Ezra T. Benson
Born: 22 February 1811
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 16 July 1846
Died: 3 September 1869
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 16 July 1846
Died: 3 September 1869
Biographical Articles
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 1
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Instructor, January 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. I. Ancestry
Instructor, February 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography
Instructor, March 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography, II. I Join the Church
Instructor, April 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography, III Mission to the Eastern States
Instructor, May 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography, IV
Instructor, June 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. The Plains
Instructor, July 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I), The Journey to the Rockies
Instructor, August 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I)
Instructor, September 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I), A Special Mission
Instructor, October 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I), Pottawattamie and Salt Lake
Instructor, November 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I), "The Big House"
Instructor, December 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I), A Mission to Northern Utah
Instructor, January 1946, Ezra Taft Benson (I), "The Shepherd Saint of Lanai"
Instructor, February 1946, Ezra Taft Benson (I), Last Years and Death
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Instructor, January 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. I. Ancestry
Instructor, February 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography
Instructor, March 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography, II. I Join the Church
Instructor, April 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography, III Mission to the Eastern States
Instructor, May 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography, IV
Instructor, June 1945, Ezra Taft Benson, I. The Plains
Instructor, July 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I), The Journey to the Rockies
Instructor, August 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I)
Instructor, September 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I), A Special Mission
Instructor, October 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I), Pottawattamie and Salt Lake
Instructor, November 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I), "The Big House"
Instructor, December 1945, Ezra Taft Benson (I), A Mission to Northern Utah
Instructor, January 1946, Ezra Taft Benson (I), "The Shepherd Saint of Lanai"
Instructor, February 1946, Ezra Taft Benson (I), Last Years and Death
Jenson, Andrew. "Benson, Ezra Taft" Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 1. pg. 99-102.
BENSON, Ezra Taft, a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles from 1846 to 1869, was the first son of John and Chloe Benson; and was born Feb. 22. 1811, in Mendon, Worcester county, Mass. His father was a farmer and a very industrious man—a quality which his son inherited—and Ezra T. lived with him, helping him on the farm until he was sixteen years old. He then went to live with his sister and
her husband, who were keeping a hotel In the center of the town of Uxbridge. With them he remained three years. His grandfather Benson was also a farmer, and while engaged at work in the field he fell and suddenly died. At the death of his grandfather, by the request of his grandmother, young Ezra T. took charge of the farm, and when twenty years old he married Pamelia, the daughter of Jonathan H. and Lucina Andrus, of Northbridge, Worcester county, Mass. In 1832 he moved from the farm and bought out his brother-in-law, the hotel-keeper, and kept the house about two years. In this business he made considerable money, which he invested in hiring a cotton-mill and commencing, with his wife's brother, the manufacture of cotton in the town of Holland, Mass. Through a combination of causes, over which he had no control, he lost money in this business, and retiring from it took a hotel in the same town. He was also appointed postmaster. Though he made money in this business he could not be content; he had a desire to visit the West. In the spring of 1837 he had his family started. While in Philadelphia he made the acquaintance of a gentleman who spoke discouragingly about the West, and persuaded him to go to the town of Salem, and he would assist him to go Into business. He remained in this place one year, and though his neighbors offered to render him any assistance he might need to establish himself in business, he still yearned for the West, and he started in that direction. He touched at St. Louis, obtained a small stock of goods, and then went up the Illinois river, not knowing where he should land. But while on the river he made the acquaintance of a man, who proved to be his father's cousin. He was living at Griggsville, Ill., and at that town he concluded to stop. But he did not remain long there. He moved to Lexington, in the same State, and afterwards to the mouth of the Little Blue, where he and a man by the name of Isaac Hill laid out a town and called it Pike. Here he built himself a dwelling-house and a warehouse. But the place was sickly, and he was restless. In relation to these days, he afterwards said that he felt the Lord was preparing him for the future which awaited him, and later he could understand why he could not feel contented in the various places where he visited, and where, so far as worldly prospects were concerned, he had every opportunity of doing well. Early in 1839 he heard of Quincy, Ill., and he was led to go there in search of a home. There he met with the Latter-day Saints, who had just been driven out of Missouri by mob violence. He heard they were a very peculiar people; yet in listening to the preaching of their Elders, and in conversation with themselves, he found them very agreeable. He boarded, during the winter, with a
family of Latter-day Saints, and formed a high opinion of them. In the spring of 1840 he secured two acres of land in the town, fenced it in, and built a house upon it. During this time he still associated with the Latter-day Saints, and his sympathies were much moved towards them, and he held conversations with them about their principles. A debate was held in Quincy between the Latter-day Saints and Dr. Nelson, who was opposed to them, at which the Prophet Joseph was present. From this debate he became convinced that the Latter-day Saints were believers in and observers of the truths of the Bible. Though pleased that the Saints had come off victorious, he had no idea at that time that he would ever become one himself, yet their principles were the chief topic of conversation with himself and family and neighbors, and he and his wife attended their meetings. His wife was the first to avow her belief in the doctrines, and when the word went out that they were believers in what was called "Mormonism" a strong effort was made to get him to join a sectarian church. Elders Orson Hyde and John E. Page visited Quincy about this time, having started on their mission to Jerusalem, to which they had been appointed. Their preaching seemed to have the effect to remove whatever doubts there were remaining, and he and his wife
were baptized by the president of the Quincy branch, July 19, 1840. In the fall he went to the conference of Nauvoo, and was ordained an Elder. After his return to Quincy, he was visited by President Hyrum Smith, who ordained him a High Priest, Oct. 25, 1840, and appointed
him to be second counselor to the president of the Stake, which he had organized there. About the first of April, 1841, he moved to Nauvoo. He bought a lot, fenced and improved it, and built a log house upon it. June 1, 1842, he started on a mission to the Eastern States, where he remained until the fall of 1843. He returned and remained until May, 1844, when he again started east in company with
Elder John Pack. When the news of the death of Joseph, the Prophet, reached them, they returned. That fall he was called to be a member of the High Council in Nauvoo, and in December of that year was again sent east on a mission. He presided over the Boston conference until the beginning of May, 1S45, when he was counseled to gather up all the Saints who could go and move them out to Nauvoo. The remainder of that summer and fall he worked on the Temple, and at night frequently stood guard to keep off the mob. He moved out of
Nauvoo with his family in the first company in 1846. At Mount Pisgah he was appointed a counselor to Father William Huntington. While at this place he received a letter from President Young informing him of his appointment to the Quorum of the Twelve, instead of John E. Page. He moved up to the main camp at Council Bluffs, where he was ordained to the Apostleship, July 16, 1846, by Brigham Young. Shortly afterwards he was sent east on a mission, from which he returned Nov. 27, 1846. The next spring he accompanied President Young as one of the Pioneers to Great Salt Lake valley, and after their arrival there he was sent back to meet the companies which were coming on, to inform them that a place of settlement had been found. After he met the companies he returned to the valley, and then
started back to Winter Quarters with the Pioneers. Another mission east had to be performed, and he left the camp about the last day of 1847, and was absent several months. Upon his return he was appointed to preside in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, being associated
with President Orson Hyde and George A. Smith. In 1849, in company with Geo. A. Smith, he moved to the valley. He was dangerously sick
on the road, and was not expected to live; but the camp fasted and prayed for him, and he recovered. In 1851 he left the valley on a mission to Pottawattamie county, to gather up the Saints, and returned in August, 1852. In 1856 he was appointed a mission to
Europe, and, with Elder Orson Pratt, presided over the British mission until the fall of 1857, when he returned home. In 1860 he was appointed to preside in Cache valley, at which point he continued to reside until his death. With Apostle Lorenzo Snow,and accompanied
by Elders Joseph F. Smith, Wm. W. Cluff and Alma L. Smith, he went on a mission to the Sandwich Islands in 1864, and the boat in which they were landing on one of the islands capsized. Brothers Benson and Snow were almost miraculously saved from drowning. Having successfully performed their mission, they returned to Utah, this being the last time Ezra T. Benson left Utah. Besides performing
these missions. Elder Benson filled many important missions at home. He was also a member of the Provisional State of Deseret, previous to the organization of the Territory; was a member of the Territorial house of representatives for several sessions, and
during the last ten years of his life he was elected to the Territorial council every term. In 1869 he associated himself with Brothers Lorin Farr and Chauncey W. West in taking a large grading contract on the Central Pacific Railway. The fact that he was not able to obtain a settlement with the railway company caused him considerable anxiety. On Sept. 3, 1869, just as he had arrived at Ogden from his home
in Logan, he died suddenly while doctoring a sick horse. His body was conveyed to Logan, where the funeral took place the following Sunday (Sept. 5th).
