Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle Part 40

HEBER C. KIMBALL CHIEF JUSTICE AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF DESERET--IN THE LEGISLATURE--LAYING THE CORNER STONES OF THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE--HEBER'S CONSECRATION PRAYER--HIS PROPHECY IN RELATION TO THE TEMPLE--HE PREDICTS ANOTHER FAMINE.

President Kimball's experience was now more than ever of a mixed and varied character; a natural concomitant of his position as a leader in the settlement of a new country. As first counselor to his chief, and only second to him in influence among the people, we find him taking part and helping to direct in all the important movements affecting the growth and prosperity of Zion.

In March, 1849, the Provisional Government of the State of Deseret was organized, pending the action of Congress on a pet.i.tion for a Territorial Government. The election, held on the twelfth of that month, resulted in the unanimous choice of the following officers.

Brigham Young, Governor; Willard Richards, Secretary; Newel K. Whitney, Treasurer; Heber C. Kimball, Chief Justice; John Taylor and N. K.

Whitney, a.s.sociate Justices; Daniel H. Wells, Attorney-General; Horace S. Eldredge, Marshal; Albert Carrington, a.s.sessor and Collector of taxes; Joseph L. Heywood, Surveyor of highways; and the Bishops of the several wards as magistrates.

Heber was also Lieutenant-Governor of the Provisional State of Deseret.

At the October conference of 1849, his voice is heard introducing the subject of the Perpetual Emigration Fund, for the benefit of the poor Saints who were unable to gather to Zion. The sum of $5,000 was raised that season by voluntary donations, and Bishop Edward Hunter despatched to the frontier as general agent of the Church, to superintend the emigration.

At the session of the Legislature of Deseret, held in March, 1851, Heber C. Kimball was President of the Council branch of the a.s.sembly, and, in September of the same year, a member of the Council of the first session of the Legislative a.s.sembly of the Territory of Utah.

The corner stones of the Salt Lake Temple were laid on the sixth of April, 1853, the south-east corner stone being laid by the First Presidency, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, a.s.sisted by Patriarch John Smith. President Young delivered the oration and President Kimball offered the consecration prayer. This prayer is worth preserving in his history. It was as follows:

"O G.o.d, the Eternal Father, in the name of Thy Son Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we ask Thee to look upon us at this time in Thy tender mercy. Thou beholdest that Thy servants, Brigham and his council, have laid the corner stone of a holy house, which we are about to erect unto Thy name. We desire to do it with clean hands and pure hearts before Thee, and before Thine holy angels.

"We thank Thee that we are permitted to live in the flesh, and have a place upon Thy footstool, and partake daily of the bounties Thy hand bestows, for Thou art our father, and Jesus Christ is our elder brother.

"Inasmuch, O Lord, as we desire to erect a house to Thy name, and if it seemeth Thee good to come and take up Thine abode on the earth, that Thou mayest have a place to lay Thy head, we pray Thee to a.s.sist us to erect it in purity before Thee, and the heavenly hosts.

"We ask Thee to help us so to conduct ourselves, that all the holy Prophets, the angels of heaven, with Thee and Thy son, may be engaged continually for our welfare, in the work of salvation and eternal lives. Bless us in this attempt to glorify Thee. Bless this portion of the earth we dwell upon--even these valleys of the mountains, which we have consecrated unto Thee. Cause them to bring forth the productions of the soil in rich abundance. Bless the seeds that are placed therein by Thy servants and handmaidens. And inasmuch as they are disposed to do Thy work, and erect a temple to Thy name, which is their fixed purpose and determination, let the heavens be gentle over them. May the earth be sanctified for their good, and the seeds they throw into it yield to them an hundred fold in return. We pray Thee to bless such men and women--may the blessings of the Almighty richly attend them--and multiply them in their families, in their herds and flocks, in strength and in health, in salvation and in eternal lives.

"We also pray for those who do not feel favorably disposed to Thy work--may Thy blessings not attend them, but may they go backward and not forward, may they wither and not increase, and may the strength that they might have received, through their faithfulness to Thy work be multiplied and divided amongst these Thy servants who are determined to keep Thy commandments, and sanctify their affections unto Thee.

"Look upon Thy servant Brigham, O Lord, and let Thy Holy Spirit rest mightily upon him this day, and from henceforth. May he live to dictate the erection of Thy house, see the top stone brought on with rejoicing, and administer the keys of salvation and eternal life unto his brethren therein. Bless his council in common with him, may they live to a good old age, and glorify G.o.d in all their days; may they never want for food and raiment, for fathers and mothers, for wives and children, and for the power of Thy Spirit to inspire them, and those Thou hast given them.

