![]() Vol. ? New York City, Saturday, October 19, 1850. No. ? ![]() AUTHOR OF THE MORMON BIBLE. [At a public meeting lately held in Cherry Valley Judge Campbell said:] ... "Rev. Solomon Spaulding, one of the earliest preceptors of the Academy of Cherry Valley, was the actual composer of most of what is known as the Mormon Bible. He wrote it during a period of delicate health to beguile some of his weary hours, and also with a design to offer it for publication as a romance. Dr. Robert Campbell, late of Cherry Valley, and foster father of the first Mrs. Grant, of the Nestorian mission, calling some years since upon Mr. Spaulding, had the manuscript of this notable book to be shown to him, and was also informed by Mr. Spaulding that he had hopes of reaping some pecuniary advantage from it for himself and family. Mr. Spaulding has been dead for some years, though it is believed that his wife is still living in the United States. How it passed from the possession of his family into the hands of Joe Smith it is probable that Mrs. Spaulding could tell." -- |
![]() Vol. X. New York City, Tuesday, November 19, 1850. No. 2993. ![]() AUTHOR OF THE MORMON BIBLE. -- The New England Puritan states that [at] a public meeting lately held in Cherry Valley Judge Campbell said: |
![]() Vol. X. New York City, Friday, December 6, 1850. No. 3008. ![]() Authorship of the Book of Mormon. SCHENECTADY, Monday, Nov. 25, 1850. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Saturday, June 14, 1851. No. 3170. ![]() Tragical Occurrence.
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![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Friday, July 4, 1851. No. ? ![]()
NEW REVELATIONS AMONG
The disciples of Joe Smith enjoy a remarkable advantage in the constant accessions to the spirit of their faith, through renewed celestial communications; two new revelations having occurred within the past month. On Friday night, May 30, it appears that the chamber of Orson Hyde, the Editor of the Frontier Guardian, published at Kanesville, Iowa, received a sudden illumination, and a manuscript book was presented to him, which proved to be a translation from that portion of the golden plates which Joe Smith was forbidden to disturb. This book is a warning against false teachers, pseudo-prophets and wolves in sheep's clothing. It tells of counterfeit revelations and prophetical impostures, and is particularly explicit in directing the Saints not to let go of the "IRON ROD," meaning thereby the true priesthood. Another revelation has been made to Bishop Gladden of Ohio, containing much of what had been communicated to the Editor of the Guardian, together with several addenda, proclaiming the duty of reverencing the teachings of the Bishop above all other prophets, seers, high-priests and apostles, and announcing his duty to form an alliance with Queen Victoria. Elder Hyde denounces the Bishop for 'false revelations' and 'unfounded pretensions,' and adds some pungent observations upon the conduct of certain new converts, closing with the following exhortation: |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Monday, August 11, 1851. No. ? ![]() From Utah Territory. The last mail from the West brought us a letter and some papers from the Great Salt Lake City, up to July 1. The news is not of remarkable interest. No rain had fallen for the six weeks previous to the 1st July; and still, the gardens, and crops in general. looked fine, and promised an abundant harvest. There were some exceptions in fields of wheat, which had been burned, or perished for want of irrigation, as the streams were so low that a sufficient quantity of water could not be obtained to supply all. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Saturday, August 30, 1851. No. 3235. ![]()
Later News from the Plains.
By the Steamer Duroc, from the Missouri River yesterday, we received an extra from the office of The Kanesville Guardian, containing later and interesting news from the Plains. Mr. Thomas Bateman and ten others arrived at Kanesville on the 13th, from the Great Salt Lake City. As they traveled with ox-teams, and were nearly two months on the route, the news from the city itself is no later than we received two weeks ago. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Tuesday, September 9, 1851. No. 3243. ![]() The Mormons in Utah. Messrs. Booth and Denniston arrived at Terre Haute a few days since, having come from California by way of the plains. From these gentlemen, who tarried some time at the Salt Lake City, The Terre Haute Express obtains considerable information in regard to the movements and progress of the Mormons. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Thursday, December 4, 1851. No. 3317. ![]()
==> THE MORMON COUNTRY in Iowa is announced for sale, and the "Saints" of that locality are adjured to repair to the great Valley. The Sixth Epistle from the President of the Mormons, is published. It contains, among a vast number of religious matters, the following terrestrial facts: |
![]() No. ? New York City, Tuesday, January 6, 1852. Vol. I. ![]() The Mormons in Utah. The Official Report of the United States Judges in the Territory of Utah, as made to the President has been published. It is a document of three columns, signed by Chief Justice Brandeburg, Judge Brocchus and Secretary Harris. -- The hostile and seditious sentiments manifested by Governor Brigham Young, are assigned as reasons for the withdrawal of the Judicial officers of the Terrirory. The report explains at great length the religious organization and powers of the Mormons; and enters into detail of sundry malpractices of Governor Young and his followers. The Government of the United States is, according to the Report, shamefully spoken of and ill-treated; the officers sent out for the Governor of the Territory were refused a hearing; and Gov. Young indulged in sundry maledictions upon the memory of Gen. Taylor. These statements have already been published, unofficially. It is not necessary to repeat them. The Report proceeds to comment upon the prevalence of polygamy in the territory. Plurality of wives is openly avowed and practiced under the sanction and in obedience to the direct command of the Church. So universal is this practice that very few, if any, leading men in the community can be found who have not more than one wife each. -- The evil can never be made a statutary offense by a Mormon legislature; and if a crime at common law, the Court would be powerless, with Mormon juries. |
![]() No. ? New York City, Sunday, February 15, 1852. Vol. I. ![]() Mormonism Exposed, by an Ex-Mormon. To the Editor of the Boston Transcript: |
![]() No. ? New York City, Friday, March 19, 1852. Vol. ? ![]()
CALIFORNIA.
...By the late acquirement of the Rancho of San Bernardino, the Saline brotherhood are gate-keepers to Southern California; and by the last advices from points still further south, we are aware they are only awaiting the reestablishment of a military post, some time since abandoned, to take possession of all the arable lands in the valley of the Gila. For laudable purposes, such exhibitions of enterprize and perseverance would be admirable, but such as suppose the interesrs or the power of he United States are intended to be strengthened by them, reckon "without their host." Absurd as it may seem, Mormon supremacy is the sole object of these arrangements and the dispositions themselves are so judicious and skillful, that it is a marvel the judgment which orders them, can contemplate so silly a use of them. |
![]() No. ? New York City, Monday, October 18, 1852. Vol. ? ![]()
The Mormons of the Salt Lake.
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![]() Vol. ? New York City, Saturday, Nov. 27, 1852. No. 585. ![]()
UTAH.
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![]() No. ? New York City, Saturday, January 8, 1853. Vol. ? ![]()
![]() Nauvoo, From the Mississippi, Looking Down the River. NAUVOO CITY. This is the site of the celebrated Mormon city founded by Joe Smith and his followers in 1840. It is located on elevated ground, gradually rising from the river to an unusual height, and presenting a smooth and regular surface, which, with the plain at its summit, might amply suffice for the erection of a large city. Upon this ground Nauvoo was laid out on a very magnificent scale, and many of the houses were handsome structures. The streets are of ample width, crossing each other at right angles. Three years after the settlement was begun, the city contained 1000 houses, a large part of which were log cabins, whitewashed. The great Mormon Temple, which stood in fair view from the river, was 128 feet long, 88 feet wide, and 65 feet high to the top of the cornice. The top of the cupola was 163 feet from the ground. It was built of compact, polished limestone, quarried near the spot. It was calculated to contain 3000 people, and was built at a supposed cost of about half a million of dollars. On the 9th of October, 1848, this temple was destroyed by fire, and now presents only a blackened pile of ruins. Four years previous the Mormon leader had been arrested and put in prison, where, soon afterwards, he came to his end by the violence of a mob. The Mormons have since left the place, and are now established in Utah. |
![]() Vol. II. New York City, Thursday, March 10, 1853. No. ? ![]() The Mormons. A problem of singular difficulty, and every day growing more and more portentous -- than which, if we except African Slavery, none is more difficult of solution -- is rising in the distant West, before the American Government and people. Ere long they will have to grapple with it. Whether it can be peacefully solved, the future alone will tell. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Friday, May 27, 1853. No. 585. ![]() The Pseudo Mormons near Mackinaw. The Beaver Island Mormon Settlement has for sometime past stood in rather bad repute, and it would seem, if the following be true, with good reason. The article is a communication from The Detroit Free Press, and is accompanied in that paper, by a report of the proceedings of public meeting at Mackinaw, relating to the matter. We give the communication, for this matter of the fisheries on the upper Lakes is becoming very important. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Saturday, July 2, 1853. No. 585. ![]()
THE BEAVER ISLAND MORMONS.