BENSON, Ezra Taft, a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles from 1846 to 1869, was the first son of John and Chloe Benson; and was born Feb. 22. 1811, in Mendon, Worcester county, Mass. His father was a farmer and a very industrious man—a quality which his son inherited—and Ezra T. lived with him, helping him on the farm until he was sixteen years old. He then went to live with his sister and
her husband, who were keeping a hotel In the center of the town of Uxbridge. With them he remained three years. His grandfather Benson was also a farmer, and while engaged at work in the field he fell and suddenly died. At the death of his grandfather, by the request of his grandmother, young Ezra T. took charge of the farm, and when twenty years old he married Pamelia, the daughter of Jonathan H. and Lucina Andrus, of Northbridge, Worcester county, Mass. In 1832 he moved from the farm and bought out his brother-in-law, the hotel-keeper, and kept the house about two years. In this business he made considerable money, which he invested in hiring a cotton-mill and commencing, with his wife's brother, the manufacture of cotton in the town of Holland, Mass. Through a combination of causes, over which he had no control, he lost money in this business, and retiring from it took a hotel in the same town. He was also appointed postmaster. Though he made money in this business he could not be content; he had a desire to visit the West. In the spring of 1837 he had his family started. While in Philadelphia he made the acquaintance of a gentleman who spoke discouragingly about the West, and persuaded him to go to the town of Salem, and he would assist him to go Into business. He remained in this place one year, and though his neighbors offered to render him any assistance he might need to establish himself in business, he still yearned for the West, and he started in that direction. He touched at St. Louis, obtained a small stock of goods, and then went up the Illinois river, not knowing where he should land. But while on the river he made the acquaintance of a man, who proved to be his father's cousin. He was living at Griggsville, Ill., and at that town he concluded to stop. But he did not remain long there. He moved to Lexington, in the same State, and afterwards to the mouth of the Little Blue, where he and a man by the name of Isaac Hill laid out a town and called it Pike. Here he built himself a dwelling-house and a warehouse. But the place was sickly, and he was restless. In relation to these days, he afterwards said that he felt the Lord was preparing him for the future which awaited him, and later he could understand why he could not feel contented in the various places where he visited, and where, so far as worldly prospects were concerned, he had every opportunity of doing well. Early in 1839 he heard of Quincy, Ill., and he was led to go there in search of a home. There he met with the Latter-day Saints, who had just been driven out of Missouri by mob violence. He heard they were a very peculiar people; yet in listening to the preaching of their Elders, and in conversation with themselves, he found them very agreeable. He boarded, during the winter, with a
family of Latter-day Saints, and formed a high opinion of them. In the spring of 1840 he secured two acres of land in the town, fenced it in, and built a house upon it. During this time he still associated with the Latter-day Saints, and his sympathies were much moved towards them, and he held conversations with them about their principles. A debate was held in Quincy between the Latter-day Saints and Dr. Nelson, who was opposed to them, at which the Prophet Joseph was present. From this debate he became convinced that the Latter-day Saints were believers in and observers of the truths of the Bible. Though pleased that the Saints had come off victorious, he had no idea at that time that he would ever become one himself, yet their principles were the chief topic of conversation with himself and family and neighbors, and he and his wife attended their meetings. His wife was the first to avow her belief in the doctrines, and when the word went out that they were believers in what was called "Mormonism" a strong effort was made to get him to join a sectarian church. Elders Orson Hyde and John E. Page visited Quincy about this time, having started on their mission to Jerusalem, to which they had been appointed. Their preaching seemed to have the effect to remove whatever doubts there were remaining, and he and his wife
were baptized by the president of the Quincy branch, July 19, 1840. In the fall he went to the conference of Nauvoo, and was ordained an Elder. After his return to Quincy, he was visited by President Hyrum Smith, who ordained him a High Priest, Oct. 25, 1840, and appointed
him to be second counselor to the president of the Stake, which he had organized there. About the first of April, 1841, he moved to Nauvoo. He bought a lot, fenced and improved it, and built a log house upon it. June 1, 1842, he started on a mission to the Eastern States, where he remained until the fall of 1843. He returned and remained until May, 1844, when he again started east in company with
Elder John Pack. When the news of the death of Joseph, the Prophet, reached them, they returned. That fall he was called to be a member of the High Council in Nauvoo, and in December of that year was again sent east on a mission. He presided over the Boston conference until the beginning of May, 1S45, when he was counseled to gather up all the Saints who could go and move them out to Nauvoo. The remainder of that summer and fall he worked on the Temple, and at night frequently stood guard to keep off the mob. He moved out of
Nauvoo with his family in the first company in 1846. At Mount Pisgah he was appointed a counselor to Father William Huntington. While at this place he received a letter from President Young informing him of his appointment to the Quorum of the Twelve, instead of John E. Page. He moved up to the main camp at Council Bluffs, where he was ordained to the Apostleship, July 16, 1846, by Brigham Young. Shortly afterwards he was sent east on a mission, from which he returned Nov. 27, 1846. The next spring he accompanied President Young as one of the Pioneers to Great Salt Lake valley, and after their arrival there he was sent back to meet the companies which were coming on, to inform them that a place of settlement had been found. After he met the companies he returned to the valley, and then
started back to Winter Quarters with the Pioneers. Another mission east had to be performed, and he left the camp about the last day of 1847, and was absent several months. Upon his return he was appointed to preside in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, being associated
with President Orson Hyde and George A. Smith. In 1849, in company with Geo. A. Smith, he moved to the valley. He was dangerously sick
on the road, and was not expected to live; but the camp fasted and prayed for him, and he recovered. In 1851 he left the valley on a mission to Pottawattamie county, to gather up the Saints, and returned in August, 1852. In 1856 he was appointed a mission to
Europe, and, with Elder Orson Pratt, presided over the British mission until the fall of 1857, when he returned home. In 1860 he was appointed to preside in Cache valley, at which point he continued to reside until his death. With Apostle Lorenzo Snow,and accompanied
by Elders Joseph F. Smith, Wm. W. Cluff and Alma L. Smith, he went on a mission to the Sandwich Islands in 1864, and the boat in which they were landing on one of the islands capsized. Brothers Benson and Snow were almost miraculously saved from drowning. Having successfully performed their mission, they returned to Utah, this being the last time Ezra T. Benson left Utah. Besides performing
these missions. Elder Benson filled many important missions at home. He was also a member of the Provisional State of Deseret, previous to the organization of the Territory; was a member of the Territorial house of representatives for several sessions, and
during the last ten years of his life he was elected to the Territorial council every term. In 1869 he associated himself with Brothers Lorin Farr and Chauncey W. West in taking a large grading contract on the Central Pacific Railway. The fact that he was not able to obtain a settlement with the railway company caused him considerable anxiety. On Sept. 3, 1869, just as he had arrived at Ogden from his home
in Logan, he died suddenly while doctoring a sick horse. His body was conveyed to Logan, where the funeral took place the following Sunday (Sept. 5th).
Jenson, Andrew. "Benson, Ezra T." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 4. pg. 339, 694.
BENSON, Ezra T., president of the Hawaiian Mission pro tem. in 1864, died Sept. 3, 1869, in Ogden, Utah. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 99.)
BENSON, Ezra Taft, one of the original pioneers of Utah, and a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles at the time, was born Feb. 25,
1811, in Mendon, Worcester County, Mass., a son of John Benson and Chloe Taft. After arriving in Great Salt Lake City with the pioneer company in July, 1847, he returned to Winter Quarters in the fall of 1847, with Pres. Brigham Young, and was appointed to preside over the saints in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, with Orson Hyde and George A. Smith. He returned to Great Salt Lake Valley in 1849 and served as a member of the Provisional Government of the State of Deseret previous to the organization of the Territory of Utah and served several terms as a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature. He died suddenly in Ogden, Utah, Sept. 3, 1869, leaving a large family. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 99.)
BENSON, Ezra T., president of the Hawaiian Mission pro tem. in 1864, died Sept. 3, 1869, in Ogden, Utah. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 99.)
BENSON, Ezra Taft, one of the original pioneers of Utah, and a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles at the time, was born Feb. 25,
1811, in Mendon, Worcester County, Mass., a son of John Benson and Chloe Taft. After arriving in Great Salt Lake City with the pioneer company in July, 1847, he returned to Winter Quarters in the fall of 1847, with Pres. Brigham Young, and was appointed to preside over the saints in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, with Orson Hyde and George A. Smith. He returned to Great Salt Lake Valley in 1849 and served as a member of the Provisional Government of the State of Deseret previous to the organization of the Territory of Utah and served several terms as a member of the Utah Territorial Legislature. He died suddenly in Ogden, Utah, Sept. 3, 1869, leaving a large family. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 99.)
Evans, John Henry. "Ezra Taft Benson, I. Ancestry." Instructor. January 1945. pg. 4-5, 9.
Ezra Taft Benson (I) John Henry Evans I. Ancestry Critics of early Mormonism (and some later ones, too, for that matter) were in the habit of accounting for the spread of the Mormon "delusion" by saying that the followers of "Joe" Smith were ignorant, superstitious, and credulous. This implied, of course, that the founder of the Faith was a conscious deceiver. That was a very simple explanation, easily understandable by anybody, and flattering to the vanity of those who like to believe that other people are beneath them. At all events, it did yeoman service in its day. But the progress of genealogical study has somewhat minimized the value of the "argument" in the eyes of the intelligent, for it has shown how utterly groundless the charge was. Genealogists have shown, for instance, that Charles Gates Dawes, former vice-president of the United States, and Samuel Colt, inventor of the revolver, were descended from the same pair of English folk as Joseph Smith, whose mother was a Gates. "While this fact is not of itself a guarantee that the Prophet was a capable, honest man, yet, as Carlyle says, "there is a great deal more in genealogy than is generally believed at present." And that is putting it mildly indeed, for no one ever heard tell, as the great Scotchman goes on to say, "of any clever man that came entirely of stupid people." Similar investigations have resulted similarly in the case of Ezra Taft Benson, the first of this name. Elder Benson's mother was a Taft. This is how he received his middle name. If one were to go back six generations one would arrive at Robert and Sarah Taft, and if one were to run forward on another line for six generations, one would reach William Howard Taft, twenty-seventh president of the United States. And so Ezra Taft Benson and William Howard Taft were cousins, six generations removed. Other things being equal, this should give one a clue to the character of the Apostle. John Benson, the first American ancestor of Ezra Taft Benson and Robert Taft, the first American forebear of William Howard Taft both settled in Massachusetts. They had come from England in the seventeenth century, about twenty-nine years apart, Benson coming here first. And both men, apparently, came to the New World to escape from tyranny in the Old. On reaching the Massachusetts Bay colony, John Benson went to Hingham, in the same state. Later, however, he moved to Hull. Here he was chosen a selectman. He was able to read and write. This is significant. He left an estate "of a half dozen napkins, with broad work, a half dozen napkins with narrow work, a silk grasse bed, seven pewter platters, four porringers, five spoons, a gun, and a sword." His son Joseph was "a soldier in Capt. Johnson's Dedham Company, in King Philip's War." He died in 1706. There were two Benoni Bensons —father and son. Benoni, Senior, was the son of Joseph Benson, the soldier, and he married Sarah Thayer. (One of the first converts to Mormonism was Ezra Thayer, to whom a revelation was addressed and who, with Northrop Sweet, was given a mission, with instructions to return "with sheaves on his back.") Sarah was the great-granddaughter of Thomas Thayer, a prominent landowner in Braintree, Mass. Benoni, Junior, married Abigail White, and he was a captain of a company as well as a representative of Weymouth in the general court at Boston. This second Benoni's son was named Joseph. Joseph married Mary Holbrook. While at Weymouth, he served as selectman. From here he moved to Dorchester and later to Medfield, both towns being in Massachusetts. In his will he bequeathed his sword to a grandchild, his gun to another, and his musket to a third, with instructions to his sons to "be helpful to their mother, as she was ancient and weak in body." Benoni's son, John, was the Apostle Benson's father. The mother, as stated, was a Taft, Chloe Taft. These two then lived at Uxbridge, Mass. Her line goes back to Robert Taft through Easman and Hannah Taft (Hannah's maiden name was Taft), Jacob and Esther March Taft, Israel and Mercy Aldrich Taft, Robert and Elizabeth Taft. In the ancestral line of Ezra Taft Benson, then, we find such prominent names as: Thayer, White, and Holbrook, on the father's side; and, on the mother's side, March, Aidrich, and Taft. If there is anything in genealogy, there ought to be an excellent group of qualities in the Apostle Benson. Doubtless, a detailed study of this line, converging in the first John Benson and the first Robert Taft, would reveal many qualities and traits. To sum up: One finds in this ancestry (1) leadership, (2) love of personal freedom, (3) initiative as indicated in the pioneering instinct, and (4) creative ability. In Ezra Taft Benson we find deep spirituality. In the February, March, April, and May issues of The Instructor will appear an autobiographical account of this interesting man, which covers his life to the time of his selection as one of the Twelve Apostles. This will be followed by an account of his life from that time on, with many particulars of the settlement of Cache Valley, where he made his home till his death. |
Benson, Ezra T. "Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography." Instructor. February 1945. pg. 53-56.
