Church, State, and Politics
The Diaries of John Henry Smith

Edited by
Jean Bickmore White

Signature Books
in association with
Smith Research Associates
Salt Lake City
1990

Introduction A John Henry Smith Chronology Prominent Characters The John Henry Smith Family The Documents Missionary Years: 1874 - 1875 Missionary Years continued:1875 - 1883 Missionary Years continued:1883 - 1885 Time of Trials: 1885 -1888 Time of Trials continued: 1888 - 1890 Time of Trials continued: 1890 - 1892 Gaining Statehood: 1892 - 1894 Gaining Statehood continued: 1895 - 1896 Early Statehood Years: 1896 - 1898 Early Statehood Years continued: 1899 -1900 Early Statehood Years continued: 1901 Early Statehood Years continued: 1902 -1903 Challenges for Church and State: 1904 - 1906 Challenges for Church and State continued: 1907 - 1908 Challenges for Church and State continued: 1909 - 1911 cover

(Web edition note: When reformatting this book for the internet, we found that the chapters were too large to place onto a single webpage and were forced to break up each chapter into smaller segments. We are sorry for any confusion this new formatting may cause.)

A John Henry Smith Chronology

1848

September 18 Born at Carbunca (now Council Bluffs), Iowa.

1849

October Moves to Salt Lake City.

1851

June 12 Mother, Sarah Libbey Smith, dies in Salt
Lake City. "Aunt" Hannah Libbey Smith, his
mother's sister and also polygamous wife of
his father George A. Smith, takes over his
care.

1852

July Moves to Provo with Hannah and "Aunt"
Lucy, another polygamous wife of George A. Smith.

1856

September 18 Baptized a member of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon).

1866

October 20 Marries Sarah Farr, daughter of Lorin Farr,
Ogden church and civic leader.

1872

Assistant clerk of territorial legislature and of
constitutional convention.

1874

June 26 Set apart for mission to Great Britain by
church president John Taylor.

July 24 Arrives in Liverpool to start mission.[p.xvi]

1875

May-June Tours Europe with mission president Joseph
F. Smith, his cousin.

August Returns to Salt Lake City because of his
father's illness.

September 1 Father dies at age fifty-eight.

1875-80

Serves as bishop of Seventeenth Ward in Salt
Lake City.

1876-82

Member of Salt Lake City Council.

1877

April 4 Marries Josephine Groesbeck as a plural
wife, daughter of prominent businessman
Nicholas Groesbeck.

1880

October 27 Ordained an apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve.

1881

August 1 Elected to territorial legislature.

1882

March Goes to Washington, D.C., to work against
passage of the Edmunds Bill by the House of
Representatives.

October 28 Leaves Salt Lake City to preside over the
European Mission.

1883

July-August Tours European Mission, including
Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland,
and France.
1884-85

December- Tours Switzerland and Italy, visiting mission
January leaders and dealing with problems in Switzerland.
1885

April 1 Returns to Salt Lake City.

July 2 Arrested for illegal cohabitation but is discharged.

1888

May 1 Moves Josephine to Manassa, Colorado.

1890

October 1 Votes to endorse church president Wilford
Woodruffs manifesto banning plural marriages.

1891

May 20 Helps organize the Republican Party of
Utah, followed by dubs in other cities. [p.xvii]

September Sent to Arizona to perform marriages and to
meet with Arizona Republican leaders.

1892

February 5 Goes to Washington, D.C., to try to defeat
the Democratic Party-sponsored "Home Rule"
bill and promote statehood.

1894

February-March Visits Mexico on church business and to
oversee affairs of the Mexican Colonization
and Agricultural Company.

October 2 Nominated a Republican delegate to the
constitutional convention.

November 7 Elected a delegate to the constitutional convention
of 1895.

1895

March 6 After fighting challenges to election, takes
seat in convention and is elected president.
Presides until its conclusion in May.

1900

January Goes to Washington, D.C., to oppose an
anti-polygamy amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

1901

May-June Travels to Mexico and meets with Mexican
President Porfirio Diaz regarding the Mormon
colonies in Mexico.

July 4 Elected president of Trans-Mississippi
Commercial Congress.

1902

March Goes to Washington, D.C., with Ben E. Rich
to use influence against anti-polygamy
amendment to Constitution.

September Visits Nauvoo, Illinois, and other early
church sites.

