130 years ago today - May 8, 1896

The following letter prepared by President Geo[rge]. Q. Cannon to carry into effect the action of the Council of the First Presidency and Apostles... We do not know upon what authority this form of administering baptism has been adopted but we think it improper. There have been times in the Church when the First Presidency have felt it necessary to call upon all the members of the Church to renew their covenants, and at such times it was suggested that the words 'for the renewal of your covenant' be used in the ceremony; but it does not follow that at other times, and in individual cases, that form should be used. We think it improper, speaking generally, for the words 'for the remission of sins' or 'for the renewal of your covenant,' to be used in administering the ordinance of baptism. Where it may be necessary to baptize a person who is already a member of the Church, the form of ceremony which the Lord revealed to the Nephites, and which has also been revealed to us in our day, is sufficient. ... In cases where people are baptized for their health, we see no impropriety in using the words 'for the restoration of your health' in the ceremony. ... If they have faith and believe, when they have some ailment, that the administration of baptism in that form will be beneficial to them, the privilege is granted to them. ... Signed by the First Presidency. [Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910-1951, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah 2010]

165 years ago today - May 8, 1861

Brigham Young's office journal notes: "Pres[ident Daniel H.] Wells in a conversation he had with Pres. Joseph Young noticed that Jefferson Davis & Secretary Floyd, were traitors to the general government, as they had been acting treacherously to the Government for the last four years, and favoring the Southern Confederacy. Pres[ident] Joseph Young remarked that if such treacherous men should have their blood shed it might lighten the penalty of their crimes when they were brought to judgment." [On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]

165 years ago today - May 8, 1861

The President [Brigham Young] observed their [U.S] feelings are increasing in violence, and shortly it will be a scene of mobbing. Br[other] Geo. A. Smith mentioned that the firing of some of the Oil wells that had been recently discovered, was a remarkable fulfillment of a remark of Pres. B. Young's made by him a few evenings ago namely that these oil wells might form a volcano for the people to stand upon'- -- Salt Lake City [Brigham Young Office Journals, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]

180 years ago today - May 8, 1846

[Nauvoo Temple] During a Sabbath service, Orson Hyde explained why the Saints were compelled to finish the Temple, "It we move forward and finished this house we should be received and accepted as a church with our dead, but if not we should be rejected with our dead. These things have inspired and stimulated us to action in the finishing of it which through the blessing of god we have been enabled to accomplish and prepare it for dedication." Wilford Woodruff concluded the meeting, "The Saints had labored faithfully and finished the temple and were now received as a Church with our dead. This is glory enough for building the temple and thousands of the Saints have received their endowment in it. And the light will not go out." [Brown, Lisle (compiler), Chronology of the Construction, Destruction and Reconstruction of the Nauvoo Temple]

180 years ago today - May 8, 1846

The mail came in to day from Nauvoo bringing news that Br O. P. Rockwell had been taken prisoner in Nauvoo and taken to Carthage but have not learned the particulars[.] I suspect that there has been some treachery used by some or he could not have been taken as it seems to me. [Diaries of Hosea Stout]

115 years ago today - May 7, 1911

[Thomas A. Clawson] Went to the Temple Fast Meeting at 10 AM and we had a most splendid time. Pres[iden]t Jos[eph] F. Smith in speaking expressed his love for Pres[iden]t Brigham Young and his successors and also their children and that whatever action had been taken against any of their children by the Church [over the estate of Brigham Young] was done and brought on by their own actions and the Church had to be protected against them. He deplored very much what had to be done and it caused him as much grief and sorrow as if it were his own son. [Thomas A. Clawson, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

195 years ago today - May 7, 1831

D&C 49 (Kirtland): Sidney, Parley, Leman Copley mission to Shakers; marriage ordained of God (one wife); abstinence from meat not required; temporal inequality a sin; Jesus will not come as a woman; disasters precede his coming; first Indians will blossom as a rose, Zion upon the mountains. [The text of the revelation seems to assume a trinitarian godhead: "Thus saith the Lord [Jesus Christ]; for I am God, and have sent mine Only Begotten Son into the world ..."] [Kenney, Scott, Saints Without Halos, "Mormon History 1830-1844," http://web.archive.org/web/20120805163534/saintswithouthalos.com/dirs/d_c.phtml]

130 years ago today - May 7, 1896

At a Relief Society meeting in Woodruff, Arizona, Hannah Savage "received the gift of tongues and the interpretation. . . . Medora Gardner testifyed that it was the tongue of Adam that had been given." [Hannah Adeline [Hatch] Savage, Journal, May 1896; Dan Vogel and Scott C. Dunn, '"The Tongue of Angels": Glossolalia among Mormonism's Founders,' Journal of Mormon History Vol. 19, No. 2, 1993]

135 years ago today - May 4, 1891

[Heber J. Grant] "... (GQ) Cannon said that he was willing that we should sell one half of the Herald to the gentile Democrats and allow them a majority of the Directors. I think the chances are that it will finally be approved to sell a majority of the stock." [The Diaries of Heber J. Grant, 1880-1945, Abridged, Digital Edition Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015]

140 years ago today - May 6th, 1886

[Abraham H. Cannon] [From the Penitentiary serving time for polygamy] "Last night proved to be a very unpleasant one for several of the brethren, the bed bugs being as ravenous as to prevent their sleeping more than a very little but it seems as though all efforts to over come the bugs are futile. They get in between the planks of which the sides of the building are formed and there remain until night induces them to commence their depradations. I, for one, have thus far escaped annoyance by them." [Abraham H. Cannon Journal Excerpts, http://www.amazon.com/Apostles-Record-Journals-Abraham-1889-1896/dp/B000MFD1K4]

110 years ago today - May 6, 1916

[First Presidency letter] "The rumor referred to in yours of the 3rd inst., that the Church sanctions the taking off of the sleeves and collar of the temple garment and replacing them with thin, gauzy material, in order to meet the re- cent style of dress worn by ladies, is not true, and anyone resorting to such proceeding mutilates the garment, and is guilty of wrongdoing." [Joseph F. Smith, Anthon H. Lund, and Charles W. Penrose to Stephen L. Chipman, May 6, 1916, quoted in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]

150 years ago today - May 6, 1876

General Aaronic Priesthood minutes note that it has "been the custom to ordain boys to the office of deacon and allow them to retain this office till they get their endowments when they [are] ordained Elders." [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]

180 years ago today - May 6, 1846

[Nauvoo Temple] The Quincy Whig reported on [self-proclaimed successor to Joseph Smith] Strang's resolutions, which claimed that the Trustees had "no right to convey title to any property of the Church and caution[ed] all against buying of them." Strang's assertions made the Trustees' work much more difficult, especially when Strang published information from the Hancock County Book of Mortgages and Deeds, attempting to show that Joseph Smith's successor was the President of the Church, who was the Trustee-in-Trust, and only he had the right to convey title to Church property. Apparently when Strang raised the question of who held legitimate title to the temple, it clouded the issue and often prevented the temple's sale. [Brown, Lisle (compiler), Chronology of the Construction, Destruction and Reconstruction of the Nauvoo Temple]

45 years ago today - May 5, 1981

First Presidency statement against deployment of MX missile-system in Utah-Nevada desert, including criticism of developing weapons of war. LDS U.S. Senators Orrin Hatch and Jake Garn immediately reverse their positions from ardent proponents of MX missile-system and of its deployment in Utah to "leading the fight to keep MX out of Utah." The NEW YORK TIMES editorializes, "The Mormon Church's opposition to the MX missile, [is] an oddly selective summons to national morality in the service of an obviously parochial interest." The First Presidency's statement cited the large influx of non-Mormons into Utah for MX construction as a reason to oppose the deployment.

135 years ago today - May 05, 1891

The [Whitmerite Mormon] Rev., W. P. Brown, now of Richmond, Mo., but formerly of Independence, was in the latter town yesterday, he has of late attracted much attention because of his belief that the second coming of Christ is soon to occur, he has openly announced his belief to this effect and is making his arrangements accordingly. He expects to be present at the arrival of Christ, and to be a participant in the attendant ceremonies. ... The event is, in his opinion, to occur in Jerusalem. He expresses his surprise that people generally do not realize this. ... Rev, Mr. Brown is quite wealthy. He owns considerable property at Independence and at different points in Kansas. He is endeavoring to dispose of his entire interest and turn it into cash. He was at Independence for this purpose. He expects to be able to sell out in time to sail for Jerusalem within two months. [Revd. W. P. Brown, The Sedalia Weekly Bazoo., (Sedalia, Mo.) May 05, 1891, Page 6, Image 6) Rev. W.P. Brown, Second Coming of Jesus Christ, The Austin Weekly Statesman. (Austin, Tex.), June 18, 1891, Image 7.) http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86088296/1891-06-18/ed-1/seq-7/#date1=1890&index=3&rows=20&words=Brown+P+Rev+W&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1891&proxtext=Rev.+W.+P.+Brown+&y=11&x=13&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1, quoted in The Last Days and December 1890 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ, y George D. Speer Sr., privately circulated]

190 years ago today - May 5, 1836

Patriarchal Blessing of Mary Elliot given by Joseph Smith, Sr. ... Thy mind will be cast down and thou wilt remember thy blessing and call upon thy God, and he will send an holy angel to tell the[e] of the affairs of thy husband: thou shalt be comforted and feel a joy spring up, and thy soul shall be filled, for thou shalt desire the salvation of souls. and shalt be willing he should tarry. Thou shalt hear the voice of God and be told of his situation. This is thy blessing, treasure it up and God shall give thee many more. If thou shalt desire life, thou shalt live, but if thou shalt desire to lay it down, thou mayest depart in peace, and rest till the Lord shall bring thee with him in the clouds and thy body rise in the first resurrection, and meet him and even be with him. This is thy blessing: and I seal thee up unto eternal life in the name of Jesus... [Patriarchal Blessing Book 1:60-61, in Early Patriarchal Blessings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Joseph Smith Sr. (Author), H. Michael Marquardt (Editor), http://amzn.to/rCBHVe]