Ezra Taft Benson, I. AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY {Editor's Note: At the time of Ezra Taft Benson's ordination to the Apostleship, President Brigham Young asked all the -members of the Council to write sketches of their lives up to date. That was in 1846, while the Saints were on the Plains. Later, after they had settled in what is now Utah, these brief autobiographical accounts were published in The Deseret News. Among them was that by Elder Benson. It is by far the longest and most complete of the twelve sketches. There are about 7,600 words in all, and the article will appear in The Instructor for the months of February, March, April and May of the present year (1945) . With the exception of a few merely verbal changes, obviously errors of copy, the article is exactly as he wrote it. It is intended that the activities of Elder Benson will be written from the time when the autobiographical sketch ends, in 1846, to the time of his death, in September, 1869.) I, Ezra T. Benson, was born on the 22nd of February, 1811, in Mendon, Worcester County, Massachusetts, being the first son of John and Chloe Benson. My father was born in the same town. My mother was the daughter of Eastman and Hannah Taft, of the county and state aforesaid. My father's children were, Charlotte, Taft, Abby Arm, myself, Hannah and John M. (who died in August 1829, being seven years old), George Taft Benson, my youngest brother, was born in 1825 after which my mother had a severe illness which terminated in quick consumption, and she died in about six weeks. My parents were religiously inclined and always reverenced the Diety, yet never belonged to any religious society. They were firm believers in the Bible, and taught their children so to do, and strictly to observe the Sabbath. They sustained a good moral character, and were much respected among their friends. My father was a farmer, and a very industrious man; he always provided comfortably for the wants of his family. In 1817, he moved his family to the town of Uxbridge. I remained with him till I was sixteen years old and labored on his farm; being located in a thinly settled neighborhood, a long distance from any school; my parents were able to give me but a very limited education. My sister, Abby Ann, was married in 1826 to Calvin Rawson. In the following year they moved to the center of town and hired a hotel, and I engaged with them as an assistant and remained there for three years ; during that time my grandfather died suddenly in the field while at work. At the age of nineteen my grandmother requested me to come and take charge of her farm which I did. At the age of twenty, I married Pamelia, the eldest daughter of Jonathan H. and Lucina Andrus, of Northbridge, Worcester Co., Mass. In the Spring of 1831, my grandmother died and her estate which was willed to her by my grandfather, Eastman Taft, fell to me and my brothers and sisters. On the 26th of September my wife gave birth to a fine boy, which we named Ezra T., he died on the 14th of October, 1832. In 1832, I moved from the farm and bought out my brother-in-law, Calvin Rawson, and kept the hotel about two years, during which I made a handsome sum of money. About the year 1835, I removed my family to Holland, Mass., and entered into partnership with my wife's eldest brother, Orrin C. Andrus, and hired a cotton factory of Eldridge G. Fuller. There being soon after a sudden rise in cotton, in consequence of a failure in the cotton crops in the Southern States, and market price of manufactured goods being much reduced, and not having capital to enable me to keep my goods till they rose, I was compelled to send them into the market and make forced sale to enable me to meet my payments, and thus lost a great deal of money; my dealing with dishonest men added considerably to my losses; I consequently gave up that business as soon as practicable and tcwk a hotel in the same town. I was also appointed Postmaster of Holland, and by this means made money again. Here my daughter, Chloe, was born; she died with the croup at seven months old. Having a desire to visit the western country, in the spring of 1836 we started, and stopped at Philadelphia, and whilst boarding at the United States Hotel we made an acquaintance with a gentleman and his lady from New Jersey, who spoke very discouragingly of our going west and advised me to go with him to the town of Salem and he would assist me to go into business. I concluded to go with him. He introduced me to a firm by the name of Stoughon and Hilden, and I engaged in their employ, for one year in buying furs and wool, and selling merchandise; but I still felt inclined to go West, notwithstanding the people offered me their aid to start in business, and proffered to loan me any amount of money I would name. In the spring of 1837, I started again for the Western States and continued my journey till I arrived at St. Louis, where I became acquainted with Mr. Trowbridge, who kindly let me have a few hundred dollars worth of goods, as I had concluded to go up the Illinois river, and on my way up the river, not knowing where I should land, I made an acquaintance with Aaron Tyler, my father's cousin, who formerly came from Mendon, Mass., then living in Griggsville, Ill. He generously invited us to his house till we could have time to look about the country. I remained with him about two weeks, took my goods and traveled through the country. We remained in that place during the summer boarding with Mr. Crawford. In July, 1837, my wife gave birth to a son whom we named Charles Augustus; in the fall I moved to Lexington, III.; my wife to the East went and spent the winter among our friends. Soon after she left I took the chills and fever, and felt the need of a wife to nurse me, although I was nursed carefully. Early in the spring of 1838, my wife returned, having spent a very agreeable time with her friends. I sold all my goods and wound up my business and moved down to the Illinois river, about two miles from Lexington to the mouth of the Little Blue, where myself and Mr. Isaac Hill laid out a town and called it Pike; we sold some town lots, and I built, a small house and put a warehouse upon the bank of the river, I cut cord wood and sold it to the steam boats. Here I remained till the commencement of the winter 1839. It being very sickly I wished to go to a healthier place with my family I was led to go and search out a home near Quincy, Ill. Previous to this I was acquainted with Mr. Fry was requested that my wife would come and make her home with his family and keep school; to which I consented. I spent most of the winter 1838, in Quincy and here I became acquainted with the Latter-day Saints. The first Elder I heard preach was Sylvester B. Stoddard who was preaching ten miles from Quincy in a small house and that only a few minutes, and truly, from report, I thought the Mormons were a very peculiar people; yet, by conversation, I found them very agreeable, their spirits amalgamated with mine. During this winter, 1838, I boarded with Thomas Gordon, who was driven out of Missouri and the kindness of his wife I shall never forget. She was an amiable woman and a good saint. I next heard Elder Erastus Snow preach in the Quincy court house, on the establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth in fulfilment of Daniel's vision. I did not fully understand his remarks, and the house being crowded I did not stay till meeting was over. I rented a piece of land from Dr. Ells for five years, one mile from Quincy. In the spring of 1840, I built a house upon it, fenced the two acres of land with close pailing and planted it with apple, peach, plum and cherry trees and some locust for ornament. As soon as my house was ready, I moved my family there. Soon after, there was considerable excitement among the Latter-day Saints, going to the town of Commerce, after their expulsion from Missouri; seeing their moves which were peculiar to other people and having had dealings with them, wherein they had treated me very kindly as a neighbor, my heart was drawn out in sympathy towards them. I called in a house where father Emund Bosley and Geo. D. Grant lived. The former preached Mormonism to me, about half an hour, and after I left his house I was informed he prophesied that I should become a Saint. In the month of July, 1840, I learned that Sidney Rigdon was going to discuss with Dr. Nelson upon the principles of Mormonism. They met in a Baptist meeting house and being solicited by Elder Beechias Dustin to go, and hearing that the Prophet Joseph Smith was to be there, I went. The house was crowded, but Sidney Rigdon did not come. His place was supplied by Dr. Ells, they debated about two hours, the Prophet was present. This was the first time I saw him. All the arguments that Dr. Nelson used was denunciated without proof, epithets of false prophets, etc., and while he was trying to make the people believe that Joseph was the false prophet spoken of in the scriptures, Bro. Joseph looked up and smiled very pleasantly, and I thought, too much so, to be the character Nelson said he was; the meeting was adjourned to meet in a grove east of Quincy. The Prophet appointed John Cairns to continue the debate; they met according to appointment. Dr. Nelson commenced by ridiculing to a great extent the gifts of the Gospel, especially the gift of tongues, and inquired how he could know whether the people spoke by the power of God not, and said, he could speak in tongues and commenced uttering a ridiculous gibberish, and enquired if the people could tell him in what tongues he spoke, whether French, German, etc. Elder Cairns rose and showed that such characters as Nelson were to arise as foretold by Peter, in his first Epistle, third chapter and third verse. Knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying where is the promise of his coming. And thus did he prove from scripture to my satisfaction, that Dr. Nelson was one of the characters through whom the truth should be evil spoken of. Dr. Nelson made another attempt to ridicule the Mormons, and their doctrines, at which time he had a fit, and had it not been for his friends, he would have fallen on the platform. |
Ezra Taft Benson, I.
|
Benson, Ezra T. "Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography, II. I Join the Church." Instructor. March 1945. pg. 101-103, 111.
