On this day in Mormon History
http://TodayInMormonHistory.com/
-- 220 years ago today - Dec 23, 1805 --
Smith is born in Sharon, Vermont to Joseph Smith, Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. Vermont residents recall that Smith, Sr. told them the young Joseph was born with a caul (a sign of good luck), and that Smith, Sr. "intended to procure a stone for [him] to see all over the world with". (1)
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-- 180 years ago today - Dec 23, 1845 --
["Bogus Brigham" arrest]
About two oclock a company of the governors troops came in the city with a United States writ for some of 12 and came to the Temple and while they were there not knowing what to do Br William Miller & G. D. Grant came down out of the Temple and started to Brigham carriage and as they were going Br Grant called Br Miller President Young & asked him if he did not want to take a ride and the officer hearing what was said immediately arrested Br Miller and took him down to the Mansion House and from thence to Carthage not knowing but they had Br Young until they had got there. (2)
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Apostle Willard Richards and a new bride entered into a mutual covenant of marriage for time and eternity, without having Young or anyone else perform this as an ordinance. Richards (who was official Church Recorder of all temple ordinances) recorded the words of the ceremony, as the couple holds each other by the hand: "of our own free will and avow[, we] mutually acknowledge each other [as] husband & wife, in a covenant not to be broken in time or Eternity for time and for all Eternity, to all intents & purposes as though the seal of the covenant had been placed upon us. for time & all Eternity." He did not have this ceremony re-performed in the temple. (3)
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-- 180 years ago today - Dec 23, 1845. Tuesday. --
[William Clayton]
.... At 3 o clock John Scott informed George D. Grant that an officer and assistants were watching for President Young and others at the front door of the Temple. Brother Grant carried the information to President Young, who soon devised a scheme by which their intentions to carry him off might be frustrated.
He directed William Miller who was present at the time, to put on Elder Kimball's cloak, and go down with Geo. D. Grant to his carriage, at the door. They accordingly went down, and as Mr. Miller was about to get into the carriage, with Elder Grant, the officer and 5 or 6 of his assistants arrested him, supposing it to be President B. Young. They were about to drive away with him, having made their boasts that they would get as many of the Twelve as they could, take them down to Warsaw, and have a new Years frolic killing them, but were persuaded to drive to the Nauvoo Mansion and tarry until tomorrow morning when the validity of the writ would be tested.
They were kept in profound ignorance of their mistake all the time. ...
Esquire Babbitt came in at 5 o clock and reports that the Officer who arrested Wm. Miller (supposing it to be President Young) has left the city, and gone to Carthage, with the prisoner, continuing ignorant of his mistake. Mr. Edmonds, a partner of Mr. Babbitts, has gone with them to act as counsel for the prisoner. The Officer has writs for B. Young, P. P. Pratt, H. C. Kimball, John Taylor, Geo. A. Smith, Amasa Lyman and T[heodore] Turley who are all charged with counterfeiting the coin of the United States with President Young . . .
At 20 minutes past 8 o clock, President Brigham Young, H. C. Kimball, P. P. Pratt, George A. Smith and Amasa Lyman left the Temple, nearly at the same time, disguised with other mens Hats and Coats. The reason of this is that their enemies are seeking their lives charging them with high crimes &c . . . (4)
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-- 120 years ago today - Saturday, Dec 23, 1905 --
[John Henry Smith]
South Royalton, Vermont
The Prophet Joseph Smith is one hundred years old today.
... At 11 a.m. services were held in the Cottage owing to the storm. ...President Joseph F. Smith offered the Dedicatory Prayer.
Singing by Choir. Benediction by George Albert Smith. ..
The monument wont cost less than $25,000.00. It is of gray granite polished and about 53 feet high.... (5)
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-- 115 years ago today - Dec 23, 1910; Friday --
[George F. Richards]
My brother Fred came down from Logan [Utah] and I spent an hour with him and my mother at her home and after his departure at 3:30 to go down town and attend to business, I talked with Mother upon a subject about which we have never before conversed.
She told me about President Brigham Young's treatment of Father Willard [Richards]'s family after his death. Father Willard as Church Historian had his office in his home where my mother and his sister Sarah lived. At his death the office effects, papers, records &c were removed from there and when certain papers were wanted and could not be found Brigham came over to their home and charged them with having purloined them for the purpose of getting money out of them later "as did Emma Smith." Mother and Aunt Sarah disclaimed any knowledge of them and he in a gruff manner insisted that they had them and commanded them to tear open their feather beds, which of course they did not do, and when they shed the tears of broken hearts and wounded spirits he charged them with shedding crocodile tears. Bro[ther]. Robert Campbell later told the folks that the papers had been found but no apology was ever offered. The women took in sewing and did what they could at maintaining
themselves and raised what they could in their garden. It was in a conspicuous place where the present Des[eret]. News building stands & in the rear. Brigham told Tho[ma]s. L. Kane the administrator of the estate that that family must be moved from there. Brigham told him to have them moved to Farmington [Utah] and it was done to the sorrow and almost breaking of their hearts. This the cause of the move because these widows were seen working in the garden which was a shame and a disgrace, to whom? After property had been recovered, Brigham instructed B[isho]p. J. W. Hess to not let the Doctor's widows be baptized at time of the reformation and it became known and they were under a cloud in Farmington in consequence, but later word was sent to them that they might be baptized. At one time the properties were consecrated to the Church. Brigham told our folks they owned nothing it all belonged to the Church but when he came to try & sell the property he found the title vested in the
family (Estate) Jennings Corner. I allude to particularly as it was he who was trying to buy the property. Mother's justification for speaking of these things even now for the first time when I am in my fiftieth year is as a partial paliation for the weak faith of Heber, Willard & Joseph, not justifying them but accounting for their condition of faith. (6)
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-- 85 years ago today - Dec 23, 1940 --
[Frank Evans]
Conferred with office attaches re persons entering vault. Understood by all that one person only shall have combination and that sealed copy of combination shall be kept in secure place; that no one shall enter vault except by consent of person holding key. (7)
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-- 30 years ago today - Dec 23, 1995 --
190th birthday of Mormon founder Joseph Smith; First Presidency announces new logo for church's name, with larger letters for JESUS CHRIST. (8)
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1 - Wikipedia: Chronology of Mormonism, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_Mormonism
2 - Diaries of Hosea Stout
3 - 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
4 - 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
5 - 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
6 - George F. Richards, Diary
7 - Frank Evans 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
8 - The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]
via todayinmormonhistory-email https://ift.tt/BdTAs3F
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