190 years ago today - May 5, 1836

Patriarchal Blessing of David Elliot given by Joseph Smith, Sr. ... Thou shalt be able to quench the violence of fire. Floods shall not drown thee, winds and waves shall obey thy voice and the elements shall be subject unto thee throug[h] faith, and thou shalt bring thy thousands as seals of thy ministry. ... Thou shalt be able to set thy house in order & stand at the head of thy family like Nephi of old. ... Thou shalt tarry till the Redeemer comes and see the end of this generation. Thou shalt be numbered with the hundred & forty four thousand on Mount Zion. ... And also I seal thee up unto eternal life in the name of Jesus. Amen [Patriarchal Blessing Book 1:60, quoted in Early Patriarchal Blessings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Joseph Smith Sr. (Author), H. Michael Marquardt (Editor), http://amzn.to/rCBHVe]

130 years ago today - May 4, 1896

[Heber J. Grant] "I have enjoyed my visit to Cache Valley very much, and my only regret is that all of the members of the High Council of the Cache Stake did not endorse the declaration of church discipline. I was, however, especially pleased to have the document voted for by Bro George Barber." [The Diaries of Heber J. Grant, 1880-1945, Abridged, Digital Edition Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015]

130 years ago today - May 4, 1896

[Brigham Young Jr.] "Had a long talk with Bro[ther] Willis on the true meaning of the Manifesto prohibiting plural marriages especially in relation to men living with their old wives. No plural marriages are solemnized but men are loath to give up or rather forsake their wives. I can take no oath that looks toward annulling the covenants I have made with my wives." [Brigham Young Jr. Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910-1951, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah 2010]

140 years ago today - May 4, 1886

Apostle John Henry Smith writes that Presiding Bishopric counselor John Q. Cannon is "getting quite reckless" with the church's tithing funds. Cannon is excommunicated four months later, but for adultery not embezzlement. His father, first counselor George Q. Cannon, tells the apostles on 3 Aug. 1887 that "he admitted trying to cover up John Q. Cannon's stealings fromt he Church and that he & his son Abraham had made good John Q's defalcations to the amount of nearly Ten thousand dollars." [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]

170 years ago today - May 4, 1856

President B. Young preached in the tabernacle to the few who were gathered. said he should urge it upon the people for every family of the saints to lay up 7 years of provisions as soon as possible. -- SLC Tabernacle [Sermons and Writings of the Restoration. 4 Vols. Ogden Kraut, ed. Pioneer Press, 1994, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]

170 years ago today - May 4, 1856

[Brigham Young] "... if you give an Indian plenty of beef, and keep him from freezing he will live to be 150 years old; there is nothing to kill unless they freeze to death. ..." [The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]

190 years ago today - 1836: 2 May

[Patriarchal Blessing] William Harris. (Given by Joseph Smith, Sen.) ... The riches of the earth shall flow unto thee in time, and thou shalt receive the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall reach thy posterity also; and thy father's house shall follow on, and be gathered with thee unto the mountain of Israel. ... Angels shall be thy guard upon thy right hand and thy left; even the twelve legions shall watch over thee: thou mayest see them, if thou wilt believe; and if any arm is raised against thee, it shall fall, and all weapons wielded to thy hurt shall perish. If any dig pits for thee, they shall fall therein; if they seek to confound thee with subtle questions, they shall be confounded; [Selected LDS Patriarchal Blessings, New Mormon Studies CD ROM, Signature Book, 2009, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

95 years ago today - Apr 30, 1931

[Heber J. Grant] A letter from Brother Brigham H. Roberts claiming that the Seven Presidents of Seventies are apostles and have the right to ordain high priests, etc. was read and discussed at great length. There did not seem to be anybody that agreed with the position Brother Roberts takes. It is a great anomaly that they are sustained as superior to the Presiding Bishopric, outranking them, and yet they cannot ordain a Bishop who presides over the lesser priesthood. [The Diaries of Heber J. Grant, 1880-1945, Abridged, Digital Edition Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015]

160 years ago today - May 2, 1866 (Wednesday)

Mr. Thurston's three year old daughter was stolen by Indians, near Mendon, Cache Co. She was never recovered. [Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]

190 years ago today - May 2, 1836

Patriarchal Blessing of Lyman Leonard given by Joseph Smith, Sr. ... riches shall flow unto thee. The great men of the earth shall bring thee treasures untill thou shalt say tis enough. ... Thou shalt speak and prison walls shall fall; rivers be turned out of their course and all things subject unto thee.... Thou shalt have power to translate thyself away from thine enemies. so that they cannot find thee. and nothing shall be too great for thee. ... Thou must keep the word of wisdom and all the commandments and pray much and nothing shall be impossible unto thee. Winds, waves, and sea shall obey thee, and thou shalt baptize some in the briny deep. ... [Patriarchal Blessing Book 1:38, quoted in Early Patriarchal Blessings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Joseph Smith Sr. (Author), H. Michael Marquardt (Editor), http://amzn.to/rCBHVe]

130 years ago today - Apr 30, 1896

[Brigham Young Jr.] Several brethren talked on interpreting the 'Declaration of Church Discipline' read at and approved by the General Conference. Bro[ther] John [W.] Taylor made remarks which called me to my feet. he resented my reproof but afterwards felt milder. I said that document was issued in self defense not as an aggressive message. we were attack[ed] first, & were obliged to defend ourselves. [Brigham Young Jr., Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

60 years ago today - Apr 30, 1966

Lowell L. Bennion hosts several African-American Mormons at his home in Salt Lake City, including LDS converts Ruffin Bridgeforth Jr. and his Hispanic wife Helen Marie Romero Bridgeforth. She speaks "of the difficulty they have getting their boys to go to church after they get to be deacon age and can't pass the sacrament and do the other things L.D.S. [white] boys do." [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]

180 years ago today - Apr 29, 1846

A public meeting in Iowa approves Young's proposal to sell the temple to Roman Catholic priests. [Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Appendix 7: Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47, http://amzn.to/origins-power]

195 years ago today - Apr 30, 1831

William W. Phelps is imprisoned at Lyons (NY) for thirty days for an unpaid debt, which Phelps interprets as persecution for his belief in the Book of Mormon. [Vogel, Dan, Early Mormon Documents, Appendix B: Chronology, 1771-1831, http://amzn.to/T5nY8w]

130 years ago today - Apr 30, 1896

[Franklin D. Richards] Deliberations turned on presentation of Declarations to the people & the mode of dealing with such as do not most readily accept it. It should first be presented to the presiding authorities of a stake or ward & then accepted by them then presented it to their people. See that it is fairly presented and without too much explanation so as to avoid entanglement & without extreme action & words these who are slow to accept it. [Franklin D. Richards, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

125 years ago today - Tuesday, Apr 30, 1901

The Directors of the Lehi Sugar Co. met at 10 a.m. and appointed Lorenzo Snow a Director and President of the Company to fill the Vacancy made by the death of Geo. Q. Cannon. His salary is to be $600.00 ... [Jean Bickmore White (editor), Church, State, and Politics: The Diaries of John Henry Smith, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1990, http://bit.ly/johnhenrysmith]

185 years ago today - Apr 30, 1841

[Wilford Woodruff] 30 A fine breeze from NE. Sail 10 not an hour. Fears were entertained that the Ship was on fire as smoke arose from the holes but it was found to Come from the Cook shop. I was requested to carry the dishes to the cook So I got my hands full of dishes of various kinds & just as I steped to the door of the Cook house the Ship gave a dredful surge & rocked so that she lay upon her side with her stud sails in the water. This unexpected surge plunged me head foremost about 10 feet the whole bredth of the cook shop against the side of the cook room with the cook [on] top of me. As this was my first introduction to the cook since I had been at sea I begged his pardon for Such an adrupt enterance, & withdrew leaving the cook with three smashed fingers (caused by trying to save me in the fall) to pick up my dishes at leasure which were scattered from one end to the other of his shop. I hope it will be a long time before I shall pay the cook a similar visit. We Sail exceding fine & have now for 3 days. The passengers are over their sea sickness & feel Cheerful. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

180 years ago today - Apr 30, 1846

The Temple at Nauvoo was dedicated this evening. ... Elder Joseph Young [Orson Hyde] offered up the dedicatory prayer... He prayed for the Twelve [Apostles] and all the authorities of the Church, and for the workmen that had wrought upon the Temple in the midst of persecution, want and suffering, for the deliverance of the poor; that the Lord would direct the brethren of the camp of Israel, open the way before them and lead them to a place of His own appointment for the gathering of all the Saints, that God would avenge the blood of His servants, the prophets and of the Saints who had been slain for the testimony of the truth and mete out to our enemies the same measure which they had meted out to us. [Manuscript History of Brigham Young, Apr. 30, 1846, in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]

65 years ago today - Apr 27, 1961

First counselor J. Reuben Clark tells the apostles: "I think it is terrible for any man in the Church to begin to use his Church position, particularly in finances, to his own advantage... So far as I know there are none of you who are trying to use the Church to your own self-advantage. That cannot be said for all our Church members." [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]

165 years ago today - Apr 29, 1861

In speaking of Geneology & History Presidet Young Said I Care so litle about it in my feelings & spirit that as far as I am Concerned that I should not make more than one page of History. Still I like to see such things got up. Joseph would tell more in one hour about Geneology than the world Can in a year. He was particular about such things much more so than I am but I expet He will be with us. I expect if I live to be 80 years old I am in hopes to have some of the wisdom that Moses Had. He spoke of a remark that He made in the 13 ward about Harris being sent here as Governor. He also said to Brother Kimball I took the liberty to Curse those who will still sustain our Enemies. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

