and another about the same age, were dead or dying; several more of the
men were wounded, hiding away, whose groans through the night too well
disclosed their hiding places, while the rest of the men had fled, at the
moment of the massacre, to save their lives.
"The women were sobbing, in the greatest anguish of spirit; the
children were crying loudly with fear and grief at the loss of fathers and
brothers; the dogs howled over their dead masters and the cattle were
terrified with the scent of the blood of the murdered.
[124] "Yet was I there, all that long, dreadful night, with my dead and my
wounded, and none but God as our physician and help.
"Oh my Heavenly Father, I cried, what shall I do? Thou seest my poor
wounded boy and knowest my inexperience. Oh Heavenly Father direct me what
to do!
"And then I was directed as by a voice speaking to me.
"The ashes of our fire was still smouldering. We had been burning the
bark of the shag-bark hickory. I was directed to take those ashes and make
a lye and put a cloth saturated with it right into the wound. It hurt, but
little Alma was too near dead to heed it much. Again and again I saturated
the cloth and put it into the hole from which the hip joint had been
ploughed, and each time mashed flesh and splinters of bone came away with
the cloth; and the wound became as white as chicken's flesh.
"Having done as directed I again prayed to the Lord and was again
instructed as distinctly as though a physician had been standing by
speaking to me.
"Near by was a slippery-elm tree. From this I was told to make a
slippery-elm poultice and fill the wound with it.
"My eldest boy was sent to get the slippery-elm from the roots, the
poultice was made, and the wound, which took fully a quarter of a yard of
linen to cover, so large was it, was properly dressed.
"It was then I found vent to my feelings in tears, and resigned
myself to the anguish of the hour. [125] And all that night we, a few
poor, stricken women, were thus left there with our dead and wounded. All
through the night we heard the groans of the dying. Once in the dark we
crawled over the heap of dead in the blacksmith's shop to try to help or
soothe the sufferers' wants; once we followed the cries of a wounded
brother who hid in some bushes from the murderers, and relieved him all we
could. "It has passed from my memory whether he was dead in the morning or
whether he recovered.
"Next morning brother Joseph Young came to the scene of the massacre.
"What shall be done with the dead?" he inquired, in horror and deep
trouble.
"There was not time to bury them, for the mob was coming on us.
Neither were there left men to dig the graves. All the men excepting the
two or three who had so narrowly escaped were dead or wounded. It had been
no battle, but a massacre indeed.
"`Do anything, Brother Joseph,' I said, `rather than leave their
bodies to the fiends who have killed them.'
"There was a deep dry well close by. Into this the bodies had to be
hurried, eighteen or nineteen in number.
"No funeral service could he performer, nor could they be buried with
customary decency The lives of those who in terror performed the last duty
to the dead were in jeopardy. Every moment we expected to be fired upon by
the fiends who we supposed were lying in ambush waiting, the first
opportunity to dispatch the remaining few who [126] had escaped the
slaughter of the preceding day. So in the hurry and terror of the moment
some were thrown into the well head downwards and some feet downwards.
"But when it came to the burial of my murdered boy Sardius, Brother
Joseph Young, who was assisting to carry him on a board to the well, laid
down the corpse and declared that he could not throw that boy into this
horrible grave.
"All the way on the journey, that summer, Joseph had played with the
interesting lad who had been so cruelly murdered. It was too much for one
whose nature was so tender as Uncle Joseph's, and whose sympathies by this
time were quite overwrought. He could not perform that last office. My
murdered son was left unburied.
"`Oh! they have left my Sardius unburied in the sun,' I cried, and
ran and got a sheet and covered his body.
"There he lay until the next day, and then I, his mother, assisted by
his elder brother, had to throw him into the well. Straw and earth were
thrown into this rude vault to cover the dead.
"Among the wounded who recovered were Isaac Laney, Nathaniel K.
Knight, Mr. Yokum, two brothers by the name of Myers, Tarlton Lewis, Mr.
Haun and several others, besides Miss Mary Stedwell, who was shot through
the hand while fleeing with me, and who fainting, fell over the log into
which the mob shot upwards of twenty balls. "The crawling, of my boys
under the bellows in the blacksmith's shop where the tragedy occurred, is
an incident familiar to all our people. Alma's [127] hip was shot away
while thus hiding. Sardius was discovered after the massacre by the
monsters who came in to despoil the bodies. The eldest, Willard, was not
discovered. In cold blood, one Glaze, of Carroll county, presented a rifle
near the head of Sardius and literally blew off the upper part of it,
leaving the skull empty and dry while the brains and hair of the murdered
boy were scattered around and on the walls.
At this one of the men, more merciful than the rest, observed:
"`It was a d--d shame to kill those little boys.'
"`D--n the difference!' retorted the other; `nits make lice!'
"My son who escaped, also says that the mobocrat William Mann took
from my husband's feet, before he was dead, a pair of new boots. From his
hiding place, the boy saw the ruffian drag his father across the shop in
the act of pulling off his boot.
"`Oh! you hurt me!' groaned my husband. But the murderer dragged him
back again, pulling off the other boot; `and there,' says the boy, `my
father fell over dead.'
"Afterwards this William Mann showed the boots on his own feet, in
Far West, saying: Here is a pair of boots that I pulled off before the
d--d Mormon was done kicking!'
"The murderer Glaze also boasted over the country, as a heroic deed,
the blowing off the head of my young son.
"But to return to Alma, and how the Lord helped me to save his life.
[128] I removed the wounded boy to a house, some distance off the next
day, and dressed his hip; the Lord directing me as before. I was reminded
that in my husband's trunk there was a bottle of balsam. This I poured
into the wound, greatly soothing Alma's pain.
"`Alma, my child,' I said, `you believe that the Lord made your hip?'
"`Yes, mother.'
"'Well, the Lord can make something there in the place of your hip,
don't you believe he can, Alma?'
"`Do you think that the Lord can, mother?' inquired the child, in his
simplicity.
"`Yes, my son,' I replied, he has shown it all to `me in a vision.'
"Then I laid him comfortably on his face, and said: `Now you lay like
that, and don't move, and the Lord will make you another hip.'
"So Alma laid on his face for five weeks, until he was entirely
recovered--a flexible gristle having grown in place of the missing joint
and socket, which remains to this day a marvel to physicians. On the day
that he walked again I was out of the house fetching a bucket of water,
when I heard screams from the children. Running back, in affright, I
entered, and there was Alma on the floor, dancing around, and the children
screaming in astonishment and joy.
"It is now nearly forty years ago, but Alma has never been the least
crippled during his life, and he has traveled quite a long period of the
time as a missionary of the gospel and a living miracle of the power of
God.
[129] "I cannot leave the tragic story without relating some incidents of
those five weeks when I was a prisoner with my wounded boy in Missouri,
near the scene of the massacre, unable to obey the order of extermination.
"All the Mormons in the neighborhood had fled out of the State,
excepting a few families of the bereaved women and children who had
gathered at the house of Brother David Evans, two miles from the scene of
the massacre. To this house Alma had been carried after that fatal night.
"In our utter desolation, what could we women do but pray? Prayer was
our only source of comfort; our Heavenly Father our only helper. None but
he could save and deliver us.
"One day a mobber came from the mill with the captain's fiat:
"`The captain says if you women don't stop your d--d praying he will
send down a posse and kill every d--d one of you!'
"And he might as well have done it, as to stop us poor women praying
in that hour of our great calamity.
"Our prayers were hushed in terror. We dared not let our voices be
heard in the house in supplication. I could pray in my bed or in silence,
but I could not live thus long. This godless silence was more intolerable
than had been that night of the massacre.
"I could bear it no longer. I pined to hear once more my own voice in
petition to my Heavenly Father.
"I stole down into a corn-field, and crawled into [130] a `stout of
corn.' It was as the temple of the Lord to me at that moment. I prayed
aloud and most fervently.
"When I emerged from the corn a voice spoke to me. It was a voice as
plain as I ever heard one. It was no silent, strong impression of the
spirit, but a voice, repeating a verse of the saint's hymn:
"That soul who on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I cannot, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake!
"From that moment I had no more fear. I felt that nothing could hurt
me. Soon after this the mob sent us word that unless we were all out of
the State by a certain day we should be killed.
"The day came, and at evening came fifty armed men to execute the
sentence.
"I met them at the door. They demanded of me why I was not gone? I
bade them enter and see their own work. They crowded into my room and I
showed them my wounded boy. They came, party after party, until all had
seen my excuse. Then they quarreled among themselves and came near
fighting.
"At last they went away, all but two. These I thought were detailed
to kill us. Then the two returned.
"`Madam,' said one, `have you any meat in the house?'
"`No,' was my reply.
`"Could you dress a fat hog if one was laid at your door?'
"`I think we could!' was my answer
[131] "And then they went and caught a fat hog from a herd which had
belonged to a now exiled brother, killed it and dragged it to my door, and
departed."
"These men, who had come to murder us, left on the threshold of our
door a meat offering to atone for their repented intention.
"Yet even when my son was well I could not leave the State, now
accursed indeed to the saints.
"The mob had taken my horses, as they had the drove of horses, and
the beeves, and the hogs, and wagons, and the tents, of the murdered and
exiled.
"So I went down into Davies county (ten miles) to Captain Comstock,
and demanded of him my horses. There was one of them in his yard. He said
I could have it if I paid five dollars for its keep. I told him I had no
money.
"I did not fear the captain of the mob, for I had the Lord's promise
that nothing should hurt me. But his wife swore that the mobbers were
fools for not killing the women and children as well as the men--declaring
that we would `breed up a pack ten times worse than the first.'
"I left without the captain's permission to take my horse, or giving
pay for its keep; but I went into his yard and took it, and returned to
our refuge unmolested.
"Learning that my other horse was at the mill, I next yoked up a pair
of steers to a sled and went and demanded it also.
"Comstock was there at the mill. He gave me the horse, and then asked
if I had any flour.
"No we have had none for weeks."
[132] "He then gave me about fifty pounds of flour and some beef, and
filled a can with honey.
"But the mill, and the slaughtered beeves which hung plentifully on
its walls, and the stock of flour and honey, and abundant spoil besides,
had all belonged to the murdered or exiled saints.
"Yet was I thus providentially, by the very murderers and mobocrats
themselves, helped out of the State of Missouri.
"The Lord had kept his word. The soul who on Jesus had leaned for
succor had not been forsaken even in this terrible hour of massacre, and
in that infamous extermination of the Mormons from Missouri in the years
1838-39.
"One incident more, as a fitting close.
"Over that rude grave--that well--where the nineteen martyrs slept,
where my murdered husband and boy were entombed, the mobbers of Missouri,
with an exquisite fiendishness, which no savages could have conceived, had
constructed a rude privy. This they constantly used, with a delight which
demons might have envied, if demons are more wicked and horribly beastly
than were they.
"Thus ends my chapter of the Haun's Mill massacre, to rise in
judgment against them!"
[133] CHAPTER XVI.
MOBS DRIVE THE SETTLERS INTO FAR WEST--HEROIC DEATH OF APOSTLE PATTEN--TREACHERY OF COL. HINKLE, AND FALL OF THE MORMON CAPITAL--FAMOUS SPEECH OF MAJOR-GENERAL CLARK.
But the iliad of Mormondom was now in Far West.
Haun's Mill massacre was merely a tragic episode; a huge tragedy in
itself, it is true, such as civilized times scarcely ever present, yet
merely an episode of this strange religious iliac of America and the
nineteenth century.
The capital of Mormondom was now the city of Far West, in Missouri.
There was Joseph the prophet. There was Brigham Young--his St.
Peter--who by this time fairly held the keys of the latter-day kingdom.
There were the apostles. There were two armies marshaled--the army of the
Lord and the army of Satan. And these were veritable hosts, of flesh and
blood, equipped and marshaled in a religious crusade--not merely spiritual
powers contending.
"On the 4th of July, 1838," writes Apostle Parley Pratt, "thousands
of the citizens who belonged to the church of the saints assembled at the
city of [134] Far West, the county seat of Caldwell, in order to celebrate
our nation's birth.
"We erected a tall standard, on which was hoisted our national
colors, the stars and stripes, and the bold eagle of American liberty.
Under its waving folds we laid the corner-stone of a temple of God, and
dedicated the land and ourselves and families to him who had preserved us
in all our troubles.
"An address was then delivered by Sidney Rigdon, in which was
portrayed in lively colors the oppression which we had suffered at the
hands of our enemies.
"We then and there declared our constitutional rights as American
citizens, and manifested our determination to resist, with our utmost
endeavors, from that time forth, all oppression, and to maintain our
rights and freedom, according to the holy principles of liberty as
guaranteed to every person by the constitution and laws of our country.
"This declaration was received with shouts of hosanna to God and the
Lamb, and with many long cheers by the assembled thousands, who were
determined to yield their rights no more unless compelled by superior
power."
Very proper, too were such resolutions of these sons and daughters of
sires and mothers who were among the pilgrim founders of this nation, and
among the heroes and heroines of the Revolution.
But Missouri could not endure this temple-building to the God of
Israel, nor these mighty shouts of hosanna to his name; while the
all-prevailing faith of the sisters brought more of the angels down from
the New Jerusalem than earth just then was [135] prepared to receive. In
popular words, this formidable gathering of a modern Israel and this city
building within its borders loomed up to Missouri as the rising of a
Mormon empire.
Soon the State was alive with mobs determined on the extermination of
the saints; soon those mobs numbered ten thousand armed men; soon also
were they converted into a State army, officered by generals and
major-generals, with the governor as the commander-in-chief of a boldly
avowed religious crusade, with rival priests as its "inspiring demons."
One feature, all worthy of note, in this Hebraic drama of Mormondom,
is that while modern Israel was ever in the action inspired by archangels
of the new covenant, the anti-Mormon crusade was as constantly inspired by
sectarian priests at war with a dispensation of angels.
Even the mobber, Captain Comstock, who was bold enough to perpetrate
a Haun's Mill massacre, was in consternation over the magic prayers of a
few stricken women who honored the God of Israel in the hour of direst
calamity.
Thus throughout Missouri. And so the exterminating order of Governor
Boggs prevailed like the edict of a second Nebuchadnezzar.
There was a Mormon war in the State. So it was styled.
Mobs were abroad, painted like Indian warriors, committing murder,
robbery, burning the homesteads of the saints, and spreading desolation.
Next, one thousand men were ordered into service by the Governor,
under the command of Major-[136]General Atchison and Brigadier-Generals
Park and Doniphan.
This force marched against the saints in several counties. A
Presbyterian priest, Rev. Sashel Woods, was its chaplain. He said prayers
in the camp, morning and evening. `Twas a godly service in an ungodly
crusade, but the Rev. Sashel Woods was equal to it. The Philistines drove
modern Israel before them, and their priest prayed Jehovah out of
countenance.
In Far West a thousand men of our Mormon Israel flew to arms, and in
Davies county several hundred men assembled for defence. Colonel David
Patten, an apostle, with his company put to flight some of the mob; but
the crusaders in general drove the saints from settlement after
settlement.
Hundreds of men, women and children fled from their homes to the
cities and strongholds of their people. From Davies county and the
frontiers of Caldwell the refugees daily poured into the city of Far West.
Lands and crops were abandoned to the enemy. The citizens in the capital
of the saints were constantly under arms. Men slept in their clothes, with
arms by their side, ready to muster at a given signal at any hour of the
night.
A company under Colonel Patten went out to meet the enemy across the
prairies, a distance of twelve miles, to stop the murder and spoliation of
a settlement of their people. Parley Pratt was one of the posse.
"The night was dark," he says; "the distant plains far and wide were
illuminated by blazing fires; immense columns of smoke were seen rising in
[137] awful majesty, as if the world was on fire. This scene, added to the
silence of midnight, the rumbling sound of the tramping steeds over the
hard and dried surface of the plain, the clanking of swords in their
scabbards, the occasional gleam of bright armor in the flickering
firelight, the gloom of surrounding darkness, and the unknown destiny of
the expedition, or even of the people who sent it forth, all combined to
impress the mind with deep and solemn thoughts."
At dawn of day they met the enemy in ambush in the wilderness. The
enemy opened fire, mortally wounding a brother named O'Banyon. Soon the
brethren charged the enemy in his camp; several fell upon both sides,
among whom was the brave apostle, David Patten; but the foemen flung
themselves into a stream and escaped on the opposite shore, while the
wilderness resounded with the watchword of the heroes, "God and Liberty."
Six of the brethren were wounded, and one left dead on the ground.
The heroes returned to Far West. Among those who came out to meet
them was the wife of the dying apostle, Patten.
"O God! O my husband!" she exclaimed, bursting into tears.
The wounds were dressed. David was still able to speak, but he died
that evening in the triumphs of faith.
"I had rather die," he said, "than live to see it thus in my
country!"
The young O'Banyon also died about the same [138] time. They were
buried together under military honors; a whole people in tears followed
them to their grave.
David Patten was the first of the modern apostles who found a
martyr's grave. He is said to have been a great and good man, who chose to
lay down his life for the cause of truth and right.
Not long now ere Governor Boggs found the opportunity for the grand
expulsion of the entire Mormon community--from twelve to fifteen thousand
souls. He issued an order for some ten thousand troops to be mustered into
service and marched to the field against the Mormons, giving the command
to General Clark. His order was expressly to exterminate the Mormons, or
drive them from the State.
The army of extermination marched upon the city of Far West.
The little Mormon host, about five hundred strong, marched out upon
the plains on the south of the city, and formed in order of battle. Its
line of infantry extended near half a mile; a small company of horse was
posted on the right wing on a commanding eminence, and another in the rear
of the main body extended as a reserve.
The army of extermination halted and formed along the borders of a
stream called Goose Creek; and both sides sent out white flags, which met
between the armies.
"We want three persons out of the city before we massacre the rest!"
was the voice of the white flag from the governor's army.
Small need this, for the flag of mercy! But it was [139] as good as
the mercy of Haun's Mill, which was given on the very same day.
That night Major-General Lucas encamped near the city. The brethren
continued under arms, and spent the night throwing up temporary
breastworks. They were determined to defend their homes, wives and
children to the last. Both armies were considerably reinforced during the
night; the army of extermination being reinforced with the monsters from
the Haun's Mill massacre.
But the prophet and brethren were on the next day betrayed by the
traitor Colonel George M. Hinkle, who was in command of the defence of Far
West. Joseph was now a prisoner of war; Parley and others were prisoners
also; Brigham was at Far West, but even he could not save the prophet and
the saints from this formidable army, nor lessen the blow which a traitor
had dealt. The treachery of Colonel Hinkle had, however, perhaps saved the
lives of hundreds of women and children, and prevented brave men from
fighting in a just cause.
It was November, now, and Major-General Clark was also at Far West
with his army of extermination. No book of the persecutions could be
properly written without his speech to the Mormons, especially a book of
the sisters, whom it so much concerned:
"GENTLEMEN: You, whose names are not on this list, will now have the
privilege of going to your fields to obtain grain for your families--wood,
etc. Those that compose the list will go hence to prison, to be tried, and
receive the due demerits of their [140] crimes. But you are now at
liberty, all but such as charges may hereafter be preferred against. It
now devolves upon you to fulfill the treaty that you have entered
into--the leading items of which I now lay before you.
"The first of these items you have already complied with--which is,
that you deliver up your leading men to be tried according to law. Second,
that you deliver up your arms--this has been attended to. The third is,
that you sign over your property to defray the expenses of the war; this
you have also done. Another thing yet remains for you to comply with; that
is: that you leave the State forthwith; and, whatever your feeling
concerning this affair, whatever your innocence, it is nothing to me.
General Lucas, who is equal in authority with me, has made this treaty
with you. I am determined to see it executed.
The orders of the Governor to me, were, that you should be
exterminated, and not allowed to remain in the State. And had your leaders
not been given up, and the treaty complied with, before this you and your
families would have been destroyed and your houses in ashes.
"There is a discretionary power resting in my hands, which I shall
try to exercise for a season. I did not say that you must go now, but you
must not think of stopping here another season, or of putting in crops;
for the moment you do, the citizens will be upon you. I am determined to
see the Governor's orders fulfilled, but shall not come upon you
immediately. Do not think that I shall act as I have done any more; but if
I have to come again because the treaty which you have made is not
complied with, you need not expect any mercy, but extermination; for I am
determined that the Governor's order shall be executed.
As for your leaders, do not think, do not imagine for a moment, do
not let it enter your minds that [141] they will be delivered, or that you
will see their faces again, for their fate is fixed, their die is cast,
their doom is sealed.
"I am sorry, gentlemen, to see so great a number of apparently
intelligent men found in the situation that you are. And, oh! that I could
invoke the spirit of the unknown God to rest upon you, and deliver you
from that awful chain of superstition and liberate you from those fetters
of fanaticism with which you are bound. I would advise you to scatter
abroad and never again organize with bishops, presidents, etc. lest you
excite the jealousies of the people, and subject yourselves to the same
calamities that have now come upon you.
"You have always been the aggressors; you have brought upon
yourselves these difficulties by being disaffected, and not being subject
to rule; and my advice is, that you become as other citizens, lest by a
recurrence of these events you bring upon yourselves inevitable ruin."
[142] CHAPTER XVII.
EPISODES OF THE PERSECUTIONS--CONTINUATION OF ELIZA R. SNOW'S NARRATIVE--BATHSHEBA W. SMITH'S STORY--LOUISA F. WELLS INTRODUCED TO THE READER--EXPERIENCE OF ABIGAIL LEONARD--MARGARET FOUTZ.
The prophet and his brother Hyrum were in prison and in chains in
Missouri; Sidney Rigdon, Parley Pratt and others were also in prison and
in chains, for the gospel's sake.
The St. Peter of Mormondom was engaged in removing the saints from
Missouri to Illinois. He had made a covenant with them that none of the
faithful should be left. Faithfully he kept that covenant. It was then, in
fact, that Brigham rose as a great leader of a people, giving promise of
what he has been since the martyrdom of the prophet.
While Joseph is in chains, and Brigham is accomplishing the exodus
from Missouri, the sisters shall relate some episodes of those days.
Sister Snow, continuing the thread of her narrative already given,
says:
In Kirtland the persecution increased until many had to flee for
their lives, and in the spring of 1838, [143] in company with my father,
mother, three brothers, one sister and her two daughters, I left Kirtland,
and arrived in Far West, Caldwell county, Mo., on the 16th of July, where
I stopped at the house of Sidney Rigdon, with my brother Lorenzo, who was
very sick, while the rest of the family went farther, and settled in
Adam-Ondi-Ahman, in Davies county. In two weeks, my brother being
sufficiently recovered, my father sent for us and we joined the family
group. My father purchased the premises of two of the "old settlers," and
paid their demands in full. I mention this, because subsequent events
proved that, at the time of the purchase, although those men ostensibly
were our warm friends, they had, in connection with others of the same
stripe, concocted plans to mob and drive us from our newly acquired homes,
and repossess them. In this brief biographical sketch, I shall not attempt
a review of the scenes that followed. Sufficient to say, while we were
busy in making preparations for the approaching winter, to our great
surprise, those neighbors fled from the place, as if driven by a mob,
leaving their clocks ticking, dishes spread for their meal, coffee-pots
boiling, etc. etc., and, as they went, spread the report in every
direction that the "Mormons" had driven them from their homes, arousing
the inhabitants of the surrounding country, which resulted in the
disgraceful, notorious "exterminating order" from the Governor of the
State; in accordance therewith, we left Davies county for that of
Caldwell, preparatory to fulfilling the injunction of leaving, the State
"before grass grows" in the spring.
The clemency of our law-abiding, citizen-expelling [144] Governor
allowed us ten days to leave our county, and, till the expiration of that
term, a posse of militia was to guard us against mobs; but it would be
very difficult to tell which was better, the militia or the mob--nothing
was too mean for the militia to perform--no property was safe within the
reach of those men.
One morning, while we were hard at work, preparing for our exit, the
former occupant of our house entered, and in an impudent and arrogant
manner inquired how soon we should be out of it. My American blood warmed
to the temperature of an insulted, free-born citizen, as I looked at him,
and thought, poor man, you little think with whom you have to deal--God
lives! He certainly overruled in that instance, for those wicked men never
got possession of that property, although my father sacrificed it to
American mobocracy.
In assisting widows and others who required help, my father's time
was so occupied that we did not start until the morning of the 10th, and
last day of the allotted grace. The weather was very cold and the ground
covered with snow. After assisting in the arrangements for the journey,
and shivering with cold, in order to warm my aching feet, I walked until
the teams overtook me. In the mean time, I met one of the so-called
militia, who accosted me with, "Well, I think this will cure you of your
faith!" Looking him steadily in the eye, I replied, "No, sir; it will take
more than this to cure me of my faith." His countenance suddenly fell, and
he responded, "I must confess, you are a better soldier than I am." I
passed on, thinking that, unless he [145] was above the average of his
fellows in that section, I was not highly complimented by his confession.
It is true our hardships and privations were sufficient to have
disheartened any but the saints of the living God--those who were prompted
by higher than earthly motives, and trusting in the arm Jehovah.
We were two days on our way to Far west, and stopped over night at
what was called the Half-way House, a log building perhaps twenty feet
square, with the chinkings between the logs, minus--they probably having
been burned for firewood--the owner of the house, Brother Littlefield,
having left with his family to escape being robbed; and the north wind had
free ingress through the openings, wide enough for cats to crawl through.
This had been the lodging place of the hundreds who had preceded us, and
on the present occasion proved the almost shelterless shelter of
seventy-five or eighty souls. To say lodging, would be a hoax, although
places were allotted to a few aged and feeble, to lie down, while the rest
of us either sat or stood, or both, all night. My sister and I managed so
that mother lay down, and we sat by (on the floor, of course), to prevent
her being trampled on, for the crowd was such that people were hardly
responsible for their movements.
It was past the middle of December, and the cold was so intense that,
in spite of well packing, our food was frozen hard, bread and all, and
although a blazing fire was burning on one side of the room, we could not
get to it to thaw our suppers, and had to resort to the next expediency,
which was this: [146] The boys milked, and while one strained the milk,
another held the pan (for there was no chance for putting anything down,);
then, while one held a bowl of the warm milk, another would, as
expeditiously as possible, thinly slice the frozen bread into it, and thus
we managed for supper. In the morning, we were less crowded, as some
started very early, and we toasted our bread and thawed our meat before
the fire. But, withal, that was a very merry night. None but saints can be
happy under every circumstance. About twenty feet from the house was a
shed, in the centre of which the brethren built a roaring fire, around
which some of them stood and sang songs and hymns all night, while others
parched corn and roasted frosted potatoes, etc. Not a complaint was
heard--all were cheerful, and judging from appearances, strangers would
have taken us to be pleasure excursionists rather than a band of
gubernatorial exiles.
After the mobbing commenced, although my father had purchased, and
had on hand, plenty of wheat, he could get none ground, and we were under
the necessity of grating corn for our bread on graters made of tin-pails
and stove-pipe. I will here insert a few extracts from a long poem I wrote
while in Davies county. as follows:
'Twas autumn--Summer's melting breath was gone,
And winter's gelid blast was stealing on;
To meet its dread approach, with anxious care
The houseless saints were struggling to prepare;
When round about a desperate mob arose,
Like tigers waking from a night's repose;
They came like hordes from nether shades let loose--
Men without hearts, just fit for Satan's use!
With wild, demoniac rage they sallied forth,
[147]
Resolved to drive the saints of God from earth.
Hemm'd in by foes--deprived the use of mill,
Necessity inspires their patient skill;
Tin-pails and stove-pipe, from their service torn,
Are changed to graters to prepare the corn,
That Nature's wants may barely be supplied--
They ask no treat, no luxury beside.
But, where their shelter? Winter hastens fast;
Can tents and wagons stem this northern blast?
The scene presented in the city of Far West, as we stopped over night
on our way to our temporary location, was too important to be omitted, and
too sad to narrate. Joseph Smith, and many other prominent men, had been
dragged to prison. Their families, having been plundered, were nearly or
quite destitute--some living on parched corn, others on boiled wheat; and
desolation seemed inscribed on everything but the hearts of the faithful
saints. In the midst of affliction, they trusted in God.
After spending the remainder of the winter in the vicinity of Far
West, on the 5th of March, 1839, leaving much of our property behind, we
started for Illinois.
From the commencement of hostilities against us, in the State of
Missouri, till our expulsion, no sympathy in our behalf was ever, to my
knowledge, expressed by any of the former citizens, with one single
exception, and that was so strikingly in contrast with the morbid state of
feeling generally manifested that it made a deep impression on my mind,
and I think it worthy of record. I will here relate the circumstance. It
occurred on our outward journey.
After a night of rain which turned to snow and covered the ground in
the morning, we thawed our [148] tent, which was stiffly frozen, by
holding and turning it alternately before a blazing fire until it could be
folded for packing; and, all things put in order, while we all shook with
the cold, we started on. As the sun mounted upwards, the snow melted, and
increased the depth of the mud with which the road before us had been
amply stocked, and rendered travel almost impossible. The teams were
puffing, and the wagons dragging so heavily that we were all on foot,
tugging along as best we could, when an elderly gentleman, on horseback,
overtook us, and, after riding alongside for some time, apparently
absorbed in deep thought, as he (after inquiring who we were) watched the
women and girls, men and boys, teams and wagons, slowly wending our way up
a long hill, en route from our only earthly homes, and, not knowing where
we should find one, he said emphatically, "If I were in your places, I
should want the Governor of the State hitched at the head of my teams." I
afterwards remarked to my father that I had not heard as sensible a speech
from a stranger since entering the State. I never saw that gentleman
afterwards, but have from that time cherished a filial respect for him,
and fancy I see his resemblance in the portrait of Sir Von Humboldt, now
hanging on the wall before me.
We arrived in Quincy, III., where many of the exiled saints had
preceded us, and all were received with generous hospitality.
My father moved to one of the northern counties. I stopped in Quincy,
and, while there, wrote for the press, "An Appeal to the Citizens of the
United States," "An Address to the Citizens of Quincy," and [149] several
other articles, for which I received some very flattering encomiums, with
solicitations for effusions, which, probably, were elicited by the fact
that they were from the pen of a "Mormon girl."
From Quincy, my sister, her two daughters and I, went to Lima,
Hancock county, where we found a temporary home under the roof of an old
veteran of the Revolution, who, with his family, treated us with much
kindness, although, through ignorance of the character of the saints,
their feelings were like gall towards them as a people, which we knew to
be the result of misrepresentation. It was very annoying to our feelings
to hear bitter aspersions against those whom we knew to be the best people
on earth; but, occupying, as we did, an upper room with a slight flooring
between us and those below, we were obliged to hear. Frequently, after our
host had traduced our people, of whom he knew nothing, he would suddenly
change his tone and boast of the "noble women" he had in his house; "no
better women ever lived," etc., which he would have said of the Mormon
people generally, had he known them as well. We were pilgrims, and for the
time being had to submit to circumstances. Almost anything is preferable
to dependence--with these people we would earn our support at the
tailoring business, thanks to my mother's industrial training, for which I
even now bless her dear memory.
In May the saints commenced gathering in Commerce (afterwards
Nauvoo), and on the 16th of July I left our kind host and hostess, much to
their regret, Elder Rigdon having sent for me to teach his family school
in Commerce, and, although I regretted to [150] part with my sister, I was
truly thankful to be again associated with the body of the church, with
those whose minds. freed from the fetters of sectarian creeds. and
man-made theology. launch forth in the divine path of investigation into
the glorious fields of celestial knowledge and intelligence.
Concerning these times, Sister Bathsheba W. Smith says: "When I was
in my sixteenth year, some Latter-day Saint elders visited our
neighborhood. I heard them preach and believed what they taught; I
believed the Book of Mormon to be a divine record, and that Joseph Smith
was a prophet of God. I knew by the spirit of the Lord, which I received
in answer to prayer, that these things were true. On the 21st of August,
1837, I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
by Elder Samuel James, in Jones' Run, on the farm and near the residence
of Augustus Burgess, and was confirmed by Elder Francis G. Bishop. The
spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I knew that he accepted of me as a
member in his kingdom. My mother was baptized this same day. My sister
Sarah, next older than me, was baptized three days previously. My father,
and my two oldest sisters, Matilda and Nancy, together with their
husbands, Col. John S. Martin and Josiah W. Fleming, were baptized into
the same church soon afterwards. My uncle, Jacob Bigler, and his family
had been baptized a few weeks before. A part of my first experience as a
[151] member of the church was, that most of my young acquaintances and
companions began to ridicule us. The spirit of gathering with the saints
in Missouri came upon me, and I became very anxious indeed to go there
that fall with my sister Nancy and family, as they had sold out and were
getting ready to go. I was told I could not go. This caused me to retire
to bed one night feeling very sorrowful. While pondering upon what had
been said to me about not going, a voice said to me, `Weep not, you will
go this fall.' I was satisfied and comforted. The next morning I felt
contented and happy, on observing which my sister Sarah said, `You have
got over feeling badly about not going to Zion this fall, have you?' I
quietly, but firmly, replied, `I am going--you will see.'
"My brother, Jacob G. Bigler, having gone to Far West, Mo., joined
the church there and bought a farm for my father, and then returned. About
this time my father sold his farm in West Virginia, and fitted out my
mother, my brother, and my sister Sarah, Melissa and myself, and we
started for Far West, in company with my two brothers-in-law and my uncle
and their families. Father stayed to settle up his business, intending to
join us at Far West in the spring, bringing with him, by water, farming
implements, house furniture, etc. On our journey the young folks of our
party had much enjoyment; it seemed so novel and romantic to travel in
wagons over hill and dale, through dense forests and over extensive
prairies, and occasionally passing through towns and cities, and camping
in tents at night. On arriving in Missouri [152] we found the State
preparing to wage war against the Latter-day Saints. The nearer we got to
our destination, the more hostile the people were. As we were traveling
along, numbers of men would sometimes gather around our wagons and stop
us. They would inquire who we were, where we were from, and where we were
going to. On receiving answers to their questions, they would debate among
themselves whether to let us go or not; their debate would result
generally in a statement to the effect of, `As you are Virginians, we will
let you go on, but we believe you will soon return, for you will quickly
become convinced of your folly.' Just before we crossed Grand River, we
camped over night with a company of Eastern saints. We had a meeting, and
rejoiced together. In the morning it was thought best for the companies to
separate and cross the river by two different ferries, as this arrangement
would enable all to cross in less time. Our company arrived at Far West in
safety. But not so with the other company; they were overtaken at Haun's
Mill by an armed mob--nineteen were killed, many others were wounded, and
some of them maimed for life.
"Three nights after we had arrived at the farm which my brother had
bought, and which was four miles south of the city of Far West; word came
that a mob was gathering on Crooked River, and a call was made for men to
go out in command of Captain David W. Patten, for the purpose of trying to
stop the depredations of the men, who were whipping and otherwise
maltreating our brethren, and who were destroying and burning property.
[153] Captain Patten's company went, and a battle ensued. Some of the
Latter-day Saints were killed, and several were wounded. I saw Brother
James Hendrix, one of the wounded, as he was being carried home; he was
entirely helpless and nearly speechless. Soon afterwards Captain David W.
Patten, who was one of the twelve apostles, was brought wounded into the
house where we were. I heard him bear testimony to the truth of Mormonism.
He exhorted his wife and all present to abide in the faith. His wife asked
him if he had anything against any one. He answered, `No.' Elder Heber C.
Kimball asked him if he would remember him when he got home. He said he
would. Soon after this he died, without a struggle.
"In this State I saw thousands of mobbers arrayed against the saints,
and I heard their shouts and savage yells when our prophet Joseph and his
brethren were taken into their camp. I saw much, very much, of the
sufferings that were brought upon our people by those lawless men. The
saints were forced to sign away their property, and to agree to leave the
State before it was time to put in spring crops. In these distressing
times, the spirit of the Lord was with us to comfort and sustain us, and
we had a sure testimony that we were being persecuted for the gospel's
sake, and that the Lord was angry with none save those who acknowledged
not his hand in all things.
"My father had to lose what he had paid on his farm; and in February,
1839, in the depth of winter, our family, and thousands of the saints,
were on the way to the State of Illinois. On this jour-[154]ney I walked
many a mile, to let some poor sick or weary soul ride. At night we would
meet around the camp-fire and take pleasure in singing the songs of Zion,
trusting in the Lord that all would yet be well, and that Zion would
eventually be redeemed.
"In the spring, father joined us at Quincy, Ill. We also had the joy
of having our prophet, Joseph Smith, and his brethren, restored to us from
their imprisonment in Missouri. Many, however, had died from want and
exposure during our journey. I was sick for a long time with ague and
fever, during which time my father was taken severely sick, and died after
suffering seven weeks. It was the first sickness that either of us ever
had.
"In the spring of 1840 our family moved to Nauvoo, in Illinois. Here
I continued my punctuality in attending meetings, had many opportunities
of hearing Joseph Smith preach, and tried to profit by his instructions,
and received many testimonials to the truth of the doctrines he taught.
Meetings were held out of doors in pleasant weather, and in private houses
when it was unfavorable. I was present at the laying of the cornerstones
of the foundation of the Nauvoo temple, and had become acquainted with the
prophet Joseph and his family.
"On the 25th of July, 1841, I was united in holy marriage to George
Albert Smith, the then youngest member of the quorum of the twelve
Apostles, and first cousin of the prophet (Elder Don Carlos Smith
officiating at our marriage). My husband was born June 26th, 1817, at
Potsdam, [155] St. Lawrence county, N. Y. When I became acquainted with
him in Virginia, in 1837, he was the junior member of the first quorum of
seventy. On the 26th day of June, 1838, he was ordained a member of the
High Council of Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Davies county, Missouri. Just about the
break of day, on the 26th of April, 1839, while kneeling on the
corner-stone of the foundation of the Lord's house in the city of Far
West, Caldwell county, Missouri, he was ordained one of the twelve
apostles. Two days after we were married, we started, carpet bag in hand,
to go to his father's, who lived at Zarahemla, Iowa Territory, about a
mile from the Mississippi. There we found a feast prepared for us, in
partaking of which my husband's father, John Smith, drank our health,
pronouncing the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob upon us. I did not
understand the import of this blessing as well then as I do now."
* * * * *
Here we meet another of these Spartan women of Mormondom in the
person of Louisa F. Wells, the senior wife of Lieutenant-General Daniel H.
Wells.
In July, 1837, her father, Absalom Free, who had embraced Mormonism
in Fayetteville, St. Clair county, III., in the year 1835, emigrated with
his family to Caldwell county, Mo.
In Caldwell, Brother Free purchased a farm and built a good house. He
was of the well-to-do farmer class. With his ample means he soon collected
a [156] fine farming outfit, and before him was the promise of great
prosperity.
The saints had been driven out of Jackson county, and mobs were
ravaging in Davies county, but there was peace in Caldwell until the
Fourth of July, in 1838, when the anti-Mormons, who were waiting and
watching for a pretext, took occasion, from some remarks made by Elder
Sidney Rigdon, in a commemorative speech at the celebration, to commence a
crusade against the city of Far West.
When the father of Louisa joined the organization for defence of the
city of Far West, he left a sick son at home, with the women folks of his
own and five other families, who had gathered there. These were left to
defend their homes.
Louisa and her sister Emeline, with their cousin, Eliza Free, stood
guard, on a ridge near the house, for three weeks, night and day, to warn
the families of the approach of the mob. This sister Emeline is the same
who was afterwards so well known in Utah as the wife of Brigham Young.
While thus standing guard, one day, the girls saw a troop of horsemen
near, marching with a red flag and the beating of drums. They had with
them a prisoner, on foot, whom they were thus triumphantly marching to
their camp. They were a troop of the mob. The prisoner was grandfather
Andrew Free, though at the time the sisters knew it not.
It was almost night. The horsemen made direct for their camp with
their "prisoner of war," whom they had taken, not in arms, for he was
aged, yet was he a soldier of the cross, ready to die for his faith.
[157] Already had the veteran disciple been doomed by his captors. He was
to be shot; one escape only had they reserved for him.
Before the mob tribunal stood the old man, calm and upright in his
integrity, and resolved in his faith. No one was near to succor him. He
stood alone, face to face with death, with those stern, cruel men, whose
class had shown so little mercy in Missouri, massacring men, women and
children, at Haun's Mill, and elsewhere about the same time.
Then the captain and his band demanded of the old man that he should
swear there and then to renounce Jo. Smith and his d--d religion, or they
would shoot him on the spot.
Drawing himself up with a lofty mien, and the invincible courage that
the Mormons have always shown in their persecutions, the veteran answered:
"I have not long to live. At the worst you cannot deprive me of many
days. I will never betray or deny my faith which I know to be of God. Here
is my breast, shoot away, I am ready to die for my religion!"
At this he bared his bosom and calmly waited for the mob to fire.
But the band was abashed at his fearless bearing and answer. For a time
the captain and his men consulted, and then they told their prisoner that
they had decided to give him till the morning to reconsider whether he
would retract his faith or die.
Morning came. Again the old man was before the tribunal, fearless in
the cause of his religion as he had been the previous night. Again came
from [158] him a similar answer, and then he looked for death, indeed, the
next moment.
But he had conquered his captors, and the leader declared, with an
oath: "Any man who can be so d--d true to any d--d religion, deserves to
live!"
Thereupon the mob released the heroic disciple of Mormonism, and he
returned to his home in safety.
During the three weeks the girls stood on guard, their father, who
was desirous to get tidings of his sick son, came frequently to a thicket
of underbrush, where the girls would bring his food and communicate with
him concerning affairs at the house.
One evening during this season of guard duty, the girls discovered
five armed men approaching. Running to the house, they gave the alarm. In
a few moments every woman and child of the six families were hiding in the
neighboring corn-field, excepting Louisa, her mother and her sick brother.
"Mother," said the boy, "you and Louisa run and hide. The mob will be
sure to kill me. They will see how tall I am by the bed-clothes, and will
think I am a man. You and sister Louisa escape or they will kill you too."
But the mother resolved to share the fate of her son, unless she
could protect him by her presence, and soften the hearts of savage
mobocrats by a mother's prayers for mercy; but she bade her daughter fly
with the baby. Louisa, however, also determined to stay to defend both her
brother and her mother. So they armed themselves--the mother with an axe,
and Louisa with a formidable pair of old-fashioned fire-tongs, and
stationed themselves at either door.
[159] But it turned out that the men were a squad of friends, whom the
father had sent to inquire after his family; yet the incident illustrates
those days of universal terror for the Mormons in the State of Missouri.
Worse, even, than the horrors of ordinary war must it have been, when thus
women, children and the sick, when not a Mormon man was present to provoke
the mob to bloodshed, looked for massacre upon massacre as daily scenes
which all in turn might expect to overtake them.
After the fall of the city of Far West, it being decided that the
Mormons should make a grand exodus from Missouri in the spring, Mr. Free
determined to anticipate it. Gathering up what property he could save from
the sacrifice, he started with his family for Illinois, abandoning the
beautiful farm he had purchased and paid for, along with the improvements
he had made.
In their flight to Illinois they were frequently overtaken and
threatened by mobs, but fortunately escaped personal violence, as it was
evident they were hastening from the inhospitable State. But the
inhumanity of the Missourians in those times is well illustrated in the
following incident:
Along with Brother Free's party were William Duncan and Solomon
Allen, whose feet were so badly frozen one day that they were unable to
proceed. At every house on the route the exiles called, soliciting
permission to shelter and care for the disabled men; but at every place
they were turned away, until at last, at eleven o'clock at night, they
were graciously permitted to occupy some negro quarters. The grace,
however, of Missouri was [160] redeemed by a codicil that "No d--d Mormon
should stop among white folks!"
This was mercy, indeed, for Missouri, and it is written in the book
of remembrance.
The party stopped and occupied the negro quarters, nursing the men
during the night, and so far restored them that they were enabled to go on
the next day.
Arriving at the Mississippi river, above St. Charles, it was found
that the ice was running so fiercely that it was well-nigh impossible to
cross, but the mobbers insisted that they should cross at once.
The crossing was made on a scow ferry-boat, common in those times;
and as the boat was near being swamped in the current, to add to the
horror of the incident, it was seriously proposed by the boatmen to throw
some of the "d--d Mormons overboard," to lighten the load! The
proposition, however, was abandoned, and the party landed safely on the
opposite shore.
Having escaped all the perils of that flight from Missouri, Father
Free and his family made their home in the more hospitable State of
Illinois, where the Mormons for a season found their "second Zion."
Here we leave "Sister Louisa" for awhile, to meet her again in the
grand exodus of her people from "civilization."
--------------
The following experience of Abigail Leonard, a venerable and
respected lady, now in her eighty-second year of life, will also be of
interest in this connection. She says:
[161] "In 1829 Eleazer Miller came to my house, for the purpose of holding
up to us the light of the gospel, and to teach us the necessity of a
change of heart. He did not teach creedism, for he did not believe
therein. That night was a sleepless one to me, for all night long I saw
before me our Saviour nailed to the cross. I had not yet received
remission of my sins, and, in consequence thereof, was much distressed.
These feelings continued for several days, till one day, while walking
alone in the street, I received the light of the spirit.
"Not long after this, several associated Methodists stopped at our
house, and in the morning, while I was preparing breakfast, they were
conversing upon the subject of church matters, and the best places for
church organization. From the jottings of their conversation, which I
caught from time to time, I saw that they cared more for the fleece than
the flock. The Bible lay on the table near by, and as I passed I
occasionally read a few words until I was impressed with the question:
`What is it that separates two Christians ?'
"For two or three weeks this question was constantly on my mind, and
I read the Bible and prayed that this question might be answered to me.
"One morning I took my Bible and went to the woods, when I fell upon
my knees, and exclaimed: `Now, Lord, I pray for the answer of this
question, and I shall never rise till you reveal to me what it is that
separates two Christians.' Immediately a vision passed before my eyes, and
the different sects passed one after another by me, and a voice [162]
called to me, saying: `These are built up for gain.' Then, beyond, I could
see a great light, and a voice from above called out: `I shall raise up a
people, whom I shall delight to own and bless.' I was then fully
satisfied, and returned to the house.
"Not long after this a meeting was held at our house, during which
every one was invited to speak; and when opportunity presented, I arose
and said: `To-day I come out from all names, sects and parties, and take
upon myself the name of Christ, resolved to wear it to the end of my
days.'
"For several days afterward, many people came from different
denominations and endeavored to persuade me to join their respective
churches. At length the associated Methodists sent their presiding elder
to our house to preach, in the hope that I might be converted. While the
elder was discoursing I beheld a vision in which I saw a great multitude
of people in the distance, and over their heads hung a thick, dark cloud.
Now and then one of the multitude would struggle, and rise up through the
gloomy cloud; but the moment his head rose into the light above, the
minister would strike him a blow, which would compel him to retire; and I
said in my heart, They will never; serve me so.'
"Not long after this, I heard of the `Book of Mormon,' and when a few
of us were gathered at a neighbor's we asked that we might have
manifestations in proof of the truth and divine origin of this book,
although we had not yet seen it. Our neighbor, a lady, was quite sick and
in much distress. It was asked that she be healed, and imme-[163]diately
her pain ceased, and health was restored. Brother Bowen defiantly asked
that he might be slain, and in an instant he was prostrated upon the
floor. I requested that I might know of the truth of this book, by the
gift and power of the Holy Ghost, and I immediately felt its presence.
Then, when the Book of Mormon came, we were ready to receive it and its
truths. The brethren gathered at our house to read it, and such days of
rejoicing and thanksgiving I never saw before nor since. We were now ready
for baptism, and on or about the 20th of August, 1831, were baptized.
"When we heard of the `gathering,' we were ready for that also, and
began preparations for the journey. On the 3d of July, 1832, we started
for Jackson county, Mo., where we arrived some time in the latter part of
December of the same year.
"Here we lived in peace, and enjoyed the blessings of our religion
till the spring of 1833, when the mob came upon us, and shed its terror in
our midst. The first attack was made upon Independence, about twelve miles
from our place. The printing press was destroyed, and the type scattered
in the streets. Other buildings, and their furniture, were destroyed; and
Bishop Partridge was tarred and feathered. Next, we heard that the enemy
had attacked our brethren in the woods about six miles distant. Then my
husband was called upon to go and assist his brethren. He arrived on the
field in the heat of the battle, and received fourteen bullet-holes in his
garments, but received no wounds, save two very slight marks, one on the
hip, the other on the arm.
[164] "The mob was defeated, and my husband returned home for food. I gave
it him, and bade him secrete himself immediately. He did so, and none too
soon; for scarcely was he hidden, when the mob appeared. As soon as my
husband was secreted I took my children and went to a neighbor's house,
where the sisters were gathering for safety. About this time Sister Parley
Pratt was being helped from a sick bed to this place of security, and the
mob, seeing the sisters laboring to carry her, gave their assistance and
carried her in. The mob then searched for fire-arms, but could find none.
"The brethren and the mob formed a treaty about this time, in which
we agreed to abandon the country by a specified time. Immediately our
people commenced moving across the Missouri river, into Clay county. The
people of Clay county becoming alarmed at our numbers, and incited to
malice by the people of Jackson county, cut away the boat before all our
people had crossed, and thus compelled our family with some others to
remain in Jackson county. There were nine families in all. And the mob
came and drove us out into the prairie before the bayonet. It was in the
cold, cheerless month of November, and our first night's camp was made the
thirteenth of that month, so wide-famed as the night of falling stars. The
next day we continued our journey, over cold, frozen, barren prairie
ground, many of our party barefoot and stockingless, feet and legs
bleeding. Mine was the only family whose feet were clothed, and that day,
while alone, I asked [165] the Lord what I should do, and his answer was:
`Divide among the sufferers, and thou shalt be repaid four-fold!' I then
gave till I had given more than fifteen pairs of stockings. In three and a
half days from the time of starting, we arrived at a grove of timber, near
a small stream, where we encamped for the winter. From the time of our
arrival till the following February we lived like saints.
"For awhile our men were permitted to return to the settlements in
Jackson county, and haul away the provisions which they had left behind;
but at last they would neither sell to us nor allow us any longer to
return for our own provisions left behind.
"A meeting was held, and it was decided that but one thing was left
to do, which was to return to Jackson county, to the place we had recently
left from compulsion. This we did, and on the evening of February 20,
1834, soon after our arrival in the old deserted place, we had been to
meeting and returned. It was about eleven o'clock at night, while we were
comfortably seated around a blazing fire, built in an old-fashioned Dutch
fireplace, when some one on going out discovered a crowd of men at a
little distance from the house, on the hill. This alarmed the children,
who ran out, leaving the door open. In a moment or two five armed men
pushed their way into the house and presented their guns to my husband's
breast, and demanded, `Are you a Mormon ?' My husband replied: `I profess
to belong to the Church of Christ.' They then asked if he had any arms,
and [166] on being told that he had not, one of them said: Now, d--n you,
walk out doors!' My husband was standing up, and did not move.
"Seeing that he would not go, one of them laid down his gun, clutched
a chair, and dealt a fierce blow at my husband's head; but fortunately the
chair struck a beam overhead, which turned and partially stopped the force
of the blow, and it fell upon the side of his head and shoulder with too
little force to bring him down, yet enough to smash the chair in pieces
upon the hearth. The fiend then caught another chair, with which he
succeeded in knocking my husband down beneath the stairway. They then
struck him several blows with a chair-post, upon the head, cutting four
long gashes in the scalp. The infuriated men then took him by the feet and
dragged him from the room. They raised him to his feet, and one of them,
grasping a large boulder, hurled it with full force at his head; but he
dropped his head enough to let the stone pass over, and it went against
the house like a cannon ball. Several of them threw him into the air, and
brought him, with all their might, at full length upon the ground. When he
fell, one of them sprang upon his breast, and stamping with all his might,
broke two of his ribs.
"They then turned him upon his side, and with a chair-post dealt him
many severe blows upon the thigh, which were heard at a distance of one
hundred and twenty rods. Next they tore off his coat and shirt, and
proceeded to whip him with their gun-sticks. I had been by my husband
during this whole affray, and one of the mob seeing me, cried [167] out:
`Take that woman in the house, or she will overpower every devil of you!'
Four of them presented their guns to my breast, and jumping off the ground
with rage, uttering the most tremendous oaths, they commanded me to go
into the house. This order I did not obey, but hastened to my husband's
assistance, taking stick after stick; from them, till I must have thrown
away twenty.
"By this time my husband felt that he could hold out no longer, and
raising his hands toward heaven, asking the Lord to receive his spirit, he
fell to the ground, helpless. Every hand was stayed, and I asked a sister
who was in the house to assist me to carry him in doors.
"We carried him in, and after washing his face and making him as
comfortable as possible, I went forth into the mob, and reasoned with
them, telling them that my husband had never harmed one of them, nor
raised his arm in defence against them. They then went calmly away, but
next day circulated a report that they had killed one Mormon.
"After the mob had gone, I sent for the elder, and he, with two or
three of the brethren, came and administered to my husband, and he was
instantly healed. The gashes on his head grew together without leaving a
scar, and he went to bed comfortable. In the morning I combed the
coagulated blood out of his hair, and he was so well that he went with me
to meeting that same day.
"The mob immediately held a meeting and informed us that we were to
have only three days to [168] leave in, and if we were not off by that
time the whole party would be massacred. We accordingly prepared to leave,
and by the time appointed were on our way to Clay county. Soon after our
arrival in Clay county, the `Camp of Zion' came, and located about twenty
miles from us. The cholera broke out in the camp, and many died. Three of
the party started to where we lived, but two died on the way, leaving Mr.
Martin Harris to accomplish the journey alone. The first thing, when he
saw me, he exclaimed: `Sister Leonard, I came to your house to save my
life.' For eight days my husband and I worked with him before he began to
show signs of recovery, scarcely lying down to take our rest. While Mr.
Harris was lying sick, the prophet Joseph Smith came, with eleven others,
to visit him. This was the first time I had ever seen the prophet.
"The prophet advised us to scatter out over the county, and not
congregate too much together, so that the people would have no cause for
alarm.
"While we were yet living in this place, the ague came upon my
family, and my husband lay sick for five months, and the children for
three. During the whole time I procured my own wood, and never asked any
one for assistance. On the recovery of my husband he bought a beautiful
little farm near by, where we lived long enough to raise one crop, when
the mob again came against us, and we were compelled to move into Caldwell
county.
"When we arrived there we moved into a log cabin, without door,
window, or fireplace, where [169] my husband left the children and me, and
returned to Clay county, for some of the brethren who were left behind.
During his absence a heavy snowstorm came, and we were without wood or
fire. My little boy and I, by turns, cut wood enough to keep us warm till
my husband resumed.
"Here my husband entered eighty acres of land, and subsequently
bought an additional twenty acres. Here, too, we stayed long enough to
raise one crop, and then moved to Nauvoo, Hancock county, Illinois.
"As soon as we were located, we were all seized with sickness, and
scarcely had I recovered, when there came into our midst some brethren
from England, who were homeless, and our people took; them in with their
own families. One of the families we took to live with us. The woman was
sick, and we sent for the elders to heal her, but their endeavors were not
successful, and I told the husband of the sick woman that but one thing
was left to be done, which was to send for the sisters. The sisters came,
washed, anointed, and administered to her. The patient's extremities were
cold, her eyes set, a spot in the back apparently mortified, and every
indication that death was upon her. But before the sisters had ceased to
administer, the blood went coursing through her system, and to her
extremities, and she was sensibly better. Before night her appetite
returned, and became almost insatiable, so much so at least that, after I
had given her to eat all I dared, she became quite angry because I would
not give her more. In three days she sat up and had her hair combed, and
soon recovered."
[170] The following portion of Margaret Foutz's narrative will also be of
interest in this connection. She says:
"I am the daughter of David and Mary Munn, and was born December
11th, 1801, in Franklin county, Pa I was married to Jacob Foutz, July 22d,
1822. In the year 1827 we emigrated to Richland county, Ohio. After living
here a few years, an elder by the name of David Evans came into the
neighborhood, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, commonly called
Mormonism. We united ourselves with the church, being baptized by Brother
Evans, in the year 1834. Subsequently we took our departure for Missouri,
to gather with the saints. We purchased some land, to make a permanent
home, on Crooked River, where a small branch of the church was organized,
David Evans being the president. We enjoyed ourselves exceedingly well,
and everything seemed to prosper; but the spirit of persecution soon began
to make itself manifest. Falsehoods were circulated about the Mormon
population that were settling about that region, and there soon began to
be signs of trouble. The brethren, in order to protect their families,
organized themselves together.
"Threats being made by the mob to destroy a mill belonging to Brother
Haun, it was considered best to have a few men continually at the mill to
protect it. One day Brother Evans went and had an interview with a Mr.
Comstock, said to be the head man of the mob. All things were amicably
adjusted. Brother Evans then went to inform the brethren (my husband being
among them) that all [171] was well. This was about the middle of the
afternoon, when Brother Evans returned from Mr. Comstock's. On a sudden,
without any warning whatever, sixty or seventy men, with blackened faces,
came riding their horses at full speed. The brethren ran, for protection,
into an old blacksmith shop, they being without arms. The mob rode up to
the shop, and without any explanation or apparent cause, began a wholesale
butchery, by firing round after round through the cracks between the logs
of the shop. I was at home with my family of five little children, and
could hear the firing. In a moment I knew the mob was upon us. Soon a
runner came, telling the women and children to hasten into the timber and
secrete themselves, which we did, without taking anything to keep us warm;
and had we been fleeing from the scalping knife of the Indian we would not
have made greater haste. And as we ran from house to house, gathering as
we went, we finally numbered about forty or fifty women and children. We
ran about three miles into the woods, and there huddled together,
spreading what few blankets or shawls we chanced to have on the ground for
the children; and here we remained until two o'clock; the next morning,
before we heard anything of the result of the firing at the mill. Who can
imagine our feelings during this dreadful suspense? And when the news did
come, oh! what terrible news! Fathers, brothers and sons, inhumanly
butchered! We now took up the line of march for home. Alas! what a home!
Who would we find there? And now, with our minds full of the most fearful
fore-[172]bodings, we retraced those three long, dreary miles. As we were
returning I saw a brother, Myers, who had been shot through his body. In
that dreadful state he crawled on his hands and knees, about two miles, to
his home.
"After I arrived at my house with my children, I hastily made a fire
to warm them, and then started for the mill, about one mile distant. My
children would not remain at home, saying, `If father and mother are going
to be killed, we want to be with them.' It was about seven o'clock in the
morning when we arrived at the mill. In the first house I came to there
were three dead men. One, a Brother McBride, I was told was a survivor of
the Revolution. He was a terrible sight to behold, having been cut and
chopped, and horribly mangled, with a corn-cutter.
"I hurried on, looking for my husband. I found him in an old house,
covered with some rubbish. (The mob had taken the bedding and clothing
from all the houses near the mill). My husband had been shot in the thigh.
I rendered him all the assistance I could, but it was evening before I
could get him home. I saw thirteen more dead bodies at the shop, and
witnessed the beginning of the burial, which consisted in throwing the
bodies into an old, dry well. So great was the fear of the men that the
mob would return and kill what few of them there were left, that they
threw the bodies in, head first or feet first, as the case might be. When
they had thrown in three, my heart sickened and I turned fainting away.
"At the moment of the massacre, my husband [173] and another brother
drew some of the dead bodies on themselves, and pretended to be dead also,
by so doing saving their lives. While in this situation they heard what
the ruffians said after the firing was over. Two little boys, who had not
been hit, begged for their lives; but with horrible oaths they put the
muzzles of their guns to the children's heads, and blew their brains out.
"Oh! what a change one short day had brought! Here were my friends,
dead and dying; one in particular asked me to give him relief by taking a
hammer and knocking his brains out, so great was his agony. And we knew
not what moment our enemies would be upon us again. And all this, not
because we had broken any law--on the contrary, it was a part of our
religion to keep the laws of the land. In the evening Brother Evans got a
team and conveyed my husband to his house, carried him in, and placed him
on a bed. I then had to attend him, alone, without any doctor or any one
to tell me what to do. Six days afterwards I, with my husband's
assistance, extracted the bullet, it being buried deep in the thick part
of the thigh, and flattened like a knife. During the first ten days,
mobbers, with blackened faces, came every day, cursing and swearing like
demons from the pit, and declaring that they would kill that d--d `old
Mormon preacher.' At times like these, when human nature quailed, I felt
the power of God upon me to that degree that I could stand before them
fearless; and although a woman, and alone, those demons in human shape had
to succumb; for there was a power with me that they knew not [174] of.
During these days of mobocratic violence I would sometimes hide my husband
in the house, and sometimes in the woods, covering him with leaves. And
thus was I constantly harassed, until the mob finally left us, with the
understanding that we should leave in the spring. About the middle of
February we started for Quincy, III. Arriving there, we tarried for a
short time, and thence moved to Nauvoo."
[175] CHAPTER XVIII.
JOSEPH SMITH'S DARING ANSWER TO THE LORD--WOMAN, THROUGH MORMONISM, RESTORED TO HER TRUE POSITION--THE THEMES OF MORMONISM.
What potent faith had come into the world that a people should thus
live and die by it?
Show us this new temple of theology in which the sisters had
worshipped.
Open the book of themes which constitute the grand system of
Mormonism.
------------
The disciples of the prophet believed in the Book of Mormon; but
nearly all their themes, and that vast system of theology which Joseph
conceived, as the crowning religion for a world, were derived from the
Hebrew Bible, the New Testament of Christ, and modern revelation.
New revelation is the signature of Mormonism.
The themes begin with Abraham, rather than with Christ; but they go
back to Adam, and to the long "eternities" ere this world was.
Before Adam, was Mormonism!
There are the generations of worlds. The Genesis of the Gods was
before the Genesis of Man.
[176] The Genesis of the Gods is the first book of the Mormon iliad.
"Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, `Who is
this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy
loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
"`Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare
if thou hast understanding.
"`Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath
stretched the line upon it?
"`Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the
corner-stone thereof:
"`When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God
shouted for joy?'
Brother Job, where wast thou? Joseph answered the Lord when the
Masonic question of the Gods was put to him:
"Father, I was with thee; one of the `morning stars' then; one of the
archangels of thy presence."
'Twas a divinely bold answer. But Joseph was divinely daring.
The genius of Mormonism had come down from the empyrean; it hesitated
not to assert its origin among the Gods.