1904

December 17, Testifies before U.S. Senate Committee on
19, 20 Privileges and Elections regarding the seating
of Utah senator-elect Read Smoot.

1905

February-March Visits Utah Mexican Rubber Company lands
in Mexico.

December With other members of Smith family visits [p.xviii]
church sites and old family homes in Vermont,
New York, Massachusetts, and Ohio.

1906

February-March Goes to Washington, D.C., to work for Reed
Smoot's seating in Senate.

September 21 Hannah Maria Libbey Smith, the "aunt"
who reared him, dies in Provo at age seventy-eight.

1910

April 7 Set apart as second counselor to church
president Joseph F. Smith.

1911

June Goes East with other members of the Utah
Capitol Commission to visit a number of
state government buildings to get ideas for
the new Utah capitol building.

October 13 Dies at home of Josephine in Salt Lake City
at the age of sixty-three.

Prominent
CHARACTERS

BARTCH, G. M.

Probate judge of Salt Lake County; associate justice of territorial supreme court; elected to Utah State Supreme Court and served as chief justice until 1906.

BENNETT, CHARLES W.

Lawyer; Republican politician who came to Salt Lake City in 1871.

BROWN, ARTHUR

Republican; non-Mormon United States senator from Utah, 1896-97.

CAINE, JOHN T.

Democrat; Utah's fourth delegate to Congress, 1883-93.

CANNON, ABRAHAM H.

Son of George Q. Cannon; one of seven presidents of seventy, 1882-89; LDS apostle, 1889-96; implicated in post-1890 Manifesto polygamy.

CANNON, ANGUS M.

Brother of George Q. Cannon; businessman; president of Salt Lake Stake, 1876-1904.

CANNON, FRANK J.

Son of George Q. Cannon; Republican delegate to Congress, 1895; United States senator, 1896-99; Democratic state chair, 1902-1904; established Ogden Standard in 1888 and Utah State Journal in 1903; moved to Colorado in 1909.

CANNON, GEORGE Q.

LDS apostle, 1860-77; first counselor to John Taylor, 1880-87; first counselor to Wilford Woodruff, 1889-98; first counselor to Lorenzo Snow, 1898-1901; delegate to Congress from Utah territory, 1873-81; served often as liaison between church leaders and prominent national leaders in politics and business.

CARRINGTON, ALBERT

LDS apostle, 1870; counselor to Brigham Young, 1873-77; excommunicated for immorality, 1885; rebaptized, 1887; died, 1889.

CLAWSON, RUDGER

Prominent prisoner for polygamy; LDS apostle, 1898-1943; second counselor to Lorenzo Snow, 1901.

COWLEY, MATTHIAS F.

LDS apostle, 1897; resigned from Quorum of Twelve Apostles because of his practice of polygamy, 1905; priesthood suspended, 1911; restored to full membership, 1936; died, 1940.

CROSBY, JESSE W.

Southern Utah colonizer and cattleman; president of Panguitch Stake, 1882-1900; called in 1900 to help settle Big Horn country in Wyoming.

CUTLER, JOHN C.

Business leader and banker; governor of Utah, 1905-1908.

CUTLER, THOMAS R.

Businessman, organizer of sugar companies.

DUBOIS, FRED T.

United States senator from Idaho, 1891-97, 1901-1907.

ECCLES, DAVID

Utah industrialist, banker, and railroad builder.

FARR, LORIN

Ogden settler, 1850; first mayor of Ogden and prominent railroad builder; father of Sarah Farr Smith, wife of John Henry Smith.

GIBBS, GEORGE

Church reporter and secretary to the First Presidency of the LDS church, beginning in 1876.

GOODWIN, C. C.

Editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, 1880-1901; noted for harsh editorial criticism of LDS church and its leaders.

GRANT, HEBER J.

Prominent Utah businessman and entrepreneur; LDS apostle, 1882; president of LDS church, 1918-45.

GROESBECK, NICHOLAS

Business entrepreneur; father of Josephine Groesbeck Smith, wife of John Henry Smith.

HANNA, M. A. (Mark)

Leading Republican and chair of Republican national committee, 1896; United States senator from Ohio, 1897-1904.

HARDY, LEONARD G.

LDS bishop; collector for Salt Lake County.

IVINS, ANTHONY W.

