Category Archives: Mormon history

Mormon history

An English Music Critic Visits the Tabernacle, 1885

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Joseph Bennett (1831-1911) was an influential English music critic, long-time reporter for the Daily Telegraph, editor of two music journals, author of several books, specialist in church music. In the 19th century, of course, such a critic did not sit in a studio and listen to recordings — of necessity he traveled widely to listen to choirs in national cathedrals and to try out organs in country churches. His 1884 travels brought him to the United States, and Christmas that year found him in Salt Lake City.

What would one of the world’s most sophisticated music critics think of the nascent Tabernacle Choir, its home-made organ, Mormon congregations, or the acoustics of an oddly-shaped auditorium in the desert? He wrote: Continue reading An English Music Critic Visits the Tabernacle, 1885 →

Mormon history, Utah history

John M. Bernhisel: The Doctor and the Library

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The fall of 1850 brought a hopeful beginning for the people of Utah. Congress created the new Territory of Utah on September 9; one of its next acts was to appoint John M. Bernhisel as Utah’s agent to assemble a territorial library, furnishing him $5,000 for the project.

We could not have had a better agent. Bernhisel, Utah’s non-voting delegate to Congress, accepted the assignment with a sense of mission. “I was fully persuaded,” he wrote, “that the library would not only exert a powerful influence on the present and rising generation, but perhaps on millions yet unborn.” Continue reading John M. Bernhisel: The Doctor and the Library →

Mormon history

Where Is a Mormon’s Abode?

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Mormonism has provoked a great deal of legislation and legal commentary over the years: laws to abolish plural marriage, administrative policies to curtail Mormon immigration, test oaths to eliminate Mormon suffrage. While most of that occurred during the bad old pre-Manifesto days, echoes of those early days forced the courts to consider and accommodate Mormonism for years after those courts had seemingly forced us to adapt to their ways.

Here is one such echo, from 1910: Continue reading Where Is a Mormon’s Abode? →

Mormon history

Righteous Gentiles

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Yad Vashem, the Jewish memorial to those who died in the Holocaust of the 1940s, includes a program to recognize the contributions of the Righteous Gentiles, or the “righteous among the nations,” those who “mustered extraordinary courage to uphold human values.”

The Righteous honored by Yad Vashem come from 44 countries; they are Christians from all denominations as well as Muslims, religious and agnostic, men and women, people from all walks of life, of all ages, educated professionals and illiterate peasants, rich and poor. The only common denominator is the humanity and the courage they displayed by standing up for their moral principles.

Continue reading Righteous Gentiles →

Mormon history

Catherine Garber Laine: The Role of Her Lifetime (Redux)

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Catherine Garber was born in Ohio in 1851, the middle of eleven siblings who remained close friends all their lives. As a young woman Catherine became a stage actress, joining troupes that traveled from town to town, playing for a day or two before traveling on to the next town for another short stay.

Catherine soon became such an accomplished actress that she progressed from the rural Midwestern circuits to the larger cities of the east coast. She adopted the stage name Kate Andrews and was managed by Rhea, Janansbek, Peel and Duff – names that are now forgotten but who were among the brightest stars in the theatrical world of their day. Continue reading Catherine Garber Laine: The Role of Her Lifetime (Redux) →

Mormon history, Mormon Studies

Of Massacres and Misinformation

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In the first concurrent session of this year’s meeting of the Mormon History Association, three men who have been intimately involved with researching and evaluating material related to the forthcoming Massacre and Mountain Meadows by Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and Glen M. Leonard spoke about three facets of their work. I was invited to respond, partly because I use or search for the kinds of documents described by two speakers, and especially because the first speaker was offering a reinterpretation of events narrated in my article “‘Pursue, Retake & Punish’: The 1857 Santa Clara Ambush” (here, at page 64). This is an article I’m proud to say won the Dale L. Morgan Award, a ginormous cash prize for the best scholarly article of 2005. Continue reading Of Massacres and Misinformation →

Mormon history

There was an old lady who swallowed a … lizard

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Four or five years ago, while I was working on a project involving the families of Brigham Young, a friend shared with me an item from his own research, an article published in the 31 August 1883 edition of the Deseret Evening News. If after reading this transcription you think I’m pulling your leg, you can read the article as reprinted in the 5 September 1883 edition of the Deseret News Weekly (see Utah Digital Newspapers and search; I wasn’t able to make a direct link). Continue reading There was an old lady who swallowed a … lizard →

Mormon history

We Sing Those Songs to Remind Us of What We Are

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Evan Stephens (1854-1930) was the musician who, more than any other, transformed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from an excellent stake choir to the world-famous professional musical voice of the Church. Our English hymnbook still carries 19 hymns written and/or composed by Stephens.

What follows is a selection from a talk Stephens gave in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, on 27 August 1916, during an evening in his honor upon his retirement as director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Continue reading We Sing Those Songs to Remind Us of What We Are →

Mormon history

Brigham Young — Marriage Broker?

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Church Historian Marlin K. Jensen has recently responded to media confusion – to put it courteously – falsely equating the historic LDS practice of plural marriage with the modern FLDS practice of plural marriage. Correcting the assertion that arranging marriages of (presumably) young brides to (presumably) much older husbands, against the desires and inclinations of bride and/or groom, was a practice of the 19th century Latter-day Saints, he says: Continue reading Brigham Young — Marriage Broker? →