This is no fanciful treatment--no mere flight to the realm of ideals.
The Mormons have literally answered the Lord, their Father, the question
which he put to their brother, Job, and have made that answer a part of
their theology.
But where was woman "when the morning stars sang together, and the
sons of God shouted for joy?"
Where was Zion? Where the bride? Where was woman?
[177] "Not yet created; taken afterwards from the rib of Adam; of the
earth, not of heaven; created for Adam's glory, that he might rule over
her."
So said not Joseph.
It was the young East who thus declared. The aged West had kept the
book of remembrance.
Joseph was gifted with wonderful memories of the "eternities past."
He had not forgotten woman. He knew Eve, and he remembered Zion. He
restored woman to her place among the Gods, where her primeval Genesis is
written.
Woman was among the morning stars, when they sang together for joy,
at the laying of the foundations of the earth.
When the sons of God thrice gave their Masonic shouts of hosanna, the
daughters of God lifted up their voices with their brothers; and the
hallelujahs to the Lord God Omnipotent, were rendered sweeter and diviner
by woman leading the theme.
In the temples, both of the heavens and the earth, woman is found.
She is there in her character of Eve, and in her character of Zion. The
one is the type of earth, the other the type of heaven: the one the
mystical name of the mortal, the other of the celestial woman.
The Mormon prophet rectified the divine drama. Man is nowhere where
woman is not. Mormonism has restored woman to her pinnacle.
Presently woman herself shall sing of her divine origin. A high
priestess of the faith shall interpret the themes of herself and of her
Father-and-Mother God!
At the very moment when the learned divines of [178] Christendom were
glorying that this little earth was the "be-all and the end-all" of
creation, the prophet of Mormondom was teaching the sisters in the temple
at Kirtland that there has been an eternal chain of creations coming down
from the generations of the Gods--worlds and systems and universes. At the
time these lights of the Gentiles were pointing to the star-fretted vault
of immensity as so many illuminations--lamps hung out by the Creator, six
thousand years ago, to light this little earth through her probation--the
prophet of Israel was teaching his people that the starry hosts were
worlds and suns and universes, some of which had being millions of ages
before this earth had physical form.
Moreover, so vast is the divine scheme, and stupendous the works of
creations, that the prophet introduced the expressive word eternities. The
eternities are the times of creations.
This earth is but an atom in the immensities of creations.
Innumerable worlds have been peopled with "living souls" of the order of
mankind; innumerable worlds have passed through their probations;
innumerable worlds have been redeemed, resurrected, and celestialized.
Hell-loving apostles of the sects were sending ninety-nine hundredths
of this poor, young, forlorn earth to the bottomless pit. The Mormon
prophet was finding out grand old universes, in exaltation with scarcely
the necessity of losing a soul.
The spirit of Mormonism is universal salvation. Those who are not
saved in one glory, may be saved in another.
[179] There are the "glory of the sun," and the "glory of the moon," and
the "glory of the stars."
The children of Israel belong to the glory of the sun. They kept
their first estate. They are nobly trying to keep their second estate on
probation. Let the devotion, the faith, the divine heroism of the Mormon
sisters, witness this.
"Adam is our Father and God. He is the God of the earth."
So says Brigham Young.
Adam is the great archangel of this creation. He is Michael. He is
the Ancient of Days. He is the father of our elder brother. Jesus
Christ--the father of him who shall also come as Messiah to reign. He is
the father of the spirits as well as the tabernacles of the sons and
daughters of man. Adam!
Michael is one of the grand mystical names in the works of creations,
redemptions, and resurrections. Jehovah is the second and the higher name
Eloheim signifying the Gods--is the first name of the Celestial trinity.
Michael was a celestial, resurrected being, of another world.
"In the beginning" the Gods created the heavens and the earths.
In their councils they said, let us make man in our own image. So, in
the likeness of the Fathers, and the Mothers--the Gods--created they
man--male and female.
When this earth was prepared for mankind, Michael, as Adam. came
down. He brought with him one of his wives, and he called her name Eve.
[180] Adam and Eve are the names of the fathers and mothers of worlds.
Adam was not made out of a lump of clay, as we make a brick, nor was
Eve taken as a rib--a bone--from his side. They came by generation. But
woman, as the wife or mate of man, was a rib of man. She was taken from
his side, in their glorified world, and brought by him to earth to be the
mother of a race.
These were father and mother of a world of spirits who had been born
to them in heaven. These spirits had been waiting for the grand period of
their probation, when they should have bodies or tabernacles, so that they
might become, in the resurrection, like Gods.
When this earth had become an abode for mankind, with its Garden of
Eden, then it was that the morning stars sang together, and the sons and
daughters of God shouted for joy. They were coming down to earth.
The children of the sun, at least, knew what the grand scheme of the
everlasting Fathers and the everlasting Mothers meant, and they, both sons
and daughters, shouted for joy. The temple of the eternities shook with
their hosannas, and trembled with divine emotions.
The father and mother were at length in their Garden of Eden. They
came on purpose to fall. They fell "that man might be; and man is, that he
might have joy." They ate of the tree of mortal life partook of the
elements of this earth that they might again become mortal for their
children's sake. They fell that another world might have a probation,
redemption and resurrection.
[181] The grand patriarchal economy, with Adam, as a resurrected being,
who brought his wife Eve from another world, has been very finely
elaborated by Brigham, from the patriarchal genesis which Joseph
conceived.
Perchance the scientist might hesitate to accept the Mormon ideals of
the genesis of mortals and immortals, but Joseph and Brigham have very
much improved on the Mosaic genesis of man. It is certainly not scientific
to make Adam as a model adobe; the race has come by generation. The
genesis of a hundred worlds of his family, since his day, does not suggest
brickyards of mortality. The patriarchal economy of Mormonism is at least
an improvement, and is decidedly epic in all its constructions and ideals.
A grand patriarchal line, then, down from the "eternities;"
generations of worlds and generations of Gods; all one universal family.
The Gods are the fathers and the mothers, and the brothers and the
sisters, of the saints.
Divine ambitions here; a daring genius to thus conceive; a lifting up
of man and woman to the very plane of the celestials, while yet on earth.
Now for the father and the children of the covenant.
With Abraham begins the covenant of Israel. The Mormons are a
Latter-day Israel.
God made a covenant with Abraham, for Abraham was worthy to be the
grand patriarch of a world, under Adam. Like Jesus, he had a
pre-existence.
He was "in the beginning" with God; an archangel in the Father's
presence; one not less noble [182] than his elder brother and captain of
salvation; the patriarch, through whose line Messiah was ordained to come
into the world.
Abraham was the elect of God before the foundation of this earth. In
him and his seed were all the promises--all the covenants--and all the
divine empires. In them was the kingdom of Messiah to consummate the
object and vast purposes of earth's creation.
He is the father of the faithful and the friend of God. In him and
his seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. He shall become
the father of many nations. His seed shall be as the sand on the
sea-shore.
In Abraham many nations have already been blessed. He and his seed
have given Bible and civilization to Christendom. From his loins came
Jesus--from him will come Messiah.
Abraham and his seed have done much for the world, but they will do a
hundred fold more. Their genius, their prophets, and their covenants, will
leaven and circumscribe all civilization.
Jehovah is the God of Israel--the covenant people. There is none like
him in all the earth. There are Lords many, and Gods many, but unto Israel
there is but one God.
Between Jehovah and Abraham there are the everlasting covenants. The
divine epic is between Abraham and his God.
Mormonism is now that divine epic.
This grand patriarch may be said to be a grand Mormon; or, better
told, the Mormons are a very proper Israel, whom the patriarch
acknowledges as [183] his children, chosen to fulfill the covenants in
connection with the Jews.
Jehovah never made any covenants outside of Israel. The Gentiles are
made partakers, by adoption into the Abrahamic family.
All is of election and predestination. There is but very little
free-grace; just enough grace to give the Gentiles room to enter into the
family of Israel, that the promise may be fulfilled that in Israel all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed.
In ancient times Jehovah made his people a nation, that his name
might be glorified. He established his throne in David, by an everlasting
covenant; but the throne and sceptre were taken from Israel, no more to
be, until he comes whose right it is to reign. Messiah is that one. He is
coming to restore the kingdom to Israel.
The earth and mankind were created that they might have a probation;
and a probation, that a millennial reign of peace and righteousness may
consummate the divine plan and purposes.
Righteousness and justice must be established upon the earth in the
last days, or nations must perish utterly.
In the last days God shall set up a kingdom upon the earth, which
shall never be destroyed. It will break into pieces all other kingdoms and
empires, and stand forever. It will be given to the saints of the Most
High, and they will possess it. The Mormons are the saints of the Most
High.
That kingdom has already been set up, by the administration of angels
to Joseph Smith. This is the burden of Mormonism. It was for that the
[184] saints were driven from Missouri and Illinois; that for which they
made their exodus to the Rocky Mountains; that for which the sisters have
borne the cross for half a century.
Now also in the present age is to be fulfilled the vision of Daniel;
here it is:
"I beheld till thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days (Adam)
did sit, whose garments were white as snow, and the hair of his head like
the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as
burning fire.
"A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousands
ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
------------
"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man
came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they
brought him near before him.
"And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that
which shall not be destroyed.
-------------
"But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess
the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. * * * *
"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed
against them.
"Until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints
of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
------------
"And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under
the whole heaven, shall [185] be given to the saints of the Most High,
whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and
obey him."
Here is the imperial drama of Mormonism which the saints have applied
most literally, and sought to work out in America; or, rather the God of
Israel has purposed to fulfill his wondrous scheme, in them, and multiply
them until they shall be an empire of God-fearing men and women--ten
thousand times ten thousand saints.
No wonder that Missouri drove the saints--no wonder that the sisters,
with such views, have risen to such sublime heroism and been inspired with
such exalted faith. Scarcely to be wondered at even that they have been
strong enough to bear their crosses throughout eventful lives, which have
no parallel in history. With a matchless might of spirit, and divine
ambitions, inspired by such a theology, literally applied in the action of
their lives, they have risen to the superhuman.
Comprehend this Hebraic religion of the sisters, and it can thus be
comprehended somewhat how they have borne the cross of polygamy, with more
than the courage of martyrs at the stake.
We are coming to polygamy, by-and-by, to let these braver than
Spartan women speak; for themselves, upon their own special subject; but
polygamy was not established until years after the saints were driven from
Missouri.
We are but opening these views of Hebraic faith and religion. The
themes will return frequently in their proper places. But let the sisters
most reveal [186] themselves in their expositions, episodes, and
testimonies.
Thus, here, the high priestess of Mormondom, with her beautiful
themes of our God-Father and our God-Mother!
[187] CHAPTER XIX.
ELIZA R. SNOW S INVOCATION--THE ETERNAL FATHER AND MOTHER--ORIGIN OF THE SUBLIME THOUGHT POPULARLY ATTRIBUTED TO THEODORE PARKER--BASIC IDEA OF THE MORMON THEOLOGY.
Joseph endowed the church with the genesis of a grand theology, and
Brigham has reared the colossal fabric of a new civilization; but woman
herself must sing of her celestial origin, and her relationship to the
majesty of creation.
Inspired by the mystic memories of the past, Eliza R. Snow has made
popular in the worship of the saints a knowledge of the grand family, in
our primeval spirit-home. The following gem which opens the first volume
of her poems, will give at once a rare view of the spiritual type of the
high priestess of the Mormon Church, and of the divine drama of Mormonism
itself. It is entitled, "Invocation; or, the Eternal Father and Mother:
O! my Father, thou that dwellest
In the high and holy place;
When shall I regain thy presence,
And again behold thy face?
In thy glorious habitation,
Did my spirit once reside?
In my first primeval childhood,
Was I nurtured by thy side?
[188]
For a wise and glorious purpose,
Thou hast places me here on earth;
And withheld the recollection
Of my former friends and birth.
Yet oft-times a secret something,
Whisper'd, "You're a stranger here;"
And I felt that I had wandered
From a more exalted sphere.
I had learned to call thee Father,
Through thy spirit from on high;
But until the key of knowledge
Was restored, I knew not why.
In the heavens are parents single?
No; the thought makes reason stare;
Truth is reason; truth eternal,
Tells me I've a Mother there.
When I leave this frail existence--
When I lay this mortal by,
Father, Mother, may I meet you
In your royal court on high?
Then at length, when I've completed
All you sent me forth to do,
With your mutual approbation,
Let me come and dwell with you.
A divine drama set to song. And as it is but a choral dramatization,
in the simple hymn form, of the celestial themes revealed through Joseph
Smith, it will strikingly illustrate the vast system of Mormon theology,
which links the heavens and the earths.
It is well remembered what an ecstacy filled the minds of the
transcendental Christians of America, when the voice of Theodore Parker,
bursting into the fervor of a new revelation, addressed, in prayer, our
Father and Mother in heaven!
[189] An archangel proclamation that! Henceforth shall the mother half of
creation be worshipped with that of the God-Father; and in that worship
woman, by the very association of ideas, shall be exalted in the coming
civilization.
Wonderful revelation, Brother Theodore; worthy thy glorious
intellect! Quite as wonderful that it was not universal long before thy
day!
But it will be strange news to many that years before Theodore Parker
breathed that theme in public prayer, the Mormon people sang their hymn of
invocation to the Father and Mother in heaven, given them by the Hebraic
pen of Eliza R. Snow.
And in this connection it will be proper to relate the [act that a
Mormon woman once lived as a servant in the house of Theodore Parker. With
a disciple's pardonable cunning she was in the habit of leaving Mormon
books in the way of her master. It is not unlikely that the great
transcendentalist had read the Mormon poetess' hymn to "Our
Father-and-Mother God!"
And perhaps it will appear still more strange to the reader, who may
have been told that woman in the Mormon scheme ranked low--almost to the
barbarian scale--to learn that the revelation of the Father and Mother of
creation, given through the Mormon prophet, and set to song by a kindred
spirit, is the basic idea of the whole Mormon theology.
The hymn of invocation not only treats our God parents in this grand
primeval sense, but the poetess weaves around their parental centre the
divine drama of the pre-existence of worlds.
[190] This celestial theme was early revealed to the church by the
prophet, and for now nearly forty years the hymn of invocation has been
familiar in the meetings of the saints.
A marvel indeed is this, that at the time modern Christians, and even
"philosophers," were treating this little earth, with its six thousand
years of mortal history, as the sum of the intelligent universe--to which
was added this life's sequel, with the gloom of hell prevailing--the
Mormon people, in their very household talk, conversed and sang of an
endless succession of worlds.
They talked of their own pre-existing lives. They came into the
divine action ages ago, played their parts in a primeval state, and played
them well. Hence were they the first fruits of the gospel. They scarcely
limited their pre-existing lives to a beginning, or compassed their
events, recorded in other worlds, in a finite story. Down through the
cycles of all eternity they had come, and they were now entabernacled
spirits passing through a mortal probation.
It was of such a theme that "Sister Eliza" sang; and with such a
theme her hymn of invocation to our Father and Mother in heaven soon made
the saints familiar in every land.
Let us somewhat further expound the theme of this hymn, which our
poetess could not fully embody in the simple form of verse.
God the Father and God the Mother stand, in the grand pre-existing
view, as the origin and centre of the spirits of all the generations of
mortals who had been entabernacled on this earth.
[191] First and noblest of this great family was Jesus Christ, who was the
elder brother, in spirit, of the whole human race. These constituted a
world-family of pre-existing souls.
Brightest among these spirits, and nearest in the circle to our
Father and Mother in heaven (the Father being Adam), were Seth, Enoch,
Noah and Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus Christ--indeed that glorious
cohort of men and women, whose lives have left immortal records in the
world's history. Among these the Mormon faith would rank Joseph Smith,
Brigham Young, and their compeers.
In that primeval spirit-state, these were also associated with a
divine sisterhood. One can easily imagine the inspired authoress of the
hymn on preexistence, to have been a bright angel among this sister
throng. Her hymn is as a memory of that primeval life, and her invocation
is as the soul's yearning for the Father and Mother in whose courts she
was reared, and near whose side her spirit was nurtured.
These are the sons and daughters of Adam--the Ancient of Days--the
Father and God of the whole human family. These are the sons and daughters
of Michael, who is Adam, the father of the spirits of all our race.
These are the sons and daughters of Eve, the Mother of a world.
What a practical Unitarianism is this! The Christ is not dragged from
his heavenly estate, to be mere mortal, but mortals are lifted up to his
celestial plane. He is still the God-Man; but he is one among many
brethren who are also God-Men.
[192] Moreover, Jesus is one of a grand order of Saviours. Every world has
its distinctive Saviour, and every dispensation its Christ.
There is a glorious Masonic scheme among the Gods. The everlasting
orders come down to us with their mystic and official names. The heavens
and the earths have a grand leveling; not by pulling down celestial
spheres, but by the lifting up of mortal spheres.
Perchance the skeptic and the strict scientist who measures by the
cold logic of facts, but rises not to the logic of ideas, might not accept
this literal preexisting view, yet it must be confessed that it is a
lifting up of the idealities of man's origin. Man is the offspring of the
Gods. This is the supreme conception which gives to religion its very
soul. Unless man's divinity comes in somewhere, religion is the
wretchedest humbug that ever deluded mortals.
Priestcraft, indeed, then, from the beginning to the end--from the
Alpha to the Omega of theologic craft, there is nothing divine.
But the sublime and most primitive conception of Mormonism is, that
man in his essential being is divine, that he is the offspring of
God--that God is indeed his Father.
And woman? for she is the theme now.
Woman is heiress of the Gods. She is joint heir with her elder
brother, Jesus the Christ; but she inherits from her God-Father and her
God-Mother. Jesus is the beloved "of that Father and Mother--their
well-tried Son, chosen to work out the salvation and exaltation of the
whole human family.
[193] And shall it not be said then that the subject rises from the
God-Father to the God-Mother? Surely it is a rising in the sense of the
culmination of the divine idea. The God-Father is not robbed of his
everlasting glory by this maternal completion of himself. It is an
expansion both of deity and humanity.
They twain are one God!
The supreme Unitarian conception is here; the God-Father and the
God-Mother! The grand unity of God is in them--in the divine Fatherhood
and the divine Motherhood--the very beginning and consummation of
creation. Not in the God-Father and the God-Son can the unity of the
heavens and the earths be worked out; neither with any logic of facts nor
of idealities. In them the Masonic trinities; in the everlasting Fathers
and the everlasting Mothers the unities of creations.
Our Mother in heaven is decidedly a new revelation, as beautiful and
delicate to the masculine sense of the race as it is just and exalting to
the feminine. It is the woman's own revelation. Not even did Jesus
proclaim to the world the revelation of our Mother in heaven--co-existent
and co-equal with the eternal Father. This was left, among the unrevealed
truths, to the present age, when it would seem the woman is destined by
Providence to become very much the oracle of a new and peculiar
civilization.
The oracle of this last grand truth of woman's divinity and of her
eternal Mother as the partner with the Father in the creation of worlds,
is none other than the Mormon Church. It was revealed in the glorious
theology of Joseph, and established [194] by Brigham in the vast
patriarchal system which he has made firm as the foundations of the earth,
by proclaiming Adam as our Father and God. The Father is first in name and
order, but the Mother with him--these twain, one from the beginning.
Then came our Hebraic poetess with her hymn of invocation, and woman
herself brought the perfected idea of deity into the forms of praise and
worship. Is not this exalting woman to her sphere beyond all precedent?
Let it be marked that the Roman Catholic idea of the Mother of God is
wonderfully lower than the Mormon idea. The Church of Rome only brings the
maternal conception, linked with deity, in Christ, and that too in quite
the inferior sense. It is not primitive it is the exception; it begins and
ends with the Virgin Mary. A question indeed whether it elevates womanhood
and motherhood. The ordinary idea is rather the more exalted; for that
always, in a sense, makes the mother superior to the son. The proverb that
great mothers conceive great sons has really more poetry in it than the
Roman Catholic doctrine that Mary was the Mother of God.
The Mormon Church is the oracle of the grandest conception of
womanhood and motherhood. And from her we have it as a revelation to the
world, and not a mere thought of a transcendental preacher--a glorious
Theodore Parker flashing a celestial ray upon the best intellects of the
age.
Excepting the Lord's prayer, there is not in the English language the
peer of this Mormon invocation; and strange to say the invocation is this
time given to the Church through woman--the prophetess and high priestess
of the faith.
[195] CHAPTER XX.
THE TRINITY OF MOTHERHOOD--EVE, SARAH, AND ZION--THE MORMON THEORY
CONCERNING OUR FIRST PARENTS.
A trinity of Mothers!
The celestial Masonry of Womanhood!
The other half of the grand patriarchal economy of the heavens and
the earths!
The book of patriarchal theology is full of new conceptions. Like the
star-bespangled heavens--like the eternities which it mantles--is that
wondrous theology!
New to the world, but old as the universe. 'Tis the everlasting book
of immortals, unsealed to mortal view, by these Mormon prophets.
A trinity of Mothers--Eve the Mother of a world; Sarah the Mother of
the covenant; Zion the Mother of celestial sons and daughters--the Mother
of the new creation of Messiah's reign, which shall give to earth the
crown of her glory and the cup of joy all her ages of travail.
Still tracing down the divine themes of Joseph; still faithfully
following the methods of that vast patriarchal economy which shall be the
base of a new order of society and of the temple of a new civilization.
[196] When Brigham Young proclaimed to the nations that Adam was our
Father and God, and Eve, his partner, the Mother of a world--both in a
mortal and a celestial sense--he made the most important revelation ever
oracled to the race since the days of Adam himself.
This grand patriarchal revelation is the very keystone of the "new
creation" of the heavens and the earth. It gives new meaning to the whole
system of theology--as much new meaning to the economy of salvation as to
the economy of creation. By the understanding of the works of the Father,
the works of the Son are illumined.
The revelation was the "Let there be light" again pronounced. "And
there was light!"
"And God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he
him; male and female created he them.
"And God blessed them; and God said unto them, be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it."
Here is the very object of man and woman's creation exposed in the
primitive command. The first words of their genesis are, "Be fruitful and
multiply."
So far, it is of but trifling moment how our "first parents" were
created; whether like a brick, with the spittle of the Creator and the
dust of the earth, or by the more intelligible method of generation. The
prime object of man and woman's creation was for the purposes of creation.
"Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it,"
by countless millions of your offspring.
[197] Thus opened creation, and the womb of everlasting motherhood
throbbed with divine ecstacy.
It is the divine command still. All other maybe dark as a fable, of
the genesis of the race, but this is not dark. Motherhood to this hour
leaps for joy at this word of God, "Be fruitful;" and motherhood is
sanctified as by the holiest sacrament of nature.
We shall prefer Brigham's expounding of the dark passages of Genesis.
Our first parents were not made up like mortal bricks. They came to
be the Mother and the Father of a new creation of souls.
We say Mother now, first, for we are tracing this everlasting theme
of motherhood, in the Mormon economy, without which nothing of the woman
part of the divine scheme can be known--next to nothing of patriarchal
marriage, to which we are traveling, be expounded.
Eve--immortal Eve--came down to earth to become the Mother of a race.
How become the Mother of a world of mortals except by herself again
becoming mortal? How become mortal only by transgressing the laws of
immortality? How only by "eating of the forbidden fruit"--by partaking of
the elements of a mortal earth, in which the seed of death was everywhere
scattered?
All orthodox theologians believe Adam and Eve to have been at first
immortal, and all acknowledge the great command, "Be fruitful and
multiply."
That they were not about to become the parents of a world of
immortals is evident, for they were on a mortal earth. That the earth was
mortal all [198] nature here to-day shows. The earth was to be subdued by
teeming millions of mankind--the dying earth actually eaten, in a sense, a
score of times, by the children of these grand parents.
The fall is simple. Our immortal parents came down to fall; came down
to transgress the laws of immortality; came down to give birth to mortal
tabernacles for a world of spirits.
The "forbidden tree," says Brigham, contained in its fruit the
elements of death, or the elements of mortality, By eating of it, blood
was again infused into the tabernacles of beings who had become immortal.
The basis of mortal generation is blood. Without blood no mortal can be
born. Even could immortals have been conceived on earth, the trees of life
had made but the paradise of a few; but a mortal world was the object of
creation then.
Eve, then, came down to be the Mother of a world.
Glorious Mother, capable of dying at the very beginning to give life
to her offspring, that through mortality the eternal life of the Gods
might be given to her sons and daughters.
Motherhood the same from the beginning even to the end! The love of
motherhood passing all understanding! Thus read our Mormon sisters the
fall of their Mother.
And the serpent tempted the woman with the forbidden fruit.
Did woman hesitate a moment then? Did motherhood refuse the cup for
her own sake, or did she, with infinite love, take it and drink for her
children's sake? The Mother had plunged down, from the [199] pinnacle of
her celestial throne, to earth, to taste of death that her children might
have everlasting, life.
What! should Eve ask Adam to partake of the elements of death first,
in such a sacrament! 'Twould have outraged motherhood!
Eve partook of that supper of the Lord's death first. She ate of that
body and drank of that blood.
Be it to Adam's eternal credit that he stood by and let our
Mother--our ever blessed Mother Eve--partake of the sacrifice before
himself Adam followed the Mother's example, for he was great and grand--a
Father worthy indeed of a world. He was wise, too: for the blood of life
is the stream of mortality.
What a psalm of everlasting praise to woman, that Eve fell first!
A Goddess came down from her mansions of glory to bring the spirits
of her children down after her, in their myriads of branches and their
hundreds of generations!
She was again a mortal Mother now. The first person in the trinity of
Mothers.
The Mormon sisterhood take up their themes of religion with their
Mother Eve, and consent with her, at the very threshold of the temple, to
bear the cross. Eve is ever with her daughters in the temple of the Lord
their God.
The Mormon daughters of Eve have also in this eleventh hour come down
to earth, like her, to magnify the divine office of motherhood. She came
down from her resurrected, they from their spirit, estate. Here, with her,
in the divine providence of [200] maternity, they begin to ascend the
ladder to heaven, and to their exaltation in the courts of their Father
and Mother God.
Who shall number the blasphemies of the sectarian churches against
our first grand parents? Ten thousand priests of the serpent have
thundered anathemas upon the head of "accursed Adam." Appalling,
oftentimes, their pious rage. And Eve--the holiest, grandest of
Mothers--has been made a very by-word to offset the frailties of the most
wicked and abandoned.
Very different is Mormon theology! The Mormons exalt the grand
parents of our race. Not even is the name of Christ more sacred to them
than the names of Adam and Eve. It was to them the poetess and high
priestess addressed her hymn of invocation; and Brigham's proclamation
that Adam is our Father and God is like a hallelujah chorus to their
everlasting names. The very earth shall yet take it up; all the sons and
daughters of Adam and Eve shall yet shout it for joy, to the ends of the
earth, in every tongue!
Eve stands, then, first--the God-Mother in the maternal trinity of
this earth. Soon we shall meet Sarah, the Mother of the covenant, and in
her daughters comprehend something of patriarchal marriage--"Mormon
polygamy." But leave we awhile these themes of woman, and return to the
personal thread of the sisters' lives.
[201] CHAPTER XXI.
THE HUNTINGTONS--ZINA D. YOUNG, AND PRESCINDIA L. KIMBALL--THEIR TESTIMONY
CONCERNING THE KIRTLAND MANIFESTATIONS--UNPUBLISHED LETTER OF JOSEPH
SMITH--DEATH OF MOTHER HUNTINGTON.
Who are these thus pursued as by the demons that ever haunt a great
destiny?
As observed in the opening chapter, they are the sons and daughters
of the Pilgrim sires and mothers who founded this nation; sons and
daughters of the patriots who fought the battles of independence and won
for these United States a transcendent destiny.
Here meet we two of the grand-nieces of Samuel Huntington, one of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Connecticut, and
President of Congress.
Zina Diantha Huntington has long been known and honored as one of the
most illustrious women of the Church. She was not only sealed to the
prophet Joseph in their sacred covenant of celestial marriage, but after
his martyrdom she was sealed to Brigham Young as one of Joseph's wives.
For over a quarter of a century she has been known as [202] Zina D.
Young--being mother to one of Brigham's daughters. In her mission of
usefulness she has stood side by side with Sister Eliza R. Snow, and her
life has been that of one of the most noble and saintly of women. Thus is
she introduced to mark her honored standing among the sisterhood. Of her
ancestral record she says:
"My father's family is directly descended from Simon Huntington, the
`Puritan immigrant,' who sailed for America in 1633. He died on the sea,
but left three sons and his widow, Margaret. The church records of
Roxbury, Mass., contain the earliest record of the Huntington name known
in New England, and is in the handwriting of Rev. John Elliot himself, the
pastor of that ancient church. This is the record: Margaret Huntington,
widow, came in 1633. Her husband died by the way, of the small-pox. She
brought--children with her.'
"Tradition says that Simon, the Puritan emigrant, sailed for this
country to escape the persecutions to which non-conformists were
subjected, during the high-handed administrations of Laud and the first
Charles. Tradition also declares him to have been beyond doubt an
Englishman. The Rev. E. B. Huntington, in his genealogical memoir of the
Huntington family in this country, observes: The character of his
immediate descendants is perhaps in proof of both statements; they were
thoroughly English in their feelings, affinities, and language; and that
they were as thoroughly religions, their names and official connection
with the early churches in this country abundantly attest.
[203] Of one of my great-grandfathers the Huntington family memoir records
thus: `John, born in Norwich, March 15th, 1666, married December 8th,
1686, Abigail, daughter of Samuel Lathrop, who was born in May, 1667. Her
father moved to Norwich from New London, to which place he had gone from
Scituate, Mass., in 1648. He was the son of the Rev. John Lathrop, who,
for nonconformity, being a preacher in the First Congregational Church
organized in London, was imprisoned for two years, and who, on being
released in 1634, came to this country, and became the first minister of
Scituate.'
"The Lathrops, from which my branch of the family was direct, also
married with the other branches of the Huntingtons, making us kin of both
sides, and my sister, Prescindia Lathrop Huntington, bears the family name
of generations.
"My grandfather, Wm. Huntington, was born September 19th, 1757;
married, February 13th, 1783, Prescindia Lathrop, and was one of the first
settlers in the Black River Valley, in Northern New York. He resided at
Watertown. He married for his second wife his first wife's sister, Alvira
Lathrop Dresser. He died May 11th, 1842. The following is an obituary
notice found in one of the Watertown papers:
"`At his residence, on the 11th inst., Wm. Huntington, in the
eighty-fifth year of his age. Mr. Huntington was one of our oldest and
most respected inhabitants. He was a native of Tolland, Conn., and for
three or four years served in the army of the Revolution. In the year 1784
he emigrated to New Hampshire, where he resided till the [204] year 1804,
when he removed to Watertown. He was for many years a member and an
officer of the Presbyterian Church.'
"Before his death, however, my grandfather was baptized into the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He always spoke of Samuel
Huntington, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, as his Uncle
Samuel."
This genealogical record is given to illustrate the numerous Puritan
and Revolutionary relations of the leading families of the Mormon people,
and to emphasize the unparalleled outrage of the repeated exile of such
descendants--exiles at last from American civilization. How exact has been
the resemblance of their history to that of their Pilgrim fathers and
mothers!
But the decided connection of the Huntingtons with the Mormon people
was in William Huntington, the father of sisters Zina and Prescindia, who
for many years was a presiding High Priest of the Church, being a member
of the High Council.
This Wm. Huntington was also a patriot, and served in the war with
Great Britain, in 1812.
The sisters Zina and Prescindia, with their brothers, were raised
fourteen miles east of Sackett's Harbor, where the last battle was fought
between the British and Americans, in that war; so that the Revolutionary
history of their country formed a peculiarly interesting theme to the
"young folks" of the Huntington family. Indeed their brother, Dimock, at
the period of the exodus of the Mormons from Nauvoo, had so much of the
blood of the patriots in his veins that he at once enlisted in [205] the
service of his country in the war with Mexico-- being a soldier in the
famous Mormon battalion.
Prescindia Lathrop Huntington, the eldest of these two illustrious
sisters, was born in Watertown, Jefferson county, N. Y., September 7th,
1810, and was her mother's fourth child; Zina Diantha was born at the same
place, January 31st, 1821.
Prescindia is a woman of very strong character; and her life has been
marked with great decision and self-reliance, both in thought and purpose.
She was also endowed with a large, inspired mind--the gifts of prophesy,
speaking in tongues, and the power to heal and comfort the sick, being
quite preeminent in her apostolic life. In appearance she is the very
counterpart of the Eliza Huntington whose likeness is published in the
book of the Huntington family. A mother in Israel is Sister Prescindia,
and the type of one of the Puritan mothers in the olden time. She was
sealed to Joseph Smith, and for many years was one of the wives of the
famous Heber C. Kimball.
Mother Huntington was also an exemplary saint. She died a victim of
the persecutions, when the saints were driven from Missouri, and deserves
to be enshrined as a martyr among her people. Her name was Zina Baker,
born May 2d, 1786, in Plainfield, Cheshire county, N. H., and married to
Wm. Huntington, December 28, 1806. Her father was one of the first
physicians in New Hampshire, and her mother, Diantha Dimock, was descended
from the noble family of Dymocks, whose representatives held the
hereditary knight-championship of England--instance Sir Edward Dymock,
Queen Elizabeth's champion.
[206] Mother Huntington was a woman of great faith. She believed that God
would hear and answer prayer in behalf of the sick. The gift of healing
was with her before the gospel was restored in its fullness."
Thus testify her daughters of their mother, whose spirit of faith was
also instilled into their own hearts, preparing them to receive the gospel
of a great spiritual dispensation, and for that apostolic calling among
the sick, which their useful lives have been greatly devoted.
Father and Mother Huntington had both been strict Presbyterians; but
about the time of the organization of the Latter-day Church he withdrew
from the congregation, which had become divided over church forms, and
commenced an earnest examination of the Scriptures for himself. To his
astonishment he discovered that there was no church extant, to his
knowledge, according to the ancient pattern, with apostles and prophets,
nor any possessing the gifts and powers of the ancient gospel. For the
next three years he was as a watcher for the coming of an apostolic
mission, when one day Elder Joseph Wakefield brought to his house the Book
of Mormon. Soon his family embraced the Latter-day faith, rejoicing in the
Lord. Himself and wife, and his son Dimock and his wife, with "Zina D.,"
then only a maiden, were the first of the family baptized. Zina was
baptized by Hyrum Smith, in Watertown, August 1st, 1835.
Prescindia at that time was living with her husband at Loraine, a
little village eighteen miles from her native place, when her mother, in
the summer [207] of 1835, brought to her the Book of Mormon and her first
intelligence of the Mormon prophet. She gathered to Kirtland in May, 1836,
and was baptized on the 6th of the following June, and was confirmed by
Oliver Cowdry. In Kirtland," she says, " we enjoyed many very great
blessings, and often saw the power of God manifested. On one occasion I
saw angels clothed in white walking upon the temple. It was during one of
our monthly fast meetings, when the saints were in the temple worshipping.
A little girl; came to my door and in wonder called me out, exclaiming,
The meeting is on the top of the meeting house!' I went to the door, and
there I saw on the temple angels clothed in white covering the roof from
end to end. They seemed to be walking to and fro; they appeared and
disappeared. The third time they appeared and disappeared before I
realized that they were not mortal men. Each time in a moment they
vanished, and their reappearance was the same. This was in broad daylight,
in the afternoon. A number of the children in Kirtland saw the same.
"When the brethren and sisters came home in the evening, they told of
the power of God manifested in the temple that day, and of the prophesying
and speaking in tongues. It was also said, in the interpretation of
tongues, `That the angels were resting down upon the house.'
"At another fast meeting I was in the temple with my sister Zina. The
whole of the congregation were on their knees, praying vocally, for such
was the custom at the close of these meetings [208] when Father Smith
presided; yet there was no confusion; the voices of the congregation
mingled softly together. While the congregation was thus praying, we both
heard, from one corner of the room above our heads, a choir of angels
singing most beautifully. They were invisible to us, but myriads of
angelic voices seemed to be united in singing some song of Zion, and their
sweet harmony filled the temple of God.
"We were also in the temple at the Pentecost. In the morning Father
Smith prayed for a pentecost, in opening the meeting. That day the power
of God rested mightily upon the saints. There was poured out upon us
abundantly the spirit of revelation, prophesy and tongues. The Holy Ghost
filled the house; and along in the afternoon a noise was heard. It was the
sound of a mighty rushing wind. But at first the congregation was
startled, not knowing what it was. To many it seemed as though the roof
was all in flames. Father Smith exclaimed, `Is the house on fire!'
"`Do you not remember your prayer this morning, Father Smith?'
inquired a brother.
"Then the patriarch, clasping his hands, exclaimed, `The spirit of
God, like a mighty rushing wind!
"At another time a cousin of ours came to visit us at Kirtland. She
wanted to go to one of the saints' fast meetings, to hear some one sing or
speak in tongues, but she said she expected to have a hearty laugh.
Accordingly we went with our cousin to the meeting, during which a
Brother McCarter rose [209] and sang a song of Zion in tongues; I arose
and sang simultaneously with him the same tune and words, beginning and
ending each verse in perfect unison, without varying a word. It was just
as though we had sung it together a thousand times.
"After we came out of meeting, our cousin observed, `Instead of
laughing, I never felt so solemn in my life.'"
The family of Huntingtons removed with the saints from Kirtland to
Far West, and passed through the scenes of the expulsion from Missouri. In
this their experience was very similar to the narratives of the other
sisters already given; but Sister Prescindia's visit to the prophet, in
Liberty jail, must have special notice. She says:
In the month of February, 1839, my father, with Heber C. Kimball, and
Alanson Ripley, came and stayed over night with us, on their way to visit
the prophet and brethren in Liberty jail. I was invited to go with them.
When we arrived at the jail we found a heavy guard outside and inside
the door. We were watched very closely, lest we should leave tools to help
the prisoners escape.
"I took dinner with the brethren in prison; they were much pleased to
see the faces of true friends; but I cannot describe my feelings on seeing
that man of God there confined in such a trying time for the saints, when
his counsel was so much needed. And we were obliged to leave them in that
horrid prison, surrounded by a wicked mob.
While in prison, the brethren were presented with human flesh to eat.
My brother Wm. Hunt-[210]ington, tasted before the word could be passed
from Joseph to him. It was the flesh of a colored man.
"After my second visit to the prison, with Frederick G. Williams, the
prophet addressed to me the following letter:
"`LIBERTY JAIL, March 15th, 1839.
DEAR SISTER:
"`My heart rejoiced at the friendship you manifested in requesting to
have conversation with us; but the jailer is a very jealous man, for fear
some one will have tools for us to get out with. He is under the eye of
the mob continually, and his life is at stake if he grants us any
privilege. He will not let us converse with any one alone.
"`O what a joy it would be for us to see our friends. It would have
gladdened my heart to have had the privilege of conversing with you; but
the hand of tyranny is upon us; but thanks be to God, it cannot last
always; and he that sitteth in the heavens will laugh at their calamity
end mock; when their fear cometh.
"`We feel, dear sister, that our bondage is not of long, duration. I
trust that I shall have the chance to give such instructions as have been
communicated to us, before long; and as you wanted some instruction from
us, and also to give us some information, and administer consolation to
us, and to find out what is best for you to do, I think that many of the
brethren, if they will be pretty still, can stay in this country until the
indignation is over and passed. But I think it will be better for Brother
Buell to leave and go with the rest of the brethren, if he keeps the
faith, and at any rate, for thus speaketh the spirit concerning him. I
want him and you to know that I am your true friend.
"`I was glad to see you. No tongue can tell what [211] inexpressible
joy it gives a man to see the face of one who has been a friend, after
having been inclosed in the walls of a prison for five months. It seems to
me my heart will always be more tender after this, than ever it was
before.
"`My heart bleeds continually when I contemplate the distress of the
Church. O that I could be with them; I would not shrink at toil and
hardship to render them comfort and consolation. I want the blessing once
more to lift my voice in the midst of the saints. I would pour out my soul
to God for their instruction. It has been the plan of the devil to hamper
and distress me from the beginning to keep me from explaining myself to
them, and I never have had opportunity to give them; the plan that God has
revealed to me. Many have run without being sent, crying, `Tidings, my
Lord,' and have caused injury to the Church, giving the adversary more
power over them that walk by sight and not by faith. Our trouble will only
give us that knowledge to understand the mind of the ancients. For my part
I think I never could have felt as I now do if I had not suffered the
wrongs which I have suffered. All things shall work together for good to
them that love God.
"`Beloved sister, we see that perilous times have truly come, and the
things which we have so long expected have at last begun to usher in; but
when you see the fig tree begin to put forth its leaves you may know that
the summer is nigh at hand. There will be a short work on the earth; it
has now commenced. I suppose there will soon be perplexity all over the
earth. Do not let our hearts faint when these things come upon us, for
they must come or the word cannot be fulfilled. I know that something will
soon take place: to stir up this generation to see what they have been
doing, and that their fathers have inherited lies, [212] and they have
been led captive by the devil to no profit. But they know not what they
do. Do not have any feeling of enmity towards any son or daughter of Adam.
I believe I shall be let out of their hands some way or other, and shall
see good days. We cannot do anything, only stand still and see the
salvation of God. He must do his own work or it must fall to the ground.
We must not take it in our hands to avenge our wrongs.
"`Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord; I will repay.' I have no fears;
I shall stand unto death, God being my helper.
"`I wanted to communicate something, and I wrote this. Write to us if
you can.
&c.,
"`J. SMITH, JR'"
This letter to Sister Prescindia, which has never before been
published, gives an excellent example of the spirit and style of the
prophet. It will be read with interest, even by the anti-Mormon. Himself
in prison, and his people even at that moment passing through their
expulsion, what passages for admiration are these:
"Do not have any feelings of enmity towards any son or daughter of
Adam." "They know not what they do!" "We must not take it in our hands to
avenge our wrongs. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord; I will repay." I
have no fears; I shall stand unto death, God being my helper!"
Like his divine Master this; "Father, forgive them: they know not
what they do!" A great heart, indeed, had Joseph, and a spirit exalted
with noble aims and purposes.
When Sister Prescindia returned to Far West, [213] her father and
mother, with her sister Zina, had started in the exodus of the saints from
Missouri to Illinois. She says:
"I never saw my mother again. I felt alone on the earth, with no one
to comfort me, excepting my little son, George, for my husband had become
a bitter apostate, and I could not speak in favor of the Church in his
presence. There was by this time not one true saint in the State of
Missouri, to my knowledge."
Sister Zina says: "On the 18th of April, 1839, I left Far West, with
my father, mother, and two younger brothers, and arrived at Quincy, Ill.,
on the 25th of April, and from thence to Commerce, afterwards called
Nauvoo, which we reached on the 14th of May.
"Joseph, the prophet, had just escaped from prison in Missouri, and
the saints were gathering to Nauvoo. My brother Dimock was also in
Illinois, living at Judge Cleveland's.
"On the 24th of June my dear mother was taken sick with a congestive
chill. About three hours afterwards she called me to her bedside and said:
"`Zina, my time has come to die. You will live many years; but O, how
lonesome father will be. I am not afraid to die. All I dread is the mortal
suffering. I shall come forth triumphant when the Saviour comes with the
just to meet the saints on the earth.'
"The next morning I was taken sick; and in a few days my father and
brother Oliver were also prostrate. My youngest brother, John, twelve
years of age, was the only one left that could give [214] us a drink of
water; but the prophet sent his adopted daughter to assist us in our
affliction, and saw to our being taken care of, as well as circumstances
would permit--for there were hundreds, lying in tents and wagons, who
needed care as much as we. Once Joseph came himself and made us tea with
his own hands, and comforted the sick and dying.
"Early in the morning of the 8th of July, 1839, just before the sun
had risen, the spirit of my blessed mother took its flight, without her
moving a muscle, or even the quiver of the lip.
"Only two of the family could follow the remains to their resting
place. O, who can tell the anguish of the hearts of the survivors, who
knew not whose turn it would be to follow next?
"Thus died my martyred mother! The prophet Joseph often said that the
saints who died in the persecutions were as much martyrs of the Church as
was the apostle David Patten, who was killed in the defence of the saints
or those who were massacred at Haun's Mill. And my beloved mother was one
of the many bright martyrs of the Church in those dark and terrible days
of persecution.
[215] CHAPTER XXII.
WOMAN'S WORK IN CANADA AND GREAT BRITAIN--HEBER C. KIMBALL'S PROPHESY--PARLEY P. PRATT'S SUCCESSFUL MISSION TO CANADA--A BLIND WOMAN MIRACULOUSLY HEALED--DISTINGUISHED WOMEN OF THAT PERIOD.
By this time (1840, the period of the founding of Nauvoo), the Church
has had a remarkable history in Canada and Great Britain. To these
missions we must now go for some of our representative women, and also to
extend our view of Mormonism throughout the world.
Brigham Young was the first of the elders who took Mormonism into
Canada, soon after his entrance into the Church. There he raised up
several branches, and gathered a few families to Kirtland; but it was not
until the apostle Parley P. Pratt took his successful and almost romantic
mission to Canada, that Mormonism flourished in the British Province, and
from there spread over to Great Britain, like an apostolic wave.
Presently we shall see that the romance of Mormonism has centred
around the sisters abroad as well as at home. Frequently we shall see them
the characters which first come to view; the first pre-[216]pared for the
great spiritual work of the age; the first to receive the elders with
their tidings of the advent of a prophet and the administration of angels,
after the long night of spiritual darkness, and centuries of angelic
silence; and were it possible to trace their every footstep in the
wonderful work abroad, we should find that the sisters have been effective
missionaries of the Church, and that, in some sections, they have been
instrumental in making more disciples than even the elders.
Here is the opening of the story of Parley P. Pratt's mission to
Canada, in which a woman immediately comes to the foreground in a famous
prophesy:
"It was now April" (1836). "I had retired to rest," says he, "one
evening, at an early hour, and I was pondering my future course, when
there came a knock at the door. I arose and opened it, when Heber C.
Kimball and others entered my house, and being filled with the spirit of
prophesy, they blessed me and my wife, and prophesied as follows:
"Brother Parley, thy wife shall be healed from this hour, and shall
bear a son, and his name shall be Parley; and he shall be a chosen
instrument in the hands of the Lord to inherit the priesthood and to walk
in the steps of his father. He shall do a great work in the earth in
ministering the word and teaching the children of men. Arise, therefore,
and go forth in the ministry, nothing doubting. Take no thought for your
debts, nor the necessaries of life, for the Lord will supply you with
abundant means for all things.
"Thou shalt go to Upper Canada, even to the [217] city of Toronto,
the capital, and there thou shalt find a people prepared for the fullness
of the gospel, and they shall receive thee, and thou shalt organize the
Church among them, and it shall spread thence into the regions round
about, and many shall be brought to the knowledge of the truth, and shall
be filled with joy; and from the things growing out of this mission, shall
the fullness of the gospel spread into England, and cause a great work to
be done in that land.'
"This prophesy was the more marvelous, because being married near ten
years we had never had any children; and for near six years my wife had
been consumptive, and had been considered incurable. However, we called to
mind the faith of Abraham of old, and judging Him faithful who had
promised, we took courage.
"I now began in earnest to prepare for the mission, and in a few days
all was ready. Taking an affectionate leave of my wife, mother and
friends, I started for Canada, in company with a Brother Nickerson, who
kindly offered to bear expenses."
Away to Canada with Parley. We halt with him in the neighborhood of
Hamilton. He is an entire stranger in the British Province, and without
money. He knows not what to do. His narrative thus continues:
"The spirit seemed to whisper to me to try the Lord, and see if
anything was too hard for him, that I might know and trust him under all
circumstances. I retired to a secret place in a forest, and prayed to the
Lord for money to enable me to cross the lake. I then entered Hamilton,
and [218] commenced to chat with some of the people. I had not tarried
many minutes before I was accosted by a stranger, who inquired my name and
where I was going. He also asked me if I did not want some money. I said
yes. He then gave me ten dollars, and a letter of introduction to John
Taylor, of Toronto, where I arrived the same evening.
"Mrs. Taylor received me kindly, and went for her husband, who was
busy in his mechanic shop. To them I made known my errand to the city, but
received little direct encouragement. I took tea with them, and then
sought lodgings at a public house."
Already had he met in Canada a woman destined to bear a
representative name in the history of her people, for she is none other
than the wife of the afterwards famous apostle John Taylor. She is the
first to receive him into her house; and the apostolic story still
continues the woman in the foreground:
"In the morning," he says, "I commenced a regular visit to each of
the clergy of the place, introducing myself and my errand. I was
absolutely refused hospitality, and denied the opportunity of preaching in
any of their houses or congregations. Rather an unpromising beginning,
thought I, considering the prophesies on my head concerning Toronto.
However, nothing daunted, I applied to the sheriff for the use of the
court-house, and then to the authorities for a public room in the
market-place; but with no better success. What could I do more? I had
exhausted my influence and power without effect. I now repaired to a [219]
pine grove just out of the town, and, kneeling down, called on the Lord,
bearing testimony of my unsuccessful exertions; my inability to open the
way; at the same time asking him in the name of Jesus to open an effectual
door for his servant to fulfill his mission in that place.
"I then arose and again entered the town, and going to the house of
John Taylor, had placed my hand on my baggage to depart from a place where
I could do no good, when a few inquiries on the part of Mr. Taylor,
inspired by a degree of curiosity or of anxiety, caused a few moments'
delay, during which a lady by the name of Walton entered the house, and,
being an acquaintance of Mrs. Taylor, was soon engaged in conversation
with her in an adjoining room. I overheard the following:
"Mrs. Walton, I am glad to see you; there is a gentleman here from
the United States who says the Lord sent him to this city to preach the
gospel. He has applied in vain to the clergy and to the various
authorities for opportunity to fulfill his mission, and is now about to
leave the place. He may be a man of God; I am sorry to have him depart.'
"`Indeed!' said the lady; `well, I now understand the feelings and
spirit which brought me to your house at this time. I have been busy over
the wash-tub and too weary to take a walk; but I felt impressed to walk
out. I then thought I would make a call on my sister, the other side of
town; but passing your door, the spirit bade me go in; but I said to
myself, I will go in when I return; but the spirit said, go in now. I
accordingly came in, [220] and I am thankful that I did so. Tell the
stranger he is welcome to my house. I am a widow; but I have a spare room
and bed, and food in plenty. He shall have a home at my house, and two
large rooms to preach in just when he pleases. Tell him I will send my son
John over to pilot him to my house, while I go and gather my relatives and
friends to come in this very evening and hear him talk; for I feel by the
spirit that he is a man sent by the Lord with a message which will do us
good.'
"The evening found me quietly seated at her house," says Parley, "in
the midst of a number of listeners, who were seated around a large work
table in her parlor, and deeply interested in conversation like the
following:
"`Mr. Pratt, we have for some years been anxiously looking for some
providential event which would gather the sheep into one fold; build up
the true Church as in days of old, and prepare the humble followers of the
Lamb, now scattered and divided, to receive their coming Lord when he
shall descend to reign on the earth. As soon as Mrs. Taylor spoke of you I
felt assured, as by a strange and unaccountable presentiment, that you
were a messenger, with important tidings on these subjects; and I was
constrained to invite you here; and now we are all here anxiously waiting
to hear your words.'
"`Well, Mrs. Walton, I will frankly relate to you and your friends
the particulars of my message and the nature of my commission. A young man
in the State of New York, whose name is Joseph [221] Smith, was visited by
an angel of God, and, after several visions and much instruction, was
enabled to obtain an ancient record, written by men of old on the American
continent, and containing the history, prophesies and gospel in plainness
as revealed to them by Jesus and his messengers. This same Joseph Smith
and others, were also commissioned by the angels in these visions, and
ordained to the apostleship, with authority to organize a church, to
administer the ordinances, and to ordain others, and thus cause the full,
plain gospel in its purity, to be preached in all the world.
"`By these apostles thus commissioned, I have been ordained as an
apostle, and sent forth by the word of prophesy to minister the baptism of
repentance for remission of sins, in the name of Jesus Christ; and to
administer the gift of the Holy Ghost, to heal the sick, to comfort the
mourner, bind up the broken in heart, and proclaim the acceptable year of
the Lord.
"`I was also directed to this city by the spirit of the Lord, with a
promise that I should find a people here prepared to receive the gospel,
and should organize them in the same. But when I came and was rejected by
all parties, I was about to leave the city; but the Lord sent you, a
widow, to receive me, as I was about to depart: and thus I was provided
for like Elijah of old. And now I bless your house, and all your family
and kindred, in his name. Your sins shall be forgiven you; you shall
understand and obey the gospel, and be filled with the Holy Ghost; for so
great faith have I never seen in any of my country.'
[222] "`Well, Mr. Pratt, this is precisely the message we were waiting
for; we believe your words and are desirous to be baptized.'
"`It is your duty and privilege,' said I; `but wait yet a little
while till I have an opportunity to teach others, with whom you are
religiously connected, and invite them to partake with you of the same
blessings.'"
Next comes a great miracle--the opening of the eyes of the
blind--which seems to have created quite a sensation in Canada; and still
the woman is the subject. The apostle continues:
"After conversing with these interesting persons till a late hour, we
retired to rest. Next day Mrs. Walton requested me to call on a friend of
hers, who was also a widow in deep affliction, being totally blind with
inflammation in the eyes; she had suffered extreme pain for several
months, and had also been reduced to want, having four little children to
support. She had lost her husband, of cholera, two years before, and had
sustained herself and family by teaching school until deprived of sight,
since which, she had been dependent on the Methodist society; herself and
children being then a public charge. Mrs. Walton sent her little daughter
of twelve years old to show me the way. I called on the poor blind widow
and helpless orphans, and found them in a dark and gloomy apartment
rendered more so by having every ray of light obscured to prevent its
painful effects on her eyes. I related to her the circumstances of my
mission and she believed the same. I laid my hands upon her in the name of
Jesus Christ, and [223] said unto her, Your eyes shall be well from this
very hour.' She threw off her bandages--opened her house to the
light--dressed herself, and walking with open eyes, came to the meeting
that same evening at Sister Walton's, with eyes as well and as bright as
any other persons.
"`The Methodist society were now relieved of their burthen in the
person of this widow and four orphans. This remarkable miracle was soon
noised abroad, and the poor woman's house was thronged from all parts of
the city and country with visitors; all curious to witness for themselves,
and to inquire of her how her eyes were healed.
"`How did the man heal your eyes? What did he do ?--tell us,' were
questions so oft repeated that the woman, wearied of replying, came to me
for advice to know whet she should do. I advised her to tell them that the
Lord had healed her, and to give him the glory, and let that suffice. But
still they teased her for particulars. `What did this man do?' `How were
your eyes opened and made well?'
"`He laid his hands upon my head in the name of Jesus Christ, and
rebuked the inflammation, and commanded them to be made whole and restored
to sight; and it was instantly done.'
"`Well, give God the glory; for, as to this man, it is well known
that he is an impostor, a follower of Joseph Smith, the false prophet.'
"`Whether he be an impostor or not, I know not; but this much I know,
whereas I was blind, now I see! Can an impostor open the eyes of the
blind?'"
[224] The widow Walton was baptized, with all her household; John Taylor
and his wife, also; and John soon became an able assistant in the
ministry.
And here we meet two more representative women--sisters--whose family
were destined to figure historically in the church. The narrative of
Parley continues:
"The work soon spread into the country and enlarged its operations in
all that region; many were gathered into the Church, and were filled with
faith and love, and with the holy spirit, and the Lord confirmed the word
with signs following. My first visit to the country was about nine miles
from Toronto, among a settlement of farmers, by one of whom I had sent an
appointment beforehand. John Taylor accompanied me. We called at a Mr.
Joseph Fielding's, an acquaintance and friend of Mr. Taylor's. This man
had two sisters, young ladies, who seeing us coming ran from their house
to one of the neighboring houses, lest they should give welcome, or give
countenance to Mormonism.' Mr. Fielding stayed, and as we entered the
house he said he was sorry we had come; he had opposed our holding meeting
in the neighborhood; and, so great was the prejudice, that the Methodist
meeting house was closed against us, and the minister refused, on Sunday,
to give out the appointment sent by the farmer.
"`Ah !' said I, `why do they oppose Mormonism?' `I don't know,' said
he, `but the name has such a contemptible sound; and, another thing, we do
not want a new revelation, or a new religion contrary to the Bible.' `Oh,'
said I, `if that is all we shall [225] soon remove your prejudices. Come,
call home your sisters, and let's have some supper. Did you say the
appointment was not given out?' `I said, sir, that it was not given out in
the meeting house, nor by the minister; but the farmer by whom you sent it
agreed to have it at his house.' `Come, then, send for your sisters, we
will take supper with you, and all go over to meeting together. If you and
your sisters will agree to this, I will agree to preach the old Bible
gospel, and leave out all new revelations which are opposed to it.'
"The honest man consented. The young ladies came home, got us a good
supper, and all went to meeting. The house was crowded; I preached, and
the people wished to hear more. The meeting house was opened for further
meetings, and in a few days we baptized Brother Joseph Fielding and his
two amiable and intelligent sisters, for such they proved to be in an
eminent degree. We also baptized many others in that neighborhood, and
organized a branch of the church, for the people there drank in truth as
water, and loved it as they loved life."
Arriving at home the apostle Parley met continued examples of the
fulfillment of prophesy. Sister Pratt is now the interesting character who
take the foreground. He says:
"I found my wife had been healed of her seven years illness from the
time Brother Kimball had ministered unto her, and I began to realize more
fully that every word of his blessing and prophesy upon my head would
surely come to pass."
"After a pleasant visit with the saints," he con-[226]tinues, "I took
my wife with me and returned again to Toronto, in June, 1836. The work I
had commenced was still spreading its influence, and the saints were still
increasing in faith and love, in joy and in good works. There were
visions, prophesyings, speaking in tongues and healings, as well as the
casting out of devils and unclean spirits."
The work inaugurated by Parley P. Pratt seemed to have achieved a
signal triumph almost from the very beginning. Indeed all had come to pass
according to the prophesy of Heber C. Kimball, even not excepting the
promised son and heir, who was born March 25th, 1837. But with this event
came the mortal end of Parley's estimable wife. She lived just long enough
to accomplish her destiny; and when the child was dressed, and she had
looked upon it and embraced it, she passed away.
The following personal description and tribute of the poet apostle to
the memory of his mate is too full of dove and distinctively Mormon
ideality to be lost:
"She was tall, of a slender frame, her face of an oval form, eyes
large and of a dark color, her fore head lofty, clear complexion, hair
black, smooth and glossy. She was of a mild and affectionate disposition
and full of energy, perseverance, industry and cheerfulness, when not
borne down with sickness. In order, neatness and refinement of taste and
habit she might be said to excel. She was an affectionate and dutiful
wife, an exemplary saint, and, through much tribulation, she has gone to
the world of spirits to meet a glorious resurrection and an immortal crown
and kingdom.
[227] "Farewell, my dear Thankful, thou wife of my youth, and mother of my
first born; the beginning of my strength--farewell. Yet a few more
lingering years of sorrow, pain and toil, and I shall be with thee, and
clasp thee to my bosom, and thou shalt sit down on my throne, as a queen
and priestess unto thy Lord, arrayed in white robes of dazzling splendor,
and decked with precious stones and gold, while thy queen sisters shall
minister before thee and bless thee, and thy sons and daughters
innumerable shall call thee blessed, and hold thy name in everlasting
remembrance."
The interesting story which Parley tells of the visit of the spirit
of his wife to him, while he was lying, a prisoner for the gospel's sake,
in a dark, cold and filthy dungeon in Richmond, Ray county, Missouri, will
be to the foregoing a charming sequel. While tortured with the gloom and
discomforts of his prison, and most of all with the inactivity of his life
of constraint, and earnestly wondering, and praying to know, if he should
ever be free again to enjoy the society of friends and to preach the
gospel, the following was shown to him, which we will tell in his own
language:
"After some days of prayer and fasting," says he, "and seeking the
Lord on the subject, I one evening retired to my bed in my lonely chamber
at an early hour, and while the other prisoners and the guard; were
chatting and beguiling the lonesome hours in the upper part of the prison,
I day in silence, seeking and expecting an answer to my prayer, when
suddenly I seemed carried away in the spirit, and no longer sensible to
outward objects with [228] which I was surrounded. A heaven of peace and
calmness pervaded my bosom; a personage from the world of spirits stood
before me with a smile of compassion in every look, and pity mingled with
the tenderest love and sympathy in every expression of the countenance. A
soft hand seemed placed within my own and a glowing cheek was laid in
tenderness and warmth upon mine. A well-known voice saluted me, which I
readily recognized as that of the wife of my youth, who had then for
nearly two years been sweetly sleeping where the wicked cease from
troubling and the weary are at rest. I was made to realize that she was
sent to commune with me, and to answer my question.
"Knowing this, I said to her, in a most earnest and inquiring tone:
`Shall I ever be at liberty again in this life, and enjoy the society of
my family and the saints, and preach the gospel, as I have done?' She
answered definitely and unhesitatingly: `Yes!' I then recollected that I
had agreed to be satisfied with the knowledge of that one fact, but now
wanted more.
"Said I: `Can you tell me how, or by what means, or when, I shall
escape?' She replied: `That thing is not made known to me yet.' I
instantly felt that I had gone beyond my agreement and my faith in asking
this last question, and that I must be contented at present with the
answer to the first.
"Her gentle spirit then saluted me and withdrew. I came to myself.
The noise of the guards again grated on my ears, but heaven and hope were
in my soul.
[229] "Next morning I related the whole circumstance of my vision to my
two fellow-prisoners, who rejoiced exceedingly. This may seem to some like
an idle dream, or a romance of the imagination; but to me it was, and
always will be, a reality, both as it regards what I then experienced and
the fulfillment afterwards."
The famous escape from Richmond jail forms one of the romantic
chapters of Mormon history, but it belongs rather to the acts of the
apostles than to the lives of the sisters.
[230] CHAPTER XXIII.
A DISTINGUISHED CANADIAN CONVERT-- MRS. M. L HORNE--HER EARLY HISTORY--CONVERSION TO MORMONISM--SHE GATHERS WITH THE SAINTS AND SHARES THEIR PERSECUTIONS--INCIDENTS OF HER EARLY CONNECTION WITH THE CHURCH.
