On this day in Mormon History
http://TodayInMormonHistory.com/
-- 190 years ago today - 180 years - Jul 31, 1835 --
Patriarchal Blessing of Loren Babbit given by Joseph Smith, Sr. ... if thou wilt keep the commandments of God and observe the word of Wisdom[,] Thou shalt live to see thy three score years and ten and be satisfied with life... thou shalt be useful unto thy fellow men. through the seventy years: of thy life which thou mayest live upon the earth, if thou desire. (1)
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-- 180 years ago today - 170 years - Jul 31, 1845 --
Thursday prayer circle meeting of males at 4 p.m. at Willard Richards's office where "prayers were offered for a number of the sick and for several other general subjects" . However, female members of the Anointed Quorum were told that there was "no prayer meeting to day" . (2)
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-- 130 years ago today - Jul 31, 1895 --
Sisters Z[ina] D H Young, Jane S. Richards, Bathsheba B Smith & M I Horne & Emily T. Richards being together'The 3 Presidents & I & later John H[enry]. Smith we listened to the views of the Presidency to the sisters as to the course they should pursue in their political relations & labors as suffragists & as Democrats, very clear pointed & energetic instructions as to political principles and to practice. (3)
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-- 125 years ago today - 115 years - Jul 31, 1900; Tuesday --
[Anthony Ivins]
Prest. [Joseph F.] Smith informed me that his visit was primarily to meet [BYU President] Bro. [Benjamin] Cluff [Jr.] & advise him to either disband his expedition [to look for Book of Mormon evidence in South America] or reorganize it. ... Prest. Smith said for some time reports had reached the Presidency from this expedition which were alarming. The idea had been conveyed that this was a church expedition. ... Bro. Cluff spoke. Said he greatly desired to go forward. If he returned now the expedition would be a failure & his reputation was worth [more] to him than his life. ... Prest. Smith said that he would not be placed in a position to be held responsible for the act of any individual you must choose for yourself. ... (4)
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-- 90 years ago today - 80 years - Jul 31, 1935 --
[J. Reuben Clark & David O. McKay letter]
We have your letter of July 29, 1935, dealing with the question of the handling of certain persons who, it would appear from your letter, are living in adultery, and trying to cloak their relations under the guise of plural marriage.
We enclose herewith a copy of the circular letter, dated Jun 17, 1933, by the First Presidency, and which covers the situation fully.
You will see from this circular that these people, if living as supposed, are not living the law of plural marriage, but are, on the contrary, simply adulterers.
From your statement it would seem that these people are committing crimes against the laws of Arizona. If this be true it is your duty to assist the civil offices in their efforts to uphold and enforce the law.
You are of course familiar as to the steps to be taken in the matter of excommunication from the Church, and you should proceed against these people at once in order to purge the Church of sin. (5)
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-- 50 years ago today - Jul 31, 1975-Thursday --
[Leonard Arrington]
Today Russell Williams called Earl [Olson], myself, and Maureen [Beecher] to his office. And he told us that we are at liberty to keep Maureen on as a member of our staff after she has her baby. Her case in my letter caused the personnel people to go to the Legal Department of the Church and to other legal firms to get opinions as to whether they could continue the practice they had been following of terminating the services of employees upon going to the hospital to have their babies. Brother Williams wrote a three-paragraph one-page letter to the First Presidency reporting the results of these legal decisions which obviously were that the Church was no longer exempt from the applications of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.
The brethren in their meeting apparently decided to permit Sister Beecher to retain employment and to do the same for other female employees who might be pregnant. With such a decision having been made and approved by President [Marion G.] Romney in consultation with Brother Williams, it is now up to the personnel people to work out the terms to be arranged-how much sick leave will be permitted and so on before they return to work. Brother Williams is now in the process of working out these details. He wanted to give to us the result of the policy change to assure Maureen that she will be retained, but suggests that not much be said about it yet until there is a public announcement until after the details have been worked out.
Maureen, of course, was very happy as was I and Earl. After our return, Maureen and I had a moment of prayer in my office. (6)
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1 - Patriarchal Blessing Book 1:112-113, 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
2 - Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Signature Books, 1994, Appendex: Meetings and Initiations of the Anointed Quorum, 1842-45, http://amzn.to/origins-power
3 - 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
4 - 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
5 - J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay, Letter to Charles C. Heaton, 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
6 - Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018
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