Ezra Taft Benson, I. AN Autobiography II. I Join the Church From this debate I became convinced that the Latter-day Saints were believers and observers of the truths of the Bible, while Dr. Nelson was not, nor those who joined him in opposing the Saints. I returned home much pleased that the Saints had come off victorious, although not expecting at that time ever to become one myself; yet the principal topic with my family and neighbors were the principles I had heard. After this, myself and wife commenced attending the Mormon meetings at Quincy, and one day when returning home from a meeting, my wife took down the Bible and turned to first Corinthians twelfth chapter, where Paul says, "God had placed in the church apostles, prophets," etc., and she said such men were in the Church anciently and) she did not see why such should not be so now, and she firmly believed Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, which remarks produced in me a peculiar sensation, as I perceived she was convinced of the truth of the doctrines, and the word went forth that we were believers in Mormonism. Our sectarian neighbors commenced visiting us, endeavoring to persuade us from our belief, and among the number were Joseph L. Heywood and a Unitarian minister, the latter earnestly requested us to join his church, as he said he would freely accept me. I asked him if he would baptize me for the remission of sins; he said he would, if I wished, or I might become a member without, according to my option; I thought this was getting salvation too easy. After paying us several visits, he requested us to come to his chapel the following Sunday as many respectable people were going to join; among the number was Mr. Heywood. Being strongly solicited, I told him I would come to his meeting, but I did not promise to join, and after he left, the more I thought of his church the stronger became my objections, but according to promise, I went to his meeting. Mr. Heywood and a number of others went forward and were sprinkled over a basin of water and he continued calling out for volunteers to come forward. After he had sprinkled his new members he administered the sacrament, and although I had refused to become one of his members (and at the same time was not a member of any church; neither had been) he offered me the sacrament, which I refused as I felt his course was a mockery before God. It was reported that two of the Twelve Apostles would preach in Quincy; Orson Hyde and John E. Page. Accordingly, I went to hear them. Elder O. Hyde preached, in the morning, a rich discourse upon the gathering of the Jews and rebuilding of Jerusalem, and called upon Elder John E. Page to pray and I never heard the like before. They took up a collection to assist them on their mission and I threw in half a dollar, being all I had. This was the first time that I had ever helped any missionary. At the close of the meeting my wife, with tears in her eyes, inquired if I had helped these men, I told her I had. She replied that was right, and said, if she had money she would help them for they were deserving of it. In the afternoon we met with the Saints again to hear Elder John E. Page; he preached upon the gathering of the house of Israel, which was very interesting to me. He spoke so loud that he broke up a Presbyterian meeting close by and upon coming out of their meeting he called upon the college bred ministers to show him where the Lord led the ten tribes, but none came forward. Soon after this, my wife made up her mind to be baptized; I was not decided and wished her to wait a week, believing I would then be prepared to go with her. I felt I had improved in one respect and I could in others, and on Sunday the 19th of July, we went to the meeting in the afternoon, and offered ourselves for baptism. During the meeting Sylvester B. Stoddard raised a quarrel over the communion table with Daniel Stanton, the president of the branch. My wife inquired what I thought of that. I answered that I thought it did not alter the truth of the work. At the close of the meeting we repaired to the Mississippi River and were baptized therein by Elder Daniel Stanton in the presence of about three hundred people and the cry was among the crowd, "the Mormons have got them." I attended the October conference at Nauvoo, Ill., and put up with Edwin Woolley and heard for the first time, the Prophet Joseph Smith, preach upon baptism for the dead. During conference, I was counselled to go forward to be ordained to the office of an Elder. I did so and was ordained by Elisha Groves and he promised me many great blessings. Bro. Hyrum Smith blessed me and when written it was filled three pages and a half of foolscap, and my wife also was blest. After this we spent another day in conference and returned home rejoicing in the principles of the Gospel. Soon after this my wife was taken ill; I reflected upon my calling and perceived it was my prerogative to administer to her; I laid my hands upon her head and rebuked the disease and it left her instantaneously. Late in the fall of 1840, President Hyrum Smith and Almon W. Babbit came on a visit to Quincy by the instruction of Joseph Smith. Hearing that Hyrum Smith was coming, I laid wait for him and invited him to my house. He remained with us about three hours and read and explained to us some of the prophecies. The next day Bro. Hyrum called the saints together and preached to them and organized the stake by appointing Daniel Stanton, president, and Father Moses Jones, who was about seventy years old, his first counsellor; he also ordained me a High Priest and appointed me his second counsellor, and remarked to the Saints, "You may think a little strange of my appointment, but Bro. Jones is an old man and experienced in the Church, and Bro. Benson, is young and wants to learn." During the winter I took much satisfaction in meeting with the Saints and magnified my calling as well as I could, yet I felt my weakness much, and the need of the spirit of God to guide me. We attended to family prayer daily, and I also felt the need of praying in secret and often used to do so. One evening, as the moon shone bright, I retired near a grove to pray. There was about one foot of snow upon the ground with a crust which was about half an inch thick. I knelt down on my hay stack and commenced calling on the Lord, and heard a sound as though some one was walking on the frozen snow. I got upon my feet and looked in the direction of the sound, but saw no one, nor yet any signs of any one. The noise was repeated three times. yet I saw no one; I became satisfied it was an opposing power to keep me from praying, and I said, "Mr. Devil, you may break snow crust, but I will pray," and when I had so determined, I heard nothing more. About the first of March, 1841, the spirit of gathering rested upon me and I told the brethren I thought of moving to Nauvoo, Ill. They thought I had better remain where I was a little longer, but I was not satisfied and started to Nauvoo to get counsel from Bro. Joseph Smith. I did so and he told me to come if I wanted. It was all right and I should be blest. While I was absent my wife had given birth to twin boys, being premature; they did not live more than a few hours. I sold out my nursery, settled my affairs, paid my tithing and by the first of April, was on my way to Nauvoo, and arrived in time to attend the April conference and to see the cornerstones of the Temple laid. I stayed with Vinson Knight, a bishop, during conference. I then inquired what I should do with my goods. He said, let them remain on the wagon. I asked him if they would be safe. He assured me they would and that he would be responsible for every thing that was taken. Accordingly, I left them there during conference and nothing was touched, which was contrary to my expectations from the reports I had heard. After conference I put up with Mr. Alfred Randall on the hill. I bought a city lot from Hyrum Kimball, fenced, plowed and planted it, and built a log cabin upon it, and about the first of June moved into it, and felt happy and very thankful that I had again a place I could call my own. It was noised abroad that the Twelve were on their way home from England. I was very anxious to see them. When they came, I was living near Elder Heber C. Kimball's with whom I soon became intimately acquainted. I laid my circumstances before him and told him I was ready for a mission if he wished to send me. He told me it was not time for me to go, but I should soon have the privilege. (To be continued) |
Ezra Taft Benson, I.
|
Benson, Ezra T. "Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography, III Mission to the Eastern States." Instructor. April 1945. pg. 162-164, 179.
