Thirteen hundred miles west. Wagon companies and, for ten years, handcart companies cross the plains, and roughly four hundred settlements are planted across the Great Basin and beyond. Brigham Young leads for thirty years; the era ends with the St George temple finished and his death in the same year.
Joseph F. Smith writes, "From my childhood--for twenty years and upwards I chewed the filthy weed. I never saw the moment during the whole time that I was not inwardly ashamed of it, insomuch I endeavored to keep it to myself, using great caution. One day I went into the president's Brigham Young office. He whispered to me, I was obliged to whisper back. He smelt my breath, and started in surprise. "Do you chew tobacco?" I could have shrunk out of existence, or anihilated myself from very shame, and he saw I was ashamed of myself, and pitying me said, "Keep it to yourself"!” In the 1860's Brigham Young also struggled with an addiction to chewing tobacco.
Judge James B. McKean removed from office by President Grant
1875LDS History
Judge James B. McKean removed from office by President Grant.
Judge James B. McKean, with whom the Mormons had been unhappy, was removed from office by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.
LDS political newspaper SALT LAKE HERALD
1875LDS History
LDS political newspaper SALT LAKE HERALD publishes John D. Lee's "confession" that "all who participated in the lamentable transaction, or most of them, were acting under orders that they considered it their duty--their religious duty--to obey." Lee says that when informed of Mountain Meadows Massacre, Brigham Young "wept like a child, walked the floor and wrung his hands in bitter anguish."
Missionary and future apostle John Henry
1875LDS History
Missionary and future apostle John Henry Smith records in his journal: "Chester Call had been perpetrating a fearfull outrage upon a 12 year old daughter of Bro. Scott. The letter was shown to Bro. Call, and he owned to the fact that he had put his hand under her clothes and fingered her privates. The brethren decided that Bro. Call should stop away from meeting on Sunday which he did. On Monday Bros. Lyman and MacFarland went and saw the parents of the child, who told substantially the same story as bro. Call with the exception that the child said he put his finger up her three times. . . . Bro. Call did not try to go any farther in this affair. He went away from the House and was gone three days and returned to Bro. Scotts and asked them to forgive him and they said they would." Chester Call is sent "home as soon as possible."
The day after his father (George A. Smith, First Counselor to Brigham Young) dies Apostle John Henry Smith writes, "Father still lays in the ice and is keeping very nicely."
THE DESERET NEWS reports that Judge
1875LDS History
THE DESERET NEWS reports that Judge David B. Lowe has set aside a previous court order that Brigham Young pay $9,500 accumulated alimony to Ann Eliza Webb Young. The court reasoned that alimony could not be awarded unless a valid marriage existed. Since Young had alleged that the marriage was illegal and the allegation was not denied, it had to be considered true, and the order was set aside.
The first Young Men's Mutual Improvement
1875LDS History
The first Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association was organized in the Thirteenth Ward in Salt Lake City. On Dec. 8, 1876, a central committee was formed to coordinate all such associations. Junius F. Wells was the first superintendent. This was the forerunner of today's Young Men organization.
Ulysses S. Grant is first U.S
1875Prophets
Ulysses S. Grant is first U.S. president to visit Utah and meet LDS president there.
Wilford Woodruff writes: "I met at the Endowment House at 2 oclok
1875Prophets
Wilford Woodruff writes: "I met at the Endowment House at 2 oclok with the Presidency & Twelve. President Young & George A Smith went into the font and G. A. Smith Baptized President Brigham Young for the renewal of his Covenant and as an Example to others. G. A. Smith & Daniel H. Wells Confirmed him. President Young then Baptized G A Smith & Daniel H Wells & Confirmed them. President Young then Baptized Wilford Woodruff, Orson Pratt, & Albert Carrington and Confirmed them. Seven of the Twelve were Baptized by D H. Wells at Sanpete County several weeks ago. They were Confirmed by President Young."
