Day in the Life

Oct 6, 1890

Journal Entry

October 06, 1890 ~ Monday

Oct 6. Conference Met at 10 oclock Prayer By A O Smoot
The Authorities of the Church presented & sustained
The articles of faith was read & Accepted by all of the people
Keys crossed Then W Woodruff manifesto [Official Declaration 1] was read and accepted
by a vote of the whole Conference which Act created
a sensation throughout the whole United States


After the vote taken on the Manifesto [Official Declaration 1] G Q Cannon
spoke 27 Minuts W Woodruff spoke 15 Minuts
These speeches will be published in the Deseret
News
Afternoon Prayer By C W Penrose
H J Grant spoke 10 M[inutes] J W Taylor spoke 16 M[inutes]
A M Cannon 20 M[inutes], And at the close W Woodruff
Blessed the people

People

Browse people Wilford Woodruff mentioned on this day in his journal. Click on the person's name to view a short bio and other pages they are mentioned on or click on "View in Family Search" to view their FamilySearch profile.

Smoot, Abraham Owen
17 Feb 1815 - 6 Mar 1895
583 mentions
1835 Southern Convert
Cannon, Angus Munn
17 May 1834 - 7 Jun 1915
Penrose, Charles William
4 Feb 1832 - 16 May 1925
Cannon, George Quayle
11 Jan 1827 - 12 Apr 1901
2243 mentions
Apostle
Grant, Heber Jeddy
22 Nov 1856 - 14 May 1945
273 mentions
Apostle
Taylor, John Whittaker
15 May 1858 - 10 Oct 1916
156 mentions
Apostle, Missionary

Related Documents

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Letter from William Robb, 6 October 1890

Recd Oct. 14 Paragoonah Oct 6 1890. Wilford Woodruff Dear Bro I Received yours of Sep 23 informing me that that my name has been suggested and accepted as a missionary to Australia. I was surprised at receiving the notice as I read in the news that 5men of my age 50 was not notRequired to go on Missions. I sacrificed my home here and labored five years on San Juan without success and was permitted to Leave and I have been trying to make another home here

Letter from James Earell Ricks Sr., 6 October 1890

Rexburg, Bingham Co, Idaho. Pres Wodruff Dear Brother, I Feael Like doing all the good I can, an I Will be ^their^ on the ^time^ apointed time if noothing Seris Prevents me, this is my fealings. Your Brother in the gospel, James Ricks Ps Pleas Let me know When We are to leave Saltlake. T. E.Ricks, jr. Bp

Discourse 1890-10-06

THE DESERET WEEKLY. President Woodruff. Said: I will say, as the question is often asked, "What do the Latter- day Saints believe in?" we feel dis- posed to read the Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and should there be any strangers present, they may understand our faith in this respect. The question is often asked, "Do the Mormon people believe in the Bible?" so the principles that are read will show our faith and belief appertaining to the Gospel of Christ. The articles were then read by Bishop Orson F. Whitney. They are here introduced: ARTICLES OF FAITH Of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. 2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression. 3 We believe that through the atonement of Christ all men may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. 4. We believe that the ordinances are: First, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the remis- sion of sins; fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 5. We believe that a man must be called of God by "prophecy and by the laying on of hands," by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof. 6. We believe in the same organiza- tion that existed in the primitive church, viz.: apostles, prophets, past- ors, teachers, evangelists, etc. 7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, etc. 8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. 9. We believe all that God has re- vealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. 10. We believe in the literal gath- ering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes. That Zion will be built upon this continent. That Christ will reign personally upon the earth, and that the earth will be re- newed and receive its paradisic glory. 11. We claim of the privilege of wor- shiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our conscience, and al- low all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where or what they may. 12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and magis- trates, in obeying, honoring and sus- taining the law. 13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent virtuous, and in doing good to all men: indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul, "We believe all things, we hope all things," [1 Corinthians 13:7] we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. —JOSEPH SMITH.