Among the early fruits of the Canadian mission, perhaps the name of
no other lady stands more conspicuous for good works and faithful
ministrations, than that of Mrs. Mary I. Horne. It will, therefore, be
eminently proper to introduce her at this time to the reader, and give a
brief sketch of her early career. From her own journals we quote as
follows:
"I was born on the 20th of November, 1818, in the town of Rainham,
county of Kent, England. I am the daughter of Stephen and Mary Ann Hales,
and am the eldest daughter of a large family. My parents were honest,
industrious people; and when very young I was taught to pray, to be honest
and truthful, to be kind to my associates, and to do good to all around
me. My father was of the Methodist faith, but my mother attended the
Church of England. As I was religiously inclined, I attended the Methodist
Church with my father, [231] who was faithful in the performance of his
religious duties, although he never became a very enthusiastic Methodist.
"In the year 1832, when I was in my thirteenth year, there was great
excitement in the town where I lived, over the favorable reports that were
sent from Van Dieman's Land, and the great inducements held out to those
who would go to that country. My father and mother caught the spirit of
going, and began to make preparations for leaving England. Before
arrangements had been completed for us to go, however, letters were
received from Upper Canada, picturing, in glowing terms, the advantages of
that country. My father changed his mind immediately and made arrangements
to emigrate to the town of York, afterwards called Toronto. Accordingly,
on the 16th day of April, 1832, our family, consisting of my parents, five
sons, myself and a younger sister, bade adieu to England. We had a tedious
voyage of six weeks across the ocean, and my mother was sick during the
entire voyage. During the passage across there were three deaths on
board--one of the three being my brother Elias, whom we sorrowfully
consigned to a watery grave.
"Our ship anchored at Quebec in May, and after a tedious passage up
the St. Lawrence by steamer, we landed in safety at the town of York, June
16th, thankful that we were at our journey's end. Here we were in a
strange land, and to our dismay we found that the cholera was raging
fearfully in that region; but through a]] of those trying scenes the Lord
preserved us in health.
[232] "In the spring of 1833 we removed into the country about eight
miles, to a place located in the township of York, and in the spring of
1834 I attended a Methodist camp-meeting in that neighborhood, where I
formed the acquaintance of Mr. Joseph Horne, who is now my husband.
"The most of the time for the next two years I lived in service in
the city of Toronto, going once in three months to visit my parents.
"On the 9th day of May, 1836, I was married to Mr. Horne. He owned a
farm about one mile from my father's house, and I removed to his residence
soon after our marriage. I now felt that I was settled in life; and,
although I had not been used to farm work, I milked cows, fed pigs and
chickens, and made myself at home in my new situation, seeking to make my
home pleasant for my husband, and working to advance his interests.
"About the first of June, of that year, report came to us that a man
professing to be sent of God to preach to the people would hold a meeting
about a mile from our house. My husband decided that we should go and hear
him. We accordingly went, and there first heard Elder Orson Pratt. We were
very much pleased with his sermon. Another meeting was appointed for the
following week, and Elder Pratt told us that business called him away, but
his brother, Parley P. Pratt, would be with us and preach in his stead. I
invited my father to go with us to hear him, and the appointed evening
found all of his family at the `Mormon' meeting. Elder Pratt told us that
God was an unchangeable being--the same yesterday, to-day, and [233]
forever--and taught us the gospel in its purity; then showed from the
Bible that the gospel was the same in all ages of the world; but man had
wandered from God and the true gospel, and that the Lord had sent an angel
to Joseph Smith, restoring to him the pure gospel with its gifts and
blessings. My father was so delighted with the sermon that he left the
Methodist Church and attended the `Mormon meetings' altogether; and in a
short time every member of his family had received and obeyed the gospel.
This made quite a stir among the Methodists. One of the class-leaders came
to converse with us, and used every argument he could to convince us that
Mormonism was false, but without avail. `Well,' said he, finally, `there
are none but children and fools who join them,' and left us to our fate.
In July (1836) I was baptized by Orson Hyde, and ever after that our house
was open for meetings, and became a home for many of the elders.
"The following from Brother Parley P. Pratt's autobiography, is a
truthful statement of a circumstance which occurred in the fall of that
year, and to which I can bear witness, as it was of my own personal
observation, the lady in question being a neighbor of ours. He says:
"Now, there was living in that neighborhood a young man and his wife,
named Whitney; he was a blacksmith by trade; their residence was perhaps a
mile or more from Mr. Lamphere's, where I held my semi-monthly meetings.
His wife was taken down very suddenly about that time with a strange
affliction. She would be prostrated by some power [234] invisible to those
about her, and suffer an agony of distress indescribable. She often cried
out that she could see two devils in human form, who were thus operating
upon her, and that she could hear them talk; but, as the bystanders could
not see them, but only see the effects, they did not know what to think or
how to understand.
"`She would have one of these spells once in about twenty-four hours,
and when it had passed she would lie in bed so lame, bruised, sore, and
helpless that she could not rise alone, or even sit up, for some weeks.
All this time she had to have watchers both night and day, and sometimes
four and five at a time, insomuch that the neighbors were worn out and
weary with watching. Mr. Whitney sent word for me two or three times, or
left word for me to call next time I visited the neighborhood. This,
however, I had neglected to do, owing to the extreme pressure of labors
upon me in so large a circuit of meetings--indeed I had not a moment to
spare. At last, as I came round on the circuit again, the woman, who had
often requested to see the man of God, that he might minister to her
relief, declared she would see him anyhow, for she knew she could be
healed if she could but get sight of him. In her agony she sprang from her
bed, cleared herself from her frightened husband and others, who were
trying to hold her, and ran for Mr. Lamphere's, where I was then holding
meeting. At first, to use her own words, she felt very weak, and nearly
fainted, but her strength came to her, and increased at every step till
she reached the meeting. Her friends were all [235] astonished, and in
alarm, lest she should die in the attempt, tried to pursue her, and they
several times laid hold of her and tried to force or persuade her back.
`No,' said she, `let me see the man of God; I can but die, and I cannot
endure such affliction any longer.' On she came, until at last they gave
up, and said, `Let her go, perhaps it will be according to her faith.' So
she came, and when the thing was explained the eyes of the whole multitude
were upon her. I ceased to preach, and, stepping to her in the presence of
the whole meeting, I laid my hands upon her and said, `Sister, be of good
cheer, thy sins are forgiven, thy faith hath made thee whole; and, in the
name of Jesus Christ, I rebuke the devils and unclean spirits, and command
them to trouble thee no more.' She returned home well, went about her
housekeeping, and remained well from that time forth.'
"In the latter part of the summer of 1837," continues Mrs. Horne, "I
had the great pleasure of being introduced to, and entertaining, the
beloved prophet, Joseph Smith, with Sidney Rigdon and T. B. Marsh. I said
to myself, `O Lord, I thank thee for granting the desire of my girlish
heart, in permitting me to associate with prophets and apostles.' On
shaking hands with Joseph Smith, I received the holy spirit in such great
abundance that I felt it thrill my whole system, from the crown of my head
to the soles of my feet. I thought I had never beheld so lovely a
countenance. Nobility and goodness were in every feature.
"The saints in Kirtland removed in the following [236] spring to
Missouri. We started from Canada in March, 1838, with a small company of
saints. The roads were very bad, as the frost was coming out of the
ground, consequently I had to drive the team during a great portion of the
journey, while my husband walked.
"On arriving at Huntsville, one hundred miles from Far West, we found
several families of saints, and tarried a short time with them. There I
was introduced to the parents of the prophet, and also to his cousin,
George A. Smith. At a meeting held in that place I received a patriarchal
blessing from Joseph Smith, Sr. He told me that that had to pass through a
great deal of sickness, sorrow and tribulation, but `the Lord will bring
you through six troubles, and in the seventh he will not leave you;' all
of which has verily been fulfilled."
Mrs. Horne, with her husband and family, reached Far West in August
of that year, and received their full share of the privations incident to
the settlement of that city, and also a full share of exposure, sickness
and peril incident to the expulsion of the saints from Missouri. Finally
thereafter they gathered to Nauvoo; and there for the present let us leave
them--promising the reader that Mrs. Horne shall again come to the front
when we treat of the wonderful missionary efforts of the Mormon women in
Utah.
[237] CHAPTER XXIV.
MORMONISM CARRIED TO GREAT BRITAIN--"TRUTH WILL PREVAIL"--THE REV. MR. FIELDING--FIRST BAPTISM IN ENGLAND--FIRST WOMAN BAPTIZED--STORY OF MISS JEANNETTA RICHARDS--FIRST BRANCH OF THE CHURCH IN FOREIGN LANDS ORGANIZED AT THE HOUSE OF ANN DAWSON--FIRST CHILD BORN INTO THE CHURCH IN ENGLAND--ROMANTIC SEQUEL--VILATE KIMBALL AGAIN.
The voice of prophesy was no longer hushed; the heavens were no
longer sealed; the Almighty really spoke to these prophets and apostles of
the latter days; their words were strangely, sometimes romantically,
fulfilled; the genius of Mormonism was alike potent at home and abroad.
"Thou shalt go to Upper Canada, even to the city of Toronto, and
there thou shalt find a people prepared for the fullness of the gospel,
and they shall receive thee;" the prophet Heber had oracled over the head
of a fellow laborer, "and from the things growing out of this mission
shall the fullness of the gospel spread into England and cause a great
work to be done in that land."
One part of this prophesy the reader has seen [238] exactly fulfilled
the mission of Parley P. Pratt to Canada, enlivened with some very
interesting episodes. It falls upon Heber himself--the father of the
British mission--to fulfill, with the brethren who accompany him, the
supreme part of the prophesy referring to Great Britain.
It will be remembered from the sketch of Vilate Kimball, that Mary
Fielding gave to Heber five dollars to help him on his journey, and that
she with her sister and her sister's husband, Elder R. B. Thompson, were
on their way to Canada to engage in the second mission to that Province,
while Heber, Orson Hyde, Willard Richards, and Joseph Fielding, with
several other brethren from Canada, pursued their course to England.
It was July 1st, 1837, when these elders embarked on board the ship
Garrick, bound for Liverpool, which they reached on the 20th of the same
month.
On their arrival in that foreign land the three principal
elders--Heber, Orson and Willard--had not as much as one farthing in their
possession, yet were they destined to accomplish marvelous results ere
their return to America.
Having remained two days in Liverpool, these elders were directed by
the spirit to go to Preston, a flourishing English town in Lancashire, to
plant the standard of their Church.
It generally came to pass that some singular incident occurred in all
of the initial movements of these elders, opening their way before them,
or omening their success. So now, the people of Preston were celebrating a
grand national occasion. Queen Victoria, a few days previously (July
17th), [239] had ascended the throne. A fitting event this to notice in a
woman's book. The "Woman's Age" dawned, not only upon England, but, it
would seem, upon all of the civilized world.
A general election was being held throughout the realm in consequence
of the ascension of the Queen. The populace were parading the streets of
Preston, bands were playing, and flags flying.
In the midst of this universal joy the elders alighted from the
coach, and just at that moment a flag was unfurled over their heads, from
the hotel, bearing this motto in gold letters: "Truth is mighty and will
prevail!" It was as a prophesy to these elders, as if to welcome their
coming, and they lifted up their voices and shouted, "Glory be to God,
truth will prevail!" By the way, this flag the rise of the temperance
movement in England.
That night Heber and his compeers were entertained by the Rev. James
Fielding, the brother of the sisters Fielding. Already was the other half
of the prophesy uttered over the head of Parley being fulfilled--that the
gospel should spread from Canada into England, and cause a great work to
be done "in that land."
Previously to this the Rev. James Fielding had received letters from
his brother Joseph, and his sisters, who had, as we have seen, embraced
Mormonism in Canada; and these letters, burdened with the tidings of the
advent of the prophet of America and the administration of angels in our
own times, he read to his congregation. He also exhorted his flock to pray
fervently that the Lord would send over to [240] England his apostles, and
solemnly adjured them to receive their message when they should come
bearing their glad tidings. Thus in England, as in Canada, a people were
"prepared" according to the prophesy.
On Sunday morning, the day after their arrival in Preston, the elders
went to Vauxhall Chapel to hear the Rev. James Fielding preach. At the
close of his discourse he gave out that in the afternoon and evening
meetings ministers from America would preach in his chapel.
The news spread rapidly in the town, and in a few hours quite a
sensation was abroad among the inhabitants, who flocked to the chapel at
the appointed times, some out of curiosity, others from a genuine
interest. Both in the afternoon and evening the chapel was crowded, and
the apostles preached their opening sermons, Heber C. Kimball being the
first of them who bore his testimony to "Mormonism" in foreign lands.
On the following Wednesday Vauxhall Chapel was again crowded, when
Elder Orson Hyde preached, and Willard Richards bore testimony; and the
Holy Ghost, we are told, powerfully accompanied the word on the occasion.
Only a few days had passed since the elders arrived on the shores of
Great Britain, yet "a" number believed and began to praise God and
"rejoice exceedingly."
The Rev. Mr. Fielding, however, saw now the consequence of all this.
He was in danger of losing his entire flock. Many were resolving to be
baptized into the Church of Latter-day Saints. A [241] continuation of
this result for a few weeks signified the entire dissolution of his own
church. He was in consternation at the prospect. Trembling, it is said, as
if suddenly stricken with the palsy, he presented himself before the
elders on the morning appointed for the baptism of a number of his former
disciples, and forbade the baptism. Of course this was in vain. He had met
the inevitable.
On Sunday, July 30th, just one month from the time the elders
embarked at New York, the eventful scene occurred in Preston, of the
baptism in the River Ribble of the nine first converts to Mormonism in
foreign lands. They were
George D. Watt, Ann Elizabeth Walmesley,
Thomas Walmesley, George Wate,
Miles Hodgen, Mary Ann Brown,
Henry Bilisburg, __________Miller,
Ann Dawson.
A public ceremony of baptism in the open air was such a novel event
in England at that time, when religious innovations were so rare, that
seven or eight thousand persons assembled on the banks of the river to
witness the scene. It is said that this was the first time baptism by
immersion was ever thus administered in England, though at a later period
several sects of Baptists arose who immersed openly in the rivers and for
the remission of sins. Such scenes were picturesque, and some of the "new
lights" seem to have delighted in them for their religious sensation, just
as the Methodists did in their camp meetings.
The first woman whose name is recorded in the list of the baptized of
the Mormon Church in [242] England is Sister Ann Elizabeth Walmesley; and
her case presents the first miracle of the Church in foreign lands. Here
is the incident as related by Heber C. Kimball:
"I had visited Thomas Walmesley, whose wife was sick of the
consumption, and had been so for several years. She was reduced to skin
and bone--a mere skeleton--and was given up by the doctors to die. I
preached the gospel to her, and promised her in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ that if she would believe, repent and be baptized, she should be
healed of her sickness. She was carried to the water, and after her
baptism began to mend, and at her confirmation she was blessed and her
disease rebuked, when she immediately recovered, and in less than one week
after, she was attending to her household duties."
This incident will be the more interesting to the reader from the
fact that to-day (forty years after the miracle) Sister Walmesley is
living at Bloomington, Bear Lake valley, Oneida county, Idaho.
Next came quite an evangelical episode, introducing, with a touch of
romance, Miss Jennetta Richards.
This young lady was the daughter of a minister, of the independent
order, who resided at Walkerfold about fifteen miles from Preston. She was
not only personally interesting and intelligent but, from the influence
she possessed over her father and his congregation coupled with the fact
that the most classical of the apostles "fell in love" with her, she
appears to have been a maiden of considerable character. She was a proper
person to be the [243] heroine of the British mission, and her conversion
was very important in its results, as will be seen in the following
incidents, related by Heber:
It was several days after the public baptism in Preston. "Miss
Jennetta Richards," says the apostle, "came to the house of Thomas
Walmesley, with whom she was acquainted. Calling in to see them at the
time she was there, I was introduced to her, and we immediately entered
into conversation on the subject of the gospel I found her very
intelligent. She seemed very desirous to hear the things I had to teach
and to understand the doctrines of the gospel. I informed her of my
appointment to preach that evening, and invited her to attend. She did so;
and likewise the evening following. After attending these two services she
was fully convinced of the truth.
"Friday morning, 4th, she sent for me, desiring to be baptized, which
request I cheerfully complied with, in the River Ribble, and confirmed her
at the water side, Elder Hyde assisting. This was the first confirmation
in England. The following day she started for home, and wept as she was
about to leave us. I said to her, `Sister, be of good cheer, for the Lord
will soften the heart of thy father, that I will yet have the privilege of
preaching in his chapel, and it shall result in a great opening to preach
the gospel in that region.' I exhorted her to pray and be humble. She
requested me to pray for her, and gave me some encouragement to expect
that her father would open his chapel for me to preach in. I then hastened
to my brethren, told them of the circum-[244]stances and the result of my
visit with the young lady, and called upon them to unite with me in prayer
that the Lord would soften the heart of her father, that he might be
induced to open his chapel for us to preach in."
On the third Sabbath after the arrival of the eiders in England, they
met at the house of Sister Ann Dawson, when twenty-seven members were
confirmed and the first branch of the Church was organized in foreign
lands. In the forepart of the ensuing week Heber received a letter from
Miss Jennetta Richards, and an invitation from her father to come to
Walkerfold and preach in his chapel. The invitation was accepted, and
Heber met with great success in laying the gospel before the congregation
of Mr. Richards; so successful was he indeed that the reverend gentleman
was forced to shut his chapel doors in order to prevent a complete
stampede of his flock.
This evangelical success is crowned with an interesting incident
between Jennetta and Elder Willard Richards. Willard, who had been on a
mission to Bedford early in January, 1838, visited his brethren at
Preston; and then, he says:
"I took a tour through the branches, and preached. While walking in
Thornly I plucked a snowdrop, far through the hedge, and carried it to
James Mercer's and hung it up in his kitchen. Soon after Jennetta Richards
came into the room, and I walked with her and Alice Parker to Ribchester,
and attended meeting with Brothers Kimball and Hyde, at Brother Clark's.
"While walking with these sisters, I remarked, [245] Richards is a
good name; I never want to change it; do you, Jennetta?' `No; I do not,'
was her reply, `and I think I never will.'"
The following note in his diary of the same year, furnishes the
sequel:
"September 24, 1839, I married Jennetta Richards, daughter of the
Rev. John Richards, independent minister at Walkerfold, Chaidgley,
Lancashire. Most truly do I praise my Heavenly Father for his great
kindness in providing me a partner according to his promise. I receive her
from the Lord, and hold her at his disposal. I pray that he may bless us
forever. Amen!"
Passing from Sister Jennetta Richards, we now introduce the first
child born in the British mission. It is a female child. She is also the
first infant blessed in England; and the incidents of her birth and
blessing are both pretty and novel, especially when coupled with the
sequel of her womanhood. Heber thus tells the initial part of her story:
She was the daughter of James and Nancy Smithies, formerly Nancy
Knowles. After she was born her parents wanted to take her to the church
to be sprinkled, or christened, as they called it. I used every kind of
persuasion to convince them of their folly--it being contrary to the
Scriptures and the will of God; the parents wept bitterly, and it seemed
as though I could not prevail on them to omit it. I wanted to know of them
why they were so tenacious. The answer was, `If she dies she cannot have a
burial in the churchyard.' I said to them, `Brother and Sister Smithies, I
say unto you in the name of Israel's God, she [246] shall die on this
land, for she shall live until she becomes a mother in Israel, and I say
it in the name of Jesus Christ, and by virtue of the holy priesthood
vested in me.' That silenced them, and when she was two weeks old they
presented the child to me; I took it in my arms and blessed it, that it
should live to become a mother in Israel. She was the first child blessed
in that country, and the first born unto them."
The child lived, and fulfilled the prophesy that she should become a
"mother in Israel." Her birth was destined to glorify Heber's own kingdom,
for she, twenty years afterwards, became his last wife, and is now the
mother of four of his children.
The gospel spread rapidly during the first mission of the elders in
England. In eight months two thousand were baptized, and the "signs
followed the believers." We shall meet some of the British converts
hereafter, and read the testimonies of the sisters concerning the great
spiritual work of Mormonism in their native land.
Heber, and Orson Hyde, returned to America, leaving the British
mission in charge of Joseph Fielding, with Willard Richards and William
Clayton as councilors. Here the apostolic thread connects with the wife
and family of Heber, who have been left to the care of Providence and the
brotherly and sisterly love of the saints during this immortal mission to
Great Britain. His daughter Helen, in her journal, says:
"In the absence of my father the Lord was true to his promise. My
father's prayer, that he had made upon the heads of his wife and little
ones [247] whom he had left poor and destitute, was answered. Kind friends
came forward to cheer and comfort them, and administer to their wants.
"Soon after my father's return to Kirtland he commenced making
preparations to move his family to Missouri, where Brother Joseph Smith
and a majority of the church authorities and nearly all of the members had
gone. About the first of July he commenced the journey with his family,
accompanied by Brother Orson Hyde and others, and arrived in Far West on
the 25th of July, when he had a happy meeting with Joseph, Hyrum, Sidney,
and others of the twelve, and numbers of his friends and brethren, some of
whom were affected to tears when they took him by the hand. During our
journey from Kirtland, the weather being very warm, we suffered very much,
and were much reduced by sickness. Father continued quite feeble for a
considerable length of time. Joseph requested him to preach to the saints,
saying, `It will revive their spirits and do them good if you will give
them a history of your mission;' which he did, although he was scarcely
able to stand. It cheered their hearts and many of the elders were stirred
up to diligence.
"Soon after our arrival Bishop Partridge gave father a lot, and also
sufficient timber to build a house. While it was being erected we lived in
a place eight by eleven feet and four feet high at the eaves, which had
been built for a cow. The brethren were remarkably kind, and contributed
to our necessities. Brother Charles Hubbard made my father a present of
forty acres of land; another [248] brother gave him a cow. But about the
last of August, after he had labored hard and nearly finished his house,
he was obliged to abandon it to the mob, who again commenced to persecute
the saints."
The history of those persecutions, and the exodus of the saints, is
already sufficiently told. Suffice it to say that Sister Vilate nobly bore
her part in those trying scenes, while Heber, with Brigham and the rest of
the twelve, kept their covenant--never to rest a moment until the last
faithful saint was delivered from that State, and the feet of the whole
people planted firmly, in peace and safety, in a new gathering place.
[249] CHAPTER XXV.
SKETCH OF THE SISTERS MARY AND MERCY R. FIELDING--THE FIELDINGS A SEMI-APOSTOLIC FAMILY--THEIR IMPORTANT INSTRUMENTALITY IN OPENING THE BRITISH MISSION--MARY FIELDING MARRIES HYRUM SMITH--HER TRIALS AND SUFFERINGS WHILE HER HUSBAND IS IN PRISON--TESTIMONY OF HER SISTER MERCY--MARY'S LETTER TO HER BROTHER IN ENGLAND.
Already has the name of Mary Fielding become quite historical to the
reader, but she is now to be introduced in her still more representative
character as wife of the patriarch and martyr Hyrum, and as mother of the
apostle Joseph F. Smith.
This much-respected lady was born July 21st, 1801, at Honidon,
Bedfordshire, England. She was the daughter of John and Rachel Fielding,
and was the eldest of the sisters whom the reader has met somewhat
prominently in an apostolic incident in Canada, out of which much of the
early history of the British mission very directly grew.
Mary was of good family, well educated, and piously raised, being
originally a Methodist, and a devoted admirer of the character of John
Wesley. Indeed the family of the Fieldings and their con-[250]nections
were semi-apostolic even before their identification with the Church of
Latter-day Saints.
In 1834 Mary emigrated to Canada. Here she joined her youngest
brother, Joseph, and her sister, Mercy Rachel (born in England in 1807),
who had preceded her to America in 1832. As we have seen, this brother and
his two sisters were living near Toronto, Upper Canada, at the time when
Parley P. Pratt arrived there on his mission, and they immediately
embraced the faith. This was in May, 1836.
In the following spring the Fieldings gathered to Kirtland. Soon the
youngest of the sisters, Mercy Rachel, was married by the prophet to Elder
Robert B. Thompson, one of the literati of the Church, who was appointed
on a mission to Canada with his wife. At the same time Joseph Fielding was
appointed on mission to England, to assist the apostles in that land. But
Mary remained in Kirtland, and on the 24th of December, 1837, she was
married to Hyrum Smith.
Here something deserves to be told of the Fielding family in
amplification of the incidental mentionings already made.
The Rev. James Fielding (of Preston, England), Mary's brother, was
quite a religious reformer, and of sufficient ministerial reputation and
force to become the founder and head of a Congregational Methodist Church.
Originally he was a minister of the regular body of that powerful sect,
but becoming convinced that modern Methodists had departed from their
primitive faith, and that their church no longer enjoyed the Holy Ghost
and its gifts, which measurably attended their illustrious founder and
[251] his early disciples, the Rev. Mr. Fielding inaugurated a religious
reform in the direction intimated. It was an attempt to revive in his
ministerial sphere the spiritual power of the Wesleyan movement; nor did
he stop at this, but sought to convince his disciples of the necessity of
"contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints."
Other branches of the family also became prominent in the religious
reforms of England that arose about the time of the establishing of the
Church of Latter-day Saints in America. One of the Fielding sisters
married no less a personage than the Rev. Timothy R. Matthews, who figured
nearly as conspicuously as the Rev. James Fielding in the early history of
the British mission. This Rev. Timothy Matthews was at first minister of
the Church of England, and is said to have been a very able and learned
man. With the famous Robert Aitken, whom he called his "son," he attempted
reformation even in the established Church; or rather, these innovative
divines denounced the "apostasy" of that Church, and prosecuted a
semi-apostolic mission. It was eminently successful, Robert Aitken and
himself raising up large congregations of disciples in Preston, Liverpool,
Bedford, Northampton and London. These disciples were popularly called
Aitkenites and Matthewites. Quite relevant is all this to the history of
the Latter-day Saints in England, for the congregations of the Rev. James
Fielding, Rev. Timothy R. Matthews, and Rev. John Richards (father of
Jennetta), gave to the apostles their first disciples abroad, and these
ministers themselves were their instruments in establishing the British
mission.
[252] But the name of Fielding, after those of the apostles, was principal
in accomplishing these results. The sisters Mary and Mercy, with Joseph,
half converted by their letters, the congregation of their reverend
brother in Preston, before the advent there of the apostles. In their
Brother James' chapel the first apostolic sermon in foreign lands was
preached by Heber C. Kimball, and it was one of the Fielding sisters (Mrs.
Watson), who gave to the elders the first money for the "gospel's sake"
donated to the church abroad.
But to return to Kirtland. Hyrum Smith was a widower at the date of
Mary Fielding's arrival there from Canada. And this means that his only
wife was dead; for polygamy was unknown in the Church at that time. It
will therefore, be seen how pertinent is the often-repeated remark of the
sisters that the saints were not driven and persecuted because of
polygamy, but because of their belief in "new and continued revelation."
In becoming Hyrum's wife, Mary assumed the responsible situation of
step-mother to his five children, the task of which she performed with
unwavering fidelity, taking care of them for years after the martyrdom of
her husband, and taking the place of both father and mother to them in the
exodus of the Church to the Rocky Mountains. And Mary was well trained for
this latter task during her husband's lifetime, besides being matured in
years and character before her marriage.
From Kirtland, with her husband and family, she removed to Far West,
Mo., where, on the first day of November, 1838, her husband and his
brother, [253] the prophet, with others, were betrayed by the Mormon
colonel Hinkle into the hands of the armed mob under General Clark, in the
execution of Gov. Boggs' exterminating order. On the following day Hyrum
was marched, at the point of the bayonet, to his house, by a strong guard,
who with hideous oaths and threats commanded Mary to take her last
farewell of her husband, for, "His die was cast, and his doom was sealed,"
and she need never think she would see him again; allowing her only a
moment, as it were, for that terrible parting, and to provide a change of
clothes for the final separation. In the then critical condition of her
health this heartrending scene came nigh ending her life; but the natural
vigor of her mind sustained her in the terrible triad. Twelve days
afterwards she gave birth to her first born, a son; but she remained
prostrate on a bed of affliction and suffering for several months. In
January, 1839, she was taken in a wagon, with her infant, on her sick bed,
to Liberty, Clay county, Mo., where she was granted the privilege of
visiting her husband in jail, where he was confined by the mob, without
trial or conviction, because, forsooth, he was a "Mormon."
While in this condition of health, with her husband immured in a
dungeon and surrounded by fiends in human form, thirsting for his life, a
company of armed men, led by the notorious Methodist priest, Bogart,
entered her poor abode and searched it, breaking open a trunk; and
carrying away papers and valuables belonging to her husband. In this
helpless condition also she was forced from what shelter she had, in the
worst season of the year, to [254] cross the bleak prairies of Missouri,
expelled from the State, to seek protection among strangers in the more
hospitable State of Illinois. Here is the story that her sister Mercy
tells of those days and scenes:
"In 1838 I traveled in company with Hyrum Smith and family to Far
West. To describe in a brief sketch the scenes I witnessed and the
sufferings I endured would be impossible. An incident or two, however, I
will relate.
"My husband, with many of the brethren, being threatened and pursued
by a mob, fled into the wilderness in November, leaving me with an infant
not five months odd. Three months of distressing suspense I endured before
I could get any intelligence from him, during which time I staid with my
sister, wife of Hyrum Smith, who, having given birth to a son while her
husband was in prison, on the 13th of November took a severe cold and was
unable to attend to her domestic duties for four months. This caused much
of the care of her family, which was very large, to fall on me. Mobs were
continually threatening to massacre the inhabitants of the city, and at
times I feared to lay my babe down lest they should slay me and leave it
to suffer worse than immediate death. About the 1st of February, 1839, by
the request of her husband, my sister was placed on a bed in a wagon and
taken a journey of forty miles, to visit him in the prison. Her infant
son, Joseph F., being then but about eleven weeks old, I had to accompany
her, taking my own babe, then near eight months old. The he weather was
extremely cold, and we suffered much on the journey. This circumstance
[255] I always reflect upon with peculiar pleasure, notwithstanding the
extreme anxiety I endured from having the care of my sick sister and the
two babes. The remembrance of having had the honor of spending a night in
prison, in company with the prophet and patriarch, produces a feeling I
cannot express.
"Shortly after our return to Far West we had to abandon our homes and
start, in lumber wagons, for Illinois; my sister being again placed on a
bed, in an afflicted state. This was about the middle of February, and the
weather was extremely cold. I still had the care of both babes. We arrived
at Quincy about the end of the month."
The following interesting letter, from Mary to her brother Joseph in
England, will fitly close for the present the sketch of these sisters:
"COMMERCE, ILL., NORTH AMERICA,
"June, 1839.
"MY VERY DEAR BROTHER:
"As the elders are expecting shortly to take their leave of us again
to preach the gospel in my native land, I feel as though I would not let
the opportunity of writing you pass unimproved. I believe it will give you
pleasure to hear from us by our own hand; notwithstanding you will see the
brethren face to face, and have an opportunity of hearing all particulars
respecting us and our families.
"As it respects myself, it is now so long since I wrote to you, and
so many important things have transpired, and so great have been my
affliction, etc., that I know not where to begin; but I can say, hitherto
has the Lord preserved me, and I am still among the living to praise him,
as I do to-day. I [256] have, to be sure, been called to drink deep of the
bitter cup; but you know, my beloved brother, this makes the sweet
sweeter.
"You have, I suppose, heard of the imprisonment of my dear husband,
with his brother Joseph, Elder Rigdon, and others, who were kept from us
nearly six months; and I suppose no one felt the painful effects of their
confinement more than myself. I was left in a way that called for the
exercise of all the courage and grace I possessed. My husband was taken
from me by an armed force, at a time when I needed, in a particular
manner, the kindest care and attention of such a friend, instead of which,
the care of a large family was suddenly and unexpectedly left upon myself,
and, in a few days after, my dear little Joseph F. was added to the
number. Shortly after his birth I took a severe cold, which brought on
chills and fever; this, together with the anxiety of mind I had to endure,
threatened to bring me to the gates of death. I was at least four months
entirely unable to take any care either of myself or child; but the Lord
was merciful in so ordering, things that my dear sister could be with me.
Her child was five months old when mine was born; so she had strength
given her to nurse them both.
"You will also have heard of our being driven, as a people, from the
State, and from our homes; this happened during my sickness, and I had to
be removed more than two hundred miles, chiefly on my bed. I suffered much
on my journey; but in three or four weeks after we arrived in Illinois, I
began to amend, and my health is now as good as ever. It is now little
more than a month since the Lord, in his marvelous power, returned my dear
husband, with the rest of the brethren, to their families, in tolerable
health. We are now living in Commerce, on the bank of the great
Mississippi river. The situation is very pleasant; you would be much
pleased to see it. How long we may be [257] permitted to enjoy it I know
not; but the Lord knows what is best for us. I feel but little concerned
about where I am, if I can keep my mind staid upon God; for, you know in
this there is perfect peace. I believe the Lord is overruling all things
for our good. I suppose our enemies look upon us with astonishment and
disappointment.
"I greatly desire to see you, and I think you would be pleased to see
our little ones; will you pray for us, that we may have grace to train
them up in the way they should go, so that they may be a blessing to us
and the world? I have a hope that our brothers and sisters will also
embrace the fullness of the gospel, and come into the new and everlasting
covenant; I trust their prejudices will give way to the power of truth. I
would gladly have them with us here, even though they might have to endure
all kind of tribulation and affliction with us and the rest of the
children of God, in these last days, so that they might share in the
glories of the celestial kingdom. As to myself, I can truly say, that I
would not give up the prospect of the latter-day glory for all that
glitters in this world. O, my dear brother, I must tell you, for your
comfort, that my hope is full, and it is a glorious hope; and though I
have been left for near six months in widowhood, in the time of great
affliction, and was called to take, joyfully or otherwise, the spoiling of
almost all our goods, in the absence of my husband, and all unlawfully,
just for the gospel's sake (for the judge himself declared that he was
kept in prison for no other reason than because he was a friend to his
brother), yet I do not feel in the least discouraged; no, though my sister
and I are here together in a strange land, we have been enabled to
rejoice, in the midst of our privations and persecutions, that we were
counted worthy to suffer these things. so that we may. with the ancient
saints who suffered in like manner inherit the same glorious reward. If
[258] it had not been for this hope. I should have sunk before this; but,
blessed be the God and rock of my salvation, here I am, and am perfectly
satisfied and happy, having not the smallest desire to go one step
backward.
"Your last letter to Elder Kimball gave us great pleasure; we thank
you for your expression of kindness, and pray God to bless you according
to your desires for us.
"The more I see of the dealings of our Heavenly Father with us as a
people, the more I am constrained to rejoice that I was ever made
acquainted with the everlasting covenant. O may the Lord keep me faithful
till my change comes! O, my dear brother, why is it that our friends
should stand out against the truth, and look on those that would show it
to them as enemies? The work here is prospering much; several men of
respectability and intelligence, who have been acquainted with all our
difficulties, are coming into the work.
"My husband joins me in love to you. I remain, my dear brother and
sister, your affectionate sister,
"MARY SMITH."
[259] CHAPTER XXVI.
THE QUORUM OF THE APOSTLES GO ON MISSION TO ENGLAND--THEIR LANDING IN GREAT BRITAIN--THEY HOLD A CONFERENCE--A HOLIDAY FESTIVAL--MOTHER MOON AND FAMILY--SUMMARY OF A YEAR'S LABORS--CROWNING PERIOD OF THE BRITISH MISSION.
Scarcely had the saints made their exodus from Missouri--while many
of them were still domiciled in tents on the banks of the Mississippi, and
Nauvoo could only boast of a few rude houses to prophesy the glory of a
"second Zion"--ere nine of the quorum of the apostles were abroad, working
their missionary wonders in foreign lands. From that period to the present
(1877), the history of the Latter-day Church, with its emigrations, has
quite one-half belonged to the European mission, which has given to
America one hundred thousand emigrants.
Early in the year 1840 (January, 11th), apostles Wilford Woodruff and
John Taylor, with Elder Theodore Turley, landed on the shores of England.
They chose their several fields of labor and soon were actively engaged in
the ministry.
On the 19th of March of the same year Brigham [260] Young, Heber C.
Kimball, George A. Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, and Reuben Hedlock
sailed from New York on board the Patrick Henry. A number of the saints
came down to the wharf to bid them farewell. When the elders got into the
small-boat to go out to the ship, the saints on shore sang "The Gallant
Ship is Under Way," etc., in which song the elders joined until their
voices were separated by the distance.
Liverpool was reached by these apostles on the 6th of April. It was
the anniversary of the organization of the Church, just ten years before.
The next day they found Elder Taylor and John Moon, with about thirty
saints who had just received the work in that place, and on the day
following they went to Preston by railroad.
In Preston, the cradle of the British mission, the apostles were met
by a multitude of saints, who rejoiced exceedingly at the event of the
arrival of the twelve in that land.
Willard Richards immediately hastened to Preston and gave an account
of the churches in the British isles, over which he had been presiding
during the interval from the return of Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde to
America. The president of the twelve at once commenced to grapple with the
work in foreign lands, convened a conference, and wrote to Wilford
Woodruff to attend.
It was on the 14th of April, 1840, that the first council of the
twelve apostles, in a foreign land, was held at Preston. There were
present Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt,
John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and George [261] A. Smith. These proceeded
to ordain Willard Richards to their quorum, and then Brigham Young was
chosen, by a unanimous vote, the standing president of the twelve.
Then followed, during the next two days, "A General Conference of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," held in the Temperance Hall
at Preston, with Heber C. Kimball presiding, and William Clayton clerk.
There were represented at this time, one thousand six hundred and
seventy-one members, thirty-four elders, fifty-two priests, thirty-eight
teachers, and eight deacons.
The conference over, the apostles kept the old Christian holiday of
Good Friday, to regale their spirits after their long journey, which had
so quickly followed the many vicissitudes of persecution in their native
land, and before separating again on their arduous mission.
The place chosen to spend their holiday was the village of
Penwortham, two miles from Preston. That day Mother Moon made a feast for
the apostles at her house. From her treasury of "fat things" she brought
forth a bottle of wine which she had kept for forty years. This the elders
blessed and then partook of it. That bottle of wine is spoken of to this
day. The family of Mother Moon has also a history. Here is their page,
from Heber's journal of his first mission abroad:
"Having an appointment to preach in the village of Wrightington,
while on the way I stopped at the house of Brother Francis Moon, when I
was informed that the family of Matthias Moon had sent a request by him
for me to visit them, that [262] they might have the privilege of
conversing with me on the subject of the gospel. Accordingly Brother Amos
Fielding and I paid them a visit that evening. We were very kindly
received by the family, and had considerable conversation on the subject
of my mission to England, and the great work of the Lord in the last days.
They listened with attention to my statements, but at the same time they
appeared to be prejudiced against them. We remained in conversation until
a late hour, and then returned home. On our way Brother Fielding observed
that he thought our visit had been in vain, as the family seemed to have
considerable prejudice. I answered, be not faithless but believing; we
shall yet see great effects from this visit, for I know that some of the
family have received the testimony, and will shortly manifest the same; at
which remark he seemed surprised.
"The next morning I continued my journey to Wrightington and Hunter's
Hill. After spending two or three days in that vicinity, preaching, I
baptized seven of the family of Benson, and others, and organized a
branch.
"I returned by the way of Brother Fielding's, with whom I again
tarried for the night. The next morning I started for Preston, but when I
got opposite the lane leading to Mr. Moon's, I was forcibly led by the
spirit of the Lord to call and see them again. I therefore directed my
steps to the house. On my arrival I knocked at the door. Mrs. Moon
exclaimed: Come in! come in! You are welcome here! I and the lasses
(meaning her [263] daughters) have just been calling on the Lord, and
praying that he would send you this way.' She then informed me of her
state of mind since I was there, and said she at first rejected my
testimony, and endeavored to think lightly on the things I had advanced,
but on trying to pray, the heavens seemed like brass over her head, and it
was like iron under her feet. She did not know what was the matter,
saying, `Certainly the man has not bewitched me, has he?' And upon
inquiring she found it was the same with the lasses. They then began to
reflect on the things I told them, and thinking it possible that I had
told them the truth, they resolved to lay the case before the Lord, and
beseech him to give them a testimony concerning the things I had testified
of. She then observed that as soon as they did so light broke in upon
their minds; they were convinced that I was a messenger of salvation; that
it was the work of the Lord, and they had resolved to obey the gospel.
That evening I baptized Mr. Moon and his wife, and four of his daughters.
* * * I visited Mr. Moon again, and baptized the remainder of his family,
consisting of thirteen souls, the youngest of whom was over twenty years
of age. They received the gospel as little children, and rejoiced
exceedingly in its blessings. The sons were very good musicians and the
daughters excellent singers. When they united their instruments and voices
in the songs of Zion the effect was truly transporting. Before I left
England there were about thirty of that family and connections baptized,
five of whom--Hugh, John, Francis, William [264] and Thomas Moon--were
ordained to be fellow laborers with us in the vineyard, and I left them
rejoicing in the truths they had embraced."
After their short rest in Preston, refreshed and inspired by the
communion of so many of their quorum, these apostles rose like giants to
their work. Brigham Young and Willard went with Wilford Woodruff into
Herefordshire, where Brigham obtained money to publish the Book of Mormon;
Heber C. Kimball visited the disciples whom he had brought into the Church
during his first mission; Orson Pratt went into Scotland, George A. Smith
went into Staffordshire, John Taylor continued his labors at Liverpool,
where he raised up a conference, and Parley P. Pratt repaired to
Manchester to publish the Millennial Star.
A year passed. Here is the summary of its history, from Brigham
Young's journal:
"It was with a heart full of thanksgiving and gratitude to God, my
Heavenly Father, that I reflected upon his dealings with me and my
brethren of the twelve during the past year of my life, which was spent in
England. It truly seems a miracle to look upon the contrast between our
landing and departing from Liverpool. We landed in the spring of 1840, as
strangers in a strange land, and penniless, but through the mercy of God
we have gained many friends, established churches in almost every noted
town and city of Great Britain, baptized between seven and eight thousand
souls, printed five thousand Books of Mormon, three thousand hymn-books,
two thousand five hundred volumes of the Millennial Star, and [265] fifty
thousand tracts; emigrated to Zion one thousand souls, establishing a
permanent shipping agency, which will be a great blessing to the saints,
and have left sown in the hearts of many thousands the seed of eternal
life, which shall bring, forth fruit to the honor and glory of God; and
yet we have lacked nothing to eat, drink or wear; in all these things I
acknowledge the hand of God."
But even this was eclipsed by the results of the next ten years.
Besides the thousands who had emigrated, the British mission, at the
culmination of this third period, numbered nearly forty thousand souls.
The Millennial Star reached a weekly circulation of twenty-two thousand;
and there were half a million of Orson Pratt's tracts in circulation
throughout the land. This crowning period was during the presidencies of
Orson Spencer, Orson Pratt, and Franklin and Samuel Richards.
Too vast this missionary work abroad, and too crowded its events, for
us to follow the historic details; but we shall, however, frequently
hereafter meet representative women from Europe, and read in their
sketches many episodes of the saints in foreign lands.
[266] CHAPTER XXVII.
THE SISTERS AS MISSIONARIES--EVANGELICAL DIPLOMACY-- WITHOUT PURSE OR SCRIP--PICTURE OF THE NATIVE ELDERS--A SPECIMEN MEETING--THE SECRET OF SUCCESS--MORMONISM A SPIRITUAL GOSPEL--THE SISTERS AS TRACT DISTRIBUTERS WOMAN A POTENT EVANGELIST.
And what the part of the sisterhood in this great work outlined in
foreign lands?
The sisters were side by side with the most potent missionaries the
Latter-day Church found. They made nearly as many converts to Mormonism as
the elders. They were, often times, the direct instruments which brought
disciples into the Church. The elders riveted the anchor of faith by good
gospel logic, and their eloquent preachers enchanted the half-inspired
mind with well-described millennial views, but the sisters, as a rule, by
the nicest evangelical diplomacy brought the results about. They agitated
the very atmosphere with their magical faith in the new dispensation; they
breathed the spirit of their own beautiful enthusiasm into their
neighborhoods; they met the first brunt of persecution and conquered it by
their zeal; they transformed unbelief into belief by their personal [267]
testimonies, which aroused curiosity, or made their relatives and
neighbors sleepless with active thoughts of the new, and inspired doubts
of the old; they enticed the people to hear their elders preach, and did
more to disturb the peace of the town than could have done the town-crier;
they crowded their halls with an audience when without their sisterly
devising those halls had remained often empty and cold.
In the British mission--in England, Scotland and Wales--the sisters
had much better missionary opportunities than in America. The vast extent
of country over which the American people were sparsely scattered, forty
to fifty years ago, and the almost immediate gatherings of the disciples
to a centre place, or a local Zion, necessarily confined the missionary
movement at home nearly exclusively to the apostles and their aids, the
"Seventies;" and thus as soon as the disciples "gathered out of Babylon."
American society lost even the little leaven which the elders had inspired
in its midst.
But in England, Scotland and Wales, and at a later period in
Scandinavia, it was very different. Not merely one local Zion and a score
of branches scattered over a score of States, but in the British mission
at its zenith of progress there were over five hundred branches, fifty
conferences, and about a dozen pastorates--the latter very like Mormon
provinces or bishoprics. There the sisters had grand missionary
opportunities. From village to town, and from town to city, they helped
the elders push their work until this vast church superstructure was
reared. With such a leaven as the Mor-[268]mon sisterhood in Great
Britain, converts were made so fast that it was nearly twenty years before
even the immense yearly emigration of the saints to America began visibly
to tell in weakening missionary operations in that prolific land.
It has often been a matter of wonder how it happened that Mormonism
was such a mighty proselyting power in England compared with what it had
been in America. The two views presented suggest the exact reason; and in
addition to the gathering genius of the Mormons, the very "tidal wave" of
the country has swept migrating peoples westward. Three hundred Mormon
cities have sprung up on the Pacific slope, just as five hundred branches
did in Great Britain, which has required all the gathering energies of the
Church for over a quarter of a century to deplete her of these proselyting
saints. It was Great Britain that gave to the sisters their grand
missionary opportunities.
Here another view of the sisters presents itself. Much of the success
of "Mormonism" in foreign lands is due to the fact that the elders, like
Christ and his apostles of old, went about preaching the gospel "without
purse or scrip."
This apostolic custom captivated woman at once. Her sympathies were
charmed. She admired the heroic devotion and self-abnegation of such
ministers of Christ. Their examples directly appealed to her, so like were
they to her own faith. The disinterested aims and efforts of these men for
human good so accorded with her own divine aspirations, that she leapt
with a glorious enthusiasm to their side. [269] For once woman had found
the opportunity to exercise her own methods of apostleship.
She saw these elders upon the altar of sacrifice for a Christian
cause. Out in the wilderness of society were they, during the best years
of youth, preaching without purse or scrip, trusting in Providence for
their daily bread as truly as do the sparrows whom the Great Father feeds.
Wandering through the world were these devoted men, often with blood in
their well-worn shoes, preaching the glad tidings of a new dispensation
which the angels had opened to bring immortality to mortals, and establish
the order of heaven on earth. Such were the examples which the elders
presented in their ministry, and such examples woman loved.
Though they bore the title of elders, these missionaries, especially
the native ones, were generally young men from the age of twenty to
thirty. Scarcely were they converted ere they were sent out to mission the
land. The prophet Joseph had well cogitated on the saying of Christ, "The
harvest is great but the laborers are few;" and it was at once a bold and
happy stroke of genius on his part to leave the beaten track of choosing
only matured end experienced divines, calling instead a multitude of
youths and striplings to aid him in evangelizing the world. This was much
like Mohammed's choosing of the youthful enthusiast. All to be his
lieutenant in his religious empire-founding, mission. And so at one time
might have been found in Europe nearly a thousand of these young men, out
in the ministry, bearing the title of elders. Strange example! Elders at
twenty; veterans at twenty-five, [270] who had built up their conferences!
This pleased woman. It was unique. The example touched her heart and
stimulated her faith through her very sympathy for and admiration of the
heroic.
Into the villages of England, Scotland and Wales these youths made
their way, with hymn-book and Bible in hand, but with no ministerial
recommendation except a forceful, innovative intellectuality, and souls
inspired with the glories of a new and conquering faith.
Alone, at eventide, they would uncover their heads, on some green bit
of common, or, if on the Sabbath day, would daringly near the old village
church, which well might tremble at such sacrilege, as did they literally
in those bold missionary attempts, that never had been made but for
youth's rich unconsciousness of inability. Then would ring out the hymn of
the Latter-day Saints:
"Go, ye messengers of glory,
Run, ye legates of the skies,
Go and tell the pleasing story,
That a glorious angel flies;
Great and mighty,
With a message from on high!"
Or perchance it would be this instead:
"The morning breaks, the shadows flee;
Lo, Zion's standard is unfurled;
The dawning of a brighter day
Majestic rises on the world."
And many a village has been startled with this tremendous
proclamation, from the lips of young men:
"Jehovah speaks! Let Earth give ear!
And gentile nations turn and live!"
[271] First the woman would come out to listen, on the threshold of her
cottage, after supper; then she would draw near, and wonder about this
boy-preacher--to her eyes so much like her own boy, who, perhaps, is
playing at some evening game with his companions, near by. Next comes her
husband, and after awhile the boys themselves leave their games, and with
their sisters, gather to listen. And so are also gathered other family
groups of the village to swell the impromptu congregation. This is a
truthful picture, for the author is describing a literal experience.
Now comes the supplemental story of this boy-elder, that he is out in
the world preaching the gospel without purse or scrip, that he has eaten
nothing that day since breakfast, that he has journeyed miles and is tired
out, and that he has no place in which to lay his head that night.
The mother and her daughters whisper. They have conceived an idea
that will exactly fit that poor boy's case. Father is approached. At first
he will not listen to the proposition; but at last he yields. What else
could he do? When did woman fail if her sympathies were enlisted? To their
home the boy-missionary is taken. A supper is gleaned from the humble
peasant's leavings. Water is furnished to bathe the sore and blood-stained
feet. The woman is half converted by the sight of so much youthful
heroism. Mother and daughters dream of the boy-missionary that night.
'Tis a simple story; but from that house Mormonism is destined to
spread through all the village, until the aged clergyman, educated at
college, in his
[272] pulpit which he has occupied for a quarter of a century, fears that
boy as much as a second Goliah might have feared the stripling David.
And thus Mormonism ran from village to town, and from town to city;
carried, of course, to the larger places by the "veterans;" but in all
cases very similar. How much the sisters--mothers and daughters--had to do
in this work may be seen at a glance.
But the most salient view to be taken of Mormonism abroad is, as the
great spiritual movement of the age. The reader may be assured that it was
the beautiful themes of a new dispensation--themes such as angels might
have accompanied with their hosannas--that charmed disciples into the
Mormon Church. Spiritual themes and the gifts of the Holy Ghost were what
converted the tens of thousands in Great Britain; not a cold materialism,
much less a sensual gospel. Even to the simplest, who scarcely knew the
meaning of idealities, the spiritual and the ideal of Mormonism were its
principal charms. Indeed, it is to the fact that Mormonism was, in its
missionary history, such a unique and extraordinary spiritual, and yet
matter-of-fact, movement, that it owes its principal and rare successes.
In America, the splendid ambitions of empire-founding, the worldly
opportunities presented by a migrating people and a growing commonwealth,
sometimes charmed the dominating mind; but in the foreign missions,
especially in Great Britain, where it received its highest intellectual
interpretation from elders who championed it on the public platform
against the best orthodox disputants in the [273] land, it was Mormonism
as a great spiritual work that captivated most, and above all it was this
aspect of it that most captivated the sisterhood. In this view, and in
this view only, can the explanation be found of how it took such a deep
and lasting hold upon the female portion of society.
In the early rise of the Church abroad the disciples knew nothing of
the society-founding successes of Brigham Young, which to-day make
Mormonism quite potent in America and a periodical sensation to the
American Congress. Nothing of this; but much of the divine, much of the
spiritual, much of the angels' coming to reign with them in a millennium,
with Christ on earth.
Such was Mormonism abroad. Such has it ever been, with the sisters,
at home. Its success in making converts among women, both old and young,
has no parallel in the history of churches. Its all-potent influence on
the heart and brain of woman was miraculous. She received it in as great
faith as was that of the woman who laid hold of the skirt of Christ's
garment and was healed. She exulted in its unspeakably beautiful themes;
she revealed in its angelic experiences; she multiplied its disciples.
In some respects Mormonism, in its history and manifestations abroad,
compares strikingly with the more recent history of spiritualism in
America. Their geniuses are undoubtedly very different, but their potency
over society has been similar. The one was apostolic and Hebraic, with a
God as the source of its inspirations, a priesthood linking the heavens
and the earth as its controlling powers, and another Catholic or Universal
Church as the aim of [274] its ministry. The other has pulled down what it
has dared to call the idols of Deity, makes war on priesthood, and on the
Hebrew Jehovah, whom the Mormons serve, and disintegrates all churches.
Yet the themes of both have been themes of the angels' coming to visit the
earth again; "new revelations to suit the age;" another great spiritual
dispensation for the world.
Mormonism abroad, then, was supremely an apostolic spiritual work.
Paul's famous epistle to the Corinthians, upon spiritual gifts, presents
an exact view of what Mormonism has been; and as it was a chapter often
read to the saints--the subject of a thousand sermons--it may here be
fitly quoted to illustrate the view. The apostle says:
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you
ignorant. * * * *
"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit.
"And there are differences of administration, but the same Lord.
"And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God
which worketh all in all.
"But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit
withal.
"For to one is given by the spirit the word of wisdom; to another the
word of knowledge by the same spirit;
"To another faith by the same spirit; to another the gifts of
healing, by the same spirit;
"To another the working of miracles; to another prophesy; to another
discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the
interpretation of tongues;
"But all these worketh that one end the self-same spirit, dividing,
to every man severally as he will.
[275] "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members
of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. "For by one
spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one
spirit. * * * *
"And God hath set some in the church, first, apostles; secondarily,
prophets; thirdly teachers; after that miracles; then gifts of healings,
helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
"Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all
workers of miracles?
"Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all
interpret?
"But covet earnestly the best gifts; and yet show I unto you a more
excellent way."
In another chapter of Paul's epistle to the Corinthians, he presents
another famous spiritual view:
"How is it, then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you
hath a psalm, hath a doctrine hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an
interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
"If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the
most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
"But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church;
and let him speak to himself, and to God.
"Let the prophets speak: two or three, and let the other judge.
"If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first
hold his peace.
"For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may
be comforted.
"And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
[276] "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all
churches of the saints."
This is a very exact picture of the Latter-day Saints' testimony
meetings. It is indeed a striking illustration of the gospel and its
manifestations, as familiar to them as their own faces.
It was this spiritual gospel that the sisters promulgated in Great
Britain, and it was this that made the tens of thousands of converts. Had
not Mormonism been of this kind, and had not such been its manifestations,
woman never would have received it and become its apostle; nor would it
have made such a stir in the world.
The sisters also missioned the land by the distribution of tracts.
This made them to be preachers, in a way; and they carried their sermons
to the homes of rich and poor, to be read at the fireside by those who,
but for this, never would have gone to hear an elder preach.
In all the towns and cities of her Majesty's kingdom the saints
organized tract societies. In London, where many branches flourished,
these tract organizations were numerous; the same was measurably the case
with Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, and the principal
cities of Scotland and Wales. These tract distributors were numbered by
the thousand. They held their monthly meetings, mapped out their districts
and brought in their regular reports. At one time, as before stated, they
had in circulation half a million of Orson Pratt's tracts. It is scarcely
necessary to say that the sisters principally did this work, to which
should be added that they were assisted by the young men of [277] each
branch. In short, the sisters, in the work abroad, were a great missionary
power.
And here it may be observed that all evangelical history proves that
woman is ever the most potent evangelist. She permeates society with the
influence of her church, makes converts in the homes of her neighbors,
where her pastor could never reach without her help, and inspires the very
faith by which miracles are wrought.
Woman has many striking examples of her influence and acts in the
history of religious empire founding. Miriam charmed the congregation of
Israel with her songs, and strengthened her brother Moses' power by her
prophesies; Esther rendered the captivity of her people lighter by her
mediation; Judith delivered her nation from the Assyrian captain; the two
Marys and Martha seemed to have understood Jesus better than did his
apostles even, and they saw first their risen Lord; St. Helena did much to
make her son, Constantine, the imperial champion of Christianity;
perchance had there been no Cadijah the world would never have known a
Mohammed; the Catholic Church has been more potent through the sisters of
its various orders; and the examples which the Mormon sisterhood have
given are almost as striking as those of the sisters of that church.
These are some of the views which may be presented of the sisters in
their great missionary work abroad, and they are also fit illustrations of
the spiritual movement, which they represent, in the age.
[278] CHAPTER XXVIII.
MORMONISM AND THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND--PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK OF MORMON TO THE QUEEN AND PRINCE ALBERT--ELIZA R. SNOWS POEM ON THAT EVENT--"ZIONS NURSING MOTHER--HEBER C. KIMBALL BLESSES VICTORIA.
Here an interesting story is to be told of Mormonism and the Queen of
England.
It wild be remembered that Victoria ascended the throne of Great
Britain just three days before Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde and Willard
Richards arrived in her realm to preach the gospel of Messiah's coming.
There was something poetic in this. Victoria became connected in some
way with the new dispensation. She alone of all the monarchs of the earth
was prophetically cast in its dramatis personae. Poetry and prophesy both
were pregnant with much of subject and promise that concerned Victoria of
England. She may not be aware of it, but there is quite a romance of the
British Queen in Mormon history, to which the presentation of the Book of
Mormon to herself and the late Prince convert gives pictorial display.
Before leaving England, President Brigham Young, [279] who had
succeeded in raising means to publish the Book of Mormon, gave directions
for copies to be specially prepared and richly bound for presentation to
her Majesty and the Prince consort. The honor of this devolved on Lorenzo
Snow, who was at that period President of the London Conference. The
presentation was made in 1842, through the politeness of Sir Henry
Wheatley; and it is said her Majesty condescended to be pleased with the
gift. Whether she ever read the Book of Mormon is not known, although, if
the presentation has not altogether faded from her memory, Mormonism has
been since that date sensational enough to provoke even a monarch to read
the book, if for nothing better than curiosity; so, not unlikely Queen
Victoria has read some portions at least of the Book of Mormon. The unique
circumstance called forth from the pen of Eliza R. Snow the following
poem, entitled "Queen Victoria:"
"Of all the monarchs of the earth
That wear the robes of royalty,
She has inherited by birth
The broadest wreath of majesty.
From her wide territorial wing
The sun does not withdraw its light,
While earth's diurnal motions bring
To other nations day and night.
All earthly thrones are tott'ring things,
Where lights and shadows intervene;
And regal honor often brings
The scaffold or the guillotine.
But still her sceptre is approved--
All nations deck the wreath she wears;
Yet, like the youth whom Jesus loved,
One thing is lacking even there.
[280]
But lo! a prize possessing more
Of worth than gems with honor rife--
A herald of salvation bore
To her the words of endless life.
That gift, however fools deride,
Is worthy of her royal care;
She'd better lay her crown aside
Than spurn the light reflected there.
O would she now her influence lend--
The influence of royalty,
Messiah's kingdom to extend,
And Zion's nursing Mother' be;
She, with the glory of her name
Inscribed on Zion's lofty spire,
Would win a wreath of endless fame,
To last when other wreaths expire.
Though over millions called to reign
Herself a powerful nation's boast,
'Twould be her everlasting gain
To serve the King, the Lord of Hosts.
For there are crowns and thrones on high,
And kingdoms there to be conferred;
There honors wait that never die,
There fame's immortal trump is heard.
Truth speaks--it is Jehovah's word;
Let kings and queens and princes hear:
In distant isles the sound is heard--
Ye heavens, rejoice; O earth, give ear.
The time, the time is now at hand
To give a glorious period birth--
The Son of God will take command,
And rule the nations of the earth."
It will be seen that our Hebraic poetess has suggested for Victoria
of England the title of "Zion's Nursing Mother." The reference is to
Isaiah's glorious song of Zion. He, according to the universally accepted
interpretation, foresaw the rise of Messiah's kingdom on the earth in the
last days.
[281] "And they shall call thee the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy
One of Israel.
"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the
brightness of thy rising.
"And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing
mothers.
"Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a
royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
"Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him and his
work before him."
This is the subject of which the gorgeous Isaiah sang; and the
prophesy of Joseph and the poetry of Eliza have applied it principally to
America as Zion, and conditionally, to Queen Victoria as her "Nursing
Mother."
Many earthly thrones were about to totter. Soon France--from the days
of Charlemagne styled "The Eldest Daughter of the Church"--saw her crown
trampled in the very gutter, by the rabble of Paris, and a few years later
the scepter of Rome was wrested from the hands of the "successor of St.
Peter" by Victor Emanuel; yet of Victoria of England, Zion's poetess
sings:
"But still her sceptre is approved."
Mark the poetic and prophetic significance between America as Zion,
and Great Britain, represented in Victoria. A new age is born. Victoria is
its imperial star; while from America--the land that owns no earthly
sovereign--come these apostles to her realm just three days after the
sceptre is placed in her hands. The prophet of America sends them to
proclaim to Great Britain the rising of a [282] star superior to her own.
It is the star of Messiah's kingdom. She is called to her mission as its
Nursing Mother.
Seeing that Joseph was the prophet of America, and that the British
mission has given to the Mormon Zion over a hundred thousand of her
children already gathered to build up her cities and rear her temples, it
is not strange that the burden of this prophesy should have been claimed
and shared between the two great English speaking nations.
But there is a personal romance as well, which centres in Victoria.
At the time Sister Eliza wrote the poem to her name, Victoria of England
was quite a theme in the Mormon Church. Not only in her own realm, among
her own subjects, but in Zion also she was preached about, prophesied
about, dreamed about, and seen in visions. Brigham, as we have seen,
caused special copies of the Book of Mormon to be prepared for her and
Prince Albert; Lorenzo Snow presented them through the courtesy of a state
personage, and his sister immortalized the circumstance in verse. The
story is told, also, that Heber C. Kimball, while in London, blessed
Victoria, as she passed, by the power and authority of his apostleship;
and what Heber did was done with the spirit and with the understanding
also. Queen Victoria has been remarkably successful, and unrivaled in the
glory of her reign.