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![]() Vol. II. New-York City, Friday, July 15, 1853. No. 569. ![]()
THE MORMONS.
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![]() Vol. ? New-York City, Wednesday, October 26, 1853. No. ? ![]()
The Tribune on Polygamy. The Times surely apprehends the wide moral difference between the cases of bigamy under our laws, (where the bigamist can only accomplish his purpose through a gross fraud,) and the Mormon polity on that subject. We would uphold and enforce our marriage laws as they are; but we are not in favor of imposing them by violence on the Mormons in the territory which they sought out and settled before any other civilized men had made it their home. This was the spitit and drift of our former article -- the twist that the Times seeks to give it is entirely at variance with our intent. Does that paper counsel or desire the subversion, by extreme force, of Mormon Polygamy in Utah? Yea or Nay?The Times is opposed to polygamy and to bigamy in Utah, as well as in New-York, -- in a new country as well as in an old one, -- and upon the same ground in both cases; -- and it is in favor of "subverting" both by law, in all parts of this civilized and Christian nation. We do not appreciate the nice moral distinctions by which the Tribune would excuse polygamy in a new territory, and condemn it in an old one; -- nor can we understand why the Mormons should be any more entitled to the benefit of such a plea, than the inhabitants of Nebraska or Oregon. |
![]() Vol. III. NewYork City, Wednesday, May 24, 1854. No. 837. ![]()
Bill Smith, the Mormon prophet, and brother of Joe Smith, the renowned founder of the Mormon church, is now closely confined in the jail at Dixon, Illinois. He has escaped once, but was retaken at St. Louis, on his way to Salt Lake City. |
![]() Vol. III. NewYork City, Tuesday, June 6, 1854. No. ? ![]() From Great Salt Lake City. A number of gentlemen from Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, were passengers in the Sam Cloon, on Tuesday night, from the Missouri River. They arrived at Fort Leavenworth on the 26th ult. by mail stage. Among them were the following gentlemen: W. C. Dunbar, Milo Andrews, C. H. Wheelock, J. M. Barlow, W. Frost, R. W. Wolcott, Seth M. Blair, Esq., U. S. District Attorney for Utah Territory, and Gen. James Ferguson. These gentlemen are all members of the Mormon Church, and have been sent on missions to portions of the United States, Europe and Ireland. |
![]() Vol. XIV. NewYork City, Wednesday, August 2, 1854. No. 4,146 ![]() THE MORMONS. -- Twenty-eight years ago, "Jo Smith," the founder of this sect, and "Harris," his first convert, applied to the senior editor of The Journal, then residing at Rochester, to print his "Book of Mormon," then just transcribed from the "Golden Bible" which "Jo" had found in the cleft of a rock to which he had been guided by a vision. We attempted to read the first chapter, but it seemed such unintelligible jargon that it was thrown aside. "Jo" was a tavern-idler in the Village of Palmyra. Harris, who offered to pay for the printing, was a substantial farmer. Disgusted with what we deemed a "weak invention" of an impostor, and not caring to strip Harris of his hard earnings, the proposition was declined. The manuscript was then taken to another printing office across the street, whence, in due time, the original "Mormon Bible" made its advent. |
![]() Vol. III. New-York, Thursday, August 3, 1854. No. 397. ![]()
The Beginning of Mormonism.
Twenty-eight years ago, Joe Smith, the founder of this sect, and Harris, his first convert, applied to the senior editor of the Journal, then residing at Rochester, to print his "Book of Mormon," then just transcribed from the "Golden Bible" which Joe had found in the cleft of a rock to which he had been guided by a vision. |
![]() Vol. IV. New York City, Friday, August 18, 1854. No. 4,160. ![]() THE FOUNDER OF MORMONISM. -- The Sandusky (O.) Mirror notices the rejection by Thurlow Weed of the job of printing the Mormon Bible many years ago, which was published in The Tribune, and says: |
![]() Vol. VI. New York City, Thursday, Aug. 24, 1854. No. 299. ![]() ORIGIN OF THE BOOK OF MORMON. The following account of the origin of the Book of Mormon was given to the writer of this article by the widow of the writer of the said book. She was a native of Pomfret, Conn., of respectable family and connections, and her statement is entitled to full credit, which is in substance as follows: |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Saturday, December 2, 1854. No. ? ![]()
THINGS IN UTAH.
Through the kindness of a friend who resides in this city, we are permitted to publish the following letter from one of the "Saints" of Salt Lake City, concerning his experiences in religion, the character of Deseret, its climate and society, and that "peculiar institution" of Deseret, Polygamy. It is the clearest exposition and boldest defense of Polygamy that we have yet seen, and coming from a person who possesses three wives, with a prospect of more, its arguments, and the facts stated, demand attention. We especially invito a perusal of it by Judge Douglas and his friends, whose "Popular Sovereignty" doctrine is to legalize Polygamy in Deseret and Utah, and, it may be, in Illinois also. |
![]() Vol. XIV. New York City, Monday, April 9, 1855. No. 4,359. ![]() U T A H. We have dates from Great Salt Lake City to Feb. 7. |
![]() Vol. ? NewYork City, Thursday, July 10, 1856. No. ? ![]()
THE BEAVER ISLAND MORMONS. -- The Cleveland Plain-dealer states that the Mormons are leaving Beaver Island, in Lake Michigan, en masse, and are selling their property for the most they can get the prophet Strang has left for Wisconsin. The Mormons do not appear to have lost anything of their religious peculiarity, as they have taken all their young wives and left the old women and babies. It seems to be the universal opinion of the lake navigators that Strang and his followers deserve the treatment they have received. |
![]() Vol. II. New York City, Saturday, July 12, 1856. No. 21. ![]() Mother Lucy Smith. WASHINGTON, D. C., July 5, 1856. |
![]() Vol. II. New York City, Saturday, September, 1856. No. 31. ![]() Mother Lucy Smith. At the time that Col. Geo. A. Smith wrote the brief biography of this honored lady he was not in possession of the date of her demise. He has handed us a letter from Elder Sameul H. B. Smith, dated Nauvoo, Sept. 6th, by which we learn that she died on the 5th of May, and was buried beside the grave of her much loved and venerated husband patriarch Joseph Smith. |
![]() No. ? New York City, Thursday, November 13, 1856. Vol. ? ![]()
Polygamy in Utah. -- The Progress of
The following is published in some of the Utah papers and copied by the Tribune, as an extract from a sermon preached by Brigham Young, Sept. 21, 1858: |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Friday, February 27, 1857. No. 4948. ![]()
THE ESOTERIC DOCTRINES
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![]() Vol. IV. New York City, Tuesday, April 14, 1857. No. 1737. ![]() Resignation of Judge Drummond. To the Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, Attorney-General of the United States, Washington City, D. C.: |
![]() Vol. VI. New York City, Tuesday, April 21, 1857. No. 1743. ![]() What Shall we Do with the Mormons? We cannot do a worse thing with a difficulty than to dodge it, and never was this practical truth more pointedly illustrated than in the actual position of affairs in Utah. When that Territory was organized the acting President of the United States, Mr. Fillmore, was called upon to decide whether the authority of the Republic should be extended over its inhabitants as of right or by sufferance. He found the Mormons boldly claiming to be considered an independent Israel in the midst of the Philistines, denying his right to nominate a Governor for them, and professing to hold their lands not of the American Government, but of the Almighty. Instead of meeting these insolent assumptions and frustrating them forever, Mr. Fillmore evaded the issue by conferring the Executive appointment upon the High Priest of the sect, who condescended to accept it as a compromise solicited by the United States, and of slight importance to his people and himself. |
![]() Vol. XVII. New York City, Tuesday, May 19 1857. No. 5,017. ![]()
THE CONDITION OF UTAH.
