Digital Commons Network^™

“A Man That You Could Not Help Likeing”: Joseph Smith And Nauvoo Portrayed In A Letter By Susannah And George W. Taggart, Ronald O. Barney

BYU Studies

The Prophet Joseph Smith's call for members of The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints to gather to Nauvoo, Illinois, had a wide effect once the settlement acquired the trappings of civilization. What had been the obscure riverside village of Commerce soon evidenced expansion and progress: new inhabitants and bustling construction. Among those who gathered to Nauvoo were Washington and Susannah Taggart, who converted to Mormonism in 1841 or 1842 in Peterborough, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. Taught the gospel by Elder Eli P. Maginn, the Taggarts soon planned their departure for the Mormon capital. Their eldest son, George Washington Taggart …

Joseph Smith's Cooperstown Bible: The Historical Context Of The Bible Used In The Joseph Smith Translation, Kent P. Jackson

BYU Studies

In 1828, the H. and E. Phinney Company in Cooperstown, New York, published a quarto-size edition of the King James Bible. This is the version that Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, used in his work when he created a new translation of the Bible. Here the author examines Joseph Smith's marked-up copy of the Phinney Bible as an artifact important to Mormonism. Some of Smith's corrections and additions appear in footnotes of the Bible that Mormons use today. The author notes that the Phinney Bible's updated language is more modern than the version …

Russia's Other "Mormons": Their Origins And Relationship To The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Eric A. Eliason, Gary Browning

BYU Studies

When Mormon missionaries entered Russia in 1990, they were astonished to hear about "Mormon" settlements already existing in the Samara region. Other evidence of Mormonism appeared: for example, locals used the term "Mormon crosses" to describe a unique style of crucifixes in cemeteries. In this article, the authors delve into the questions of whether or not sects with ties to mainstream Mormonism existed in pre-perestroika Russia or if unrelated groups earned the nickname "Mormon" for living in unusual family arrangements, similar to polygamy. Using data gathered from Latter-day Saint missionaries who served in Russia in the late 1990s as a …

Josiah Quincy's 1844 Visit With Joseph Smith, Jed L. Woodworth

BYU Studies

A prophet's claims have always invited attention. The Prophet Joseph Smith took calls from an array of personalities who would not be satisfied without seeing this curiosity in the flesh. The visitors came from near and far and from every walk and station of life: politicians and priests, paupers and pundits, charlatans and seekers, and almost everything in between. Arriving first in a trickle and then in a stream, they found the Prophet wherever he had gathered the Saints. Some of the travelers left accounts of their visits, and from these sketches later generations came to know Joseph, too.

A Descriptive Bibliography Of The Mormon Church: Volume One 1830-1847 Peter Crawley; Studies In Mormon History, 1830-1997: An Indexed Bibliography, With A Topical Guide To Published Social Science Literature On The Mormons James B. Allen, Ronald W. Walker, And David J. Whittaker, Larry W. Draper

BYU Studies

Peter Crawley. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church: Volume Once, 1830-1847. Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997. 477 pp. Illustrations, indexes. $55.00.

James B. Allen, Ronald W. Walker, and David J. Whittaker. Studies in Mormon History, 1830-1997: An Indexed Bibliography, with a Topical Guide to Published Social Science Literature on the Mormons [by] Armand L. Mauss and Dynette Ivie Reynolds. Urbana: University of Illinois Press in cooperation with the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for LDS History, Brigham Young University, 2000. 1,152 pp. $100.00.

The Campaign And The Kingdom: The Activities Of The Electioneers In Joseph Smith's Presidential Campaign, Margaret C. Robertson

BYU Studies

In 1844, Joseph Smith, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ran for president of the United States. At the April 1844 LDS general conference, a call was made for volunteers to "electioneer for Joseph to be the next President," as Heber C. Kimball put it. Immediately, 244 elders volunteered. By the time the list of names was recorded in the records of the Church a week later, the number approached 340. Even more elders eventually volunteered or were called to take up the cause. As part of the campaign, the Quorum of the Twelve scheduled public …

Examining Six Key Concepts In Joseph Smith's Understanding Of Genesis 1:1, Kevin L. Barney

