William S. Godbe

Family Background

1833. June 26: Born William Samuel Godbe in Middlesex, England. In 1855 he married Annie Thompson; he later married plural wives Mary Hampton, Rosina Colborn, and Charlotte Ives Cobb. The last marriage, through which Godbe became a son-in-law to Brigham Young (Charlotte's mother was a plural wife to Young), ended in divorce. In 1873, by mutual agreement with his wives, he returned to monogamy with Annie Thompson, providing financially for his other wives and his twenty children.

Conversion

1849. Godbe was converted to Mormonism as an apprentice sailor in England. Before emigrating to America, he traveled in Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Germany, Africa, Brazil, France, and Denmark.

Arriving in America, he worked his way across the Great Lakes from Buffalo to Chicago, then walked to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he joined Thomas Williams's wagon train to Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake Merchant

1851. He began as a store clerk for Thomas Williams, eventually established his own "states goods" importing company, and became one of the wealthiest men in Utah Territory. As a Latter-day Saint, he donated over $50,000 to the Church.

Dissident

1868. Godbe served as a counselor to Bishop Edwin D. Woolley in the Salt Lake Thirteenth Ward, and was a member of the Salt Lake School of the Prophets. But, concerned about the economic and political control Brigham Young exercised over Utah Territory, he established the Utah Magazine with E. L. T. Harrison. Later he founded the Mormon Tribune, forerunner of the Salt Lake Tribune.

The first issue of Utah Magazine declared, "For some years we have felt that a great encroachment of power was being made by the ruling Priesthood of our Church, beyond that allowed by the spirit and genius of the Gospel. We have also perceived that a steady and constant decline was taking place in the manifestation of the spiritual gifts, as well as in the spirituality of our system as a whole, and that as a Church we were fast running into a state of most complete materialism."

Excommunication

1869. October 16: Disfellowshipped for "irregular attendance" at the School of the Prophets. Godbe and Harrison continued to argue for "the right of, respectfully but freely, discussing all measures upon which we are called to act. And, if we are cut off from this Church for asserting this right, while our standing is dear to us, we will suffer it to be taken from us sooner than resign the liberties of thought and speech to which the gospel entitles us." They were excommunicated within the week for "apostasy."

President George Q. Cannon editorialized in the Deseret News, "We could conceive of a man honestly differing in opinion from the authorities of the church and yet not be apostate; but we could not conceive of a man publishing those differences of opinion, and seeking by arguments, sophistry and special pleading to enforce them upon the people to produce division and strife, and to place the acts and counsels of the church, if possible, in a wrong light, and not be apostate; for such conduct was apostasy as we understood the term."

Spiritualist

1870. While on a business trip to New York, Godbe and Harrison claimed to have received divine instruction regarding the "future of Mormonism": "At last the light came, and by the voice of angelic beings … we were each of us given personally to know that, notwithstanding some misconceptions and extremes wisely permitted to accommodate it to the weaknesses of mankind, 'Mormonism' was inaugurated by the Heavens for a great and divine purpose; its main objective being the gathering of an inspirational people, believing in continuous revelations, who with such channels opened up, could at any period be moulded to any purpose the Heavens might desire."

Godbe and others founded the Church of Zion, the religious element of the "New Movement," or "Godbeitism," which disavowed religious authoritarianism. The movement soon disintegrated.

Mormon Advocate

1870. As a self-appointed emissary, Godbe traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby against the anti-Mormon Cullom Bill. In interviews with Vice-President Colfax and President Ulysses S. Grant, he "pleaded for kindly treatment of the Mormon people by the general government."

According to Mormon historian Orson F. Whitney, "the result of all these movements was that the Cullom Bill, after its passage by the House of Representatives, died, like its predecessor, the Cragin Bill, in the Senate."