To the Editor of The N. Y. Tribune. |
![]() Vol. VI. New York City, Wednesday, May 20, 1857. No. 1768. ![]() The Salt Lake Infamy -- What Should Be Done. In addition to still later intelligence from Utah received by last night's mail, we publish this morning a letter from Judge Drummond, late of that Territory, which fully corroborates the tale of Mormon wrong and oppression presented in our Salt Lake correspondence. The startling facts detailed in these communications can hardly fail to take deep hold upon public sentiment, and through it reach the heart and nerve the hands of the National Administration to speedy and decisive action. Already the tide begins to swell towards Washington, bearing upon its bosom a stern demand for needed succor to our fellow-citizens now writhing beneath the heel of Mormon theocracy; and we cannot but hope, despite Judge Drummond's gloomy forebodings, that Mr. Buchannan will give immediate and practical attention to this subject in preference to the distribution of foreign spoils. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Thursday, May 28, 1857. No. ? ![]()
ANOTHER STARTLING TRAGEDY. We have to record to-day another painful narrative of Mormon iniquity, seduction and villainy, followed up in this instance, however, as it will be seen, by a summary vengeance from the injured husband. The account which we publish below is taken from the Van Buren (Ark.) Intelligencer, and gives in brief the facts of the case pretty much as they have occurred. From the Fort Smith Herald and the New-Orleans Bulletin we also have confirmation of the whole story, up to the last act in the drama, the tragic death of Elder Pratt, the mormon apostle. Thus it will be seen what utter ruin and devastation have been wrought in a virtuous family by the designing arts of a saintly scoundrel and the lures of a false and licentious faith. Here is what the Van Buren Intelligencer records of the termination of this affair: |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Thursday, May 28 1857. No. ? ![]()
MORMONISM.
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![]() No. ? New York City, Saturday, May 30, 1857. Vol. ? ![]() AN EX-MORMON ON MORMONISM. Mr. John Hyde, late an elder of the Mormon sect, has been discoursing to the Californians in exposition of the evils and depravity of Mormonism. At Oakland City his address elicited the warm approbation of large audiences. The San Francisco Daily Globe publishes several resolutions commendatory of the sayings and suggestions of Mr. Hyde, one of which strikes us as peculiarly pertinent and philosophical. |
![]() Vol. III. New York City, Saturday, May 30, 1857. No. 15. ![]() ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT P. P. PRATT. Our readers will doubtless be startled with the above announcement; our heart is deeply pained to say it, but we have no reason for doubting the sad intelligence that has reached us, though, as yet, only by the way of the public press. A few days ago we were advised of his apprehension near Fort Gibson; and, close upon the receipt of that information, we learned, by telegraphic despatch, that he had been assassinated near Van Buren, Arkansas, May 13.... |
![]() Vol. III. New York City, Saturday, June 6, 1857. No. 16. ![]()
A Wicked Charge Exposed. Among the many who have rushed into print recently against Mormonism is one -- whom we would, for the sake of others, fain never name -- William Smith. He has [sent] a lengthy letter to the New York Tribune to help Drummond through the mess he has got into. As he only mentions one thing that has some claim to novelty and a notice of it from a proper person has been handed to us for publication, we bring him before our readers. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Wednesday, June 10, 1857. No. ? ![]()
Mrs. McLean, the miserable woman whose husband recently avenged her seduction by taking the life of Pratt, the Mormon Elder, has written a letter to The Van Buren (Ark.) Intelligencer, which only proves the depth of her delusion and the hopeless nature of her insanity. She still persists in her adherence to a foolish faith; which has destroyed her domestic peace, and in regarding the worthless imposter who has been sent to his account as a prophet and a martyr. The letter is evidently the production of a lunatic who should once be sent for medical treatment to a hospital. Nor are we able to see why other unfortunate victims of this astonishing mania might not legally and humanely be treated as acknowledged madmen and mad women are treated. Certamly, there could be no objection to combatting promptly and stringently such a hideous hallucination. The case of Mrs. McLean, although it is not by any means a singular one, affords a striking illustration of the pernicious and demoralizing effect of fanaticism. She fancied that she was converted by the gospel of Joseph Smith. She immediately commenced a series of attempts to worry her husband into the same faith. She managed to have her children clandestinely baptized by P. P. Pratt. She taught their young lips to utter blasphemous nonsense, which she called prayer. She absconded from her husband's house, and finally stole her offspring, that she might take them to Utah. Her insanity is perfect and absolute. She writes incoherently and absurdly. She compares Elder Pratt with our Savior, and admits that she washed his feet and combed his hair. She hardly seeks to disguise the fact that she had been for some time living, with him adulterously. |
![]() Vol. III. New York City, Saturday, June 20, 1857. No. 18. ![]()
Crescent City Oracle. This lively little paper, established only a few months ago, is out in a bigger dress already -- it keeps pace with the growth of that young city, which, according to the Oracle, is destined to be a mighty grand place. Mr. L. O. Littlefield who has heretofore been editor and proprietor has vacated the editorial chair and made his retiring bow to the sanctum, "yielding to our voluntary inclination of entering into other pursuits." Mr. J. E. Johnson. of Council Bluffs Bugle, hoists his penant -- Editor and Proprietor. Hoping that the "other pursuits" of Mr. K. will not force his pen to the shelf, and wishing prosperity to his successor, we introduce to our readers an article of interest at the present moment. |
![]() Vol. XVII. New York City, Tuesday, June 23, 1857. No. 5,047. ![]()
THE MORMONS.
Correspondence of the N. Y. Tribune. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Tuesday, June 23, 1857. No. ? ![]()
KANSAS -- THE MORMONS -- SLAVERY.