165 years ago today - Apr 28, 1861 (Afternoon)

Prest. Young attended the 13th Ward meeting, in the course of his remarks about the officers of [the] U.S. coming here he said he hoped if Harris did come, the boys and dogs would piss on him; he asked forgiveness of the congregation for condescending to describe the punishment Harris had earned ... [Historians Office Journal, quoted in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]

35 years ago today - Apr 27, 1991

A Church News feature article about Pulitzer Prize winner Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. However, BYU's administration cancels the invitation for her to speak on campus due to her support of the Equal Rights Amendment and other feminist causes twenty years ago. [http://chronicle.com/article/A-Well-Behaved-Scholar-Makes/10147 Chronicles of Higher Education for more info on Laurel's life., [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]

170 years ago today - Apr 28, 1856

[Wilford Woodruff] I have been a marked victem as an attack for the power of the destroyer from my infancy up to the present day. I have faced Accident, misfortune, & apparently death so many times & in so many shapes & forms from my childhood through life thus far that it has become a proverb with me to say that there has seemed to be two powers constantly watching me & at work with me one to kill & the other to save me. ... I have never untill now been called upon to war with poison & mortification in my system untill now. But I am satisfyed to day that I have this enemy to meet & that to in the worst form. ... Several have died this spring by skining Cattle who have died. ... This morning the affected spot upon my wrist had grown about the size of a dime had risen above the arm & main [-] about half an inch & turned black as ink. My arm began to swell & pain me & I felt its workings through my system. I Called upon President Young & Showed him [my] Arm and asked his advice. He counciled me to go to immediately & clense my stomach & bowels & poultice my Arm with Onions, Earth, or any thing that would draw it from my system. He also advised me to show it to Dr Sprague. I did so & he in addition to what President Young had recommended dug me up sum dock Elecompane & Blazing Star roots & advised me to make a tea of it & drink it also to make a poultice of it & put it on my Arm. I went immediately home & began to put these things into execution for I saw that I had a strong warfare in order to save my life. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

145 years ago today - Wednesday, Apr 27, 1881

[John Henry Smith] My self and wives received our second annointings, J. F. Smith and F. M. Lyman officiating. Julena L. and Edna L. Smith Witnesing and Edna L. Smith received hers also. [He has been an apostle for 6 months] [Jean Bickmore White (editor), Church, State, and Politics: The Diaries of John Henry Smith, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1990, http://bit.ly/johnhenrysmith]

85 years ago today - Apr 28, 1941

[J. Reuben Clark] D[avid] O M[cKay] Talked with him about Hugh Brown'Agreed with Pres Grant and D O M to make his pay $35000 per month, he to furnish his own house ... Suggested also that we denominate Bishoprics of Wards and their Ward Teachers as Home Defenders and maybe parade them next July 24th he agreed might be something an idea. [The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]

165 years ago today - Apr 28, 1861

... Wm. W. Clayton read the Morning Extra of D News Containing the last Poney [of the Poney Express]. ... [Regarding the civil war] The South are better prepaired & much faster than the North are. Lincoln has taken a Course to rather keep the North back. But the Curse of God will be upon the Nation and they will have Enough of it. The Rulers possess no Power in the Land. They have persecuted the Saints of God and the Rulers would do nothing for us but all they Could against us and they will now get their pay for it. In speaking of Governor Cummings Presidet Young Said He had done us good. He had Stood between us & the army But the Lord had made him do it.... The question was asked what we would do if the Presidet Sent Secretary Harris here as Govornor. Would we not also Cecede? President Young Said No, we will keep our records Clean. We shall want to Compare records by & by & we want to Show on our part that we are right All the time. If the boys were all right they ought to piss such a man as Harris out of the Country or whittle [intimidate] him out. Yet if we submit to such mean things put upon us by the government we shall get our reward and they will get theirs... [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

185 years ago today - Apr 28, 1841

[Wilford Woodruff] When we arose in the morning we still found strong head winds which soon increased to a great Storm & tempest which scenery I have not language to describe. The Sails were close reefed or taken in as soon as possible. It took 16 men to Close reef the main top sail. The tempest was now raging with all power the sea piling up into mountains, the Ship mountain the waves & billows & pitching into the valleys & rocking tremendiously & shiping seas occasionly. In the midst of this seenery the cry of help was herd in our Cabin. I rushed to the seene & found the ropes giving way & breaking which held the whole mass of baggage which was piled up between decks, consisting of heavy trunks, chests, Boxes & barrels which if once liberated from their Confinement would with one surge be hurled with all their force into the births of the men, women, & Children which would endanger the lives of all. On seeing the foundation of this mass give way Elder W. Richards & myself Sprang to this place of danger & braced ourselves against the barrels & held them for a few moments untill it was a little secured. I then went on deck to the captain & informed him of the situation of things below & he sent the Sailors with some ropes & secured the pile which was endangering the lives of many. After this was done I again repaired to the Aft quarter deck to behold the raging of the tempest & the wonders of the deep & the movements of the ship which was the greatest seenery I ever beheld upon the water. Elders Young, Kimball, Richard's & Smith was with me on deck for a time but all had now gone below except Elder Richards & myself & the officers & crew. We were Shiping heavy seas. It was now about sun set. I stood in the middle of the aft quarter deck holding the captains Speaking trumpet in one hand & holding to a fast bench with the other when we Shipped a tremendious Sea on the windward side of us which passed clear over the quarter deck on which I stood. On seeing that we Could not escape it Elder Richards flung himself close under the Bulwarks & the body of the wave went clear over him without wetting him but little. But as I Could not take the same advantage I flung myself upon the deck & held upon the fast seat whare I remained untill the sea passed over me & left me drenched in the Surge. I now thought it time for me to leave my seat of observation for the day & go below as I was thoroughly wet with salt water. I went to bed but did not sleep but little for the ship rocked at a dredful rate. Boxes, barrels, & tines were tumbling from one end of the Cabin to the other. And in the steerage about 15 Births were flung down 9 at one surge with all the men women & Children flung into a pile in the midst of the berths but no lives lost or bones broken. This is the 8th day in succession that we have had strong headwind. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

40 years ago today - Apr 27, 1986.

The ten-month speaking ban on Linda Newell and Val Avery is lifted. The story is carried by UPI and AP, and published in the Tribune and other major newspapers in the state with the exception of the Deseret News. Linda summarizes the experience: "If you're excommunicated or disfellowshipped, you know what the repentance process is and you get on with your life. But what do you do when you've been punished by people who are handing down decisions they didn't make? I thought a lot about the damage the whole incident had done to me, to the church, my friends, to my family, untold people who were distraught by it, and those who sat in judgement. I went back to my stake president and asked him to talk to Elders Oaks and Maxwell again about reconsidering the ban. I would be participating in a KSL's `Talkabout' program discussing the upcoming Mormon History Association in England, and I knew, with audience participation, that someone would ask me about the ban. I hadn't been in a public setting for the whole ten months when people hadn't discussed it. I pointed out to my stake president the advantages to everyone of being able to say that the situation had been resolved. He said he'd see what he could do. The night before I was to tape the program, he called and said that I was no longer under any restrictions." [Anderson, Lavina Fielding, "The LDS Intellectual Community and Church Leadership: A Contemporary Chronology," Dialogue, Vol.26, No.1]

95 years ago today - Apr 27, 1931

[Minutes of the Seventies] My dear President [Heber J.] Grant: ... you gave to the apparent incongruity of the First Council of the Seventy being unable to participate with members of the Twelve when out in conferences, when ordaining High Priests and bishop's counselors when occasion should arise. The answer to all this has been that the Presidency of the Seventies, not being High Priests were barred from these functions; also in regard to performing marriage ceremonies, etc. Perhaps you will remember that I said I thought the decisions that had led to this policy of excluding the Seven Presidents from such functions was too tightly drawn and that if it were considered that these brethren have an APOSTOLIC CALLING, that calling would warrant them to do along these lines whatsoever might be necessary in the course of their ministry (as stated in Doctrine and Covenants) ... I trust you will not think me over persistent in the matter, but I did think that since this information had come into my hands and also is in strict harmony with the interpretation I gave with the Seventies holding an APOSTOLIC CALLING, it would authorize the First Council to do whatever the Apostles do when necessary, and when appointed to do it, should be made known to you and your counselors and to the present quorum of the Twelve; and in this spirit I submit it to your consideration. Very truly yours, [Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015, Appendix 1: Minutes of the Seventies, 1837-1933, Excerpts]

180 years ago today - Apr 27, 1846

Voted that the Temple be sold both at Nauvoo & Kirtland to ease our burden considering that the Lord designed that the Saints should enjoy it when it was his good will & pleasure now it appears that we cannot possess it without the other buildings of the Saints & when we can possess our dwelling houses then the Temple will be redeemed & the saints will then enjoy it Bishop Whitney with reluctance assented not however until after Pres Young said that if the Bishop did not vote he would take the responsibility of voting for him & risk the blessing or cursing Pres Young related a dream that he had the previous night which was in substance as follows I saw my self employed in the services of an aged man that was a Lord' superintending the whole affairs of his dominion'among which I instructed some responsible things to be done which I considered actually necessary to be done notwithstanding the Lord had not ordered me to do'by & by the Lord came smiling his hair was as the pure wool I appraised him of what I had done and asked him if I had done right at first he was Silent but Smiled turning to me said you have done well & I intend to buy a large store of all kinds of commodities all of which shall be under your guidance & control you understand the affairs of my government [John D. Lee, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