[283] CHAPTER XXIX.
LITERAL APPLICATION OF CHRIST S COMMAND--THE SAINTS LEAVE FATHER AND MOTHER, HOME AND FRIENDS, TO GATHER TO ZION--MRS. WILLIAM STAINES--HER EARLY LIFE AND EXPERIENCE--A MIDNIGHT BAPTISM IN MIDWINTER--FAREWELL TO HOME AND EVERY FRIEND--INCIDENTS OF THE JOURNEY TO NAUVOO.
How characteristic the following gospel passages! How well and
literally have they been applied in the history and experience of the
Latter-day Saints:
"He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me;
and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.
"And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not
worthy of me.
"He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life
for my sake, shall find it.
"And every one that has forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake,
shall receive a hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life."
This gospel was preached by the Mormon elders with nothing of the
"spiritual" sense so acceptable to fashionable churches. Nothing of the
idealistic glamour was given to it. Most literal, indeed almost cruelly
Christian, was Mormonism here.
[284] But it was not until the "gathering" was preached to the disciples
in Great Britain, that the full significance of such a gospel was
realized. True it was made as severe to the saints in America, through
their persecutions; especially when at length they were driven from the
borders of civilization. To the British mission, however, in the early
days, we must go for striking illustrations. A "gathering dispensation"
preached to Europe before the age of emigration had set in! At first it
startled, aye, almost appalled the disciples in Great Britain. In those
days the common people of England scarcely ever strayed ten miles from the
churchyards where had slept their kindred from generation to generation.
True the mechanic traveled in search of employment from one manufacturing
city to another, passed along by the helping hand of trade societies; but
families, as a rule, never moved. Migration was to them an
incomprehensible law, to be wondered at even in the example of the birds
who were forced by climate to migrate as the season changed. Migrating
peoples could only be understood in the examples of the Jews or Gipsies,
both of whom were looked upon as being "under the curse." "Going to
London" was the crowning event of a lifetime to even the well-to-do
townsman, a hundred miles distant from the metropolis; going to America
was like an imagined flight to the moon. At best emigration was
transportation from fatherland, and the emigration of tens of thousands of
England loving saints was a transportation to the common people without
parallel for cruelty.
It was long before English society forgave the [285] American elders
for preaching emigration in England. It looked upon them absolutely as the
betrayers of a confiding religious people who had already been too much
betrayed by an American delusion.
And as observed, the doctrine of emigration from native land to
America--the new world: another world in seeming--and that, too, as a
necessity to salvation, or at least to the obedience of heaven's commands,
appalled at first the very "elect." Nothing the Holy Ghost could dissipate
the terrors of emigration.
Sister Staines shall be first chosen to personally illustrate this
subject, because of the peculiarity of her experience, and for the reason
that she is the wife of William C. Staines, himself an early Mormon
emigrant to Nauvoo, and to-day the general emigration agent of the Church,
and who, during the past fifteen years, has emigrated, under the direction
of President Young, about fifty thousand souls from Europe. Others of the
sisters will follow in this peculiar line of Mormon history.
Priscilla Mogridge Staines was born in Widbrook, Wiltshire, England,
March 11th, 1823.
"My parents," she says, "were both English. My father's name was John
Mogridge, and my mother's maiden name was Mary Crook.
"I was brought up in the Episcopal faith from my earliest childhood,
my parents being members of the Episcopal Church. But as my mind became
matured, and I thought more about religion, I became dissatisfied with the
doctrines taught by that Church, and I prayed to God my Heavenly [286]
Father to direct me aright, that I might know the true religion.
"Shortly after being thus concerned about my salvation, I heard
Mormonism and believed it. God had sent the true gospel to me in answer to
my prayer.
"It was a great trial for a young maiden (I was only nineteen years
of age) to forsake all for the gospel--father, mother, brothers and
sisters--and to leave my childhood's home and native land, never expecting
to see it again. This was the prospect before me. The saints were already
leaving fatherland, in obedience to the doctrine of gathering, which was
preached at this time with great plainness by the elders as an imperative
command of God. We looked upon the gathering as necessary to our
salvation. Nothing of our duty in this respect was concealed, and we were
called upon to emigrate to America as soon as the way should open, to
share the fate of the saints, whatever might come. Young as I was and
alone of all my family in the faith, I was called to take up my cross and
lay my earthly all upon the altar; yet so well satisfied was I with my new
religion that I was willing to make every sacrifice for it in order to
gain my salvation and prove myself not unworthy of the saints' reward.
"Having determined to be baptized, I resolved to at once obey the
gospel, although it was mid-winter and the weather bitterly cold.
"It is proper to here state that baptism was a trial to the converts
in England in those days. They had to steal away, even unknown to their
[287] friends oftentimes, and scarcely daring to tell the saints
themselves that they were about to take up the cross; and not until the
ordinance had been administered, and the Holy Ghost gave them boldness,
could they bring themselves to proclaim openly that they had cast in their
lot with the despised Mormons. Nor was this all, for generally the elders
had to administer baptism when the village was wrapt in sleep, lest
persecutors should gather a mob to disturb the solemn scene with gibes and
curses, accompanied with stones or clods of earth torn from the river bank
and hurled at the disciple and minister during the performance of the
ceremony.
On the evening of a bitterly cold day in midwinter, as before stated,
I walked four miles to the house of a local elder for baptism. Arriving at
his house, we waited until midnight, in order that the neighbors might not
disturb us, and then repaired to a stream of water a quarter of a mile
away. Here we found the water, as we anticipated, frozen over, and the
elder had to chop a hole in the ice large enough for the purpose of
baptism. It was a scene and an occasion I shall never forget. Memory
to-day brings back the emotions and sweet awe of that moment. None but God
and his angels, and the few witnesses who stood on the bank with us, heard
my covenant; but in the solemnity of that midnight hour it seemed as
though all nature were listening, and the recording angel writing our
words in the book of the Lord. Is it strange that such a scene, occurring,
in the life of a latter-day saint, should make an everlasting impression,
as this did on mine?
[288] "Having been thus baptized, I returned to the house in my wet and
freezing garments.
"Up to this hour, as intimated, my heart's best affection had been
centred on home, and my greatest mental struggle in obeying the gospel had
been over the thought of soon leaving that home; but no sooner had I
emerged from the water, on that night of baptism, and received my
confirmation at the water's edge, than I became filled with an
irresistible desire to join the saints who were gathering to America. The
usual confirmation words, pronounced upon my head, `Receive ye the gift of
the Holy Ghost,' were, indeed, potent. They changed the current of my
life. This remarkable and sudden change of mind and the now all-absorbing
desire to emigrate with the saints was my first testimony to the truth and
power of the gospel.
"Shortly thereafter (December 27th, 1843), I left the home of my
birth to gather to Nauvoo. I was alone. It was a dreary winter day on
which I went to Liverpool. The company with which I was to sail were all
strangers to me. When I arrived at Liverpool and saw the ocean that would
soon roll between me and all I loved, my heart almost failed me. But I had
laid my idols all upon the altar. There was no turning back. I remembered
the words of the Saviour: `He that leaveth not father and mother, brother
and sister, for my sake, is not worthy of me,' and I believed his promise
to those who forsook all for his sake; so I thus alone set out for the
reward of everlasting life, trusting in God.
[289] "In company with two hundred and fifty saints I embarked on the
sailing vessel Fanny and after a tedious passage of six weeks' duration,
we arrived in New Orleans. There an unexpected difficulty met us. The
steamer Maid of Iowa, belonging to the prophet Joseph, and on which the
company of saints had expected to ascend the Mississippi to Nauvoo, was
embargoed and dashed to the wharf. But Providence came to our aid. A lady
of fortune was in the company--a Mrs. Bennett--and out of her private
purse she not only lifted the embargo, but also fitted out the steamer
with all necessary provisions, fuel, etc., and soon the company were again
on their way.
"The journey up the river was a tedious and eventful one, consuming
five weeks of time. At nearly every stopping place the emigrants were
shamefully insulted and persecuted by the citizens. At Memphis some
villain placed a half consumed cigar under a straw mattress and other
bedding that had been laid out, aft of the ladies' cabin, to air. When we
steamed out into the river the draft, created by the motion of the boat,
soon fanned the fire into a quick flame. Fortunately I myself discovered
covered the fire and gave the alarm in time to have it extinguished before
it had consumed more than a portion of the adjoining woodwork. Perhaps one
minute more of delay in its discovery, and that company of two hundred and
fifty souls would have been subjected to all the horrors and perils
incident to a panic and fire on shipboard.
"At another place the pilot decided to tie up the boat at a landing
and wait for the subsiding of a [290] furious gale that was blowing. This
he accordingly did, and let off steam, thinking to remain there over
night. In the meantime a mob gathered. We were Mormons. Too often had mobs
shown that the property of Mormons might be destroyed with impunity, in
the most lawless manner, and their lives taken by the most horrible means.
Had that boat been consumed by fire, `twould have been but a pleasing
sensation, seeing that it belonged to the Mormon prophet; and the two
hundred and fifty men, women and children, if consumed, would have been,
in the eyes of their persecutors, only so many Mormons well disposed of.
Thus, doubtless, would have thought the mob who gathered at that
landing-place and cut the boat adrift. The Maid of Iowa was now submitted
to the triple peril of being adrift without steam, at the mercy of a
treacherous current, and in the midst of a hurricane. The captain,
however, succeeded in raising the steam, and the boat was brought under
sufficient control to enable her to be brought to, under shelter of a
heavy forest, where she was tied up to the trees and weathered the gale.
"At another landing a mob collected and began throwing stones through
the cabin windows, smashing the glass and sash, and jeopardizing the lives
of the passengers. This was a little too much for human forbearance. The
boat was in command of the famous Mormon captain, Dan Jones; his Welsh
blood was now thoroughly warm; he knew what mobs meant. Mustering the
brethren, with determined wrath he ordered them to parade with [291]
loaded muskets on the side of the boat assailed. Then he informed the mob
that if they did not instantly desist, he would shoot them down like so
many dogs; and like so many dogs they slunk away.
"As the Maid of Iowa had made slow progress, and had been frequently
passed by more swift going steamers, her progress was well known by the
friends of Nauvoo. So on the day of our arrival the saints were out en
masse to welcome us. I had never before seen any of those assembled, yet I
felt certain, as the boat drew near, that I should be able to pick out the
prophet Joseph at first sight. This belief I communicated to Mrs. Bennett,
whose acquaintance I had made on the voyage. She wondered at it; but I
felt impressed by the spirit that I should know him. As we neared the pier
the prophet was standing among the crowd. At the moment, however, I
recognized him according to the impression, and pointed him out to Mrs.
Bennett, with whom I was standing alone on the hurricane deck.
"Scarcely had the boat touched the pier when, singularly enough,
Joseph sprang on board, and, without speaking with any one, made his way
direct to where we were standing, and addressing Mrs. Bennett by name,
thanked her kindly for lifting the embargo from his boat, and blessed her
for so materially aiding the saints."
[292] CHAPTER XXX.
RISE OF NAUVOO--INTRODUCTION OF POLYGAMY--MARTYRDOM OF JOSEPH AND HYRUM--CONTINUATION OF ELIZA R. SNOW'S NARRATIVE--HER ACCEPTANCE OF POLYGAMY, AND MARRIAGE TO THE PROPHET--GOVERNOR CARLIN'S TREACHERY--HER SCATHING REVIEW OF THE MARTYRDOM--MOTHER LUCY'S STORY OF HER MURDERED SONS.
Meanwhile, since the reader has been called to drop the historical
thread of the saints in America for a view of the rise of Mormonism in
foreign lands, Nauvoo, whose name signifies the beautiful city, has grown
into an importance worthy her romantic name and character as the second
Zion. Nauvoo was bidding fair to become the queen of the West; and had she
been allowed to continue her career for a quarter of a century, inspired
by the gorgeous genius of her prophet, although she would not have rivaled
Chicago or St. Louis as a commercial city, yet would she have become the
veritable New Jerusalem of America--in the eyes of the "Gentiles" scarcely
less than in the faith of our modern Israel.
Polygamy, also, by this time has been introduced into the Church, and
the examples of the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, and of kings David and
Solo-[293]mon, have begun to prevail. That the "peculiar institution" was
the cross of the sisterhood in those days, it would be heartless to
attempt to conceal, for, as already seen, the first wives of the founders
of Mormondom were nearly all daughters of New England, whose monogamic
training was of the severest kind, and whose monogamic conceptions were of
the most exacting nature.
Polygamy was undoubtedly introduced by Joseph himself, at Nauvoo,
between 1840 and 1844. Years afterwards, however, a monogamic rival
church, under the leadership of young Joseph Smith, the first born of the
prophet, arose, denying that the founder of Mormondom was the author of
polygamy, and affirming that its origin was in Brigham Young, subsequent
to the martyrdom of the prophet and his brother Hyrum. This, with the fact
that nearly the whole historic weight of polygamy rests with Utah, renders
it expedient that we should barely touch the subject at Nauvoo, and wait
for its stupendous sensation after its publication to the world by Brigham
Young--a sensation that Congress has swelled into a national noise, and
that General Grant has made the hobgoblin of his dreams.
Nor can we deal largely with the history of Nauvoo. It is not the
representative period of the sisters. They only come in with dramatic
force in their awful lamentation over the martyrdom, which was not equaled
in Jerusalem at the crucifixion. The great historic period of the women of
Mormondom is during the exodus of the Church and its removal to the Rocky
Mountains, when they figured quite as strongly as did the women of ancient
Israel [294] in the exodus from Egypt. We can scarcely hope to do full
justice to that period, but hasten to some of its salient views. And here
the historic thread shall be principally continued by Eliza R. Snow. She,
touching the city of the saints, and then slightly on the introduction of
polygamy, says:
"The location of the city of Nauvoo was beautiful, but the climate
was so unhealthy that none but Latter-day Saints, full of faith, and
trusting in the power of God, could have established that city. Chills and
fever was the prevailing disease. Notwithstanding we had this to contend
with, through the blessing of God on the indefatigable exertions of the
saints, it was not long before Nauvoo prompted the envy and jealousy of
many of the adjacent inhabitants, and, as the `accuser of the brethren'
never sleeps, we had many difficulties to meet, which ultimately
culminated in the most bitter persecutions.
"To narrate what transpired within the seven years in which we built
and occupied Nauvoo, the beautiful, would fill many volumes. That is a
history that never will, and never can, repeat itself. Some of the most
important events of my life transpired within that brief term, in which I
was married, and in which my husband, Joseph Smith, the prophet of God,
sealed his testimony with his blood.
"Although in my youth I had considered marriage to have been ordained
of God, I had remained single; and to-day I acknowledge the kind
overruling providence of God in that circumstance as fully as in any other
of my life; for I have not known of one of my former suitors having
received the truth; by [295] which it is manifest that I was singularly
preserved from the bondage of a marriage tie which would, in all
probability, have prevented my receiving, or enjoying the free exercise
of, that religion which has been, and is now, dearer to me than life.
"In Nauvoo I had the first intimation, or at least the first
understanding, that the practice of a plurality of wives would be
introduced into the Church. The thought was very repugnant to my feelings,
and in direct opposition to my educational prepossessions; but when I
reflected that this was the dispensation of the fullness of times,
embracing all other dispensations, it was plain that plural marriage must
be included; and I consoled myself with the idea that it was a long way in
the distance, beyond the period of my mortal existence, and that, of
course, I should not have it to meet. However, it was announced to me that
the `set time' had come--that God had commanded his servants to establish
the order, by taking additional wives.
"It seemed for awhile as though all the traditions, prejudices, and
superstitions of my ancestry, for many generations, accumulated before me
in one immense mass; but God, who had kept silence for centuries, was
speaking; I knew it, and had covenanted in the waters of baptism to dive
by every word of his, and my heart was still firmly set to do his bidding.
"I was sealed to the prophet, Joseph Smith, for time and eternity, in
accordance with the celestial law of marriage which God had revealed, the
ceremony being performed by a servant of the Most High--authorized to
officiate in sacred ordinances. [296] This, one of the most important
events of my life, I have never had cause to regret. The more I comprehend
the pure and ennobling principle of plural marriage, the more I appreciate
it. It is a necessity in the salvation of the human family--a necessity in
redeeming woman from the curse, and the world from its corruptions.
"When I entered into it, my knowledge of what it was designed to
accomplish was very limited; had then understood what I now understand, I
think I should have hailed its introduction with joy, in consideration of
the great good to be accomplished. As it was, I received it because I knew
that God required it.
"When in March, 1842, the prophet, Joseph Smith, assisted by some of
the leading elders in the church, organized the Female Relief Society (now
the great female organization of Utah), I was present, and was appointed
secretary of that society, of which shall say more hereafter. In the
summer of 1842 I accompanied Mrs. Emma Smith, the president of the
society, to Quincy, Ill., with a petition signed by several hundred
members of the society, praying his Excellency, Governor Carlin, for
protection from illegal suits then pending against Joseph Smith. We met
with a very cordial reception, and presented the petition, whereupon the
governor pledged his word and honor that he would use his influence to
protect Mr. Smith, whose innocence he acknowledged. But, soon after our
return, we learned that at the time of our visit and while making
protestations of friendship, Governor Carlin was secretly conniving with
the basest of men to destroy our [297] leader. He was even combining with
minions of the great adversary of truth in the State of Missouri, who were
vigilant in stirring up their colleagues in Illinois, to bring about the
terrible crisis.
"The awful tragedy of the 27th of June, 1844, is a livid, burning,
scathing stain on our national escutcheon. To look upon the noble,
lifeless forms of those brothers, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, as they lay side
by side in their burial clothes, having been brought home from Carthage,
where they had been slaughtered in their manhood and in their innocence,
was a sight that might well appal the heart of a true American citizen;
but what it was for loving wives and children, the heart may feel, but the
tongue can never tell.
"This scene occurred in America, `the land of the free and the home
of the brave,' to which our ancestors fled for religious freedom--where
the `dear old flag yet waves,' and under which not one effort has been
made to bring to justice the perpetrators of that foul deed."
To the aged mother of the prophet and patriarch of the Mormon Church
shall be given the personal presentation of the subject of the martyrdom;
for although the mother's heartrending description cannot be considered as
a sufficiently great historical word-picture of the scene, yet there is
much of tragic force in it. She says:
"On the morning of the 24th of June, 1844, Joseph and Hyrum were
arrested for treason, by a warrant founded upon the oaths of A. O. Norton
and Augustine Spencer.
"I will not dwell upon the awful scene which suc-[298]ceeded. My
heart is thrilled with grief and indignation, and my blood curdles in my
veins whenever speak of it.
"My sons were thrown into jail, where they remained three days, in
company with Brothers Richards, Taylor, and Markham. At the end of this
time, the governor disbanded most of the men, but left a guard of eight of
our bitterest enemies over the jail, and sixty more of the same character
about a hundred yards distant. He then came into Nauvoo with a guard of
fifty or sixty men, made a short speech, and returned immediately. During
his absence from Carthage, the guard rushed Brother Markham out of the
place at the point of the bayonet. Soon after this, two hundred of those
discharged in the morning rushed into Carthage, armed, and painted black,
red and yellow, and in ten minutes fled again, leaving my sons murdered
and mangled corpses!
"In leaving the place, a few of them found Samuel coming into
Carthage alone, on horseback, and finding that he was one of our family,
they attempted to shoot him, but he escaped out of their hands, although
they pursued him at the top of their speed for more than two hours. He
succeeded the next day in getting to Nauvoo in season to go out and meet
the procession with the bodies of Hyrum and Joseph, as the mob had the
kindness to allow us the privilege of bringing them home, and burying them
in Nauvoo, notwithstanding the immense reward which was offered by the
Missourians for Joseph's head.
"Their bodies were attended home by only two [299] persons, save
those who went from this place. These were Brother Willard Richards, and a
Mr. Hamilton; Brother John Taylor having been shot in prison, and nearly
killed, he could not be moved until sometime afterwards.
"After the corpses were washed, and dressed in their burial clothes,
we were allowed to see them. I had for a long time braced every nerve,
roused every energy of my soul, and called upon God to strengthen me; but
when I entered the room, and saw my murdered sons extended both at once
before my eyes, and heard the sobs and groans of my family, and the cries
of Father! husband! `brothers!' from the lips of their wives, children,
brother, and sisters, it was too much; I sank back, crying to the Lord, in
the agony of my soul, `My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken this
family!' A voice replied, `I have taken them to myself, that they might
have rest.' Emma was carried back to her room almost in a state of
insensibility. Her oldest son approached the corpse, and dropped upon his
knees, and laying his cheek against his father's and kissing him,
exclaimed, `Oh! my father! my father!' As for myself, I was swallowed up
in the depth of my afflictions; and though my soul was filled with horror
past imagination, yet I was dumb, until I arose again to contemplate the
spectacle before me. Oh! at that moment how my mind flew through every
scene of sorrow and distress which we had passed together, in which they
had shown the innocence and sympathy which filled their guileless hearts.
As I looked upon their peaceful, smiling countenances, [300] I seemed
almost to hear them say, Mother, weep not for us, we have overcome the
world by love; we carried to them the gospel, that their souls might be
saved; they slew us for our testimony, and thus placed us beyond their
power; their ascendency is for a moment, ours is an eternal triumph.'
"I then thought upon the promise which I had received in Missouri,
that in five years Joseph should have power over all his enemies. The time
had elapsed, and the promise was fulfilled.
"I left the scene and returned to my room, to ponder upon the
calamities of my family. Soon after this Samuel said: `Mother, I have had
a dreadful distress in my side ever since I was chased by the mob, and I
think I have received some injury which is going to make me sick.' And
indeed he was then not able to sit up, as he had been broken of his rest,
besides being dreadfully fatigued in the chase, which, joined to the shock
occasioned by the death of his brothers, brought on a disease that never
was removed.
"On the following day the funeral rites of the murdered ones were
attended to, in the midst of terror and alarm, for the mob had made their
arrangements to burn the city that night, but by the diligence of the
brethren, they were kept at bay until they became discouraged, and
returned to their homes.
"In a short time Samuel, who continued unwell, was confined to his
bed, and lingering till the 30th of July, his spirit forsook its earthly
tabernacle, and went to join his brothers, and the ancient martyrs, in the
paradise of God."
[301] CHAPTER XXXI.
THE EXODUS--TO YOUR TENTS, O ISRAEL--SETTING OUT FROM THE BORDERS OF CIVILIZATION--MOVEMENTS OF THE CAMP OF ISRAEL--FIRST NIGHT AT SUGAR CREEK--PRAISING GOD IN THE SONG AND DANCE--DEATH BY THE WAYSIDE.
The heroism of the Mormon women rose to more than tragic splendor in
the exodus. Only two circumstances after the martyrdom connect them
strongly with their beloved city. These attach to their consecrations in,
and adieus to, the temple, and the defence of Nauvoo by the remnant of the
saints in a three days' battle with the enemy. Then came the evacuation of
the city several months after the majority of the twelve, with the body of
the Church, had taken up their march towards the Rocky Mountains.
Early in February, 1846, the saints began to cross the Mississippi in
flat-boats, odd lighters, and a number of skiffs, forming quite a fleet,
which was at work night and day under the direction of the police.
On the 15th of the same month, Brigham young, with his family, and
others, crossed the Mississippi from Nauvoo, and proceeded to the "Camps
of [302] Israel," as they were styled by the saints, which waited on the
west side of the river, a few miles on the way, for the coming of their
leader. These were to form the vanguard of the migrating saints, who were
to follow from the various States where they were located, or had
organized themselves into flourishing branches and conferences; and soon
after this period also began to pour across the Atlantic that tide of
emigration from Europe, which has since swelled to the number of about one
hundred thousand souls.
In Nauvoo the saints had heard the magic cry, "To your tents, O
Israel!" And in sublime faith and trust, such as history scarcely gives an
example of, they had obeyed, ready to follow their leader whithersoever he
might direct their pilgrim feet.
The Mormons were setting out, under their leader, from the borders of
civilization, with their wives and their children, in broad daylight,
before the eyes of ten thousand of their enemies, who would have preferred
their utter destruction to their "flight," notwithstanding they had
enforced it by treaties outrageous beyond description, inasmuch as the
exiles were nearly all American born, many of them tracing their ancestors
to the very founders of the nation. They had to make a journey of fifteen
hundred miles over trackless prairies, sandy deserts and rocky mountains,
through bands of warlike Indians, who had been driven, exasperated,
towards the West; and at last to seek out and build up their Zion in
valleys then unfruitful, in a solitary region where the foot of the white
man had scarcely trod. These, too, were to be followed by the aged, [303]
the halt, the sick and the blind, the poor, who were to be helped by their
little less destitute brethren, and the delicate young mother with her
new-born babe at her breast, and still worse, for they were not only
threatened with the extermination of the poor remnant at Nauvoo, but news
had arrived that the parent government designed to pursue their pioneers
with troops, take from them their arms, and scatter them, that they might
perish by the way, and leave their bones bleaching in the wilderness.
At about noon, on the 1st of March, 1846, the "Camp of Israel" began
to move, and at four o'clock nearly four hundred wagons were on the way,
traveling in a north-westerly direction. At night they camped again on
Sugar Creek, having advanced five miles. Scraping away the snow they
pitched their tents upon the frozen ground; and, after building large
fires in front, they made themselves as comfortable as possible under the
circumstances. Indeed, it is questionable whether any other people in the
world could have cozened themselves into a happy state of mind amid such
surroundings, with such a past fresh and bleeding in their memories, and
with such a prospect as was before both themselves and the remnant of
their brethren left in Nauvoo to the tender mercies of the mob. In his
diary, Apostle Orson Pratt wrote that night: "Notwithstanding our
sufferings, hardships and privations, we are cheerful, and rejoice that we
have the privilege of passing through tribulation for the truth's sake."
These Mormon pilgrims, who tool; much consolation on their journey in
likening themselves to the [304] Pilgrim fathers and mothers of this
nation, whose descendants many of them, as we have seen, actually were,
that night made their beds upon the frozen earth. After bowing before our
great Creator," wrote Apostle Pratt, "and offering up praise and
thanksgiving to him, and imploring his protection, we resigned ourselves
to the slumbers of the night."
But the weather was more moderate that night than it had been for
several weeks previous. At their first encampment the thermometer at one
time fell twenty degrees below zero, freezing over the great Mississippi.
The survivors of that journey will tell you they never suffered so much
from the cold in their lives as they did on Sugar Creek.
And what of the Mormon women? Around them circles almost a tragic
romance. Fancy may find abundant subject for graphic story of the
devotion, the suffering, the matchless heroism of the sisters, in the
telling incident that nine children were born to them the first night they
camped out on Sugar Creek, February 5th, 1846. That day they wept their
farewells over their beloved city, or in the sanctuary of the temple, in
which they had hoped to worship till the end of life, but which they left
never to see again; that night suffering nature administered to them the
mixed cup of woman's supremest joy and pain.
But it was not prayer alone that sustained these pilgrims. The
practical philosophy of their great leader, daily and hourly applied to
the exigencies of their case, did almost as much as their own matchless
faith to sustain them from the commencement to the end of their journey.
With that leader had [305] very properly come to the "Camp of Israel"
several of the twelve and the chief bishops of the Church, but he also
brought with him a quorum, humble in pretensions, yet useful as high
priests to the saints in those spirit-saddening days. It was Captain
Pitt's brass band. That night the president had the brethren and sisters
out in the dance,and the music was as glad as at a merry-making. Several
gentlemen from Iowa gathered to witness the strange, interesting scene.
They could scarcely believe their own senses when they were told that
these were Mormons in their "flight from civilization," bound they knew
not whither, except where God should lead them "by the hand of his
servant."
Thus in the song and the dance the saints praised the Lord. When the
night was fine, and supper, which consisted of the most primitive fare,
was over, some of the men would clear away the snow, while others bore
large logs to the camp-fires in anticipation of the jubilee of the
evening. Soon, in a sheltered place, the blazing fires would roar, and
fifty couples, old and young, would join, in the merriest spirit, to the
music of the band, or the rival revelry of the solitary fiddle. As they
journeyed along, too, strangers constantly visited their camps, and great
was their wonderment to see the order, unity and good feeling that
prevailed in the midst of the people. By the camp-fires they would linger,
listening to the music and song; and they fain had taken part in the
merriment had not those scenes been as sacred worship in the exodus of a
God-fearing people. To fully understand the incidents here narrated, the
reader must couple in his mind the [306] idea of an exodus with the idea
of an Israelitish jubilee; for it was a jubilee to the Mormons to be
delivered from their enemies at any price.
At one point on their journey the citizens of a town near by came
over to camp to invite the "Nauvoo Band," under Captain Pitt, to come to
their village for a concert. There was some music left in the brethren.
They had not forgotten how to sing the "songs of Zion," so they made the
good folks of the village merry, and for a time forgot their own sorrows.
These incidents of travel were varied by an occasional birth in camp.
There was also the death of a lamented lady early on the journey. She was
a gentle wife of a famous Mormon missionary, Orson Spencer, once a Baptist
minister of excellent standing. She had requested the brethren to take her
with them. She would not be left behind. Life was too far exhausted by the
persecutions to survive the exodus, but she could yet have the honor of
dying in that immortal circumstance of her people. Several others of the
sisters also died at the very starting. Ah, who shall fitly picture the
lofty heroism of the Mormon women!
[307] CHAPTER XXXII.
CONTINUATION OF ELIZA R. SNOW'S NARRATIVE--ADVENT OF A LITTLE STRANGER UNDER ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES--DORMITORY, SITTING-ROOM, OFFICE, ETC, IN A BUGGY--"THE CAMP"--INTERESTING EPISODES OF THE JOURNEY--GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD OF PROCEDURE--MOUNT PISGAH--WINTER QUARTERS.
The subject and action of the exodus thus opened, we shall let the
sisters chiefly tell their own stories of that extraordinary historic
period. Eliza R. Snow, continuing her narrative, says:
"We had been preceded by thousands, and I was informed that on the
first night of the encampment nine children were born into the world, and
from that time, as we journeyed onward, mothers gave birth to offspring
under almost every variety of circumstances imaginable, except those to
which they had been accustomed; some in tents, others in wagons--in
rain-storms and in snow-storms. I heard of one birth which occurred under
the rude shelter of a hut, the sides of which were formed of blankets
fastened to poles stuck in the ground, with a bark; roof through which the
rain was dripping. Kind sisters stood holding dishes to catch the water as
it [308] fell, protecting the new-comer and its mother from a shower-bath
as the little innocent first entered on the stage of human life; and
through faith in the great ruler of events, no harm resulted to either.
"Let it be remembered that the mothers of these wilderness-born babes
were not savages, accustomed to roam the forest and brave the storm and
tempest--those who had never known the comforts and delicacies of
civilization and refinement. They were not those who, in the wilds of
nature, nursed their offspring amid reeds and rushes, or in the recesses
of rocky caverns; most of them were born and educated in the Eastern
States--had there embraced the gospel as taught by Jesus and his apostles,
and, for the sake of their religion, had gathered with the saints, and
under trying circumstances had assisted, by their faith, patience and
energies, in making Nauvoo what its name indicates, `the beautiful' There
they had lovely homes, decorated with flowers and enriched with choice
fruit trees, just beginning to yield plentifully.
"To these homes, without lease or sale, they had just bade a final
adieu, and with what little of their substance could be packed into one,
two, and in some instances, three wagons, had started out, desertward,
for--where? To this question the only response at that time was, God
knows.
"From the 13th to the 18th we had several snowstorms and very
freezing weather, which bridged the Mississippi sufficiently for crossing
heavily loaded wagons on the ice. We were on timbered land, had plenty of
wood for fuel and the men rolled heavy [309] logs together, and kept large
fires burning, around the bright blaze of which, when not necessarily
otherwise engaged, they warmed themselves. The women, when the duties of
cooking and its et ceteras did not prompt them out, huddled with their
children into wagons and carriages for protection from the chilling
breezes.
"My dormitory, sitting-room, writing-office, and frequently
dining-room, was the buggy in which Sister Markham, her little son David,
and I, rode. One of my brother's wives had one of the old fashioned
foot-stoves, which proved very useful. She frequently brought it to me,
filled with live coals from one of those mammoth fires--a kindness which I
remember with gratitude; but withal, I frosted my feet enough to occasion
inconvenience for weeks afterwards.
"When all who designed traveling in one camp, which numbered about
five thousand, had crossed the river, the organization of the whole into
hundreds, fifties, and tens, commenced, and afterwards was completed for
the order of traveling; with pioneers, commissaries, and superintendents
to each hundred, and captains over fifties and tens. It was impossible for
us to move in a body; and one company filed off after another; and, on the
first of March we broke camp and moved out four or five miles and put up
for the night, where at first view the prospect was dreary enough. It was
nearly sunset--very cold, and the ground covered with snow to the depth of
four or five inches; but with brave hearts and strong hands, and a supply
of spades and shovels, the men removed the snow, and [310] suddenly
transformed the bleak scene into a living town, with cloth houses,
log-heap fires, and a multitude of cheerful inhabitants. The next day,
with weather moderated, the remainder of the original camp arrived with
the Nauvoo band, and tented on the bluff, which overlooked our cozy dell,
and at night stirring strains of music filled the atmosphere, on which
they were wafted abroad, and re-echoed on the responsive breezes.
"Lo! a mighty host of people,
Tented on the western shore
Of the noble Mississippi,
They, for weeks, were crossing o'er.
At the last day's dawn of winter,
Bound with frost and wrapped with snow,
Hark! the sound is, `Up, and onward!
Camp of Zion, rise and go.'
"All, at once, is life and motion--
Trunks and beds and baggage fly;
Oxen yoked and horses harnessed
Tents, rolled up, are passing by.
Soon the carriage wheels are rolling
Onward to a woodland dell,
Where, at sunset, all are quartered
Camp of Israel, all is well.
"Soon the tents are thickly clustered--
Neighboring smokes together blend--
Supper served--the hymns are chanted,
And the evening prayers ascend.
Last of all, the guards are stationed;
Heavens! must guards be serving here?
Who would harm the homeless exiles?
Camp of Zion, never fear.
"Where is freedom? Where is justice?
Both have from the nation fled,
And the blood of martyred prophets
Must be answered on its head.
Therefore, `To your tents, O, Israel,'
Like your Father Abram dwell;
God will execute his purpose--
Camp of Zion, all is well.
[311] "From time to time, companies of men either volunteered or were
detailed from the journeying camps, and, by going off the route, obtained
jobs of work for which they received food in payment, to meet the
necessities of those who were only partially supplied, and also grain for
the teams.
"As we passed through a town on the Des Moines river, the inhabitants
manifested as much curiosity as though they were viewing a traveling
menagerie of wild animals. Their levity and apparent heartlessness was, to
me, proof of profound ignorance. How little did those people comprehend
our movement, and the results the Almighty had in view.
"On the 2d of March we again moved forward--and here I will
transcribe from my journal: `March 3d--Our encampment this night may truly
be recorded as a miracle, performed on natural, and yet peculiar
principles--a city reared in a few hours, and everything in operation that
actual diving required, and many additional things, which, if not
extravagancies, were certainly convenient. The next day, great numbers of
the people of the adjacent country were to be seen patrolling the nameless
streets of our anonymous city, with astonishment visible in their
countenances. In the evening, Sister Markham and I took a stroll abroad,
and in the absence of names to the streets, and numbers to the tents, we
lost our way, and had to procure a guide to pilot us home.'
"At this point Brother Markham exchanged our buggy for a lumber
wagon, and in performing an act of generosity to others, so filled it as
to give Sister M. and me barely room to sit in front. And when [312] we
started again, Sister M. and I were seated on a chest with brass-kettle
and soap-box for our footstools, and were happy in being as comfortably
situated as we were; and well we might be, for many of our sisters walked
day, rain or shine, and at night prepared suppers for their families, with
no sheltering tents; and then made their beds in and under wagons that
contained their earthly all. How frequently, with intense sympathy and
admiration, I watched the mother, when, forgetful of her own fatigue and
destitution, she took unwearied pains to fix up, in the most palatable
form, the allotted portion of food, and as she dealt it out was cheering
the hearts of her homeless children, while, as I truly believed, her own
was lifted to God in fervent prayer that their lives might be preserved,
and, above all, that they might honor him in the religion for which she
was an exile from the home once sacred to her, for the sake of those
precious ones that God had committed to her care. We were living on
rations--our leaders having counseled that arrangement, to prevent an
improvident use of provision that would result in extreme destitution.
"We were traveling in the season significantly `termed between hay
and grass,' and the teams, feeding mostly on browse, wasted in flesh, and
had but little strength; and it was painful, at times, to see the poor
creatures straining every joint and ligature, doing their utmost, and
looking the very picture of discouragement. When crossing the low lands,
where spring rains had soaked the mellow soil they frequently stalled on
level ground, and we could move only by coupling teams, which made [313]
very slow progress. From the effects of chills and fever, I had not
strength to walk much, or I should not have been guilty of riding after
those half-famished animals. It would require a painter's pencil and skill
to represent our encampment when we stopped, as we frequently did, to give
the jaded teams a chance to recuperate, and us a chance to straighten up
matters and things generally. Here is a bit from my journal:
"`Our town of yesterday has grown to a city. It is laid out in a half
hollow square, fronting east and south on a beautiful level--with, on one
side, an almost perpendicular, and on the other, a gradual descent into a
deep ravine, which defines it on the west and north. At nine o'clock this
morning I noticed a blacksmith's shop in operation, and everything,
everywhere, indicating real life and local industry. Only the sick are
idle; not a stove or cooking utensil but is called into requisition; while
tubs, washboards, etc., are one-half mile distant, where washing is being
done by the side of a stream of water beneath the shade of waving
branches. I join Sister M. in the washing department, and get a buggy ride
to the scene of action, where the boys have the fire in waiting--while
others of our mess stop in the city and do the general work of
housekeeping; and for our dinner send us a generous portion of their
immense pot-pie, designed to satisfy the hunger of about thirty stomachs.
It is made of rabbits, squirrels, quails, prairie chickens, etc., trophies
of the success of our hunters, of whom each division has its quota. Thus
from time to time we are supplied with fresh meat, which does [314] much
in lengthening out our flour. Occasionally our jobbers take bacon in
payment, but what I have seen of that article is so rancid that nothing
short of prospective starvation would tempt me to eat it.'
"On the 20th of April we arrived at the head waters of the Grand
River, where it was decided to make a farming establishment, to be a
resting and recruiting place for the saints who should follow us. Elders
Bent, Benson and Fullmer were appointed to preside over it.
"The first of June found us in a small grove on the middle fork of
Grand River. This place, over which Elders Rich and Huntington were called
to preside, was named Pisgah; and from this point most of the divisions
filed off, one after another. Colonel Markham appropriated all of his
teams and one wagon to assist the twelve and others to pursue the journey
westward, while he returned to the States for a fresh supply. Before he
left, we were in a house made of logs laid up `cob fashion,' with from
three to eight inches open space between them--roofed by stretching a tent
cloth over the ridgepole and fastening it at the bottom, on the outside,
which, with blankets and carpets put up on the north end, as a shield from
the cold wind, made us as comfortable as possible.
"Companies were constantly arriving and others departing; while those
who intended stopping till the next spring were busily engaged in making
gardens, and otherwise preparing for winter--sheltering themselves in rude
log huts for temporary residence.
"The camps were strung along several hundred [315] miles in length
from front to rear, when, about the last of June, one of the most
remarkably unreasonable requisitions came officially to President Young,
from the United States government, demanding five hundred efficient men to
be drawn from our traveling camps, to enter the United States military
service, and march immediately to California and assist in the war with
Mexico. Upon the receipt of this demand, President Young and Heber C.
Kimball with due loyalty to an unprotective government, under which we had
been exiled from our homes, started immediately from their respective
divisions, on horseback, calling for volunteers, from one extremity of our
line to the other; and in an almost incredibly short time the five hundred
men, who constituted the celebrated `Mormon Battalion,' were under
marching orders, commanded by Col. Allen, of the United States Infantry.
It was our country's call, and the question, `Can we spare five hundred of
our most able-bodied men?' was not asked. But it was a heavy tax--a cruel
draft--one which imposed accumulated burdens on those who remained,
especially our women, who were under the necessity of driving their own
teams from the several points from which their husbands and sons left, to
the Salt Lake Valley; and some of them walked the whole of that tedious
distance.
On the 2d of August Brother Markham arrived from the East with teams;
and on the 19th we bade good-bye to Mount Pisgah. Brother M. was minus one
teamster, and as Mrs M. and I were to constitute the occupants of one
wagon, with a gentle yoke of oxen, she proposed to drive. But, soon after
we [316] started, she was taken sick, and, of course, the driving fell to
me. Had it been a horse-team I should have been amply qualified, but
driving oxen was entirely a new business; however I took the whip and very
soon learned to `hew and gee,' and acquitted myself, as teamster, quite
honorably, driving most of the way to winter quarters. The cattle were so
well trained that I could sit and drive. At best, however, it was
fatiguing--the family being al] sick by turns, and at times I had to cook,
as well as nurse the sick; all of which I was thankful for strength to
perform.
"On the 27th we crossed the Missouri at Council Bluffs, and the next
day came up with the general camp at winter quarters. From exposure and
hardship I was taken sick soon after with a slow fever, that terminated in
chills and fever, and as I lay sick in my wagon, where my bed was exposed
to heavy autumnal rains, and sometimes wet nearly from head to foot, I
realized that I was near the gate of death; but my trust was in God, and
his power preserved me. Many were sick around us, and no one could be
properly cared for under the circumstances. Although, as before stated, I
was exposed to the heavy rains while in the wagon, worse was yet to come.
"On the 28th a company, starting out for supplies, required the wagon
that Sister M. and I had occupied; and the log house we moved into was but
partly chinked and mudded, leaving large crevices for the wind--then cold
and blustering. This hastily-erected hut was roofed on one side, with a
tent-cloth thrown over the other, and, withal, [317] was minus a chimney.
A fire, which was built on one side, filled the house with smoke until it
became unendurable. Sister Markham had partially recovered from her
illness, but was quite feeble. I was not able to sit up much, and, under
those circumstances, not at all, for the fire had to be dispensed with.
Our cooking was done out of doors until after the middle of November, when
a chimney was made, the house enclosed, and other improvements added,
which we were prepared to appreciate.
"About the last of December I received the sad news of the death of
my mother. She had lived to a good age, and had been a patient
participator in the scenes of suffering consequent on the persecutions of
the saints. She sleeps in peace; and her grave, and that of my father,
whose death preceded hers less than a year, are side by side, in Walnut
Grove, Knox county, Ill.
"At winter quarters our extensive encampment was divided into wards,
and so organized that meetings for worship were attended in the several
wards. A general order was established and cheerfully carried out, that
each able-bodied man should either give the labor of each tenth day, or
contribute an equivalent, for the support of the destitute, and to aid
those families whose men were in the battalion, and those who were widows
indeed.
"Our exposures and privations caused much sickness, and sickness
increased destitution; but in the midst of all this, we enjoyed a great
portion of the spirit of God, and many seasons of refreshing from [318]
his presence, with rich manifestations of the gifts and power of the
gospel. My life, as well as the lives of many others, was preserved by the
power of God, through faith in him, and not on natural principles as
comprehended by man."
[319] CHAPTER XXXIII.
BATHSHEBA W.SMITH'S STORY OF THE LAST DAYS OF NAUVOO--SHE RECEIVES CELESTIAL MARRIAGE AND GIVES HER HUSBAND FIVE "HONORABLE YOUNG WOMEN" AS WIVES--HER DESCRIPTION OF THE EXODUS AND JOURNEY TO WINTER QUARTERS--DEATH OF ONE OF THE WIVES--SISTER HORNE AGAIN.
Sister Bathsheba W. Smith's story of the last days of Nauvoo, and the
introduction of polygamy, and also her graphic detail of the exodus, will
be of interest at this point. She says:
Immediately after my marriage, my husband, as one of the apostles of
the Church, started on a mission to some of the Eastern States.
"In the year 1840 he was in England, and again went East on mission
in 1843, going as far as Boston, Mass., preaching and attending
conferences by the way. He returned in the fall; soon after which, we were
blessed by receiving our endowments, and were sealed under the holy law of
celestial marriage. I heard the prophet Joseph charge the twelve with the
duty and responsibility of administering the ordinances of endowments and
sealing for the living and the dead. I met [320] many times with Brother
Joseph and others who had received their endowments, in company with my
husband, in an upper room dedicated for that purpose, and prayed with them
repeatedly in those meetings. I heard the prophet give instructions
concerning plural marriage; he counseled the sisters not to trouble
themselves in consequence of it, that all would be right, and the result
would be for their glory and exaltation.
"On the 5th of May, 1844, my husband again started on mission, and,
after he left, a terrible persecution was commenced in the city of Nauvoo,
which brought about the barbarous murder of our beloved prophet, and his
brother, the patriarch. The death of these men of God caused a general
mourning which I cannot describe. My husband returned about the first of
August, and soon the rest of the twelve returned. The times were very
exciting, but under the wise counsels of the twelve, and others, the
excitement abated. The temple was so far finished in the fall of 1845,
that thousands received their endowments. I officiated for some time as
priestess.
"Being thoroughly convinced, as well as my husband, that the doctrine
of plurality of wives was from God, and having a fixed determination to
attain to celestial glory, I felt to embrace the whole gospel, and
believing that it was for my husband's exaltation that he should obey the
revelation on celestial marriage, that he might attain to kingdoms,
thrones, principalities and powers, firmly believing that I should
participate with him in all his blessings, glory and honor; accordingly,
within [321] the last year, like Sarah of old, I had given to my husband
five wives, good, virtuous, honorable young women. They al] had their home
with us; I being proud of my husband, and loving him very much, knowing
him to be a man of God, and believing he would not love them less because
he loved me more for doing this. I had joy in having a testimony that what
I had done was acceptable to my Father in Heaven.
The fall of 1845 found Nauvoo, as it were, one vast mechanic shop, as
nearly every family was engaged in making wagons. Our parlor was used as a
paint-shop in which to paint wagons. All were making preparations to leave
the ensuing winter. On the 9th of February, 1846, in company with many
others, my husband took me and my two children, and some of the other
members of his family (the remainder to follow as soon as the weather
would permit), and we crossed the Mississippi, to seek a home in the
wilderness. Thus we left a comfortable home, the accumulation and labor of
four years, taking with us but a few things, such as clothing, bedding and
provisions, leaving everything else for our enemies. We were obliged to
stay in camp for a few weeks, on Sugar Creek, because of the weather being
very cold. The Mississippi froze over so that hundreds of families crossed
on the ice. As soon as the weather permitted, we moved on West. I will not
try to describe how we traveled through storms of snow, wind and rain--how
roads had to be made, bridges built, and rafts constructed--how our poor
animals had to drag on, day after day, with scanty [322] feed--nor how our
camps suffered from poverty, sickness and death. We were consoled in the
midst of these hardships by seeing the power of God manifested through the
laying on of the hands of the elders, causing the sick to be headed and
the lame to walk. The Lord was with us, and his power was made manifest
daily. At the head of a slough where we camped several days, we were
visited by the Mus-Quaw-ke band of Indians, headed by Pow-Sheek, a stately
looking man, wearing a necklace of bear's claws. They were fierce looking
men, decorated as they were for war; but they manifested a friendly
spirit, and traded with us. The next move of our camp was to the Missouri
river bank. The cattle were made to swim, and our wagons were taken over
on a flat-boat that our people had built. We made two encampments dafter
we crossed the river, when we found it too late to proceed farther that
year. The last encampment was named Cutler's Park. The camps contained
about one thousand wagons. Our men went to work cutting and stacking the
coarse prairie grass for hay. The site for our winter quarters was
selected and surveyed, and during the fall and winter some seven hundred
log-cabins were built; also about one hundred and fifty dugouts or caves,
which are cabins half under ground. This was on the Missouri river, about
six miles above the present city of Omaha. My husband built four cabins
and a dug-out. Our chimnies were made of sod, cut with a spade in the form
of a brick; clay was pounded in to make our fireplaces and hearths. In our
travels the winds had [323] literally blown our tent to pieces, so that we
were glad to get into cabins. The most of the roofs were made of timber,
covered with clay. The floors were split and hewed puncheon; the doors
were generally made of the same material, of cottonwood and linn. Many
houses were covered with oak-shakes, fastened on with weightpoles. A few
were covered with shingles. A log meeting-house was built, about
twenty-four by forty feet, and the hewn floor was frequently used for
dancing. A grist-mill was built and run by water-power, and in addition to
this, several horse mills and hand-mills were used to grind corn.
"Our scanty and only supply of bread, consisting generally of corn,
was mostly brought from Missouri, a distance of some one hundred and fifty
miles, where it fortunately was plentiful and cheap. The camp having been
deprived of vegetable food the past year, many were attacked with scurvy.
The exposure, together with the want of necessary comforts, caused fevers
and ague, and affections of the lungs. Our own family were not exempt.
Nancy Clement, one of my husband's wives, died; also her child. She was a
woman of excellent disposition, and died in full faith in the gospel."
An incident or two of Sister Horne's story may very properly
accompany the foregoing. She says:
"I took my last look, on earth, of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. May I
never experience another day similar to that! I do not wish to recall the
scene but for a moment. That terrible martyrdom deeply scarred the hearts
and bewildered the senses of all our people. We could scarcely realize the
[324] awful event, except in the agony of our feelings; nor comprehend the
dark hour, beyond the solemn loneliness which pervaded the city and made
the void in our stricken hearts still more terrible to bear. For the
moment the sun of our life had set. The majority of the apostles were far
from home, and we could do no more than wake the indignation of heaven
against the murderers by our lamentations, and weep and pray for divine
support in that awful hour.
"Two years had not passed away after the martyrdom, before the saints
were forced by their enemies to hasten their flight from Nauvoo."
With the Camp of Israel, Sister Horne and family journeyed to winter
quarters, sharing the common experience of the saints, so well described
by those who have preceded her.
[325] CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE STORY OF THE HUNTINGTON SISTERS CONTINUED--ZINA D. YOUNG'S PATHETIC PICTURE OF THE MARTYRDOM--JOSEPH'S MANTLE FALLS UPON BRIGHAM--THE EXODUS--A BIRTH ON THE BANKS OF THE CHARITON--DEATH OF FATHER HUNTINGTON.
It was June 27th, 1844, writes Zina D. Young (one of the Huntington
sisters, with whom the reader is familiar), and it was rumored that Joseph
was expected in from Carthage. I did not know to the contrary until I saw
the Governor and his guards descending the hill by the temple, a short
distance from my house. Their swords glistened in the sun, and their
appearance startled me, though I knew not what it foreboded. I exclaimed
to a neighbor who was with me, `What is the trouble! It seems to me that
the trees and the grass are in mourning!' A fearful silence pervaded the
city, and after the shades of night gathered around us it was thick
darkness. The lightnings flashed, the cattle bellowed, the dogs barked,
and the elements wailed. What a terrible night that was to the saints, yet
we knew nothing of the dark tragedy which had been enacted by the
assassins at Carthage.
[326] "The morning dawned; the sad news came; but as yet I had not heard
of the terrible event. I started to go to Mother Smith's, on an errand. As
I approached I saw men gathered around the door of the mansion. A few rods
from the house met Jesse P. Harmon. `Have you heard the news?' he asked.
`What news?' I inquired. `Joseph and Hyrum are dead!' Had I believed it, I
could not have walked any farther. I hastened to my brother Dimick. He was
sitting in his house, mourning and weeping aloud as only strong men can
weep. All was confirmed in a moment. My pen cannot utter my grief nor
describe my horror. But after awhile a change came, as though the released
spirits of the departed sought to comfort us in that hour of dreadful
bereavement.
"`The healer was there, pouring balm on my heart
And wiping the tears from my eyes;
He was binding the chain that was broken in twain,
And fastening it firm in the skies.'
"Never can it be told in words what the saints suffered in those days
of trial; but the sweet spirit--the comforter--did not forsake them; and
when the twelve returned, the mantle of Joseph fell upon Brigham.
"When I approached the stand (on the occasion when Sidney Rigdon was
striving for the guardianship of the Church), President Young was
speaking. It was the voice of Joseph Smith--not that of Brigham Young. His
very person was changed. The mantle was truly given to another. There was
no doubting this in the minds of that vast [327] assembly. All witnessed
the transfiguration, and even to-day thousands bear testimony thereof a
closed my eyes. I could have exclaimed, I know that is Joseph Smith's
voice! Yet I knew he had gone. But the same spirit was with the people;
the comforter remained.
"The building of the temple was hurried on. The saints did not
slacken their energies. They had a work to do in that temple for their
dead, and blessings to obtain for themselves. They had learned from the
prophet Joseph the meaning of Paul's words, Why then are ye baptized for
the dead, if the dead rise not at all?'
"Passing on to the exodus. My family were informed that we were to
leave with the first company. So on the 8th of February, 1846, on a clear
cold day, we left our home at Nauvoo. All that we possessed was now in our
wagon. Many of our things remained in the house, unsold, for most of our
neighbors were, like ourselves, on the wing.
"Arrived at Sugar Creek, we there first saw who were the brave, the
good, the self-sacrificing. Here we had now openly the first examples of
noble minded, virtuous women, bravely commencing to live in the
newly-revealed order of celestial marriage.
"`Women; this is my husband's wife!'
"Here, at length, we could give this introduction, without fear of
reproach, or violation of man-made laws, seeing we were bound for the
refuge of the Rocky Mountains, where no Gentile society existed, to ask of
Israel, `What doest thou?'
"President Young arrived on Sugar Creek, and at [328] once commenced
to organize the camp. George A. Smith was the captain of our company of
fifty.
"I will pass over the tedious journey to the Chariton river, in the
face of the fierce winds of departing winter, and amid rains that fairly
inundated the land. By day we literally waded through mud and water, and
at night camped in anything but pleasant places.
"On the bank of the Chariton an incident occurred ever eventful in
the life of woman. I had been told in the temple that I should acknowledge
God even in a miracle in my deliverance in woman's hour of trouble, which
hour had now come. We had traveled one morning about five miles, when I
called for a halt in our march. There was but one person with me--Mother
Lyman, the aunt of George A. Smith; and there on the bank of the Chariton
I was delivered of a fine son. On the morning of the 23d, Mother Lyman
gave me a cup of coffee and a biscuit. What a luxury for special
remembrance! Occasionally the wagon had to be stopped, that I might take
breath. Thus I journeyed on. But I did not mind the hardship of my
situation, for my life had been preserved, and my babe seemed so
beautiful.
"We reached Mount Pisgah in May. I was now with my father, who had
been appointed to preside over this temporary settlement of the saints.
But an unlooked for event soon came. One evening Parley P. Pratt arrived,
bringing the word from headquarters that the Mormon battalion must be
raised in compliance with the requisition of the government upon our
people. And what did this [329] news personally amount to, to me? That I
had only my father to look after me now; for I had parted from my husband;
my eldest brother, Dimick Huntington, with his family, had gone into the
battalion, and every man who could be spared was also enlisted. It was
impossible for me to go on to winter quarters; so I tarried at Mount
Pisgah with my father.
"But, alas! a still greater trial awaited me! The call for the
battalion had left many destitute. They had to live in wagons. But worse
than destitution stared us in the face. Sickness came upon us and death
invaded our camp. Sickness was so prevalent and deaths so frequent that
enough help could not be had to make coffins, and many of the dead were
wrapped in their grave-clothes and buried with split logs at the bottom of
the grave and brush at the sides, that being all that could be done for
them by their mourning friends. Too soon it became my turn to mourn. My
father was taken sick, and in eighteen days he died. Just before he left
us for his better home he raised himself upon his elbow, and said: `Man is
like the flower or the grass--cut down in an hour! Father, unto thee do I
commend my spirit!' This said, he sweetly went to rest with the just, a
martyr for the truth; for, like my dear mother, who died in the expulsion
from Missouri, he died in the expulsion from Nauvoo. Sad was my heart. I
alone of all his children was there to mourn.
"It was a sad day at Mount Pisgah, when my father was buried. The
poor and needy had lost a friend--the kingdom of God a faithful
ser-[330]vant. There upon the hillside was his resting place. The
graveyard was so near that I could hear the wolves howling as they visited
the spot; those hungry monsters, who fain would have unsepulchred those
sacred bones!
"Those days of trial and grief were succeeded by my journey to winter
quarters, where in due time I arrived, and was welcomed by President Young
into his family."
[331] CHAPTER XXXV.
THE PIONEERS--THE PIONEER COMPANIES THAT FOLLOWED--METHOD OF THE MARCH--MRS. HORNE ON THE PLAINS--THE EMIGRANT'S POST-OFFICE--PENTECOSTS BY THE WAY--DEATH AS THEY JOURNEYED--A FEAST IN THE DESERT--"AUNT LOUISA AGAIN.
Very properly President Young and a chosen cohort of apostles and
elders formed the band of pioneers who bore the standard of their people
to the Rocky Mountains. On the 7th of April, 1847, that famous company
left winter quarters in search of another Zion and gathering place. Three
women only went with them. These must be honored with a lasting record.
They were Clara Decker, one of the wives of Brigham Young; her mother, and
Ellen Sanders, one of the wives of H. C. Kimball.
Yet the sisters as a mass were scarcely less the co-pioneers of that
apostolic band, for they followed in companies close upon its track. It
was with them faith, not sight. They continued their pilgrimage to the
West early in June. On the 12th, Captain Jedediah M. Grant's company moved
out in the advance.
"After we started out from winter quarters," says [332] Sister Eliza
Snow, "three or four days were consumed in maneuvering and making a good
ready, and then, at an appointed place for rendezvous, a general meeting
was held around a liberty-pole erected for the purpose, and an
organization effected, similar to that entered into after leaving Nauvoo.
"As we moved forward, one division after another, sometimes in
fifties, sometimes in tens, but seldom traveling in hundreds, we passed
and repassed each other, but at night kept as nearly compact as
circumstances would admit, especially when in the Indian country. East of
Fort Laramie many of the Sioux Nation mixed with our traveling camps, on
their way to the fort, where a national council was in session. We had no
other trouble with them than the loss of a few cooking utensils, which,
when unobserved, they lightly fingered; except in one instance, when our
ten had been left in the rear to repair a broken wagon, until late in the
evening. It was bright moonlight, and as we were passing one of their
encampments, they formed in a line closely by the roadside, and when our
teams passed, they simultaneously shook their blankets vigorously on
purpose to frighten the teams and cause a stampede, probably with the same
object in view as white robbers have in ditching railroad trains. However,
no serious injury occurred, although the animals were dreadfully
frightened."
Sister Horne thus relates some incidents of the journey:
"Apostle John Taylor traveled in the company that my family was with,
Bishop Hunter being captain of the company of one hundred, and Bishop
[333] Foutz and my husband being captains of fifties. The officers
proposed, for safety in traveling through the Indian country, that the two
fifties travel side by side, which was agreed to, bishop Foutz's fifty
taking the north side. For some days the wind blew from the south with
considerable force, covering the fifty on the north with dust from our
wagons. This continued for two weeks; it was then agreed that the two
companies should shift positions in order to give us our fair proportion
of the dust; but in a day or two afterwards the wind shifted to the north,
thus driving the dust on to the same company as before. After having some
good natured badinage over the circumstance, our company charged with the
unfortunates and took its share of the dust.
"One day a company of Indians met us and manifested a desire to
trade, which we were glad to do; but as the brethren were exchanging corn
for Buffalo robes, the squaws were quietly stealing everything they could
day hands upon. Many bake kettles, skillets and frying-pans were missing
when we halted that night.
"As our wagons were standing while the trading was going on, one
Indian took a great fancy to my little girl, who was sitting on my knee,
and wanted to buy her, offering me a pony. I told him `no trade.' He then
brought another pony, and still another, but I told him no; so he brought
the fourth, and gave me to understand that they were all good, and that
the last one was especially good for chasing buffalo. The situation was
becoming decidedly embarrassing, when several more wagons [334] drew near,
dispersing the crowd of Indians that had gathered around me, and
attracting the attention of my persistent patron."
The emigrant's post-offices are thus spoken of by Sister Eliza:
"Much of the time we were on an untrodden way; but when we came on
the track of the pioneers, as we occasionally did, and read the date of
their presence, with an all well accompaniment, on a bleached buffalo
skull, we had a general time of rejoicing."
For years those bleached buffalo skulls were made the news agents of
the Mormon emigrations. The morning newspaper of to-day is not read with
so much eagerness as were those dry bones on the plains, telling of family
and friends gone before.
It was a long, tedious journey to those pioneer sisters, yet they had
pentecosts even on their pilgrimage. Again quoting from Sister Eliza:
"Many were the moon and starlight evenings when, as we circled around
the blazing fire, and sang our hymns of devotion, and songs of praise to
him who knows the secrets of all hearts, the sound of our united voices
reverberated from hill to hill, and echoing through the silent expanse,
seemed to fill the vast concave above, while the glory of God seemed to
rest on all around. Even now while I write, the remembrance of those
sacredly romantic and vivifying scenes calls them up afresh, and arouses a
feeling of response that language is inadequate to express."
But there were dark days also. The story changes to sickness in the
wagons and death by the wayside:
[335] "Death," says Sister Eliza, "made occasional inroads among us.
Nursing the sick in tents and wagons was a laborious service; but the
patient faithfulness with which it was performed is, no doubt, registered
in the archives above, as an unfading memento of brotherly and sisterly
love. The burial of the dead by the wayside was a sad office. For
husbands, wives and children to consign the cherished remains of loved
ones to a done, desert grave, was enough to try the firmest heartstrings.
"Although every care and kindness possible under the circumstances
were extended to her, the delicate constitution of Mrs. Jedediah M. Grant
was not sufficient for the hardships of the journey. I was with her much,
previous to her death, which occurred so near to Salt Lake Valley, that by
forced drives, night and day, her remains were brought through for
interment. Not so, however, with her beautiful babe of eight or ten
months, whose death preceded her's about two weeks; it was buried in the
desert."