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: -- I appear before you to-night, at the request of the grand jury in attendance upon the United States Court, for the purpose of submitting my views upon certain topics upon which they have expressed a desire to hear my opinion. It was not my purpose when I arrived among you, to have engaged in any public or political discussion; but when called upon by a body of gentlemen so intelligent and respectable, coming from all parts of the State, and connected with the administration of public justice, I do not feel at liberty to withhold a full and frank expression of my opinion upon the subjects to which they have referred, and which now engrosses so large a share of the public attention. |
{ ALBION } BRITISH, COLONIAL AND FOREIGN WEEKLY GAZETTE. ![]() No. ? New-York City, Saturday, November 21, 1857. Vol. ? ![]() The Mormons Defiant. We were in the right of it last week, in discrediting the rumour that a portion of the U. S. Utah expedition, five hundred strong, had been cut off by Indians or Mormons. So far no blood has been shed. It is true however that the unclean tribe has commenced open war upon the national forces, and that a train of seventy-five waggons, loaded with supplies and provisions, was captured and destroyed, on the 5th of last month, at a point which it is needless to specify, but which may be set down as distant from Great Salt Lake City about one hundred and eighty miles. Why this train had no military escort -- being midway between two detachments, and some thirty or forty miles from each, it is none of our business to enquire. And a score of similar questions, presenting themselves on the arrival of successive mails, may be left to the military critics of this country, who organize themselves into gratuitous and permanent courts-marshalls whenever and wherever they find food for their in genious comments. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, December 15, 1857. No. ? ![]()
IMPORTANT FROM THE MORMON WAR. From Our Special Correspondent. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, January 14, 1858. No. ? ![]() Army for Utah. The latest advices from the army, which has been sent to pass the Winter amid the snows of Wahsatch Mountains, are anything but encouraging. In fact, they tend to confirm the worst fears which have been entertained as to the result of this ill-starred expedition. There the troops are, a thousand miles and more from the frontier, isolated amid the snows and among mountains of which the Mormons, and they alone, know all the passes. Already, at the commencement of Winter, their animals were perishing at the rate of a hundred a day. The grass is all burnt, and their supply of provisions, notwithstanding the vast sums of money spent on the commissariat and transportation departments, is so short that a very strict economy, if not, in facts, putting the troops on short allowance, will be necessary to carry them through the Winter. With inaction and short allowance will come disease and discontent, and it is but reasonable to expect that by the Spring the effective force of the troops will be very greatly diminished. -- Without draft cattle or means of transportation it will be impossible for them to move; and instead of marching against the Mormons, they will be exceedingly lucky if the Mormons do not march against them. |
![]() No. ? New-York, Thursday, March 12, 1858. Vol. ? ![]()
THE MORMONS. In the time of Joe Smith, the Mormon Prophet, that personage found considerable difficulty in managing his most influential disciples. But, when they refused to believe new theories, or go on certain missions, or to give adequate pecuniary aid to the cause, he would manage to attain his object, and retain their support, by being delivered of a new revelation. These revelations, were, generally, little webs of argument interwoven with arbitrary assertions, wherein the individual, or individuals, offending, flattered to gladness by the Lord's special attention, were ensnared like so many flies. Some of these, along with those of a more spiritual cast, and others that Smith allowed his head disciples to be delivered of, have been gathered into a printed volume, called the "Book of Doctrines and Covenants," which is more perused than the Mormon Bible. In it one gets a glimpse of the foundation doctrines of the present Church, but a perusal of the outside revelations is necessary before one fully sees Mormonism, glaring with the Yankee signet of dollars and cents," and the stains of low desires. Since Smith's death, the occasions upon which Brigham Young has attempted to enunciate direct revelations have been few, and unlike the Prophet's half-persuasive inspirations, his are mere commands, ungarnished with rhetoric or argument. About the last of the kind, directing the present location of the Mormons, was given forth the morning after the encampment of the first company of pioneers upon the present site of Great Salt Lake City. By abstaining from the direct assertion of revelations, Young has rather increased than diminished his power over the Mormons. He possesses considerable caution and judgment, and not even such unfortunate events as the ravages of the crickets and grasshoppers caused him to make any unqualified assertions to quiet the voices of hunger, while, at the same time, he triumphantly pointed to his former exhortations to have the surplus grain hoarded instead of trafficked to the Gentiles. |
![]() Vol. VII. New-York City, Tuesday, April 27, 1858. No. 2060. ![]()
FROM UTAH AND THE WEST.
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![]() Vol. XVIII. New York City, Friday, June 18, 1858. No. 5354. ![]()
The line of Mormon settlements which are represented in our last accounts from Utah as being abandoned by the inhabitants, commences near the northern boundary of the Territory, about seventy miles distant from Salt Lake City, in the valleys of Cache and Malade, which are used, however, chiefly for the pasturage of the stock belonging to the church. There are also two small settlements on the Bear River, but the first place approaching Salt Lake City from the north, which can be called, a town, is Box Elder or Brigham's City, about eight miles south of Bear River and fifty-seven from Salt Lake City. This town, which is inhabited principally by Danes and Swiss, is very handsomely situated on a plain about two hundred feet above the level of Bear River. The houses are well built and handsomely arranged. Five miles south is Willow Creek, in the vicinity of which is much good land, producing the heaviest crops of wheat raised in the Territory. Twelve miles south of Willow Creek Fort is Ogden's Hole, a fine valley surrounded on all sides by mountains, except the narrow pass at its entrance. It contains five hundred inhabitants. Three miles southwest of the "Hole" is Bingham's Fort, containing seven hundred inhabitants. Two miles from Bingham's Fort, and thirty-five from Salt Lake City, is Ogden City, on Weber River, one of the largest towns in the Territory, and containing many handsome buildings. The population is four or five thousand. East and West Weber Forts, on the opposite banks of the river, about eight miles above Ogden City, contain about five hundred inhabitants. Eight miles farther south is Keysville, containing about a thousand inhabitants. It has some good arable land, and a fine stock range. Farmington City, the county seat of Davis County, contains about the game number of inhabitants. Three or four miles further south is Sessions, a straggling settlement, scattered some five miles along the road, but with many fine houses, and including the best lands in the Territory. Eight miles from Sessions is Salt Lake City, which is supposed to contain about a third part of the entire population of the Territory, or from fifteen to eighteen thousand people. It was originally laid out eleven years ago -- in July, 1847 -- in two hundred and sixty blocks of ten acres each, separated by streets a hundred and twenty-eight feet , wide, and irrigated by canals from the River Jordan. There are eight houses in each Mock, so arranged that no two houses front each other. It has many fine and some elegant buildings, the principal of which are the Tabernacle, in which all religious and other public meetings are held, the Council-House, the Endowment-House, the unfinished Temple, the Court-House, nineteen school-houses, and many costly houses erected by the leaders, among which are two belonging to Brigham Young. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Saturday, June 19, 1858. No. 5355. ![]()
IMPORTANT FROM UTAH. St. Louis, Tuesday, June 15, 1858. |
![]() Vol. VII. New-York City, Friday, June 25, 1858. No. 2111. ![]()
THE MORMONS.
Correspondence of the New-York Times. |
![]() Vol. VII. New York City, Thursday, July 8, 1858. No. 2121. ![]()
INTERESTING FROM UTAH.
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![]() Vol. VII. New York City, Tuesday, July 13, 1858. No. 2125. ![]()
IMPORTANT FROM UTAH.
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![]() No. ? New York City, Tuesday, August 3, 1858. Vol. ? ![]()
U T A H.
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![]() Vol. VII. New-York City, Tuesday, August 10, 1858. No. 2149. ![]()
THE MORMONS:
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![]() No. ? New-York, Monday, August 23, 1858. Vol. ? ![]()
INTERESTING FROM UTAH.
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![]() No. ? New York City, Tuesday, August 24, 1858. Vol. ? ![]()
UTAH.
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![]() Vol. ? New York City, Saturday, Sept. 18, 1858. No. ? ![]()
U T A H. By the arrival of a young man named Herbert Brandon, we have been furnished with the following information from Salt Lake: |
![]() Vol. ? New-York City, Saturday, February 12, 1859. No. ? ![]()
CALIFORNIA...
