* Harpers Magazine, Vol. XLIII, p. 605.
In the summer of 1869 Alexander and David Hyrum Smith, sons of the prophet, visited Salt Lake City in the interest of the Reorganized Church. Many of Young's followers still looked on the sons of the prophet as their father's rightful successor to the leadership of the Church, as Young at Nauvoo had promised that Joseph III should be. But these sons now found that, even to be acknowledged as members of Brigham's fold, they must accept baptism at the hands of one of his elders, and acknowledge the "revelation" concerning polygamy as coming from God. They had not come with that intent. But they called on Young and discussed with him the injection of polygamy into the church doctrines. Young finally told them that they possessed, not the spirit of their father, but of their mother Emma, whom Young characterized as "a liar, yes, the damnedest liar that lived," declaring that she tried to poison the prophet * He refused to them the use of the Tabernacle, but they spoke in private houses and, through the influence of the Walker brothers, secured Independence Hall. The Brighamites, using a son of Hyrum Smith as their mouthpiece,** took pains that a goodly number of polygamists should attend the Independence Hall meetings, and interruptions of the speakers turned the gatherings into something like personal wrangles.
* For Alexander Smith's report, see True Latter-Day Saints'
Herald, Vol. XVI, pp. 85-86.
** Hyrum's widow went to Salt lake City, and died there in
September, 1852, at the house of H. C. Kimball, who had taken care of
her.
The presence of the prophet's sons gave the leaders of "The Reformation" an opportunity to aim a thrust at what was then generally understood to be one of Brigham Young's ambitions, namely, the handing down of the Presidency of the church to his oldest son; and an article in their magazine presented the matter in this light: "If we know the true feeling of our brethren, it is that they never intend Joseph Smith's nor any other man's son to preside over them, simply because of their sonship. The principle of heirship has cursed the world for ages, and with our brethren we expect to fight it till, with every other relic of tyranny, it is trodden under foot." Young accepted this challenge, and at once ordered Harrison and two other elders in affiliation with him to depart on missions. They disobeyed the order.
Godbe and Harrison told their friends in Utah that they had learned from the spirits who visited them in New York that the release of the people of the territory from the despotism of the church could come only through the development of the mines. So determined was the opposition of Young's priesthood to this development that its open advocacy in the magazine was the cause of more serious discussion than that given to any of the other subjects treated. As "The Reformation" did not then embrace more than a dozen members, the courage necessary to defy the church on such a question was not to be belittled. Just at that time came the visit of the Illinois party and of Vice President Colfax, and the latter was made acquainted with their plans and gave them encouragement. Ten days later the magazine, in an article on "The True Development of the Territory," openly advised paying more attention to mining. Young immediately called together the "School of the Prophets." This was an organization instituted in Utah, with the professed object of discussing doctrinal questions, having the "revelations" of the prophet elucidated by his colleagues, etc. It was not open to all church members, the "scholars" attending by invitation, and it soon became an organization under Young's direction which took cognizance of the secular doings of the people, exercising an espionage over them. The school is no longer maintained. Before this school Young denounced the "Reformers" in his most scathing terms, going so far as to intimate that his rule was itself in danger. Consequently the leaders of the "New Movement" were notified to appear before the High Council for a hearing.
When this hearing occurred, Young managed that Godbe and Harrison should be the only persons on trial. Both of them defied him to his face, denying his "right to dictate to them in all things spiritual and temporal,"—this was the question put to them,—and protesting against his rule. They also read a set of resolutions giving an outline of their intended movements. They were at once excommunicated, and the only elder, Eli B. Kelsey, who voted against this action was immediately punished in the same way. Kelsey was not granted even the perfunctory hearing that was customarily allowed in such cases, and he was "turned over to the devil," instead of being consigned by the usual formula "to the buffetings of Satan."
But this did not silence the "Reformers." Their lives were considered in danger by their acquaintances, and the assassination of the most prominent of them was anticipated;* but they went straight ahead on the lines they had proclaimed. Their first public meetings were held on Sunday, December 19, 1869. The knowledge of the fact that they claimed to act by direct and recent revelation gave them no small advantage with a people whose belief rested on such manifestations of the divine will, and they had crowded audiences. The services were continued every Sunday, and on the evening of one week day; the magazine went on with its work, and they were the founders of the Salt Lake Tribune which later, as a secular journal, has led the Gentile press in Utah.
* "In August my husband sent a respectful and kindly letter to
the Bishop of our ward, stating that he had no faith in Brigham's claim
to an Infallible Priesthood; and that he considered that he ought to be
cut off from the church. I added a postscript stating that I wished to
share my husband's fate. A little after ten o'clock, on the Saturday
night succeeding our withdrawal from the church, we were returning home
together.. . when we suddenly saw four men come out from under some
trees at a little distance from us.... As soon as they approached, they
seized hold of my husband's arms, one on each side, and held him firmly,
thus rendering him almost powerless. They were all masked.... In an
instant I saw them raise their arms, as if taking aim, and for one brief
second I thought that our end had surely come, and that we, like so many
obnoxious persons before us, were about to be murdered for the great sin
of apostasy. This I firmly believe would have been my husband's fate
if I had not chanced to be with him or had I run away.... The wretches,
although otherwise well armed, were not holding revolvers in their hands
as I at first supposed. They were furnished with huge garden syringes,
charged with the most disgusting filth. My hair, bonnet, face, clothes,
person—every inch of my body, every shred I wore—were in an instant
saturated, and my husband and myself stood there reeking from head to
foot. The villains, when they had perpetrated this disgusting and brutal
outrage, turned and fled."—Mrs. Stenhouse, "Tell it All," pp. 578-581.
But the attempt to establish a reformed Mormonism did not succeed, and the organization gradually disappeared. One of the surviving leaders said to me (in October, 1901): "My parents had believed in Mormonism, and I believed in the Mormon prophet and the doctrines set forth in his revelations. We hoped to purify the Mormon church, eradicating evils that had annexed themselves to it in later years. But our study of the question showed us that the Mormon faith rested on no substantial basis, and we became believers in transcendentalism." Mr. Godbe and Mr. Lawrence still reside in Utah. The former has made and lost more than one fortune in the mines. The Mormon historian Whitney says of the leaders in this attempted reform: "These men were all reputable and respected members of the community. Naught against their morality or general uprightness of character was known or advanced."* Stenhouse, writing three years before Young's death, said:—