LDS Mormon Facts 151-160
Useful or not, they're still true.
Useful or not, they're still true.
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Author: Curtis Weller
To quote an Apostle of Jesus Christ (of Latter-day Saints);
'Some things that are true are not very useful.'
(Boyd K. Packer, "The Mantle Is Far, Far Greater than the Intellect," CES Symposium, 1981.)
This section of WhyMormons.net devotes itself to such factoids about the mainstream LDS Church and its history.
Gold Mining Missions: Brigham Young authorized local leaders to call Mormons to California in 1849 on missions to work the gold fields. They couldn't keep any of the gold for themselves; instead all of the gold was to enrich the Church. Outcome: It wasn't very profitable.
Black slaves paid as church tithing? Green Flake, a black slave of James and Agnes Flake who joined the Mormon church, was paid as tithing to the LDS church to settle the Flakes' tithing account.
Sobering thought for early temple worthiness: Though the Word of Wisdom wasn't made a requirement for temple admission until 1928, during the early stages of the Mormon Restoration of 1856-57, a catechism of 13 questions was introduced by Brigham Young, outlining the requirements of a sinless life. Question number 5, and the only question touching on the Word of Wisdom: "Do you get drunk?"
Mormons weren't the only ones: Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism, gave Prince Philip of Hesse a dispensation to take a second wife, arguing that polygamy was sanctioned by Mosaic Law and was not banned by the New Testament. In 1531, Luther advised Henry VIII of England to 'take another queen in accordance with the examples of the patriarchs of old who had two wives at the same time.'
How they identified the mother of a child raised in polygamy: An example - Brother Brown has 12 wives. As outsiders, we would know he is the father of certain children by glancing at the last name of those children, but how do we know who the mother of the child is? If the child's mother was Mary Ellsworth Brown, the child would be called brother or sister Ellsworth Brown. If the mother was Ellen Horton Brown, the child would be called brother or sister Horton Brown - thus identifying both the father and the mother.
Even though it hasn't officially been announced, we're practicing it - and it's well known: In June of 1852, Brigham Young met with his secretaries to compose a 92 page letter to federal officials. A copy even made its way to President Fillmore. While most of the letter was a review of Mormon history, the most interesting part was on page 7 in which Brigham stated it was 'well known that polygamy was practiced by the Latter-day Saints.' This was 3 months before the 'official' announcement that Mormons were practicing polygamy.
The early General Authorities in Mormonism were dancing machines: British traveler and author Sir Richard Burton noted that in Salt Lake City 'dancing seems to be an edifying exercise. The prophet dances, the apostles dance, the bishops dance.' A U.S. Army surveyor from Salt Lake wrote that Mormon social gatherings, 'patronized by the presence of prophets and apostles' would open with prayer followed by 'the most sprightly dancing in which all will join with hearty good will from the highest dignitary to the humblest individual.'
Youngest Apostle ever ordained? John W. Young, son of Brigham Young. Age 11. It's likely Young ordained his son so early because seniority within the Quorum of the 12 was determined - at the time - by when a person was ordained, rather than when they were admitted into the Quorum. Brigham likely wanted his son to be prophet one day. Sadly, John W. was never admitted into the quorum.
It was possible to receive your endowment at age 14 during the early decades of the LDS faith.
In the early history of the LDS church, bishops were likely to serve for a very long time. In some cases it was a life-long office. In today's Mormonism, bishops are customarily released after 5 years of service.
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Would you like to submit some facts for this section? Email CurtisWeller@WhyMormons.net with your facts. Please include verifiable source material and the name we should credit for the contribution.