115 years ago today - Apr 26, 1911

[George F. Richards] The question of maintaining or abandoning the College course in the B[righam]. Y[oung]. U[niversity]. on account of the expense of maintaining same was submitted to a committee of which I am a member and next Tuesday was set for the time to meet and consider same with the B[righam]. Y[oung]. U[niversity]. faculty. [George F. Richards Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910-1951, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah 2010]

185 years ago today - Apr 26, 1841

Alexander Neibaur goes to work for Joseph Smith. Neibaur is a German-Jewish convert well-versed in the Kabbalah. He tutors Joseph in German and Hebrew and publishes articles on the Kabbalah in official Church publications. Three years later Joseph gives the "King Follett" discourse which echoes themes from Kabbalistic literature. Neibaur is the great grandfather of noted Mormon scholar Hugh Nibley. [On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]

180 years ago today - Apr 26, 1846

Apostle George A. Smith writes to Brigham Young, " If you in your wisdom should think it best to sell the same [the Nauvoo Temple] for to help the poor in the present emergency, we frankly concur notwithstanding we feel opposed to a Methodist Congregation listening to a Mob Priest in that holly place" The church was considering selling the Nauvoo and Kirtland temples to pay its debts. [On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com]

180 years ago today - Sunday, Apr 26, 1846

President Young said the spirit of the Lord and keys of the priesthood holds power and dominion over all animated beings. When Father Adam transgressed the law, he did not fall all at once from the presence of the Lord, but spake face to face with him for a long time afterwards. The rising generation continued to sin and degenerate from generation to generation until they have got so far from the Lord that a veil of darkness sprung up between them, so that they could not any longer speak with the Lord save it was through a prophet. During this time the earth and all creation groaned in sin and continued to degenerate, and enmity increased and the lives of man and beast began to shorten, and the earth continued downwards to the present time. For this cause the Son of God descended below all things that he might reach the case of every man that he might return to the Father and possess all things. In this dispensation the keys that were committed to Father Adam will be restored. And we are to commence retracting, and to approximate back again into the favor and presence of the Lord by taking up the ordinances of the gospel and following them back to the starting point. [Willard Richards Journal]

45 years ago today - Apr 24, 1981

Apostle David B. Haight gives the keynote address at Annual Meeting of the Utah Association of Women. He states that Many of today's problems can be traced to the music of the Beatles in the early 1960s. "I witnessed the early developing of protests on college campuses, protests against the Vietnam War, with protestors using Beatle-type music to express their feelings against our government, against our military, and against authority in general."

60 years ago today - Apr 25, 1966

A "standing-room-only audience" listened as David O. McKay's nephew referred to the recent Birch Society president - Robert Welch banquet as a "gathering of the clan," and referred to the "Dear Brethren" letter promoting it as "a deceitful device." Alluding to the controversies of the previous month, Quinn McKay observed: "What do we do when General Authorities do not see eye to eye on political issues? Which do we follow? If each of the General Authorities were to speak on `The Contributions of the John Birch Society' you would no doubt hear some rather contrasting views. Then which apostle would one quote?" McKay's nephew then referred to the Reed Benson letter which had ignited the race hysteria preceding the October 1965 conference. [Quinn G. McKay, statements in Davies, Political Extremism Under the Spotlight, 12, 19,20-21. The "standing-room-only" reference is from the description of the meeting on the inside front cover. From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]

105 years ago today - 1921. April 25

(Emmeline B. Wells) : Died at the age of eighty-four in her home at 1354 South 900 East in Salt Lake City; buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery near her husband Daniel. [Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

185 years ago today - Apr 25, 1841

A Mormon "Secret Service in detecting thiefs &c." is founded. The thieves are former Danites. [Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Appendix 7: Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47, http://amzn.to/origins-power]

190 years ago today - Apr 25, 1836

Anti-Mormons in Van Buren County, Missouri, bullwhip a non-Mormon for refusing to tell where his Mormon acquaintances are. [Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Appendix 7: Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47, http://amzn.to/origins-power]

115 years ago today - Apr 24, 1911

[First Presidency] From representations made to us by the Council of Apostles and upon their united recommendation, we are under the necessity of discontinuing the monthly appropriation to the family of Brother John W. Taylor; and inasmuch as you have acted as agent for the family in receiving the money, it is thought proper to advise you of this action. [First Presidency, Letter to John M. Cannon, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

60 years ago today - Apr 24, 1966

Apostle Gordon B. Hinckley dedicates a specially constructed stage at the BYU film studio for filming a new version (known as "Project # 100") of the endowment ceremony. This is the second endowment film made. The first one was shot in the Salt Lake Temple. The cast of Project #100 is Adam: Max Mason Brown, Eve: Marielen Wadley Christensen; Lucifer: Lael Woodbury; Minister: Morris Clinger; Peter: Harold I. Hansen; James: Douglas Clawson; John: Max Golightly; Elohim voice: Dan Keeler; Jehovah voice: Carl Pope; Narrator: Glen Shaw. The production crew is Camera: Robert Stum and Dalvin Williams, Lighting: Grant Williams and R. Steven Clawson; Casting: Keith Atkinson, David Jacobs and Judd Pierson; Sound: Kenneth Hansen and Sharrol Felt; Set Design: Douglas Johnson and Robert Stum; Research: Scott Whitaker and Douglas Johnson; Script Girl: Marilyn Finch; Editing: Frank S. Wise; Director: Wetzel O. Whitaker.

90 years ago today - Apr 24, 1936

[J. Reuben Clark] [During a meeting with Will Seegmiller and Harold Morgan on April 23, 1936:] I said that I was tremendously interested in victory this Fall, and that I was trying to do what I could to further that possibility. Mr. Seegmiller said that he also is most anxious for that, and that he was sure he knew a very great deal more about Utah's politics than I knew. I reiterated two or three times that I had no personal feeling in this matter at all. He said that people were saying that I, as a member of the First Presidency, was trying to dictate politics. I told him that there was no excuse for that, that I had made my position perfectly clear at the luncheons. He replied that some people had said I could not divest from myself my Church position in the matter of politics, to which I replied that those people would have to learn that it could be done. I stated I had explained to the luncheons my position with reference to myself himself, and felt that in the interest of harmony he should do as I suggested. He said that that was a matter of opinion, and his opinion differed from mine. I replied to the effect that it was a question of opinion, but I felt very clear about my own. ... [The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]

140 years ago today - Apr 24, 1886 (Saturday)

The Supreme Court of Utah rendered a decision which practically endorsed lewd and lascivious conduct... [Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]

185 years ago today - Apr 24, 1841, Saturday

[William Clayton Writings] I was requested to attend meeting of the High Council at President John Smiths. ... At this council Willard Snow was appointed to get up a company of independent Rifle men. I have joined this company. [Fillerup, Robert C., compiler; William Clayton Nauvoo Diaries and Personal Writings, A chronological compilation of the personal writings of William Clayton while he was a resident of Nauvoo, Illinois. http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/clayton-diaries]

125 years ago today - Apr 23, 1901

[Brigham Young Jr.] Had talk with Pres[ident]. [Lorenzo] Snow in relation to his having a son in Quorum to represent him while he was living. [Brigham Young Jr., Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

165 years ago today - Apr 23, 1861 (Evening)

Br. George A. Smith called in and had a conversation about coal oil springs. The President [Brigham Young] said God had a design in these springs, in time the people will find they are dancing over a volcano. -- Salt Lake City [Brigham Young Office Journals, quoted in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]

175 years ago today - Apr 23, 1851

[Hosea Stout] Last night a man named Custer was killed by the Indians in Toolie Valley. They had been taken prisoners by the whites & attempting to break away they were pursued by the whites & Custer was shot. The Indians were taken but permitted to keep their arms. A party is going out to night to Toolie against the Indians. [Diaries of Hosea Stout]

180 years ago today - Apr 23, 1846

[Nauvoo Temple] The Sangamo Journal reported that "a rich old bachelor from the South" was negotiating for the purchase of the Temple, intending to turn it into "a retreat for poor widows and other females." [Brown, Lisle (compiler), Chronology of the Construction, Destruction and Reconstruction of the Nauvoo Temple]

150 years ago today - Apr 22, 1876

[Wilford Woodruff] This Evening train Brought the Emperor of Brazill Dom Pedro From Ogden to Salt Lake City. "And their Kings shall be brought" is being fulfilled. He took rooms at the waker House and went to the Theater in the Evening. He is the first Emperor that Ever Visited Utah Territory in our day. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

160 years ago today - Apr 22, 1866

[Wilford Woodruff] At the Close of the meeting President Young & Wells & John Taylor W. Woodruff F. D. Richards & G. Q. Cannon met at the Historians Office for Prayer. The subject of the History of Joseph the Prophet as Published by Mother Smith was taken up & President Young said Brother Woodruff as soon as G A Smith Comes home I want you to get Elias Smith & set down & Correct the Errors in the History of Joseph Smith as published by Mother Smith & then let it be published to the world. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

135 years ago today - Apr 21, 1891

[Brigham Young Jr.] I have had curious feelings lately. When father [Brigham Young] was verysick in St. George [Utah] in the spring of [18]77 previous to his death, he was taking a vapor bath in his house when he called for me to take him out of the box; 'quick, quick' he said. He fell into my arms fainting I laid him in his easy chair, he gasped twice, his eyes set, underjaw fell, his Bowels gave away and he lay as if dead I looked over and beyond him and saw a deep dark gulf, I was terrified and the horrible depths seemed to represent what was before us if father died. I believed him dead and my very soul cried out 'You must not die father,' the future was too terrible to contemplate. I laid my palsied hands upon his head and in a quivering voice prayed God to restore my father to life. At the end I opened my eyes and looked upon his face. His eyes were wide open and were clear and glittered like blue steel and in his natural voice he quietly said 'Well your not much of a soldier.' Twice within the last week I have been perfectly unmaned, for perhaps ten seconds each time, and the same sensations experienced on the occasion when I believed my father dead and I was gazing over his body into that gulf of dispair have the same feelings of despair assailed me. I never knew the torture of terror but these three times. I was wide awake each time and it took all the power I have in the priesthood to overcome this unknown terror. I know to some extent what the prophet Joseph [Smith] experienced when seized upon in the woods by that soul destroying power just previous to the appearing of our God & his Christ. [Brigham Young Jr. Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910-1951, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah 2010]

60 years ago today - Apr 21, 1966

BYU president Ernest L. Wilkinson gives what he, himself calls a "powerful address" that would "rock the campus from one end to the other." Wilkinson designs the speech to be controversial and hopes that it will generate discussion on campus, especially among "liberal" professors. He then instructs the newly-formed student spy ring to solicit and report on the "liberal" professors's reactions to the speech. One professor of political science, Ray Hillam, a target of the spy ring, learns about the spy ring and requests a formal hearing which Wilkinson uses to formally charge Hillam with being pro-communist and disloyal to BYU. Hillam, in the process of defending himself exposes the spy-ring and precipitates a major scandal for Wilkinson. Wilkinson privately confesses his role to the Board of Trustees but publicly denies it.