BYU Studies

Joseph Smith spent Sunday afternoon, April 7, 1844, in a grove behind the Nauvoo Temple. There he gave a funeral sermon, which lasted for over two hours, dedicated to a loyal friend named King Follett, who had been crushed by a bucket of rocks while repairing a well. Known today as the King Follett Discourse and widely believed to be the Prophet's greatest sermon, this address was Joseph's most cogent and forceful presentation of his Nauvoo doctrine on the nature of God, including the ideas of a plurality of Gods and the potential of a man to become as God. …

Three Reviews Of Mormon America: The Power And The Promise, Brian Q. Cannon, Alf Pratte, Marie Cornwall

BYU Studies

Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling. Mormon America: The Power and the Promise. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999. xxvi; 454 pp. Map, illustrations, notes, appendices, index. $26.00.

The Dance Of First Beginnings: Contemporary Maya Creation Rituals In A World Context, Allen J. Christenson

BYU Studies

A nearly universal characteristic of ancient societies is to periodically carry out ceremonies and festivals intended to renew life, particularly in connection with the creation of the world. Many of these ceremonies are tied to New Year's celebrations, linking the start of the calendar year with the beginning of time itself. Such ceremonies reinforce the notion that when the world left the hands of deity at the time of its birth, it had greater power to sustain life and nurture its inhabitants. But as with all things, the passage of time and the wear and tear of day-to-day existence inevitably …

East To West Through North And South: Mormon Immigration During The Civil War, Fred E. Woods

BYU Studies

When LDS immigrants on their way to Utah crossed the Atlantic Ocean or the Eastern United States between 1861 and 1864, they encountered the difficulties of traveling in a nation at war. Their first-person accounts paint a vivid picture of the obstacles faced by these Saints as they journeyed to Utah during the U.S. Civil War. The narratives also depict an effective immigration system directed by Brigham Young and operated by dedicated immigration agents and other faithful Mormons who assisted immigrants along their journey.

Brief Notices, David R. Seely, Robert L. Maxwell, Constance K. Lundberg

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Oliver Cowdery's Vermont Years And The Origins Of Mormonism, Larry E. Morris

BYU Studies

Most of what is known about Oliver Cowdery's youth comes from a well-known summary offered by his sister Lucy Cowdery Young:

Now in regard to Oliver he was born in the Town of Wells in the state of Vermont[.] when he was three years of age Father married my Mother she resided in the Town of Poultney so Oliver was brought up in Poultney Rutland County Vermont and when he arrived at the age of twenty he went to the State of New York where his older brothers were married and Settled and in about two years my father moved …

We Also Marched: The Women And Children Of Zion's Camp, 1834, Andrea G. Radke

BYU Studies

"All victory and glory is brought to pass unto you through your diligence, faithfulness, and prayers of faith" (D&C 103:36). On February 24, 1834, Joseph Smith received this promise for the members of the Zion's Camp expedition. Further, the assurance came that "my [the Lord's] presence shall be with you.... Let no man be afraid to lay down his life for my sake; for whoso layeth down his life for my sake shall find it again" (D&C 103:26-27). Certainly the expedition to Missouri in 1834 held terrible possibilities for danger, sickness, and violence. Nevertheless, spiritual blessings were promised to those …

"Journal Of The Branch Of The Church Of Christ In Pontiac,…1834": Hyrum Smith's Division Of Zion's Camp, Craig K. Manscill

BYU Studies

On April 21, 1834, Hyrum Smith and Lyman Wight set out from Kirtland, Ohio, for Pontiac, Michigan, to recruit volunteers for the march of Zion's Camp. Their objective was to lead their recruits on a six-hundred-mile march to a prearranged rendezvous with Joseph Smith's Kirtland division in Missouri. Typically, scholarly treatments of the march of Zion's Camp have focused on the accounts of the Kirtland, Ohio, legion while overlooking the Hyrum Smith-Lyman Wight division of Zion's Camp. Yet Hyrum's group, when compared with Joseph's command, demonstrated a similarly significant commitment to addressing the needs of their fellow Saints in Missouri. …

By Study And Also By Faith: The Faculty At Brigham Young University Responds, Keith J. Wilson

BYU Studies

This article present significant statistical information about BYU faculty attitudes toward faith and scholarship gathered in a 1998 survey conducted at selected religious universities by researchers at Baylor University.