1876
Advance companies of Saints from Utah
1876LDS History
Advance companies of Saints from Utah who were called to settle in Arizona arrived at the Little Colorado. This was the beginning of Mormon colonization in Arizona.
At St. George, Utah, Brigham Young
1876Prophets
At St. George, Utah, Brigham Young preaches, "as to the Mountain Meadows Massacre if he had not been foiled by Judge John Cradlebaugh and other federal officials He would have hung every guilty person concerned in the bloody deed." Men in congregation are involved, and by arrangement several testify against John D. Lee.
Brigham Young confides that it is "a curiosity to him that men could commit
1876Prophets
Brigham Young confides that it is "a curiosity to him that men could commit adultery and still retain the spirit of the Lord as he had witnessed on one occasion. The man is now dead."
Brigham Young History
1876Prophets
Led the Church as President of the Quorum of the Twelve.
Concerning Custer massacre a few days
1876LDS History
Concerning Custer massacre a few days before, DESERET NEWS editorializes that it is doubtful if possessin of Black Hills country by whites can be justified. If it cannot, "the Indians rather than Custer's men must consequently have the sympathy of every just man in the area of the civilized world." Such pro-Indian sentiments contribute to hostility of U.S. army and federal governnment toward Mormons.
DESERET NEWS publishes directory of "PRESIDING
1876LDS History
DESERET NEWS publishes directory of "PRESIDING ELDERS AND BISHOPS of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." This is list of twenty-one regional bishops. Cache Valley's "presiding bishop" presides over twenty-four wards, while Iron County's presiding bishop is responsible for two wards.
DESERET NEWS publishes grand jury's audit
1876LDS History
DESERET NEWS publishes grand jury's audit of Salt Lake Corporation's finincial records which show extensive transactions involving liquor. Municipal funds purchase liquor for Pioneer Day on July 24 and also for party of Mormon Battalion veterans. The city rents Brigham Young's distillery for $2,000 annually from 1861 to 1867, after which city government purchases its liquor directly from Howard Distillery which is owned jointly by Brigham Young and his first counselor Daniel H. Well. Young is also member of Salt Lake City Council (1872-1877), and Wells is mayor from 1866 to 1876. Report observes "After completion of the railroad, the city continued to buy liquor from Brigham Young at $4.00 per gallon, although they could have gotten better 'States' liquor at $1.25 per gallon."
Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil,
1876LDS History
Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, attends sacrament meeting at the Salt Lake City 14th ward. The Emperor is passing through Utah on his way to Philadelphia to assist President Ulysses S. Grant in opening the Centennial Exposition. The press reports him as saying that, having failed to see the harems of Turkey, he wished to visit the seraglio of Brigham Young. He is the first head of state to visit Utah.
General Aaronic Priesthood minutes note that it has "been the custom to ordain boys
1876LDS History
General Aaronic Priesthood minutes note that it has "been the custom to ordain boys to the office of deacon and allow them to retain this office till they get their endowments when they are ordained Elders."
In 1876 there were 211 missionaries
1876Mission
In 1876 there were 211 missionaries called to serve.
In John D. Lee's second trial
1876LDS History
In John D. Lee's second trial he is convicted of murder for his part in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The jury deliberates for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Unlike at his first trial where no faithful LDS testified for the prosecution, many now testified against Lee including Daniel H. Wells (second counselor to Brigham Young), and massacre participants Nephi Johnson (Lieutenant in Nauvoo Legion who lead killing of women and children), Jacob Hamblin (president of Southern Indian Mission). Johnson and Hamblin perjure themselves and put all blame on Lee. Judge Jacob S. Boremon allowed the all-Mormon jury to be informed that Wells's presence indicated that the LDS church supported the prosecution. Juror Andrew Correy quoted the Book of Mormon to justify his guilty vote: "Some one had to be sacrificed, so at last I gave in….Better for one man to die than for a whole nation to dwindle in unbelief." But he says of his guilty vote that finally made it unanimous, "I felt miserable, just as though the devil had some power over me."