90 years ago today - Apr 21, 1936

[As pre-WWII tensions regarding Germany increased] President Clark called attention to the heavy deposits in the German-Austrian and SwissGerman Missions and recommended that steps be taken to get the deposits out of Germany. He thought it could be done by an exchange in Germany for Swiss money. The matter was discussed at some length and President Clark asked that he be reminded to take up the matter when he visits New York next. [First Presidency, Meeting with Presiding Bishopric, Minutes, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

105 years ago today - Apr 21, 1921

The IMPROVEMENT ERA publishes an article by James E. Talmadge on church discipline which says, "Should knowledge of any case of wrongdoing, or lack of harmony between or among members, come to the attention of the Bishopric of a Ward, it is their duty to delegate two or more priests or teachers to visit the parties concerned, and to try by brotherly mediation to bring about a reconciliation."

165 years ago today - Apr 21, 1861

[Wilford Woodruff] I +***** found on the Table A Deseret Extra News Containing the latest pony dispatch which says that war has Commenced. ... This is the Commencemet of the war at South Carolina in fulfillment of the Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet in 1832. ...Presidet Brigham Young in his instructions to the missionaries said now I want you to remember what I say to you. Now take care that you do not get to Sleep & let the devil take the advantage of you. You may do that in an hour that you cannot regain through all Eternity. ... And let the women alone, or it will prove a Curse to you. Here is George Grant. Has no wife. Now let him not think of a wife untill He gets back. This Corting women while you are abroad upon a mission is a miserable business. I would not give shucks for an Elder who Cannot go on a mission & keep Clean & Come back Clean. Now remember that. I have spent my Early life without women. ... Many Elders go out get to sleep & do wrong and they Come back and are good for Nothing & never will be. ... [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

60 years ago today - Apr 20, 1966

Stephen Hays Russell organized a dozen other Birch students in a room of BYU's Wilkinson Center. A non-student chapter leader of the Birch Society acted as guard for this organizing meeting of the BYU spy ring, the only time all would be together at once. These student-spies included the president of BYU's Young Americans For Freedom, three other members of YAF, and also Cleon Skousen's nephew. Academically, their majors included economics, political science, history, Asian studies, math, and zoology. Stephen Hays Russell acknowledged choosing ten students to assist in the "monitoring," yet his reservation for the room was for twenty persons and chairs. Fellow-spy Ronald Ira Hankin consistently claimed that Russell selected fifteen to twenty students to monitor the BYU professors. However, less than fifteen student-spies have been identified. What linked all these student-spies was their participation in the Provo chapter of the John Birch Society. The student-organizer of [the BYU] 1966 surveillance emphasized his association with Ezra Taft Benson. "On one occasion, the head of the John Birch Society in Utah County took me to the Church Office Building at Salt Lake City to meet Apostle Ezra Taft Benson," Stephen Hays Russell later wrote. "I was introduced to Brother Benson as a `key conservative student at Brigham Young University.'" [Interview of Ronald Ira Hankin by Ray C. Hillam and Louis C. Midgley, 17 Sept. 1966, Provo, Utah, transcript, 4-5, signed at the bottom of each page by Ronald I. Hankin, folder 5, Hillam Papers, and box 34, Buerger Papers; "Birchers Spied On Professors, Hialeah Student Said," Miami Herald, 3 Mar. 1967, A-32; Bergera and Priddis, Brigham Young University, 208; Stephen Hays Russell, Personal History of Stephen Hays Russell (N.P., 1983), 99. From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]

100 years ago today - Apr 20, 1926

[George F. Richards] I met D[avid] O. McKay, Jos[eph] F[ielding] Smith, S[tephen] L. Richards and J[ohn] A. Widtsoe of the Twelve at the Temple as a committee at 8:00 A.M. where we spent about 1 1/2 hours in consideration of the Temple ordinances with the purpose of suggesting certain changes in the reading of the Ritual of End[owment] & the ceremonies of the Temple. [George F. Richards diary, Apr. 20, 1926, quoted in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]

140 years ago today - Apr 20, 1886

[St. George Temple President] Advised all to get recommends from their Bishops signed by their President and by Pres[iden]t [John] Taylor and return[ed] to them before they leave home. Said those who marry outside of the church could attend to adoptions if they were recommended but should not [be] give[n] their endowments, because when they get their endowments they enter into covenants to have no sexual intercourse with the sons of Adam, except their lawful husbands, to whom they are given in the authority of the Holy Priesthood. (Pres[iden]t [John D. T.] McAllister Temple Pres[iden]t.) [Temple Minute Book, St. George, Apr. 20, 1886, quoted in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]

170 years ago today - Apr 20, 1856

[Brigham Young] Though we have it in history that our father Adam was made of the dust of this earth, and that he knew nothing about his God previous to being made here, yet it is not so; and when we learn the truth we shall see and understand that he helped to make this world, and was the chief manager in that operation. He was the person who brought the animals and the seeds from other planets to this world, and brought a wife with him and stayed here. You may read and believe what you please as to what is found written in the Bible. Adam was made from the dust of an earth, but not from the dust of this earth. He was made as you and I are made, and no person was ever made upon any other principle. Do you not suppose that he was acquainted with his associates who came and helped to make this earth? Yes, they were just as familiar with each other as we are with our children and parents. *** Yet Enoch had to talk with and teach his people during a period of three hundred and sixty years, before he could get them prepared to enter into their rest, and then he obtained power to translate himself and his people, with the region they inhabited, their houses, gardens, fields, cattle, and all their possessions. He had learned enough from Adam and his associates to know how to handle the elements, and those who would not listen to his teachings were so wicked that they were fit to be destroyed, and he obtained power to take his portion of the earth and move out a little while, where he remains to this day. [Journal of Discourses 3:319-320; Discourse delivered by President Brigham Young in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City; April 20, 1856, quoted from Quotations Dealing with the Relationship of Our First Earthly Parents to Our Heavenly Parents (1830-1978)]

180 years ago today - Sunday, Apr 19, 1846.

[Brigham Young] "I will order in the name of the Lord, and my counsel shall be obeyed." [Apostle Willard Richards Journal]

190 years ago today - Apr 19, 1836

[Wilford Woodruff] .... Br Smoot related the news to me from Br Patten which was glorious in the first degree. He gave me an account of the endowment at Kirtland Ohio. The heavens Was opened unto them. Angels & Jesus Christ was seen of them sitting at the right hand of the father. He also informed me that ... the second seventy was chosen & that I was one of the number. O God prepare me for the Battle while combating error with everlasting truth. The above are great blessings indeed. ... [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

120 years ago today - Apr 19, 1906

In view of the appalling accounts of distress resulting from the destruction by earthquake and fire of the city of San Francisco and other towns of California, it was decided, on motion of President [John R.] Winder, that the Church donate $10,000. towards the relief of the sufferers, and that Governor George C. Pardee be informed by telegraph that this amount has been placed to his credit for this purpose in the State Bank of Utah. [Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

135 years ago today - Apr 19, 1891

Six months after the Manifesto future apostle George F. Richards is told in a patriarchal blessing that he would "be blessed with wives and numerous prosperity." Richards does not enter into plural marriage, but he was sealed to six women "for eternity," two from consecutive monogamous marriages and four women after they were deceased.