The companies now began to hear of the pioneers and the location of
"Great Salt Lake City." On the 4th of August several of the Mormon
battalion were met returning from the Mexican war. They were husbands and
sons of women in this division. There was joy indeed in the meeting. Next
came an express from the valley, and finally the main body of the
pioneers, returning to winter quarters. On the Sweetwater, Apostle Taylor
made for them a royal feast, spoken of to this day. Sisters Taylor, Horne,
and others of our leading pioneer women, sustained the honors of that
occasion.
[336] Early in October the companies, one after another, reached the
valley.
The next year many of the pioneers made their second journey to the
mountains, and with them now came Daniel H. Wells, the story of whose
wife, Louisa, shall close these journeys of the pioneers.
Although exceedingly desirous of crossing the plains with the first
company of that year, her father was unable to do more than barely provide
the two wagons necessary to carry his family end provisions, and the
requisite number of oxen to draw them. The luxury of an extra teamster to
care for the second wagon was out of the question; and so Louisa, although
but twenty-two years of age, and although she had never driven an ox in
her life, heroically undertook the task of driving one of the outfits, and
caring for a younger brother and sister.
The picture of her starting is somewhat amusing. After seeing that
her allotment of baggage and provisions, along with her little brother and
sister, had been stowed in the wagon; with a capacious old-fashioned
sun-bonnet on her head, a parasol in one hand and an ox-whip in the other,
she placed herself by the side of her leading yoke of oxen and bravely set
her face westward. Matters went well enough for a short distance,
considering her inexperience with oxen; but the rain began to pour, and
shortly her parasol was found to be utterly inadequate, so in disgust she
threw it into the wagon, and traveled on in the wet grass amid the pouring
rain. Presently the paste-board stiffeners of her sun-bonnet began to
succumb to the persuasive moisture, and before night, draggled and muddy,
[337] and thoroughly wet to the skin, her appearance was fully as forlorn
as her condition was pitiable.
This was truly a discouraging start, but nothing daunted she pressed
on with the company, and never allowed her spirits to flag. Arrived at the
Sweetwater, her best yoke of oxen died from drinking the alkali water, and
for a substitute she was obliged to yoke up a couple of cows. Then came
the tug of war; for so irregular a proceeding was not to be tolerated for
a moment by the cows, except under extreme compulsion. More unwilling and
refractory laborers were probably never found, and from that point onward
Louisa proceeded only by dint of the constant and vigorous persuasions of
her whip.
During the journey a Mrs. McCarthy was confined; and it was
considered necessary that Louisa should nurse her. But it was impossible
for her to leave her team during the day; so it was arranged that she
should attend the sick woman at night. For three weeks she dropped her
whip each night when the column halted, and leaving her team to be cared
for by the brethren, repaired to Mrs. McCarthy's wagon, nursing her
through the night, and then seizing her whip again as the company moved
forward in the morning.
However, she maintained good health throughout the journey, and
safely piloted her heterodox outfit into the valley along with the rest of
the company.
On the journey, after wearing out the three pairs of shoes with which
she was provided, she was obliged to sew rags on her feet for protection.
But each day these would soon wear through, and often she deft bloody
tracks on the cruel stones.
[338] It was on this journey that she first became acquainted with Gen.
Wells, to whom she was married shortly after they reached the valley. As
the senior wife of that distinguished gentleman, "Aunt Louisa" is well
known throughout Utah; and as a most unselfish and unostentatious
dispenser of charity, and an ever-ready friend and helper of the sick and
needy, her name is indellibly engraved on the hearts of thousands.
[339] CHAPTER XXXVI.
BATHSHEBA W. SMITH'S STORY CONTINUED--THE PIONEERS RETURN TO WINTER QUARTERS--A NEW PRESIDENCY CHOSEN--OLIVER COWDERY RETURNS TO THE CHURCH--GATHERING THE REMNANT FROM WINTER QUARTERS--DESCRIPTION OF HER HOUSE ON WHEELS.
Continuing her narration of affairs at winter quarters, Sister
Bathsheba W. Smith says:
"As soon as the weather became warm, and the gardens began to produce
early vegetables, the sick began to recover. We felt considerable anxiety
for the safety of the pioneers, and for their success in finding us a
home. About the first of December, to our great joy, a number of them
returned. They had found a place in the heart of the Great Basin, beyond
the Rocky Mountains, so barren, dry, desolate and isolated that we thought
even the cupidity of religious bigots would not be excited by it. The
pioneers had laid out a city, and had commenced a fort; and some seven
hundred wagons and about two thousand of our people had by this time
arrived there. The country was so very dry that nothing could be made to
grow without irrigation.
[340] "After the location of winter quarters a great number of our people
made encampments on the east side of the river, on parts of the
Pottawatomie lands. The camps, thus scattered, spread over a large tract.
On one occasion my husband and I visited Hyde Park, one of these
settlements, in company with the twelve apostles. They there held a
council in a log-cabin, and a great manifestation of the holy spirit was
poured out upon those present. At this council it was unanimously decided
to organize the First Presidency of the Church according to the pattern
laid down in the Book of Covenants. Soon after, a general conference was
held in the log tabernacle at Kanesville (now Council Bluffs), at which
the saints acknowledged Brigham Young President of the Church, and Heber
C. Kimball and Willard Richards his councilors.
"Shortly after this conference our family moved to the Iowa side of
the river. My husband bought two log-cabins, and built two more, which
made us quite comfortable. The winter was very cold, but wood was
plentiful, and we used it freely. The situation was a romantic one,
surrounded as we were on three sides by hills. We were favored with an
abundance of wild plums and raspberries. We called the place Car-bun-ca,
after an Indian brave who had been buried there.
"In May, 1848, about five hundred wagons followed President Young on
his return to Salt Lake. In June some two hundred wagons followed Dr.
Willard Richards. When Dr. Richards left, all the saints that could not go
with him were com-[341]pelled by the United States authorities to vacate
winter quarters. They recrossed into Iowa, and had to build cabins again.
This was a piece of oppression which was needless and ill-timed, as many
of the families which had to move were those of the men who had gone in
the Mormon battalion. This compulsory move was prompted by the same spirit
of persecution that had caused the murder of so many of our people, and
had forced us all to leave our homes and go into the wilderness.
"On the Iowa side of the river we raised wheat, Indian corn,
buckwheat, potatoes, and other vegetables; and we gathered from the woods
hazel and hickory nuts, white and black walnuts, and in addition to the
wild plums and raspberries before mentioned, we gathered elderberries, and
made elderberry and raspberry wine. We also preserved plums and berries.
By these supplies we were better furnished than we had been since leaving
our homes. The vegetables and fruits caused the scurvy to pretty much
disappear.
"In September, 1848, a conference was held in a grove on Mosquito
Creek, about two thousand of the saints being present. Oliver Cowdery, one
of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, was there. He had been ten years
away from the Church, and had become a lawyer of some prominence in
Northern Ohio and Wisconsin. At this conference I heard him bear his
testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon, in the same manner as is
recorded in the testimony of the three witnesses in that book.
[342] "In May, 1849, about four hundred wagons were organized and started
West.
"In the latter part of June following, our family left our
encampment. We started on our journey to the valley in a company of two
hundred and eighteen wagons. These were organized into three companies,
which were subdivided into companies of ten, each company properly
officered. Each company also had its blacksmith and wagon maker, equipped
with proper tools for attending to their work of setting tires, shoeing
animals, and repairing wagons.
"Twenty-four of the wagons of our company belonged to the Welch
saints, who had been led from Wales by Elder Dan Jones. They did not
understand driving oxen. It was very amusing to see them yoke their
cattle; two would have an animal by the horns, one by the tail, and one or
two others would do their best to put on the yoke, whilst the apparently
astonished ox, not at all enlightened by the gutteral sounds of the Welch
tongue, seemed perfectly at a loss what to do, or to know what was wanted
of him. But these saints amply made up for their lack of skill in driving
cattle by their excellent singing, which afforded us great assistance in
our public meetings, and helped to enliven our evenings.
"On this journey my wagon was provided with projections, of about
eight inches wide, on each side of the top of the box. The cover, which
was high enough for us to stand erect, was widened by these projections. A
frame was laid across the back part of our wagon, and was corded as a
bed-[343]stead; this made our sleeping very comfortable. Under our beds we
stowed our heaviest articles. We had a door in one side of the wagon
cover, and on the opposite side a window. A step-ladder was used to ascend
to our door, which was between the wheels. Our cover was of `osnaburg,'
lined with blue drilling. Our door and window could be opened and closed
at pleasure. I had, hanging up on the inside, a looking-glass,
candlestick, pincushion, etc. In the centre of our wagon we had room for
four chairs, in which we and our two children sat and rode when we chose.
The floor of our traveling house was carpeted, and we made ourselves as
comfortable as we could under the circumstances.
"After having experienced the common vicissitudes of that strange
journey, having encountered terrible storms and endured extreme hardships,
we arrived at our destination on the 5th of November, one hundred and five
days after leaving the Missouri river. Having been homeless and wandering
up to this time, I was prepared to appreciate a home."
[344] CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE MARTYRED PATRIARCHS WIDOW--A WOMAN'S STRENGTH AND INDEPENDENCE--THE CAPTAIN "LEAVES HER OUT IN THE COLD"--HER PROPHESY AND CHALLENGE TO THE CAPTAIN--A PIONEER INDEED--SHE IS LED BY INSPIRATION--THE SEERIC GIFT OF THE SMITHS WITH HER--HER CATTLE--THE RACE--FATE AGAINST THE CAPTAIN--THE WIDOWS PROPHESY FULFILLED.
"I will beat you to the valley, and ask no help from you either!"
------------
The exodus called out the women of Mormondom in all their Spartan
strength of character. They showed themselves State-founders indeed. We
are reading examples of them as pioneers unsurpassed even by the examples
of the immortal band of pioneer apostles and elders who led them to the
"chambers of the mountains." The following story of the widow of Hyrum
Smith will finely illustrate this point:
At the death of the patriarch the care of the family fell upon his
widow, Mary Smith. Besides the children there were several helpless and
infirm [345] people, whom for various charitable reasons the patriarch had
maintained; and these also she cared for, and brought through to the
valley the major part of them, under unusually trying circumstances.
Passing over the incidents of her journey to winter quarters, after
the expulsion from Nauvoo, we come at once to her heroic effort from
winter quarters westward. In the spring of 1848 a tremendous effort was
made by the saints to emigrate to the valley on a grand scale. No one was
more anxious than Widow Smith; but to accomplish it seemed an
impossibility, for although a portion of her household had emigrated in
1847, she still had a large and, comparatively, helpless family--her sons
John and Joseph, mere boys, being her only support. Without teams
sufficient to draw the number of wagons necessary to haul provisions and
outfit for the family, and without means to purchase, or friends who were
in circumstances to assist, she determined to make the attempt, and trust
in the Lord for the issue. Accordingly every nerve was strained, and every
available object was brought into requisition. Cows and calves were yoked
up, two wagons lashed together, and a team barely sufficient to draw one
was hitched on to them, and in this manner they rolled out from winter
quarters some time in May. After a series of the most amusing and trying
circumstances, such as sticking in the mud, doubling teams up all the
little hills, and crashing at ungovernable speed down the opposite sides,
breaking wagon-tongues and reaches, upsetting, and vainly trying to
control wild steers, heifers, and unbroken cows, they finally succeeded in
reaching the Elk [346] Horn, where the companies were being organized for
the plains.
Here Widow Smith reported herself to President Kimball as having
"started for the valley." Meantime, she had left no stone unturned or
problem untried, which promised assistance in effecting the necessary
preparations for the journey. She had done to her utmost, and still the
way looked dark and impossible.
President Kimball consigned her to Captain _____'s fifty. The captain
was present. Said he:
"Widow Smith, how many wagons have you?"
"Seven."
"How many yokes of oxen have you?"
"Four," and so many cows and calves.
"Well," said the captain, "it is folly for you to start in this
manner; you never can make the journey, and if you try it you will be a
burden upon the company the whole way. My advice to you is, to go back to
winter quarters and wait till you can get help."
Widow Smith calmly replied: "Father ______" (he was an aged man), "I
will beat you to the valley, and will ask no help from you either!"
This seemed to nettle the old gentleman, and it doubtless influenced
his conduct toward her during the journey.
While lying at Elk Horn she sent back and succeeded in buying on
credit, and hiring for the journey, several yoke of oxen from brethren who
were not able to emigrate that year, and when the companies were ready to
start she and her family were somewhat better prepared for the journey,
and [347] rolled out with lighter hearts and better prospects than favored
their egress from winter quarters.
As they journeyed on the captain lost no opportunity to vent his
spleen on the widow and her family; but she prayerfully maintained her
integrity of purpose, and pushed vigorously on, despite several
discouraging circumstances.
One day, as they were moving slowly through the hot sand and dust, in
the neighborhood of the Sweetwater, the sun pouring down with excessive
heat, towards noon, one of Widow Smith's best oxen laid down in the yoke,
rolled over on his side, and stiffened out his legs spasmodically,
evidently in the throes of death. The unanimous opinion was that he was
poisoned. All the hindmost teams of course stopped, the people coming
forward to know what was the matter. In a short time the captain, who was
in advance of the company, perceiving that something was wrong, came to
the spot. Probably no one supposed for a moment that the ox would recover,
and the captain's first words on seeing him were:
"He is dead, there is no use working with him; we'll have to fix up
some way to take the widow along; I told her she would be a burden upon
the company."
Meantime Widow Smith had been searching for a bottle of consecrated
oil in one of the wagons, and now came forward with it, and asked her
brother, Joseph Fielding, and the other brethren, to administer to the ox,
thinking that the Lord would raise him up. They did so, pouring a portion
of oil on the top of his head, between and back of the horns, [348] and
all laid hands upon him, and one prayed, administering the ordinance as
they would have done to a human being that was sick. In a moment he
gathered up his legs, and at the first word arose to his feet, and
traveled right off as well as ever. He was not even unyoked from his mate.
On the 22d of September the company crossed over "Big Mountain," when
they had the first glimpse of Salt Lake Valley. Every heart rejoiced, and
with lingering fondness they gazed upon the goal of their wearisome
journey. The descent of the western side of "Big Mountain" was precipitous
and abrupt, and they were obliged to rough lock the hind wheels of the
wagons, and, as they were not needed, the forward cattle were turned loose
to be driven to camp, the "wheelers" only being retained on the wagons.
Desirous of shortening the next day's journey as much as possible, they
drove on till a late hour in the night, and finally camped near the
eastern foot of the "Little Mountain." During this night's drive several
of Widow Smith's cows, that had been turned loose from the teams, were
lost in the brush. Early next morning her son John returned to hunt for
them, their service in the teams being necessary to proceed.
At an earlier hour than usual the captain gave orders for the company
to start, knowing well the circumstances of the widow, and that she would
be obliged to remain till John returned with the lost cattle. Accordingly
the company rolled out, leaving her and her family alone. Hours passed by
ere John returned with the lost cattle, and the company could be seen
toiling along far up the mountain. [349] And to human ken it seemed
probable that the widow's prediction would ingloriously fail. But as the
company were nearing the summit of the mountain a cloud burst over their
heads' sending down the rain in torrents, and throwing them into utter
confusion. The cattle refused to pull, and to save the wagons from
crashing down the mountain side, they were obliged to unhitch, and block
the wheels. While the teamsters sought shelter, the storm drove the cattle
in every direction, so that when it subsided it was a day's work to find
them and get them together. Meantime, as noted, John had returned with the
stray cattle, and they were hitched up, and the widow and family rolled up
the mountain, passing the company and continuing on to the valley, where
she arrived fully twenty hours in advance of the captain. And thus was her
prophesy fulfilled.
She kept her husband's family together after her arrival in the
valley, and her prosperity was unparalleled. At her death, which occurred
September 21st, 1852, she left them comfortably provided for, and in
possession of every educational endowment that the facilities of the times
would permit.
[350] CHAPTER XXXVIII.
UTAH IN THE EARLY DAYS-- PRESIDENT YOUNG'S PRIMITIVE HOME-- RAISING THE STARS AND STRIPES ON MEXICAN SOIL--THE HISTORICAL THREAD UP TO THE PERIOD OF THE "UTAH WAR"
The early days in the valley are thus described by Eliza R. Snow:
"Our first winter in the mountains was delightful; the ground froze
but little; our coldest weather was three or four days in November, after
which the men plowed and sowed, built houses, etc. The weather seemed to
have been particularly ordered to meet our very peculiar circumstances.
Every labor, such as cultivating the ground, procuring fuel and timber
from the canyons, etc. was a matter of experiment. Most of us were
houseless; and what the result would have been, had that winter been like
the succeeding ones, may well be conjectured.
"President Young had kindly made arrangements for me to live with his
wife, Clara Decker, who came with the pioneers, and was living in a
log-house about eighteen feet square, which constituted a portion of the
east side of our fort. This hut, like most of those built the first year,
was roofed with willows and earth, the roof having but little pitch, [351]
the first-comers having adopted the idea that the valley was subject to
little if any rain, and our roofs were nearly flat. We suffered no
inconvenience from this fact until about the middle of March, when a long
storm of snow, sleet and rain occurred, and for several days the sun did
not make its appearance. The roof of our dwelling was covered deeper with
earth than the adjoining ones, consequently it did not leak so soon, and
some of my neighbors huddled in for shelter; but one evening, when several
were socially sitting around, the water commenced dripping in one place,
and then in another; they dodged it for awhile, but it increased so
rapidly that they finally concluded they might as well go to their own wet
houses. After they had gone I spread my umbrella over my head and
shoulders as I ensconced myself in bed, the lower part of which, not
shielded by the umbrella, was wet enough before morning. The earth
overhead was thoroughly saturated, and after it commenced to drip the
storm was much worse indoors than out.
"The small amount of breadstuff brought over the plains was sparingly
dealt out; and our beef, made of cows and oxen which had constituted our
teams, was, before it had time to fatten on the dry mountain grass, very
inferior. Those to whom it yielded sufficient fat to grease their
griddles, were considered particularly fortunate. But we were happy in the
rich blessings of peace, which, in the spirit of brotherly and sisterly
union, we mutually enjoyed in our wild mountain home.
"Before we left winter quarters, a committee, appointed for the
purpose, inspected the provisions of [352] each family, in order to
ascertain that all were provided with at least a moderate competency of
flour, etc. The amount of flour calculated to be necessary was apportioned
at the rate of three-quarters of a pound for adults and one-half pound per
day for children. A portion of the battalion having been disbanded on the
Pacific coast, destitute of pay for their services, joined us before
spring, and we cheerfully divided our rations of flour with them, which
put us on still shorter allowance.
"Soon after our arrival in the valley, a tall liberty-pole was
erected, and from its summit (although planted in Mexican soil), the stars
and stripes seemed to float with even more significance, if possible, than
they were wont to do on Eastern breezes.
"I love that flag. When in my childish glee--
A prattling girl, Upon my grandsire's knee
I heard him tell strange tales, with valor rife,
How that same flag was bought with blood and life.
"And his tall form seemed taller when he said,
Child, for that flag thy grandsire fought and bled.'
My young heart felt that every scar he wore,
Caused him to prize that banner more and more
"I caught the fire, and as in years I grew,
I loved the flag; I loved my country too.
* * * * * * * * *
"There came a tune that I remember well--
Beneath the stars and stripes we could not dwell!
We had to flee; but in our hasty flight
We grasped the flag with more than mortal might;
"And vowed, although our foes should us bereave
Of all things else, the flag we would not leave.
We took the flag; and journeying to the West,
We wore its motto graven on each breast."
[353] The personal narrative, up to the period of the Utah war, is thus
continued by Bathsheba W. Smith:
"In 1856 my husband was sent as delegate to Washington, by vote of
the people of the Territory, to ask for the admission of Utah as a State.
In May, 1857, he returned. Congress would not admit Utah into the Union.
On his journey East his horse failed, and he had to walk about five
hundred miles on the plains. This made him very foot-sore, as he was a
heavy man.
"On the 24th of July, 1857, I was in company with my husband and a
goodly number of others at the Big Cottonwood Lake, near the head of Big
Cottonwood Canyon, where we were celebrating the anniversary of the
arrival of the pioneers in Salt Lake Valley, when word was brought to us
that the United States mail for Utah was stopped, and that President James
Buchanan was sending out an army to exterminate us. We turned to hear what
President Young would say. In effect he said: `If they ever get in, it
will be because we will permit them to do so.'
"In September my husband went out into the mountains and stayed about
four weeks, assisting in conducting the correspondence with the leaders of
the invading army. Fear came upon the army, and they dared not come face
to face with our people so they stayed out in the mountains, while our
people came home, excepting a few who remained to watch them.
"Soon after my husband's return, he married Sister Susan Elizabeth
West, and brought her home.
[354] "About this time I was having a new house built. One day, in the
forenoon, I had been watching the men plastering it, and had been
indulging in the pleasant thoughts that would naturally occur on such an
occasion, when my husband came home and said it had been determined in
council that all of our people were to leave their homes and go south, as
it was thought wiser to do this than to fight the army. Accordingly, on
the last day of March, 1858, Sister Susan, myself, and son and daughter,
started south, bidding farewell to our home with much the same feelings
that I had experienced at leaving Nauvoo.
"Peace having subsequently been restored, we returned to Salt Lake
City on the third of July following. Instead of flowers, I found weeds as
high as my head all around the house. When we entered the city it was near
sunset; all was quiet; every door was shut and every window boarded up. I
could see but two chimneys from which smoke was issuing. We were nearly
the first that had returned. Being thus restored to my home again, I was
happy and contented, although I had but few of the necessaries of life."
[355] CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE WOMEN OF MORMONDOM IN THE PERIOD OF THE UTAH WAR--THEIR HEROIC RESOLVE TO DESOLATE THE LAND--THE SECOND EXODUS--MRS. CARRINGTON--GOVERNOR CUMMING'S WIFE--A NATION OF HEROES.
For an example of the heroism of woman excelling all other examples
of history--at least of modern times--let us turn to that of the Mormon
women during the Utah war.
In the expulsions from Missouri, first from county to county, and
then en masse from the State, undoubtedly the Mormons yielded to the
compulsion of a lawless mob, coupled with the militia of the State
executing the exterminating order of Governor Boggs. It was an example of
suffering and martyrdom rather than of spontaneous heroism. Something of
the same was illustrated in the expulsion from Illinois. It was at the
outset nothing of choice, but all of compulsion. True, after the movement
of the community, inspired by the apostolic forcefulness of Brigham Young
and his compeers, swelled into a grand Israelitish exodus, then the
example towered like a very pyramid of heroism; and in that immortal
circumstance who can doubt that the heroic culminated in the women?
[356] But what shall be said of their example during the Utah war? Here
were women who chose and resolved to give an example to the civilized
world such as it had never seen. The proposed exodus from Utah was not in
the spirit of submission, but an exhibition of an invincible spirit
finding a method of conquest through an exodus. This was not weakness, but
strength. It was as though the accumulated might and concentrated purposes
of their lives were brought into a supreme action. The example of the Utah
war was in fact all their own. The Mormons were not subdued. Had the issue
come, they would have left Utah as conquerors.
"Tell the government that the troops now on the march for Utah shall
not enter the Great Salt Lake Valley. Tell the people of the United States
that should those troops force an entrance they will find Utah a desert,
every house burned to the ground, every tree cut down, and every field
laid waste. We will apply the torch to our own dwellings, cut down those
richly-laden orchards with our own hands, turn the fruitful field again
into a desert, and desolate our cities, with acclamations."
Such was the tenor of the communication carried by Captain Van Vliet
to the government. And he had seen the whole people lift up their hands in
their tabernacle to manifest their absolute resolution to the nation, and
heard those acclamations in anticipation of their act.
The very nature of the case brought the women of Mormondom into
supreme prominence. Their hands would have applied the torches to their
[357] homes; they would have been the desolators of the fast-growing
cities of Utah. The grandeur of the action was in these unconquerable
women, who would have maintained their religion and their sacred
institutions in the face of all the world.
The example of the wife of Albert Carrington will, perchance, be
often recalled, generations hence. Capt. Van Vliet, of the United States
Army, had arrived in Salt Lake City in the midst of the troubles out of
which grew the "war." He was received most cordially by the authorities,
but at the same time was given to understand that the people were a unit,
and that they had fully determined upon a programme. The sisters took him
into their gardens, and showed him the paradise that their woman-hands
would destroy if the invading army came. He was awed by the prospect--his
ordinary judgment confounded by such extraordinary examples. To the lady
above-mentioned, in whose garden he was one day walking, in conversation
with the governor and others, he exclaimed:
"What, madam! would you consent to see this beautiful home in ashes
and this fruitful orchard destroyed?"
"Yes!" answered Sister Carrington, with heroic resolution, "I would
not only consent to it, but I would set fire to my home with my own hands,
and cut down every tree, and root up every plant!"
Coupled with this will be repeated the dramatic incident of Governor
Cumming's wife weeping over the scene of the deserted city after the
community had partly executed their resolution.
The saints had all gone south, with their leader, [358] when Governor
Cumming, with his wife, returned from Camp Scott. They proceeded to the
residence of Elder Staines, whom they found in waiting. His family had
gone south, and in his garden were significantly heaped several loads of
straw.
The governor's wife inquired their meaning, and the cause of the
silence that pervaded the city. Elder Staines informed her of their
resolve to burn the town in case the army attempted to occupy it.
"How terrible!" she exclaimed. "What a sight this is! I shall never
forget it! it has the appearance of a city that has been afflicted with
plague. Every house looks like a tomb of the dead! For two miles I have
seen but one man in it. Poor creatures! And so all have left their
hard-earned homes?"
Here she burst into tears.
"Oh! Alfred (to her husband), something must be done to bring them
back! Do not permit the army to stay in the city! Can't you do something,
for them?"
"Yes, madam," said he, "I shall do all I can, rest assured."
Mrs. Cumming wept for woman! But the women of Mormondom gloried in
their sublime action as they had never done before. They felt at that
moment that their example was indeed worthy of a modern Israel.
It thus struck the admiration of journalists both in America and
Europe. The Mormons were pronounced "A nation of heroes!" Those heroes
were twice ten thousand women, who could justly claim the tribute equally
with their husbands, their brethren and their sons.
[359] CHAPTER XL.
MIRIAM WORKS AND MARY ANN ANGELL--SCENES OF THE PAST--DEATH-BED OF MIRIAM--EARLY DAYS OF MARY--HER MARRIAGE WITH BRIGHAM--THE GOOD STEP-MOTHER--SHE BEARS HER CROSS IN THE PERSECUTIONS--A BATTLE WITH DEATH--POLYGAMY--MARY IN THE EXODUS AND AT WINTER QUARTERS--THE HUT IN THE VALLEY--CLOSING A WORTHY LIFE.
The death-bed of a latter-day saint!
It was in the house of Heber C. Kimball, in the little town of
Mendon, N. Y., on the 8th of September, 1832. Principal around that
glorious death-bed were Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Vilate, his
wife.
The dying saint was Miriam Works, first wife of Brigham Young--a man
of destiny, but then unknown in the great world. "In her expiring moments,
he says, she clapped her hands and praised the Lord, and called upon
Brother Kimball and all around to also praise the Lord!"
* * * * *
On the 8th of June, 1803, in Seneca, Ontario county, N. Y., was born
Mary Ann Angell, now for [360] forty-five years the wife of Brigham Young,
the mother of his eldest sons, and the faithful stepmother of the
daughters of Miriam Works.
Her parents early leaving her birthplace, Mary was brought up in
Providence, R. I. She was what in those days was denominated a pious
maiden, for her family was strictly of the old Puritan stock of the
country. She early became a Sunday-school teacher, and united with the
Free-Will Baptists. The study of the prophesies quite engrossed her mind,
and she was confidently looking for their fulfillment. Her
semi-ministerial duties as a Sunday-school teacher toned and strengthened
her early womanhood; and hence she resolved never to marry until she met
"a man of God" to whom her heart should go out, to unite with him in the
active duties of a Christian life. Thus it came about that she remained a
maiden until nearly thirty years of age. But the providence that watched
over her had chosen for her a husband.
It was during the year 1830 that Thomas B. Marsh came to Providence,
bringing with him the Book of Mormon. From him Mary obtained a copy, and
having prayerfully read it, became convinced that it was a work of
inspiration. After this she went to Southern New York, where her parents
were visiting, and there she and her parents were baptized by John P.
Greene--Brigham's brother-in-law. It was about this time that the Youngs,
the Greenes and the Kimballs came into the Church.
Alone, Mary set out for Kirtland, which had just become the gathering
place of the saints; and there she remained a year before Brigham and
Heber [361] gathered with their families. Vilate Kimball was still acting
the part of a mother to the little daughters of Miriam. Through hearing
Brigham preach in Kirtland, Mary Angell became acquainted with him. She
had found her mate; he had found a mother indeed to his little motherless
Elizabeth and Vilate.
At the period of the famous march of the elders from Ohio to
Missouri, in 1834, to "redeem Zion" in Jackson county, Mary, now for over
a year the wife of Brigham Young, became the mother of his first son,
Joseph A., who was born October 14, 1834, just at the return of her
husband, after the disbanding of Zion's Camp. Thus during the most trying
period of her first year of marriage, was she left alone in the struggle
of life, providing for herself, and caring for her husband's motherless
girls.
But a still more trying period came to this excellent woman, after
her husband became a member of the quorum of the twelve, and when the
rebellion against Joseph arose in Kirtland. First the prophet and Sidney
Rigdon had to flee for their lives, and next Brigham Young had to escape
from Kirtland. Then came her severest struggle. She now had five children
to care end provide for--the two daughters of Miriam, her Joseph A., and
Brigham, Jr., with his twin sister, Mary Ann. Those were dark days of
persecution and want. The apostates and antiMormons frequently searched
her house for her husband, and the faithful in Kirtland all had enough to
do to sustain themselves, in the absence of their shepherds, who were now
refugees in Far West. At length, with the five children, she reached her
[362] husband; but not long to rest, for quickly came the expulsion from
Missouri, in which period she broke up her home many times before finally
settling in Montrose, on the opposite side of the river from Nauvoo.
Scarcely had Brigham and the twelve effected the exodus of the saints
from Missouri to Illinois, ere Joseph, having escaped from prison, sent
the twelve with its president to England, on mission.
On each side of the Mississippi, in cabins and tents, the Mormon
people lay, exhausted by their many expulsions; the multitude sick, many
dying, the vigor of life scarcely left even in their strong willed
leaders. Thus lying on the river-side at Commerce and Montrose, they
presented a spectacle no longer suggestive of irresistible empire
founders. Joseph was sick; Brigham was sick; the twelve were all sick; the
prophet's house and door yard was a hospital. It was then that the
prophet, knowing that power must be invoked or the people would perish,
leaped from his sick bed, and entering first the tents and cabins of the
apostles, and bidding them arise and follow him, went like an archangel
through the midst of his disciples, and "healed the multitude." It is a
grand picture in the memory of the saints, being called "The Day of God's
Power." Reverse that picture, and there is seen the exact condition of
Mary Angell Young and the other apostles' wives when the president and his
quorum started on mission to England, leaving them to the care of the
Lord, and their brethren. It was a period quite as trying to these
apostolic sisters as that of the exodus, afterwards. [363] And to none
more so than to Mary, who had now the burden of six children to sustain
during her husband's absence in a foreign land.
The following entries in the president's journal embody a most
graphic story, easily seized by the imagination:
"We arrived in Commerce on the 18th (May, 1839), and called upon
Brother Joseph and his family. Joseph had commenced laying out the city
plot.
"23d--I crossed the Mississippi with my family, and took up my
residence in a room in the old military barracks, in company with Brother
Woodruff and his family.
"September 14, 1839--I started from Montrose on my mission to
England. My health was so poor that I was unable to go thirty rods, to the
river, without assistance. After I had crossed the river I got Israel
Barlow to carry me on his horse behind him, to Heber C. Kimball's, where I
remained sick 'till the 18th. I left my wife sick, with a babe only ten
days old, and all my children sick and unable to wait upon each other.
"17th--My wife crossed the river, and got a boy with a wagon to bring
her up about a mile, to Brother Kimball's, to see me. I remained until the
18th at Brother Kimball's, when we started, leaving his family also sick."
Continue the picture, with the husband's absence, and the wife's
noble, every-day struggle to maintain and guard his children, and we have
her history well described for the next two years.
Taking up the thread again in September, 1841:
[364] "On my return from England," says Brigham, in his diary, "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 plough it the oxen
mired; but after the city was drained it became a very valuable garden
spot."
The scene, a year later, is that of President Young at "death's
door," and the wife battling with death to save her husband. He was
suddenly attacked with a slight fit of apoplexy. This was followed by a
severe fever. For eighteen days he lay upon his back, and was not turned
upon his side during that period.
"When the fever left me, on the eighteenth day," he says, "I was
bolstered up in my chair, but was so near gone that I could not close my
eyes, which were set in my head; my chin dropped down, and my breath
stopped. My wife, seeing my situation, threw some cold water in my face
and eyes, which I did not feel in the least; neither did I move a muscle.
She then held my nostrils between her thumb and finger, and placing her
mouth directly over mine, blew into my lungs until she filled them with
air. This set my lungs in motion, and I again began to breathe. While this
was going on I was perfectly conscious of all that was passing around me;
my spirit was as vivid as it ever was in my life; but I had no feeling in
my body."
Mary, by the help of God, had thus saved the life of President Young!
It was about this time that polygamy, or "celestial marriage," was
introduced into the Church. To say that it was no cross to these Mormon
[365] wives--daughters of the strictest Puritan parentage--would be to
mock their experience. It was thus, also, with their husbands, in Nauvoo,
in 1842. President Young himself tells of the occasion when he stood by
the grave of one of the brethren and wished that the lot of the departed
was his own. The burden of polygamy seemed heavier than the hand of death.
It was nothing less than the potency of the "Thus saith the Lord," and the
faith of the saints as a community, that sustained them--both the brethren
and the sisters. Mary Angell gave to her husband other wives, and the
testimony which she gives to-day is that it has been the "Thus saith the
Lord" unto her, from the time of its introduction to the present.
Scarcely necessary is it to observe that she was in the exodus. Seven
children were now under her care. Alice, Luna, and John W. were born in
Montrose and Nauvoo, while the twin sister of Brigham, Jr., had died. With
these she remained at winter quarters while the president led the pioneers
to the Rocky Mountains. Her benevolence to the poor at winter quarters
(and who of them were then rich!) is spoken of to this day. Indeed,
benevolence has ever been a marked trait in her life.
Then came the hut in the valley. The "heat and burden of the day" had
not passed. Full twenty years of struggle, self-sacrifice, and devotion as
a wife, uncommon in its examples, filled up the pages of "Sister Young's
history," as a latter-day saint, before the days of social prominence
came.
The hut in the valley, where she lived in 1849, is a good pioneer
picture. It stood on the spot where [366] now stands her residence--the
"White House;" and some ten rods north-west of that location stood a row
of log-cabins where dwelt President Young's other wives, with their
children.
Since then the days of grandeur, befitting her station, have come;
but "Mother Young"--a name honored in her bearing--has lived most in the
public mind as the faithful wife, the exemplary mother, and a latter-day
saint in whose heart benevolence and native goodness have abounded. She is
now seventy-four years of age--closing a marked and worthy life; and her
latest expressed desire is that a strong testimony should be borne of her
faith in Mormonism, and the righteousness of her husband in carrying out
the revelation, given through Joseph Smith, on polygamy, as the word and
will of the Lord to his people.
[367] CHAPTER XLI.
THE REVELATION ON POLYGAMY--BISHOP WHITNEY PRESERVES A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT--BELINDA M. PRATT'S FAMOUS LETTER
It was nearly twenty-three years after the establishment of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that the revelation on
celestial marriage was published to the world. On the 6th of April, 1830,
the Church was founded on the 14th of September, 1852, the Deseret News
published an extra, containing the said revelation, the origin thus dated:
"Given to Joseph Smith, Nauvoo, July 12, 1843;" and in the Millennial
Star, January 1st, 1853, it was published to the saints of the British
mission.
No need here for a review of that document on plural marriage, nor a
sociological discussion of this now world-noised institution of the
Mormons; but as some persons have ascribed that institution to
President Young, and denied that Joseph Smith was its revelator, the word
of sisters who have been with the Church from the beginning shall be
offered as a finality upon the question of its origin.
Eliza R. Snow has already testified on the subject of her marriage to
the prophet Joseph, not by proxy, but personally, during his lifetime; and
all [368] the Church know her as Joseph's wife. The daughters of Bishop
Partridge, and others, were also sealed to him in person, in the order of
celestial marriage.
A very proper one to speak here is Mother Whitney, for it was her
husband, Bishop Whitney, who preserved the revelation on polygamy.
Speaking of the time when her husband kept store for Joseph (1842-3), she
says: "It was during this time that Joseph received the revelation
concerning celestial marriage; also concerning the ordinances of the house
of the Lord. He had been strictly charged, by the angel committed these
precious things into his keeping, that he should only reveal them to such
ones as were pure, and full of integrity to the truth, and worthy and
capable of being entrusted with divine messages; that to spread them
abroad would only be like casting pearls before swine; and that the most
profound secresy was to be maintained, until the Lord saw fit to make it
known publicly through his servants. Joseph had the most implicit
confidence in my husband's uprightness and integrity of character, and so
he confided to him the principles set forth in that revelation, and also
gave him the privilege of reading and making a copy of it, believing it
would be perfectly safe with him. It is this same copy that was preserved
in the providence of God; for Emma (Joseph's wife), afterwards becoming
indignant, burned the original, thinking she had destroyed the only
written document upon the subject in existence. My husband revealed these
things to me. We had always been united, and had the utmost faith and
confidence in each other. We pondered upon the [369] matter continually,
and our prayers were unceasing that the Lord would grant us some special
manifestation concerning this new and strange doctrine. The Lord was very
merciful to us, revealing unto us his power and glory. We were seemingly
wrapt in a heavenly vision; a halo of light encircled us, and we were
convinced in our own bosoms that God heard and approved our prayers and
intercedings before him. Our hearts were comforted, and our faith made so
perfect that we were willing to give our eldest daughter, then seventeen
years of age, to Joseph, in the order of plural marriage. Laying aside all
our traditions and former notions in regard to marriage, we gave her with
our mutual consent. She was the first woman given in plural marriage with
the consent of both parents. Of course these things had to be kept an
inviolate secret; and as some were false to their vows and pledges of
secrecy, persecution arose, and caused grievous sorrow to those who had
obeyed, in all purity and sincerity, the requirements of this celestial
order of marriage. The Lord commanded his servants; they themselves did
not comprehend what the ultimate course of action would be, but were
waiting further developments from heaven. Meantime, the ordinances of the
house of the Lord were given, to bless and strengthen us in our future
endeavors to promulgate the principles of divine light and intelligence;
but coming in contact with all preconceived notions and principles
heretofore taught as the articles of religious faith, it was not strange
that many could not receive it. Others doubted; and only a few remained
firm and immovable."
[370] On the publication of the revelation on polygamy, the theological
writers of the Church issued pamphlets, promulgating and defending the
"peculiar institution," as the Gentiles styled it. Orson Spencer issued
Patriarchal Marriage; Parley P. Pratt issued Marriage and Morals in Utah;
and Orson Pratt was sent to Washington to proclaim, at the seat of
government, the great social innovation. This was the origin of the Seer,
a periodical there issued by him. Among the various writings of the times,
upon the subject, was a tract entitled Defence of Polygamy by a Lady of
Utah, in a Letter to her Sister in New Hampshire. The following are
extracts from it, in which is strikingly made manifest the fact that the
sisterhood accepted polygamy upon the examples of the Hebrew Bible, rather
than upon any portion of the Book of Mormon:
"SALT LAKE CITY, January 12, 1854
"DEAR SISTER:
"Your letter of October 2d was received yesterday. * * * It seems, my
dear sister, that we are no nearer together in our religious views than
formerly. Why is this? Are we not all bound to leave this world, with all
we possess therein, and reap the reward of our doings here in a never
ending hereafter? If so, do we not desire to be undeceived, and to know
and to do the truth? Do we not all wish in our hearts to be sincere with
ourselves, and to be honest and frank with each other? If so, you will
bear with me patiently, while I give a few of my reasons for embracing,
and holding, sacred, that particular point in the doctrine of the Church
of the Saints, to which you, my dear sister, together with a large
majority of Christendom, so decidedly object--I mean a `plurality of
wives.'
[371] "I have a Bible which I have been taught from my infancy to hold
sacred. In this Bible I read of a holy man named Abraham, who is
represented as the friend of God, a faithful man in all things, a man who
kept the commandments of God, and who is called in the New Testament the
father of the faithful.' I find this man had a plurality of wives, some of
whom were called concubines. I also find his grandson, Jacob, possessed of
four wives, twelve sons and a daughter. These wives are spoken very highly
of by the sacred writers, as honorable and virtuous women. `These,' say
the Scriptures, `did build the house of Israel.' Jacob himself was also a
man of God, and the Lord blessed him and his house, and commanded him to
be fruitful and multiply. I find also that the twelve sons of Jacob, by
these four wives, became princes, heads of tribes, patriarchs, whose names
are had in everlasting remembrance to all generations.
"Now God talked with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, frequently; and his
angels also visited and talked with them, and blessed them and their wives
and children. He also reproved the sins of some of the sons of Jacob, for
hating and selling their brother and for adultery. But in all his
communications with them, he never condemned their family organization;
but on the contrary, always approved of it, and blessed them in this
respect. He even told Abraham that he would make him the father of many
nations, and that in him and his seed all the nations and kindreds of the
earth should be blessed. In later years I find the plurality of wives
perpetuated, sanctioned, and provided for in the law of Moses.
"David, the psalmist, not only had a plurality of wives, but the Lord
spoke by the mouth of Nathan the prophet and told David that he (the Lord)
had given his master's wives into his bosom; but because he had committed
adultery with the wife of [372] Uriah, and caused his murder, he would
take his wives and give them to a neighbor of his, etc.
"Here, then, we have the word of the Lord, not only sanctioning
polygamy, but actually giving to King David the wives of his master
(Saul), and afterward taking the wives of David from him, and giving them
to another man. Here we have a sample of severe reproof and punishment for
adultery and murder, while polygamy is authorized and approved by the word
of God.
"But to come to the New Testament. I find Jesus Christ speaks very
highly of Abraham and his family. He says: `Many shall come from the east,
and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit
down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.' Again he said:
`If ye were Abraham's seed, ye would do the works of Abraham.'
"Paul the apostle wrote to the saints of his day, and informed them
as follows: `As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ; and if ye are Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise.' He also sets forth Abraham and Sarah as
patterns of faith and good works, and as the father and mother of faithful
Christians, who should, by faith and good works, aspire to be counted the
sons of Abraham and daughters of Sarah.
"Now let us look at some of the works of Sarah, for which she is so
highly commended by the apostles, and by them held up as a pattern for
Christian ladies to imitate.
"`Now Sarah, Abram's wife, bare him no children; and she had an
handmaid an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said unto Abram,
Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing; I pray thee go in
unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram
harkened unto the voice of Sarah. And Sarah, Abram's wife, took Hagar her
maid, the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan,
and gave her to her husband, Abram, to be his wife.' (Gen. xvi.; 1, 2, 3).
"According to Jesus Christ and the apostles, [373] then, the only way
to be saved, is to be adopted into the great family of polygamists, by the
gospel, and then strictly follow their examples. Again, John the Revelator
describes the holy city of the Heavenly Jerusalem, with the names of the
twelve sons of Jacob inscribed on the gates.
"To sum up the whole, then, I find that polygamists were the friends
of God; that the family and lineage of a polygamist was selected, in which
all nations should be blessed; that a polygamist is named in the New
Testament as the father of the faithful Christians of after ages, and
cited as a pattern for all generations. That the wife of a polygamist, who
encouraged her husband in the practice of the same, and even urged him
into it, and officiated in giving him another wife, is named as an
honorable and virtuous woman, a pattern for Christian ladies, and the very
mother of all holy women in the Christian Church, whose aspiration it
should be to be called her daughters.
"That Jesus has declared that the great fathers of the polygamic
family stand at the head in the kingdom of God; in short, that all the
saved of after generations should be saved by becoming members of a
polygamic family; that all those who do not become members of it, are
strangers and aliens to the covenant of promise, the commonwealth of
Israel, and not heirs according to the promise made to Abraham.
"That all people from the east, west, north and south, who enter into
the kingdom, enter into the society of polygamists, and under their
patriarchal rule and covenant.
"Indeed no one can approach the gates of heaven without beholding the
names of twelve polygamists (the sons of four different women by one man),
engraver in everlasting glory upon the pearly gates.
"My dear sister, with the Scriptures before me, I could never find it
in my heart to reject the heavenly [374] vision which has restored to man
the fullness of the gospel, or the latter-day prophets and apostles,
merely because in this restoration is included the ancient law of
matrimony and of family organization and government, preparatory to the
restoration of all Israel.
* * * * * *
"Your affectionate sister.
"BELINDA MARDEN PRATT."
"Mrs. Lydia Kimball, Nashua, N. H."
[375] CHAPTER XLII.
REVELATION SUPPORTED BY BIBLICAL EXAMPLES--THE ISRAELITISH GENIUS OF THE MORMONS SHOWN IN THE PATRIARCHAL NATURE OF THEIR INSTITUTIONS--THE ANTI-POLYGAMIC CRUSADE
Next after the revelation on celestial marriage, through Joseph the
prophet, the Bible of the Hebrews, and not the sacred record of the
ancients of this continent, must be charged with the authority, the
examples, and, consequently, the practice of polygamy in the Latter-day
Church. The examples of Abraham, Jacob, Solomon, and the ancients of
Israel generally, and not the examples of Nephi, Mormon, and their people,
whose civilization is now extinct, have been those accepted by our modern
Israel examples of such divine potency that the women of England and
America, with all their monogamic training and prejudice, have dared not
reject nor make war against in woman's name.
Ever and everywhere is the genius of Mormonism so strikingly in the
Abrahamic likeness and image, that one could almost fancy the patriarchs
of ancient Israel inspiring a modern Israel to perpetuate their name,
their faith and their institutions. Who shall say that this is not the
fact? Surely [376] this patriarchal genius of the Mormons is the most
extraordinary test of a modern Israel. Jerusalem, not Rome, has brought
forth the Mormons and their peculiar commonwealth.
And here it should be emphasized that polygamy had nought to do with
the expulsions of the Mormons from Missouri and Illinois. The primitive
"crime" of the Mormons was their belief in new revelation. Fifty years ago
that was a monstrous crime in the eyes of sectarian Christendom. The
present generation can scarcely comprehend how blasphemous the doctrine of
modern revelation seemed to this very nation of America, which now boasts
of ten to twelve millions of believers in revelation from some source or
other. Thus wonderful has been the change in fifty years!
Viewed as a cause of their persecutions in the past, next to this
faith of the Mormons in Jehovah's speaking, was their rapid growth as a
gathered and organized people, who bid fair to hold the balance of
political power in several States. A prominent grievance with Missouri and
Illinois was exactly that urged against the growth of the ancient
Christians--"if we let them alone they will take away our name and
nation!"
Following down the record until the period of the Utah war, it is
still the fact that polygamy was not the cause of the anti-Mormon crusade.
It was not even the excuse of that period, as given by President Buchanan
and Congress. It was merely an Israelitish trouble in the world.
Soon after this, however, polygamy did become the excuse, both to
Congress and the dominant [377] political party of the country, to take
action against the Mormons and their Israelitish institutions. In framing
the Chicago platform, the Republican party, just rising to supremacy, made
slavery one of its planks, and polygamy another. Upon these "twin relics"
they rode into the administration of the government of the country.
Then came the anti-polygamic law of 1862, especially framed against
the Mormons. But it was found to be inoperative. Lincoln, who had known
many of them in the early days, let the Mormons alone.
The civil war was over. The South had succumbed. The work of
reconstruction was fairly in progress. The conqueror Grant, and his
administration, resolved to grapple with "polygamic theocracy," as they
styled it--if need be by the action and issues of another Mormon war.
First came Colfax to Zion, to "spy out the land." To the polygamic
saints he administered the gentle warning of a soft tongue, which,
however, concealed a serpent's sting. Returning east, after his famous
tour across the continent, he opened a theological assault upon Mormon
polygamy in the New York Independent, and soon became engaged in a regular
battle with apostle John Taylor. Returning to Zion, on his second visit,
the Vice-President actually preached an anti-polygamic sermon to the
Mormons, one evening, in front of the Townsend House, in Salt Lake City,
in which he quoted what he interpreted as anti-polygamic passages from the
Book of Mormon.
The scene changes to Washington. Colfax, Cul-[378]lom, Grant and Dr.
Newman are in travail with the Cullom bill and anti-Mormon crusade.
The Cullom bill passed the House and went to the Senate. President
Grant had resolved to execute it, by force of arms, should the courts
fail. Vice-President Colfax, while in Utah, had propounded the serious
question, "Will Brigham Young fight?"
Congress and the nation thought that now the doom of Mormon polygamy
had come.
Suddenly, like a wall of salvation, fifty thousand women of Mormondom
threw themselves around their patriarchs and their institutions! A
wonderful people, these Mormons! More wonderful these women!
[379] CHAPTER XLIII.
GRAND MASS MEETING OF THE WOMEN OF UTAH ON POLYGAMY AND THE CULLOM BILL--THEIR NOBLE REMONSTRANCE--SPEECHES OF APOSTOLIC WOMEN--THEIR RESOLUTIONS--WOMAN'S RIGHTS OR WOMAN'S REVOLUTION.
Probably the most remarkable woman's rights demonstration of the age,
was that of the women of Mormondom, in their grand mass-meetings, held
throughout Utah, in all its principal cities and settlements, in January
of 1870. And it was the more singular and complex, because Utah is the
land of polygamy--the only land in all Christendom where that institution
has been established--and that, too, chiefly by an Anglo-Saxon people--the
last race in the world that the sociologist might have supposed would have
received the system of plural marriage! Hence, they have lifted it to a
plane that, perhaps, no other race could have done above mere sexual
considerations, and, in its theories, altogether incompatible with the
serfdom of woman; for the tens of thousands of the women of Utah not only
held their grand mass-meetings to confirm and maintain polygamy, but they
did it at the very moment of the passage of their female suffrage bill; so
that in [380] their vast assemblages they were virtually exercising their
vote.
On the 13th of January, 1870, "notwithstanding the inclemency of the
weather, the old tabernacle," says the Deseret News, "was densely packed
with ladies of all ages, and, as that building will comfortably seat five
thousand persons, there could not have been fewer than between five and
six thousand present on the occasion."
It was announced in the programme that there were to be none present
but ladies. Several reporters of the press, however, obtained admittance,
among whom was Colonel Finley Anderson, special correspondent of the New
York Herald.
The meeting was opened with a very impressive prayer from Mrs. Zina
D. Young; and then, on motion of Eliza R. Snow, Mrs. Sarah M. Kimball was
elected president. Mrs. Lydia Alder was chosen secretary, and Mrs. M. T.
Smoot, Mrs. M. N. Hyde, Isabella Horn, Mary Leaver, Priscilla Staines and
Rachel Grant, were appointed a committee to draft resolutions. This was
done with executive dispatch; for many present had for years been leaders
of women's organizations. The president arose and addressed a few pithy
remarks to the vast assemblage. She said:
"We are to speak in relation to the government and institutions under
which we live. She would ask, Have we transgressed any law of the United
States? [Loud "no" from the audience.] Then why are we here to-day? We
have been driven from place to place, and wherefore? Simply for believing
and practicing the counsels of God, as [381] contained in the gospel of
heaven. The object of this meeting is to consider the justice of a bill
now before the Congress of the United States. We are not here to advocate
woman's rights, but man's rights. The bill in question would not only
deprive our fathers, husbands and brothers, of enjoying the privileges
bequeathed to citizens of the United States, but it would deprive us, as
women, of the privilege of selecting our husbands; and against this we
unqualifiedly protest."
During the absence of the committee on resolutions, the following
speech was delivered by Bathsheba W. Smith:
"Beloved Sisters and Friends: It is with no ordinary feelings that I
meet with you on the present occasion. From my early youth I have been
identified with the Latter-day Saints; hence, I have been an eye and ear
witness to many of the wrongs that have been inflicted upon our people by
a spirit of intolerant persecution.
"I watched by the bedside of the first apostle, David W. Patten, who
fell a martyr in the Church. He was a noble soul. He was shot by a mob
while defending the saints in the State of Missouri. As Brother Patten's
life-blood oozed away, I stood by and heard his dying testimony to the
truth of our holy religion--declaring himself to be a friend to all
mankind. His last words, addressed to his wife, were: `Whatever you do,
oh! do not deny the faith.' This circumstance made a lasting impression on
my youthful mind.
"I was intimately acquainted with the life and ministry of our
beloved prophet Joseph, and our [382] patriarch Hyrum Smith. I know that
they were pure men, who labored for the redemption of the human family.
For six years I heard their public and private teachings. It was from
their lips that I heard taught the principle of celestial marriage; and
when I saw their mangled forms cold in death, having been slain for the
testimony of Jesus, by the hands of cruel bigots, in defiance of law,
justice and executive pledges; and although this was a scene of barbarous
cruelty, which can never be erased from the memory of those who witnessed
the heartrending cries of widows and orphans, and mingled their tears with
those of thousands of witnesses of the mournful occasion--the memories of
which I hardly feel willing to awaken--yet realized that they had sealed
their ministry with their blood, and that their testimony was in force.
"On the 9th day of February, 1846--the middle of a cold and bleak
winter--my husband, just rising from a bed of sickness, and I, in company
with thousands of saints, were driven again from our comfortable home--the
accumulation of six years' industry and prudence and, with the little
children, commenced a long and weary journey through a wilderness, to seek
another home; for a wicked mob had decreed we must leave. Governor Ford,
of Illinois, said the laws were powerless to protect us. Exposed to the
cold of winter and the storms of spring, we continued our journey, amid
want and exposure, burying by the wayside a dead mother, a son, and many
kind friends and relatives.
"We reached the Missouri river in July. Here [383] our country
thought proper to make a requisition upon us for a battalion to defend our
national flag in the war pending with Mexico. We responded promptly, many
of our kindred stepping forward and performing a journey characterized by
their commanding officer as unparalleled in history. With most of our
youths and middle-aged men gone, we could not proceed; hence, we were
compelled to make another home, which, though humble, approaching winter
made very desirable. In 1847-8, all who were able, through selling their
surplus property, proceeded; we who remained were told, by an unfeeling
Indian department, we must vacate our houses and re-cross the Missouri
river, as the laws would not permit us to remain on Indian lands! We
obeyed, and again made a new home, though only a few miles distant. The
latter home we abandoned in 1849, for the purpose of joining our
co-religionists in the then far-off region, denominated on the map the
Great American Desert, and by some later geographies as `Eastern Upper
California.'
"In this isolated country we made new homes, and, for a time,
contended with the crickets for a scanty subsistence. The rude, ignorant,
and almost nude Indians were a heavy tax upon us, while struggling again
to make comfortable homes and improvements; yet we bore it all without
complaint, for we were buoyed up with the happy reflections that we were
so distant from the States, and had found an asylum in such an undesirable
country, as to strengthen us in the hope that our homes would not be
coveted; and that should we, [384] through the blessing of God, succeed in
planting our own vine and fig tree, no one could feel heartless enough to
withhold from us that religious liberty which we had sought in vain
amongst our former neighbors.
"Without recapitulating our recent history, the development of a
people whose industry and morality have extorted eulogy from their bitter
traducers, I cannot but express my surprise, mingled with regret and
indignation, at the recent efforts of ignorant, bigoted, and unfeeling
men-- headed by the Vice-President--to aid intolerant sectarians and
reckless speculators, who seek for proscription and plunder, and who feel
willing to rob the inhabitants of these valleys of their hard earned
possessions, and, what is dearer, the constitutional boon of religious
liberty."
Sister Smith was followed by Mrs. Levi Riter, in a few appropriate
remarks, and then the committee on resolutions reported the following:
"Resolved, That we, the ladies of Salt Lake City, in mass-meeting
assembled, do manifest our indignation, and protest against the bill
before Congress, known as `the Cullom bill,' also the one known as `the
Cragin bill,' and all similar bills, expressions and manifestoes.
"Resolved, That we consider the above-named bills foul blots on our
national escutcheon--absurd documents--atrocious insults to the honorable
executive of the United States Government, and malicious attempts to
subvert the rights of civil and religious liberty.
"Resolved, That we do hold sacred the constitution bequeathed us by
our forefathers, and ignore, [385] with laudable womanly jealousy, every
act of those men to whom the responsibilities of government have been
entrusted, which is calculated to destroy its efficiency.
"Resolved, That we unitedly exercise every moral power and every
right which we inherit as the daughters of American citizens, to prevent
the passage of such bills, knowing that they would inevitably cast a
stigma on our republican government by jeopardizing the liberty and lives
of its most loyal and peaceful citizens.
"Resolved, That, in our candid opinion, the presentation of the
aforesaid bills indicates a manifest degeneracy of the great men of our
nation; and their adoption would presage a speedy downfall and ultimate
extinction of the glorious pedestal of freedom, protection, and equal
rights, established by our noble ancestors.
"Resolved, That we acknowledge the institutions of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the only reliable safeguard of female
virtue and innocence; and the only sure protection against the fearful sin
of prostitution, and its attendant evils, now prevalent abroad, and as
such, we are and shall be united with our brethren in sustaining them
against each and every encroachment.
"Resolved, That we consider the originators of the aforesaid bills
disloyal to the constitution, and unworthy of any position of trust in any
office which involves the interests of our nation.
"Resolved, That, in case the bills in question should pass both
Houses of Congress, and become a law, by which we shall be disfranchised
as a Territory, we, the ladies of Salt Lake City, shall exert all our
power and influence to aid in the support of our own State government."
These resolutions were greeted with loud cheers [386] from nearly six
thousand women, and carried unanimously; after which, Sister Warren Smith,
a relict of one of the martyrs of Haun's Mill, arose, and with deep
feeling, said:
"Sisters: As I sat upon my seat, listening, it seemed as though, if I
held my peace, the stones of the streets would cry out. With your prayers
aiding me, I will try and make a few remarks. [See chapter on Haun's Mill
massacre, in which Sister Smith substantially covers the same ground.] We
are here to-day to say, if such scenes shall be again enacted in our
midst. I say to you, my sisters, you are American citizens; let us stand
by the truth, if we die for it."
Mrs. Wilmarth East then said: "It is with feelings of pleasure,
mingled with indignation and disgust, that I appear before my sisters, to
express my feelings in regard to the Cullom bill now before the Congress
of this once happy republican government. The constitution for which our
forefathers fought and bled and died, bequeaths to us the right of
religious liberty--the right to worship God according to the dictates of
our own consciences! Does the Cullom bill give us this right? Compare it
with the constitution, if you please, and see what a disgrace has come
upon this once happy and republican government! Where, O, where, is that
liberty, bequeathed to us by our forefathers--the richest boon ever given
to man or woman, except eternal life, or the gospel of the Son of God? I
am an American citizen by birth. Having lived under the laws of the ]and,
I claim the right to worship God according to the dictates [387] of my
conscience, and the commandments that God shall give unto me. Our
constitution guarantees life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to
all who live beneath it. What is life to me, if I see the galling yoke of
oppression placed on the necks of my husband, sons and brothers, as Mr.
Cullom would have it? I am proud to say to you that I am not only a
citizen of the United States of America, but a citizen of the kingdom of
God, and the laws of this kingdom I am willing to sustain and defend both
by example and precept. I am thankful to-day that I have the honored
privilege of being the happy recipient of one of the greatest principles
ever revealed to man for his redemption and exaltation in the kingdom of
God--namely, plurality of wives; and I am thankful to-day that I know that
God is at the helm, and will defend his people."
A veteran sister, Mrs. McMinn, could not refrain from expressing
herself in unison with her sisters, in indignation at the bill. She was an
American citizen; her father had fought through the revolution with
General Washington; and she claimed the exercise of the liberty for which
he had fought. She was proud of being a latter-day saint.
In answer to an inquiry, she stated that she was nearly eighty-five
years of age.
Sister Eliza R. Snow then addressed the meeting, as follows:
"My Sisters: In addressing you at this time, I realize that the
occasion is a peculiar and interesting one. We are living in a land of
freedom, under a constitution that guarantees civil and religious [388]
liberty to all--black and white, Christians, Jews, Mohammedans and Pagans;
and how strange it is that such considerations should exist as those which
have called us together this afternoon.
"Under the proud banner which now waves from ocean to ocean, strange
as it may seem, we, who have ever been loyal citizens, have been
persecuted from time to time and driven from place to place, until at
last, beyond the bounds of civilization, under the guidance of President
Young, we found an asylum of peace in the midst of these mountains.
"There are, at times, small and apparently trivial events in the
lives of individuals, with which every other event naturally associates.
There are circumstances in the history of nations, which serve as centres
around which everything else revolves.
"The entrance of our brave pioneers, and the settlement of the
latter-day saints in these mountain vales, which then were only barren,
savage wilds, are events with which not only our own future, but the
future of the whole world, is deeply associated.
"Here they struggled, with more than mortal energy, for their hearts
and hands were nerved by the spirit of the Most High, and through his
blessing they succeeded in drawing sustenance from the arid soil; here
they erected the standard on which the `star spangled banner' waved its
salutation of welcome to the nations of the earth; and here it will be
bequeathed, unsullied, to future generations. Yes, that `dear old flag'
which in my girlhood I always contemplated with joyous pride, and to which
the patriotic strains of my earliest muse were [389] chanted, here floats
triumphantly on the mountain breeze.
"Our numbers, small at first, have increased, until now we number one
hundred and fifty thousand; and yet we are allowed only a territorial
government. Year after year we have petitioned Congress for that which is
our inalienable right to claim--a State government; and, year after year,
our petitions have been treated with contempt. Such treatment as we have
received from our rulers, has no precedent in the annals of history.
"And now, instead of granting us our rights as American citizens,
bills are being presented to Congress, which are a disgrace to men in
responsible stations, professing the least claim to honor and magnanimity;
bills which, if carried into effect, would utterly annihilate us as a
people. But this will never be. There is too much virtue yet existing in
the nation, and above all there is a God in heaven whose protecting care
is over us, and who takes cognizance of the acts of men.