Early setter of St. George; moved to Mexico with family in 1895 to become president of Juarez Stake; LDS apostle, 1907; second counselor to Heber J. Grant, 1921-25; first counselor to Heber J. Grant, 1925-34.

JACK, JAMES

Chief clerk and treasurer to the First Presidency.

KEARNS, THOMAS

Mine developer and owner; owner of the Salt Lake Tribune since 1901; United States senator from, Utah 1901-1905.

LANNAN, PATRICK H.

Owner of Salt Lake Tribune, 1883-1901, during period of strong anti-Mormon editorial campaign.

LAYTON, CHRISTOPHER

Davis County colonizer; called as president of St. Joseph Stake (Arizona), 1883-98.

LUND, ANTHON H.

LDS apostle, 1889; second counselor to Joseph F. Smith, 1901-10; first counselor to Joseph F. Smith, 1910-18; first counselor to Heber J. Grant, 1918-21.

LYMAN, FRANCIS M.

LDS apostle, 1880-1916.

McCORNICK, W. S.

Banker, mining magnate, and railroad builder; member of Salt Lake City Council.

McKAY, DAVID O.

LDS apostle, 1906; second counselor to Heber J. Grant, 1934-45; second counselor to George Albert Smith, 1945- 51; president of church, 1951-70.

MERRILL, MARRINER W.

Prominent Cache Valley businessman; LDS apostle, 1889-1906.

MORGAN, JOHN H.

Member, First Council of Seventy, 1884-94; president of Southern States Mission; married Helen Malvina Groesbeck, sister of Josephine Groesbeck Smith.

NIBLEY, CHARLES W.

Prominent businessman; presiding bishop of LDS church, 1907-25; LDS apostle and second counselor to Heber J. Grant, 1925-31.

NUTTALL, L. JOHN

Private secretary to LDS president John Taylor and his successors until 1892.

PENROSE, CHARLES W.

Editor of Deseret News; LDS apostle, 1904; second counselor to Joseph F. Smith, 1911-18; second counselor to Heber J. Grant, 1918-21; first counselor to Heber J. Grant, 1921-25.

PETERSON, CANUTE

President of Sanpete and South Sanpete stakes; Scandinavian Mission president.

PRESTON, WILLIAM B.

Presiding bishop of LDS church, 1884-1907.

RAWLINS, JOSEPH L.

Utah territorial delegate to Congress, 1893-95; elected to United States Senate, 1897-1903.

REYNOLDS, GEORGE

Secretary to Brigham Young; defendant in test case in which United States Supreme Court upheld anti-polygamy laws; one of seven presidents of Seventy, 1890-1909.

RICH, BEN E.

Son of LDS apostle Charles C. Rich; president of Southern States Mission and Eastern States Mission; married Diana Farr, sister of Sarah Fart Smith.

RICH, CHARLES C.

LDS apostle, 1849-83; prominent in settlement of southern Idaho.

RICHARDS, FRANKLIN D.

LDS apostle, 1849-99; probate and county judge for Weber County; LDS church historian and general recorder, 1889.

RICHARDS, FRANKLIN S.

Son of Franklin D. Richards; member of three Utah constitutional conventions; general counsel for the LDS church for thirty years.

RICHARDS, GEORGE F.

LDS apostle, 1906-50; acting patriarch to the church, 1937-43; president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 1945-50.

ROBERTS, BRIGHAM H.

Noted journalist, theologian, orator, and historian; member, First Council of Seventy, 1888-1933; elected as Democrat to United States Congress in 1898 but not seated because of his practice of polygamy.

SHURTLEFF, LEWIS W.

President of Weber Stake; probate judge and county commissioner in Weber County.

SMITH, HYRUM MACK

Son of Joseph F. Smith; LDS apostle, 1901-18.

SMITH, JESSE N.

Early settler in Parowan, Utah; moved to Snowflake, Arizona; helped obtain land for settlement in Mexico; served in both Utah and Arizona legislatures.

SMITH, JOHN

Son of Hyrum Smith; LDS church patriarch, 1855-1911.

SMITH, JOSEPH F.

1880-87; second counselor to Wilford Woodruff, 1889 98; second counselor to Lorenzo Snow, 1898-1901; first counselor to Lorenzo Snow, 1901; president of LDS church, 1901-18; implicated in post-1890 Manifesto polygamy; issued 1904) "Second Manifesto" on polygamy.