195 years ago today - Apr 19, 1831

The Painesville Telegraph publishes a letter from Martin Harris that includes the earliest published version of the Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ. Joseph and Oliver are each "called of God and ordained an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the church." [Kenney, Scott, Saints Without Halos, "Mormon History 1830-1844," http://web.archive.org/web/20120805163534/saintswithouthalos.com/dirs/d_c.phtml]

155 years ago today - Apr 18, 1871 (Tuesday)

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the eminent litterateur, arrived in Salt Lake City, on a visit. [Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology]

120 years ago today - Apr 18, 1906

[J. Golden Kimball to John W. Taylor] Our hearts go out to you in sympathy, love and esteem because of your integrity, loyalty and patriotism to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We know, just as well as we know anything, that both you and Brother [Matthias F.] Cowley would look into a cannon's mouth and are more than willing to place all that you have and are upon the alt[a]r of sacrifice for the Church. While it is true that we do not understand the action taken against you brethren and cannot believe you are out of harmony with the Twelve Apostles, yet we are under the necessity, as things now stand, to allow matters to go just as they are. The Presidency of the Church and the Twelve Apostles assumed the responsibility of the action without asking the people to give their consent, further than to sustain the brethren who were chosen to fill the vacancies in the Council of the Twelve. The only thing we can do is to keep our mouths shut and wait until these difficulties are made clear or until we can understand why such action was taken. [J. Golden Kimball, Letter to John W. Taylor, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

185 years ago today - Apr 18, 1841

[William Smith interview] .... About the year 1823, there was a revival of religion in that region, and Joseph was one of several hopeful converts. The others were joining, some one church, and some another in that vicinity, but Joseph hesitated between the different denominations. While his mind was perplexed with this subject, he prayed for divine direction; and afterwards was awaked one night by an extraordinary vision. The glory of the Lord filled the chamber with a dazzling light, and a glorious angel appeared to him, conversed with him, and told him that he was a chosen vessel unto the Lord to make known true religion. The next day he went into the field; but he was unable to work, his mind being oppressed by the remembrance of the vision. He returned to the house, and soon after sent for his father and brothers from the field; and then, in presence of the family, (my informant one of them,) he related all that had occurred. They were astounded, but not altogether incredulous. After this, he had other similar visions, in one of which the existence of certain metallic plates was revealed to him and their location described--about three miles off, in a pasture ground. The next day he went alone to the spot, and by digging discovered the plates in a sort of rude stone box. They were eight or ten inches long, less in width, about the thickness of panes of glass; and together, made a pile about five or six inches high. They were in a good state of preservation, had the appearance of gold, and bore inscriptions in strange characters on both sides. He brought them home, but was unable to read them. He afterwards made a facsimile of some parts of the inscription, and sent it to professor Anthon of New York city. The professor pronounced the characters to be ancient Hebrew corrupted, and the language to be degenerate Hebrew with a mixture of Egyptian. He could decypher only one entire word. After this Joseph Smith was supernaturally assisted to read and to understand the inscription; and he was directed to translate a great part of it. The pages which he was not to translate were found to be sealed together, so that he did not even read them and learn their contents. With an assistant to correct his English, he translated so much of the inscription as now makes the book of Mormon. He kept the plates a long time in his chamber, and after translating from them, he repeatedly showed them to his parents and to other friends. But my informant said, he had never seen them. At length he was directed by a vision to bury the plates again in the same manner; which he accordingly did. ... [James Murdock to Congregational Observer, 19 June 1841, "The Mormons and Their Prophet," Congregational Observer (Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut) 2 (3 July 1841): 1. Reprinted in Peoria Register and North-Western Gazetteer (Peoria, Illinois), 3 September 1841., as cited in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents: William Smith Interview With James Murdock]

60 years ago today - Apr 16, 1966

A Birch member in Arizona wrote a letter to "all of the General Authorities," which said "Brother [Mark E.] Petersen's article was a tragic and regrettable mistake," and added a few lines later that the "Communists and their dupes have directed their attacks and smear campaign against the John Birch Society . . ." Petersen's editorial was "a shocking smear I'm sure the Church doesn't condone," according to a "Letter to the Editor" which the Deseret News refused to print. This Mormon Bircher concluded: "Elder Petersen owes an apology to the readers of the Church News for the unwarrantable and unauthorized innuendos." [Joe H. Ferguson to "All General Authorities," 16 Apr. 1966, 4, with postscript to "Mark" (Mark E. Anderson). From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]

170 years ago today - Apr 15, 1856

While reading the revelation upon the patriarchal marriage & While reading that paragraph relating to the sheding of innocent Blood President Young remarked that that was a vary nice point to distinguish between innocent Blood & that which is not innocent. Were we now Commanded to go & avenge the Blood of the prophets whare it wood reach infants from the Cradle to the third & forth generation would they know what to do in such a case? They would not. But there is one thing that is a consolation to me And that is I am satisfied that the Lord will not require it of this people untill they become sanctifyed & are led by the spirit of God so as not to shed inocent Blood. Again what does the saying mean that sayes all shall be damned that does not keep this Law unto whom it is revealed? Does it mean that they shall take more wives than one? I think it includes the whole law with its covenants. ... President B. Young then wrote the following words to be put upon one of the Stones of the Temple: Holiness to the Lord The Temple of our God Built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Commenced on the 6th day of April A.D. 1853. [Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

35 years ago today - Apr 17,1991

Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Utah "ranks last in proportion of students who are female" throughout the United States. This is result of Utah's "traditions that inhibit the educational progress of women." [Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power, Appendix 5, Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1848-1996, http://amzn.to/extensions-power]

45 years ago today - Apr 17, 1981-Friday

In almost every group to which I am invited to speak, the speaker introduces me as the Church Historian. When they ask me my position, I tell them of my BYU professorship and the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute directorship. And when they ask my secretary for a sheet to use in introducing me, I very clearly indicate the professorship and directorship. Yet they continually say Church Historian. I have finally developed a rationale for this. For me personally it is significant that I was sustained as Church Historian by the general conference in April 1972 and have never been released by the general conference. Elder [G. Homer] Durham says that I was released in 1978, and he and Earl Olson say that publicly, yet there has been no public statement from the First Presidency saying this, nor any letter to me saying so. My assumption is that Elder Durham wrote a letter for the First Presidency to himself, had them sign it, and this suggests in ambiguous terms that I was released in favor of the bureaucratic title Director, History Division. But in the minds of the Saints I am still the Church Historian. It now occurs to me that this is part of a general church practice of continuing to refer to people by titles they have held for a considerable period of time, and which it is tradition to continue to call them by. Thus, once a bishop always a bishop, and people continue to call him Bishop Jones long after he is released. Or President Smith long after his release from a stake presidency. Students of USU who used to know me as counselor to [stake] President Reed Bullen continue to call me President Arrington. In that same sense, then, people continue to call me Church Historian Leonard Arrington. From that point of view it is still true even if Elders Durham and Olson say it isn't. And who is the Church Historian? Elder Durham? People would never do it-he was never sustained as such, never called that, never will be unless formally sustained as such. Without a replacement, it is natural for them to assume that I must still be Church Historian. [Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018]

60 years ago today - Apr 16, 1966

Ezra Taft Benson met with McKay and described "The 1976 Committee," to be composed of 100 prominent men from throughout the country, which proposed to nominate Benson for president and Thurmond for vice president. McKay repeated his resistance to forming a third party, to which Benson replied that he also was "opposed to this, but this Committee and movement might result in a realignment between the two political parties." McKay responded "that this nation is rapidly moving down the road of soul-destroying socialism, and that I hoped and prayed that the efforts of the 1976 Committee would be successful in stemming the tide." He told Benson "to let them go ahead and wait and see what develops." Benson presented him with proposed statements that he and McKay might make if the committee moved as planned to propose his nomination, to which McKay agreed. McKay's statement ended with the words "his doing so has my full approval." [David O. McKay diary; Gregory A. Prince and Wm. Robert Write, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press (2005)]

120 years ago today - Apr 16, 1906

[Angus M. Cannon] .... I called upon Pres[ident]. [Heber J.] Grant, in his bedroom, before he was up and talked matters over with him relating to the ordination of 2 additional members of the 'Twelve.' ... I feel that the two brethren [i.e., John W. Taylor and Matthias F. Cowley] who have been supplanted have only been suspended, temporarily, from necessity to keep the Church from persecution. He said:'I feel they have proved refractory after taking upon themselves the responsibility to marry people, if not to take wives themselves, without God's justification,'as witness: Abraham H. Cannon, A[braham]. O[wen]. Woodruff & M[arriner]. W[ood]. Merrill's early death, who evidently did take upon themselves, to do that which we agreed should not be done. I replied:'Bro[ther]. Grant,'the late President Brigham Young, once said:'Hansen Walker, a Bishop who lived at Pleasant Grove, Utah, had eaten so much stolen beef he could not talk and that is how I am situated. I know so much, that I cannot talk hence I will not say more, than that I cannot understand, knowing what I do, how brethren can vote to suspend those two brethren from their positions perm[a]n[e]ntly. He replied:''I do not blame brethren who have gone into that principle, through these two mens instrumentality or ministrations, for they cannot be held to be equally guilty, but I know: I could not get liberty to do what I wished without committing a breach of good faith, when I hoped to have a son to bear my name,'and now it appears as if I must have my name blotted out from the earth.' I dare say no more but realized he did not take in the scope of my thoughts. Hence I changed the subject. [Angus M. Cannon Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910-1951, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah 2010]

190 years ago today - Apr 16, 1836

Future-apostle Charles C. Rich describes his endowment ceremony-experience in the Kirtland Temple: "We then continued to fast and pray until the setting of the sun when we Broke Bread and Drank wine[.] we prophesied all night pronouncing blessings and cursings until the morning light[.] there was Great manifestations of the power of God . . . and I was filled with the spirit of prophesy and I was endued with power from on high."

180 years ago today - Apr 15, 1846. Wednesday.