"Pour out Thy Spirit upon Thy servants, the Twelve Apostles; may Thy power abide upon them, to qualify them for the responsible calling unto which Thou hast called them. Also, in connection with them, let Thy Spirit rest upon the Quorums of the Seventies, the High Priests, the Bishops, the High Council, the Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons; and upon every faithful member of Thy church in these valleys of the mountains, and in all the world.

"Now, O G.o.d, we dedicate this stone to Thee. May this spot be holy, and all that pertaineth to it. And inasmuch as there shall be an enemy, or a person that are evil-disposed towards Thy house, and they shall endeavor to lay snares for the feet of Thy people, may they be caught in their own net, be overwhelmed in their own dilemma, and have no power nor influence in the least to hurt Thy saints from this time henceforth forever. May the power of the Mighty G.o.d of Jacob fortify Thy servants, enabling them to execute righteousness before Thee the Lord our G.o.d.

"Hear us, O Lord, for we dedicate this, the south-east corner stone unto Thee, praying that it may sleep in peace, be preserved from decay, for it is the chief corner-stone of the house we shall rear to Thy name. May the same blessings attend the other three corner-stones, and all the works Thy servants shall set their hands to do, from this time henceforth and forever.

"Bless the architect, the superintendent, the foremen of the various departments, and all the laborers that shall raise a hand, or move a thing for the erection and perfection of this Thine house; and provide for them, their wives, their children, and all that pertains unto them, that they may want for no good or necessary thing, while they are engaged in Thy service, and from this time henceforth and forever.

"We dedicate ourselves unto Thee, with our wives, our children, our flocks, and our herds, with all the settlements and possessions that pertain to Thy people in these valleys of the mountains. And all the praise and glory we will ascribe to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen."

In after years, President Kimball predicted, in relation to this temple, that when its walls reached the square the powers of evil would rage and the Saints would suffer persecution. The walls of the Salt Lake Temple "reached the square" in November, 1882, eight months after the pa.s.sage by Congress of the celebrated "Edmunds law." One year later, in November, 1883, occurred the trial of Rudger Clawson for polygamy under the provisions of that law, in the Third District Court of Utah Territory. This, the first gun of the campaign, was the signal for the inauguration of an anti-Mormon crusade, which, for bitterness and cruelty, takes rank in the history of religious persecution with the deeds of the dark ages. Thus was fulfilled another prediction of the prophet Heber, fifteen years after his mortal eyes were closed in death.

The character of those early times, the condition of the people, and the part played by President Kimball as a public teacher, are further shown in the following selections from his sermons, in which he deals more or less with the temporal situation:

In August, 1853, we find him addressing the Saints in the Tabernacle as follows:

"I know you will prosper and live in peace in the mountains of the Great Salt Lake, and be perfectly independent. You will have food and raiment, houses and lands, flocks and herds, and everything your hearts can desire, that there is in heaven and on earth, _if you but do as you are told_. You will live in peace and G.o.d will be your defence.[A] * * I have said often, you may write blessings for yourselves, and insert every good thing you can think of, and it will all come to pa.s.s on your heads, IF YOU DO RIGHT." * * * * *

[Footnote A: In the same spirit, a few years later, Aug. 30. 1857, Heber uttered this stirring prophecy: "Wake up, ye Saints of the Most High, and prepare for any emergency that the Lord our G.o.d may have pleasure in bringing forth! We never shall leave these valleys--till we get ready; no, never: no, never! We will live here till we go back to Jackson County, Missouri. I prophesy that, in the name of Israel's G.o.d." The congregation shouted "Amen," and President Young said, "It is true."]

"The Lord can turn the nations as I can an obedient horse. They are governed and controlled by the Almighty as much as we are. What can they do against us? Why, nothing whatever, but if we do not do right they will be a scourge in the hands of G.o.d to scourge us, just as the Indians are at this time. * * There never would have been a disturbance if this people had done as they were told. There is not a settlement in these mountains but were instructed by Brother Brigham to build good forts and live in them. Have any of them built forts? *

* The Indians are now upon us, and our brethren are scattered off, three, four and five families in a place, exposed to the Lamanites. *

"There are a few things I wanted to say. One is, TAKE CARE OF YOUR GRAIN; for it is of more worth to you than gold and silver. I know you will see harder times before another harvest than you have seen this season. There is enough, and we need never want bread, but if we do not take the right course we are _sure to see sorrow_, and THE GREATEST YOU HAVE EVER SEEN."