"My sisters, we have met to-day to manifest our views and feelings
concerning the oppressive policy exercised towards us by our republican
government. Aside from all local and personal feelings, to me it is a
source of deep regret that the standard of American liberty should have
been so far swayed from its original position, as to have given rise to
circumstances which not only render such a meeting opportune, but
absolutely necessary.
"Heretofore, while detraction and ridicule have been poured forth in
almost every form that malice could invent, while we have been
misrepresented [390] by speech and press, and exhibited in every shade but
our true light, the ladies of Utah have remained comparatively silent. Had
not our aims been of the most noble and exalted character, and had we not
known that we occupied a standpoint far above our traducers, we might have
returned volley for volley; but we have all the time realized that to
contradict such egregious absurdities, would be a great stoop of
condescension--far beneath the dignity of those who profess to be saints
of the living God; and we very unassumingly applied to ourselves a saying
of an ancient apostle, in writing to the Corinthians, `Ye suffer fools,
gladly, seeing that yourselves are wise.'
"But there is a point at which silence is no longer a virtue. In my
humble opinion, we have arrived at that point. Shall we--ought we--to be
silent, when every right of citizenship, every vestige of civil and
religious liberty, is at stake? When our husbands and sons, our fathers
and brothers, are threatened with being either restrained in their
obedience to the commands of God, or incarcerated, year after year, in the
dreary confines of a prison, will it be thought presumptuous? Ladies, this
subject as deeply interests us as them. In the kingdom of God, woman has
no interests separate from those of man--all are mutual.
"Our enemies pretend that, in Utah, woman is held in a state of
vassalage--that she does not act from choice, but by coercion--that we
would even prefer life elsewhere, were it possible for us to make our
escape. What nonsense! We all know that if we wished we could leave at any
time--[391] either to go singly, or to rise en masse, and there is no
power here that could, or would wish to, prevent us.
"I will now ask this assemblage of intelligent ladies, do you know of
any place on the face of the earth, where woman has more liberty, and
where she enjoys such high and glorious privileges as she does here, as a
latter-day saint? No! The very idea of woman here in a state of slavery is
a burlesque on good common sense. The history of this people, with a very
little reflection, would instruct outsiders on this point. It would show,
at once, that the part which woman has acted in it, could never have been
performed against her will. Amid the many distressing scenes through which
we have passed, the privations and hardships consequent upon our expulsion
from State to State, and our location in an isolated, barren wilderness,
the women in this Church have performed and suffered what could never have
been borne and accomplished by slaves.
"And now, after all that has transpired, can our opponents expect us
to look on with silent indifference and see every vestige of that liberty
for which many of our patriotic grandsires fought and bled, that they
might bequeath to us, their children, the precious boon of national
freedom, wrested from our grasp? They must be very dull in estimating the
energy of female character, who can persuade themselves that women who for
the sake of their religion left their homes, crossed the plains with
handcarts, or as many had previously done, drove ox, mule and horse-teams
from Nauvoo [392] and from other points, when their husbands and sons
went, at their country's call, to fight her battles in Mexico; yes, that
very country which had refused us protection, and from which we were then
struggling to make our escape--I say those who think that such women and
the daughters of such women do not possess too much energy of character to
remain passive and mute under existing circumstances, are reckoning
without their host. To suppose that we should not be aroused when our
brethren are threatened with fines and imprisonment, for their faith in,
and obedience to, the laws of God, is an insult to our womanly natures.
"Were we the stupid, degraded, heartbroken beings that we have been
represented, silence might better become us; but as women of God, women
filling high and responsible positions, performing sacred duties--women
who stand not as dictators, but as counselors to their husbands, and who,
in the purest, noblest sense of refined womanhood, are truly their
helpmates--we not only speak because we have the right, but justice and
humanity demand that we should.
"My sisters, let us, inasmuch as we are free to do all that love and
duty prompt, be brave and unfaltering in sustaining our brethren. Woman's
faith can accomplish wonders. Let us, like the devout and steadfast
Miriam, assist our brothers in upholding the hands of Moses. Like the
loving Josephine, whose firm and gentle influence both animated and
soothed the heart of Napoleon, we wild encourage and assist the servants
of God in [393] establishing righteousness; but unlike Josephine, never
will political inducements, threats or persecutions, prevail on us to
relinquish our matrimonial ties. They were performed by the authority of
the holy priesthood, the efficiency of which extends into eternity.
"But to the law and to the testimony. Those obnoxious, fratricidal
bills--I feel indignant at the thought that such documents should disgrace
our national legislature. The same spirit prompted Herod to seek the life
of Jesus--the same that drove our Pilgrim fathers to this continent, and
the same that urged the English government to the system of unrepresented
taxation, which resulted in the independence of the American colonies, is
conspicuous in those bills. If such measures are persisted in they will
produce similar results. They not only threaten extirpation to us, but
they augur destruction to the government. The authors of those bills would
tear the constitution to shreds; they are sapping the foundation of
American freedom--they would obliterate every vestige of the dearest right
of man--liberty of conscience--and reduce our once happy country to a
state of anarchy.
"Our trust is in God He who led Israel from the land of Egypt--who
preserved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace--who rescued
Daniel from the jaws of hungry lions, and who directed Brigham Young to
these mountain vales, lives, and overrules the destinies of men and
nations. He will make the wrath of man praise him; and his kingdom will
move steadily forward, [394] until wickedness shall be swept from the
earth, and truth, love and righteousness reign triumphantly." Next came a
concise, powerful speech from Harriet Cook Young. She said:
"In rising to address this meeting, delicacy prompts me to explain
the chief motives which have dictated our present action. We, the ladies
of Salt Lake City, have assembled here to-day, not for the purpose of
assuming any particular political power, nor to claim any special
prerogative which may or may not belong to our sex; but to express our
indignation at the unhallowed efforts of men, who, regardless of every
principle of manhood, justice, and constitutional liberty, would force
upon a religious community, by a direct issue, either the course of
apostacy, or the bitter alternative of fire and sword. Surely the instinct
of self-preservation, the love of liberty and happiness, and the right to
worship God, are dear to our sex as well as to the other; and when these
most sacred of all rights are thus wickedly assailed, it becomes
absolutely our duty to defend them.
"The mission of the Latter-day Saints is to reform abuses which have
for ages corrupted the world, and to establish an era of peace and
righteousness. The Most High is the founder of this mission, and in order
to its establishment, his providences have so shaped the world's history,
that, on this continent, blest above all other lands, a free and
enlightened government has been instituted, guaranteeing to all social,
political, and [395] religious liberty. The constitution of our country is
therefore hallowed to us, and we view with a jealous eye every
infringement upon its great principles, and demand, in the sacred name of
liberty, that the miscreant who would trample it under his feet by
depriving a hundred thousand American citizens of every vestige of
liberty, should be anathematized throughout the length and breadth of the
land, as a traitor to God and his country.
"It is not strange that, among the bigoted and corrupt, such a man
and such a measure should have originated; but it wild be strange indeed
if such a measure find favor with the honorable and high-minded men who
wield the destinies of the nation. Let this seal of ruin be attached to
the archives of our country, and terrible must be the results. Woe will
wait upon her steps, and war and desolation will stalk through the land;
peace and liberty will seek another clime, while anarchy, lawlessness and
bloody strife hold high carnival amid the general wreck. God forbid that
wicked men be permitted to force such an issue upon the nation!
"It is true that a corrupt press, and an equally corrupt priestcraft,
are leagued against us--that they have pandered to the ignorance of the
masses, and vilified our institutions, to that degree that it has become
popular to believe that the latter-day saints are unworthy to live; but it
is also true that there are many, very many, right-thinking men who are
not without influence in the nation; and to such do we now most solemnly
and earn-[396]estly appeal. Let the united force of this assembly give the
lie to the popular clamor that the women of Utah are oppressed and held in
bondage. Let the world know that the women of Utah prefer virtue to vice,
and the home of an honorable wife to the gilded pageantry of fashionable
temples of sin. Transitory allurements, glaring the senses, as is the
flame to the moth, short-lived and cruel in their results, possess no
charms for us. Every woman in Utah may have her husband--the husband of
her choice. Here we are taught not to destroy our children, but to
preserve them, for they, reared in the path of virtue and trained to
righteousness, constitute our true glory.
"It is with no wish to accuse our sisters who are not of our faith
that we so speak; but we are dealing with facts as they exist. Wherever
monogamy reigns, adultery, prostitution and foeticide, directly or
indirectly, are its concomitants. It is not enough to say that the
virtuous and high-minded frown upon these evils. We believe they do. But
frowning upon them does not cure them; it does not even check their rapid
growth; either the remedy is too weak, or the disease is too strong. The
women of Utah comprehend this; and they see, in the principle of plurality
of wives, the only safeguard against adultery, prostitution, and the
reckless waste of pre-natal life, practiced throughout the land.
"It is as co-workers in the great mission of universal reform, not
only in our own behalf, but also, by precept and example, to aid in the
emancipation of our sex generally, that we accept in our [397] heart of
hearts what we know to be a divine commandment; and here, and now, boldly
and publicly we do assert our right, not only to believe in this holy
commandment, but to practice what we believe.
"While these are our views, every attempt to force that obnoxious
measure upon us must of necessity be an attempt to coerce us in our
religious and moral convictions, against which did we not most solemnly
protest, we would be unworthy the name of American women."
Mrs. Hannah T. King followed with a stinging address to Genera]
Cullom himself. She said:
"My Dear Sisters: I wish I had the language I fee] to need, at the
present moment, to truly represent the indignant feelings of my heart and
brain on reading, as I did last evening, a string of thirty sections,
headed by the words, `A Bill in aid of the Execution of the Laws in the
Territory of Utah, and for other purposes.' The other purposes contain the
pith of the matter, and the adamantine chains that the author of the said
bill seeks to bind this people with, exceed anything that the feudal times
of England, or the serfdom of Russia, ever laid upon human beings. My
sisters, are we really in America--the world-renowned land of liberty,
freedom, and equal rights?--the land of which I dreamed, in my youth, as
being almost an earthly elysium, where freedom of thought and religious
liberty were open to all--the land that Columbus wore his noble life out
to discover!--the land that God himself helped him to exhume, and to aid
which endeavor Isabella, a queen, a [398] woman, declared she would pawn
her jewels and crown of Castile, to give him the outfit that he
needed!--the land of Washington, the Father of his Country, and a host of
noble spirits, too numerous to mention!--the land to which the Mayflower
bore the pilgrim fathers, who rose up and left their homes, and bade their
native home `good night,' simply that they might worship God by a purer
and holier faith, in a land of freedom and liberty, of which the name
America has long been synonymous! Yes, my sisters, this is America but oh!
how are the mighty fallen!
"Who, or what, is the creature who framed this `incomparable
document? Is he an Esquimaux or a chimpanzee? What isolated land or spot
produced him? What ideas he must have of women! Had he ever a mother, a
wife, or a sister? In what academy was he tutored, or to what school does
he belong, that he so coolly and systematically commands the women of this
people to turn traitors to their husbands, their brothers, and their sons?
Short-sighted man of `sections' and `the bill!' Let us, the women of this
people the sisterhood of Utah--rise en masse, and tell this nondescript to
defer the bill until he has studied the character of woman, such as God
intended she should be; then he will discover that devotion, veneration
and faithfulness are her peculiar attributes; that God is her refuge, and
his servants her oracles; and that, especially, the women of Utah have
paid too high a price for their present position, their present light and
knowledge, and their noble future, to succumb to so mean and foul a [399]
thing as Baskin, Cullom & Co.'s bill. Let him learn that they are one in
heart, hand and brain, with the brotherhood of Utah--that God is their
father and their friend--that into his hands they commit their cause--and
on their pure and simple banner they have emblazoned their motto, "God,
and my right!"
The next who spoke was Phoebe Woodruff, who said:
"Ladies of Utah: As I have been called upon to express my views upon
the important subject which has called us together, I will say that I am
happy to be one of your number in this association. I am proud that I am a
citizen of Utah, and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. I have been a member of this church for thirty-six years, and had
the privilege of living in the days of the prophet Joseph, and heard his
teaching for many years. He ever counseled us to honor, obey and maintain
the principles of our noble constitution, for which our fathers fought,
and which many of them sacrificed their lives to establish. President
Brigham Young has always taught the same principle. This glorious legacy
of our fathers, the constitution of the United States, guarantees unto all
the citizens of this great republic the right to worship God according to
the dictates of their own consciences, as it expressly says, `Congress
shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof.' Cullom's bill is in direct violation of this
declaration of the constitution, and I think it is our duty to do all in
our power, by our voices and influence, [400] to thwart the passage of
this bill, which commits a violent outrage upon our rights, and the rights
of our fathers, husbands and sons; and whatever may be the final result of
the action of Congress in passing or enforcing oppressive laws, for the
sake of our religion, upon the noble men who have subdued these deserts,
it is our duty to stand by them and support them by our faith, prayers and
works, through every dark hour, unto the end, and trust in the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to defend us and all who are called to suffer for
keeping the commandments of God. Shall we, as wives and mothers, sit still
and see our husbands and sons, whom we know are obeying the highest behest
of heaven, suffer for their religion, without exerting ourselves to the
extent of our power for their deliverance? No; verily no! God has revealed
unto us the law of the patriarchal order of marriage, and commanded us to
obey it. We are sealed to our husbands for time and eternity, that we may
dwell with them and our children in the world to come; which guarantees
unto us the greatest blessing for which we are created. If the rulers of
the nation will so far depart from the spirit and letter of our glorious
constitution as to deprive our prophets, apostles and elders of
citizenship, and imprison them for obeying this law, let them grant this,
our last request, to make their prisons large enough to hold their wives,
for where they go we will go also."
Sisters M. I. Horne and Eleanor M. Pratt followed with appropriate
words, and then Sister Eliza R. Snow made the following remarks:
[401] "My remarks in conclusion will be brief. I heard the prophet Joseph
Smith say, if the people rose and mobbed us and the authorities
countenanced it, they would have mobs to their hearts' content. I heard
him say that the time would come when this nation would so far depart from
its original purity, its glory, and its love of freedom and protection of
civil and religious rights, that the constitution of our country would
hang as it were by a thread. He said, also, that this people, the sons of
Zion, would rise up and save the constitution, and bear it off
triumphantly.
"The spirit of freedom and liberty we should always cultivate, and it
is what mothers should inspire in the breasts of their sons, that they may
grow up brave and noble, and defenders of that glorious constitution which
has been bequeathed unto us. Let mothers cultivate that spirit in their
own bosoms. Let them manifest their own bravery, and cherish a spirit of
encountering, difficulties, because they have to be met, more or less, in
every situation of life. If fortitude and nobility of soul be cultivated
in your own bosoms, you will transmit them to your children; your sons
will grow up noble defenders of truth and righteousness, and heralds of
salvation to the nations of the earth. They will be prepared to fill high
and responsible religious, judicial, civil and executive positions. I
consider it most important, my sisters, that we should struggle to
preserve the sacred constitution of our country--one of the blessings of
the Almighty, for the same spirit that inspired Joseph Smith, inspired the
framers [402] of the constitution; and we should ever hold it sacred, and
bear it off triumphantly."
Mrs. Zina D. Young then moved that the meeting adjourn sine die,
which was carried, and Mrs. Phoebe Woodruff pronounced the benediction.
[403] CHAPTER XLIV.
WIVES OF THE APOSTLES--MRS. ORSON HYDE--INCIDENTS OF THE EARLY DAYS--THE PROPHET--MARY ANN PRATT'S LIFE STORY--WIFE OF GEN. CHARLES C. RICH--MRS. FRANKLIN D. RICHARDS--PHOEBE WOODRUFF--LEONORA TAYLOR--MARIAN ROSS PRATT--THE WIFE OF DELEGATE CANNON--VILATE KIMBALL AGAIN.
The life of Mrs. Orson Hyde is replete with incidents of the early
days, including the shameful occurrence of the tarring and feathering of
the prophet, which took place while he was at her father's house.
Her maiden name was Marinda M. Johnson, she being the daughter of
John and Elsa Johnson, a family well known among the pioneer converts of
Ohio. She was born in Pomfret, Windsor county, Vermont, June 28, 1815.
"In February of 1818," she says, "my father, in company with several
families from the same place, emigrated to Hiram, Portage county, Ohio. In
the winter of 1831, Ezra Booth, a Methodist minister, procured a copy of
the Book of Mormon and brought it to my father's house. They sat up all
night reading it, and were very much exercised [404] over it. As soon as
they heard that Joseph Smith had arrived in Kirtland, Mr. Booth and wife
and my father and mother went immediately to see him. They were convinced
and baptized before they returned. They invited the prophet and Elder
Rigdon to accompany them home, which they did, and preached several times
to crowded congregations, baptizing quite a number. I was baptized in
April following. The next fall Joseph came with his family to live at my
father's house. He was at that time translating the Bible, and Elder
Rigdon was acting as scribe. The following spring, a mob, disguising
themselves as black men, gathered and burst into his sleeping apartment
one night, and dragged him from the bed where he was nursing a sick child.
They also went to the house of Elder Rigdon, and took him out with Joseph
into an orchard, where, after choking and beating them, they tarred and
feathered them, and left them nearly dead. My father, at the first onset,
started to the rescue, but was knocked down, and lay senseless for some
time. Here I feel like bearing my testimony that during the whole year
that Joseph was an inmate of my father's house I never saw aught in his
daily life or conversation to make me doubt his divine mission.
"In 1833 we moved to Kirtland, and in 1834 I was married to Orson
Hyde, and became fully initiated into the cares and duties of a
missionary's wife, my husband in common with most of the elders giving his
time and energies to the work of the ministry.
"In the summer of 1837, leaving me with a three-[405] weeks old babe,
he, in company with Heber C. Kimball and others, went on their first
mission to England. Shortly after his return, in the summer of 1838, we,
in company with several other families, went to Missouri, where we
remained till the next spring. We then went to Nauvoo. In the spring of
1840 Mr. Hyde went on his mission to Palestine; going in the apostolic
style, without purse or scrip, preaching his way, and when all other
channels were closed, teaching the English language in Europe, till he
gained sufficient money to take him to the Holy Land, where he offered up
his prayer on the Mount of Olives, and dedicated Jerusalem to the
gathering of the Jews in this dispensation. Having accomplished a three
years mission, he returned, and shortly after, in accordance with the
revelation on celestial marriage, and with my full consent, married two
more wives. At last we were forced to flee from Nauvoo, and in the spring
of 1846, we made our way to Council Bluffs, where our husband left us to
go again on mission to England. On his return, in the fall of 1847, he was
appointed to take charge of the saints in the States, and to send off the
emigration as fast as it arrived in a suitable condition on the frontiers;
also to edit a paper in the church interest, the name of which was
Frontier Guardian.
"In the summer of 1852 we brought our family safely through to Salt
Lake City, where we have had peace and safety ever since.
"In 1868 I was chosen to preside over the branch of the Female Relief
Society of the ward in [406] which I reside, the duties of which position
I have prayerfully attempted to perform."
------------
Mary Ann Pratt deserves mention next. It will be remembered that the
apostle Parley P. Pratt lost his first wife at the birth of his eldest
son. He afterwards married the subject of this sketch, and she becomes
historically important from the fact that she was one of the first of
those self-subduing women who united with their husbands in establishing
the law of celestial marriage, or the "Patriarchal Order." She gave to her
husband other wives. Taking up the story of her life with her career as a
Latter-day Saint, she says:
"I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
in the spring of 1835, being convinced of the truthfulness of its
doctrines by the first sermon I heard; and I said in my heart, if there
are only three who hold firm to the faith, I will be one of that number;
and through all the persecution I have had to endure I have ever felt the
same; my heart has never swerved from that resolve.
"I was married to Parley P. Pratt in the spring of 1837, and moving
to Missouri, endured with him the persecution of the saints, so often
recorded in history. When my husband was taken by a mob, in the city of
Far West, Mo., and carried to prison, I was confined to my bed with raging
fever, and not able to help myself at all, with a babe three months old
and my little girl of five years; [407] but I cried mightily to the Lord
for strength to endure, and he in mercy heard my prayer and carried me
safely through. In a few days word came to me that my husband was in
prison and in chains. As soon as my health was sufficiently restored I
took my children and went to him. I found him released from his chains,
and was permitted to remain with him. I shared his dungeon, which was a
damp, dark, filthy place, without ventilation, merely having a small
grating on one side. In this we were obliged to sleep.
"About the middle of March I bid adieu to my beloved companion, and
returned to Far West to make preparations for leaving the State. Through
the kind assistance of Brother David W. Rogers (now an aged resident of
Provo), I removed to Quincy, IlL, where I remained until the arrival of
Mr. Pratt, after his fortunate escape from prison, where he had been
confined eight months without any just cause.
"Passing briefly over the intervening years, in which I accompanied
my husband on various missions, first to New York, and thence to England,
where I remained two years; and, returning to Nauvoo, our sojourn in that
beautiful city a few years, and our final expulsion, and the final weary
gathering to Utah; I hasten to bear my testimony to the world that this is
the church and people of God, and I pray that I may be found worthy of a
place in his celestial kingdom.
"The tragedy of the close of the mortal career of Parley P. Pratt is
still fresh in the public mind. It is one of the terrible chapters of
Mormon his-[408]tory which the pen of his wife has not dared to touch.
----------
Another of these "first wives" is presented in the person of Sister
Rich.
Sarah D. P. Rich, wife of Gen. Chas. C. Rich, and daughter of John
and Elizabeth Pea, was born September 23d, 1814, in St. Clair county, Ill.
In December, 1835, she became a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints,
and had the pleasure shortly after of seeing her father's family, with a
single exception, converted to the same faith. In 1837 they removed to Far
West, Mo., where the saints were at that time gathering. At this place she
for the first time met Mr. Rich, to whom she was married on the 11th of
February, 1838. During the autumn of 1838, the mob having driven many of
the saints from their homes in the vicinity, she received into her house
and sheltered no less than seven families of the homeless outcasts. Among
the number was the family of Apostle Page, and it was during her sojourn
with Mrs. Rich that Apostle Page's wife died. Mrs. R. stood in her door
and saw the infamous mob-leader and Methodist preacher, Bogard, shoot at
her husband as he was returning from the mob camp under a flag of truce.
That night Mr. Rich was compelled to flee for his life, and she did not
see him again until she joined him three months later, on the bank of the
Mississippi, opposite Quincy. They made the crossing in a canoe, the river
being so full of ice that the regular ferry-boat could not be used. From
this place they removed [409] to Nauvoo, where she remained during all the
succeeding persecutions and trials of the church, until February, 1846,
when they were forced to leave, which they did, with her three small
children, crossing the Mississippi on the ice. Journeying westward to
Mount Pisgah, Iowa, they remained during the following season, and planted
and harvested a crop of corn. In the spring of 1847 they removed to winter
quarters, and six weeks afterwards started out on the weary journey across
the plains. She arrived in Salt Lake Valley on the 2d of October, 1847,
with the second company of emigrants, of which her husband was the leader.
"Since that time she has resided continually in Salt Lake City, with
the exception of a short sojourn in Bear Lake Valley, and has endured
without complaint all of the trials, privations and hardships incident to
the settlement of Utah. She is the mother of nine children, and is well
known as the friend of the poor, the nurse of the sick, and the counselor
of the friendless and oppressed among the people; and it is needless to
add that she has passed her life in the advocacy and practice of the
principles of that gospel which she embraced in the days of her youth.
--------
Mrs. Jane S. Richards, wife of the distinguished apostle, Franklin D.
Richards, and daughter of Isaac and Louisa Snyder, was born January 31st,
1823, in Pamelia, Jefferson county, N. Y. The prophet and pilot of her
father's house into the church was Elder John E. Page, who brought to them
the gos-[410]pel in 1837, while they were living near Kingston, Canada The
family started thence for Far West, Mo., in 1839, but were compelled by
sickness to stop at La Porte, Indiana. Here, through the faithful
ministrations of her brother Robert, she was restored from the effects of
a paralytic stroke, and immediately embraced the faith. In the autumn
following (1840) she first saw young Elder Richards, then on his first
mission. In 1842, after her father's family had moved to Nauvoo, she was
married to Mr. Richards. In the journey of the saints into the wilderness,
after their expulsion from Nauvoo, she drank to the bitter dregs the cup
of hardship and affliction, her husband being absent on mission and she
being repeatedly prostrated with sickness. At winter quarters President
Young said to her, "It may truly be said, if any have come up through
great tribulation from Nauvoo, you have." There her little daughter died,
and was the first to be interred in that memorable burying ground of the
saints. Here also her husband's wife, Elizabeth, died, despite the
faithful efforts of friends, and had it not been for their unwearied
attentions, Jane also would have sunk under her load of affliction and
sorrow.
In 1848, Mr. Richards having returned from mission, they gathered to
the valley. In 1849 she gave her only sister to her husband in marriage.
From that time forth until their removal to Ogden, in 1869, hers was the
fortune of a missionary's wife, her husband being almost constantly on
mission. In 1872 she accepted the presidency of the Ogden Relief Society,
which she has since very acceptably [411] filled. Among the noteworthy
items of interest connected with her presidency of this society, was the
organization of the young ladies of Ogden into a branch society for the
purpose of retrenchment and economy in dress, moral, mental and spiritual
improvement, etc., which has been most successfully continued, and is now
collaterally supported by many branch societies in the county. But her
labors have not been confined to Ogden alone. She has been appointed to
preside over the societies of Weber county; and, as a sample of her
efforts, we may instance that she has established the manufacture of
home-made straw bonnets and hats, which industry has furnished employment
to many. Her heart and home have ever been open to the wants of the needy;
and the sick and afflicted have been the objects of her continual care.
__________
The closing words of the wife of Apostle Woodruff, at the grand
mass-meeting of the women of Utah, have in them a ring strongly suggestive
of what must have been the style of speech of those women of America who
urged their husbands and sons to resist the tyranny of George III, throw
off the yoke of colonial servitude, and prove themselves worthy, of
national independence.
Phoebe W. Carter was born in Scarboro, in the State of Maine, March
5th, 1807. Her father was of English descent, connecting with America at
about the close of the seventeenth century. Her mother, Sarah Fabyan, was
of the same place, and [412] three generations from England. The name of
Fabyan was one of the noblest names of Rome, ere England was a nation, and
that lofty tone and strength of character so marked in the wife of Apostle
Woodruff was doubtless derived from the Fabyans, Phoebe being of her
mother's stamp.
In the year 1834 she embraced the gospel, and, about a year after,
left her parents and kindred and journeyed to Kirtland, a distance of one
thousand miles--a lone maid, sustained only by a lofty faith and trust in
Israel's God. In her characteristic puritan language she says:
"My friends marveled at my course, as did I, but something within
impelled me on. My mother's grief at my leaving home was almost more than
I could bear; and had it not been for the spirit within I should have
faltered at the last. My mother told me she would rather see me buried
than going thus alone out into the heartless world.
"`Phoebe,' she said, impressively, `will you come back to me if you
find Mormonism false?' I answered, `yes, mother; I will, thrice.' These
were my words, and she knew I would keep my promise. My answer relieved
her trouble; but it cost us all much sorrow to part. When the time came
for my departure I dared not trust myself to say farewell so I wrote my
good-byes to each, and leaving them on my table, ran down stairs and
jumped into the carriage. Thus I left the beloved home of my childhood to
link my life with the saints of God.
"When I arrived in Kirtland I became acquainted with the prophet,
Joseph Smith, and received more [413] evidence of his divine mission.
There in Kirtland I formed the acquaintance of Elder Wilford Woodruff, to
whom I was married in 1836. With him I went to the islands of the sea, and
to England, on missions.
"When the principle of polygamy was first taught I thought it the
most wicked thing I ever heard of; consequently I opposed it to the best
of my ability, until I became sick and wretched. As soon, however, as I
became convinced that it originated as a revelation from God through
Joseph, and knowing him to be a prophet, I wrestled with my Heavenly
Father in fervent prayer, to be guided aright at that all-important moment
of my life. The answer came. Peace was given to my mind. I knew it was the
will of God; and from that time to the present I have sought to faithfully
honor the patriarchal law.
"Of Joseph, my testimony is that he was one of the greatest prophets
the Lord ever called; that he lived for the redemption of mankind, and
died a martyr for the truth. The love of the saints for him will never
die.
"It was after the martyrdom of Joseph that I accompanied my husband
to England, in 1845. On our return the advance companies of the saints had
just left Nauvoo under President Young and others of the twelve. We
followed immediately and journeyed to winter quarters.
"The next year Wilford went with the pioneers to the mountains, while
the care of the family devolved on me. After his return, and the
reorganization of the first presidency, I accompanied my [414] husband on
his mission to the Eastern States. In 1850 we arrived in the valley, and
since that time Salt Lake City has been my home.
"Of my husband I can truly say, I have found him a worthy man, with
scarcely his equal on earth. He has built up a branch wherever he has
labored. He has been faithful to God and his family every day of his life.
My respect for him has increased with our years, and my desire for an
eternal union with him will be the last wish of my mortal life."
Sister Phoebe is one of the noblest of her sex--a mother in IsraeL
And in her strength of character, consistency, devotion, and apostolic
cast, she is second to none.
___________
A most worthy peer of sister Woodruff was Leonora, the wife of
Apostle John Taylor. She was the daughter of Capt. Cannon, of the Isle of
Man, England, and sister of the father of George Q. Cannon. She left
England for Canada, as a companion to the wife of the secretary of the
colony, but with the intention of returning. While in Canada, however, she
met Elder Taylor, then a Methodist minister, whose wife she afterwards
became. They were married in 1833. She was a God-fearing woman, and, as we
have seen, was the first to receive Parley P. Pratt into her house when on
his mission to Canada. In the spring of 1838 she gathered with her husband
and two children to Kirtland. Thence they journeyed to Far West. She was
in the expulsion from Missouri; bore the burden of her family in Nauvoo,
as a missionary's wife, while her husband was in England; [415] felt the
stroke of the martyrdom, in which her husband was terribly wounded; was in
the exodus; was then left at winter quarters while her husband went on his
second mission to England; but he returned in time for them to start with
the first companies that followed the pioneers. Sister Leonora was
therefore among the earliest women of Utah.
When the prospect came, at the period of the Utah war, that the
saints would have to leave American soil, and her husband delivered those
grand patriotic discourses to his people that will ever live in Mormon
history, Sister Taylor nobly supported his determination with the rest of
the saints to put the torch to their homes, rather than submit to invasion
and the renunciation of their liberties. She died in the month of
December, 1867. Hers was a faithful example, and she has left an honored
memory among her people.
___________
Marian Ross, wife of Apostle Orson Pratt, is a native of Scotland,
and was reared among the Highlands. When about seventeen years of age she
visited her relatives in Edinburgh, where Mormonism was first brought to
her attention. She was shortly afterwards baptized near the harbor of
Leith, on the 27th of August, 1847. A singular feature of Mrs. Pratt's
experience was that in a dream she was distinctly shown her future
husband, then on his mission to Scotland. When she saw him she at once
recognized him. She made her home at Apostle Pratt's house in Liverpool,
for a short time, and [416] then emigrated to America, in 1851. After
being in Salt Lake City a few months she was married to Mr. Pratt. She
testifies, "I have been in polygamy twenty-five years, and have never seen
the hour when I have regretted that I was in it. I would not change my
position for anything earthly, no matter how grand and gorgeous it might
be; even were it for the throne of a queen. For a surety do I know that my
Redeemer liveth, and that he is a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering
God."
___________
Another of these apostolic women, who with their husbands founded
Utah, is the wife of Albert Carrington. She was also in the valley in
1847. Her grand example and words to Captain Van Vliet, when the saints
were resolving on another exodus, have been already recorded. A volume
written could not make her name more imperishable.
_____________
Nor must Artimisa, the first wife of Erastus Snow, who is so
conspicuous among the founders of St. George, be forgotten. She is one of
the honorable women of Utah, and the part she has sustained, with her
husband, in building up the southern country, has been that of
self-sacrifice, endurance, and noble example.
___________
Mention should also be made of Elizabeth, daughter of the late Bishop
Hoagland, and first wife of [417] George Q. Cannon. She has borne the
burden of the day as a missionary's wife, and has also accompanied her
husband on mission to England; but her most noteworthy example was in her
truly noble conduct in standing by her husband in those infamous
persecutions of the politicians, over the question of polygamy, in their
efforts to prevent him taking his seat in Congress.
_____________
Here let us also speak of the death of Sister Vilate Kimball, whose
history has been given somewhat at length in previous chapters. After
sharing with her husband and the saints the perils and hardships of the
exodus, and the journey across the plains, and after many years of
usefulness to her family and friends, she died Oct. 22d, 1867. She was
mourned by none more sincerely than by her husband, who, according to his
words spoken over her remains, was "not long after her."
[418] CHAPTER XLV.
MORMON WOMEN OF MARTHA WASHINGTON'S TIME--AUNT RHODA RICHARDS--WIFE OF THE FIRST MORMON BISHOP--HONORABLE WOMEN OF ZION.
The heroic conduct of the Mormon women, in their eventful history, is
not strange, nor their trained sentiments of religious liberty exaggerated
in the action of their lives; for it must not be forgotten that many a
sister among the Latter-day Saints had lived in the time of the
Revolution, and had shown examples not unworthy of Martha Washington
herself. Of course those women of the Revolution are now sleeping with the
just, for nearly fifty years have passed since the rise of the church, but
there are still left those who can remember the father of their country,
and the mothers who inspired the war of independence. We have such an one
to present in the person of Aunt Rhoda Richards, the sister of Willard,
the apostle, and first cousin of Brigham Young.
Scarcely had the British evacuated New York, and Washington returned
to his home at Mount Vernon, when Rhoda Richards was born. She was the
sister of Phineas, Levi, and Willard Richards--three of illustrious memory
in the Mormon Church[419]--was born August 8th, 1784, at Hopkington,
Mass., and now, at the advanced age of ninety-three, thus speaks of her
life and works. She says:
"During the early years of my life I was much afflicted with
sickness, but, through the mercies and blessings of my Heavenly Father, at
the advanced age of nearly ninety-three, I live, and am privileged to bear
my individual testimony, that for myself I know that Joseph Smith was a
true prophet of the living God; and that the work which he, as an humble
instrument in the hands of God, commenced in this, the evening of time,
will not be cut short, save as the Lord himself, according to his promise,
shall cut short his work in righteousness.
"My first knowledge of the Mormons was gained through my cousin,
Joseph Young, though I had previously heard many strange things concerning
them. I lay on a bed of sickness, unable to sit up, when Cousin Joseph
came to visit at my father's house. I remember distinctly how cautiously
my mother broached the subject of the new religion to him. Said she,
`Joseph, I have heard that some of the children of my sister, Abigail
Young, have joined the Mormons. How is it?' Joseph replied, `It is true,
Aunt Richards, and I am one of them!' It was Sabbath day, and in the
morning Cousin Joseph attended church with my parents; but in the
afternoon he chose to remain with my brother William, and myself, at home.
He remarked that he could not enjoy the meeting, and in reply I said, `I
do not see why we might not have a meeting here.' My cousin was upon his
feet in an instant, [420] and stood and preached to us--my brother and
myself--for about half an hour, finishing his discourse with, `There,
Cousin Rhoda, I don't know but I have tired you out!' When he sat down I
remarked that meetings usually closed with prayer. In an instant he was on
his knees, offering up a prayer. That was the first Mormon sermon and the
first Mormon prayer I ever listened to. I weighed his words and sentences
well. It was enough. My soul was convinced of the truth. But I waited a
year before being baptized. During that time I read the books of the
church, and also saw and heard other elders, among whom was my cousin,
Brigham Young, and my brothers, Phineas, Levi, and Willard; all of which
served to strengthen my faith and brighten my understanding.
"A short time after I was baptized and confirmed was greatly
afflicted with the raging of a cancer, about to break out in my face. I
knew too well the symptoms, having had one removed previously. The agony
of such an operation, only those who have passed through a like experience
can ever imagine. The idea of again passing through a like physical
suffering seemed almost more than humanity could endure. One Sabbath,
after the close of the morning service, I spoke to the presiding elder,
and acquainted him with my situation, requesting that I might be
administered to, according to the pattern that God had given, that the
cancer might be rebuked and my body healed. The elder called upon the
sisters present to unite their faith and prayers in my behalf, and upon
the [421] brethren to come forward and lay their hands upon me, and bless
me in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to my desire. It was
done, and I went home completely healed, and rejoicing in the God of my
salvation. Many times have I since been healed by the same power, when,
apparently, death had actually seized me as his prey. I would not have it
understood, however, that I have been a weakly, sickly, useless individual
all my life. Those who have known me can say quite to the contrary. Some
of our ambitious little girds and working women would doubtless be
interested in a simple sketch of some few things which I have accomplished
by manual labor. When myself and my sisters were only small girls, our
excellent mother taught us how to work, and in such a wise manner did she
conduct our home education that we always loved to work, and were never so
happy as when we were most usefully employed. We knit our own and our
brothers' stockings, made our own clothes, braided and sewed straw hats
and bonnets, carded, spun, wove, kept house, and did everything that girls
and women of a self-sustaining community would need to do. The day that I
was thirteen years old I wove thirteen yards of cloth; and in twenty
months, during which time I celebrated my eightieth birthday, I carded
twenty weight of cotton, spun two hundred and fifteen balls of
candlewicking, and two hundred run of yarn, prepared for the weaver's
loom; besides doing my housework, knitting socks, and making shirts for
`my boys' (some of the sons of my brothers). I merely make mention of
these things as [422] samples of what my life-work has been. I never was
an idler, but have tried to be useful in my humble way, doing what my
hands found to do with my might. I now begin to feel the weight of years
upon me, and can no longer do as I have done in former years for those
around me; but, through the boundless mercies of God, I am still able to
wash and iron my own clothes, do up my lace caps, and write my own
letters. My memory is good, and as a general thing I feel well in body and
mind. I have witnessed the death of many near and dear friends, both old
and young. In my young days I buried my first and only love, and true to
that affiance, I have passed companionless through life; but am sure of
having my proper place and standing in the resurrection, having been
sealed to the prophet Joseph, according to the celestial law, by his own
request, under the inspiration of divine revelation."
A very beautiful incident is this latter--the memory of her early
love, for whose sake she kept sacred her maiden life. The passage is
exquisite in sentiment, although emanating from a heart that has known the
joys and sorrows of nearly a hundred years.
___________
Lydia Partridge, the aged relict of the first bishop of the Mormon
Church, may well accompany the venerable sister of Willard Richards.
She was born September 26, 1793, in the town of Marlboro, Mass., her
parents' names being Joseph Clisbee and Merriam Howe. The course of events
[423] finally brought her to Ohio, where she made the acquaintance of, and
married, Edward Partridge. Her husband and herself were proselyted into
the Campbellite persuasion by Sidney Rigdon; but they soon afterwards
became converts to Mormonism, and Mr. Partridge thereupon commenced his
career as a laborer in the ministry of the church. They were among the
first families to locate in Missouri, and also among the first to feel the
sting of persecution in that State. Removing finally to Nauvoo, her
husband there died. In the after-wanderings of the saints in search of a
home in the wilderness she accompanied them. It may be briefly said of her
that now, after forty-five years in the church, she is as firm and
steadfast as ever in her faith, and is one of the staunchest advocates of
polygamy.
_____________
Next comes Margaret T. M. Smoot, wife of Bishop Smoot, with the
testimony of her life.
She was born in Chester District, South Carolina, April 16th, 1809.
Her father, Anthony McMeans, was a Scotchman by birth, emigrating to
America at an early age, and settling in South Carolina, where he resided
at the breaking out of the Revolutionary war. Fired with patriotic zeal,
he immediately enlisted in the ranks, and continued fighting in the cause
of liberty until the close of the war, when he returned to his home, where
he remained until his death Her mother was a Hunter, being of Irish
extraction. Her grandfather Hunter also served in the Revolutionary war,
being an intimate [424] friend of Gen. Washington. For these reasons Mrs.
Smoot is justly proud of her lineage. Her husband, the bishop, being also
of revolutionary descent, they as a family well exemplify the claim made
elsewhere, that the Mormons were originally of the most honored and
patriotic extraction.
She embraced the Mormon faith in 1834, and was married to Mr. Smoot
the following year, in the State of Kentucky. In 1837 they went to Far
West, Mo., and their history thence to Utah is the oft-told story of
outrage and persecution. It is proper to remark, however, that their son,
William, was one of the original pioneers, and that their family was among
the first company that entered the valley.
Sister Smoot is known in the church as one of the most illustrious
examples of the "first wives" who accepted and gave a true Israelitish
character and sanctity to the "patriarchal order of marriage;" while the
long-sustained position of her husband as Mayor of Salt Lake City,
enhances the effect of her social example.
____________
A few incidents from the life of Sister Hendricks, whose husband was
wounded in "Crooked River battle," where the apostle David Patten fell,
may properly be here preserved.
Of that mournful incident, she says: "A neighbor stopped at the gate
and alighted from his horse; saw him wipe his eyes, and knew that he was
weeping; he came to the door and said, `Mr. Hendricks wishes you to come
to him at the Widow [425] Metcalf's. He is shot.' I rode to the place,
four miles away, and there saw nine of the brethren, pale and weak from
their wounds, being assisted into the wagons that were to take them to
their homes. In the house was my husband, and also David Patten, who was
dying. My husband was wounded in the neck in such a manner as to injure
the spinal column, which paralyzed his extremities. Although he could
speak, he could not move any more than if he were dead."
Mr. Hendricks lived until 1870, being an almost helpless invalid up
to that time. Their son William was a member of the famous battalion. Mrs.
H. still survives, and is the happy progenitress of five children,
sixty-three grandchildren, and twenty-three great-grandchildren.
____________
The wife of Bishop McRae deserves remembrance in connection with an
incident of the battle of Nauvoo. When it was determined to surrender that
city, the fugitive saints were naturally anxious to take with them in
their flight whatever of property, etc. they could, that would be
necessary to them in their sojourn in the wilderness. It will be seen at
once that nothing could have been of more service to them than their
rifles and ammunition. Hence, with a refinement of cruelty, the mobbers
determined to rob them of these necessaries. They accordingly demanded the
arms and ammunition of all who left the city, and searched their wagons to
see that none were secreted. Mrs. McRae was determined to save a keg of
powder, howsoever, and so [426] she ensconced herself in her wagon with
the powder keg as a seat, covering it with the folds of her dress. Soon a
squad of the enemy came to her wagon,and making as if to search it, asked
her to surrender whatever arms and ammunition she might have on hand. She
quietly kept her seat, however, and coolly asked them, "How many more
times are you going to search this wagon to-day?" This question giving
them the impression that they had already searched the wagon, they moved
on, and Mrs. McRae saved her powder.
She still lives, and is at present a much respected resident of Salt
Lake City.
__________
Mrs. Mary M. Luce, a venerable sister, now in her seventy-seventh
year, and a resident of Salt Lake City, deserves a passing mention from
the fact that her religion has caused her to traverse the entire breadth
of the continent, in order to be gathered with the saints. She was a
convert of Wilford Woodruff, who visited her native place while on mission
to the "Islands of the Sea" (Fox Islands, off the Coast of Maine). In
1838, with her family, she journeyed by private conveyance from Maine to
Illinois, joining the saints at Nauvoo. This was, in those days, a very
long and tedious journey, consuming several months' time. During the
persecutions of Nauvoo, she was reduced to extreme poverty; but, after
many vicissitudes, was enabled to reach Salt Lake City the first year
after the pioneers, where she has since continued to re-[427]side. In her
experience she has received many tests and manifestations of the divine
origin of the latter-day work, and testifies that "these are the happiest
days" of her life.
__________
Elizabeth H., wife of William Hyde, for whom "Hyde Park," Utah, was
named, was born in Holliston, Middlesex county, Mass., October 2d, 1813.
She was the daughter of Joel and Lucretia Bullard, and a descendant, on
the maternal side, from the Goddards. Her mother and herself were baptized
into the Mormon faith in 1838, and they moved to Nauvoo in 1841, where
Elizabeth was married to Elder Hyde, in 1842. He was on mission most of
the time up to 1846, when they left Nauvoo, in the exodus of the church.
Her husband joined the Mormon battalion in July following, returning home
in the last month of 1847. In the spring of 1849, with their three
surviving children, they journeyed to Salt Lake Valley, where they resided
until about seventeen years ago, when they removed to Cache Valley, and
founded the settlement which bears their name. Mr. Hyde died in 1872,
leaving five wives and twenty-two children. "It is my greatest desire,"
says sister Hyde, "that I may so live as to be accounted worthy to dwell
with those who have overcome, and have the promise of eternal lives, which
is the greatest gift of God."
__________
Nor should we forget to mention "Mother Ses-[428]sions," another of
the last-century women who have gathered to Zion. Her maiden name was
Patty Bartlett, and she was born February 4th, 1795, in the town of
Bethel, Oxford county, Maine. She was married to David Sessions in 1812,
and survives both him and a second husband. Herself and husband joined the
church in 1834, moved to Nauvoo in 1840, and left there with the exiled
saints in 1846. In the summer of 1847 they crossed the plains to the
valley, Mrs. Sessions, although in her fifty-third year, driving a four-ox
team the entire distance.
Mother Sessions is a model of zeal, frugality, industry and
benevolence. When she entered the valley she had but five cents, which she
had found on the road; now, after having given many hundreds of dollars to
the perpetual emigration fund, tithing fund, etc., and performing
unnumbered deeds of private charity, she is a stockholder in the "Z. C. M.
I." to the amount of some twelve or thirteen thousand dollars, and is also
possessed of a competence for the remainder of her days; all of which is a
result of her own untiring efforts and honorable business sagacity. As a
testimony of her life she says, "I am now eighty-two years of age. I drink
no tea nor coffee, nor spirituous liquors; neither do I smoke nor take
snuff. To all my posterity and friends I say, do as I have done, and as
much better as you can, and the Lord will bless you as he has me."
__________
Mrs. R. A. Holden, of Provo, is another of the [429] revolutionary
descendants. Her grandfather, Clement Bishop, was an officer in the
revolutionary war, was wounded, and drew a pension until his death. Mrs.
H., whose maiden name was Bliss, was born in 1815, in Livingston county,
N. Y. and after marrying Mr. Holden, in 1833, moved to Illinois, where, in
1840, they embraced the gospel. Their efforts to reach the valley and
gather with the church form an exceptional chapter of hardship and
disappointment. Nevertheless, they arrived at Provo in 1852, where they
have since resided; Mrs. Holden being, since 1867, the president of the
Relief Society of the Fourth Ward of that city.
__________
Sister Diantha Morley Billings is another of the aged and respected
citizens of Provo. She was born August 23d, 1795, at Montague, Mass. About
the year 1815 she moved to Kirtland, Ohio, and there was married to Titus
Billings. Herself and husband and Isaac Morley, her brother, were among
the first baptized in Kirtland. They were also among the first to remove
to Missouri, whence they were driven, and plundered of all they possessed,
by the mobs that arose, in that State, against the saints. Her husband was
in Crooked River battle, standing by Apostle Patten when he fell.
They reached Utah in 1848, and were soon thereafter called to go and
start settlements in San Pete. They returned to Provo in 1864, and in 1866
Mr. Billings died.
While diving in Nauvoo, after the expulsion from [430] Missouri, Mrs.
Billings was ordained and set apart by the prophet Joseph to be a nurse,
in which calling she has ever since been very skillful.
__________
Mrs. Amanda Wimley, although but eight years a resident of Utah, was
converted to Mormonism in Philadelphia, in the year 1839, under the
preaching of Joseph the prophet; she being then baptized by him. For
thirty years the circumstances of her life were such that it was not
expedient for her to gather with the church; she nevertheless maintained
her faith, and was endowed to a remarkable degree with the gift of
healing, which she exercised many times with wonderful effect in her own
family. Journeying to Salt Lake City some eight years since, on a visit
merely, she has now fully determined to permanently remain, as the
representative of her father's house, to "do a work for her ancestry and
posterity."
___________
Polly Sawyer Atwood, who died in Salt Lake City, Oct. 16th, 1876, is
worthy of a passing notice, because of her many good deeds in the service
of God. She was another of the last century women, being born in 1790, in
Windham, Conn. Her parents were Asahel and Elizabeth Sawyer. Herself and
husband, Dan Atwood, first heard the gospel in 1839, and were straightway
convinced of its truth. They journeyed to Salt Lake in 1850. Also. Here
she displayed in a remarkable manner the works and [431] gifts of faith,
and was much sought after by the and afflicted, up to the day of her
death, which occurred in her 86th year. It is worthy of mention that she
was the mother of three men of distinction in the church--Millen Atwood,
who was one of the pioneers, a missionary to England, captain of the first
successful handcart company, and a member of the high council; Miner
Atwood, who was a missionary to South Africa, and also a member of the
high council; and Samuel Atwood, who is one of the presiding bishops of
the Territory.
___________
In connection with Mother Atwood may also properly be mentioned her
daughter-in-law, Relief C. Atwood, the wife of Millen, who received the
gospel in New Hampshire, in 1843, and in 1845 emigrated to Nauvoo. This
was just before the expulsion of the church from that city, and in a few
months she found herself in the wilderness. At winter quarters, after the
return of the pioneers, she married Mr. Atwood, one of their number, and
with him in 1848 journeyed to the valley. Their trials were at first nigh
overwhelming, but in a moment of prayer, when they were about to give up
in despair, the spirit of the Lord rested upon Mr. A., and he spoke in
tongues, and at the same time the gift of interpretation rested upon her.
It was an exhortation to renewed hope and trust, which so strengthened
them that they were able to overcome every difficulty. Her family has also
received many striking manifestations of the gift of healing--so [432]
much so that she now bears testimony that "God is their great physician,
in whom she can safely trust."
___________
Sister Sarah B. Fiske, who was born in Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., N.
Y., in 1819, is another of revolutionary ancestry; her grandfathers, on
both paternal and maternal side, having served in the revolutionary war.
In 1837 she was married to Ezra H. Allen. Shortly thereafter they were
both converted to Mormonism, and in 1842 moved to Nauvoo. In the spring of
'43 they joined the settlement which was attempted at a place called
Shockoquan, about twenty-five miles north of Nauvoo. Journeying with the
saints on the exodus, she stopped at Mount Pisgah, while her husband went
forward in the battalion. Nearly two years passed, and word came that the
brethren of the battalion were coming back. With the most intense anxiety
she gathered every word of news concerning their return, and at last was
informed that they were at a ferry not far away. She hastened to make
herself ready and was about to go out to meet him when the word was
brought that her husband had been murdered by Indians in the California
mountains. She was handed her husband's purse, which had been left by the
Indians, and which contained his wages and savings. This enabled her to
procure an outfit, and in 1852 she journeyed to the valley.
___________
Here let us mention another octogenarian sister [433] in the person
of Jane Neyman, daughter of David and Mary Harper, who was born in
Westmoreland Co., Pa., in 1792. She embraced the gospel in 1838, and
became at once endowed with the gift of healing, which enabled her to work
many marvelous cures, among which may be mentioned the raising of two
infants from apparent death, they each having been laid out for burial
Herself and family received an unstinted share of the persecutions of the
saints, in Missouri, and afterwards in Nauvoo, in which latter place her
husband died. Her daughter, Mary Ann Nickerson, then residing on the
opposite side of the river from Nauvoo on the occasion of the troubles
resulting in the battle of Nauvoo, made cartridges at her home, and alone
in her little skiff passed back and forth across the Mississippi (one mile
wide at that point), delivering the cartridges, without discovery. While
the battle was raging she also took seven persons, including her mother,
on a flat-boat, and by her unaided exertions ferried them across the
river. This heroic lady is now living in Beaver, Utah.
Mrs. Neyman now in her 85th year, testifies concerning the truth of
the gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith: "I know it is the work of
God, by the unerring witness of the Holy Ghost."
___________
Malvina Harvey Snow, daughter of Joel Harvey, was born in the State
of Vermont, in 1811. She was brought into the church under the ministry of
Orson Pratt, in 1833, he being then on mission in [434] that section. Her
nearest neighbor was Levi Snow, father of Apostle Erastus Snow. The Snow
family mostly joined the new faith, and Malvina and her sister Susan
journeyed with them to Missouri. At Far West she was married to Willard
Snow, in 1837, and in about two years afterward they were driven from the
State. They settled at Montrose, but, while her husband was on mission to
England, she moved across the river to Nauvoo, the mob having signified
their intention to burn her house over her head. In 1847 they started for
Utah, from Council Bluffs, in the wake of the pioneers, arriving in the
valley in the fall of that year. Says Sister Malvina, "My faithful sister,
Susan, was with me from the time I left our father's house in Vermont, and
when we arrived in Utah my husband took her to wife. She bore him a
daughter, but lost her life at its birth. I took the infant to my bosom,
and never felt any difference between her and my own children. She is now
a married woman. In 1850 my husband was called on mission to Denmark, from
which he never returned. He was buried in the Atlantic, being the only
missionary from Utah that was ever laid in the sea I raised my five
children to manhood and womanhood, and have now lived a widow twenty-six
years. Hoping to finally meet my beloved husband and family, never again
to part, I am patiently waiting the hour of reunion. May the Lord Jesus
Christ help me to be faithful to the end."
__________
Sister Caroline Tippits, whose maiden name was [435] Pew, deserves to
be mentioned as one of the earlier members of the church, having embraced
the gospel in 1831. Shortly afterwards she joined the saints in Jackson
county, Mo., and during the persecutions that ensued, endured perhaps the
most trying hardships that were meted out to any of the sisters. Driven
out into the midst of a prairie, by the mob, in the month of January, with
a babe and two-years-old child, she was compelled to sleep on the ground
with only one thin quilt to cover them, and the snow frequently falling
three or four inches in a night. She came to Utah with the first
companies, and is reckoned among the most faithful of the saints.
___________
Julia Budge, first wife of Bishop William Budge, may be presented as
one of the women who have mace polygamy honorable. She was born in Essex,
England, where she was baptized by Chas. W. Penrose, one of the most
distinguished of the English elders, who afterwards married her sister--a
lady of the same excellent disposition. The bishop is today the husband of
three wives, whose children have grown up as one family, and the wives
have lived together "like sisters." No stranger, with preconceived
notions, would guess that they sustained the very tender relation of
sister-wives. Their happy polygamic example is a sort of "household word"
in the various settlements over which the bishop has presided.
__________
Sister Nancy A. Clark, daughter of Sanford Por-[436]ter, now a
resident of Farmington, Utah, has had a most remarkable personal
experience as a servant of God. When a little girl, less than eight years
of age, residing with her parents in Missouri, she, in answer to prayer,
received the gift of tongues, and became a great object of interest among
the saints. During and succeeding the persecutions in that State, and
while her father's family were being driven from place to place, her
oft-repeated spiritual experiences were the stay and comfort of all around
her. Her many visions and experiences would fill a volume. It is needless
to say that she is among the most faithful and devoted of the sisterhood.
____________
A pretty little instance of faith and works is related by Martha
Granger, the wife of Bishop William G. Young, which is worthy of record.
In September, 1872, the bishop was riding down Silver Creek Canyon, on his
way to Weber river, when he became sunstruck, and fell back in his wagon,
insensible. His horses, as if guided by an invisible hand, kept steadily
on, and finally turned into a farmer's barnyard. The farmer, who was at
work in the yard, thinking some team had strayed away, went up to catch
them, when he discovered the bishop (a stranger to him) in the wagon. He
thought at first that the stranger was intoxicated, and so hitched the
team, thinking to let him lay and sleep it off. But upon a closer
examination, failing to detect the fumes of liquor, he concluded the man
was sick, and calling assistance, took him into the shade of a
hay-[437]stack, and cared for him. Still the bishop remained unconscious,
and the sun went down, and night came on.
Forty miles away, the bishop's good wife at home had called her
little seven-years-old child to knee, to say the usual prayer before
retiring. As the little child had finished the mother observed a far-off
look in its eyes, and then came the strange and unusual request: "Mother,
may I pray, in my own words, for pa? he's sick." "Yes, my child," said the
mother, wonderingly. "Oh Lord, heal up pa, that he may live and not die,
and come home," was the faltering prayer; and in that same moment the
bishop, in that far-off farmer's yard, arose and spoke; and in a few
moments was himself praising God for the succor that he knew not had been
invoked by his own dear child.
[438] CHAPTER XLVI.
MORMON WOMEN WHOSE ANCESTORS WERE ON BOARD THE "MAYFLOWER"--A BRADFORD, AND DESCENDANT OF THE SECOND GOVERNOR OF PLYMOUTH COLONY--A DESCENDANT OF ROGERS, THE MARTYR--THE THREE WOMEN WHO CAME WITH THE PIONEERS--THE FIRST WOMAN BORN IN UTAH--WOMEN OF THE CAMP OF ZION--WOMEN OF THE MORMON BATTALION.
Harriet A., wife of Lorenzo Snow, was born in Aurora, Portage Co.,
Ohio, Sept. 13, 1819. Her honorable lineage is best established by
reference to the fact that her parents were natives of New England, that
one of her grandfathers served in the Revolutionary war, and that her
progenitors came to America in the Mayflower.
At twenty-five years of age she embraced the gospel, and in 1846
gathered with the church at Nauvoo. In January, '47, she was married to
Elder Snow, and in the February following, with her husband and his three
other wives, crossed the Mississippi and joined the encampment of the
saints who had preceded them.
Thence to Salt Lake Valley her story is not dissimilar similar to
that of the majority of the saints, except [439] in personal incident and
circumstance. A praiseworthy act of hers, during the trip across the
plains, deserves historical record, however. A woman had died on the way,
leaving three little children--one of them a helpless infant. Sister Snow
was so wrought upon by the pitiful condition of the infant, that she
weaned her own child and nursed the motherless babe. By a stupid blunder
of her teamster, also, she was one night left behind, alone, with two
little children on the prairie. Luckily for her, a wagon had broken down
and had been abandoned by the company. Depositing the babes in the wagon
box, she made search, and found that some flour and a hand-bell had been
left in the wreck, and with this scanty outfit she set about making
supper. She first took the clapper out of the bell, then stopped up the
hole where it had been fastened in. This now served her for a
water-pitcher. Filling it at a brook some distance away, she wet up some
of the flour; then, with some matches that she had with her, started a
fire, and baked the flour-cakes, herself and thirteen-months-old child
making their supper upon them. She then ensconced herself in the wagon
with her babes, and slept till early morning, when her husband found her
and complimented her highly for her ingenuity and bravery.
From the valley Apostle Snow was sent to Italy on mission, where he
remained three years. An illustrative incident of his experience on his
return, is worth telling. His return had been announced, and his children,
born after his departure, were as jubilant over his coming as the others;
but one little girl, although in raptures about her father before he [440]
came, on his arrival felt somewhat dubious as to whether he was her father
or not, and refused to approach him for some time, and no persuasion could
entice her. At length entered the room where he was sitting, and after
enquiring of each of the other children, "Is that my favvy?" and receiving
an affirmative response, she placed herself directly in front of her
father, and looking him full in the face, said, "Is you my favvy?" "Yes,"
said he, "I am your father." The little doubter, being satisfied, replied,
"well, if you is my favvy, I will kiss you." And she most affectionately
fulfilled the promise, being now satisfied that her caresses were not
being lavished on a false claimant.
Sister Snow, as will be perceived, was among the first to enter
polygamy, and her testimony now is, after thirty years' experience, that
"It is a pure and sacred principle, and calculated to exalt and ennoble
all who honor and live it as revealed by Joseph Smith."
__________
Mrs. Elmira Tufts, of Salt Lake City, was born in Maine, in the year
1812. Her parents were both natives of New England, and her mother, Betsy
Bradford, was a descendant of William Bradford, who came to America on the
Mayflower, in 1620, and, after the death of Governor Carver, was elected
governor of the Little Plymouth Colony, which position he held for over
thirty years. Her father, Nathan Pinkham, also served in the Revolution.
With her husband, Mrs. Tufts gathered to Nauvoo in 1842. With the
body of the church they shared [441] the vicissitudes of the exodus, and
finally the gathering to the valley. Here Mr. Tufts died in 1850.
Mrs. T. had the pleasure of visiting the recent centennial
exhibition, and declares that this is the height and acme of America's
grandeur. "The grand display," she says, "which all nations were invited
to witness, is like the bankrupt's grand ball, just before the crash of
ruin."
__________
Vienna Jacques was born in the vicinity of Boston, in 1788. She went
to Kirtland in 1833, being a single lady and very wealthy. When she
arrived in Kirtland she donated all of her property to the church. She is
one of the few women mentioned in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. Her
lineage is very direct to the martyr John Rogers. She is still living and
retains all of her faculties.
_________
The three women who came to the valley with the pioneers are
deserving of mention in connection with that event.
Mrs. Harriet Page Wheeler Young, the eldest of the three above
mentioned, was born in Hillsborough, N. H., September 7th, 1803. She was
baptized into the Mormon connection in February, 1836, at New Portage,
Ohio; went with the saints to Missouri, and was expelled from that State
in 1839; went from there to Nauvoo, and in the spring of 1844 was married
to Lorenzo Dow Young, brother [442] of President Young. She was with her
husband in the exodus; and, on the 7th of April, 1847, in company with
Helen Saunders, wife of Heber C. Kimball, and Clara Decker, wife of
President Young, accompanied the pioneers on their famous journey to the
valley of the Great Salt Lake.
They arrived in the valley on the 24th of July, 1847, and camped near
what is now Main street, Salt Lake City. Plowing and planting was
immediately commenced, and houses were soon reared in what was afterwards
called the "Old Fort." On the 24th of September, following, she presented
to her husband a son, the first white male child born in the valley.
