A Mormon Chronicle

A Mormon Chronicle
Author: John Doyle Lee
Publisher:
Total Pages: 496
Release: 1983
Genre: Frontier and pioneer life
ISBN:

John Doyle Lee (1812-1877) was one of the most controversial figures of early Mormon history. A fervent convert, he was adopted by Brigham Young and rose to become a leading member of the church's hierarchy. Lee left behind a number of colorful diaries that reveal in fascinating clarity and detail the everyday life of Utah's pioneer settlers. In them, he describes his close relationship with Brigham Young, his experiences in converting Native Americans to Mormonism, his trials with farming and livestock, his encounters with his 19 wives, and his eventual exile to the barren wastelands of Lee's Ferry. In the 1950s, five of Lee's diaries in the Huntington collections were meticulously edited and annotated by historians Robert Glass Cleland and Juanita Brooks and published in two volumes by the Huntington Library in 1955 to great acclaim as A Mormon Chronicle, The Diaries of John D. Lee, 1848-1876. The University of Utah Press kept the book in print until the 1990s; it has now been reprinted as a Huntington Library Classic with a new foreword by Andrew Rolle, a Huntington research fellow and retired Cleland Professor of History from Occidental College. In his foreword, Rolle discusses the collaboration between Cleland, a leading historian of the Southwest, and Brooks, a notable scholar of Mormon history.

An Intimate Chronicle

An Intimate Chronicle
Author: William Clayton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1995
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781560850229

William Clayton is best remembered today for his hymns, especially "Come, Come Ye Saints." But as one of the earliest Latter-day Saint scribes, he made intellectual as well as artistic contributions to his church, and his records have been silently incorporated into official Mormon scripture and history. Of equal significance are his personal impressions of day-to-day activities, which describe a social and religious world largely unfamiliar to modern readers. In ministering to the sick, for instance, Clayton anointed with perfumed oil and rum. He performed baptisms to heal the sick. Church services, held irregularly, were referred to as "going to meeting" and seemed to be elective. He testifies of people speaking in tongues and of others "almost speaking in tongues." When introduced to plural marriage, he was reluctant but eventually became one of its most enthusiastic proponents, marrying ten women and fathering forty-two children. Since polygamy was initially secret, Clayton spent much of his time putting out the fires of innuendo and discontent. He caught his first plural wife rendezvousing with her former fianc�; later, when she became pregnant, her mother-his unaware mother-in-law-was so overwrought that she attempted suicide. Joseph Smith reassured him: "Just keep her at home and brook it and if they raise trouble about it and bring you before me I will give you an awful scourging and probably cut you off from the church and then I will set you ahead as good as ever." Clayton was also the object of Emma Smith's attentions, allegedly part of a jealous wife's plan to make a cuckold of her errant husband.

The Lost Book of Mormon

The Lost Book of Mormon
Author: Avi Steinberg
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2015-11-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0307948366

Is The Book of Mormon a Great American Novel? Avi Steinberg thinks so. In this quirky travelogue—part fan nonfiction, part personal quest—he follows the trail laid out in Joseph Smith’s book. From Jerusalem to the ruined Mayan cities of Central America to upstate New York and, finally, to Jackson County, Missouri—the spot Smith identified as the site of the Garden of Eden—Steinberg traces The Book’s unexpected path and grapples with Joseph Smith’s demons—and his own. Literate and funny, personal and provocative, the genre-bending The Lost Book of Mormon boldly explores our deeply human impulse to write books, and affirms the abiding power of story.

Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon?

Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon?
Author: Wayne L. Cowdrey
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2005
Genre: Book of Mormon
ISBN: 9780758605276

Authors determine that The Book of Mormon is an adaptation of an obscure historical novel. Read about their findings.

The Book of Jeraneck

The Book of Jeraneck
Author: Matthew Gill
Publisher: Upfront
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2008-01-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781844264803

This record is a compilation of the records of the People of Light. It is a history of the ancient people who once inhabited this land. It is compiled by the hand of Jeraneck a Prophet of God under the direction of God. It is written with the spirit of prophesy and revelation. It is compiled and given up to God to come forth in the latter days of the world before the coming of the Lord Almighty for the second time. It is sealed up and given unto God to come forth through the hands of his servant in the last days and through the power and will of God it will be translated by his servant for all the world to behold its testimony of the Lord God Almighty even the very Jesus that will be born of the virgin pure. This record is taken from the historical records of my people and I have compiled them onto twenty four sacred plates so that the world will know that we were worshipers of the Almighty God. Let no man condemn the words that are written upon this record for if there are faults or errors upon this record then they are of my making and not of Gods. For God is the Almighty One of Heaven and all things under him are perfect and pure.

Under the Banner of Heaven

Under the Banner of Heaven
Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2004-06-08
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1400078997

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU. “Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco Chronicle Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities. At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

Brigham Young, Colonizer of the American West: Diaries and Office Journals, 1832-1871

Brigham Young, Colonizer of the American West: Diaries and Office Journals, 1832-1871
Author: George D. Smith
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781560852742

Examining Brigham Young's legacy requires an understanding of his raw ambition and religious zeal. A formidable leader in both his church and country, Young's abilities coincided with the colonizing zeitgeist of nineteenth-century America. Thus, by 1877, some 400 Mormon settlements spanned the western frontier from Salt Lake City to outposts in Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, and California. As prophet of the LDS Church and governor of the proposed State of Deseret, Young led several campaigns for Utah statehood while defending polygamy and local sovereignty. His skillful and authoritarian leadership led historian Bernard de Voto to classify him as an "American genius," responsible for turning Joseph Smith's visions "into the seed of life." Young's diaries and journals reveal a man dedicated to his church, defensive of his spiritual and temporal claims to authority, and determined to create a modern Zion within the Utah desert. Editor George D. Smith's careful organization and annotation of Young's personal writings provide insights into the mind of Mormonism's dynamic church leader and frontier statesman.

The A to Z of Mormonism

The A to Z of Mormonism
Author: Davis Bitton
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2009-11-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0810870606

Mormonism is the unofficial name for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which originated in the early 1800s. Mormonism refers to the doctrines taught by Joseph Smith, doctrines that are believed to be original gospel preached by Jesus Christ. The Mormons oppose abortion, homosexuality, unmarried sexual acts, pornography, gambling, tobacco, consuming alcohol, tea, coffee, and the use of drugs. Despite its relatively young age, the Mormon Church continues to grow, and today it contains about 13 million members. The A to Z of Mormonism relates the history of the Mormon church through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on crucial persons, organizations, churches, beliefs, and events. Clearing up many of the misconceptions held about Mormonism and its members, this is an essential reference.