Ezra Taft Benson, I. III. Mission to the Eastern States In the winter of 1841 my father died of quick consumption ; previous to his death, I had written to him, informing him that I had joined the Latter-day Saints, and that I found a pearl of great price. In answer he wrote me a very kind and affectionate letter and said, "Ezra, you say you have the pearl of great price; if so, stick to it." The remainder of this year, and till June, 1842, I labored on the Temple and took various jobs of work for the support of my family, I strictly paid my tithing and attended to all of my duties. Early this spring my wife gave birth to a daughter whose name is Pamelia Emma. June, 1842, under the counsel and direction of Pres. Heber C. Kimball, I started on a mission to the Eastern States, the land of my nativity, without purse or scrip. About thirty miles east of Nauvoo, I appointed a meeting for the first time and preached as well as I could the first principles of the Gospel. The next meeting I held was in Chambersburgh, Illinois, near the Illinois river. I obtained the school house and gave notice to the people that I would preach there in the afternoon. The house was filled and many stood outside at the windows, and I preached one hour and a half and felt as though my feet were about six inches from the floor, for when I stepped I could not feel it; many said at the close of the meeting that they had never heard such a discourse in their lives and I really began to think I was a preacher. The people requested me to tarry with them longer, but as my appointment was out I thought it necessary to continue my journey. Accordingly, the next day, I started for the town of Milton, Norfolk Gaunty, Mass., and obtained the use of the school house and appointed a meeting; had a small congregation! and made an attempt to preach, but not having my trust in the Lord as much as I should, it proved the driest discourse I ever heard; and had there been a back door I think I should have been missing; but just as I was closing, Bro. Harlow Redfield came into the meeting and I called on him to speak which he did, and being quite a preacher the meeting passed off very well, so that the congregation was satisfied. I had a number of acquaintances, and met with a man who owed me a little money, which with some few presents, made me up a purse of a few dollars. I took steamer on the river Illinois and started for Pittsburgh, by way of St. Louis. While going up the Ohio River, I preached twice on the steamboat and the Lord greatly blessed me. There was a great deal of opposition manifested and there were also many who were friendly to me and the cause of truth. Some threatened to throw me overboard, but there was a gentleman on board from Kentucky, who told the mobocrats if they began that they would have to commence with him first, and this put a check upon their evil intention; and as we proceeded up the river about ninety miles above Cincinnati, the shaft broke and some of the passengers laid it to my charge, and said if I had not been there it would not have happened. There soon came along another boat; I got aboard and proceeded to Pittsburgh. I called to see Elder John E. Page, who was presiding there. I perceived I had lost my license, Elder Page said he would give me one, and when he produced it, it was quite different to the original. I asked him the reason for the difference. He replied, he had his own way of doing business. He enquired how I traveled on the boat. I told him I came deck passage. He said he had done so, but shouldn't do so any more, for he had labored faithfully eight years, and he considered the Church owed him a living, and he should travel after this in cabins and eat warm meals. I proceeded to Philadelphia and spent the Sabbath with the Saints and the 4th of July, and enjoyed myself, very much, I visited my relatives in Mendon, Massachusetts, hoping they would embrace the Gospel. I obtained the use of the meeting house and preached three or four Sabbaths, but truly I found in the language of Jesus that a prophet was not without honor save in his own country and among his own kin. There were some few who believed, but had not courage to embrace the Gospel. My uncle, Jared Benson, was very much opposed to his son, Jared, but my aunt Sally was quite favorable, and wished me to understand that she had never opposed me, nor my religion, and we parted with the best of feelings. My uncle told me he respected me, as his nephew, and could agree with me in anything but my religion which he could not bear to hear named. I went to Uxbridge and preached in the schoolhouse, which I attended when young, and had a good congregation. I next went to the centre of the town and endeavored to obtain a meeting house to preach in but was refused. I obtained a hall in a hotel, and gave my appointment, and being a very aristocratic place there were but few who came to hear except the rabble and a pacel of boys who came to annoy and make fun and deride. I only held one meeting, as it appeared my labors were not wanted. My most intimate acquaintances would not come to hear me, and they acknowledged their disgust at my having become a Mormon and follower of Joseph Smith, and they condemned me without hearing or knowing what I believed. At one time I got my brother in a notion of going to Nauvoo, Ill., with me, but being young among his friends, they told him if he got among the Mormons they would kill him. This discouraged him and he gave up going. All my sisters and wife's friends treated me very kindly, but did not feel to receive the truth. I went to the town of Milford, Mass., to visit Adin Billow a universalist minister, I was formerly acquainted with, and a man I used to like to hear preach. He had given up his position as a traveling minister, and had made a settlement in that town, and had collected around him his particular friends and formed a kind of community. He received me very kindly and called a meeting for me. I preached twice to this flock; he invited me to make his house my home as long as I wished to stay. I remained with him nearly a week, and when leaving I bore my testimony to him of the truth of Mormonism and told him that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. I also told him that neither he nor any other man could preside over any body of people, and keep sin and iniquity from among them, unless they were clothed with the Priesthood of God; this gentleman was very much beloved by all my relatives, who thought when our friends died that they could not be buried, unless he came and preached the funeral sermon. I then went to Northbridge, Mass., where there was a small branch of the Church, and put up with Sister White. I preached a few times in her house. I was then directed to go to Millbury, Mass., and commenced preaching the Gospel to the people. I stayed with Widow Allen a few weeks, while I remained there. I heard that Dr. Willard Richards was at Northbridge, Mass., to which place I returned; he enquired how I was getting along. I told him very slowly and that I had not baptized any one. He told me to go ahead and not be discouraged, for I should commence to baptize. I received from my father's estate a few hundred dollars, and I paid Bro. Richards my tithing and took a share in the Nauvoo house. I returned to Millbury, Mass., and soon baptized sixteen persons. I then tried to introduce the Gospel into Charlton, Mass., where I preached several times, and was blessed very much with the Spirit of God. One evening, as I was preaching upon the power that attended the Apostles upon the day of Pentecost, the same good spirit rested upon me to the astonishment of all present, and at the close of the meeting a number of the people came to me with tears in their eyes and said if ever a man spoke by the power of God, I did; yet only one out of the number came forward for baptism. The news spread through town that many were believing Mormonism and the next meeting I held the Devil marshalled his host against me, and at the close of the meeting they blew out the lights, caught hold of me, and tried to get out of doors, but did not succeed; their object being to tar and feather me and ride me on a rail. They spit tobacco juice upon me and left the cuds in my bosom and at last one of the principal of the mob said to the others, "You shall not abuse him any more," and at that time a gentleman handed me into his buggy, took me to his house and kept me all night, and said he would defend me at the peril of his own life. I tarried with him a few days and visited the few who were believers in that place, and enquired if they would stand by me; but I found they were intimidated by the persecution, and did not feel to step forward and obey the Gospel, nor stand up for the rights of it against wicked and adulterous people, so I left and traveled through Thompson, Hartford, New Haven and Old "Windsor, in Connecticut, also visited Westfield, Springfield, Ludlow and many other towns where I preached and warned the people. |
Ezra Taft Benson, I.
|
Benson, Ezra T. "Ezra Taft Benson, I. An Autobiography, IV." Instructor. May 1945. pg. 213-217, 227.
Ezra Taft Benson, I. AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY IV Early in the Spring of 1843, I was called to Boston to attend a conference with the Saints, soon after which I went to the city of Lowell to preside over that branch, and I remained there and in the region around till fall and was greatly blessed and baptized quite a number. Early in the fall, 1843, Brothers Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball and a number of the Twelve came to Boston and held a Conference, and I was released from my labors and counselled to go home to my family, which was good news. I traveled by way of Ludlow, Mass., the place where my wife's father lived, procured the use of a hall to preach in, after which I took my wife's sister Adeline, over to Westfield, where there was a small branch and spent the Sabbath with them. There were a few who came forward for baptism, and Adeline was among the number, which caused my heart to rejoice. And in a few days, she and quite a number of the Saints with myself were on the way for Nauvoo. We went by way of Buffalo across the lakes to Chicago, and had a very pleasant and speedy trip. On arriving home, I found that my children and wife had been very sick with the measles. I also found that in my absence many great and glorious principles had been taught the Saints by the Prophets Joseph and Hyrum, and one among the number was celestial marriage. I was a little tried in my feelings, not understanding the principle, I went down to Bro. Hyrum Smith's house with my wife and her sister, Adeline, to obtain her blessing, and Bro. Hyrum Smith taught me the principle, and said it was my privilege to have my wife sealed to me, which was done. During this fall, I built a brick house and finished it during the winter, which made my family very comfortable. I attended meetings and worked upon the Temple and in the Spring of 1844, a large number of missionaries were called upon by the conference to go into all parts of the United States to present the Prophet Joseph Smith as a candidate for the office of President of the United States, John Pack and I were appointed to go to the State of New Jersey. About the first of May we started and commenced our important labors, travelling through the different towns and cities, preaching the Gospel and presenting Bro. Joseph before the people as being the most suitable man for President. Delegates were appointed throughout the state of New Jersey in different districts to meet in Trenton in August to hold a convention and I had made calculations to be on the ground according to appointment, and make a speech to the delegates, and all who might be present, and to attend to all other business necessary in a convention of that kind that nothing should be neglected on my part for I had the promise from the Prophet before I started that I should be blessed and his last words were, taking me by the hand, "You are blessed and shall be blessed abundantly, go in peace and return in safety." But, oh, how soon the change; for no sooner had we commenced our labors and made our arrangements than the news came out that our Prophet was martyred in Carthage Jail, when we found our mission was at the end. The question arose by Bro. Pack, "Who will now lead the Church?" I told him I did not know, but I knew who would lead me and that would be the Twelve Apostles. Our next business was to get home to our families and I was without means. I appointed several meetings throughout Jersey and took up collections among the Gentiles and some few Saints and soon procured means sufficient to take us home. I was very thankful to reach home once more, notwithstanding it was a time of great distress and grief on account of Joseph Smith's death. September 26, 1844, my wife bore a son, which lived half an hour. I found Sidney Rigdon contending for the right to lead the Church and in a few days the Twelve Apostles arrived, and when Bro. Brigham Young rose before the people and spoke, it was very easy to see who possessed the mantle of Joseph Smith, Truly, as Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice, but a stranger they will not follow, for many said when they heard Brigham talk, truly it was not Brigham, but the voice