In the early days, as is well known, the new settlers of Salt Lake
were considerably troubled with Indian depredations. One day, when "Uncle
Lorenzo" was gone from home, and his wife was alone, an Indian came and
asked for biscuit. She gave him all she could spare, but he demanded more,
and when she refused, he drew his bow and arrow and said he would kill
her. But she outwitted him. In the adjoining room was a large dog, which
fact the Indian did not know, and Sister Young, feigning great fear, asked
the Indian to wait a moment, while she made as if to go into the other
room for more food. She quickly untied the dog, and, opening the door,
gave him the word. In an instant the Indian was overpowered and begging
for mercy. She called off the dog, and bound up the Indian's wounds and
let him go, and she was never troubled by Indians again. Her dying
testimony to her husband, just before she expired, December 22d, 1871,
[443] was that she had never known any difference in her feelings and love
for the children born to him by his young wives, and her own. Sister Helen
Saunders Kimball remained in the valley with her husband and reared a
family. She died November 22d, 1871.
Clara Decker Young is still living, and has an interesting family.
_________
Here may very properly be mentioned the first daughter of "Deseret;"
or, more strictly speaking, the first female child born in Utah. Mrs.
James Stopley, now a resident of Kanarrah, Kane county, Utah, and the
mother of five fine children, is the daughter of John and Catherine
Steele, who were in the famous Mormon battalion. Just after their
discharge from the United States service they reached the site of Salt
Lake City (then occupied by the pioneers), and on the 8th of August, 1847,
their little daughter was born. This being a proper historical incident,
inasmuch as she was the first white child born in the valley, it may be
interesting to note that the event occurred on the east side of what is
now known as Temple Block, at 4 o'clock A. M., of the day mentioned. In
honor of President Brigham Young, she was named Young Elizabeth. Her
father writes of her at that time as being "a stout, healthy child, and of
a most amiable disposition."
__________
Among the veteran sisters whose names should [444] be preserved to
history, are Mrs. Mary Snow Gates, Mrs. Charlotte Alvord, and Mrs. Diana
Drake. They are uniques of Mormon history, being the three women who, with
"Zion's Camp," went up from Kirtland to Missouri, "to redeem Zion." Their
lives have been singularly eventful, and they rank among the early
disciples of the church and the founders of Utah.
________
And here let us make a lasting and honorable record of the women of
the battalion:
Mrs. James Brown, Mrs. O. Adams,
Albina Williams, J. Chase,
____ Tubbs, ____ Sharp,
D. Wilkin, J. Hess,
Fanny Huntington, John Steele
J. Harmon, and C. Stillman,
daughter, ____ Smith,
U. Higgins, M. Ballom,
E. Hanks, W. Smithson,
Melissa Corey, A. Smithson.
These are the noble Mormon women who accepted the uncertain fortunes
of war, in the service of their country. Be their names imperishable in
American history.
[445] CHAPTER XLVII.
ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF CALIFORNIA--A WOMAN MISSIONARY TO THE SOCIETY ISLANDS--HER LIFE AMONG THE NATIVES--THE ONLY MORMON WOMAN SENT ON MISSION WITHOUT HER HUSBAND--A MORMON WOMAN IN WASHINGTON--A SISTER FROM THE EAST INDIES--A SISTER FROM TEXAS
The Mormons were not only the founders of Utah, but they were also
the first American emigrants to California Fremont and his volunteers, and
the American navy, had, it is true, effected the coup de main of taking
possession of California, and the American flag was hoisted in the bay of
San Francisco at the very moment of the arrival of the ship Brooklyn with
its company of Mormon emigrants, but to that company belongs the honor of
first settlers. The wife of Col. Jackson thus narrates:
"In the month of February, 1846, I left home and friends and sailed
in the ship Brooklyn for California Before starting I visited my parents
in New Hampshire. I told them of my determination to follow God's people,
who had already been notified to leave the United States; that our
destination was the Pacific coast, and that we should take ma-[446]terials
to plant a colony. When the hour came for parting my father could not
speak, and my mother cried out in despair, `When shall we see you again,
my child?' `When there is a railroad across the continent,' I answered.
"Selling all my household goods, I took my child in my arms and went
on board ship. Of all the memories of my life not one is so bitter as that
dreary six months' voyage, in an emigrant ship, around the Horn.
"When we entered the harbor of San Francisco an officer came on board
and said, Ladies and gentlemen, I have the honor to inform you that you
are in the United States.' Three cheers from all on board answered the
announcement.
"Unlike the California of to-day, we found the country barren and
dreary; but we trusted in God and he heard our prayers; and when I soaked
the mouldy ship-bread, purchased from the whale-ships lying in the harbor,
and fried it in the tallow taken from the raw hides lying on the beach,
God made it sweet to me, and to my child, for on this food I weaned her.
It made me think of Hagar and her babe, and of the God who watched over
her."
Passing over the hardships endured by these emigrants, which were
greatly augmented by the fact that war was then raging between the United
States and the Spanish residents of California, we deem it proper to here
incorporate, as matter of history, some statements of Mrs. Jackson, made
to the California journals, concerning the early days of San Francisco.
She says:
"From many statements made by persons who [447] have lately adopted
California as their home, I am led to believe it is the general impression
that no American civilized beings inhabited this region prior to the
discovery of gold; and that the news of this discovery reaching home,
brought the first adventurers. As yet I have nowhere seen recorded the
fact that in July, 1846, the ship Brooklyn landed on the shore of San
Francisco bay two hundred and fifty passengers, among whom were upwards of
seventy females; it being the first emigration to this place via Cape
Horn.
"In October previous a company had arrived overland, most of whom had
been detained at Sacramento fort, being forbidden by the governor to
proceed further. Upon arriving in Yerba Buena, in '46, we found two of
these families, some half dozen American gentlemen, three or four old
Californians with their families, the officers and marines of the sloop of
war Portsmouth, and about one hundred Indians, occupying the place now
called San Francisco.
"The ship Brooklyn left us on the rocks at the foot of what is now
Broadway. From this point we directed our steps to the old adobe on (now)
DuPont street. It was the first to shelter us from the chilling winds. A
little further on (toward Jackson street), stood the adobe of old `English
Jack,' who kept a sort of depot for the milk woman, who came in daily,
with a dozen bottles of milk hung to an old horse, and which they retailed
at a real (twelve and a half cents) per bottle. At this time, where now
are Jackson and Stockton streets were the outer boundaries of the town.
Back of [448] the home of `English Jack' stood a cottage built by an
American who escaped from a whale-ship and married a Californian woman.
Attached to this house was a windmill and a shop. In this house I lived
during the winter of '46, and the principal room was used by Dr. Poet, of
the navy, as a hospital. Here were brought the few who were saved of the
unfortunate `Donner party,' whose sad fate will never be forgotten. One of
the Donner children, a girl of nine years, related to me that her father
was the first of that party to fall a victim to the cold and hunger. Her
mother then came on with the children, 'till the babe grew sick and she
was unable to carry it further. She told the children to go on with the
company, and if the babe died, or she got stronger, she would come to
them, but they saw her no more. After this, two of her little brothers
died, and she told me, with tears running down her face, that she saw them
cooked, and had to eat them; but added, as though fearful of having
committed a crime, `I could not help it; I had eaten nothing for days, and
I was afraid to die.' The poor child's feet were so badly frozen that her
toes had dropped off."
_________
Very dramatic and picturesque have often been the situations of the
Mormon sisters. Here is the story of one of them, among the natives of the
Society Islands. She says:
"I am the wife of the late Elder Addison Pratt who was the first
missionary to the Society Islands, [449] he having been set apart by the
prophet for this mission in 1843. My husband went on his mission, but I,
with my children, was left to journey afterwards with the body of the
church to the Rocky Mountains.
"We reached the valley in the fall of 1848, and had been there but a
week when Elder Pratt arrived, coming by the northern route with soldiers
from the Mexican war. He had been absent five years and four months. Only
one of his children recognized him, which affected him deeply. One year
passed away in comparative comfort and pleasure, when again Mr. Pratt was
called to go and leave his family, and again I was left to my own
resources. However, six months afterwards several elders were called to
join Elder Pratt in the Pacific Isles, and myself and family were
permitted to accompany them. Making the journey by ox-team to San
Francisco, on the 15th of September, 1850, we embarked for Tahiti. Sailing
to the southwest of that island three hundred and sixty miles we made the
Island of Tupuai, where Mr. Pratt had formerly labored, and where we
expected to find him, but to our chagrin found that he was a prisoner
under the French governor at Tahiti. After counseling upon the matter we
decided to land on Tupuai and petition the governor of Tahiti for Mr.
Pratt's release, which we did, aided by the native king, who promised to
be responsible for Mr. Pratt's conduct. The petition was granted by the
governor, and in due course Mr. Pratt joined us at Tupuai. It was a day of
great rejoicing among the natives when he arrived, [450] they all being
much attached to him, and it was also a great day for our children.
"A volume might be written in attempting to describe the beauties of
nature on that little speck in the midst of the great ocean; but I must
hasten to speak of the people. Simple and uncultivated as the natives are,
they are nevertheless a most loveable and interesting race. Their piety is
deep and sincere and their faith unbounded.
"Within a year I became a complete master of their language, and
addressed them publicly in the fere-bure-ra (prayer-house), frequently. My
daily employment was teaching in the various departments of domestic
industry, such as needle-work, knitting, etc. and my pupils, old and
young, were both industrious and apt."
Elder Addison Pratt died in 1872, but his respected missionary wife
is living in Utah to-day, resting from her labors and waiting for the
reward of the faithful.
__________
A somewhat similar experience to the above is that of Sister Mildred
E. Randall, who went with her husband, at a later date, to labor in the
Sandwich Islands. Her first mission lasted about eighteen months, and her
second one three years. On her third mission to the islands, she was
called to go without her husband; thus making her to be the only woman, in
the history of the church, who has been called to go on foreign mission
independently of her husband.
___________
[451] In this connection will also suitably appear Sister Elizabeth Drake
Davis, who served her people well while in the Treasury department at
Washington.
She was born in the town of Axminster, Devonshire, England, and was
an only child. Having lost her father when she was but ten years of age,
and not being particularly attached to her mother, her life became
markedly lonely and desolate. In her extremity she sought the Lord in
prayer, when a remarkable vision was shown her, which was repeated at two
subsequent times, making a permanent impression on her life, and, in
connection with other similar experiences, leading her to connect herself
with the Church of Latter-day Saints.
After being widowed in her native land she crossed the Atlantic and
resided for two years in Philadelphia. In May, 1859, with a company of
Philadelphian saints, she gathered to Florence, for the purpose of going
thence to Utah. An incident there occurred that will be of interest to the
reader. She says:
"We reached Florence late one evening; it was quite dark and raining;
we were helped from the wagons and put in one of the vacant
houses--myself, my two little daughters and Sister Sarah White. Early next
morning we were aroused by some one knocking at the door; on opening it we
found a little girl with a cup of milk in her hand; she asked if there was
a little woman there with two little children. Yes, said Sister White,
come in. She entered, saying to me, If you please my ma wants to see you;
she has sent this milk to your little girls.' Her mother's name was
strange to [452] me, but I went, thinking to find some one that I had
known. She met me at the door with both hands extended in welcome. Good
morning, Sister Elizabeth, said she. I told her she had the advantage of
me, as I did not remember ever seeing her before. No, said she, and I
never saw you before. I am Hyrum Smith's daughter (Lovina Walker); my
father appeared to me three times last night, and told me that you were
the child of God, that you was without money, provisions or friends, and
that I must help you. It is needless to add that this excellent lady and
myself were ever thereafter firm friends, until her death, which occurred
in 1876. I will add that previous to her last illness I had not seen her
in thirteen years; that one night her father appeared to me, and making
himself known, said his daughter was in sore need; I found the message was
too true. Yet it will ever be a source of gratitude to think I was at last
able to return her generous kindness to me when we were strangers."
Mrs. Davis' husband (she having married a second time) enlisted in
the United States Army in March, 1863. Shortly thereafter she received an
appointment as clerk in the Treasury department at Washington, which
position she held until November, 1869, when she resigned in order to
prosecute, unhampered, a design which she had formed to memorialize
Congress against the Cullom bill. In this laudable endeavor she was
singularly successful, and it is proper to add that by dint of pure pluck,
as against extremely discouraging circumstances, she secured the
co-operation of Gen. Butler, and Mr. [453] Sumner, the great Senator from
Massachusetts. It is entirely just to say that her efforts were largely
instrumental in modifying the course of Congress upon the Mormon question,
at that time.
Sister Davis is at present one of the active women of Utah, and will
doubtless figure prominently in the future movements of the sisterhood.
_________
The story of Sister Hannah Booth is best told by herself. She says:
"I was born in Chumar, India. My father was a native of Portugal, and
my mother was from Manilla. My husband was an officer in the English army
in India, as were also my father and grandfather. We lived in affluent
circumstances, keeping nine servants, a carriage, etc., and I gave my
attention to the profession of obstetrics.
"When the gospel was introduced into India, my son Charles, who was
civil engineer in the army, met the elders traveling by sea, and was
converted. He brought to me the gospel, which I embraced with joy, and
from that time was eager to leave possessions, friends, children and
country, to unite with this people. My son George, a surgeon in the army,
remained behind, although he had embraced the gospel. My sister, a widow,
and my son Charles and his wife--daughter of Lieutenant Kent, son of Sir
Robert Kent, of England--and their infant daughter, came with me. Reaching
San Francisco, we proceeded thence to San Bernardino, arriving there in
1855. Having, in India, [454] had no occasion to perform housework, we
found ourselves greatly distressed in our new home, by our lack of such
needful knowledge. We bought a stove, and I tried first to make a fire. I
made the fire in the first place that opened (the oven), and was greatly
perplexed by its smoking and not drawing. We were too mortified to let our
ignorance be known, and our bread was so badly made, and all our cooking
so wretchedly done, that we often ate fruit and milk rather than the food
we had just prepared. We also bought a cow, and not knowing how to milk
her, had great trouble. Four of us surrounded her; my son tied her head to
the fence, her legs to a post, her tail to another; and while he stood by
to protect me, my sister and daughter-in-law to suggest and advise, I
proceeded to milk--on the wrong side, as I afterwards learned. After a
while, however, some good sisters kindly taught us how to work.
"Just as we had become settled in our own new house the saints
prepared to leave San Bernardino--in the winter of '56-7. We sold our home
at great sacrifice, and, six of us in one wagon, with two yoke of Spanish
oxen, started for Utah. On the desert our oxen grew weak and our supplies
began to give out. We, who at home in India had servants at every turn,
now had to walk many weary miles, through desert sands, and in climbing
mountains. My sister and I would, in the morning, bind our cashmere scarfs
around our waists, take each a staff, and with a small piece of bread
each, we would walk ahead of the train. At noon we would rest, ask a
blessing upon the bread, and [455] go on. Weary, footsore and hungry, we
never regretted leaving our luxurious homes, nor longed to return. We were
thankful for the knowledge that had led us away, and trusted God to
sustain us in our trials and lead us to a resting-place among the saints.
After our journey ended, we began anew to build a home.
"I am, after twenty years among this people, willing to finish my
days with them, whatever their lot and trials may be, and I pray God for
his holy spirit to continue with me to the end."
_________
Nor should we omit to mention Mrs. Willmirth East, now in her 64th
year, who was converted to Mormonism while residing with her father's
family in Texas, in 1853. Her ancestors fought in the Revolutionary war,
and her father, Nathaniel H. Greer, was a member of the legislature of
Georgia, and also a member of the legislature of Texas, after his removal
to that State. She has long resided in Utah, is a living witness of many
miracles of healing, and has often manifested in her own person the
remarkable gifts of this dispensation. She may be accounted one of the
most enthusiastic and steadfast of the saints.
[456] CHAPTER XLVIII.
LEADER FROM ENGLAND--MRS. HANNAH T. KING--A MACDONALD FROM SCOTLAND--THE "WELSH QUEEN"--A REPRESENTATIVE WOMAN FROM IRELAND--SISTER HOWARD--A GALAXY OF THE SISTERHOOD, FROM "MANY NATIONS AND TONGUES"--INCIDENTS AND TESTIMONIALS.
Here the reader meets an illustration of women from many nations
baptized into one spirit, and bearing the same testimony.
Mrs. Hannah T. King, a leader from England, shall now speak. She
says:
"In 1849, while living in my home in Dernford Dale, Cambridgeshire,
England, my attention was first brought to the serious consideration of
Mormonism by my seamstress. She was a simple-minded girl, but her tact and
respectful ingenuity in presenting the subject won my attention, and I
listened, not thinking or even dreaming that her words were about to
revolutionize my life.
"I need not follow up the thread of my thoughts thereafter; how I
struggled against the conviction that had seized my mind; how my parents
and friends marveled at the prospect of my leaving the respectable church
associations of a life-time and [457] uniting with such a low set; how I
tried to be content with my former belief, and cast the new out of mind,
but all to no purpose. Suffice it to say I embraced the gospel, forsook
the aristocratic associations of the `High Church' congregation with which
I had long been united, and became an associate with the poor and meek of
the earth.
"I was baptized Nov. 4th, 1850, as was also my beloved daughter. My
good husband, although not persuaded to join the church, consented to
emigrate with us to Utah, which we did in the year 1853, bringing quite a
little company with us at Mr. King's expense."
Since her arrival in the valley, Mrs. King has been constantly
prominent among the women of Utah. Her name is also familiar as a poetess,
there having emanated from her pen some very creditable poems.
_________
Scotland comes next with a representative woman in the person of
Elizabeth G. MacDonald. She says:
"I was born in the city of Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, on the 12th
of January, 1831, and am the fifth of ten daughters born to my parents,
John and Christina Graham.
"My attention was first brought to the church of Latter-day Saints in
1846, and in 1847 I was baptized and confirmed, being the second person
baptized into the church in Perth. This course brought down upon me so
much persecution, from which I was not exempt in my own father's house,
[458] that I soon left home and went to Edinburgh. There I was kindly
received by a Sister Gibson and welcomed into her house. After two years
had passed my father came to me and, manifesting a better spirit than when
I saw him last, prevailed upon me to return with him. He had in the
meantime become partially paralyzed, and had to use a crutch. Two weeks
after my return he consented to be baptized. While being baptized the
affliction left him, and he walked home without his crutch, to the
astonishment of all who knew him. This was the signal for a great work,
and the Perth branch, which previously had numbered but two, soon grew to
over one hundred and fifty members.
"In May, '51, I was married to Alexander MacDonald, then an elder in
the church. He went immediately on mission to the Highlands; but in 1852
he was called to take charge of the Liverpool conference, whither I went
with him, and there we made our first home together.
"In May, '53, I fell down stairs, which so seriously injured me that
I remained bedridden until the following marvelous occurrence: One
Saturday afternoon as I was feeling especially depressed and sorrowful,
and while my neighbor, Mrs. Kent, who had just been in, was gone to her
home for some little luxury for me, as I turned in my bed I was astonished
to behold an aged man standing at the foot. As I somewhat recovered from
my natural timidity he came towards the head of the bed and laid his hands
upon me, saying, `I lay my hands upon thy head and bless thee in the name
[459] of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Lord hath seen the
integrity of thine heart. In tears and sorrow thou hast bowed before the
Lord, asking for children; this blessing is about to be granted unto thee.
Thou shalt be blessed with children from this hour. Thou shalt be gathered
to the valleys of the mountains, and there thou shalt see thy children
raised as tender plants by thy side. Thy children and household shall call
thee blessed. At present thy husband is better than many children. Be
comforted. These blessings I seal upon thee, in the name of Jesus Amen.'
At this moment Sister Kent came in, and I saw no more of this personage.
His presence was so impressed upon me that I can to this day minutely
describe his clothing and countenance.
"The next conference, after this visitation, brought the word that
Brother MacDonald was released to go to the valley, being succeeded by
Elder Spicer W. Crandall. We started from Liverpool in March, '54, and
after the usual vicissitudes of sea and river navigation, finally went
into camp near Kansas Village on the Missouri. From there we started for
Utah in Capt. Daniel Carns' company, reaching Salt Lake City on the 30th
of September.
"In 1872 my husband was appointed to settle in St. George, where we
arrived about the middle of November. Here we have since remained, and I
have taken great pleasure in this southern country, especially in having
my family around me, in the midst of good influences. The people here are
sociable and kind, and we have no outside influ-[460]ences to contend
with. All are busy and industrious and striving to live their religion."
________
The wife of the famous Captain Dan Jones, the founder of the Welsh
mission, is chosen to represent her people. She thus sketches her life to
the period of her arrival in Zion:
"I was born April 2d, 1812, in Claddy, South Wales. My parents were
members of the Baptist Church, which organization I joined when fifteen
years of age. In 1846, several years after my marriage, while keeping
tavern, a stranger stopped with us for refreshments, and while there
unfolded to me some of the principles of the, then entirely new to me,
Church of Latter-day Saints. His words made a profound impression upon my
mind, which impression was greatly heightened by a dream which I had
shortly thereafter; but it was some time before I could learn more of the
new doctrine. I made diligent inquiry, however, and was finally, by
accident, privileged to hear an elder preach. In a conversation with him
afterwards I became thoroughly convinced of the truth of Mormonism, and
was accordingly baptized into the church. This was in 1847. After this my
house became a resort for the elders, and I was the special subject of
persecution by my neighbors.
"In 1848 I began making preparations to leave my home and start for
the valley. Everything was sold, including a valuable estate, and I
determined to lay it all upon the altar in an endeavor to aid [461] my
poorer friends in the church to emigrate also. In 1849 I bade farewell to
home, country and friends, and with my six children set out for the
far-off Zion. After a voyage, embodying the usual hardships, from
Liverpool to New Orleans, thence up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to
Council Bluffs, some fifty fellow-passengers dying with cholera on the
way, in the early summer I started across the plains. I had paid the
passage of forty persons across the ocean and up to Council Bluffs, and
from there I provided for and paid the expenses of thirty-two to Salt Lake
City. Having every comfort that could be obtained, we perhaps made the
trip under as favorable circumstances as any company that has ever
accomplished the journey."
For her magnanimous conduct in thus largely helping the emigration of
the Welsh saints, coupled with her social standing in her native country,
she was honored with the title of "The Welsh Queen." The title is still
familiar in connection with her name. Since her arrival in Zion she has
known many trials, but is still firm in the faith of the Latter-day work.
_________
The following is a brief personal sketch of Mrs. Howard, an Irish
lady, of popularity and prominence in Utah:
"Presuming there are many persons who believe there are no Irish
among the Mormons, I wish to refute the belief, as there are many in our
various towns, most staunch and faithful.
[462] "My parents, Robert and Lucretia Anderson, resided in Carlow, County
Carlow, Ireland, where, on the 12th of July, 1823, I was born. In 1841 my
beloved mother died, and in the same year I married, and went to reside in
Belfast with my husband.
"My father, who was a thorough reformer in his method of thought,
originally suggested several governmental and social innovations that were
afterwards adopted by the government and the people. He died in 1849.
"My parents were Presbyterians, in which faith I was strictly brought
up; but I early came to the conclusion that my father was right when he
said, as I heard him one day: `The true religion is yet to come.' After my
marriage I attended the Methodist Church mostly, led a moral life, tried
to be honest in deal, and did (as well as circumstances would allow) `unto
others as I would they should do to me.' I thus went on quietly, until
`the true religion' was presented to me by a Mr. and Mrs. Daniel M. Bell,
of Ballygrot. My reason was satisfied, and I embraced the truth with
avidity.
"In February, 1858, my husband, myself and our six children left
Ireland on the steamship City of Glasgow, and in due time arrived at
Council Bluffs. Starting across the plains, the first day out I sustained
a severe accident by being thrown from my carriage, but this did not deter
us, and we arrived all safe and well in Salt Lake City on the 25th of
September.
"In 1868 I went with my husband on a mission [463] to England; had a
pleasant, interesting time, and astonished many who thought `no good thing
could come out of Utah.' While there I was the subject of no little
curious questioning, and therefore had many opportunities of explaining
the principles of the gospel. There was one principle I gloried in telling
them about--the principle of plural marriage; and I spared no pains in
speaking of the refining, exalting influence that was carried with the
doctrine, wherever entered into in a proper manner."
Sister Howard has not exaggerated in claiming that the Irish nation
has been fairly represented in the Mormon Church. Some of its most
talented members have been directly of that descent, though it is true
that Mormonism never took deep root in Ireland; but that is no more than a
restatement of the fact that Protestantism of any kind has never
flourished in that Catholic country.
Of the esteemed lady in question it may be added that she is one of
the most prominent of the women of Utah, one of the councilors of Mrs.
President Home, and a leader generally, in those vast female organizations
and movements inspired by Eliza R. Snow, in the solution of President
Young's peculiar society problems.
___________
Scandinavia shall be next represented among the nationalities in the
church. The Scandinavian mission has been scarcely less important than the
British mission. It is not as old, but to-day it is the most vigorous, and
for the last quarter of a century it has [464] been pouring its
emigrations into Utah by the thousands. Indeed a very large portion of the
population of Utah has been gathered from the Scandinavian peoples. The
mission was opened by Apostle Erastus Snow, in the year 1850. One of the
first converts of this apostle, Anna Nilson, afterwards became his wife.
Here is the brief notice which she gives of herself:
"I am the daughter of Hans and Caroline Nilson, and was born on the
1st of April, 1825, in a little village called Dalby, in the Province of
Skaana, in the kingdom of Sweden. At the age of seventeen I removed to
Copenhagen, Denmark. There, in 1850 when the elders from Zion arrived, I
gladly received the good news, and was the first woman baptized into the
Church of Latter-day Saints in that kingdom. The baptism took place on the
12th of August, 1850; there were fifteen of us; the ordinance was
performed by Elder Erastus Snow. Some time after this we hired a hall for
our meetings, which called public attention to us in some degree,
whereupon we became the subjects of rowdyism and violent persecution. One
evening in particular, I recollect that I was at a meeting in a village
some eight miles out from Copenhagen; as we started to go home we were
assailed by a mob which followed and drove us for several miles. Some of
the brethren were thrown into ditches and trampled upon, and the sisters
also were roughly handled. Finding myself in the hands of ruffians, I
called on my heavenly Father, and they dropped me like a hot iron. They
pelted us with stones and mud, tore our clothes, and [465] abused us in
every way they could. These persecutions continued some weeks, until
finally stopped by the military.
"In 1852, one week before Christmas, I left Copenhagen, in the first
large company, in charge of Elder Forssgren. We encountered a terrible
storm at the outset, but were brought safely through to Salt Lake City,
where I have since resided."
_________
A Norwegian sister, Mrs. Sarah A. Peterson, the wife of a well-known
missionary, has remembrance next. She says:
"I was born in the town of Murray, Orleans county, N. Y., February
16, 1827. My parents, Cornelius and Carrie Nelson, were among the first
Norwegians who emigrated to America. They left Norway on account of having
joined the Quakers, who, at that time, were subject to much persecution in
that country. In the neighborhood was quite a number of that sect, and
they concluded to emigrate to America in a body. As there was no direct
line of emigration between Norway and America, they purchased a sloop, in
which they performed the voyage. Having been raised on the coast, they
were all used to the duties of seamen, and found no trouble in navigating
their vessel. They also brought a small cargo of iron with them, which,
together with the vessel, they sold in New York, and then moved to the
northwestern portion of that State, and settled on a wild tract of
woodland. Eight years afterwards [466] my father died. I was at that time
six years old. When I was nine years old my uncle went to Illinois, whence
he returned with the most glowing accounts of the fertility of the soil,
with plenty of land for sale at government price. The company disposed of
their farms at the rate of fifty dollars per acre, and again moved from
their homes, settling on the Fox River, near Ottawa, Ill. Here, when
fourteen years of age, I first heard the gospel, and at once believed in
the divine mission of the prophet Joseph; but on account of the opposition
of relatives, was prevented joining the church until four years later.
"In the spring of 1849 I left mother and home and joined a company
who were preparing to leave for the valley. On our way to Council Bluffs I
was attacked with cholera. But there was a young gentleman in the company
by the name of Canute Peterson, who, after a season of secret prayer in my
behalf, came and placed his hands upon my head, and I was instantly
healed. Two weeks after our arrival at the Bluffs I was married to him. We
joined Ezra T. Benson's company, and arrived in Salt Lake City on the 25th
of October, and spent the winter following in the `Old Fort.' In 1851 we
removed to Dry Creek, afterwards called Lehi. My husband was among the
very first to survey land and take up claims there. In 1852 he was sent on
mission to Norway. During the four years he was absent I supported myself
and the two children. In 1856 he returned, much broken in health because
of his arduous labor and exposure in the rigorous climate of that country.
[467] "In the fall of 1857 my husband added another wife to his family;
but I can truly say that he did not do so without my consent, nor with any
other motive than to serve his God. I felt it our duty to obey the
commandment revealed through the prophet Joseph, hence, although I felt it
to be quite a sacrifice, I encouraged him in so doing. Although not so
very well supplied with houseroom, the second wife and I lived together in
harmony and peace. I felt it a pleasure to be in her company, and even to
nurse and take care of her children, and she felt the same way toward me
and my children. A few years afterwards my husband married another wife,
but also with the consent and encouragement of his family. This did not
disturb the peaceful relations of our home, but the same kind feelings
were entertained by each member of the family to one another. We have now
lived in polygamy twenty years, have eaten at the same table and raised
our children together, and have never been separated, nor have we ever
wished to be."
Mrs. Peterson is the present very efficient President of the Relief
Society at Ephraim, which up to date has disbursed over eleven thousand
dollars.
__________
Here will also properly appear a short sketch of Bishop
Hickenlooper's wife Ann, who made her way to Zion with the famous
hand-cart company, under Captain Edmund Ellsworth. She had left home and
friends in England in 1856, coming to Council [468] Bluffs with the
regular emigration of that year, and continuing her journey with the
hand-cart company, as before stated. From her journal we quote:
"After traveling fourteen weeks we arrived in the near vicinity of
Salt Lake City, where President Young and other church leaders, with a
brass band and a company of military, met and escorted us into the city.
As we entered, and passed on to the public square in the 16th Ward, the
streets were thronged with thousands of people gazing upon the scene.
President Young called on the bishops and people to bring us food. In a
short time we could see loads of provisions coming to our encampment.
After partaking of refreshments our company began to melt away, by being
taken to the homes of friends who had provided for them. I began to feel
very lonely, not knowing a single person in the country, and having no
relatives to welcome me. I felt indeed that I was a stranger in a strange
land. Presently, however, it was arranged that I should go to live with
Mr. Hickenlooper's people, he being bishop of the 6th Ward. After becoming
acquainted with the family, to whom I became much attached, his first wife
invited me to come into the family as the bishop's third wife, which
invitation, after mature consideration, I accepted.
"I am now the mother of five children, and for twenty years have
lived in the same house with the rest of the family, and have eaten at the
same table. My husband was in Nauvoo in the days of the prophet Joseph,
and moved with the saints from winter quarters to this city, where he has
been [469] bishop of the 6th Ward twenty-nine years, and of the 5th and
6th Wards fifteen years."
_________
Several of the sisters who first received the gospel in England and
emigrated to Nauvoo during the lifetime of the prophet, claim historic
mention. Ruth Moon, wife of William Clayton (who during the last days of
Joseph became famous as his scribe), was among the first fruits of the
British mission. With her husband she sailed in the first organized
company of emigrant saints on board the North America. Here are a few
items worth preserving, from her diary of that voyage:
"Friday, Sept. 4, 1840.--Bid good-bye to Penwortham, and all started
by rail to Liverpool, where we arrived about 5 o'clock, and immediately
went on board the packet-ship North America, Captain Loeber, then lying in
Prince's dock.
"Tuesday, Sept. 8.--At eight o'clock the ship left the dock; was
towed out into the river Mersey, and set sail for New York. On getting
into the English Channel we were met by strong head-winds, which soon
increased to a gale, compelling the ship to change her course and sail
around the north coast of Ireland. The decks were battened down three days
and nights. During the gale four of the principal sails were blown away,
and the ship otherwise roughly used.
"Saturday, Sept. 12.--The storm having abated, we had a very pleasant
view of the north part of Ireland, farms and houses being in plain sight.
"Tuesday, Sept. 22.--About eleven o'clock the company was startled by
the ominous cry of the chief mate, `All hands on deck, and buckets with
[470] water.' The ship had taken fire under the cook's galley. The deck
was burned through, fire dropping on the berths underneath. It was soon
extinguished without serious damage having been done.
"Sunday, Oct. 11.--Arrived in New York."
They journeyed thence by steamer up the Hudson river to Albany; by
canal from Albany to Buffalo; by steamer thence to Chicago; and by
flat-boat down the Rock river to Nauvoo, where they arrived Nov. 24th.
_________
Elizabeth Birch, who was born in Lancashire, England, in 1810, was a
widow with four children when she first heard the gospel, which was
brought to Preston, by the American elders, in 1837. The new religion
created great excitement in that section, and people often walked ten
miles and more to hear the elders preach. She was baptized at Preston, on
the 24th of Dec., 1838. In 1841 she sailed in the ship Sheffield for New
Orleans and thence up the Mississippi river in the second company of
saints that sailed for America In the fall of that year she was married to
Mr. Birch. Her husband being one of those designated to help finish the
temple at Nauvoo they were in the city during the famous battle of Nauvoo.
Her recollections of that perilous event are very vivid. During the fight
one of the sisters brought into her house a cannon-ball which she had
picked up, just from the enemy's battery. It was too hot to be handled.
They reached the valley in 1850.
Concerning polygamy, she says: "In 1858, my [471] husband having
become convinced that the doctrine of celestial marriage and plurality of
wives was true, instructed me in regard to it; and becoming entirely
satisfied that the principle is not only true, but that it is commanded, I
gave my consent to his taking another wife, by whom he had one daughter;
and again in 1860 I consented to his taking another one, by whom he had a
large family of children. These children we have raised together, and I
love them as if they were my own. Our husband has been dead two years, but
we still live together in peace, and each contributes to the utmost for
the support of the family."
________
Lucy Clayton, wife of Elder Thomas Bullock, was the first of the
saints to enter Carthage jail after the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. She
tells a graphic tale of the excitement of the people of Carthage on that
occasion--how they fled, panic stricken, from their homes, led by Governor
Ford, thinking that the people of Nauvoo would wreak vengeance upon them
for the murder that had been committed in their midst. She was also among
the remnant of the sick and dying saints on the banks of the Mississippi,
after the expulsion, when they were miraculously fed by quails that
alighted in their midst. This is an often-told wonder, and is classed with
the immortal episode of the children of Israel, fed by quails in the
wilderness.
_______
The wife of Thomas Smith is also entitled to [472] historic mention.
Her husband, in the early of the British mission, made a great stir in
England, as a Mormon elder, and she was with him in his ministry. He bore
the euphonious epithet of "Rough Tom." Having both the genius and fame of
an iconoclast, he disputed, on the platform, with the same sectarian
champions who met the great infidels Holyoke, Barker and Bradlaugh. His
career as a Mormon elder was quite a romance and in all its scenes his
wife, Sister Sarah, was a participant, though she was as gentle in spirit
as he was bold and innovative. A famous career was theirs, and the
spiritual power and signs that followed them were astonishing. He was full
of prophesy, and she spake in tongues. He also cast out devils by the
legion. The spirits, good and bad, followed him everywhere. It is of those
thrilling scenes that his widow now loves to speak, as a testimony of the
power of God, and of the signs following the believer. No sister from the
old country could be chosen as a better witness of the spiritual potency
of Mormonism than Sister Sarah Smith Wheeler.
_______
Sister I. S. Winnerholm, from Denmark, was brought into the church,
in Copenhagen, through a series of spiritual experiences of unusual power
and interest; and, throughout her entire life since, she has been
remarkably gifted with the power of healing, the interpretation of
tongues, etc. Concerning the gift of tongues, she testifies that at a ward
[473] meeting in Salt Lake City she heard a lady manifest the gift by
speaking in the dialect of Lapland, which she was fully competent to
translate, being conversant with that dialect, and which the lady in
question positively knew nothing about, as she had never seen a person
from that country. Sister Winnerholm has been a resident of Salt Lake City
since 1862, and a member of the church since 1853.
________
As a representative from Scotland, Sister Elizabeth Duncanson, who is
one of "Zion's nurses," may be mentioned. A remarkable incident of her
life is the fact that at about the identical moment of the martyrdom of
Joseph and Hyrum Smith, she, in her home in Scotland, saw the entire
tragedy in a dream. She told the dream to her husband at the time (both of
them were members of the church), and they were much dispirited with their
forebodings concerning it. In about six weeks, by due course of mail, the
tidings reached them. Herself and husband reached Utah in 1855, and in
that same year she was ordained, by President; Young, to the office of
nurse which she has since most acceptably and skillfully filled.
________
Another sister from Scotland, Sister Mary Meiklejohn, since 1856 a
resident of Tooele City, and also one of "Zion's nurses," shall here be
mentioned. While residing in Bonhill, Scotland, herself and hus-[474]band
were baptized into the Mormon Church by Elder Robert Hamilton. Her husband
at once became active in the work of spreading the gospel, and was soon
the recipient of the benefits of the gift of healing, to a remarkable
degree. By an accident one of his feet was crushed and terribly lacerated
by being caught in a steam engine. The physicians determined that the foot
must be amputated in order to save his fife; but the elders thought
differently, and after administering to him, they called a fast, for his
benefit, among all the branches in the neighborhood, and the presiding
elder prophesied that he should so completely recover the use of his foot
as to dance on it many times in Zion. This has been literally fulfilled.
Mrs. Meiklejohn is the very acceptable President of the Tooele Relief
Society, which position she has held since its organization in 1870.
________
It is also noteworthy that among the sisters is Mrs. Josephine
Ursenbach, once a Russian Countess. With the instincts of her rank, she
took it upon her to officiate for many of her aristocratic compeers of
Europe, in the beautiful ordinance of baptism for the dead. The Empress
Josephine and Napoleon's wife, Louisa of Austria, were among the number.
Also Elizabeth of England.
________
The reader will have noticed in the sketches of the sisters, both
American and foreign, frequent [475] mention of the "gift of tongues."
This seems to have been markedly the woman's gift. One of the first who
manifested it approvedly was Mother Whitney. She was commanded by the
prophet Joseph to rise and sing in the gift of tongues in the early days
of Kirtland. She did so, and Joseph pronounced it the "Adamic tongue," or
the language spoken by Adam. Parley P. Pratt afterwards gave a written
interpretation of it. It was a story, in verse, of Adam blessing his
family in "Adam-Ondi-Ahman"--the Garden of Eden in America.
As an instance in which the gift of tongues proved of decidedly
practical value, we transcribe the following incident, which occurred near
Council Bluffs, in the history of a girl of seventeen by the name of Jane
Grover (afterwards Mrs. Stewart), from her journal:
"One morning we thought we would go and gather gooseberries. Father
Tanner (as we familiarly called the good, patriarchal Elder Nathan
Tanner), harnessed a span of horses to a light wagon, and, with two
sisters by the name of Lyman, his little granddaughter, and me, started
out. When we reached the woods we told the old gentleman to go to a house
in sight and rest himself while we picked the berries.
"It was not long before the little girl and I strayed some distance
from the rest, when suddenly we heard shouts. The little girl thought it
was her grandfather, and was about to answer, but I restrained her,
thinking it might be Indians. We walked forward until within sight of
Father Tanner, when we saw he was running his team [476] around. We
thought nothing strange at first, but as we approached we saw Indians
gathering around the wagon, whooping and yelling as others came and joined
them. We got into the wagon to start when four of the Indians took hold of
the wagon wheels to stop the wagon, and two others held the horses by the
bits, and another came to take me out of the wagon. I then began to be
afraid as well as vexed, and asked Father Tanner to let me get out of the
wagon and run for assistance. He said, `No, poor child; it is too late!' I
told him they should not take me alive. His face was as white as a sheet.
The Indians had commenced to strip him--had taken his watch and
handkerchief--and while stripping him, were trying to pull me out of the
wagon. I began silently to appeal to my Heavenly Father. While praying and
struggling, the spirit of the Almighty fell upon me and I arose with great
power; and no tongue can tell my feelings. I was happy as I could be. A
few moments before I saw worse than death staring me in the face, and now
my hand was raised by the power of God, and I talked to those Indians in
their own language. They let go the horses and wagon, and all stood in
front of me while I talked to them by the power of God. They bowed their
heads and answered `Yes,' in a way that made me know what they meant. The
little girl and Father Tanner looked on in speechless amazement. I
realized our situation; their calculation was to kill Father Tanner, burn
the wagon, and take us women prisoners. This was plainly shown me. When I
stopped talking they shook hands with all three of [477] us, and returned
all they had taken from Father Tanner, who gave them back the
handkerchief, and I gave them berries and crackers. By this time the other
two women came up, and we hastened home.
"The Lord gave me a portion of the interpretation of what I had said,
which was as follows:
"`I suppose you Indian warriors think you are going to kill us? Don't
you know the Great Spirit is watching you and knows everything in your
heart? We have come out here to gather some of our father's fruit. We have
not come to injure you; and if you harm us, or injure one hair of our
heads, the Great Spirit shall smite you to the earth, and you shall not
have power to breathe another breath. We have been driven from our homes
and so have you; we have come out here to do you good, and not to injure
you. We are the Lord's people and so are you; but you must cease your
murders and wickedness; the Lord is displeased with it and will not
prosper you if you continue in it. You think you own all this land, this
timber, this water, all the horses: Why, you do not own one thing on earth
not even the air you breathe--it all belongs to the Great Spirit'"
______
Of similar import, and fraught with similar incidents as the
preceding, are the testimonies of Mercy R. Thompson, sister of Mary
Fielding; Mrs. Janet Young, of South Cottonwood; Elizabeth S. Higgs, of
Salt Lake City; Ann Gillott Morgan, of Milk [478] Creek, originally from
England; Zina Pugh Bishop, for twenty-eight years a member of the church;
Anna Wilson, of Taylorsville, originally from Sweden; Mary C. Smith, a
sister from Wales; Elizabeth Lane Hyde, a sister from South Wales; Sister
M. Bingham, an aged saint from England; Sister Mary T. Bennson, of
Taylorsville, for thirty-two years a member of the church; Mrs. Isabella
Pratt Walton, of Mill Creek; Mrs. Margaret Pratt, from Scotland; and many
more, concerning whom a faithful record might profitably be made.
[479] CHAPTER XLIX.
THE MESSAGE TO JERUSALEM--THE ANCIENT TONES OF MORMONISM--THE MORMON HIGH PRIESTESS IN THE HOLY LAND--ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES--OFFICIATING FOR THE ROYAL HOUSE OF JUDAH.
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received double
for all her sins. * * * O Zion, that bringest glad tidings, get thee up
into the high mountain; O Jerusalem that bringest good tidings, lift up
thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of
Judah, behold your God!"
Themes to this day not understood by the Gentiles! Incomprehensible
to the divines of Christendom!
The everlasting perpetuation of a chosen race--a diviner monument in
its dispersion and preservation than in its national antiquity. Its
restoration to more than its ancient empire, and the rebuilding of
Jerusalem, with Jehovah exalted in his chosen people as the Lord God
Omnipotent, is the vast subject of the prophetic Hebrews.
It was such a theme that inspired the genius of grand Isaiah,
swelling into the exultation of millen-[480]nial jubilee for Israel, in
his great declamatory of Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your
God!"
Gentile Christendom has never been en rapport with the Abrahamic
subject. It has not incarnated its genius. It is destitute of the very
sense to appreciate the theme of Jerusalem rebuilt.
Israelitish Mormondom does understand that subject. It has fully
incarnated its genius. It has, not only the prophetic sense to appreciate
the theme of Old Jerusalem rebuilt but also the rising of the New
Jerusalem of the last days, whose interpreted symbol shall be, "The Lord
God Omnipotent reigneth!
The divines of a Romish Christianity--Rabbis, notwithstanding its
sectarian protestantism--have worn thread bare the New Testament; but the
epic soul of the old Hebrew Bible has never possessed Gentile Christendom.
To it, the prophesies and sublimities of Isaiah, and the everlasting
vastness of the Abrahamic covenant and promise, are all, at best, but as
glorious echoes from the vaults of dead and long buried ages.
Who has blown the trump of this Hebraic resurrection? One only--the
prophet of Mormondom!
The Mormons are, as it were, clothing that soul with flesh--giving
the themes of that everlasting epic forms and types. Their Israelitish
action has made the very age palpitate. They render the "Comfort ye,
comfort ye my people, saith your God!" as literally as did they the
command of their prophet to preach the gospel to the British Isles, and
gather the saints from that land.
[481] The thread of history leads us directly to a significant episode in
the life of Eliza R. Snow, a prophetess and high priestess of Hebraic
Mormondom, in which the "Comfort ye my people" became embodied in an
actual mission to Jerusalem.
Very familiar to the Mormons is the fact that, at the period when
Joseph sent the Twelve to foreign lands, two of their number, Orson Hyde
and John E. Page, were appointed on mission to Jerusalem. The Apostle Page
failed to fulfill his call, and ultimately apostatized; but Orson Hyde
honored the voice that oracled the restoration of Israel, and the
rebuilding of Jerusalem. He did not preach to Judah in the ordinary way,
but on the Mount of Olives he reconsecrated the land, and uttered to the
listening heavens a command for the Jews to gather and rebuild the waste
places. It was as the refrain of the invisible fathers, concerning
Israel's redemption, rising from the hearts of their Mormon children. And
that mission of Orson Hyde was but a prophesy, to the sons of Judah, of
coming events. Other missions were ordained, as it were, to psychologize
the age into listening to the voice of Judah's comforter.
A few years since, the second mission to Jerusalem was accomplished.
On the Mount of Olives this time stood also a woman--to take part in the
second consecration! A woman's inspired voice to swell the divine command
for Israel to gather and become again the favored nation--the crown of
empires.
The journal of Sister Eliza thus opens this episode of her life:
[482] "On the 26th of October, 1872, I started on the mission to
Palestine. When I realized that I was indeed going to Jerusalem, in
fulfillment of a prediction of the prophet Joseph that I should visit that
antique city, uttered nearly thirty years before, and which had not only
fled my anticipations, but had, for years, gone from memory, I was filled
with astonishment."
The Jerusalem missionaries were President Geo. A. Smith, Lorenzo
Snow, his sister Eliza R. Snow, and Paul A. Schettler, their secretary,
accompanied by several tourists. The following commission, given to
President Smith, stamps the apostolic character of this peculiar mission,
and connects it with the former one, sent by the prophet Joseph, in the
person of Orson Hyde, thirty-two years before:
"SALT LAKE CITY, U. T.,
"October 15, 1872.
"PRESIDENT G. A. SMITH:
"Dear Brother: As you are about to start on an extensive tour through
Europe and Asia Minor, where you will doubtless be brought in contact with
men of position and influence in society, we desire that you closely
observe what openings now exist, or where they may be effected, for the
introduction of the gospel into the various countries you shall visit.
"When you go to the land of Palestine, we wish you to dedicate and
consecrate that land to the Lord, that it may be blessed with fruitfulness
preparatory to the return of the Jews in fulfillment of prophesy and the
accomplishment of the purposes of our Heavenly Father.
"We pray that you may be preserved to travel in peace and safety;
that you may be abundantly [483] blessed with words of wisdom and free
utterance in all your conversations pertaining to the holy gospel,
dispelling prejudice sowing seeds of righteousness among the people.
"BRIGHAM YOUNG,
"DANIEL H. WELLS."
Joseph had also predicted that, ere his mortal career closed, "George
A." should see the Holy Land. In the fulfillment of this he may therefore
be considered as the proxy of his great cousin; while Sister Eliza, who,
it will be remembered, was declared by the prophet to be of the royal seed
of Judah, may be considered as a high priestess officiating for her sacred
race.
Away to the East--the cradle of empires--to bless the land where
Judah shall become again a nation, clothed with more than the splendor of
the days of Solomon.
Uniting at New York, the company, on the 6th of November, sailed on
board the steamer Minnesota. Arriving in London, they visited some of the
historic places of that great city, and then embarked for Holland. From
place to place on the continent they went, visiting the famous cities,
stopping a day to view the battle-field of Waterloo, then resting a day or
two at Paris. At Versailles they were received with honor by President
Theirs, in their peculiar character as missionaries to Jerusalem. Thence
back to Paris; from Paris to Marseilles; then to Nice, where they ate
Christmas dinner; thence to San Reno, Italy; to Genoa, Turin, Milan,
Venice, Florence, Rome. At Rome Sister Eliza passed her seventieth
birthday, visiting the famous [484] places of that classic city. On the
6th of February, 1873, the apostolic tourists reached Alexandria, Egypt;
and at length they approached Jerusalem--the monument of the past, the
prophesy of the future! They encamped in the "Valley of Hinnom." Here
Sister Eliza writes:
"Sunday morning, March 2d President Smith made arrangements with out
dragoman, and had a tent, table, seats, and carpet taken up on the Mount
of Olives, to which all the brethren of the company and myself repaired on
horseback. After dismounting on the summit, and committing our animals to
the care of servants, we visited the Church of Ascension, a small
cathedral, said to stand on the spot from which Jesus ascended. By this
time the tent was prepared, which we entered, and after an opening prayer
by Brother Carrington, we united in the order of the holy priesthood,
President Smith leading in humble, fervent supplications, dedicating the
land of Palestine for the gathering of the Jews, and the rebuilding of
Jerusalem, and returned heartfelt thanks and gratitude to God for the
fullness of the gospel and the blessings bestowed on the Latter-day
Saints. Other brethren led in turn, and we had a very interesting season;
to me it seemed the crowning point of the whole tour, realizing as I did
that we were worshipping on the summit of the sacred mount, once the
frequent resort of the Prince of Life."
This the literal record; but what the symbolical?
A prophesy of Israel's restoration! A sign of the renewal of
Jehovah's covenant to the ancient people! The "comfort ye" to Jerusalem!
Zion, from the West, come to the Zion of the East, to ordain her with a
present destiny! A New Jerusa-[485]lem crying to the Old Jerusalem, "Lift
up thy voice with strength; Lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities
of Judah, behold your God!"
Woman on the Mount of Olives, in her character of prophetess and high
priestess of the temple! A daughter of David officiating for her Father's
house!
Surely the subject is unique, view this extraordinary scene as we
may--either as a romantic episode of Mormonism, or as a real and beautiful
prelude to Jerusalem redeemed.
At the Sea of Galilee the Hebraic muse of Sister Eliza thus expressed
the rapture awakened by the scenes of the sacred land:
"I have stood on the shore of the beautiful sea--
The renowned and immortalized Galilee--
When 'twas wrapped in repose, at eventide,
Like a royal queen in her conscious pride.
"No sound was astir--not a murmuring wave--
Not a motion was seen, but the tremulous lave--
A gentle heave of the water's crest--
As the infant breathes on a mother's breast
"I thought of the past and present; it seemed
That the silent sea with instruction teemed;
For often, indeed, the heart can hear
What never, in sound, has approached the ear.
"There's a depth in the soul that's beyond the reach
Of all earthly sound--of all human speech;
A fiber, too pure and sacred, to chime
With the cold, dull music of earth and time."
* * * *
On their way home our tourists visited Athens. Everywhere, going and
returning, they were hon-[486]ored. Even princes and prime ministers took
a peculiar interest in this extraordinary embassy of Mormon Israel.
Evidently all were struck by its unique character.
Recrossing the Atlantic, they returned to their mountain home; thus
accomplishing one of the most singular and romantic religious missions on
record.
[487] CHAPTER L.
WOMAN'S POSITION IN THE MORMON CHURCH--GRAND FEMALE ORGANIZATION OF MORMONDOM--THE RELIEF SOCIETY--ITS INCEPTION AT NAUVOO--ITS PRESENT STATUS, AIMS, AND METHODS--FIRST SOCIETY BUILDING--A WOMAN LAYS THE CORNERSTONE--DISTINGUISHED WOMEN OF THE VARIOUS SOCIETIES.
The Mormon women, as well as men, hold the priesthood. To all that
man attains, in celestial exaltation glory, woman attains. She is his
partner in estate and office.
John the Revelator thus tells the story of the Church of the First
Born, in the New Jerusalem, which shall come down out of heaven:
"And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us
unto God, by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue and nation:
"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign
on the earth."
Joseph the Revelator has given a grand supplement to this. He also
saw that vast assembly of the New Jerusalem, and heard that song. There
was the blessed woman-half of that redeemed [488] throng. The sisters sang
unto the honor of the Lamb:
"And thou hast made us unto our God queens and priestesses: and we
shall reign on the earth!"
"But this is lowering the theme," says the Gentile Christian; "the
theme descends from man--the paragon of excellence--to woman. Enough that
she should be implied---her identity and glory absorbed in man's august
splendor! Enough, that, for man, woman was created.
Not so the grand economy of Mormonism. In the Mormon temple, woman is
not merely implied, but well defined and named. There the theme of the
song of the New Jerusalem is faithfully rendered in her personality. If
man is anointed priest unto God, woman is anointed priestess: if symboled
in his heavenly estate as king, she is also symboled as queen.
Gentile publishers, making a sensational convenience of apostate
sisters, have turned this to the popular amusement; but to the faithful
Mormon woman it is a very sacred and exalted subject.
But not presuming to more than cross the threshold of the temple,
return we now to the Mormon woman in her social sphere and dignity. The
grand organization of fifty thousand Mormon women, under the name of
"Relief Societies," will sufficiently illustrate woman in the Mormon
economy.
The Female Relief Society was organized by the prophet Joseph, at
Nauvoo. Here is a minute from his own history:
"Thursday, March 24.--I attended by request the Female Relief
Society, whose object is, the relief [489] of the poor, the destitute, the
widow, and the orphan, and for the exercise of all benevolent purposes.
Its organization was completed this day. Mrs. Emma Smith takes the
presidential chair; Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Whitney and Mrs. Sarah M. Cleveland
are her councilors; Miss Elvira Cole is treasuress, and our well-known and
talented poetess, Miss Eliza R. Snow, secretary. * * * * Our ladies have
always been signalized for their acts of benevolence and kindness; but the
cruel usage that they have received from the barbarians of Missouri, has
hitherto prevented their extending the hand of charity in a conspicuous
manner."
On another occasion he says:
"I met the members of the Female Relief Society, and after presiding
at the admission of many new members, gave a lecture on the priesthood,
showing how the sisters would come in possession of the privileges,
blessings, and gifts of the priesthood, and that the signs should follow
them such as healing the sick, casting out devils, etc. and that they
might attain unto these blessings by a virtuous life, and conversation,
and diligence in keeping all the commandments."
But it is in Utah that we see the growth of this society to a vast
woman's organization: an organization which will greatly influence the
destiny of Utah, religiously, socially and politically, for the next
century, and, presumably, for all time.
From 1846, the time of the exodus from Nauvoo, the Relief Society was
inoperative until 1855, when it was re-organized in Salt Lake City.
It is a self-governing body, without a written constitution; but is
thoroughly organized, and parliamentary in its proceedings. Each branch
adopts [490] measures, makes arrangements, appointments, etc.
independently of others. Because of these organizations, Utah has no
"poor-houses." Under the kind and sisterly policy of this society the
worthy poor feel much less humiliated, and are better supplied than by any
almshouse system extant. By an admirable arrangement, under the form of
visiting committees, with well-defined duties, the deserving subjects of
charity are seldom, if ever, neglected or overlooked.
Since its revival in Salt Lake City, the society has extended, in
branches, from ward to ward of the cities, and from settlement to
settlement, in the country, until it numbers considerably over two hundred
branches; and, as new settlements are constantly being formed, the number
of branches is constantly increasing.
The funds of the society are mostly donations; but many branches have
started various industries, from which they realize moderate incomes.
Besides stated business meetings each branch has set days on which to work
for the benefit of the poor. When the society commenced its labors in Salt
Lake City, these industrial meetings would have reminded the observer of
the Israelites in Egypt, making "bricks without straw"--the donations
consisting of materials for patch-work quilts, rag-carpets, uncarded wool
for socks and stockings, etc. (In one well authenticated instance the hair
from slaughtered beeves was gathered, carded--by hand of course, as there
were no carding machines in the city at that time--spun, and knit into
socks and mittens.) These industrial meetings, to this day, are very
in-[491]teresting, from the varieties of work thus brought into close
fellowship.
As fast as may be, the various branches are building for themselves
places of meeting, workshops, etc. The first of these buildings was
erected by the ladies of the Fifteenth Ward of Salt Lake City. They
commenced their labors as above, their first capital stock being donations
of pieces for patchwork quilts, carpet-rags, etc. By energy and
perseverance, they have sustained their poor, and, in a few years,
purchased land and built on it a commodious house.
It should be recorded, as unique in history, that the laying of the
corner-stone of this building was performed by the ladies. This ceremony,
being unostentatiously performed, was followed by appropriate speech
making on the part of the presiding officer of the society, Mrs. S. M.
Kimball, Eliza R. Snow, and others; each in turn mounting the corner-stone
for a rostrum, and each winning deserved applause from the assembled
thousands.
No greater tribute could be paid to the ladies of this organization,
than the simple statement of the fact that, since its re-establishment, in
1855, the Relief Society has gathered and disbursed over one hundred
thousand dollars!
_________
Mrs. Sarah M. Kimball, who, as President of the Fifteenth Ward
Society, sustained the honors of the above occasion, belonged to the
original Relief Society in Nauvoo. As elsewhere recorded, she also [492]
presided at the grand mass-meeting of the sisters, in Salt Lake City, in
1870, and has repeatedly appeared as a speaker of talent, and as a leader
among the women of Utah. Her favorite theme is female suffrage; but she
abounds with other progressive ideas, and is a lady of decided character.
Her history as a Mormon dates from the earliest rise of the church.
_________
Mrs. Mary I. Horne, frequently mentioned elsewhere, is the President
of the "General Retrenchment Society" of Salt Lake City. (It should be
explained that these are auxiliary to the relief societies, and are more
especially designed for the organization of the young ladies of Utah.) She
is also President of the Fourteenth Ward Relief Society, where frequently
the sisters hold something like general conventions of the societies of
the city. She may be said to rank, as an organizer, next to President
Eliza R. Snow.
_________
Among those who have earned honorable mention, as presidents of
relief societies, and leading officers in the more important movements of
the sisters, may be mentioned Sisters Rachel Grant, Agnes Taylor Swartz,
Maria Wilcox, Minerva, one of the wives of Erastus Snow, of Southern Utah;
Agatha Pratt, Julia Pack, Anna Ivins, Sarah Church, Sister Barney, once a
missionary to the Sandwich Islands, and now an active woman at home;
Eliza-[493]beth Goddard, Hannah Pierce, Rebecca Jones, C. Richardson,
Elmira Taylor, Leonora Snow Morley, sister to Lorenzo and Eliza R. Snow:
she presided at Brigham City, until her recent death; Mary Ferguson,
Sisters Evans, of Lehi; Sister Ezra Benson, Rebecca Wareham, Ruth Tyler,
Sisters Hunter, Hardy, and Burton, wives of the presiding bishops; Sister
Chase, Sister Lever, Sarah Groo, Sister Layton, wife of Bishop Layton of
the battalion; Sister Reed, Mary Ann, one of the wives of Apostle O. Hyde;
Sarah Peterson, Ann Bringhurst, Ann Bryant, Helena Madson, M. J. Atwood,
Sister Wilde, Caroline Callister, Emma Brown, wife of the man who did the
first plowing in the valley, Nancy Wall, founder of Wallsburg; Elizabeth
Stickney, Margaret McCullough, Amy Bigler, Elizabeth Brown, Ellen Whiton,
P. S. Hart, Ann Tate, Anna Brown, Martha Simons, Jane Simons, Margaret P.
Young, M. A. Hubbard, Agnes Douglas, Jane Cahoon, Mary McAllister, Sister
Albertson, Pres. in Bear River City; Mary Dewey, M. A. Hardy, Ann
Goldsbrough, Mrs. Sarah Williams, and Miss Emily Williams, of Canton,
Ill.; Jane Bailey, Jane Bradley, Elizabeth Boyes, Jane M. Howell, D. E.
Dudley, Mary Ann Hazon, Mahala Higgins, Jenet Sharp, Lulu Sharp, Jane
Price, Ann Daniels, Harriet Burnham, M. C. Morrison, Nellie Hartley, M. A.
P. Hyde, Elizabeth Park, Margaret Randall, Elizabeth Wadoup, M. A.
Pritchett, M. A. P. Marshall, Sarah S. Taylor, Mary Hutchins, Emily
Shirtluff, A. E. H. Hanson, M. J. Crosby, Cordelia Carter, Sarah B.
Gibson, Harriet Hardy, Isabella G. Martin, M. A. Boise, Louisa Croshaw,
Orissa A. Aldred, Julia Lindsay, C. L Liljen-[494]quist, Harriet A. Shaw,
Ann Lowe, Emma Porter, Mary E. Hall, Lydia Remington, Ellen C. Fuller,
Harriet E. Laney, Rebecca Marcham, A. L. Cox, Louisa Taylor, Agnes S.
Armstrong, M. A. Hubbard, Mary A. Hunter, M. A. House, Mary Griffin, Jane
Godfrey, Lydia Rich, E. E. C. Francis, Lydia Ann Wells, E. M. Merrill,
Mary A. gingham, Hannah Child, M. A. Hardy, Fannie Slaughter, Mary Walker,
Ann Hughes, Marian Petersom, Mary Hanson, Aurelia S. Rogers, A. M.
Frodsham, Sophronia Martin.
Among the presidents and officers of the Young Ladies' Retrenchment
Societies, should be mentioned Mary Freeze, Melissa Lee, Mary Pierce,
Clara Stenhouse Young, Sarah Howard, Mary Williams, Elizabeth Thomas,
Cornelia Clayton, Sarah Graham, Susannah E. Facer, Emily Richards,
Josephine West, Minnie Snow, May Wells, Emily Wells, Annie E. Wells,
Maggie J. Reese, Emily Maddison, Hattie Higginson, Mattie Paul, Sarah
Russell, Alice M. Rich, Mary E. Manghan, Margaret M. Spencer, Sarah Jane
Bullock, Alice M. Tucker, M. Josephine Mulet, M. J. Tanner, Sarah Renshaw,
Mary Ann Ward, Lizzie Hawkins, Mary Leaver, Amy Adams, Rebecca Williams,
Mary S. Burnham, Emmarett Brown, Mary A. P. Marshall.
__________
Mrs. Bathsheba Smith, whose name has appeared elsewhere, is apostolic
in the movements of the sisterhood, and a priestess of the temple. Mrs.
Franklin D. Richards is the most prominent organ-[495]izer outside of the
metropolis of Utah, having Ogden and Weber counties under her direction.