SMITH, JOSEPH FIELDING

Son of Joseph F. Smith; LDS apostle, 1910-51; counselor in the First Presidency, 1965-70; president of church, 1907-72.

SMITH, SILAS SANFORD

Settled Paragonah, Utah; member of Utah territorial legislature; later moved to Manassa, Colorado; president of San Luis (Colorado) Stake, 1883-92; moved to Layton, Utah, in 1901 [p.xxiv]

SMOOT, ABRAHAM O.

Mayor of Salt Lake City for ten years; mayor of Provo for fourteen years; president of Utah Stake (Provo); businessman.

SMOOT, REED

Son of Abraham O. Smoot; prominent businessman and politician; LDS apostle, 1900-41; object of lengthy United States Senate inquiry regarding qualifications to serve as Utah's United States senator; served 1903-33; co-author of Smoot-Hawley Tarriff Act.

SNOW, ERASTUS

LDS apostle, 1849-88.

SNOW, LORENZO

LDS apostle, 1849; counselor to Brigham Young, 1873-77; president of LDS church, 1893-1901.

TALMAGE, JAMES E.

Noted Utah scientist, geologist, theologian, and writer; LDS apostle, 1911-33.

TAYLOR, JOHN

LDS apostle, 1838-77; president of LDS church, 1880-87; ardent defender of polygamy; died in hiding during the United States government's crusade against polygamists in 1887.

TAYLOR, JOHN W.

Son of John Taylor; LDS apostle, 1884; resigned from Quorum of Twelve Apostles because of his practice of polygamy, 1905; excommunicated, 1911; died, 1918.

TEASDALE, GEORGE

LDS apostle, 1882-1907.

TELLER, HENRY M.

United States Senator from Colorado, first as Republican and Silver Republican in 1870s and 1880s, later as Democrat 1903-1909.

TRUMBO, ISAAC (Col.)

Wealthy and influential California mining entrepreneur; assisted LDS leaders in statehood fight, 1887-94; moved to Salt Lake City after statehood and back to California after failing to become a United States senator from Utah.

UDALL, DAVID K.

Called to settle Arizona in 1889; president of St. Johns (Arizona) stake.

VAN COTT, WALDEMAR

Democrat and lawyer; served as counsel to the LDS church in the Reed Smoot hearings.

VARIAN, CHARLES S.

United States attorney for Utah prosecuting polygamists in 1884-86, 1889-93; member of 1895 Constitutional Convention and elected to legislature; prominent Republican until split over silver issue in 1896.

WARREN, FRANCIS E.

Governor of Wyoming; later United States senator, 1890-93 and 1895-1929.

WELLS, DANIEL H.

Apostle and second counselor to President Brigham Young until Young's death in 1877; counselor to Quorum of Twelve Apostles; mayor of Salt Lake City.

WELLS, HEBER M.

Banker and first governor of Utah, 1896-1903.

WHITNEY, ORSON F.

Noted Utah historian, writer, and poet; LDS apostle, 1906-31.

WINDER, JOHN R.

First counselor to Joseph F. Smith, 1901-10.

WOODRUFF, ABRAHAM O.

Son of Wilford Woodruff; LDS apostle, 1897-1904.

WOODRUFF, WILFORD

LDS apostle, 1839-89; president of LDS church, 1889-98; issued 1890 Manifesto banning plural marriages.

YOUNG, BRIGHAM

Leader of Mormon trek west and colonization of Utah territory; LDS apostle, 1835-47; president of the church, 1847-77.

YOUNG, BRIGHAM, Jr.

LDS apostle, 1868-1903; counselor to Brigham Young, 1873; assistant counselor, 1874.

YOUNG, JOHN W.

Son of and assistant counselor to Brigham Young; counselor to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles; involved in promotion of railroads and other business enterprises.

YOUNG, LeGRAND

Son of Joseph Young; lawyer and counsel for the LDS church.

ZANE, CHARLES S.

Chief justice of Utah Territorial Supreme Court; elected to Utah supreme court after statehood, serving until 1899; prominent Republican.

The John Henry Smith FAMILY

A.
THE WIVES AND CHILDREN OF GEORGE A. SMITH (1817-75),
FATHER OF JOHN HENRY SMITH

B.
SIGNIFICANT SMITH FAMILY MEMBERS

C.
THE CHILDREN OF JOHN HENRY SMITH