Outlines of Ecclesiastical History

by B. H. Roberts

5. Flight to the West—Why.—When compelled to leave Illinois, the Saints turned their faces westward. The country west of the Missouri was unoccupied, except by wandering tribes of Indians, and they might look for that peace in the vast wilderness of the west which had been refused them in the Christian, civilized states of the east. But what caused them to look to the west for an abiding place—even more than the fact that the west was unoccupied—was the frequent predictions of the Prophet Joseph that the Saints would yet remove to the Rocky Mountains and become a great people. [See note 1, end of section.] Here, too, in the tops of the Rocky Mountains they could fulfill better than anywhere else the predictions of the ancient prophets. [See note 2, end of section.]

6. Arrival in Salt Lake Valley.—Westward, therefore, they turned their faces; the pioneer company—consisting of one hundred and forty-three men and three women—crossed the plains in 1847, arriving in Salt Lake Valley on the 24th of July of that year. They made their encampment on the present site of Salt Lake City, and soon afterwards laid off the city and began the erection of permanent homes.

7. Reorganization of the First Presidency.—At Winter Quarters, December 5, 1847, the first presidency of the church was reorganized. Brigham Young was nominated and sustained as the president, with authority to choose his two counselors. He selected Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards for first and second counselors, respectively, and they were unanimously sustained by the church.

8. Brigham Young.^[[205]]—Brigham Young acted as the president of the church for thirty years—for thirty-three years, if the three years that the quorum of the twelve (of which he was president) acted as the presiding quorum of the church, be counted. In the course of these thirty-three eventful years this truly great man conducted the exodus of the Saints from Nauvoo; led them across the wide extended plains which form the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains; established them in Salt Lake and surrounding valleys, located and laid out many of their settlements, and taught them not only the moral precepts of the gospel, but how to produce from the elements, sterile as they then seemed, the necessaries and comforts of life. Through his wisdom—God-given—he laid the foundation of the present commonwealth of Utah. Just previous to his death he organized the settlements of the church into Stakes of Zion, as we now know them, and set in order the various quorums of the priesthood.

9. President Young was a natural leader among men—a master spirit. His genius especially manifested itself in his ability to organize and govern men. He had not only been the president of the church and the first governor of Utah, but he was also the friend of the people. In times of trial and sorrow they turned to him for comfort; in times of danger they looked to him to direct their action; in times of perplexity they went to him for the word of the Lord; and Brigham Young, full of heaven-inspired wisdom, never failed them in any of these things. [See note 3, end of section.]

10. The Twelve again Presiding.—At the death of President Brigham Young, August 29, 1877, the quorum of the twelve apostles again became the temporary presiding quorum of the church, with John Taylor at their head. [See note 4, end of section.] The quorum of the twelve continued to act as the presiding quorum of the church until the October conference of 1880, when the first presidency was again organized. John Taylor was chosen president, and he selected George Q. Cannon for his first, and Joseph F. Smith for his second counselor.

11. John Taylor.—President John Taylor came to the high office of president of the church late in life, in his seventy-second year. He joined the church in his early manhood, in 1836, and two years later was ordained into the quorum of the twelve apostles. He was a trusted friend of the Prophet Joseph, and was in prison with him when he was martyred, and he himself was wounded nigh unto death. He had been prominent in all leading events of the church from the time he was ordained an apostle until he became the president thereof. He was a man of wide experience, profound judgment, and unwavering integrity. [See note 5, end of section.] He entered upon the performance of his high duties with a zeal and vigor only to be expected of a younger man. He was careful to set in order the several quorums of the priesthood, and insist upon each man doing his duty. The seven years of his administration as president of the church will be remembered as among the most eventful in the history of the church. It was during those years that the judicial crusade was inaugurated by the United States and most vigorously carried on against the Saints for the suppression of plural marriage.

12. Wilford Woodruff—His Administration.—President Taylor died on the 25th of July, 1887, and once more the quorum of the twelve apostles became the presiding quorum of the church. They continued to act in that capacity, with Wilford Woodruff as president, until April 7, 1889, when the first presidency was again reorganized, with Wilford Woodruff as president. He retained the counselors of the late President Taylor, George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, as his counselors.

13. The persecution which the United States had inflicted upon the church on the pretext of suppressing plural marriage culminated in 1890 in the discontinuance of the practice of that principle. It may be well here to enumerate those circumstances which led to the above result. It has already been stated how plural marriage was introduced and practiced in Nauvoo. After the church settled in Salt Lake valley it was publicly proclaimed as a doctrine of the church in 1852. The practice of it then was public, the whole church—and at that time the members of the church comprised nearly the whole community—approving the principle, which was at once recognized as a proper religious institution.

14. Enactments of Congress Against Plural Marriage.—For ten years the practice in Utah of this system of marriage met with no opposition from the United States. But in 1862 a law was enacted by Congress to punish and prevent the practice of polygamy in the Territories of the United States.^[[206]] The penalties affixed were a fine, not to exceed five hundred dollars, and imprisonment not to exceed five years. For twenty years, however, the law remained practically a dead letter. It was claimed by the Saints that it was an infringement of the religious liberty guaranteed by the Constitution ^[[207]] of the United States, since it prohibited the free exercise of religion. For twenty years no pronounced effort was made by the officers of the general government to enforce the law. In 1882, however, the law enacted twenty years before was supplemented by what is known as the Edmunds Law. In addition to defining the crime polygamy—for which it retained the same penalties as the law of 1862—the Edmunds law also made the cohabiting with more than one woman a crime, punishable by a fine not to exceed three hundred dollars, and by imprisonment not to exceed six months. This law also rendered persons who were living in polygamy, or who believed in its rightfulness, incompetent to act as grand or petit jurors; and also disqualified all polygamists for voting or holding office. This law of 1882 was supplemented by the Edmunds-Tucker law—enacted in 1887—which made the legal wife or husband, in case of polygamy or unlawful cohabitation, a competent witness, provided the accused consented thereto; it also enlarged the powers of United States commissioners and marshals, and required certificates of all marriages to be filed in the office of the probate court. The violation of this last provision was a fine of one thousand dollars, and imprisonment for two years. The law disincorporated the church, and ordered the supreme court to wind up its affairs, and take possession of the escheated property.