of Joseph. At the fall conference Brother Brigham called me to be a member of the High Council in the place of one who had apostatized. The remainder of this year I attended regularly the meetings of the High Council and many cases were brought before us and a number were cut off the Church, and truly it was a time of great excitement. About December first, I was called to go east with Brother Parley P. Pratt and Peletiah Brown on a mission. During the remainder of the winter and the following spring, I presided over the Boston conference and was also an agent to collect tithing. Quite a number were added to the Church and many were cut off for apostacy; there was much excitement. We had excellent meetings during my stay and I enjoyed much of the spirit of God; many that were sick were healed under my hands and the gifts and blessings were made manifest among the faithful Saints. Elder Parley P. Pratt visited me and gave me much good instruction, which aided me in my labors. About the first part of May I was counseled to gather up all the Saints to Nauvoo that could go from Boston conference and the regions around, which I most willingly did, having a desire to see my home; we reached Nauvoo about the first of June all well and in good spirits. The remainder of the summer and fall I worked on the Temple and stood guard at night; also worked at many places by the day to procure provisions for my family. When the Twelve commenced to give endowments in the Temple, which was about the tenth of December 1845, I was called and my wives, Pamelia and Adeline, to go into the Temple of the Lord to receive our endowments, which privilege we were very grateful to our Heavenly Father for, after which Bro. Brigham Young requested me to labor in the Temple to assist in giving endowments to others, and I remained there till within three or four days of our ceasing to give endowments and of our leaving for the wilderness. Bro. Brigham requested me and my family to go with him. I had no property, but a good brick house and a lot which I could not sell. I asked Bro. Brigham what I should do to get away, not having a team nor any means to purchase one. He said, "Go out in the streets and inquire of every brother you meet till you pick up one." I accordingly went in search of one. I called on Bro. Jared Porter who had one horse. He said I could have that. I borrowed a wagon from Brother Chidester and a horse and harness from another person. Bro. Stephen Farnsworth gave me cloth for a wagon cover, Bro. Hezekiah Peck sent his son and team to my help. I traded off my wife's shawl and other things with a man for about two hundred pounds of flour. I gathered about eight hundred pounds of flour and a few bushels of Indian cornmeal, also twelve pounds of sugar and a few pounds of coffee and tea, and a little bedding and clothing, which was about the amount of luggage we had to carry in the two wagons, the horses being weak and poor prevented us taking much luggage. About the ninth of February I started with my two wives and two children in the dead of winter, leaving my pleasant home and fireside. I left my furniture standing in the house, such as chairs, tables, bedsteads and clock. When we left, Bro. Porters' family took possession of the house and the things which were in it. We crossed the Mississippi river, leaving our beautiful city and Temple, not knowing where we should go. We travelled to Sugar Creek seven miles, where Bro. Brigham and the Twelve and the High Council and a host of others had collected together to organize themselves into companies. While we were camped a very severe snow storm came, followed by very cold weather for several days. Brother Samuel Bent was appointed captain of a company and he requested me to travel with him, he being president of the High Council of Nauvoo, wished his quorum to travel with him. After the cold weather abated a little the different camps took up their line of march through rain, sleet and mud; the nights were cold and frosty. We arrived at Richardson's Point about the 15th of March. At this point, my wife, Pamelia. gave birth to a daughter, about eleven o'clock on the 19th of March it rained hard; we had nothing but a tent to cover her and had to raise her bed on brush to keep her from the water. Here the camps remained for several days in consequence of incessant rains which softened the land and made it difficult to travel, as the wheels of our wagons would sink at times to the hub. "We named our child Isabella. The road being so bad I went to Bro. Brigham and told him I could not proceed further on account of the heaviness of my load and weakness of my teams, I told him I was willing to tarry there till I could get on further, to which he replied, that I must not stop, but to go with him and the camp. He asked, what I had for loading, I replied six hundred pounds of flour and a few bushels of meal, etc. He said, "Bring your flour and meal to my camp, and I will lighten you up; I accordingly complied and to my surprise he requested John D. Lee to weigh it out and divide it among the camps, leaving about fifty pounds of flour and a half bushel of meal to support myself and family going into a wilderness country. When we started, I found my wagons rolled comfortably along, while many of the companies' wagons would sink to their axletrees in the mud, and I would say to them, "Go to Bro. Brigham, and he will lighten your loads." Nothing particular happened to us between that point and Garden Grove, except incessant rains, which caused us to wade through much mud. When I reached Garden Grove, I had to send back my team to help those I got it from. Bro. S. Bents was appointed to be the President of this place and David S. Fullmen and myself his counselors. At this point, my wife, Adeline gave birth to a son and we called his name George Taft. This was a great place for rattle snakes. Either an ox or a horse came up almost every night with a swelled head, etc. I became very much dissatisfied with this place, and it seemed as though I could not tarry there under any consideration. Brother Brigham Young told me if I could get a team to go on, I might do so, providing I could find a man to take my place, which Bro. Aaron Johnson agreed to do. Bro. Phippen let me have a yoke of very large cattle and a wagon with the promise that I should pay him in a future day. I took the team and was ready to start by the time the rest were, and I truly felt as though this was the happiest day I had seen, to think that the Lord under such circumstances should provide me with such a team in a wilderness country. The roads having dried a little, we traveled much easier than before. "We went to Mount Pisgah, another settlement, over which Father William Huntington was appointed president and Charles C. Rich and myself his counsellors; this was the first place where I felt willing in my heart to stay at, since I left Nauvoo. Brother Brigham Young and the camps moved on and continued their journey till they reached Council Bluffs near the Missouri River. I remained at Mount Pisgah with my brethren breaking prairie, sowing corn and vegetables, and making fences for two or three weeks, during which myself and family had scarcely any bread to eat, for one fortnight we had nothing but a little parched meal and buttermilk, but in all this I enjoyed myself much, as also my family, for never at any time did I hear a murmur from their lips. About the first of July my brethren wished me to go in search of the camps, which I heartily responded to. I borrowed a horse from Sister Rockwell and started and rode two days and a half. I had no tavern to call at, consequently I had to lie on the ground when night overtook me, and made my saddle my pillow, and nothing but the canopy of heaven to cover me. Not being acquainted with camp life, I took no blanket with me. I found the brethren comfortably encamped at Council Bluffs and I stayed over one day with them and attended to what business I was sent to do and receive such counsel from Bro. Brigham as he had to give me respecting our settlement. When I returned the brethren were pleased to hear of the prosperity of the camps. In about two weeks from this, Bro. Parley P. Pratt came down from the Bluffs with a line from President Brigham Young, directed to me, stating I was appointed one of the Twelve Apostles to take the crown of John E. Page, and if I accepted of this office, I was to repair immediately to Council Bluffs and prepare to go to the Rocky Mountains. A brother offered to take my family to the Bluffs with his own team, and not owning a horse at this time, I went to see Bro. Ross to buy one. He said he had none to sell, but said if I was 'called to be one of the Twelve Apostles he would give me one, and he turned out to be his best riding horse, and the next morning Elder Parley P. Pratt and I started for the Bluffs, and when we arrived within a few miles of the camps we met Presidents Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, accompanied by several brethren on their way to Mount Pisgah. I returned with them. When about half way I met my family. We stopped and took dinner with them, I left them well and in good spirits and proceeded on to Mount Pisgah. After Bro. Brigham had accomplished his business, I returned with him and his brethren to Council Bluffs. After the battalion started I was called to Bro. Orson Pratt's camp or tent, about a mile from the ferry on the Missouri River, on the east side, Bro. Brigham and the rest of the Twelve laid their hands upon my head Bro. Brigham was mouth, and I was ordained one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and many great and glorious things did he pronounce and seal upon my head. He said I should yet have "the strength of Sampson." |
Ezra Taft Benson, I.
|
Evans, John Henry. "Ezra Taft Benson, I. The Plains." Instructor. June 1945. pg. 248-252, 256.
Ezra Taft Benson (I) JOHN HENRY EVANS The Plains As the reader may have observed, Elder Benson's autobiographical sketch comes to an end at the time of his call to the Apostleship. This was on July 16, 1846. He was ordained a member of the Council of the Twelve by President Brigham Young. The Saints were then on the Plains, and were preparing to go farther west, to the Rocky Mountains. He took the place of John E. Page, who, finding Mormonism too hard to live, had advertised in a Pittsburgh paper that he was open to a bid as a preacher by any religious denomination. The Council of the Twelve then comprised the following members: Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Willard Richards, Lyman Wight, and Amasa M. Lyman. Wight, however, was as good as out of that quorum, for he had gone to Texas, with a few families, and was shortly excommunicated from the Church. These ten men formed the presiding council of the Church, since there was no First Presidency at that time. It was a notable group, and the new Apostle was not the least among them. Brigham Young, the president of the Twelve, had had experience in England and in this country, and executive experience in conducting the exodus of his people from Missouri, but he had not shown the qualities he was to exhibit in the West, of leadership in large affairs, great driving force, and mastery of new situations. Heber C. Kimball, the prophet of the group, was not only a great missionary, for he had been chosen by the Prophet Joseph to open the English Mission, but also an extremely wise man, with a rare sense of humor. These two were bosom companions. Orson Hyde and the two Pratt brothers were already outstanding preachers. Elder Hyde had gone to Canada and then to England, to proclaim the New Movement, and, in the Dominions had shown great talent in the pulpit. Parley P. Pratt was the poet-preacher of early Mormonism and a writer of good prose as well. Orson Pratt, the philosopher of the group, was an astronomer, surveyor, and mathematician as well as a great theologian. The acquisition of these three men by the Church, especially at the time they were converted, was most fortunate. Elder Taylor, an Englishman by birth and a Canadian by adoption, had been a preacher, as had also Elders Hyde and Parley P. Pratt. Vigorous in mind and body, a passionate lover of personal liberty, he championed the new Church and the new prophet everywhere with great ability, ardor, and force. Elder "Woodruff, a Connecticut Yankee, was mild-mannered, highly spiritual, and an effective missionary, who had gathered people into the Church wholesale. Elder Smith, of a judicial turn of mind, was a man of unusually stable character, excellent judgment, and later, on the advice of President Young, a practicing lawyer. Elder Richards was the only professional man among the leaders of the Church, a ready worker with pen and mind, and what we would call nowadays a "progressive," always reaching out for the new and untried. Elder Lyman was widely read, an independent in thought, and kept up with the times in his researches and investigations. Moreover, these were all young men, as the times demanded. The whiskers in the photographs of most of them should not deceive us as to their age—as they often do. Young was forty-five, Kimball forty-five. Parley P. Pratt thirty-nine, Orson Pratt thirty-five, Taylor thirty-eight, Woodruff thirty-nine, Smith twenty-nine, Richards forty-two, Lyman thirty three, and Benson thirty-five. The