...As an event of no little importance in the field of California journalism, I would mention that Thos. S. King, editor of the Bulletin, retires from the editorial chair of that paper, to make room from Mr. Jas. W. Simonton, so long and well known as the able and energetic Washington correspondent of the New-York Times. The retiring Editor has excited much ill-feelimg here by his frequent bitter personal assaults upon private character, betraying too much malignity of purpose to be mistaken for zeal, in behalf of the public welfare. Nevertheless, the Bulletin, which attained its position among the leading journals of San Francisco under the management of the lamented Jas. King of William, has been highly successful pecuniarily. That its success will be greatly agumented under the direction of Mr. Simonton, none who knows him or his pen will question. Mr. S. is already familiar to California readers through many a graphic contribution to the columns of the Bulletin from Washington and Salt Lake. All his friends at the East will be gald to learn that his new connection insures him a speedy fortune. He is expected here with his family in March. A hearty welcome awaits him.... |
![]() Vol. XVIII. New York City, Monday, March 21, 1859. No. 5,589. ![]()
A GENTILE AND HIS MORMON BRIDE
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![]() No. ? New-York City, Wednesday, April 27, 1859. Vol. ? ![]()
IMPORTANT NEWS FROM UTAH --
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![]() Vol. ? New-York City, Friday, May 6, 1859. No. ? ![]()
THE UTAH MASSACRES. -- The Commissioner of Indian Affairs is in receipt of a letter dated at Provo City, March 18, 1859, from Superintendent Forney, having charge of Indian affairs in Utah. The Superintendent reports that he left Salt Lake City to visit the southern Indians, and bring back 17 children saved from the massacre of September, 1857. He was detained at Provo City to give testimony before the United States Courts concerning the murders of last June and October, and the Mountain Meadow affair. He says that he has reliable information in regard to the butchery at Mountain Meadows, by means of which he hopes to recover some of the property. The facts warrant the belief that a few days after the massacre there was distributed among the church dignitaries property worth $30,000, besides, it is presumed, a considerable amount of ready money. The Superintendent will make such investigation as circumstances admit. He thinks that it has proved exceedingly convenient to implicate the Indians in all such cases, that an investigation may involve other parties into the crimes. -- Constitution. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Friday, June 3, 1859. No. ? ![]()
LATER FROM SALT LAKE.
From The Valley Tan of May 3 we learn that Dr. Forney, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, arrived in that city from his visit to the southern portion of the Territory. The Doctor reports the Indians in that vicinity as peaceable. He brought with him three of the children, survivors of the Mountain Meadows massacre; the others, thirteen in number, are at the Indian farm at the Spanish Fork, where they will remain until the Commissioners arrive, who have been appointed to receive and restore them to their friends. The children are very intelligent and have a Iively recollection of the bloody deeds that consigned their parents and friends to death. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Thursday, July 7, 1859. No. ? ![]()
FROM UTAH.
Correspondence of the New-York Times. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Wednesday, July 27, 1859. No. ? ![]()
FROM UTAH.
We have received files of the Deseret News and the Valley Tan to the 29th June, The news from Salt Lake City is interesting. The official instructions to the Federal officers in the Territory, (published some weeks ago in the Times,) had been received with great glee by the Mormons. The Deseret News (Brigham's organ) prints Attornery General Black's two letters in full, accompanied by the following editorial comment. |
![]() Vol. XIX. New York City, Wednesday, July 27, 1859. No. 5,697. ![]()
INTERESTING FROM UTAH.
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![]() Vol. ? New York City, Saturday, August 20, 1859. No. 5718. ![]()
AN OVERLAND JOURNEY.
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![]() Vol. ? New York City, Saturday, October 1, 1859. No. 8499. ![]()
MAIL ITEMS.
The first trial of any note, says a Utah correspondent of the 3d ult., that has taken place since the extraordinary and ill-advised pardon of the President, where this Church has prose cuted one of their own faith, or that the Mormon U. S. District Attorney, Gen. Wilson, has exhibited any degree of energv, came off last week. The party (a Mormon) was accused of robbing a brother saint of $1,400. Brigham advised him to plead guilty, as there was a large number of Gentiles on the traverse jury, and therefore a certainty of his being found guilty. He did, and in his defence, stated that he took the money only as a joke, intending to return it; but the Judge could not appreciate that class of Mormon jokes, and therefore sentenced the disciple of Latter Day Saints to ten years at hard labor in the State Prison. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Saturday, March 10, 1860. No. ? ![]()
THE CONDITION OF UTAH. Correspondence of the New-York Times. |
![]() Vol. IX. New York City, Wednesday, April 11, 1860. No. 2670. ![]()
THE MORMONS.
Correspondence of the New-York Times. |
![]() Vol. ? New York City, Saturday, April 14, 1860. No. ? ![]()
THE MORMONS.
The "New Organization" of the Mormons convened at Amboy, Ill., on the 6th inst., the meeting being only an adjourned session of a conference held last October at Sandwich, Ill. The "New Organization" was ordered in 1850, by a revelation given to Zenas H. Gurley which he did not obey; later revelations pointed to the Young Joe as the man who should be the head of the movement, and to the 6th of April, 1860, as the day "when he should take upon himself the oaths of office, for this day was the thirtieth anniversary of the original organization under the elder and original Joe. |
![]() Vol. XX. New York City, Friday, July 20, 1860. No. 6,002. ![]() "UTAH AND THE MORMONS. A pleasant hour with Capt. Walter M. Gibson, just returned from a Winter's sojourn with the Latter Day Saints ar Salt Lake, has supplied us with some additional items of interest respecting that singular people and their fortunes. |
![]() Vol. VI. New York City, Tuesday, July 17, 1866. No. 611. ![]()
THE MORMONS.
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![]() Vol. XVII. New York City, Sunday, October 6, 1867. No. 5001. ![]()
MORMONISM. In the Rochester Union & Advertiser we find the following account of the peculiarities which marked Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, previous to the publication of his Revelations: |
![]() Vol. XXVII. New York City, Wednesday, January 22, 1868. No. 8,357. ![]()
AN INDIO-MORMONITE
In 1847 the Pringle family, consisting of husband, wife, two sons, and four daughters, having adopted Mormonism, left their home in Oneida County, N. Y., en route for Salt Lake City. They had accomplished but half their journey, in company with other converts whom they had encountered, when they were desperately attacked by mounted Indians, whom, however, they finally discomfitted. But the safety of five of the Pringle family was dearly purchased by the loss of one of its number -- the youngest child, John, a beloved and interesting lad, only ten years of age. The more the members of his family mourned his loss the more they became convinced of the hopelessness of rescuing him. Broken-heartedly they proceeded on their way; were received into the Mormon Church, of which William, who was two years John's senior, became, in time, a pillar; and, with the passage of years, same to look upon their lost, beloved relative as dead. William Pringle became, at last, so enthusiastic a leader in Mormonism, that about six weeks ago he left Utah for Liverpool, there to promulgate its doctrines, and, on his way thither, stopped, on the 13th of last December, at Cleveland Ohio. Throughout all John Pringle's captivity, although he had adopted many of the manners and customs of the Indians, he had constantly pined for his family and home. In 1859, while accom-panying his captors on a horse-stealing foray into Texas, he escaped to New-Orleans, gradually civilized himself, joined the Rebel army, and became one of Beauregard's most skillful scouts. At length, with early remembrances still throbbing, he resolved to revisit his boyhood's home in Oneida County. On his way thither he arrived in Cleveland on the 13th of December, and entered a saloon on Seneca st., drank a glass of ale, and seated himself by the fire. He had not long sat thus, when a stranger entered, and not only drank himself, but also invited the bystanders to join him. They complied, invitations became mutual, the company grew joyous, songs were sung and stories were told, until John Pringle, in a burst of convivial confidence, commenced the tale of his capture and captivity. The first few words had hardly been spoken when a change was visible on the stranger's face. His cheeks flushed, and then grew pale; his eyes filled and glistened; his lips quivered, his breast heaved. "My God! it's John" he cried; "It's little, little John;" and, in another moment, he was sobbing and panting on the bosom of his new-found brother. William abandoned his trip to Liverpool, and the two brothers started next day for Utah. |
![]() Vol. X. New York City, February 8?, 1869. No. ? ![]()
The Cincinnati Gazette has unearthed a bill by James M. Ashley, of Ohio, Chairman of the House Committee on Territories, which proposes to extend the boundaries of the States and Territories which surround Utah, so as to absorb Utah and wipe out the 100,000 Mormons as a distinctive community. Against this proceeding the Gazette protests. It is shown that for twenty-three years the Mormons have made their own laws; have created their own civilization; have made a wilderness generally unattractive to American emigrants to blossom as the rose; have built up and bound together a people numbering to-day more than the population of any of the surrounding Territories, and larger than most of the adjacent States; while by all accounts the moral state of the Mormon community is in all respects, excepting one, far above that of any of the States or Territories which, if Mr. Ashley has his way, are each to take a bite out of Utah, swallowing both Territory and people. |
![]() Vol. X. New York City, February 10?, 1869. No. ? ![]()
TROUBLESOME TWINS.