Bankruptcy and Recovery

1871. The School of the Prophets voted "that those who dealt with outsiders should be cut off from the church," and a few days later the boycott was approved at general conference. The School of the Prophets established Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution, and within two years Godbe "saw his 15 years of work evaporate and he was over $100,000 in debt."

Determined to overcome all obstacles, Godbe vowed, "Though I well know that he [Brigham Young] can break me up for a time, I will show him that even in Utah, which he has so long carried in his pocket, I can leap out and walk without his let or hindrance."

Brigham Young regretted his estrangement from Godbe, often commenting, "I loved William Godbe."

1873. With English financial backers, Godbe organized the Chicago Silver Mining Company, the beginning of mining ventures in Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada which reestablished much of his lost fortune.

Poet

As a patron of literature, he donated over $200,000 to support the arts during his lifetime. His own poetic works often had a spiritualistic theme:

Charms of the sensuous alluring and fair,
Fade from our sight as the clouds of the air,
Whilst spiritual beauty, like truth's holy ray,
Shall shine forth in splendor forever and aye.

Death

1902. August 1: Died of "cardiac exhaustion" at the age of sixty-nine, while vacationing in his cabin at Brighton, Utah. Buried in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City.

Sources
Arrington, Leonard J. Great Basin Kingdom. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1958.
_____. "Taxable Income in Utah." Utah Historical Quarterly 24 (January 1956):21-47.
Deseret News, 2 August 1902.
Godbe, Hampton. Family Records.
Journal History, 19 September 1868, 3 October 1868.
Phrenological Journal, July 1871.
Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine, October 1880.
Tullidge, Edward. Life of Brigham Young or Utah and Her Founders. New York, 1877.
Utah Magazine, 27 November 1869.
Walker, Ronald W. "The Commencement of the Godbeite Protest: Another View." Utah Historical Quarterly 42 (Summer 1974):216-244.
_____. "The Godbeite Protest in the Making of Modern Utah." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Utah, 1977.

	A Book of Mormons Richard S. Van Wagoner and Steven C. Walker Copyright 1982, Signature Books Salt Lake City, Utah Contents


	William S. Godbe (1833-1902)

		William S. Godbe was a Mormon businessman and dissident founder of the Church of Zion. Photograph courtesy Utah State Historical Society.