Discourse 1890-10-06

THE DESERET WEEKLY. President W. Woodruff Stepped forward to the breastwork of the stand and said: Before dis- missing this Conference I want to say a few words to the Latter-day Saints. The Lord has said, by reve- lation, to those who hold the keys of the Kingdom of God: "Whomsoever thou shalt bless I will bless and whomsoever thou shalt curse I will curse."[Genesis 12:3] I have traveled something like a hundred and seventy-five thousand miles in my day and time, and I have preached the Gospel to the nations, to the islands of the sea and to my own country. I have met, in some instances, men who pro- fessed to have faith in God and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who have stood up before me and cursed the Prophet of God, Joseph Smith, and blasphemed the name of God. But in the midst of all these things, I have never seen a moment of my life when I felt to curse any- body. I hope I never shall. But I have told these men, under these circumstances, that the curse of God would overtake them; and in no instance, when I have been moved upon to say that, has it ever fallen unfulfilled; for they have been marked cases of the judgments of God overtaking them. But with regard to blessing, I will say, if there was ever an hour in my life that I felt to bless the Latter-day Saints, it is at the present time. My heart is drawn out with love and gratitude towards God and my brethren with whom I am surrounded. I have been sus- tained as a weak instrument in the hands of God as the President of this Church. Since I have been called to this office I have been sus- tained by the Latter-day Saints, and for over fifty years of my life as an Apostle. Why should not my heart be drawn out in love to- wards such a people? The world know not the love of the Latter-day Saints. They do not comprehend it. It never entered into their souls. I am surrounded here with Prophets, Apostles, Elders and Saints of the living God; and in the morning of the resurrection, when they come out of their graves, they will pass by the Gods and the angels who are set there to watch the interests of the celestial world; they will go to those thrones, king- doms, principalities and powers which have been ordained of God for them to occupy—those who dwell in this dispensation as well as in other ages of the world. If I am faithful, I shall meet you there; I shall meet this people there; I shall meet these Saints of the Living God there. Therefore, I feel it is my privilege to bless the Latter-day Saints. I cannot go abroad, as a man, and spread this Gospel to the world and administer to them the ordinances thereof, to have any effect, without the Holy Priesthood; and I, as a man, cannot bless the inhabitants of the earth, so that the Lord is bound to acknowledge it, only by the power of the Holy Priesthood; and that power I feel to exercise at the present time in blessing my brethren and sisters. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I feel to bless my Counselors —Presidents Geo. Q. Cannon and Jos. F. Smith. They have stood by me in all the labors of life, as far as we have been associated, since we have entered into the new and ever- lasting covenant. On the same prin- ciple, I feel to bless these Apostles who surround me. We have been united. We are united in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they have the gratitude of my heart for the labors of love and life which they have carried out in their day and time. I feel to bless the Presidents of the Seventies, with all their quorums in this Church, with every blessing that I have power to bestow upon them, as a servant of the Living God. I feel to bless the High Priests, who bear the high and Holy Priesthood after the order of Melchisedec—their Presidents and all who belong to the quorums. I also feel to bless the thousands of the Elders of Israel who have entered into covenant with the Lord, who have received a portion of the Mel- chisedec Priesthood, and who have gone forth and been faithful in the ordinances of the House of God. I feel to bless the Bishopric and the Lesser Priesthood, which is after the order of Aaron—the first Priest- hood sealed upon the heads of Jo- seph Smith and Oliver Cowdery by John the Baptist, who held it, and who laid down his own life for the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ. I feel to bless these Latter- day Saints, as fathers and mothers, as brothers and sisters, in all the ordinance of the House