We have quite forgotten which one of the pugilistic platforms of the "Peace" party it is that declares open war against the "the twin relics of barbarism, slavery and polygamy." Nor have we discovered why these two were twinned in one barbarous birth. No record public or private informs us who was the father of the dreadful duo, though the putative paternity is charged upon Senator Sumner, rumor thus crediting to his "loilty" what is lacking in his loins. With these difficulties of paternity and birth, equally inexplicable is it how polygamy and slavery should be Siamesed together, and how one of the ligature-joined should have been summarily slaughtered full five years ago, while the other lives to-day. Is still strong polygamy carrying a corpse fastened to its own frame? What Mr. Sumner called "the barbarism of slavery" is pretty well buried out of sight, if Radicalism will only let it rest, but radicalism won't. There has been an anti-slavery pow-wow in Boston this very week, and now Radicalism is beginning a fresh raid against the other terrible twin, polygamy. |
![]() Vol. X. New York City, Monday, August 2, 1869. No. ? ![]()
Mormonism Going to Pieces --
A few days ago we mentioned the fact that William Alexander and David Hyrum, the younger sons of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, were on their way to Salt Lake City to set up the standard of the reorganized or anti-polygamy church. A singular interest attaches to the name of David Hyrum. A few months before Joseph's death, he stated that "the man was not born who was to lead this people, but of Emma Smith should be born a son who would succeed in the presidency, after a season of disturbance." Joseph Smith was killed June 27, 1844, and the son, named from his father's direction David Hyrum, was born at the Mansion House, in Nauvoo, on the seventeenth of the succeeding November. This prophecy is secretly dear to thousands of Mormons who are weary of the tyranny of Brigham Young, and yet hold to their faith in Joseph Smith. A few days ago the young men reached Salt Lake City, and soon called upon Brigham Young and announced their attention to organize their church at once, asking permission to defend their faith in the Tabernacle, proposing to argue with the Brighamites from the original Mormon books. We nave but scant reports of the interview, but it is said to have been very warm. Brigham was very angry at their presumption and denied them the use of the Tabernacle, sending word at the same time to the Bishops to shut them out of the ward meeting-houses. The brothers, at one point of their, denied that their father ever practised polygamy, citing their mother's testimony which Brigham retorted that their mother "was a liar, and had been proven a thief" with much more of the sort. Be it remembered that the lady thus spoken of is the Electa Cyria or "Elect Lady of God" in Mormon theology, who was the glory of their early history. Like Pope Pagan, of the "Pilgrim's Progress" Brigham doubtless gnaws his nails in vain rage that he can not, as informer times, let loose the vengeance of his Nauvoo legion upon these sectarians, and crush the rebellion in blood. If his power were now equal to his feelings we should have repeated the story of the Morrisites, when a high civil functionary of Utah led the legion in broad day to slaughter the men and women who had surrendered themselves prisoners. But nothing more than petty persecution will be attempted at this late day, and we earnestly hope the young men will succeed in their enterprise. Of their religious principles as opposed to Brighamism we know but little, but recognize in them tolerant men, good citizens and loyal subjects of the United States. |
![]() Vol. XXIX. New York City, Friday, September 10, 1869. No. 8,869. ![]()
POLYGAMY IN SALT LAKE CITY.
A correspondent of The San Francisco Bulletin gives the following account of the recent contest in Salt Lake City on the subject of polygamy. |
![]() Vol. X. New York City, Monday, September 17, 1869. No. ? ![]()
ANNA AMONG THE MORMONS.
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![]() Vol. X. New York City, October 19?, 1869. No. ? ![]()
Marriage a Mockery in Utah.
The marriages as now existing in the Church of the Latter-day Saints, are a vile mockery. For instance, an elder in the church, or one of the apostles desires to many, and one of his neighbors has a daughter. He informs the neighbor that God had directed him to take her for a wife and, although she may at the same time be engaged to a man of her own choice, she is compelled to submit. This is not often the case, but there are six instances now in my mind where elders in the Mormon Church have married young girls under these circumstances, the marriage ceremony being performed by the elders themselves. In other cases the marriage ceremony is performed by an elder or bishop in whatever parish the party may live. Often marriages are performed by means of a spiritual letter from Brigham Young, said by him to be specially endowed with power from God. This, very naturally, seems impossible; but when one has occular evidence of the truth of it, he is compelled to believe. A young man, a personal friend of mine -- a Mormon -- was to be married last spring, but when the day came Brigham was away in the lower part of the Territory, attending to matters pertaining to his mills. Not wishing to wait until his return, my friend wrote to one of Brigham's counselors, requesting permission to marry and also to be married. Brigham replied, through the medium of his secretary, that it was not necessary for him (Brigham) to be present, but that as the prophet of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he pronounced them man and wife. My friend -- poor, ignorant fellow that he was -- so firmly believed in his religion, that he imagined what Brigham said was the word of God, and went to housekeeping. |
![]() Vol. X. New York City, October 20?, 1869. No. ? ![]()
THE SALT LAKE SAINTS.
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![]() Vol. X. New York City, Wednesday, November 4, 1869. No. 2301. ![]()
MISS DICKINSON AND MORMONISM.
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![]() Vol. ? New York City, Monday, November 8, 1869. No. ? ![]()
MORE ABOUT THE MORMONS.
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![]() Vol. X. New York City, Monday, November 8, 1869. No. 2305. ![]()
AMONG THE MORMONS.
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![]() Vol. X. New York City, Wednesday, November 17, 1869. No. 2314. ![]()
U T A H U N V E I L E D.
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![]() Vol. XXIX. New York City, Saturday, November 20, 1869. No. 275. ![]()
"WHITED SEPULCHRES."
It was an attentive and deeply appreciative, though not numerically strong audience which gathered last night at our Academy of Music to listen to that powerful and popular oratoress, Miss Anna E. Dickinson. Her lecture with the concealed horror suggesting title, opened with a vivid and beautifully worded description of Mormondom, its fair outward appearance and its inward loathsomeness, sin and misery. These were depicted in strong, uncompromising language, and wrought deep impressions upon the audience. |
![]() Vol. X. New York City, Tuesday, November 23, 1869. No. 2320. ![]()
P O L Y G A M Y A G A I N.
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![]() Vol. X. New York City, Thursday, November 25, 1869. No. 2323. ![]()
AMONG THE MORMONS.
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![]() Vol. X. New York City, Monday, December 20, 1869. No. ? ![]()
A MORMON MUTINY.
