On this day in Mormon History
http://TodayInMormonHistory.com/
-- 195 years ago today - Jun 11, 1829 --
The Book of Mormon's copyright was obtained from the "Office" of Richard R. Lansing of Utica, New York. Richard Ray Lansing ... The particulars of Smith's obtaining the copyright are vague. Perhaps Smith filed the copyright in person shortly after his return to Fayette from Palmyra where he had just concluded his negotiations with Egbert B. Grandin to print the Book of Mormon. Smith's History perhaps too closely associates his Palmyra negotiations with obtaining a copyright: "Mean time our translation drawing to a close, we went to Palmyra, Wayne County, N.Y: Secured the Copyright; and agreed with Mr Egbert Grandin to print five thousand Copies for the sum of three thousand dollars." The draft, however, reverses the order and separates the events: "Mean time our translation drawing to a close, we went to Palmyra, and agreed there <> Egbert Grandin to print and publish five thousand <> for three thousand Dollars, and about this time secured the copy right" (1)
----------------------
-- 185 years ago today - Jun 11, 1839 --
Joseph commences dictating his personal history to his clerk, James Mulholland. This document will eventually become the basis of Joseph's History of the Church. Elder Theodore Turley raises the first house in Commerce that is built by the Saints themselves. Joseph records his impressions of the land about Commerce, stating that "the land was mostly covered with trees and bushes, and much of it so wet that it was with the utmost difficulty a footman could get through, and totally impossible for teams. Commerce was so unhealthful, very few could live there; but believing that it might become a healthful place by the blessing of heaven to the Saints, and no more eligible place presenting itself, I considered it wisdom to make an attempt to build up a city." (2)
----------------------
The first house was put up by the Saints in Commerce, afterward named Nauvoo. (3)
----------------------
-- 180 years ago today - Jun 11, 1844 --
Joseph issues a proclamation stating that he has destroyed the Nauvoo Expositor, which he considered a nuisance (and therefore had the legal right to destroy, just as he would any nuisance).News of the action against the press travels quickly.
A mass meeting of anti-Mormons assembles in Carthage. A resolution is adopted, stating, "We hold ourselves at all times in readiness to cooperate with our fellow citizens in this state, Missouri, and Iowa to exterminate—UTTERLY EXTERMINATE, the wicked and abominable Mormon leaders, the authors of our troubles. . . . A WAR OF EXTERMINATION SHOULD BE WAGED, to the entire destruction if necessary for our protection, of his adherents." (2)
----------------------
Probable date that Joseph Smith III is ordained as his father's theocratic successor. Warned the same day of a conspiracy to murder them, William Law and associates flee Nauvoo with their families. Joseph Smith, on the day after the NAUVOO EXPOSITOR is destroyed, "Instructed Bro [W. W.] Phelps to write a proclamation to the citezens [sic] of Nauvoo to keep quiet &c." (4)
----------------------
[Patriarchal Blessing of Flora Clarinda Gleason]
.... And if thou desire it with thine whole heart th[o]u shalt see the winding up scene of this generation; see Isra[e]l gathered from the four quarters of the earth, and see Zion established in peace throughout the land, of America. Thou shalt have all thy desires even riches, honor and power ... (5)
----------------------
-- 160 years ago today - Jun 11, 1864 --
[Brigham Young]
.... Most of you, my brethren, are Elders, Seventies, or High Priests; perhaps there is not a Priest or Teacher present. The reason of this is that when we give the brethren their endowments, we are obliged to confer upon them the Melchizedek Priesthood; but I expect to see the day, when we shall be so situated that we can say to a company of brethren, You can go and receive the ordinances pertaining to the Aaronic order of Priesthood, and then you can go into the world and preach the Gospel, or do something that will prove whether you will honor that Priesthood before you receive more. Now we pass them through the ordinances of both Priesthoods in one day, but this is not as it should be and would [be], if we had a temple wherein to administer these ordinances. But this is all right at present; we should not be satisfied in any other way, and consequently we do according to the circumstances we are placed in. (6)
----------------------
-- 150 years ago today - Jun 11, 1874 (Thursday) --
A party of soldiers from Camp Douglas, under command of Major Gordon, broke into the jail at Salt Lake City and rescued their comrade, Thomas Hackett, who had been confined there for assaulting Solomon P. McCurdy the previous day. (7)
----------------------
-- 110 years ago today - Jun 11, 1914; Thursday --
.... Pres[iden]t. Lyman reported that since last Thursday he had learned from Pres[iden]t. William C. Parkinson of Hyrum [Utah] Stake that the Presidency and High Council of that Stake had excommunicated Bro[ther]. Israel Yeates for having entered into an unauthorized, illegal marriage. ... (8)
----------------------
-- 35 years ago today - Jun 11, 1989-Sunday --
[Leonard Arrington]
