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Faculty Publications

2006

Mormon Studies

Articles 1 - 10 of 10

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Charles Good's Act Of Kindness And The Handcart Children, Fred E. Woods, William G. Hartley Jun 2006

Charles Good's Act Of Kindness And The Handcart Children, Fred E. Woods, William G. Hartley

Faculty Publications

On a hot July afternoon in 1856, businessman Charles Good paid an unannounced visit to a crowded campground west of Fort Des Moines. There he found nearly 500 tired travelers--Mormon emigrants who had pulled their handcarts earlier that day through the small business district of Fort Dex Moines where Good lived. This was the fourth handcart company to pull through the city in two months. Good's visit would be noted in the company's official journal, but subsequent histories have overlooked his charitable gesture--a simple act of kindness--while at the camp.

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Iowa City Bound: Mormon Migration By Sail And Rail, 1856-1857, Fred E. Woods Mar 2006

Iowa City Bound: Mormon Migration By Sail And Rail, 1856-1857, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

In the spring of 1855, an article in the Mormons' British periodical, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, instructed church members to leave "Babylon" just as ancient Israel had left Egypt under Moses' leadership. For European converts, the Atlantic was their Red Sea and Brigham Young their American Moses. During his nearly 30 years (1847-1877) as president and prophet of the Latter-day Saints (LDS), Young directed the organized migration of more than 70,000 people to Utah, most of them from Europe. He approved yearly migration plans, appointed officers to manage the various companies, and arranged for church agents to assist at …

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A Mormon And Still A Jew: The Life Of Alexander Neibaur, Fred E. Woods Jan 2006

A Mormon And Still A Jew: The Life Of Alexander Neibaur, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

Alexander Neibaur was a man of many talents. An educated man and gifted poet, he was fluent in seven languages. One account describes Neibaur as "a small, thin man, with a round ruddy face, with sharp eyes." He was also unusual inasmuch as he was Utah's first dentist and matchmaker, and the first known male Jewish convert to Mormonism; and he left the only known contemporary diary account of Joseph Smith's first vision experience. Neibaur was also a good family man, honest and loyal, and a kind friend and trusted neighbor, not only to fellow Church members but also to …

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Approaching Understandings In The Book Of Abraham, Kerry M. Muhlestein Jan 2006

Approaching Understandings In The Book Of Abraham, Kerry M. Muhlestein

Faculty Publications

The Book of Abraham is replete with important and rich doctrines for Latter-day Saints. The existence of papyri connected with the Book of Abraham furthers interest in this volume of scripture. While much research has been conducted into the doctrines and also the origins of the Book of Abraham, clearly much more remains to be done.

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Mormon Media History Timeline: 1827-2007, Sherry Baker Jan 2006

Mormon Media History Timeline: 1827-2007, Sherry Baker

Faculty Publications

This timeline is a work in progress. It is posted currently as a PDF file in order to make it available in a timely manner to scholars who are working on Mormon media history, or any other scholarship for which it might be helpful and informative. It is anticipated that the timeline eventually will be reworked into media formats that will make it more accessible, and that will allow it to be updated, enhanced, and corrected over time. If you wish to comment upon this Mormon Media History Timeline, contact Sherry Baker at sherry_baker@byu.edu.

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Insights Available As We Approach The Original Text, Kerry M. Muhlestein Jan 2006

Insights Available As We Approach The Original Text, Kerry M. Muhlestein

Faculty Publications

What excites me most about Royal Skousen's Analysis of Textual Variants,Part One: 1 Nephi 1 2 Nephi 10 (hereafter Analysis) is what it says about Latter-day Saints' commitment to the scriptures in general and to the Book of Mormon specifically. This volume, like others in the series published to date, bespeaks our desire to know, as accurately as possible, what the text actually says. We understand that even those with the best intentions sometimes introduce mistakes into the most sacred and important texts. Skousen demonstrates that he and others value the Book of Mormon so much that meticulous and intense …

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Behold, Ye Shall Have Joy With Me’: A Study On The Lord, The Servant And The Allegory Of The Olive Tree, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap Jan 2006

Behold, Ye Shall Have Joy With Me’: A Study On The Lord, The Servant And The Allegory Of The Olive Tree, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

In chapter 5 of the book of Jacob, we find a unique text commonly referred to as the allegory of the olive tree. President Joseph Fielding Smith once said that “the parable of Zenos . . . is one of the greatest parables ever recorded.”1 Composed of seventy-seven verses, this allegory is thought to follow the progression of a particular olive tree and its offspring in the Lord’s vineyard. Many readers have commented on the special nature of the allegory, with studies ranging from theological meaning, to linguistic comparisons, to actual viticultural practices. Though these studies differ in content, they …

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Of Printers, Prophets, And Politicians: William Lyon Mackenzie, Mormonism, And Early Printing In Upper Canada, Richard Bennett, Daniel H. Olsen Jan 2006

Of Printers, Prophets, And Politicians: William Lyon Mackenzie, Mormonism, And Early Printing In Upper Canada, Richard Bennett, Daniel H. Olsen

Faculty Publications

Well-known in both Canadian and Latter-day Saint history is the arrival of Charles Ora Card and his faithful band of followers in southern Alberta in 1887. Less explored is the much earlier venture into Upper Canada (Ontario) of such prominent Mormon leaders as Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, and scores of others during the 1830s in their concerted attempts to promulgate their new faith on Canadian soil. Their success in converting hundreds of people, many of whom were British- and American-born Methodists or members of other nonconformist faiths, prompted Mormon leaders to send missionaries …

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Modern Polygamy And Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations After The Manifesto, J. Michael Hunter Jan 2006

Modern Polygamy And Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations After The Manifesto, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

Book review of Brian C. Hales's Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations after the Manifesto (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2006).

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Starting A Pioneer Newspaper : The Deseret News, J. Michael Hunter Jan 2006

Starting A Pioneer Newspaper : The Deseret News, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

Before the Latter-day Saints arrived in Salt Lake City, arrangements were made for a printing establishment in the Salt Lake Valley. At Winter Quarters, Brigham Young sent W. W. Phelps to obtain a press that might be brought west. This article briefly describes the Ramage press that Phelps acquired. The Deseret News, the first newspaper in the Rocky Mountains, began publication on June 15, 1850. This weekly eight-page paper contained news taken from national newspapers, events in Britain, and local information such as activities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and crop conditions. One …

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