average age of these eleven men was thirty-eight. Five States and a foreign country were represented in the Council: Vermont, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts; the foreign country was England. On the list, too, were a carpenter, a blacksmith, a miller, a doctor, a student, three preachers, and two farmers. Elder Benson had been a farmer, a hotel proprietor, a promoter, and a nurseryman before becoming an Apostle. Such were the men who were to conduct the exodus from the Mississippi to the Great Salt Lake. Elder Benson, as the reader knows from the preceding sketch, was not new to the workings of the Church. Converted in July, 1840, as we have seen, he had become active almost immediately. Even in Quincy, where he was baptized, he was chosen by Hyrum Smith to be a counselor in what was designated as a "Stake." After moving to Nauvoo, he was made a member of the High Council, and went on missions to the East. On one of these missions, also, he tasted of the kind of feelings which the outsider entertained for the Saints. At a place called Cabbotville, in Massachusetts, he was all but mobbed. With his companions, Elder Q. S. Sparkes and Elder Noah Rogers, he met with considerable opposition. "While Elder Rogers was preaching," says the record, "someone threw stones "through the window, and one of these hit Elder Benson on the thigh." When the Elders left the building, after the meeting, "the mob threw stones at -them, which flew like hail, but did not injure any of the brethren." This, remember, was in a State whose culture had become a proverb in America! In New Jersey Elder Benson became a conference president, and, after he returned home, as noted, he was made a High Councilor in Nauvoo. In October, 1844, he was chosen by President Young from the High Priest's quorum to "go abroad in all the Congressional Districts of the United States, to preside over the branches of the Church," in one of the regional areas. Before this he had been one of hundreds of Elders to go out and try to- convince the voters of America that Joseph Smith would make the best President of the United States, and was away on this mission when the Prophet was killed. On the Plains there was plenty of work for the leaders, of whom Elder Benson was now one, even prior to his call to the Apostleship. Thus, on March 27, 1846, we read that "about 10 o'clock Ezra T. Benson, in company with other brethren, left headquarters on the Chariton River in carriages and on horseback; and, after passing through one mud hole only, which was about six miles in length, arrived at Captain Averett's tent, where they met Elders Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, George A. Smith, and Bishop George Miller, who [had] returned with President [Young] and company to Parley P. Pratt's encampment on the east fork of Shoal Creek, and assembled the Council [of the Twelve] at the tent of George A. Smith." Here, and at this time, Brigham Young was "unanimously elected to preside over the whole Camp of Israel" and "Ezra T. Benson as captain of the first hundred." The Camp, as the reader may know, was organized about this time into tens, fifties, and hundreds, with officers over all the divisions. Two days later Elder Benson, with four others, was appointed "to go through the Camp and ascertain the situation of the wagons, horses, etc." This was before his selection for the Apostleship. Thereafter Benson was called "Captain," and met regularly with the leaders of the exodus. In April we read of the establishment of a kind of employment agency. It was the suggestion of "Captain Ezra T. Benson and Albert P. Rockwood," who brought in "a blank form, on which the daily employment of each individual could be entered, showing the conduct of every person in the Camp." This was obviously an effort to see that there was no idleness among the trekkers and also, perhaps, to economize on the available labor in the Camp. Individual desires and plans were necessarily at a minimum and community welfare at its maximum, as became a people of the same religious faith in transit. The Saints as a commonwealth were at the road-crossing, where they would survive or perish according as they took this or that means through their leaders, the Twelve. And so, as Franklin had put it in another but not dissimilar situation, they must hang together if they would avoid hanging separately. Everywhere, therefore, there was fine teamwork. One should get the situation on the Plains clearly in mind. At one time, in 1846, there was almost a continuous stream of covered wagons, extending from the Mississippi to the Missouri, a distance of about three hundred miles. At this time there were upwards of two thousand Saints still in Nauvoo: the very poor, the sick, the aged, and children. They were without the necessary facilities for the journey to the Missouri. Mormonism was therefore on the march—perhaps thirty thousand people. It was a great spectacle. Nothing like it had occurred before in American history. As the spring appeared, groups paused here and there along the way, to plow, to fence and build houses, to plant wheat and oats and potatoes, for the benefit of those of the faith who were to follow. One such place was named Garden Grove. Garden Grove was on the Grand River, in Iowa, one hundred and seventy-two miles out from Nauvoo. The advance wagons reached this place in late April, 1846, and, having, by great teamwork, planted and sowed and built here, they moved on, leaving only enough men to take care of things till the rest came up. The same thing was done at another point, farther west. It was named Mount Pisgah, and was one hundred and seventy-two miles from Nauvoo. The advance company reached this place in mid- May, of the same year. Mount Pisgah, however, remained longer than Garden Grove as a Mormon settlement. For, in addition to settling here in large numbers, the Saints had an organization. The officers were: William Huntington, an elderly man, Charles C. Rich, and Ezra T. Benson. On May 21, we are told, "a council of the camps had under consideration the subject of sending an exploring company to the Rocky Mountains that year." The plans, though, were frustrated by the call of the Mormon battalion, to fight in the war with Mexico. Most of the Saints on the march continued on to Council Bluffs, on the east bank of the Missouri, where they spread out up and down the river, to settle, to cultivate the land, and to build temporary homes. As a rule, they settled in towns, so as to have protection from the Indians and to enjoy educational and religious advantages. For everywhere they had schools and meeting places. After a while, too, they had a newspaper, The Frontier Guardian, whose editor was the enterprising Apostle, Orson Hyde, and this sheet continued long after most of the subscribers had reached the valley of the Great Salt Lake, soon to be, with a large surrounding area, the State of Deseret. Before long another town, the largest of the Mormon settlements on the Missouri, was established on the west bank of the river. It was called Winter Quarters, and was in Nebraska. The Mormon leaders had obtained the consent of the governments involved in this region before passing through it or settling there, although they were being pressed all the time to move on into the West. If, then, one imagines, at first, a three-hundred-mile line of covered wagons, stretching between the two great streams, westward bound, and, later, as the end rolls up, the settlements at Garden Grove, presently to be abandoned, and Mount Pisgah, more or less permanent looking, with settlements dotting the landscape on the east bank of the stream, and the largest town on the west bank, with thousands of people in houses and tents and wagons, when they are not in the fields or on the dusty roads, and tens of thousands of cattle and horses and sheep, all in a red sea of tall grass and under a baking sun—if one imagines all this, one will get a picture of the Mormon scene on the Great Plains, in the summer of 1846. Some particulars, as they concern Ezra T. Benson, will help to visualize the picture. This new apostle fitted admirably into this picture, because he was a pioneer, strong and young and wise. Elder Benson's home seems to have been, at least during the first months after his call, at Mount Pisgah, where he had been a presiding officer. But he traveled a good deal to and back from the settlements on the east and west banks of the Missouri. Once we find him carrying letters, twenty-one of them, "from Mount Pisgah" to the western towns. This was the sort of mail system which the Saints had on the Plains then. Everyone who traveled was apt to be given a bundle of letters. "About 2 p.m.," says a record, in December, 1846, "President Brigham Young rode in his carriage, accompanied by Bishop Newel K. Whitney and Dr. Willard Richards, on the hill [what hill is not specified], where they met Wilford Woodruff, John Taylor, Geo. A. Smith, Amasa M. Lyman, and Ezra T. Benson. They pitched a tent and covered the ground with buffalo robes." Obviously they wished to be undisturbed at a meeting of the Council. On December 4, of this same year. Elder Benson assisted "several hands" in finishing a house for Dr. Richards, so that a Council meeting might take place there that night, and, a few days later, in selecting a site on which to build a house for the Omahas. In the following January he took a trip to Nauvoo, to transact some business for the Church. And once, in January, 1847, "the Twelve assembled at Ezra T. Benson's, read newspapers, and conversed until sunset." Before long, however. Elder Benson moved to Winter Quarters, to be on hand in the organization of the Pioneer Company, which was to leave for the Rocky Mountains in the spring. |
Ezra Taft Benson (I)
|
Evans, John Henry. "Ezra Taft Benson (I), The Journey to the Rockies." Instructor. July 1945. pg. 303-307.
Ezra Taft Benson (I) JOHN HENRY EVANS The Journey to the Rockies Mormon settlements on the Great Plains of the "Roaring Forties" were known far and wide for their intense activity, their goings and comings, their bustle and movement. It was not for nothing that, later in their permanent home, the only epithet that could be thought of as expressive of the main characteristic of the people was "Beehive." That was about the same as the word "Deseret," which is the Book of Mormon name for the "honey bee." And this word is writ large in the commercial and social life of its inhabitants. But Winter Quarters, which, as the reader may recall, was situated on the west bank of the muddy Missouri, proved to be the very quintessence of energy and animation. This was particularly the case as the water began to run and the grass to grow on the prairies and the plains. For the Saints were about to take to the trail again—the trail that led to the western mountains and valleys. As already noted, the call for volunteers in the war between the United States and Mexico interrupted the migration of the Mormons to the Rocky Mountains. For that war demanded five hundred able-bodied men, and this meant that others, who were less able-bodied, even women, would have to take their place on the wagons and in the field, if the trek continued. True, the leaders had importuned President Polk for financial assistance for the westward journey, but these leaders did not expect the aid to come in this form. So it was decided not to undertake the migration westward for another year, and even then to do it on a smaller scale than was at first contemplated. But now, on the breaking up of winter, the time had come to think of resuming the difficult march west. The apostles, by the time the pioneer company was ready to start, were all on the ground, Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor having just returned from a short mission to England. Before taking up the journey of the Pioneer Company, with which Elder Benson traveled as one of its leaders, it is necessary to answer a question that many have asked and that seems not to be clear in many minds. Did the Mormons know where they were going or were they just fleeing from persecution, without consideration for a fixed destination? The answer to this question depends largely on whether one looks to the leaders or to the followers. If, on the one hand, one consults the numerous journals and diaries of men and women who were among this latter class, one is apt to decide that the Saints were just escaping from an enemy, that they had little concern or worry as to where they would end up. Eliza Partridge Lyman, plural wife of the Apostle Amasa M. Lyman, was of this opinion. The nearest that she could guess as to where the Saints were going is that they were bound for "some place where we might worship God according to our conscience." Others with a similar source of information, or lack of information, were of this view. As a matter of fact, there used to be a song in our hymn book, in which California in general was designated as the destination of the Saints. In it is this line, "Upper California, oh that's the land for me!" But, at this time (1847), the name "California" was given to all the region west of the Rockies, not merely to the narrow strip of land on the Pacific. If, however, one consults the leaders of this great trek, one gets an impression that the Mormon people were bound for a particular