Today in Mormon History - Jul 22

Today in Mormon History ...

Nauvoo, Illinois. After William W. Phelps requested forgiveness, Joseph Smith wrote a letter inviting him to return to the Church. (1)
-- 170 years ago - Jul 22, 1840

[Hinckley] Honored on his 95^th birthday in a -Celebration of Life- at the Conference Center with guests performers and 21,000 guests (2)
-- 5 years ago - Jul 22, 2005

[Polygamy] Mormons respond to statehood bid
The Mormon people were not publicly notified that they should accept this latest constitution, but they were privately given to understand that they could vote for its ratification without compromising their religious principles. In response to inquiries from his family, Apostle Erastus Snow, then in Mexico where settlements were being established as cities of refuge for polygamists, wrote: Yes, I accept the self imposed conditions of Statehood. We can live under the prohibition clauses, same as we can in Mexico. Our celestial or spiritual unions will be purely religious and not civil contracts under State or national laws--and the Constitution has no cohabitation clause, and any who, living in the State of Utah, desire to marry other wives can bring them for me to marry in Mexico cheaper than to pay the fine imposed by the new Constitution. Please convey to E. G. W. and R. C. L. my congratulations on the happy wording of the prohibition and I hope all my Sons will vote f
or the
Constitution. And I shall be happy to minister to Gordon and Robert when they get ready to come over here with their sweethearts. (Letter from Erastus Snow to his wife, Elizabeth. Edwin Gordon Woolley and Robert C. Lund, convention delegates from Washington County. Ivins, p. 99) (3)
-- 123 years ago - Jul 22, 1887


1 - BYU Studies Journal, volume 46, no. 4: A Chronology of the Life of Joseph Smith
2 - LDS Newsroom, Time line of Significant Events as President, http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/time-line-of-significant-events-as-president
3 - Tungate, Mel, Mormon Polygamy, http://www.tungate.com/polygamy.htm

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