[William Clayton] This morning Ellen Kimball came to me and wishes me much joy. She said Diantha [his wife, who had not yet joined the pioneers] has a son. I told her I was afraid it was not so but she said Brother [Samuel] Pond had received a letter. I went over to Pond's and he read that she had a fine fat boy on the 30th ult. but she was very sick with ague and mumps. Truly I feel to rejoice at this intelligence but feel sorry to hear of her sickness. ... This morning I composed a new song, "All is well." I feel to thank my heavenly father for my boy and pray that he will spare and preserve his life and that of his mother and so order it so that we may soon meet again. [George D. Smith, An Intimate Chronicle; The Journals of William Clayton, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1995, http://bit.ly/WilliamClayton]

180 years ago today - 1846 Apr 15

Warsaw Signal: Endowment exposé [https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ttN3vOzf2UcVhruCrvDf9pF27T0o0PP0Xj1X98tKBc/edit?fbclid=IwAR3HXLgL-X-M_c5LT2W-_F7AYqsqqaQ0yIhfNuyeFsX85irSPuEO6_Q993A]

60 years ago today - Apr 13, 1966

Ernest Wilkinson and Skousen conversed about the John Birch Society: "We would probably agree with 90% of their principles but we both believe that Ezra Taft Benson has made some tactical or procedural errors in trying to vouch President McKay in on everything he has done . . ." [Wilkinson diary, 13 Apr. 1966. From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]

170 years ago today - Apr 13, 1856

[Orson Pratt] Our first parents through transgressing the law of God, brought death into the world, but through the death of Jesus Christ, life and immortality were introduced. The one brings into bondage; the other gives us hope of escape, of redemption, that we may come forth with the same kind of body that Adam had before the fall, a body of immortal flesh and bones. Adam and Eve were immortal, the same as resurrected beings, but previous to their transgression they had no knowledge of good and evil. After the redemption we will not only have the same kind of bodies that they possessed in the garden of Eden before the fall, but we will have a knowledge of good and evil through our experience. [J. D. 3:344; Discourse by Orson Pratt delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City; April 13, 1856, quoted in Quotations Dealing with the Relationship of Our First Earthly Parents to Our Heavenly Parents (1830-1978)]

130 years ago today - Apr 13, 1896

[Brigham Young jr.] [Ephraim, Sanpete Co. Considerable excitement over action on former apostle Moses Thatcher] People think he has been reigned up now in his sickness, when the fact is he has been rebellious since the death of Pres[iden]t Jno. Taylor. He has continued to seek to thwart his brethren of the Presidency and Twelve since, he became enraged about "Bullion Beck" business. His spite against Geo[rge] Q. Cannon--and unjustly too [as] far as I know--has soured his mind Pres[iden]t Woodruff says he has sought to rule over his brethren other apostles say Moses has sought to exercise unrighteous dominion over his brethren. How we have wept and prayed over this man. He has caused more tears to flow from my eyes than all my other griefs private & public since the death of Pres[ident] Jno. Taylor. I pray for Moses--for the Lord to soften his heart. Some say he has bad advisers. He is weak now in mind & body but his rebellion began when he was in health. [Diary of Apostle Brigham Young Jr., http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

125 years ago today - Thursday, Apr 11, 1901

At Eleven a.m. Presidents Lorenzo Snow and Joseph F. Smith joined us [the apostles]. We agreed to a Rule that we would rise and address the Presiding officer. [Jean Bickmore White (editor), Church, State, and Politics: The Diaries of John Henry Smith, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1990, http://bit.ly/johnhenrysmith]

170 years ago today - Apr 14, 1856

I hear that Jacob Lance who was under arrest in Lehi Utah County for an assault with an intent to commit a Rape? on a Danish woman, this morning while his guards were snoozing and he either asleep or nodding had his head split asunder by a woman supposed to be the injured one, who came in and split his head with an axe then gently retiring with out saying a word [Diaries of Hosea Stout]

100 years ago today - Apr 13, 1926

[Heber J. Grant] I know of no instance where the Lord has appeared to an individual since His appearance to the Prophet Joseph Smith. [Heber J. Grant, Letter to Mrs. Claud Peery, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

120 years ago today - Apr 13, 1906

[James Henry Martineau] Lyman Sherman joined the church in 1831, Was the first who ever spoke in tongues in this dispensation. Prest [Heber C.] Kimball told me that L. R. S. was the sweetest singer in tongues in the church, and was Joseph's "right hand man." in Missouri. [An Uncommon Common Pioneer: The Journals of James Henry Martineau 1828-1918, edited by Donald G. Godfrey XXX Rebecca S. Martineau-McCarty]

160 years ago today - 1866. April 13

Butch Cassidy: Born Robert LeRoy Parker in Beaver, Utah, the eldest of thirteen children. He was baptized at the age of eight. Temple work was performed in his behalf by his brother-in-law in 1945. [Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

115 years ago today - Apr 11, 1911

Replying to Senator Reed Smoot's urgent appeal for an official statement on post-Manifesto polygamy, President [Joseph F.] Smith wired: "If the President inquire about new polygamy, tell him the truth, tell him that Prest. Cannon was the first to conceive the idea that the Church could consistently countenance polygamy beyond confines of the republic where there was no law against it, and consequently he authorized the solemnization of plural marriages in Mexico and Canada after manifesto of 1890, and the men occupying presiding positions who became polygamists since the manifesto married in good faith under those circumstances. This being the case could we consistently be expected to humiliate them by releasing them?" [Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]

60 years ago today - April 12, 15 1966

McKay learned that his statement on communism was not to be published. Confronting the editor of the Church News, McKay said "Well it should go in. I made that statement to 85,000 Priesthood members; the press has it, and many recordings have been made of it. I think it had better go in." Hugh B. Brown and N. Elden Tanner had McKay's son Lawrence ask McKay to omit that portion. [David O. McKay diary as referenced in Gregory A. Prince and Wm. Robert Write, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press (2005)]

60 years ago today - Apr 12, 1966

[David O. McKay] Attention was called to the application of Sister I--- R------- P----- for permission to do the sealing work in the Temple for her father, Joseph E. Robinson, and his three wives. ... Attention was also called to a ruling made by me on March 3, 1964, [that] * "in the case of polygamous marriages performed in Mexico before the Manifesto, and there [is] no official record, the work should be done again." ... I stated that if the polygamous marriage took place prior to the state ment by President Joseph F. Smith in 1904 to the effect that polygamous marriages could not be solemnized anywhere in the world, * the work could be performed for the parties concerned or the President of the Church could ratify the marriages that had been performed. It was agreed that the simpler way would be to ratify the marriages * We reversed the decision made in our meeting of March 23, 1966, and ruled that it would be inadvisable to ratify purported sealings performed for Joseph E. Robinson and three women. In giving this matter further consideration, we had in mind that were the Church to adopt the policy of ratifying polygamous marriages that took place prior to the announcement by President Joseph F. Smith in 1904 * it would let down the flood gates and descendants of many polygamous marriages performed after the Manifesto would make application for permission to have the purported sealings of their parents or grandparents ratified, and perhaps in some cases where the individuals entering into these relationships have been excommunicated from the Church, there would be individuals such as cultists and others. The former action was therefore rescinded and it was decided to notify Sister I--- R------- P----- that the case of Joseph E. Robinson and the three women referred to would have to be left in the hands of the Lord for decision by Him in the Hereafter. [David O. McKay diary, Mar. 23, Apr. 12, 1966; hyphens added to conceal the individual's identity, in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]

105 years ago today - Apr 12, 1921

[George F. Richards] We also had an interview in my room with Sister Nellie Taylor widow of [excommunicated apostle] John W. Taylor who made quite a preachment and declared her loyalty to President Grant and after I had explained the three classes, the valient, the ne[u]tral, and the rebellious, she said that while she had felt that she sustained the authorities she now believes she was among the neutral. She hoped to be among the vali[a]nt in the future. [George F. Richards, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

160 years ago today - Apr 12, 1866

Deseret News reports the murder of S. Newton Brassfield on 2 Apr. He legally married a plural wife of an absent Mormon missionary, and the News editorializes that "the illegally [sic] married couple would probably have been suffered to pursue their way to their own liking," except that she files for custody of her children. News also reports Brigham Young's sermon about Brassfield's murder: "Were I absent from my home [on a mission], I would rejoice to know that I had friends there to protect and guard the virtue of my household; and I would thank God for such friends." [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]

165 years ago today - Apr 12, 1861

Officially, Governor Cumming was on a leave of absence, but the citizens of Utah knew that his hasty departure meant that he did not intend to return. General Albert Sidney Johnston, another leading figure in the territory, also left the area during the same period. Both men's actions were a result of events in South Carolina on 12 April 1861, when the Confederate Army attacked the federal garrison at Fort Sumter. [Utah History Encyclopedia: Civil War, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/]

180 years ago today - Apr 12, 1846

[Brigham Young] "There are men among us who are passing counterfeit money and have done it all the time since we left Nauvoo, and there men among who will steal and these things must be stopped. When we once get properly situated so where every man will have plenty, there will no more need to Steal and if a man does steal when he has no need, the law will be put in force. Some plead our suffering from our enemies and say they are justified in stealing from our enemies because they have robbed us, but suppose we suffer much to take this course, what effect will it have, it will destroy the Kingdom of God and from this time fourth I caution the brethren to watch those who pass counterfeit money and when they find them we will take care of them, and let them go to the Gentiles to bring destruction upon us. There are men who eat at my and feed their teams on my corn and the first opportunity pass a counterfeit bill to bring a mob upon us I want a stop put to this business. The United States are a perfect set of bogus themselves from the President down to the hog whiper in the street, and if a pure principle were come to them they would never cease their operation till they made bogus of it. ... " [Journal History of the Church, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]

150 years ago today - Apr 11, 1876

Stake president and future apostle Francis M. Lyman spends the day studying Buddhism and Confucianism. Four days later he studies Hindu philosophy for half-day. [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]

165 years ago today - Apr 11, 1861

The President [Brigham Young] had some conversation with Pres- [ident] D.H. Wells about the Signs of the times. They were speaking of the Spirit of Secession that prevails in California. The President remarked the Lord will first disunite them. He could not establish his Kingdom while they were united together, so he separates them. ... This Nation continued the President will become like the Toes of the Image, and the toes will be ground first, then the ankles and so on. -- Salt Lake City [Brigham Young Office Journals, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]

170 years ago today - Apr 11, 1856

[Heber C. Kimball marriage] wife #42. Elizabeth Doty (Cravath Murray Brown), 1808-1889. Mother of Helen Mar's sister-wife, time only. [Hatch, Charles M. and Compton, Todd M. editors, 'A Widow's Tale: 1884-1896 Diary of Helen Mar Kimball Whitney' p. 37]