Mormonism has managed to subsist for nearly fifty years. This fact may well surprise those who remember that its founder was a sheep-thief, that its present prophet is a bloated tyrant, that its Bible is a proved imposture, that its pulpit eloquence is a mess of blackguard blasphemy, and that its practice begins by encouraging those appetites which every system deserving to be called a religion has begun by denying, and every successful social polity has found itself forced to restrain. For the latter half of this period, moreover, it has been steadily growing in numbers and in wealth, so that it has been able to defy the military force of the United States, and that it now survives an unanimously hostile opinion. |
![]() Vol. X. New York City, Tuesday, February 8, 1870. No. 983. ![]() THE DANGER OF WAR IN UTAH. The excitement in Utah over Mr. Cullom's bill for the suppression of polygamy will be greatly intensified when the Mormons discover the actual provisions of the bill, as it has been amended by the Committee on Territories. After describing and declaring polygamy to be a crime, the amended bill provides that, for the enforcement of this law, the President shall send a sufficient body of troops to Utah; and, to this end, he is authorized to employ the regular army, and also to raise 25,000 militia in the Territory. It further provides that the property of any Mormons who may leave Utah on account of this law, or who may be imprisoned for resistance thereto, shall be taken and used for the benefit of the families of such Mormons. |
![]() Vol. X. New York City, Friday, February 25, 1870. No. 988. ![]()
FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
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![]() Vol. X. New York City, Tuesday, March 1, 1870. No. 989. ![]()
MR. FITCH, OF NEVADA, in the course of an able speech in the House on the subject of the bill abolishing polygamy in Utah, Friday, asked the very pertinent question, What should we gain by exterminating the Mormons? What, indeed? Of course, we all disapprove of polygamy in Utah where it exists without the sanction of Messrs. Beecher and Frothingham; but is it worthwhile to incur the enormous expense of a war for the sake of its violent abolition? Shall we really gain anything by driving out an industrious though polygamous community, and giving up Salt Lake City to the savage and polygamous Indians? Is a community of civilized polygamists so very much worse than a nation of barbarous pagans? The proposal to carry out this great moral idea is especially ill-timed just at present, when female suffrage has been established in the Territory. Suppose we wait until the Mormon women have had an opportunity to vote on the question of the abolition of polygamy. If the institution is as hateful to the women as the Tribune correspondent asserts, they will soon suppress it without the aid of the army. |
![]() Vol. X. New York City, Friday, March 25, 1870. No. 996. ![]()
FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
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![]() Vol. X. New York City, Tuesday, April 5, 1870. No. 999. ![]()
CONGRESS AND THE MORMONS.
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![]() Vol. X. New York City, Tuesday, June 21, 1870. No. 1021. ![]()
The Corinne Reporter posts the name of J. H. Beadle for Gentile delegate to Congress from Utah. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Tuesday, August 12, 1870. No. 1037. ![]()
AMONG THE MORMONS. Salt Lake City, August 11. --Yesterday Dr. Newman challenged Brigham Young to discuss the question: "Does the Bible sanction Polygamy?" Brigham declined for himself, but designated Orson Pratt to represent him in the debate. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Tuesday, August 16, 1870. No. 1037. ![]()
SAINT OR SINNER?
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![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Friday, August 19, 1870. No. 1038. ![]()
BRIGHAM AND NEWMAN.
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![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Tuesday, August 23, 1870. No. 1039. ![]()
Corinne, Utah, was recently startled into a state of alarm and scientific speculation by a rain -- the first it had seen in three months -- which, descending upon it, flooded it with water and lizards. Throughout the western part of the town they were found in countless numbers, and varying in length from two to eight inches. They seemed to be little else than the ghosts of lizards, however, for those which remained on the ground died and dried up in a short time, leaving little more than skin and skeleton. A local paper describes them as boneless -- in which case they could not have been lizards -- as having soft and "mushy" bodies, and being quite lively when placed in water, but dull and listless when on the ground. In color they were dull brown, with bright spots. The same paper says that the usual theory of such showers -- vis., that the rain brings the lizards from the ground -- will not apply in this instance, for they died in a few minutes when left on dry ground; the ground has been baked too hard by the recent heat and drought to let them live in it: and some of them were found in "Judge Spicer's" rain-barrel, into which they could not have crawled. Singularly enough, the savans of the town have no theory of their production and appearance. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Sunday, September 4, 1870. No. 3305. ![]()
P O L Y G A M Y.
Notwithstanding all that has been written upon the subject of Mormon polygamy, only a very few of its cardinal points have been touched, and scarcely a practical view of the solution given. The reason of this is evidently because "Gentile" correspondents and magazine writers have aimed chiefly at sensational exposes, and, moreover, knew but little of the inner views of the "celestial order" as the Saints understand it in the integrity of their faith. Even Dr. Newman's essays and discussions will amount to nothing, and explain nothing in the case of practical value, either to the Mormons or the Gentiles. Nor do our apostolic theologians, such as Orson Pratt and John Taylor, much better render their subject to the popular understanding; for they deal almost exclusively with patriarchal disputations, which none but the disciples of the ''peculiar institution" can appreciate. I therefore design a compendium of the chief views and points of Mormon polygamy, in strict harmony with Mormon conceptions, but rendered by the author rather than by the enthusiastic disciple. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Saturday, September 24, 1870. No. 3325. ![]()
AN ORIGINAL SAINT.
Considerable interest has been felt by our people in the arrival in this city of Martin Harris, one of three witnesses of the Book of Mormon. He arrived here at 7:30 P. M. yesterday, in the company of Elder Edward Stevenson, who left this city on the 19th of last July, for the purpose of bringing him out of Kirtland, Ohio, where he has been living since the Saints first moved there -- 1831 -- thirty-nine years ago. Brother Stevenson has had a strong desire to have Martin Harris brought here. But he himself has thought for years that his mission was in Kirkland, he feeling that the Lord required him to stay there and bear testimony to the Book of Mormon and the first principles, which he has been earnest in doing, and he has felt reluctant to leave. But when Brother Stevenson corresponded with him about coming out to the Valley, he replied that the spirit testified to him that he should come there, and in every letter that he afterward received from him he expressed a still stronger desire to come. Brother Stevenson made a collection, and after raising sufficient means, went to Kirtland and brought him on. Martin Harris is in his 88th year. He is remarkably vigorous for one of his years, and still retains the use of his faculties, his memory being good, and his sight, though his eyes appear to have failed, being so acute that he can see to pick a pin off the ground. He has experienced many changes and vicissitudes; but on one point, so far as we have heard, he has never changed; he has never failed to bear testimony to the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon. He says it is not a matter of belief on his part, but of knowledge. He, with the other two witnesses, declared -- and their testimony has accompanied every copy of the book -- "that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates and the engravings thereon." This declaration he has not varied from in forty-one years; and it is a remarkable fact that, though away from the church, and not maintaining their connection with the prophet Joseph Smith, not one of the three witnesses has ever failed, so far as known, to bear testimony to the truth of their united declaration contained in the Book of Mormon! Deny whatever they might of other points of doctrine of Joseph's authority, or of his management, they have never denied the testimony which they have given to the world concerning the Book of Mormon! We are glad to see Martin Harris once more in the midst of the Saints. He feels that this people are led by God, that they are a happy and a blessed people, and have the appearance of enjoying God's favor. They are doing the very work which the Book of Mormon said should be done, and are the only people who, as a people, believe in that book. The history of the veteran member of the Mormon Church would no doubt be interesting, if written, as his course since the severance of his connection with the Prophet Joseph, at the early rise of the church, has been singular. One of the original witnesses of the Book of Mormon, he saw the angel, and handled the plates from which that book was translated. In relation to this his testimony has never wavered, yet he, for some cause or other, has kept himself aloof from the church for many years, and has taken no part in carrying on the great work of which he, in connection with Joseph and others, laid the foundation. No greater proof could be given than the history and course of this man that the work of God is not dependent upon any man, however great, talented, illustrious, or favored he may be. Martin Harris having seen that which few in the flesh are favored to behold, and having received a testimony of the divinity of this work and of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon that it was utterly impossible to destroy, one might have supposed, viewing things from a merely human standpoint, that the progress and prosperity of the work would have depended to some considerable extent on his co-operation, and that lacking that it would have been retarded. But such is not the case, and in this fact human pride, vanity, and talent may learn a salutary lesson, if it will. Mr. Harris saw fit to withdraw from the cause, but its course, owing to the workings of Divinity through faithful agents, has been onward to a re-markable degree. The Saints, by thousands, have been gathered from the nations, a territory has been peopled, and the foundation of a kingdom laid which will never again be uprooted from the earth; and Martin Harris, no longer able to resist the conviction that God still guides and controls the destinies of his kingdom and people, gladly returns to share in the blessings and privileges of that kingdom. There is still one other of the "original witnesses" living, namely, Mr. David Whitmer. He now resides in Missouri. We would not be surprised if the yearning of his heart should yet lead him to follow the course of Mr. Harris, and again throw in his lot with the Saints and close his earthly career in their midst. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Sunday, September 25, 1870. No. 3326. ![]()
AFTER BRIGHAM, WHAT?