	Family Background 1833. June 26: Born William Samuel Godbe in Middlesex, England. In 1855 he married Annie Thompson; he later married plural wives Mary Hampton, Rosina Colborn, and Charlotte Ives Cobb. The last marriage, through which Godbe became a son-in-law to Brigham Young (Charlotte's mother was a plural wife to Young), ended in divorce. In 1873, by mutual agreement with his wives, he returned to monogamy with Annie Thompson, providing financially for his other wives and his twenty children. Conversion 1849. Godbe was converted to Mormonism as an apprentice sailor in England. Before emigrating to America, he traveled in Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Germany, Africa, Brazil, France, and Denmark. Arriving in America, he worked his way across the Great Lakes from Buffalo to Chicago, then walked to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he joined Thomas Williams's wagon train to Salt Lake City. Salt Lake Merchant 1851. He began as a store clerk for Thomas Williams, eventually established his own "states goods" importing company, and became one of the wealthiest men in Utah Territory. As a Latter-day Saint, he donated over $50,000 to the Church. Dissident 1868. Godbe served as a counselor to Bishop Edwin D. Woolley in the Salt Lake Thirteenth Ward, and was a member of the Salt Lake School of the Prophets. But, concerned about the economic and political control Brigham Young exercised over Utah Territory, he established the Utah Magazine with E. L. T. Harrison. Later he founded the Mormon Tribune, forerunner of the Salt Lake Tribune. The first issue of Utah Magazine declared, "For some years we have felt that a great encroachment of power was being made by the ruling Priesthood of our Church, beyond that allowed by the spirit and genius of the Gospel. We have also perceived that a steady and constant decline was taking place in the manifestation of the spiritual gifts, as well as in the spirituality of our system as a whole, and that as a Church we were fast running into a state of most complete materialism." Excommunication 1869. October 16: Disfellowshipped for "irregular attendance" at the School of the Prophets. Godbe and Harrison continued to argue for "the right of, respectfully but freely, discussing all measures upon which we are called to act. And, if we are cut off from this Church for asserting this right, while our standing is dear to us, we will suffer it to be taken from us sooner than resign the liberties of thought and speech to which the gospel entitles us." They were excommunicated within the week for "apostasy." President George Q. Cannon editorialized in the Deseret News, "We could conceive of a man honestly differing in opinion from the authorities of the church and yet not be apostate; but we could not conceive of a man publishing those differences of opinion, and seeking by arguments, sophistry and special pleading to enforce them upon the people to produce division and strife, and to place the acts and counsels of the church, if possible, in a wrong light, and not be apostate; for such conduct was apostasy as we understood the term." Spiritualist 1870. While on a business trip to New York, Godbe and Harrison claimed to have received divine instruction regarding the "future of Mormonism": "At last the light came, and by the voice of angelic beings … we were each of us given personally to know that, notwithstanding some misconceptions and extremes wisely permitted to accommodate it to the weaknesses of mankind, 'Mormonism' was inaugurated by the Heavens for a great and divine purpose; its main objective being the gathering of an inspirational people, believing in continuous revelations, who with such channels opened up, could at any period be moulded to any purpose the Heavens might desire." Godbe and others founded the Church of Zion, the religious element of the "New Movement," or "Godbeitism," which disavowed religious authoritarianism. The movement soon disintegrated. Mormon Advocate 1870. As a self-appointed emissary, Godbe traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby against the anti-Mormon Cullom Bill. In interviews with Vice-President Colfax and President Ulysses S. Grant, he "pleaded for kindly treatment of the Mormon people by the general government." According to Mormon historian Orson F. Whitney, "the result of all these movements was that the Cullom Bill, after its passage by the House of Representatives, died, like its predecessor, the Cragin Bill, in the Senate." Bankruptcy and Recovery 1871. The School of the Prophets voted "that those who dealt with outsiders should be cut off from the church," and a few days later the boycott was approved at general conference. The School of the Prophets established Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution, and within two years Godbe "saw his 15 years of work evaporate and he was over $100,000 in debt." Determined to overcome all obstacles, Godbe vowed, "Though I well know that he [Brigham Young] can break me up for a time, I will show him that even in Utah, which he has so long carried in his pocket, I can leap out and walk without his let or hindrance." Brigham Young regretted his estrangement from Godbe, often commenting, "I loved William Godbe." 1873. With English financial backers, Godbe organized the Chicago Silver Mining Company, the beginning of mining ventures in Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada which reestablished much of his lost fortune. Poet As a patron of literature, he donated over $200,000 to support the arts during his lifetime. His own poetic works often had a spiritualistic theme: Charms of the sensuous alluring and fair, Fade from our sight as the clouds of the air, Whilst spiritual beauty, like truth's holy ray, Shall shine forth in splendor forever and aye. Death 1902. August 1: Died of "cardiac exhaustion" at the age of sixty-nine, while vacationing in his cabin at Brighton, Utah. Buried in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City. Sources Arrington, Leonard J. Great Basin Kingdom. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1958. _____. "Taxable Income in Utah." Utah Historical Quarterly 24 (January 1956):21-47. Deseret News, 2 August 1902. Godbe, Hampton. Family Records. Journal History, 19 September 1868, 3 October 1868. Phrenological Journal, July 1871. Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine, October 1880. Tullidge, Edward. Life of Brigham Young or Utah and Her Founders. New York, 1877. Utah Magazine, 27 November 1869. Walker, Ronald W. "The Commencement of the Godbeite Protest: Another View." Utah Historical Quarterly 42 (Summer 1974):216-244. _____. "The Godbeite Protest in the Making of Modern Utah." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Utah, 1977.