Mark the stress laid upon the subject of storing up grain for a day of famine. This theme forms almost the staple of President Kimball's sermons for the next three years. With the eye of faith he saw the famine afar off, and strove with all the power of his earnest and prophetic nature to impress this fact upon the minds of his hearers, that they might be prepared for the gaunt spectre's coming. But they heeded him not, to any general extent, and in due time suffered the consequences of their neglect.

A year later he touched on the subject of home manufactures:

"Will the time ever be that we can make our clothing? We nearly can at this time. I would like to see the people take a course to make their own clothing, make their own machinery, their own knives and their own forks, and everything else we need, for the day will come when we will be under the necessity of doing it, for trouble and perplexity, war and famine, bloodshed and fire, and thunder and lightning will roll upon the nations of the earth, insomuch that we cannot get to them, nor they to us."

The next is a retrospective glimpse:

"I was one of the first, in connection with President Young, who came to this valley when it was a desolate region, and we could not even get a chart from Fremont nor from any other man, from which to learn the course to this place. I was one who helped to pick out the road.

When we got to the upper ferry of Platte River, half of our company had not a mouthful of bread. I recollect one day, I believe it was on the Platte, Brother Brigham said to me, 'Brother Heber, what do you think about it, do you think we shall go any further?' I knew he asked this question to try me. I replied, I wanted to go the whole journey and find some white sandstone and see what there was in the earth.

There never was a day when I would not go with him until we found a location. I knew there was a place somewhere, though at times the prospect appeared dreary. But here it was on high. It is the best country I ever saw."

By this time the approach of the famine was beginning to be felt. In the course of some remarks at a special conference in Provo, July 13th, 1855, President Kimball said:

"Perhaps many feel a little sober because our bread is cut off, but I am glad of it, because it will be a warning to us, and teach us to lay it up in future, as we have been told. How many times have you been told to store up your wheat against the hard times that are coming upon the nations of the earth? When we first came into these valleys our President told us to lay up stores of all kinds of grain that the earth might rest once in seven years. The earth is determined to rest, and it is right that it should. It only requires a few gra.s.shoppers to make the earth rest, they can soon clear it. This is the seventh year; did you ever think of it?"

Then came the famine, the second one in the history of the Saints, in fulfillment of the warning words of their prophets and seers. It was the famine of 1856.

CHAPTER LX.

THE FAMINE OF '56--HEBER A SECOND JOSEPH--A SAVIOR TO HIS PEOPLE-- VILATE A MINISTERING ANGEL--A STRANGE PIECE OF COUNSEL--PRESIDENT KIMBALL'S LETTERS, DESCRIPTIVE OF THE FAMINE, TO HIS SON WILLIAM, IN ENGLAND.

In this famine, which was likened unto the famine of Egypt, Heber C.

Kimball played a part like unto that of Joseph of old; feeding from his own bins and storehouses, filled by his providence and foresight in antic.i.p.ation of the straitness of the times, the hungry mult.i.tude--kindred, strangers and all--who looked to him for succor.

His own family were put upon short rations, to enable him to minister more effectually to the wants of others.

He had taken his own counsel, and stored up grain for the famine he had predicted, and when the time of scarcity came he had on hand thousands of bushels of wheat, with bran and shorts, corn and barley in abundance; all of which, however, was used before the next harvest-time.

Several hundred bushels of wheat he lent to President Young, to help feed those who were dependent on the President, while he himself personally undertook to relieve hundreds of the poor of Salt Lake City.

The following letter from Bishop John B. Maiben forms an interesting link in the historic chain of that period:

"MANTI, SANPETE CO., "January 16th, 1877.

"_S. F. Kimball_, "_Salt Lake City_,

"DEAR BROTHER:--In answer to your enquiries in relation to the flour I distributed for your father, I will say:

"That during the early part of the year 1856, in what is known as the "time of the famine," when a great many persons who in other respects were esteemed well to do, were under the necessity of eating thistle roots, sego roots and other wild plants for sustenance of themselves and families, owing to the extreme scarcity of breadstuff, there being none in the market at any price; at this critical juncture President Heber C. Kimball, who had by wise economy and prescient forethought garnered up a quant.i.ty of surplus grain, requested my a.s.sistance to distribute flour to the families of the Saints in small quant.i.ties adapted to their number and necessity, charging them only $6.00 per 100 lbs, then the standard t.i.thing Office price. Although there was no flour in the market, still some individuals were selling at $25.