It having been given out at Conference that the Endowment House would be closed
1876LDS History
It having been given out at Conference that the Endowment House would be closed after this week, for the past few days hundreds of persons have been going through the House, in fact, great numbers have to be refused, the authorities not having time or room for them. Closing Endowment House in Salt Lake City is Brigham Young's way of guaranteeing use of the distant St. George temple.
John D. Lee sentenced to death
1876LDS History
John D. Lee sentenced to death for Mountain Meadows Massacre. Judge Jacob Boreman gives Lee the choice between hanging, firing squad or being beheaded. By choosing firing squad over beheading Lee seems to indicate he feels no need of blood atonement. At the sentencing Judge Boreman says LDS authorities had "inaugurated and decided upon the wholesale slaughter of the emigrants" and had been "a persistent and determined opposition to an investigation of the massacre." OGDEN JUNCTION newspaper calls Boreman's remarks "disgraceful" and an attack on prosecutor Sumner Howard. Howard had made a secret deal with the LDS leaders to prosecute only Lee in exchange for LDS cooperation. John D. Lee is the only person ever tried in connection with Mountain Meadows Massacre.
John Taylor History
1876Prophets
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Joseph F. Smith and Julina Lambson.
Joseph Fielding Smith History
1876Prophets
Young Men Mutual Improvement Association organized.
Salt Lake City arsenal explodes, killing
1876LDS History
Salt Lake City arsenal explodes, killing four people and severely damaging houses in 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th wards. DESERET NEWS reports: "Nearly every building of any size, for a mile and a half or two miles around" is damaged. Wilford Woodruff records in his journal, "It was a miracle that the four buildings made of Rock, Cobble, Iron & Concrete was blown high into the air & scattered over the City for a circuit of more than a mile with a population of 20,000, and ownly four persons killed. The whole City shook like an Earthquake. Many escaped narrowly from death. Many women fainted. Nearly all the glass was blown out of the New Tabernacle."
Sidney Rigdon dies at the age
1876LDS History
Sidney Rigdon dies at the age of eighty-three in Friendship, New York; where he is buried.
Southern States mission is created
1876Mission
Southern States mission is created
Stake president Francis M. Lyman spends
1876LDS History
Stake president Francis M. Lyman spends day studying Buddhism and Confucianism. Four days later he studies Hindu philosophy for half-day.
The patent was issued for Alexander Graham Bell's telephone.
Wilford Woodruff offers the dedicatory prayer
1876Prophets
Wilford Woodruff offers the dedicatory prayer to the new Z.C.M.I. store. The First Presidency and Quorum of Twelve attends. Joseph F. Smith "asked President Youngs Pardon for Contradicting him in the matter which Pardon was granted By President Young."
Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association organized
1876LDS History
Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association organized.
This edition was created in Salt Lake City, UT, England and was compiled by an unknown person. There were 345 Hymns in this edition. At the time it was edition number 17.
Advance companies of Saints arrived at the Little Colorado, Arizona
1877LDS History
Advance companies of Saints arrived at the Little Colorado, Arizona.
At Brigham Young's funeral "18,000 people by actual Count passed through the Tabernacle to visit the Body of President Young and several thousand were not Counted. It is estimated that 25,000 took their last fare well of the honored dead."
At meeting in St. George, Utah,
1877LDS History
At meeting in St. George, Utah, Brigham Young verbally attacks second-ranked apostle John Taylor for indifference to communitarian United Orders. Young warns that Taylor could lose his standing in Twelve and cancels his administrative assignments. Apostle Lorenzo Snow finally persuades Taylor to apologize, which Snow believes is necessary to preserve Taylor's status in Twelve.
At the Manti temple site Brigham
1877LDS History
At the Manti temple site Brigham Young tells Lorenzo Snow "Here is the spot where the prophet Moroni stood and dedicated this piece of land for a Temple site, and that is the reason why the location is made here, and we can't move it from this spot; and if you and I are the only persons that come here at high noon today, we will dedicate this ground."