185 years ago today - Apr 11, 1841

Joseph Smith and Rigdon rebaptize each other for remission of sins and "renewal of covenants." Church leaders would promote rebaptism for all members during a religious reformation beginning May 1842. In the future, four temples would perform 7,788 baptisms for renewal of covenants from 1877 through 1893. This ordinance would be officially discontinued in 1922. [Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Appendix 7: Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47, http://amzn.to/origins-power]

30 years ago today - Apr 10, 1996

Mormon investors announce they are purchasing Southern Virginia College (SVC), four months after it loses accreditation as a two-year school and one month before its closing, to turn it into a Mormon school without official sponsorship by LDS headquarters. The likely success of this unprecedented idea is indicated by its announcement in the Church News and choice of David Ferrel as the college's new president. He is a senior employee of recently appointed general authority Richard B. Wirthlin who formally endorses the school. Having arranged for LDS congressmen to pressure the accrediting association to reconsider its decision, the newly installed Mormon trustees announce that SVC will be a four-year college with a starting freshman class of 400 students who meet the same standards of conduct and entrance requirements as at BYU. [The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]

70 years ago today - Apr 10, 1956

[J. Reuben Clark] [During a telephone conversation with Utah Governor J. Bracken Lee:] Gov. Lee: I said to them [non-members] you are never going to have any success in Utah unless you let the leaders of the Church give you some advice. You better make it a point to talk with the Church officials to find out if they are going along with it or not. [The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961, Abridged, Digital Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah 2015]

120 years ago today - Apr 10, 1906

[George F. Richards] "Pres[iden]t Lyman and John Henry Smith especially were emphatic in the denunciation of the actions of those brethren who had been teaching and practicing plural marriage since the issuance of the manifesto [illegible] and in sustaining Pres[iden]ts [Wilford] Woodruff, [Lorenzo] Snow & [Joseph F.] Smith in the attitude they have taken on that question. We by motion [e]ndorsed Pres[iden]t Lymans views." [George F. Richards, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

125 years ago today - Apr 10, 1901

The Oregon Shortline Railroad returned to the Church a check for $2,176.20, the amount charged on the freight for the material used in the reconstruction of the Tabernacle organ. This is done by the railroad to show appreciation for the many recitals and courtesies extended by the Church authorities in behalf of tourists traveling over that line and passing through Salt Lake City. [Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

135 years ago today - Apr 9, 1891

The polygamist [Hans] Jespersen, who is now in prison, and was married in the Endowment House just before it was demolished, threatens to tell who performed the ceremony unless something is done for him immediately. The person [Franklin D. Richards] is liable, if discovered, to two years' imprisonment and a $1,000.00 fine, for officiating in a plural marriage. It was decided that F[rancis] M. Lyman and James Jack visit him and others of the 18 brethren now imprisoned, tomorrow, and assure them that no pains shall be spared to effect their release. They will be advised to sign a dispatch to the U.S. Att[orne]y. Gen[era]'l in Washington [D.C.], promising hereafter to obey the law. Jespersen is to be counseled to telegraph to Utah Pros[ecuting] Att[orne]y [Charles S.] Varian, who is now in Washington, making a similar promise. Thus the effort will be made to immediately relieve these brethren, who are now confined in their cells for 22 out of 24 hrs., and are not by themselves, but mixed up with the "toughs." Warden [Oscar] Vandercook will be asked to authenticate the prisoners' messages. [Abraham H. Cannon (Author), Edward Leo Lyman (Editor), Candid Insights of a Mormon Apostle: The Diaries of Abraham H. Cannon, 1889-1895, Signature Books]

195 years ago today - Apr 9, 1831

A weekly Universalist paper in Utica publishes a letter from A. W. B. [Abram W. Benton] of South Bainbridge, New York about Joseph's 1826 and 1830 treasure seeking trials. In the first, "considering his youth, (he being then a minor,) and thinking he might reform his conduct, he was designedly allowed to escape." In the summer of 1830 Joseph was arraigned again. Oliver testified "that said Smith found with the plates, from which he translated his book, two transparent stones, resembling glass, set in silver bows. That by looking through these, he was able to read in English, the reformed Egyptian characters, which were engraved on the plates." Josiah Stowell testified that he and Joseph almost succeeded in treasure seeking, but "did not get quite to it!" Addison Austin testified that he asked Joseph "to tell him honestly whether he could see this money or not. Smith hesitated some time, but finally replied, 'to be candid, between you and me, I cannot, any more than you or any body else; but any way to get a living.'" [Kenney, Scott, Saints Without Halos, "Mormon History 1830-1844," http://web.archive.org/web/20120805163534/saintswithouthalos.com/dirs/d_c.phtml]

145 years ago today - Friday, Apr 8, 1881

At 10 rode with Prest. [John] Taylor to the Council of 50-George Reynolds admitted a member. G[eorge] Q. C[annon] gave charge &c. etc. Prest Taylor occupied morning with a Discourse upon the nature & objects of the Council[.] Adj[ourned] till 2.p.m. 2 p.m. John R. Winder & John T. Ca[i]ne were admitted to membership & received charge obligation & pass word from the Secretary Geo Q. Cannon. Prest. J[oseph] F. Smith justified the course of the last Legislature [as] also did Prest L[orenzo] Snow[,] Prest of Legislative Council[.] Adjournd til May 18-10 a.m. to consider certain points. [Franklin D. Richards journal, as quoted in Jedediah S. Rogers (editor), The Council of Fifty: A Documentary History, Signature Books (2014)]

120 years ago today - Apr 6, 1906

Pres. Joseph F. Smith stated, "we expect to see the day, if we live long enough (and if some of us do not live long enough to see it, there are others who will), when every council of the Priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will understand its duty; will assume its own responsibility, will magnify its calling, and fill its place in the Church, to the uttermost, according to the intelligence and ability possessed by it. when that day shall come, there will not be so much necessity for work that is now being done by the auxiliary organizations, because it will be done by the regular quorums of the Priesthood." This statement became the "touchstone" for all future correlation efforts. [Correlation Timeline, Compiled by Lisle Brown]

75 years ago today - Sun Apr 8, 1951

[David O. McKay Office Journal] 4:30 p.m.--Special council meeting was held in the Salt Lake Temple. Presented to the Twelve the names of my counselors--Elder Stephen L. Richards as First Counselor, and Pres. J. Reuben Clark, Jr. as Second Counselor. [McKay, David O., Office Journal]

125 years ago today - Apr 8, 1901; Monday

Meeting of Presidency, Apostles & Church Officers. Prest. [Lorenzo] Snow said that persons who are recom- mended for second anointings should be those who have made an exceptional record, that they are persons who will never apostatize. Prests. of Stakes assume a great responsibility when they recommend persons for second anointings. ... Conference Report, Apr. 1901, 57-58. Now I [Lorenzo Snow] wish to say a word in regard to going back to Jackson County [Missouri]. The time is nearer than many of us suppose. I want to impress upon the minds of all that they cannot go back to Jackson Co. unless the[y] obey the law of tithing. Jos[eph] Smith had a book in which all of the names of tithe payers was recorded which was called the Book of the law of the Lord. This church as a church will never go back to Jackson Co. till the people learn to observe the law of the Lord. I fear that some of the bishops do not fully believe in the law of tithing. Excellent counsel. Heber [J. Grant] sang ["]The Holy City.["] Should Masquerade balls be permitted among the Saints? We do not approve of such parties but they should be controlled by kindness & persuasion & not by coer[c]ion. Bro. Jos[eph]. F. Smith said no man receives a fullness of the Melchisedec Priesthood till he has recd his second anointings. Men recommended for this sacred ordinance should be men of God whose faith & integrity are unquestioned. Heber J. Grant spoke. Referred to his singing as an example that a person can accomplish anything which he undertakes to do. ...Apostle John W. Taylor said when the Apostles or Priests. of 70 visited the stakes don't put 2 in 1 bed but give them a clean bad & good house keeper. He killed 143 bed bugs in one bed at one time. [Anderson, Elizabeth Oberdick, editor, Cowboy Apostle: The Diaries of Anthony W. Ivins: 1875-1932, Signature Books, Salt Lake City in association with the Smith-Pettit Foundation (2013) - http://bit.ly/AnthonyIvins]

130 years ago today - Apr 8, 1896

Elder Franklin D. Richards called on Presidents Woodruff and Smith, and presented to the President the key of the Nauvoo [Illinois] Temple. He had received it from sister Elizabeth E. Rice of Hooper [Utah], widow of Leonard G. Rice of Farmington [Utah]. She explained how the key came into her possession. The Committee left in charge of the Nauvoo temple, after the expulsion of the Saints, consisted of Almon Babbitt, brothers [Joseph L.] Heyw[oo]d, and [John S.] Fullmer. When the Temple was destroyed, the key was in the possession of brother Babbitt. Martha Babbitt, a cousin of A[lmon]. W. Babbitt and a sister of sister Rice, was living in the Babbitt family, and thus obtained the key. She came to Utah and lived in Farmington, but on going East on account of her health, she left some things in charge of her sister. Martha died at Kanesville [Iowa]. The key thus came into the possession of sister Rice, who had been solicited many times to sell the key, but she would not part with it even to her children, feeling that she would rather it should go to the President of the Church. President Woodruff was very pleased to receive it, and as sister Rice was in poor circumstances, he made her a present of $10. [Journal History, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]

185 years ago today - Apr 8, 1841. Thursday.

[Revelation to Joseph Smith] Verily thus saith the Lord let all those my saints who are assaying to do my will gather themselves together upon the land opposite to Nauvoo and build a city unto my name and let the name of Zarahemla be named upon it. And all who come from the east and West and North and South who have desires let them settle in Zarahemla that they may be prepared for that which is in store for a time to come &c. [George D. Smith, An Intimate Chronicle; The Journals of William Clayton, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1995, http://bit.ly/WilliamClayton]