Statement on the Brigham Young Biography Based on a Review of My Diary, 1972-1985: In 1972, shortly after I became Church Historian, my staff and I, particularly James Allen and Davis Bitton, Assistant Church Historians, recommended to the First Presidency of the Church, among other things, the preparation of a good biography of President Brigham Young. This seemed to be particularly needed after we had discovered many boxes of Brigham Young material that were in the basement of the Church Administration Building, still unopened, uncatalogued, and previously unknown to LDS historians. The First Presidency counselled us to catalog the material and then return for further discussion. Because of other assignments and the large mass of Brigham Young-period manuscripts to be examined, we did not complete the cataloguing, even in a preliminary way, until 1977, the one hundredth anniversary of Brigham Young's death. We then studied the materials for two years, trying to decide whether we
should simply edit the papers, or at the rate of, say, one volume per year, write a multi-volume biography, and, if the latter, who should write it. We finally went to President [Spencer W.] Kimball the spring of 1979 and proposed a seven-volume biography, each volume to be written by a separate historian, and each to focus on one aspect of President Young's life-one each on Brigham Young as a colonizer, family man, businessman, Church president, governor, formulator of Indian policy, and contributor to Mormon doctrine and practice. President Kimball listened to us carefully, thought for a moment, then finally shook his head and said, "I would like to see a really good, one-volume biography of Brigham Young before I die." So that settled that; we put on the shelf our plans for an edition of his papers and/or volumes of his many roles. These plans are still on the shelf.
"Here are the names of three people that we suggest as possible biographers for the one volume," we volunteered. President Kimball replied, "I don't want to see the list. I want you to do it," pointing his finger toward me. ...
President Kimball recommended finding a national publisher, wanted the biography written in a manner that would make it imperative for libraries to place it on their shelves and specifically instructed me not to send it to Correlation"They don't know history the way you do." He advised me to consult with a variety of historians, both members and nonmembers. As for Mormon historians, he emphasized that I should consult not only with traditional historians but also with what he called "Dialogue-type historians" in order to get "liberal" as well as "conservative" points of view. He wanted the biography to be honest, objective, many-sided, and to make good use of the information in the previously unexamined manuscripts we had uncovered.
... I borrowed some money and at my own expense hired four persons part-time, to help go through the mass of formerly unexplored material. The research assistants and I still had full access to the resources in the Church Archives because President Kimball had approved the project. ... Alfred Knopf agreed to publish the book, which finally appeared in 1985 under the title Brigham Young: American Moses. The book received good national reviews, was adopted by the History Book Club, and was nominated by the National Book Critics Circle as biography of the year. ... I was especially glad when Sister [Camilla] Kimball told me that President Kimball was pleased by the book and by its national reception. He had to be especially pleased that the book was placed in several thousand regional and local libraries. The book sold well, both in hardback and paperback. I must emphasize that President Kimball always encouraged me in my work as Church Historian. He often put his arm around
me, told me not to be discouraged by occasional criticisms, and was unfailingly friendly, supportive, and helpful. ... I occasionally heard rumors that one or two of the Brethren were less than enthusiastic about some of the things the Historical Department historians were publishing, but President Kimball went out of his way to reassure me. "Our work," he said, "must have national as well as Church-wide credibility, especially among informed people. We had to write history 'the right way.'" I interpreted our move to BYU as a way to preserve our scholarly integrity. As several persons told us, the Church didn't want to be in the position of "approving" or "disapproving" what we wrote. Under university administration, we could continue our scholarly work in an atmosphere of academic freedom. We did so, and I feel sure that we did our research and writing in a responsible manner, both as to the scholarship and as to the probity. (9)
----------------------
1 - Book of Mormon Copyright, 11 June 1829, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah., as cited in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents: Book Of Mormon Copyright
2 - Conkling, Christopher J., Joseph Smith Chronology
3 - Richards, Franklin Dewey and Little, James A., Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel, Church Chronology, Ch.66, p.306, http://www.amazon.com/Compendium-Doctrines-Gospel-ebook/dp/B002LTY4Z0?ie=UTF8tag=mormonchronic-20link_code=btlcamp=213689creative=392969
4 - On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot..com, based on Michael Quinn's Mormon Hierarchy vols 1 & 2
5 - Patriarchal Blessings
6 - Brigham Young, June 11, 1864 , Journal of Discourses, 10:309 as quoted in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship
7 - Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology
8 - First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve minutes
9 - Confessions of a Mormon historian : the diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971-1997, Gary James Bergera, editor, Signature Books, 2018
via todayinmormonhistory-email https://ift.tt/tGey3lN
|
|
Manage
|
|
Unsubscribe
from these notifications or sign in to manage your
Email service.
|