Served short term mission to eastern United States in interest of history of the Church.
Brigham Young instructs apostles to re-organize
1877Prophets
Brigham Young instructs apostles to re-organize all stakes of Great Basin.
Brigham Young obtains cancellation of his debts in Ogden, Utah, dating back to 1849
1877Prophets
Brigham Young obtains cancellation of his debts in Ogden, Utah, dating back to 1849.
Brigham Young preaches: "The great majority
1877Prophets
Brigham Young preaches: "The great majority of men who have amassed great wealth have done it at the expense of their fellows, on the principle that the doctors, the lawyers and the merchants acquire theirs. Such men are impositions on the community, and they ought to be taken and put to some honorable labor such as raising potatoes, raising grain, cattle and sheep, and performing other useful and necessary labors for the good of mankind. Amen."
Brigham Young preaches: "The Seventies are
1877Prophets
Brigham Young preaches: "The Seventies are Apostles; and they stand next in authority to the Twelve," as reported in DESERET NEWS on June 2.
Brigham Young preaches: "When Joseph got
1877Prophets
Brigham Young preaches: "When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. Oliver Cowdery says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or artificial light; but that it was just as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up in the corners and along the walls. The first time they went there the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went again it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words: 'This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ.'"
Brigham Young, second president of the Church, dies
1877LDS History
Brigham Young, second president of the Church, dies.
Charles L. Walker writes, "Today I took Abigail and Sarah into the Temple and we received great and glorious blessings and powers which few of the children of Adam ever attained to." He and his two wives received their second anointing.
Dr. William D. Purple publishes an eye-witness account of Joseph Smith's 1826 trial
1877LDS History
Dr. William D. Purple publishes an eye-witness account of Joseph Smith's 1826 trial for being a "disordly person." Joseph was charged with being a "glass looker" for gazing into a stone in his efforts to find locations of buried treasure. Purple writes: "On the request of the Court, he exhibited the stone. It was about the size of a small hen's egg, in the shape of a high-instepped shoe. It was composed of layers of different colors passing diagonally through it."
Execution of John D
1877LDS History
Execution of John D. Lee at Mountain Meadows, Utah, for his role in massacre almost twenty years earlier.
First Presidency secretary asks Brigham Young
1877LDS History
First Presidency secretary asks Brigham Young a doctrinal question: "At Prest. Young's in the evening I propounded the following question to him. Is it proper to seal a woman that has died out of the Gospel and who was never married, to a man who died out of the Gospel, they being unknown to or not having any claim on each other in this life. Answer--Yes"
First Presidency Secretary L. John Nuttall
1877LDS History
First Presidency Secretary L. John Nuttall records that John Taylor's birthday celebration was attended by "Prest. John Taylor, 6 wives, 17 sons, 8 daughters, 5 daughters-in-law, 3 sons-in-law, 7 grand sons and 6 grand daughters. Total 53."
First Presidency's letter to bishops and stake presidents includes
1877LDS History
First Presidency's letter to bishops and stake presidents includes: "It would be excellent for the young men if they had the opportunity of acting in the offices of the lesser priesthood." This mild suggestion does not result in widespread practice of ordaining teenage boys , so adults continue to be deacons, teachers, priests of most wards.
First President of Seventy B
1877LDS History
First President of Seventy B. H. Roberts receives a patriarchal blessing from Presiding Patriarch John Smith. He later writes of it: "The blessing in the main was unsatisfactory and greatly disappointing, . . ."
For the first time in his life Brigham Young is washed and anointed
1877LDS History
For the first time in his life Brigham Young is washed and anointed and endowed in behalf of someone else. In the St. George Temple he is washed and anointed, given endowments and second anointing in behalf of someone else the next day also.