Sister Smoot leads at Provo. The silk industries are under the direction
of President Zina D. Young. Those sisters who have been most energetic in
promoting this important branch of industry, which gives promise of
becoming a financial success in Utah, have already earned historic
laurels. Of these are Sisters Dunyan, Robison, Carter, Clark, Schettler,
and Rockwood. Eliza R. Snow is president, and Priscilla M. Staines
vice-president, of the woman's co-operative store, an enterprise designed
to foster home manufactures. Thus are the women of Mormondom putting the
inchoate State of Deseret under the most complete organization.
[496] CHAPTER LI.
THE SISTERS AND THE MARRIAGE QUESTION--THE WOMEN OF UTAH ENFRANCHISED--PASSAGE OF THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE BILL--A POLITICAL CONTEST--THE FIRST WOMAN THAT VOTED IN UTAH.
The women of Mormondom, and the marriage question! Two of the
greatest sensations of the age united!
Here we meet the subject of woman, in two casts--not less Gentile
than Mormon.
Marriage is the great question of the age. It is the woman's special
subject. Monogamic, or polygamic, it is essentially one problem. Either
phase is good, or bad, just as people choose to consider it, or just as
they are educated to view it.
The Mormons have been, for a quarter of a century, openly affirming,
upon the authority of a new revelation and the establishment of a
distinctive institution, that Gentile monogamy is not good. But more than
this is in their history, their religion, and their social examples. They
have made marriage one of their greatest problems. And they accept the
patriarchal order of marriage, according to the Bible examples, and the
revelation of their prophet, as a proper solution.
[497] To Gentile Christians, monogamy is good, and polygamy barbarous. it
is the old story of likes and dislikes, in which people so widely differ.
That the Mormons have been strictly logical and strictly righteous,
in reviving the institutions of the Hebrew patriarchs, in their character
of a modern Israel, may be seen at a glance, by any just mind. What sense
in their claim to be the Israel of the last days had they not followed the
types and examples of Israel? If they have incarnated the ancient
Israelitish genius--and in that fact is the whole significance of
Mormonism--then has the age simply seen that genius naturally manifested
in the action of their lives.
A monstrous absurdity, indeed, for Christendom to hold that the Bible
is divine and infallible, and at the same time to hold that a people is
barbaric for adoption of its faith and examples! Enough this, surely, to
justify the infidel in sweeping it away altogether. The Mormons and the
Bible stand or fall together.
In view of this truth, it was a cunning move of the opposition to
attempt to take polygamy out of its theologic cast and give it a purely
sociologic solution, as in the effort of 1870, when it was proposed by
Congressman Julian, of Indiana, to enfranchise the women of Utah. Brigham
Young and the legislative body of Utah promptly accepted the proposition,
and a bill giving suffrage to the women of Utah was passed by the
Territorial Legislature, without a dissenting vote.
Here is a copy of that remarkable instrument:
[498] AN ACT, giving woman the elective franchise in the Territory of Utah
SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Governor and the Legislative Assembly of
the Territory of Utah, that every woman of the age of twenty-one years,
who has resided in this territory six months next preceding any general or
special election, born or naturalized in the United States, or who is the
wife, or widow, or the daughter of a naturalized citizen of the United
States, shall be entitled to vote at any election in this territory.
SEC 2. All laws or parts of laws, conflicting with this act, are
hereby repealed.
Approved Feb. 12, 1870.
It may be said by the anti-Mormon that this bill was intended by
President Young to serve the purposes of his own mission rather than to
benefit the newly enfranchised class; but, as the issue will prove, it was
really an important step in the progress of reform. The women of Utah have
now in their own hands the power to absolutely rule their own destiny; and
this is more than can be said of the millions of their Gentile sisters.
The municipal election in Salt Lake City, which occurred but two days
after the approval of this bill, for the first time in Mormon history
presented a political home issue; but the new voting element was not
brought largely into requisition. Only a few of the sisters claimed the
honor of voting on that occasion. The first of these was Miss Seraph
Young, a niece of President Young, who thus immortalized herself.
This grant of political power to the women of [499] Utah is a sign of
the times. The fact cannot die that the Mormon people piloted the nation
westward; and, under the inspiration of the great impulses of the age,
they are destined to be the reformatory vanguard of the nation.
[500] CHAPTER LII.
THE LIE OF THE ENEMY REFUTED--A VIEW OF THE WOMEN IN COUNCIL OVER FEMALE SUFFRAGE--THE SISTERS KNOW THEIR POLITICAL POWER
It was charged, however, by the anti-Mormons, that woman suffrage in
Utah was only designed to further enslave the Mormon women; that they took
no part in its passage, and have had no soul in its exercise. Nearly the
reverse of this is the case, as the records, to follow, will show.
In the expositions of the Mormon religion, priesthood and genius,
which have been given, it has been seen that the women are, equally with
their prophets and apostles, the founders of their church and the pillars
of its institutions; the difference being only that the man is first in
the order, and the woman is his helpmate; or, more perfectly expressed,
"they twain are one," in the broadest and most exalted sense. Hence, no
sooner was suffrage granted to the Mormon women, than they exercised it as
a part of their religion, or as the performance of woman's life duties,
marked out for her in the economy of divine providence. In this apostolic
spirit, they took up the grant of political power. Hence, also, in
accordance with the fundamental [501] Mormon view of an essential
partnership existing between the man and the woman, "in all things," both
in this world and in the world to come, there grew up, as we have seen, in
the days of Joseph the prophet, female organizations, set apart and
blessed for woman's ministry in this life, to be extended into the
"eternities." True, these women's organizations have been known by the
name of relief societies, but their sphere extends to every department of
woman's mission, and they may be viewed as female suffrage societies in a
female suffrage movement, or society-mates of any masculine movement which
might arise to shape or control human affairs, religious, social or
political. It was this society that, as by the lifting of the finger, in a
moment aroused fifty thousand women in Utah, simultaneously to hold their
"indignation mass-meetings" throughout the territory, against the Cullom
bill. At that very moment the female suffrage bill was passed by their
Legislature, so that the exercise of their vote at the subsequent election
was a direct expression of their will upon the most vital of all social
questions--the marriage question. Here are the minutes of a general
meeting of this great Female Relief Society, held in Salt Lake City,
February 19, 1870--just seven days after the passage of their bill, and
two days before the exercise of the female vote at the election:
MINUTES--Most of the wards of the city were represented. Miss E. R.
Snow was elected president, and Mrs. L. D. Alder secretary.
Meeting opened with singing; prayer by Mrs. Harriet Cook Young.
[502] Miss Eliza R. Snow arose and said, to encourage the sisters in good
works, she would read an account of our indignation meeting, as it
appeared in the Sacramento Union; which account she thought a very fair
one. She also stated that an expression of gratitude was due
acting-Governor Mann, for signing the document granting woman suffrage in
Utah, for we could not have had the right without his sanction, and said
that Wyoming had passed a bill of this kind over its Governor's head, but
we could not have done this.
The following names were unanimously selected to be a committee for
said purpose: Eliza R. Snow, Bathsheba W. Smith, Sarah M. Kimball, M. T.
Smoot, H. C. Young, N. D. Young, Phoebe Woodruff, M. I. Horne, M. N. Hyde,
Eliza Cannon, Rachel Grant, Amanda Smith.
Mrs. Sarah M. Kimball said she had waited patiently a long time, and
now that we were granted the right of suffrage, she would openly declare
herself a woman's rights woman, and called upon those who would do so to
back her up, whereupon many manifested their approval. She said her
experience in life had been different from that of many. She had moved in
all grades of society; had been both rich and poor; had always seen much
good and intelligence in woman. The interests of man and woman cannot be
separated; for the man is not without the woman nor the woman without the
man in the Lord. She spoke of the foolish custom which deprived the mother
of having control over her sons at a certain age; said she saw the
foreshadowing of a brighter day in this respect in the future. She said
she had entertained ideas that appeared wild, which she thought would yet
be considered woman's rights; spoke of the remarks made by Brother
Rockwood, lately, that women would have as much prejudice to overcome, in
occupying certain positions, as men would in granting them, and concluded
[503] by declaring that woman was the helpmate of man in every department
of life.
Mrs. Phoebe Woodruff said she was pleased with the reform, and was
heart and hand with her sisters. She was thankful for the privilege that
had been granted to women, but thought we must act in wisdom and not go
too fast. She had looked for this day for years. God has opened the way
for us. We have borne in patience, but the yoke on woman is partly
removed. Now that God has moved upon our brethren to grant us the right of
female suffrage, let us lay it by, and wait till the time comes to use it,
and not run headlong and abuse the privilege. Great and blessed things are
ahead. All is right and will come out right, and woman will receive her
reward in blessing and honor. May God grant us strength to do right in his
sight.
Mrs. Bathsheba W. Smith said she felt pleased to be engaged in the
great work before them, and was heart and hand with her sisters. She never
felt better in her life, yet never felt more her own weakness, in view of
the greater responsibilities which now rested upon them, nor ever felt so
much the necessity of wisdom and light; but she was determined to do her
best. She believed that woman was coming up in the world. She encouraged
her sisters with the faith that there was nothing required of them in the
duties of life that they could not perform.
Mrs. Prescindia Kimball said: "I feel comforted and blessed this day.
I am glad to be numbered in moving forward in this reform; feel to
exercise double diligence and try to accomplish what is required at our
hands. We must all put our shoulder to the wheel and go ahead. I am glad
to see our daughters elevated with man, and the time come when our votes
will assist our leaders, and redeem ourselves. Let us be humble, and
triumph will be ours. The day is approaching when woman shall [504] be
redeemed from the curse placed upon Eve, and I have often thought that our
daughters who are in polygamy will be the first redeemed. Then let us keep
the commandments and attain to a fullness, and always bear in mind that
our children born in the priesthood will be saviors on Mount Zion."
Mrs. Zina D. Young said she was glad to look upon such an assemblage
of bright and happy faces, and was gratified to be numbered with the
spirits who had taken tabernacles in this dispensation, and to know that
we are associated with kings and priests of God; thought we do not realize
our privileges. Be meek and humble and do not move one step aside, but
gain power over ourselves. Angels will visit the earth, but are we, as
handmaids of the Lord, prepared to meet them? We live in the day that has
been looked down upon with great anxiety since the morn of creation.
Mrs. M. T. Smoot said: "We are engaged in a great work, and the
principles that we have embraced are life and salvation unto us. Many
principles are advanced on which we are slow to act. There are many more
to be advanced. Woman's rights have been spoken of I have never had any
desire for more rights than I have. I have considered politics aside from
the sphere of woman; but, as things progress, I feel it is right that we
should vote, though the path may be fraught with difficulty."
Mrs. Wilmarth East said she would bear testimony to what had been
said. She had found by experience that "obedience is better than
sacrifice." I desire to be on the safe side and sustain those above us;
but I cannot agree with Sister Smoot in regard to woman's rights I have
never felt that woman had her privileges. I always wanted a voice in the
politics of the nation, as well as to rear a family. I was much impressed
when I read the poem composed by Mrs. Emily Woodmanse--"Who Cares to Win a
Woman's Thought." There is a [505] bright day coming; but we need more
wisdom and humility than ever before. My sisters, I am glad to be
associated with you--those who have borne the heat and burden of the day,
and ask God to pour blessings on your head.
Eliza R. Snow, in closing, observed, that there was a business item
she wished to lay before the meeting, and suggested that Sister Bathsheba
W. Smith be appointed on a mission to preach retrenchment all through the
South, and woman's rights, if she wished.
The suggestion was acted upon, and the meeting adjourned with singing
"Redeemer of Israel," and benediction by Mrs. M. N. Hyde.
Let the reader be further told that, though this was a sort of a
convention of the great Relief Society of Utah, which can move fifty
thousand women in a moment, it was not a woman's suffrage meeting. It was
a gathering of the sisters for consideration of the retrenchment of the
table, and general domestic economy, the retrenchment societies having
been just inaugurated under the leadership of Sister Horne. But, it will
be seen that the meeting was changed to a woman's feast of anticipations,
and table-retrenchment met scarcely an incidental reference that day; for
the spirit of woman's future rested upon the sisters, spoke with its
"still, small voice," and pointed to the bright looming star of woman's
destiny.
That these women will move wisely, and in the fear of God, is very
evident; nor will they use the tremendous power which they are destined to
hold to break up their church and destroy their faith in the revelation of
the new and everlasting cove-[506]nant," given through the prophet Joseph
Smith. Indeed, they will yet send their testimony through the world, with
ten thousand voices, confirmed by the potency of the woman's vote, and
flood the nation with their light.
Congress need not fear to trust the woman's supreme question into the
safe keeping of fifty thousand God-fearing, self-sacrificing, reverent
women. In vain will the anti-Mormons and pretentious "regenerators" look
for these women to become revolutionary or impious. What they do will be
done in the name and fear of the Lord; yet, mark the prophesy of one of
their leaders: "The day is approaching when woman shall be redeemed from
the curse of Eve; and I have often thought that our daughters who are in
polygamy will be the first redeemed."
Here is the curse: "In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and
thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee!" Woman
will be redeemed from that curse, as sure as the coming of to-morrow's
sun. No more, after this generation, shall civilized man rule over his
mate, but "they twain shall be one;" and the sisters are looking for that
millennial day. These are the "wise virgins" of the church; and their
lamps are trimmed.
[507] CHAPTER LIII.
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SEEK TO DISFRANCHISE THE WOMEN OF UTAH--CLAGGETT'S ASSAULT--THE WOMEN OF AMERICA COME TO THEIR AID--CHARLES SUMNER ABOUT TO ESPOUSE THEIR CAUSE--DEATH PREVENTS THE GREAT STATESMAN'S DESIGN.
But the enemies of the Mormons, at home and abroad, who have sought
to break up their religious institutions and turn their sacred relations
into unholy covenants, have, from the very hour of the grant of woman's
charter, also sought to take away from them female suffrage. And perhaps
they would have done so ere now, had not a million American women been on
the side of the Mormons, in this. Claggett of Montana, in his attack upon
the people of Utah, in the House of Representatives, January 29th, 1873,
gave to Congress a touch of the anti-Mormon opposition to female suffrage
in Utah He said:
"My friend from Utah [Hooper] goes on to say that Utah is a long way
in advance of the age in one respect; that female suffrage has been
adopted there. What was the reason for adopting that measure? Was it
because the peculiar institution of the territory recognizes in any degree
whatever the elevation, purity, and sanctity of women? No, [508] sir. When
the Union Pacific Railroad was completed, and when the influx of miners
and other outsiders began to come into the territory, the chiefs of the
Mormon hierarchy, fearing that power would pass from their hands by the
gradual change of population, by adopting female suffrage trebled their
voting power by a stroke of their pen; and I am credibly informed upon the
authority of at least fifty men, that in practice in that territory any
child or woman, from twelve years old and upwards, that can wear a yard of
calico, exercises the prerogatives of a freeman, so far as voting is
concerned."
The flippant remark of the delegate from Montana, that every Mormon
woman could exercise the prerogative of a freeman, called forth a burst of
laughter from the house; but it would have been more in keeping with the
great theme of woman's rights, had a hearty "Thank God!" rang from the
lips of those legislators who laughed in derision. Of course, the
gentleman's statement was an exaggeration; but what a story he has
unwittingly told of the power that has been committed to the hands of the
Mormon women? What an epic prophesy he gave of woman's destiny, when he
said, that from the age of twelve years they are trained in Utah to
exercise the freeman's prerogative. If this be so--and it is near enough
to the truth--and if the Mormon women have trebled the power of the men by
the grant of female suffrage, then already do they hold not only their own
destiny in their hands, but also the destiny of the men. Their very
husbands are depending upon them for grace and salvation from their
enemies, in spite of all their enemies' designs. Do legislators for a
moment foolishly fear [509] that the Mormon women will not discover this
vast power which they hold, and discovering, wield it almost as a manifest
destiny? They have discovered it; and their future movements will manifest
it, to the astonishment of the whole civilized world. Fifty to a hundred
thousand women, who are henceforth in one single State to be trained, from
the age of twelve, to exercise the political power of "freemen," cannot
but be free, and can have nothing less than a splendid future before them.
Mr. Claggett blasphemed against the truth, when he said that there
was nothing in the Mormon religion that "recognized, in any degree
whatever, the elevation, purity and sanctity of woman." This is a wicked
outrage against the sisters, whose lives are stainless and matchless
records of purity, devotion and heroism. That devotion of itself would
elevate and enoble their characters; and, if Congress and the American
people believe them to be martyrs to their religion, then their very
martyrdom should sanctify them in the eyes of the nation.
Moreover, woman suffrage is a charter not incompatible with the
genius of Mormonism, but in positive harmony therewith. The Mormon Church
is originally based upon the woman as well as upon the man. She is with
him a partner and priest, in all their religious institutions. The sisters
have also exercised the vote in the church for the last forty-seven years,
it being conferred with their membership. So female suffrage grows out of
the very genius and institutions of their church.
Now the marriage question specially belongs to the women of the age,
and not to Congress; and the [510] Mormon women must and will make the
country practically confess as much. They will do it by a movement potent
enough upon this question, if they have to stir all the women of America
to the issue. They are forced to this by their supreme necessities--their
honor, their duty, their love, their most sacred relations. Their
brothers, their husbands and their sons are threatened with prisons, for
that which their religion and the Bible sanction--that Bible which
Christendom for nearly two thousand years has received as the word of God.
If there be a radical fault, then is the fault in their too substantial
faith in that word. Surely there can be no crime in a Bible faith, else
Christendom had been under a condemnation that eternity itself would not
outlive. But the damnation of Congress and the regenerators is to be
visited upon the heads of the innocent--for the shaping of the case is
making the sisters in the eye of the law dishonored women. The very spies
and minions of the court enter their marriage chamber--sacred among even
barbarians--to find the evidence for prosecution, or to drag them to the
witness-box, to testify against their husbands, or disown them to screen
them from punishment. Not in the history of civilization has there been
such a monstrous example before. Claggett has said, in Congress, of their
marriage, "That it tears the crown jewel from the diadem of woman's
purity, and takes from her the holly bond which honors her in all the
nations of the earth; which has elevated lechery to the dignity of a
religious dogma, and burns incense upon the altars of an unhallowed lust;
and above all and as a crime against the fu-[511]ture, which ages of
forgiveness cannot condone nor the waters of ocean wash out, which yearly
writes in letters that blister as they fall, the word `bastard' across the
branded brows of an army of little children. Such an institution is not
entitled by any right, either human or divine, to hide the hideous
deformity of its nakedness with the mantle of religion, nor seek shelter
under the protecting aegis of the civil law." [Applause from Congress.]
The women of Mormondom must force Claggett and Congress to take this
back. It is such as he who spoke, and they who applauded, who have written
in letters that blister as they fall the word `bastard' across the branded
brows of an army of little children, and the mothers of those dear little
branded ones must appeal to the wives and mothers of America, to take that
curse of "bastard" from their innocent brows. They must ask those noble
women everywhere in America, who are earnestly battling for their own
rights, and especially the supreme right of woman to settle the marriage
question; and the answer to their mighty prayer shall come back to them
from a million women, throughout the land. The women of America, who lead
the van of the new civilization, shall cry to Congress and the nation in
behalf of their Mormon sisters, with voices that will not be hushed, till
justice be done. Indeed, already have they done this, so far as the
suffrage is concerned; and it is due to them alone, under Providence, that
the women of Utah have not been disfranchised. This is best brought home
to the reader by reference to the following, from the report of the
Pennsylvania Woman [512] Suffrage Association, read at the Opera House,
Detroit, Mich., October 13, 1874:
"During the session of Congress we spent some time in the capital,
proposing to work for the enfranchisement of the women of the District of
Columbia and of the territories; but finding that Congress was more likely
to disfranchise the women who already possessed this right, than to
enfranchise others, our efforts were used, as far as possible, to prevent
this backward step.
"Had we been a voter, we might have had less trouble to convince some
of our friends in this affair.
"Several bills were introduced, any one of which, if it became a law,
would have disfranchised the women of Utah.
"The McKee bill had been referred to the House Committee on
Territories. While the subject was under discussion in the committee, by
invitation of the members, on two occasions, we stated our views. One of
the members, before the committee convened, gave his reason for favoring
the passage of the bill.
"`The woman's vote sustains polygamy,' said he, `and to destroy that,
I would take the right of suffrage from every woman in the territory.'
"`Would it do that?' we inquired.
"`I think it would.'
"`Did polygamy exist in the territory before the women voted?'
"`Oh! yes.'
"`Have they ever had the privilege of voting against it?'
"`No; that has never been made an issue; but they voted to send a
polygamist to Congress.'
"`Did any man vote for him?'
"`Yes, more than eleven thousand men, and ten thousand women.'
"`How many voted for the opposing candidate?'
[513] "`Something less than two thousand men and women together.'
"`You intend to disfranchise the men who voted for this man?' we
asked.
"`Oh! no.'
"`Then the polygamist can still come to Congress by a majority of
five to one.' Though this was true, he seemed to think it very wrong to
disfranchise the men.
"How many of the committee reasoned as this one did, we are unable to
say, but the majority wished to disfranchise the women, as they returned
the bill to the House with the obnoxious sections unchanged. The friends
of woman, by their honest work, prevented action being taken on the bill,
and perhaps saved the country the disgrace of having done such a great
wrong, which it could not soon have undone. There was something more vital
to the well-being of the nation in this, than some of our legislators were
willing to admit. Had they passed this act they would probably have laid
the foundation for the ruin of the nation. If Congress has the power to
disfranchise one class, it undoubtedly has the power to disfranchise
another, and what freeman in such a case is secure in his rights?
"Similar bills were before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees.
"The question came: Where shall we look for help among those in
power? To the true, the trusted and the tried. To those of the grandest
intellect and the purest heart. To the friends of the weak and the
oppressed. Our appeal shall be made to the highest, to the honorable and
most honored Charles Sumner. He cordially granted us a hearing. When we
stated the object of our visit, he quietly remarked, `You have come to the
wrong person. I have no influence with these men.'
"After talking some time on the subject, he said, `I should hesitate
to take this right from any who [514] now possess it. I will go farther; I
would be willing to grant it to those who have it not.' He afterwards
remarked, `I shall investigate this matter thoroughly.'
"`The bill passed the Senate last year, and many good men voted for
it,' we said.
"He kindly apologized for their action, in these words: `They did not
fully realize the nature of the bill; they had not examined it carefully.'
"Had it deprived them, or any class of men, of the right to vote,
would they have realized what it meant, and voted differently? we
inquired.
"In that case they would doubtless have had sharp eyes to note all
its defects, he answered, with a smile. I did not vote on it. I was sick
in bed at the time. Have you seen Mr. Frelinghuysen in reference to this?
was the next inquiry.
"We have not. It seems useless. A man who would frame such a bill
would not be likely to change.
"But we followed his advice, saw Mr. Frelinghuysen, Mr. Edmunds and
others. Mr. Frelinghuysen declared he would not change his bill however
much he might be abused.
"Two days after we again met Mr. Sumner and stated the results of our
efforts.
"In closing this second interview Mr. Sumner said, `I will present to
the Senate any memorial or petition you may wish, and then refer it to the
Judiciary Committee. That is the best way to do.'
"His farewell words were: `Whether you succeed or not, I wish you all
well.'
"Just three weeks from the day of our last conversation with Mr.
Sumner, his work on earth ceased, and the cause of justice lost a grand
friend. On the morning of February 20th we handed him a suffrage memorial
which he presented to the Senate, requesting that it be referred to the
Judiciary Committee, which was almost his last official act."
[515] The women of Utah were not disfranchised. Doubtless this was chiefly
owing to the searching and logical editorials of the Woman's Journal,
which placed the subject in its true light before the people, together
with the action of the advocates of woman suffrage in New England, New
York, Pennsylvania and other States. This was a grand victory for woman
suffrage. Miss Mary F. Eastman, in her report to the New York Association,
said: "When the bill, disfranchising the women of Utah, came before
Congress, our representatives were promptly petitioned to use their
influence against the measure."
Thus it will be seen that the women of Mormondom and the women of
America have a common cause, in this all-vital marriage question, which is
destined to receive some very decided and peculiar solution before the end
of the century. And it must be equally certain that fifty thousand
God-fearing women, with the vote of "freemen"--as Mr. Claggett has
it--coming fairly out upon the national platform, in the great issue, will
give a toning to the marriage question, for which even orthodox
Christians, now so much their enemies, will heartily thank God.
[516] CHAPTER LIV.
WOMAN EXPOUNDS HER OWN SUBJECT--THE FALL--HER REDEMPTION FROM THE CURSE--RETURNING INTO THE PRESENCE OF HER FATHER--HER EXALTATION.
The high priestess thus expounds the subject of woman, from her
Mormon standpoint:
In the Garden of Eden, before the act of disobedience, through which
Adam and Eve were shut out from the presence of God, it is reasonable to
suppose that Eve's position was not inferior to, but equal with that of
Adam, and that the same law was applicable to both. Moses says, "God
created man male and female." President Brigham Young says, "Woman is man
in the priesthood."
God not only foreknow, but he had a purpose to accomplish through,
the "fall;" for he had provided a sacrifice; Jesus being spoken of as a
"Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
It seems that woman took the lead in the great drama. The curse
followed, and she became subject to man; "and he shall rule over thee,"
which presupposes a previous equality. But was that curse to be perpetual?
Were the daughters of Eve--who was a willing instrument in effecting a
grand [517] purpose, that shall ultimate in great good to the human
family--to abide that curse forever? No. God had otherwise ordained
Through the atoning blood of Christ, and obedience to his gospel, a plan
was devised to remove the curse and bring the sons and daughters of Adam
and Eve, not only to their primeval standing in the presence of God, but
to a far higher state of glory.
In the meridian of time, the Saviour came and introduced the gospel,
"which before was preached unto Abraham," and which, after a lapse of
nearly eighteen centuries--when men had "changed its ordinances, and
broken the everlasting covenant"-- when "the man of sin had been revealed,
exalting himself above all that is called God"--after hireling priests had
mutilated its form, discarded its powers, and rejected "the testimony of
Jesus, which is the spirit of prophesy," the Lord restored it in fullness
to the earth, with all its gifts, powers, blessings and ordinances.
For this purpose he raised up Joseph Smith, the great prophet of the
last days, to whom the angel that John, when on the Isle of Patmos, saw
"flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to
preach to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, saying, fear God and
give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come," etc., appeared,
and announced the glorious news of the Dispensation of the Fullness of
Times, and the restoration of the fullness of the gospel.
This gospel, and this only, will redeem woman from the curse
primevally entailed. It is generally admitted that "Christianity"
ameliorates the condi-[518]tion of woman; but the Christianity of the
professing world, mutilated as it has been, can only ameliorate, it cannot
redeem. Each religious denomination has fragments or portions of the true
form, but no vestige of the vital power that was manifested by Jesus
Christ, and restored through Joseph Smith. Nothing short of obedience to
this gospel in its fullness will exalt woman to equality with man, and
elevate mankind to a higher condition than we occupied in our pre-existent
state.
Woman, in all enlightened countries, wields, directly or indirectly,
the moving influence for good or for ill. It has been pertinently
remarked: "Show me the women of a nation, and I will describe that
nation." Let the pages of history decide if ever a nation became a wreck,
so long as woman nobly honored her being by faithfully maintaining the
principles of virtuous purity, and filled with grace and dignity her
position as wife and mother.
Would God, the kind parent, the loving father, have permitted his
children to sink into the fallen condition which characterizes humanity in
its present degraded state, without instituting means by which great good
would result? Would we, as intelligent beings in a former existence, have
consented, as we did, to resign the remembrance and all recollection of
that existence, and come down to earth and run our chances for good or
evil, did we not know that, on reasonable conditions, and by means
provided, we could work our way back to, at least, our original positions?
Emphatically, no! It is only by that "spirit which searches all things,
yea, even the deep things of God," that we can [519] comprehend our own
beings, and our missions on the earth, with the bearing of our
pre-existence on our present lives, of which we only know what God
reveals; and, as man, by his own wisdom cannot find out God, so man by
reasoning cannot pry into the circumstances of his former life, nor extend
his researches into the interminable eternities that lie beyond.
[520] CHAPTER LV.
WOMAN'S VOICE IN THE PRESS OF UTAH--THE WOMAN'S EXPONENT--MRS. EMELINE WELLS--SHE SPEAKS FOR THE WOMEN OF UTAH--LITERARY AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN OF THE CHURCH.
And the women of Zion have a press. More than up to their Gentile
sisters are they in this respect. Few of the church organizations of
Christendom can boast a woman's journal. There are but few of them in all
the world, and they are mostly edited and supported by the heterodox
rather than the orthodox element.
The Woman's Exponent is one of those few. It is published by the
women of the Mormon Church, having a company organization, of which Eliza
R. Snow is president. Mrs. Emeline B. Wells is the practical editor. It
was established June 1st, 1872.
The Woman's Exponent, in a general sense, may be considered
heterodox, seeing that it is an advocate of woman's rights on the marriage
question and female suffrage, but it is also apostolic, and devoted to the
Mormon mission. It represents the opinions and sentiments of the Mormon
women. All of their organizations are fairly represented in its columns,
and it is thus a means of intercommu-[521]nication between branches,
bringing the remotest into close connection with the more central ones,
and keeping all advised of the various society movements. Its editorial
department is fully up to the standard of American journalism.
Mrs. Wells, the editor, like many prominent Mormon women previously
mentioned, is of Puritan descent, being a native of New England, and of
pure English extraction. Her family name was Woodward, and she was born in
Petersham, Mass., February 29, 1828. At an early age she began to manifest
a penchant for literature, and while in her teens produced many literary
fragments that, as if by manifest destiny, pointed in the direction of her
present profession. In 1842 she was baptized into the Mormon Church. It is
needless to say that this was a cause of mortification to her many
associates and friends, and especially so to a select few, whose
appreciative kindness had pictured a glowing future for the young
litterateur. Her mother, who was also a convert to the Mormon faith,
fearing that the persuasions of friends might lead her into error, sent
her to Nauvoo, in the spring of 1844, that she might be away from their
influence. The people to whom her mother confided her, apostatized shortly
after her arrival, but Emeline remained steadfast. Some time thereafter
she became a plural wife. In the exodus, her mother, who had joined her
the year before, succumbed under the accumulation of hardships that the
saints had then to undergo, and, dying, joined the immortal company of
martyrs who fell in those days of trial.
At winter quarters she was engaged in teaching, [522] until her
journey to the valley in 1848. Here, since the organization of relief
societies, and more especially since the women of Utah obtained the right
of suffrage, she has employed a large portion of her time in public
labors, for the benefit and elevation of woman. In addition to her present
editorial duties, she fills the responsible position of president of the
organization that, since November, 1876, has been engaged in storing up
grain against a day of famine. Under the energetic management of this
organization, vast quantities of grain have been stored in the various
wards and settlements of Utah.
Sister Emeline is also a poetess of no little merit. As a set-off to
the popular idea that the Mormon women in polygamy have no sentiment
towards their husbands, the following exquisite production, from her pen,
entitled "The Wife to her Husband," is offered:
It seems to me that should I die,
And this poor body cold and lifeless lie,
And thou shouldst touch my lips with thy warm breath,
The life-blood quicken'd in each sep'rate vein,
Would wildly, madly rushing back again,
Bring the glad spirit from the isle of death.
It seems to me that were I dead,
And thou in sympathy shouldst o'er me shed
Some tears of sorrow, or of sad regret,
That every pearly drop that fell in grief,
Would bud, or blossom, bursting into leaf,
To prove immortal love could not forget.
I do believe that round my grave,
When the cool, fragrant, evening zephyrs wave,
Shouldst thou in friendship linger near the spot,
And breathe some tender words in memory,
That this poor heart in grateful constancy,
Would softly whisper back some loving thought.
[523]
I do believe that should I pass
Into the unknown kind of happiness,
And thou shouldst wish to see my face once more,
That in my earnest longing after thee,
I would come forth in joyful ecstacy,
And once again gaze on thee as before.
I do believe my faith in thee,
Stronger than life, an anchor firm to be,
Planted in thy integrity and worth,
A perfect trust, implicit and secure;
That will all trials and all griefs endure,
And bless and comfort me while here on earth.
I do believe who love hath known,
Or sublime friendship's purest, highest tone,
Hath tasted of the cup of ripest bliss,
And drank the choicest wine life hath to give,
Hath known the truest joy it is to live;
What blessings rich or great compared to this?
I do believe true love to be,
An element that in its tendency,
Is elevating to the human mind;
An intuition which we recognize
As foretaste of Immortal Paradise,
Through which the soul will be refined.
Among the more prominent contributors to the Exponent is Lu. Dalton,
a lady in whose writings are manifested the true spirit and independence
of the Mormon women. The vigor and vivacity of her poetic productions are
suggestive of a future enviable fame.
Mrs. Hannah T. King, mentioned elsewhere, is a veteran poetess of
well-sustained reputation. She ranked among the poetesses of England
before joining the Mormon Church, being on intimate terms with the
celebrated Eliza Cook.
Another of the sisters who has won distinction as a poetess of the
church, is Emily Woodmansee. She is also a native of England, and began
her [524] poetic career when but a girl. Several of her poems have been
reproduced in literary journals of the East, winning marked attention.
Miss Sarah Russell, who writes under the nom de plume of "Hope," is
also a poetess of promise; but she is younger to fame than the
before-mentioned.
Emily B. Spencer may also be mentioned in this connection.
Miss Mary E. Cook is an apostle of education, in the church. She is a
professional graduate, and has held prominent positions in first-class
schools of St. Louis and Chicago. Coming to Utah several years ago, Miss
Cook, being a passionate student of ancient history, was attracted by a
cursory glance at the Book of Mormon. On a careful perusal of it she was
struck with the account therein given of the ancient inhabitants of this
continent; and especially was she impressed with the harmony existing
between that account and the works of Bancroft and others concerning the
ancient races of America. She unhesitatingly pronounced the book genuine.
Miss Cook has been instrumental in establishing the system of graded
schools in Utah. Her success has been marked, in this capacity, and she is
also a rising leader among the women of the church. With her should also
be mentioned her sister, Miss Ida Cook, who is now one of the most
prominent teachers of the territory. Nor should we omit to mention Orpha
Everett, who is another prominent teacher.
The ladies are also represented in the historian's office of the
church, in the person of a daughter of Apostle Orson Pratt, and Miss Joan
M. Campbell. [525] Miss Campbell has been an attache of the historian's
office since a mere child. She is a clerk of the Territorial Legislature,
and a Notary Public.
Mrs. Romania B. Pratt, wife of Parley P. Pratt, Jr., is a medical
professor. She is a graduate of the Woman's Medical College, Philadelphia,
and is now connected, as a practitioner, with the celebrated water-cure
establishment at Elmira, N. Y.
Sister Elise Shipp is another Mormon lady now under training for the
medical profession in the Woman's Medical College, Pennsylvania.
Thus it will be seen that, in the educational and professional
spheres, the Mormon women are making a creditable showing.
[526] CHAPTER LVI.
RETROSPECTION--APOSTOLIC MISSION OF THE MORMON WOMEN--HOW THEY HAVE USED THE SUFFRAGE--THEIR PETITION TO MRS. GRANT--TWENTY-SEVEN THOUSAND MORMON WOMEN MEMORIALIZE CONGRESS.
Ere this record be closed, let us review the later acts of these
extraordinary women, who have fairly earned the position of apostles to
the whole United States.
They have pioneered the nation westward, where Providence was
directing its course of empire, and now they are turning back upon the
elder States of the Union as pioneers of a new civilization.
The manifest prophesy of events is, that Utah, in the near future, is
going down from the mountains of refuge to the very seat of government,
with woman's mission to all America. Very consistently, yet very
significantly also, are the women of Utah rising to power and importance
in the nation, through woman suffrage and the exercise of the
constitutional right of petition.
Since the grant of woman suffrage they have exercised the ballot
repeatedly in their municipal and territorial elections. Moreover, within
that [527] time, they have voted upon the constitution for the "State of
Deseret," which will doubtless be substantially the one under which the
territory wild be admitted into the Union. Female suffrage was one of the
planks of that constitution. It will become a part of the organic act of
the future State. No Congress will dare to expunge it, for such an attempt
would bring a million of the women of America into an organized movement
against the Congress that should dare to array itself against this grand
charter of woman's freedom. Though Wyoming was the first to pass a woman
suffrage bill, which met a veto from its governor, and has experienced a
somewhat unhappy history since, the honor of having voted for the greatest
measures known in social and political economy rests with the women of
Utah. They have taken action upon the very foundation of society-building.
Already, therefore, the women of Utah lead the age in this supreme woman's
issue; and, if they carry their State into the Union first on the woman
suffrage plank, they will practically make woman suffrage a dispensation
in our national economy for all the States of the Federal Union. And it
will be consistent to look for a female member of Congress from Utah. Let
woman be once recognized as a power in the State, as well as in society
and the church, and her political rights can be extended according to the
public mind.
The Mormon women have also fallen back upon the original right of
citizens to petition Congress. Their first example of the kind was when
they held their grand mass-meetings throughout the territory and
memorialized Congress against the Cullom bill. [528] The second was the
very remarkable petition to Mrs. Grant. It is here reproduced as a
historical unique:
"MRS. PRESIDENT GRANT:
"Honored Lady: Deeming it proper for woman to appeal to woman, we,
Latter-day Saints, ladies of Utah, take the liberty of preferring, our
humble and earnest petition for your kindly and generous aid; not merely
that you are the wife of the chief magistrate of this great nation, but we
are also induced to appeal to you because of your high personal reputation
for nobility and excellence of character.
"Believing that you, as all true women should do (for in our
estimation every wife should fill the position of counselor to her
husband), possess the confidence of and have much influence with his
excellency, President Grant, we earnestly solicit the exercise of that
influence with him in behalf of our husbands, fathers, sons and brothers,
who are now being exposed to the murderous policy of a clique of federal
officers, intent on the destruction of our honest, happy, industrious and
prosperous people.
"We have broken no constitutional law; violated no obligation, either
national or sectional; we revere the sacred constitution of our country,
and have ever been an order-loving, law-abiding people.
"We believe the institution of marriage to have been ordained of God,
and therefore subject to his all-wise direction. It is a divine rite, and
not a civil contract, and hence no man, unauthorized of God, can legally
administer in this holy ordinance.
"We also believe in the Holy Bible, and that God did anciently
institute the order of plurality of wives, and sanctioned and honored it
in the advent of the Saviour of the world, whose birth, on the mother's
side, was in that polygamous lineage, as he testified [529] to his servant
John, on the Isle of Patmos, saying: `I am the root and the offspring of
David;' and we not only believe, but most assuredly know, that the
Almighty has restored the fullness of the everlasting gospel, through the
prophet Joseph Smith, and with it the plurality of wives. This we accept
as a purely divine institution. With us it is a matter of conscience,
knowing that God commanded its practice.
"Our territorial laws make adultery and licentiousness penal
offenses, the breach of which subjects offenders to fine and imprisonment.
These laws are being basely subverted by our federal officers, who after
unscrupulously wresting the territorial offices from their legitimate
incumbents, in order to carry out suicidal schemes, are substituting
licentiousness for the sacred order of marriage, and seeking by these
measures to incarcerate the most moral and upright men of this territory,
and thus destroy the peace and prosperity of this entire community. They
evidently design to sever the conjugal parental and paternal ties, which
are dearer to us than our lives.
"We appreciate our husbands as highly as it is possible for you,
honored madam, to appreciate yours. They have no interests but such as we
share in common with them. If they are persecuted, we are persecuted also.
If they are imprisoned, we and our children are left unprotected.
"As a community we love peace and promote it. Our leaders are
peacemakers, and invariably stimulate the people to pacific measures, even
when subjected to the grossest injustice. President Brigham Young and
several of his associates, all noble and philanthropic gentlemen, are
already under indictment to be arraigned, before a packed jury, mostly
non-residents, for the crime of licentiousness, than which a more
outrageous absurdity could not exist.
[530] "Under these cruel and forbidding circumstances, dear madam, our
most fervent petition to you is, that through the sympathy of your womanly
heart you will persuade the President to remove these malicious disturbers
of the peace, or at least that he will stop the disgraceful court
proceedings, and send from Washington a committee of candid, intelligent,
reliable men, who shall investigate matters which involve the rights of
property, perhaps life, and more than all, the constitutional liberties of
more than one hundred thousand citizens.
"By doing this you will be the honored instrument, in the hands of
God, of preventing a foul disgrace to the present administration, and an
eternal blot on our national escutcheon.
"And your petitioners will ever pray," etc.
It is believed that this petition had due weight in accomplishing the
dismissal of Judge McKean, which afterward occurred.
The third example was still greater. It was a memorial to Congress,
by the women of Utah, upon their marriage question, the grant of a
homestead right to woman, and for the admission of Utah as a State. It was
signed by twenty-six thousand six hundred and twenty-six women of Utah,
and was duly presented to both houses of Congress.
And these are the acts and examples of enfranchised Mormon women; not
the acts and promptings of President Young and the apostles, but of the
leaders of the sisterhood. It may be stated, however, that President Young
and the apostles approved and blessed their doings; but this confesses
much to their honor.
How suggestive the question, What if the leading men of every State
in the Union should do as much [531] for woman in her mission, instead of
setting up barriers in her way? Were such the case, in less than a decade
we should see female suffrage established in every State of the
federation.
[532] CHAPTER LVII.
SARAH THE MOTHER OF THE COVENANT--IN HER THE EXPOUNDING OF THE POLYGAMIC RELATIONS OF THE MORMON WOMEN--FULFILMENT OF GOD'S PROMISE TO HER--THE MORMON PARALLEL--SARAH AND HAGAR DIVIDE THE RELIGIOUS DOMINATION OF THE WORLD.
Meet we now Sarah the mother of the covenant. In her is incarnated
the very soul of patriarchal marriage. In her is the expounding of the
patriarchal relations of her Mormon daughters. Sarah, who gave to her
husband another wife, that the covenant which the Lord made with him might
be fulfilled.
O woman, who shall measure thy love? And thus to give thyself a
sacrifice for thy love! Thus on the altar ever!
It is thy soul-type in nature that makes nature beneficent. Had not
nature the soul of woman she had been infinitely selfish; an infinite love
had not been born; there had been no Christ; no sacrifice of self, that
blessing and joy might come into the world.
The story of Sarah is the more touchingly beautiful when we remember
that it has its cross. It [533] would be a grievous wrong to Sarah's
memory should we forget the sacrifice that her act necessitated, or
underestimate that sacrifice. And let us not forget that it was not
Abraham who bore that cross, great and good though he was.
The sacrifice in the initial of the covenant is a psalm to woman.
Keeping in mind the episode of Sarah and Hagar, let us continue the
Abrahamic story:
"And God said unto Abraham, as for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not
call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
"And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will
bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be
of her.
* * * * *
"And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto
Sarah as he had spoken.
"For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his odd age, at the
time of which God had spoken to him."
The divine story was once familiar; it is now almost forgotten. But
it is the living word of God to the Mormon people.
Reincarnate in modern times the soul of this vast Abrahamic iliad.
Breathe the breath of its genius into a young civilization. A civilization
born not in the East, where once was the cradle of empires--where now are
their crumbling tombs. A young civilization, born in the revirgined
West--the West, where new empires are springing up on the very dust of
empires which had expired when Egypt was but a maiden--ere Babylon was a
mother--ere Rome was born.
[534] Re-utter the word and will of that God who spake to the Hebrew sire
on the plains of Mamre; utter it now in the birth and growth of a young
Israel in the land of America Comprehend him in his birth and in his
growth. Consider his genius and his covenant.
In Abraham of old is the expounding and understanding of the renewed
covenant with the latter-day Israel; and in Sarah of old is the expounding
and understanding of patriarchal marriage among her Mormon daughters.
The Mormon woman is Sarah in the covenant, as she is Eve in the
creation and fall. She has appropriated the text of the covenant. She
claims her mother Sarah's rights. She invokes her mother Sarah's destiny:
"She shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her."
Thus in the mind of the Mormon woman is patriarchal marriage
established by her God. Be it confessed that woman was a listener to the
Abrahamic promise in the days of Sarah; was she not also a listener in the
days of Joseph the prophet? Could the heavens thus speak and woman fail to
hear? Could such promises be made and motherhood fail to leap for joy?
If she dared to bear the patriarchal cross, was it not because she
saw brightly looming in her destiny the patriarchal crown? In this life
only the cross--in all the lives to come a crown of glory!
The Mormon woman knows nothing of "polygamy" as conceived by the
Gentiles. She is constantly declaring this. There is no "many-wife system"
in Mormondom. It is patriarchal marriage. [535] There is the destiny of a
race in the Mormon woman's vision. For this came she into the world. In
her is motherhood supremely exalted, and woman is redeemed from bondage to
her husband.
Glance at the story of Sarah again. Mark its stupendous import to
motherhood. Witness the introduction of polygamy into the Abrahamic
family. And, if the wondrous sequel any meaning, Isaac was the Lord's
answering gift to Sarah's act, to fulfill the covenant.
And while remembering the sacrifice of Sarah and Hagar let us also
remember the compensation. Those two mothers are without parallel in all
history. Races and empires came of them. Sarah and Hagar, in their sons
Isaac and Ishmael, have divided the world.
From Isaac's line was given to the world the Christ; from Ishmael
came Mohammed, the prophet of hundreds of millions.
Weigh those two mothers, with their sons, their races, and their
civilizations. What a weight of empire! What were Egypt and Babylon,
compared with Sarah and Hagar?
The Abrahamic subject is the most stupendous of all history. That
subject has been reincarnated in Mormonism. Its genius and covenants are
with the Mormon people; the age is witnessing the results.
Patriarchal marriage is one of those results. Sarah is a live
character of our times. She will fulfill her destiny.
From the courts above the Mormon woman shall look down upon an
endless posterity. In the [536] heavens and in the earth shall her
generations be multiplied.
This is the faith of each Mormon Sarah each mother of the covenant.
This only is her polygamy.
[537] CHAPTER LVIII.
WOMANHOOD THE REGENERATING INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD--FROM EVE, THE FIRST, TO MARY, THE SECOND EVE--GOD AND WOMAN THE HOPE OF MAN--WOMAN'S APOSTLESHIP--JOSEPH VS. PAUL--WOMAN NATURE A PREDICATE OF THE WORLDS FUTURE.
In the beginning religion and nature dwelt together. The book of
creation was gospel then. Creation was the only revelation.
Motherhood is the first grace of God, manifested through woman. The
very name of all things is in the mother: "And Adam called his wife's name
Eve; because she was the mother of all living."
See in what divine ordinance woman's mission on earth began. The
theme of the initial psalm that ascended to the heavens, which listened to
catch from earth the first notes of the everlasting harmonies: "I have
gotten a man from the Lord!"
But the nature of the mother abounded not in Cain. Woman's soul was
not manifested in her first-born. It was the strength, and the fierceness,
and the selfishness of man that was first brought forth.
And Cain was very wroth because of his brother, [538] born with
woman's nature, with his mother's gentleness manifested in him. And he
"rose up against his brother and slew him."
Here is pre-epitomized the coming history of the race. In the savage
strength of nature the world began. In the gentleness of woman, which at
length prevailed in her sons, civilization dawned.
Woman's apostleship as the minister of the "word of God" commenced at
the death of Abel.
_________
Turn we now to Mary, the mother of Christ, to see what kind of man
she "hath gotten from the Lord." From the first Eve to the second Eve, to
find the grace of woman's nature spreading abroad in her Jesus, for the
salvation of the world Motherhood now in the regeneration.
"Hail thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed
art thou among women.
"And behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son,
and shalt call his name Jesus.
As also note the episode of her meeting with her cousin Elizabeth,
the mother of John the Baptist.
These mothers were conscious of the salvation to be born of woman.
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and blessed the greater mother;
and Mary magnified the Lord in psalm, and said: "Behold from henceforth
all generations shall call me blessed."
We shall yet have to give to the gospel word "regeneration" a very
literal meaning. The world [539] must be regenerated, in fact, before much
salvation can come unto it; regenerated through the divine nature of woman
endowing her sons; and regenerated in her apostolic ministry to the race;
which in this age is being so universally acknowledged.
The world must be born again. "Except a man be born again, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of heaven." Except mankind be regenerated, no
Christ can reign with his saints on earth. There is something more than
mere figure of speech in this gospel.
The generation of mankind began in Cain; the regeneration of mankind
began in Christ. The one born with the club; the other endowed with all
conquering love. The scepters of the two creations typed in Cain and
Jesus.
Jesus was not only the first fruits of the resurrection, but of the
regeneration also. And motherhood was (before fatherhood) first with God
in this regeneration. Has egotistic man sufficiently cogitated over this
fact? And does he fully comprehend the equally significant fact that woman
was the first witness and testament of the resurrection?
And who began the regeneration of the race? Whose human nature was
manifested in the work? The woman's!
God's nature in Christ needed no regeneration. Nor did the woman's
nature need regeneration, when thus found pure, as in Mary. This is the
great fact embodied in the Christ example. As soon may Christianity be
wiped out as this fact!
What an astounding truth have we in this example that God and woman
have brought forth a [540] perfect creation and an infinite love, in Jesus
their Christ.
God was the father of Jesus. From him the Holy Ghost. From him the
wisdom of the eternities. From him the power to call a legion of angels
down to his help, had he so willed it. From him the power to lay down his
life and take it up again. From him the power to conquer death and burst
the gates of hell.
The mother of Jesus--a virgin of the house of David, and not a
flaming goddess from the skies.
From woman, the love of Jesus for humanity. From her his sympathies
for the race. 'Twas she, in her son, who forgave sin; she who bade the
sinner go and sin no more; she who wept over Jerusalem as a mother weepeth
over her young. And it was woman, in her son, who died upon the cross for
the sins of the world!
It was not God the father who in Jesus died; not he who passed the
dark hour of nature's struggle in the garden; not God who prayed, "Take
away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt."
'Twas woman who was left alone on the cross; she, in her son; who cried,
"My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?"
Love is of the woman. That is the great lesson which the human nature
of Jesus teaches; and it is that element of her nature which shall save
the world.
Would we see what will be her teaching when her apostleship comes to
prevail in the earth, let us read the sermon of her son on the Mount. Is
not that woman's own gospel? Is it not also her philoso-[541]phy--"If thy
brother smite thee on the one cheer; "turn unto him the other also?"
And in this regeneration of the race, in nature and spirit, God and
woman are thus seen first alone. Man came not to their help, but they came
to the help of man. Here is groundwork; indeed for the reconstruction of
society, and the remolding of philosophy!
In the past the apostleship of woman has not been fairly granted to
her, even among, the most civilized nations. But it shall be; and there is
the hope of the world.
Paul, in the egotism of man's apostleship, commanded, "Let the woman
be silent in the church." Yet the church is the type of woman. If she be
silent, then will there be but little of saving gospel in the world. If
woman's spiritual nature prevail not in the church, then is the church
dead. If her faith expires, then is there left but a wretched form of
godliness.
The prophet Joseph corrected Paul, and made woman a voice in the
church, and endowed her with an apostolic ministry. And in the
regeneration is the entire significance of Mormon patriarchal marriage.
First, woman in her ever blessed office of motherhood; next, in her divine
ministry. Is not this according to the example?
The chief faith of the Mormon women concerning themselves is that
they are called with a holy calling to raise up a righteous seed unto the
Lord--a holy nation--a people zealous of good works.
The Mormon women have a great truth here. [542] Woman must regenerate
the race by endowing it with more of her own nature. She must bring forth
a better type of man, to work out with her a better civilization.
It is blasphemy against the divine truth of the world's coming
redemption, and of woman's mission in it, to scoff at the Mormon women for
holding such a faith.
Woman shall leaven the earth with her own nature. She shall leaven it
in her great office of maternity, and in her apostolic mission.
It shall be the lofty prophesy of the coming woman, "Behold from
henceforth all nations call me blessed!"
[543] CHAPTER LIX.
ZION, A TYPE OF "THE WOMAN'S AGE"--THE CULMINATING THEME OF THE POETS OF ISRAEL--THE IDEAL PERSONIFICATION OF THE CHURCH--THE BRIDE--THE COMING EVE.
Zion the joy of the whole earth! She who cometh down from heaven,
with the anointing of salvation upon her head.
The woman of the future, whom the Lord hath chosen! Her type is the
church, with the divine nature of the race restored.
Zion is coming down to be the spiritual mother of the earth. She
shall bruise the serpent's head, in her seed and in her ministry. Now
shall woman be not only the mother of the individual Christ, but she shall
also be the mother of the universal Christ.
"Saviours shall come upon Mount Zion!"
The daughters of Zion shall multiply the seed of Christ.
There was a beautiful consistency and a deep mystical meaning in the
words of the old Jewish prophets when personifying Zion as the woman--the
woman of the Lord's choosing, for the earth's joy.
They sang of Zion as the woman of the future: [544] Oh that the
salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the
captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad."
True, Zion is sometimes spoken of as a city, but always with a
mixture of personification. As the Hebrew poets rose to the height of
their great subject they symbolized her as a veritable woman, with a
ministry in the earth; and chiefly symbolized her as the woman of the
future.
David, the great psalmist, led the theme, for Zion was his daughter;
then glorious Isaiah swelled the volume of earth's epic hymn. What a
culmination and personification is this: "For thy Maker is thy husband;
the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel;
the God of the whole earth shall he be called."
This is the very subject of Mary the mother of Jesus. But here
enlarged. This is Zion, who shall be mother of many Messiahs, for she
shall bring forth many sons, with the anointing of their Lord's spirit
upon them, to exalt his reign.
"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the
curtains of thy habitations; for thou shalt bring forth on the right hand
and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the
desolate cities to be inhabited."
'Tis the divine mission of woman to the race oracled by lofty souls;
her holy apostleship on earth pronounced. She is to be incarnated in a
civilization on whose tables shall be written, "Thy Maker is thine
husband."
[545] The mission of woman could not prevail in the barbaric periods of
the race; 'twas man's work to chisel the rocks of the temple. Not even had
her time come in the days of Christ, though no one has so distinctly
foreshadowed it as he.
Paul is not to be unqualifiedly reproached for bidding woman be
silent in the church. The time had not then come. Not as potent then as
now the thought: "Show me the women of a nation and I will tell thee its
civilization." And there is still a deeper meaning in this than the
popular thought. How beautifully has Jesus himself kept up the symbols of
the coming woman. With him the woman--Zion--becomes the "Lamb's bride:"
"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which
took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom."
And this was to be in the age "when the Son of Man shall come in his
glory, and all the holy angels with him."
At his first coming the kingdom of heaven was likened to twelve
fishermen--not ten virgins--and he said unto them, "Take up your nets and
follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
But when the cry shall go forth, "Behold the bridegroom cometh,"
commotion is to be among the virgins of the earth--the virgins of Zion and
the virgins of Babylon. Each will trim their lamps. Each will have their
"five wise" and "five foolish." Every one will have her familiar spirit.
But the God of Israel will send his spirit to inspire Zion, for her Maker
is her husband. And the daughters of [546] Zion shall trim their lamps to
go forth to meet the bridegroom, who is the Lamb of God.
The age of Messiah's coming is the woman's age! or there is no sense
in the utterances of prophesy, nor meaning in the most beautiful parables
of Christ.
And this is the woman's age! All humanity is proclaiming it!
The women of the age are obeying the impulses of the age. Do they
know what those impulses mean? They have heard the cry, and have come
forth. Do they comprehend what that cry has signified?--"Behold, the
bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him!"
Unwittingly they are testing the Scriptures, and proving that the
coming of Messiah is the crowning truth of the world. However, the five
wise virgins of Zion are coming forth in faith. They are not unwittingly
fulfilling their Lord's word. They have interpreted the cry, and are
trimming their lamps.
Man may as well attempt to throw back the ocean with the hollow of
his hand, or put out the sun with the breath of his command, as to attempt
to defeat the oncoming of "woman's hour."
Let the God of humanity be praised for this; for did not the virgins
come out at this eleventh hour, the fishermen might go again to their
nets, and let the midnight pass, and earth take the consequence.
But how wondrously are the divine themes of earth's grace from God
revealed. Down through the ages they came as echoes mellowed into more
celestial tones.
Creation begins again! Zion--the New Jerusalem--is the Lamb's bride.
She is the coming Eve.
[547] "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away. * * *
"And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
"And there came unto me one of the seven angels * * * saying, come
hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the
voice of many waters, and as the voice of many thunderings, saying
Alleluia: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage
supper of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
"And he saith unto me, write, Blessed are they which are called unto
the marriage supper of the Lamb."
Surely there is a glorious prophesy and a sublime truth, hallelujahed
from the ages down, in this proclamation of the woman's mission at the
hour of the Lord's coming.
The lives of the Mormon women are as a testament to the age. The very
character which their church has taken, as the literal Zion of the latter
days, shall soon be recognized as the symbol of the hour.
And the virgins in every land shall hear the cry, "Behold, the
bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him !"
[548] CHAPTER LX.
TERRIBLE AS AN ARMY WITH BANNERS--FIFTY THOUSAND WOMEN WITH THE BALLOT--THEIR GRAND MISSION TO THE NATION--A FORESHADOWING OF THE FUTURE OF THE WOMEN OF MORMONDOM.
Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear
as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?"
The Daughter of Zion!
Fifty thousand daughters of Zion! Each with her banner!
Her banner, female suffrage!
It is the great battle of woman for woman's rights. The Lord of Hosts
is with her.
The rights of the women of Zion, and the rights of the women of all
nations.
Her battle-field: America first; the great world next. And the God of
Israel is in the controversy.
________
The chiefest right of woman is in the shaping and settlement of the
marriage question. The voice of civilization well enunciates this supreme
doctrine. To commit this all-sacred matter to a congress of politicians,
or to leave it to the narrow exactitude [549] of the law-making
department, is as barbaric as any monstrous thing the imagination can
conceive. Not ruder was it in the warlike of Rome to seize the virgins as
spoil, and make them wives to accomplish their empire-founding ambitions,
than for a congress of American legislators to seize and prostitute the
marriage question to their own political ends and popularity.
Can there be any doubt that the men of Washington have seized
polygamy for their own ends? And are these men of the parliamentary Sodom
of modern times the proper persons to decide the marriage question?
Will woman allow her sanctuary to be thus invaded and her supremest
subject thus defiled?
If there is anything divine in human affairs it is marriage, or the
relations between man and woman. Here love, not congressional law, must be
the arbitrator. Here woman, not man, must give consent. It is the divine
law of nature, illustrated in all civilized examples. What is not thus is
barbaric.
Woman is chief in the consents of marriage. It is her right, under
God her father and God her mother, to say to society what shall be the
relations between man and woman--hers, in plain fact, to decide the
marriage question.
The women of Mormondom have thus far decided on the marriage order of
the patriarchs of Israel; for they have the Israelitish genius and
conception of the object of man's creation. In the everlasting covenant of
marriage they have considered and honored their God-father and God-mother.
In turn, the Gentile woman must decide the mar-[550]riage question
for herself. The law of God and nature is the same to her. The question
still is the woman's. She can decide with or without God, as seemeth her
best; but the Mormon woman has decided upon the experience and
righteousness of her Heavenly Father and her Heavenly Mother.
A certain manifest destiny has made the marriage problem the supreme
of Mormonism. How suggestive, in this view, is the fact that Congress, by
special legislation, has made polygamy the very alpha and omega of the
Mormon problem. The Mormon women, therefore, must perforce of
circumstances, by their faith and action greatly influence the future
destiny of Mormonism.
The enfranchisement of the Mormon women was suggested by the country,
to give them the power to rule their own fate and to choose according to
their own free will. Nothing but their free will can now prevail.
Their Legislature enfranchised them--gave them the power absolute,
not only to determine their own lives, but to hold the very destiny of
Utah.
If it was Brigham Young who gave to them that unparalleled power, no
matter what should be declared by the enemy as his motive, then has he
done more for woman than any man living. But Mormon apostles and
representatives executed this grand charter of woman's rights; and George
Q. Cannon's noble declaration at the time--that the charter of female
suffrage ought to be extended to the entire republic--is deserving the
acclamations of the women of America.
New civilizations are the chiefest boons of hu-[551]inanity. Never
was a new civilization more needed than now, for in the last century the
world has rushed over the track-way of a thousand years. A train dashing
forward at the rate of one hundred miles an hour would not be in more
danger than will soon be society, unless a safety-valve--a new
civilization--is opened.
This is the woman's age. The universal voice of society proclaims the
fact. Woman must, therefore, lay the corner-stone of the new civilization.
Her arm will be most potent in rearing the glorious structure of the
future. Man cannot prevent it, for in it is a divine intending.
There is a providence in the very attitude of the Mormon women. The
prophesy is distinctly pronounced in the whole history of their lives,
that they shall be apostolic to the age.
A new apostleship is ever innovative. The Mormon women have
established an astounding innovation in polygamy It has been infinitely
offensive. So much the better! For it has made a great noise in the world,
and has shaken the old and rotten institutions of Christendom. That
shaking was not only inevitable, but necessary, before a new civilization.
________
We have seen the daughters of Zion, with her sons, establish their
institutions upon the foundation of new revelation. We have seen them
rearing temples to the august name of the God of Israel. We have seen
their matchless faith, their devotion, their heroism.
[552] We have seen them, because of their fidelity to their religion,
driven from city to city and from State to State.
We have seen them in the awful hour of martyrdom.
We have seen them in the exodus of modern Israel from Gentile
civilization, following their Moses.
The daughters of Zion were going up to the chambers of the mountains,
to hide from the oppressor till the day of their strength.
Their banners were then their pioneer whips. Their banner now is
female suffrage--on it inscribed, "Woman's Rights! in the name of the God
of Israel!"
Fifty thousand of the daughters of Zion! Each with her banner!
We have seen them on the cross, with their crown of thorns. We shall
see them on their throne, with their crown of glory. In this is divine and
everlasting justice.
They have sown in tears they shall reap in gladness.
With their pioneer whips in their hands they came up to the chambers
of refuge, as exiles.
With the scepter of woman's rights, they will go down as apostles to
evangelize the nation.
"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon,
clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?"
The Daughter of Zion!