Here we have a subject which will interest all Mormondom, and it is the very subject which the editors, commercial men, and legislators of America are constantly suggesting for answer. It involves the future of Mormondom, and is the unsolved problem in the minds of all the ''Latter-Day Saints," both in America and Europe. It grows in importance every year, for every year Brigham Young travels fast towards the grave. But the ''faithful" only whisper upon the subject in the family circle, or conceal it in their closets to commune with it in secrecy. The orthodox dare not ask themselves aloud, When will Brigham die, and after him "what," or "who?" And the nearer the subject touches the men most concerned in the successorship, the more secret and reticent they are. They know that it troubles the heart of hearts of the Mormon people, up to Brigham himself, but they pretend to be utterly oblivious of the fact. The Utah Protestants and the ''Josephites" are the only ones who speak freely upon the matter. They, in fact, exult in the question: "After Brigham, what?" But George Q. Cannon, the most ambitious man in the church, and the man most like Brigham Young, is sublime in his pretended unconsciousness of Brigham's mortality, of his seventieth year, and the great issues which await his death. This number of The World Brigham will read, and George Q. and the rest of the apostles will read, for it will unfold themselves and the theme of their thoughts; but so characteristic will Brother George be that, unless I forestall him, he will write thus in the Deseret News: ''The apostates and the Gentiles, in the evil intents of their hearts, are with a devilish wickedness speculating upon the death of God's prophet; but they, to their shame and confusion, will find that the Lord will preserve his servant until he has accomplished his purposes through him and frustrated all the malicious designs of the apostates and the Gentiles to overthrow his kingdom." But this simply means that Brother George Q. Cannon, the man most like Brigham Young in his ambitions and capacity, but not his equal in potency of will, desires Brigham to live long enough to secure Mormondom, but wishes to hide from all eyes how much he dwells upon the future and himself as one of the successors of Brigham Young. Nor is the subject under consideration less prevailing in the mind of the Mormon President. Indeed, I believe it is constant there, and painful in its burden, but he also hides it deep down in his own thoughts, though he tries to throw off the burden by a vigorous conceit of youthfulness, which his appearance justifies. The question, "How shall I match the United States?" troubles him infinitely less than the question, ''After Brigham, what?" So much does the man believe in himself and his mission that, could he keep himself as he is to-day for another quarter of a century, the "After to-day, what?" he could readily answer. His answer would be simply, "Brigham." And he has been for the last seven years aiming to give this something like a literal construction, by bringing on his son Brigham to succeed him. Yet the Mormon President is only certain in himself, and hence he gives to his life another fifty years. I was remarkably struck with this two years ago, on my return from a mission East. Visiting him, after a cordial reception, I congratulated him with evident pleasure on his appearance, saying, "You look, brother Brigham, as though you would live another twenty-five years." "More than that, Edward; more than that," he replied. "I shall live, Edward, as long as I can." That is exactly the case. Brigham Young will live as long as he can, and if it is as long as he hopes, the question, “Who will succeed him?" which writers so often put, will amount to nothing as a present subject, but to all human seeming it is the question of to-day. Heber, his life-long companion, is gone, and his brother, John Young, passed away a few months ago; and the end of Brigham is also near. It would be wise for him to think so, for then he could better prepare, for the prevailing opinion is that he will die suddenly of apoplexy. Any hour may startle us with a telegraphic announcement of the death of Brigham Young; and then the question, ''After Brigham, what?" would terrify Mormondom, for there would be exultation among thousands who in his lifetime dared not vent their thought; while in every house of the orthodox brethren and sisters the question would buzz around, ''Who will succeed Brigham?" I will aim in this paper to reveal all that can be revealed upon the matter before the issue, and perhaps give Brigham himself some new views of what is and what will be. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, November 25?, 1870. No. ? ![]() A GENTILE IN UTAH. Salt Lake City, Utah, November 9. -- In travelling through the chain of valleys known as the Great Salt Lake Valley, there is much to interest one in a first trip -- many things new and novel, some wild and strange, few that are beautiful or even charmingly picturesque at this season of the year, and thousands of things to remind one of the years of toil spent in these desert wilds by the pioneer religions enthusiasts who people this section of the "Great American Desert." In journeying from the extreme southern portion of Nevada into the southernmost boundaries of Utah and then travelling northward, it was necessary that my way should be through the entire southern and middle portion of the Salt Lake Valley, thus in my trip traversing almost the entire chain of settlements that constitute the inhabitable southern portion of Mormondom. I passed through about sixty towns and villages on my route, ranging in population from three hundred to ten thousand persons, and in each and every one of them there was evidence of thrift and prosperity, and the peace and contentment that follows a large and bountiful harvest. This has been the case with the people of Utah du ring the past season; their harvests have been abundant, and their orchards and vineyards fruitful beyond anything in times past, and the citizens are joyful that their labors have been so blessed. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, December 12?, 1870. No. ? ![]()
A bill will probably soon be presented the House changing the territorial capital of Utah from Salt Lake city to Corinne, the object of the bill is to remove U. S. officers from a city where there are so few Gentiles, to a rapidly growing town in which there are few Mormons. All the citizens of Corinne, and in fact most of the Gentiles in the territory, favor the change, and sufficient land and other inducements will be offered to protect the govemment from loss by the removal. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Saturday, December 17, 1870. No. 3409. ![]()
THE MORMON MUTINY.
Salt Lake City, December 6. -- A year ago this city was ''as dull as a New England village;" it is now busy and prosperous. The change has been almost magical. A larger amount of commercial business is done here than in any city of the Union with the same population. It has been a common expression in the West that railroads have ruined more countries than they have made -- except the termini, and the Pacific Railroad is probably nothing exceptional in that experience. This city, from being in a sense the terminal point of both the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, profits from them both, and foreshadows a future of greatness that will astonish older countries. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Tuesday, December 27, 1870. No. 1075. ![]()
Congressmen Preparing for the Settlement of
Washington, D. C. December 22. -- It will be learned with pleasure by the people in the West that after the holidays the Utah question will be brought up in Congress and finally disposed of. There need, however, be no terror, nor apprehension even, of any great commotion. The temporizing policy of past administrations will not be indulged in, and there is no doubt that Brigham Young, seeing the inevitable march of destiny, will accept his fate and quietly lay aside the indulgences that characterize his reign in the centre of the Rocky Mountains. |
![]() Vol. XI. New York City, Tuesday, May 2, 1871. No. 1111. ![]()
THE NEW SILVERADO.
Ogden, Utah, April 15. -- Everybody out in these territories seems scrambling towards Utah. The men who have sunk fortunes at Sweetwater and been picking and scraping the last two years to get them out again; miners who have passed through all the successive excitements in Colorado, from Cherry Creek to Cariboo; prospectors who have fought their way from White Pine to Tucson and thence to Silver City: old-timers who have "struck it rich" in California, all and everybody seem flocking towards Salt Lake. The Mormon city is full. It is claimed that there are over two thousand strangers there. Ogden and Corinne are also filling up; and now that everybody has got here the enthusiasm quiets down. The capitalist, looking towards the Wasatch range where the snows lie deeper than for twenty years, curses the bad judgment that brought him here so soon, when mining operations will be delayed till June. The laborer, out of work and out of pocket, sees the Mormon community monopolizing work at $1.50 per day, the cost of living high, business overdone, rents enormous, stores on the main street cannot be bought at any price, and the rent of a building twenty-five feet front and one hundred feet deep, poorly finished, is put at $10,000 a year, with a bonus of $2,000 cash down. Here is a saloon with nine billiard tables in a second story renting for $800 a month. |