Grand Jury describes Salt Lake County
1877LDS History
Grand Jury describes Salt Lake County probate court as a "divorce mill" which granted 300 divorces in previous twelve-month period, primarily on "grounds of incompatibility of temperment, different aims and objectives in life." Eighty percent of divorced couples come to Utah for divorces from such places as San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Terre Haute, and St. Louis. Report finds that 13 percent of divorces are granted same day of complaint, total of 25 percent within week of application, and total of 85 percent are granted within a month of application. Report continues, "And your committee have good reason to believe that other country probate courts of the territory are likewise engaged in this class of divorce business, to an equal if not greater extent." Two months later U.S. senator Dawes introduces bill to remove divorce from jurisdiction of Mormon probate courts and limit divorce cases to federally-appointed non-Mormon judges.
In 1877 there were 154 missionaries
1877Mission
In 1877 there were 154 missionaries called to serve.
In meeting of Twelve with Brigham
1877LDS History
In meeting of Twelve with Brigham Young's former counselors, Daniel H. Wells proposes that junior apostle Joseph F. Smith should become church president. Wells denies that Young ever intended for John Taylor to succeed him as church president. First time general authority proposes ending automatic succession of senior apostle. In 1880 Wells and Apostle Orson Pratt again urge this. In 1887 Apostle Heber J. Grant wants lower-ranked apostle Joseph F. Smith to become church president instead of Wilford Woodruff or four other senior apostles.
In St. George L. John Nuttall
1877LDS History
In St. George L. John Nuttall writes: "Bro. Thomas Allman gave to me his Sister, Sarah Allman, who was born at Handley, Staffordshire, England. She died in England when some 16 years old. She was baptized for 6th Feb. 1877 and confirmed same day, and had her endowments at St. George Temple, 23 Feb. 1877. Sister June Walker Allman being proxy for her in all these offices. Also in sealing today. I had Sarah Allman sealed to me by Elder Erastus Snow."
In St. George temple, second counselor
1877LDS History
In St. George temple, second counselor Daniel H. Wells reads dedicatory prayer at re-dedication ceremony, during which some see halo of light around his head.
Indian Territory mission is created
1877Mission
Indian Territory mission is created
John D. Lee, age 64, is taken to Mountain Meadows
1877LDS History
John D. Lee, age 64, is taken to Mountain Meadows, the scene of the massacre nineteen and one-half years earlier, where he was perched on the edge of his coffin and shot to death by a firing squad.
John Taylor History
1877Prophets
Appointed president of St. George Utah Temple.
John Taylor tells apostles it is wrong for some local partiarchs "to be underbidding
1877Prophets
John Taylor tells apostles it is wrong for some local partiarchs "to be underbidding the others" in giving patriarchal blessings.
L. John Nuttall writes in his diary
1877LDS History
L. John Nuttall writes in his diary: "Spent the evening at President Youngs got his mind and views in regard to the proper manner of giving the Tokens. and presenting the man at the veil & which were very essential & gave all present further light."
New edition of the Doctrine and Covenants printed with present verse divisions (prepared
1877LDS History
New edition of the Doctrine and Covenants printed with present verse divisions (prepared by Orson Pratt).
NEW YORK TIMES reports election of Walter Pearce as first Mormon mayor of Nauvoo
1877LDS History
NEW YORK TIMES reports election of Walter Pearce as first Mormon mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, since 1946.
President Brigham Young died at his home in Salt Lake City at age 76
1877LDS History
President Brigham Young died at his home in Salt Lake City at age 76.
Romania Bunnell Pratt is first Mormon
1877LDS History
Romania Bunnell Pratt is first Mormon woman to obtain M.D. degree (from Women's Medical College in Philadelphia). On Nov. 1 she opens school of obstetrics in Salt Lake Citywhere she trains Mormon midwives and nurses for twenty-two years.
Seventy-year-old Wilford Woodruff marries Brigham Young's twenty-five-year-old recently-divorced daughter Eudora Lovina. Eudora later divorces Woodruff and elopes to Seattle with Judge Albert Hagan, breaking up his marriage.