The Lord's University: Freedom And Authority At Byu Bryan Waterman And Brian Kagel, Kent P. Jackson

BYU Studies

Bryan Waterman and Brian Kagel. The Lord's University: Freedom and Authority at BYU. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998. xii; 453 pp. Illustrations, index. $19.95.

Brief Notices, Marvin E. Wiggins, Terry Dahlin, Larry W. Draper, Jed L. Woodworth

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Joseph Smith Portraits: A Search For The Prophet's Likeness Ephraim Hatch, Robert O. Davis

BYU Studies

Ephraim Hatch. Joseph Smith Portraits: A Sear for the Prophet's Likeness. Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1998. viii; 112 pp. Illustrations, index. $18.95.

"No Man's Land": The Place Of Latter-Day Saints In The Culture War, Frederick Mark Gedicks

BYU Studies

Recent political developments in the United States find Latter-day Saints in an isolated but distinctive position, aligned with neither the religious right nor the progressive left.

Sizing Up The Divide: Reviews And Replies, Matthew R. Connelly, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

Craig L. Blomberg and Stephen E. Robinson. How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1997. 228 pp. Paperback, $11.99.

In Defense Of Capitalism: Church Leaders On Property, Wealth, And The Economic Order, Phillip J. Bryson

BYU Studies

Church leaders have consistently presented a positive view of capitalism and a free market system, while recognizing that the system is vulnerable to greed and oppression by the wicked.

"A Plea For The Horse": George Q. Cannon's Concern For Animal Welfare In Nineteenth-Century America, Aaron R. Kelson

BYU Studies

Taking a position somewhat unusual for his time, President George Q. Cannon actively taught respect for animals as a matter of religious principle.

Letters Of A Missionary Apostle To His Wife: Brigham Young To Mary Ann Angell Young, 1839-1841, Ronald O. Barney

BYU Studies

The Quorum of the Twelve's mission to the British Isles impacted not only the Church, but also the personal lives of the missionaries. Brigham Young creates a tender personal portrait in nine never-before-published letters to his wife.

Joseph Young's Affidavit Of The Massacre At Haun's Mill, Alexander L. Baugh

BYU Studies

Joseph Young, an eyewitness to the 1838 attack on Haun's Mill, gave his testimony of that event as a sworn affidavit on June 4, 1839. The original manuscript of that affidavit is presented here in unedited, annotated form.

Toward The Folkloristic Study Of Latter-Day Saint Conversion Narratives, Eric A. Eliason

BYU Studies

Frequently told among Latter-day Saints, conversion stories—both one's own or those of one's ancestors—constitute an important and overlooked genre at the core of Mormon narrative folklore.

Brief Notices, Jed L. Woodworth, Gary L. Hatch, Beth Hamilton, John W. Welch, Cynthia Doxey

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Captain Dan Jones And The Blind Man, Ronald D. Dennis

BYU Studies

The 1847 pamphlets, one a polemic by convert-turned-antagonist Daniel Jones and the other a rebuttal by Elder Dan Jones, give an interesting glimpse into an early LDS missionary work in Wales.

The Viper On The Hearth: Mormons, Myths And The Construction Of Heresy Terryl L. Givens, Grant Underwood

BYU Studies

Terryl L. Givens. The Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. x; 205 pp. Index, notes. $35.00.

Book Of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence For Ancient Origins Noel B. Reynolds, Dow R. Wilson

BYU Studies

Noel B. Reynolds, ed. Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins. Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research ad Mormon studies, 1997. 574 pp. Index. $19.95.

Solomon Chamberlin's Missing Pamphlet: Dreams, Visions, And Angelic Ministrants, Larry C. Porter

BYU Studies

An 1829 pamphlet tells of the early experiences of a visionary man who was guided to Joseph Smith in Palmyra and who recognized the Restoration as the fulfillment of his spiritual quest.