Discourse 1890-10-06

Christ of Latter-day Saints, Oct. 6th, 1890, immediately following the adoption by the General As- sembly of the Manifesto [Official Declaration 1] issued by President Wilford Woodruff in relation to Plural Marriages. President George Q. Cannon. On the 19th of January, 1841, the Lord gave His servant Joseph Smith a revelation, the 49th paragraph of which I will read: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men, to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might, and with all they have, to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them, and hinder them from performing that work; behold, it behoveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings." [Doctrine and Covenants 124:49] The Lord says other things con- nected with this, which I do not think it necessary to read, but the whole revelation is profitable, and can be read by those who desire to do so. It is on this basis that President Woodruff has felt himself justified in issuing this manifesto. I suppose it would not be justice to this Conference not to say some- thing upon this subject; and yet everyone knows how delicate a sub- ject it is, and how difficult it is to approach it without saying some- thing that may offend somebody. So far as I am concerned, I can say that of the men in this Church who have en- deavored to maintain this principle of plural marriage, I am one. In public and in private I have avowed my belief in it. I have de- fended it everywhere and under all circumstances, and when it was necessary have said that I consid- ered the command was binding and imperative upon me. But a change has taken place. We have, in the first place, endeavored to show that the law which affected this feature of our religion was un- constitutional. We believed for years that the law of July 1, 1862, was in direct conflict with the first amend- ment to the Constitution, which says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." We rested upon that, and for years continued the practice of plural marriage, believing that law against it to be an unconsti- tutional one, and that we had the right, under the Constitution, to carry out this principle practically in our lives. So confident was I in relation to this view that in conver- sations with President Grant, and with his Attorney General, ex- Senator Williams, of Oregon, I said to them that if my case were not barred by the statute of limitations I would be willing to have it made a test case, in order that the law might be tested. We were sustained in this view not only by our own interpretation of the amendment to the Constitution, but also by some of the best legal minds in the country, who took exactly the same view that we did—that this law was an interference with relig- ious rights, and that so long as our practices did not interfere with the happiness and peace of society, or of others, we had the right to carry out this principle. In fact, it is within six or eight months that, in conversation with two United States Senators, each conversation being separate from the other, both of them expressed themselves, though not in the same language, to this effect: "Mr. Cannon, if this feature that you practice had not been associated with religion, it might have been tolerated; but you have associated it with religion and it has aroused the religious senti- ment of the nation, and that senti ment cannot be resisted. So far as the practice itself is concerned, if you had not made it a part of your faith and an institution sanctioned by religion, it might have gone unnoticed." I do not give the exact language; but these are the ideas that they con- veyed to me. Now, we were very confident that this law was an un- constitutional one. President Dan- iel H. Wells will remember how he and I tried to get a case to test the constitutionality of the law during the lifetime of President Brigham Young. We wanted to get Brother Erastus Snow. It is the last thing that we should have thought of to put a man like he was in the gap if we had not been firmly convinced that the law was unconstitutional and would be declared so by the United States Supreme Court. We telegraphed to Brother Erastus in the south, thinking that his case would not by barred by the statute of limitations. He replied to us concerning it, and we found that it was barred. Brother A. M. Musser proposed himself, if I remember aright, to be a test case; but there was a defect in his case. We want- ed this case, whenever it was pre- sented, to be presented fairly, that there should be no evasion about it, but that it should be a case that could be tested fairly before the courts of the country. Finally, Brother George Reynolds was selected. I said to myself, when I learned the result, "it is the last time that I will ever have anything to do with a test case again which will involve the liberty of anybody." I was promised when he was sentenced, by one high in authority and who had the right to make the promise, that he should be released, when the cir- cumstances were told to him; for they were laid fairly before him, and he was told that the evidence had been furnished by Brother Rey- nolds himself, and that everything had been done to make it a test case; the government had been aided in the securing of witnesses, and no difficulty thrown in the way. Afterwards, on the second trial, I believe Brother Reynolds' lawyers got frightened, and there was something occurred then that gave it a different appearance. But when the facts were related, as I stated, to one high in authority, he promised me that George Reynolds should be par- doned. There were those, however, in this city who were deter- mined that he should not escape imprisonment, and the prose- cuting attorney wrote a letter which changed the mind of this high official, as he afterward told me, and he declined to carry out that which I had received as a pro- mise. But even then there were circumstances connected with this decision that made us reluctant to accept it. Since that time the history of proceedings is before you and before the world. We have felt as though this command of God was of such importance to us, involving so many serious consequences, that we should do all in our power to have the world know the position that we occupied. There may be men among us who believed they would be damned if they did not obey this, accepting it as a direct command from God. Therefore, you can un- derstand how tenaciously we have protested, and how vigorously we have endeavored, as far as we could, to make public our views upon this subject. I suppose there are two classes here today in this congregation— one class who feel to sorrow to the bottom of their hearts because of the necessity of this action that we have now taken; another class who will say: "Did I not tell you so?" "Did I not tell you it would come to this?" "Did I not say to you that you ought to take advantage of and comply with this years ago, instead of enduring that which you have suffered since that time?" There may be men here today who pride themselves on their foresight, and who take credit to themselves be- cause they foresaw, as they allege, that which we have done today, and would lead others to believe that if their counsel had been adopted, if the views that they presented had been accepted by the people, it might have saved very serious con- sequences to us all and left us in a better position than that which we occupy today. But I, for one, differ entirely with this view. I belive that it was necessary that we should witness unto God, the Eternal Father, unto the heavens and unto the earth, that this was really a principle dear to us—dearer, it might be said, in some respects, than life itself. We could not have done this had we submitted at the time that those of whom I speak suggested submission. We could not have left our own nation without excuse. It might have said, "Had we known all that you tell us now concerning this, we should have had very dif ferent views about this feature of your religion than we did have." But now, after the occurrences of the past six years have been wit- nessed by this entire nation and by the world, and by God the Eternal Father and the heavenly hosts, no one can plead as an excuse that they have been ignorant of our be- lief and the dearness of this prin- ciple to us. Upwards of thirteen hundred men have been incar- cerated in prison, going there for

Events

View selected events in the two months surrounding this date in Wilford Woodruff's life. Click on the dates to jump to that day in Wilford Woodruff's journal.

Majority of members of the Church attending General Conference sustain the Manifesto.
Wilford inaugurates weekday religious education classes for elementary school-aged children (precursor to seminary and institute programs).

Oct 6, 1890