St. George Temple dedicated
6 April 1877St. George, UtahTemples
Built of local sandstone by settlers in a desert town, it is the first temple where ordinances for the dead are performed at scale. Brigham Young dies that August.
St. George Temple president Wilford Woodruff
1877Prophets
St. George Temple president Wilford Woodruff writes: "President Young has been laboring all winter to get up a perfect form of Endowments as far as possible. They having been perfected I read them to the Company today." Brigham Young's final form of the endowment included mention of the Adam-God doctrine.
St. George Utah Temple
1877Temples
This is an operating temple dedicated by John Taylor
The NEW YORK HERALD publishes an interview with Sarah Pratt
1877LDS History
The NEW YORK HERALD publishes an interview with Sarah Pratt, wife of Apostle Orson Pratt. She says she had not believed in Mormonism since Nauvoo, and had been endeavoring after the family first arrived in Salt Lake to "rear my children so that they should never espouse the Mormon faith," while concealing "from my neighbors and from the church authorities the fact that I was thus rearing them." Sarah also said, "Here was my husband, gray headed, taking to his bed young girls in mockery of marriage . . . He told me that he believed it was his duty to take other women besides myself to wife."
The Quorum of the Twelve, with John
1877LDS History
The Quorum of the Twelve, with John Taylor as president, publicly assumed its position as the head of the Church.
The St. George Temple was dedicated by President Daniel H. Wells in connection with the 47th Annual Conference of the Church that was held in St. George. This was the first temple to be completed in Utah. The lower portion of the temple had been dedicated earlier, on Jan. 1, 1877, and ordinances for the dead had commenced.
The St. George Temple was dedicated by Daniel H
1877Doctrine & Covenants
The St. George Temple was dedicated by Daniel H. Wells.
Twenty days before his death Brigham Young saus at a Bishop’s meeting, it is his intention to have the old tabernacle taken down and a comfortable meeting house erected in its stead. On the 23d, at a similar meeting, he being present, appoints George Goddard, Thomas Taylor, Henry Grow, William Asper and Edward Brain to act as a committee to carry out his suggestions. The "old tabernacle" is replaced by the many-spired Assembly Hall on the south-west corner of Temple Square. This is Young's last public expression of a business nature.
Two days after Brigham Young's funeral
1877Prophets
Two days after Brigham Young's funeral the apostles meet in council and sustain John Taylor as president of the Quorum of the Twelve and Young's former counselors John W. Young and Daniel H. Wells as "counselors to the Twelve." Unable to agree on reorganizing the First Presidency, the Twelve govern as a collective leadership until they call a new first presidency at the October 1880 conference.
Wilford Woodruff preaches: "But when we
1877Prophets
Wilford Woodruff preaches: "But when we came to this country, what did we find here? A barren desert as barren as the Desert of Sahara; and the only signs of life were a few black crickets, some cayote wolves, and a few poor wandering Indians." However his journal for July 24, 1847 reads: "We gazed with wonder and admiration upon the vast rich fertile valley which lay for about 25 miles in length & 16 miles in width Clothed with the Heaviest garb of green vegetation . . ."
Wilford Woodruff seals five single women
1877Prophets
Wilford Woodruff seals five single women to his deceased son Brigham Young Woodruff who died in a drowning accident three weeks earlier.
Wilford Woodruff writes, "This is the first day I ever went to the Temple
1877Prophets
Wilford Woodruff writes, "This is the first day I ever went to the Temple to get Endowments for the Dead."
Wilford Woodruff writes: "I Wilford Woodruff
1877Prophets
Wilford Woodruff writes: "I Wilford Woodruff went to the Temple of the Lord this morning and was Baptized for 100 persons who were dead including the signers of the Declaration of Independance all except John Hancock and William Floyd. I was Baptized for the following names:" He then lists the 100 names. Most of them are endowed by proxy the next day.