place. As early as August, 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith seemed to feel that Illinois was not to be the permanent home of his people. He prophesied then that the Saints would go to the Rocky Mountains, where they would become "a mighty people." Not long after that he appointed a committee, whose purpose was to find the best way to the Rockies. And in June, 1844, just before he went to Carthage to give himself up, he and a few other men crossed the Mississippi River, to make their way to the western mountains. The truth is that he had in mind an even more specific place than the "Rocky Mountains." One of the men in Nauvoo during the lifetime of the Prophet tells us that one day, he President Smith, and two or three others lay, face down, on the floor, in the room above the store, and that Joseph drew a rough sketch of the valley which he( this man) later recognized as Utah—the lake, the hills, the streams running down from the mountains, and other features. If we wish further evidence that the leaders knew where they were going when they left the Missouri, we have only to recall the statement of President Brigham Young that he saw the Salt Lake valley in vision long before he entered it. That is why he said, "This is the place." Besides, why should the advance group, on entering the valley, begin at once to plow and to plant and to act otherwise as if they meant to stay? They, too, knew that this was "the place." The trek began on Monday, April 5, 1847. Heber C. Kimball, with six wagons, moved out of Winter Quarters, went about four miles westward, and camped on what was known as Little Papillion Creek. Two days later he was joined by Wilford Woodruff, with eight wagons, Orson Pratt, and, toward evening, by President Brigham Yoting. Together the three companies under these four men had twenty-five wagons. Willard Richards, with his group, was on the way. Presently, others having arrived, all the companies moved farther west to the Elk Horn, a rather dark, unpleasant stream. All told, there were seventy-three wagons, one hundred and forty-three men, three women, and two children. Eight of the twelve Apostles were in this Pioneer Company. They were Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Willard Richards, Amasa M. Lyman, and Ezra T. Benson. Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor were at "Winter Quarters, ready to conduct a second group of emigrants westward. They had just arrived from a short mission to England. As for the rest of the Pioneer Company, they were hand-picked, chosen each for his potential contribution to the journey: road makers, bridge builders, blacksmiths, mountaineers generally. Before leaving the Elk Horn, however, the company was organized. This was in pursuance of instructions received by President Young in a revelation. This "word and will of the Lord" had been given to him in the preceding January, at Winter Quarters, and was intended to cover all the migrations of the Saints to the West. One passage in it is significant as indicating the spirit in which this exodus should be carried on: "If any man shall seek to build up himself, and seeketh not My counsel, he shall have no power, and his folly shall be manifest." This migration of a people was to be a sacred pilgrimage, and not a mere removal of emigrants from one part of the nation to another. And so the company was organized, that there might be order and system, as became Saints of God. There were fourteen groups of ten each, with a captain. Ezra T. Benson was captain of the second ten, and in his group were two of the apostles, Amasa M. Lyman and Willard Richards. In addition there were captains of fifties and of hundreds, with a captain of the guard. The leaders of this expedition were taking no chances, such as other groups of travelers into the wilderness had taken and were to continue to take. Nor was that all. Elders Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor had brought with them from England five hundred dollars' worth of astronomical instruments. These they turned over to the company, for use by Orson Pratt, the mathematician, astronomer, and surveyor of the group. The truth is that, as George A. Smith informs us, the leaders of this company thus early planned for a railroad through the country of their journey, and they kept this idea constantly in mind as they picked out the route. As a matter of fact, the Union Pacific railroad, when it came westward from the Missouri, followed along much of this route. An incident in Captain Benson's company shows how thoroughly the details of this expedition to the Rocky Mountains had been arranged. Says the record for Monday, April 26, when the camp had been on the trail but twelve days: "Early in the day, Ezra T. Benson discovered that one of the iron axles of his wagon was broken. He shifted the load in the wagon so that there should be no weight on the broken part, and in this way traveled all day. In the evening the wagon was unloaded, the axle taken off, Thomas Tanner's forge set up, and the axle welded and fixed ready to put to the wagon again. This work was done in the short space of one hour after the encampment had been formed, the welding being done by Burr Frost." This incident shows, also, the ingenuity of the owner of that wagon and the devices to which the Pioneers resorted in order to save time. Both before and after the Pioneer Company left "Winter Quarters, as well as in the new home in the mountains, President Young seems to have relied on the new apostle to an exceptional degree. This is evident in many ways. And indeed he might well have done so, for Elder Benson and the president were not unlike in their practical nature and their outlook on life as it was. On January 14, 1847, President Young received a revelation. This revelation forms section 136 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Verse 12 reads thus: "Let my servants Ezra T. Benson and Erastus Snow organize a company." While this assignment presumably refers to the Pioneer journey primarily, it was later enlarged to cover more than that. For, on January 25, of this year, "it was decided [by the Council of the Twelve] that Elder Ezra T. Benson go to Ponca, to organize the Saints" there. Five days later Elders Benson and Snow "started for Ponca." Ponca was a Mormon camp about one hundred and fifty miles west of Winter Quarters, under the direction of Bishop George Miller. That the camp stood in need of organizing is evident from " the fact that presently its head became disgruntled with the way things were going, and left for Texas, to join Lyman Wight, taking with him a few who were of the same grouchy mind. At Ponca the Apostle read the revelation, "which was received with joy." The revelation, as may be seen by anyone who will read it. deals with organization so far as concerns the migration and the conduct of those who take part in it. Again: According to the record for Sunday, April 18, President Young and Ezra T. Benson "met in a grove, at about 6:30 p.m., with the captains of the companies" of ten. Their purpose was to "give instructions." "A horn should be blown at 5 a.m., when every man should arise and attend to prayers before leaving his wagon. Then cooking, eating, and feeding cattle, etc., should be attended to until 7 a.m., at which time the camp was expected to move at the sound of the bugle. Each man should travel on the off side of his team, with his loaded gun over his shoulder, and each driver should carry his gun with caps and powder flasks, ready for use in such a way that he could lay his hand upon it at a moment's warning, in case of attack by hostile Indians or when there were signs of danger. The wagons would travel in double file and halt an hour for dinner, and in forming the encampment wagons should be arranged in a circle with the mouth on the outside ; the horses and stock should be secured and tied inside the circle." Then, "at 8:30 p.m., at the blowing of the horn, every man should retire to his wagon and pray, and all except the night guard should be in bed at nine o'clock. All fires were to be put out at bedtime. These rules were to continue in force until further orders. The captains were also instructed to drill their men in military tactics." Much emphasis was placed on prayer by the leaders of this expedition. On May 30, for instance, "Ezra T. Benson, with other brothers, after sacrament meeting [this was on a Sunday, when there was no traveling] went on the bluffs, selected a small circular level spot, and offered up prayers to God." And on July 17, in the afternoon, Elders Kimball, Benson, and Smith, with others, "went on a neighboring mountain and prayed for the recovery of President Young and others who were sick." Elder Benson himself had been sick a few days before. With Elder Woodruff he was with the president when, looking over the Salt Lake valley, the latter said, "This is the place—drive on." The three descended into the valley on July 24. |
Evans, John Henry. "Ezra Taft Benson (I)." Instructor. August 1945. pg. 352-355.
Ezra Taft Benson (I) JOHN HENRY EVANS "About ten o'clock, a. m.," says the record, "President Young, Heber C. Kimball, Ezra T. Benson, and others started out from camp on a short exploring expedition." This was on July 26, 1847, only two days after the descent of the main body of Pioneers into the Salt Lake valley. The camp was on what was presently named City Creek, long since diverted from its channel lower down and the channel obliterated. There are those now living who knew that small stream as running, within rock walls, westward on North Temple Street. The Pioneers had pitched their tents on a Saturday, and on the following day had held a religious meeting, to give thanks to God for a safe journey over the Plains and to take stock of the new situation. They were now at the end of the trail—so far at least as they were concerned. The expedition referred to occupied the better part of three days, the men, no doubt, going out each morning on horseback and returning in the evening or the late afternoon. They first ascended what has come to be known, inaccurately, as Ensign Peak. Strictly speaking, it is not a peak at all. A more appropriately descriptive name was given it later, but not much used; it was Mount Ensign. The word "Ensign" was given it, not because, as has sometimes been said, they hoisted there the United States flag, but because the men thought of it as marking a site to which representatives of all nations might come, in answer to the call of the gospel of Christ. It was a big idea. From Ensign the men got a good view of the valley. To the east, not far away, were the solid mountains, down one of whose uneven defiles they had recently come. There was snow on the top of some of the highest peaks, to the south, which were to be ascended two years later by the adventurous William W. Phelps, an old newspaperman, but as for the rest of the hills, there was little to please the eye. Phelps, we are told, had gone up there "to make scientific observations." To the south stretched a dry level, which as the eye traveled westward became white with alkali, glistening dazzlingly in the torrid July sun. And this was truer of the land immediately to the west of the place where the pioneers had camped. Beyond the alkali plain lay the great lake, blue, rippling, and pleasant to look upon. It was about the only sightly thing within view. To judge by the rim of worn rock extending along the side of the mountains, rather high up, the lake had once covered the entire valley, covering everything the men now saw—except only the hills high up. Such was the scene that Ezra T. Benson looked upon that Monday morning, as he stood, with others, on the highest eminence in the valley, the heat waves rising visibly from the barren, alkali plain! What his thoughts were as he gazed on this dreary landscape, can only be imagined, since the journal in which he set them down, if he did set them down, has been irretrievably lost—the more's the pity. But it would not be difficult to guess what they were. Ezra T. Benson was a practical minded man, not an idealist or a visionary. How was it possible for a whole people to survive in a place like this? Only that morning he had inspected some plowed ground near the camp. The work had been done before the main body had come out of the canyon. No plowing at all could be done until the land had been flooded by water from the creek. Was there enough in the mountains to flood the entire valley? And what about that white stretch of land to the west? Could that be made fertile? There were miles and miles of it — perhaps seventeen or eighteen in all. From now on there would be a never-ending stream of people entering the valley. Even now about two thousand were on their way. The place would be filled pretty soon, and the population would spill out—into what other places? What would they be like? Besides, it was eleven hundred miles to the nearest supply station in the east and perhaps seven or eight hundred miles to the nearest on the west coast. But Ezra T. Benson, like all the Mormons of his time, was an incurable optimist. Or, rather, he had faith. He believed in something. And experience justified his belief, his faith, his optimism. For there was Nauvoo, for one thing. He knew Nauvoo when it was Commerce, and Commerce was a marshland, a treeless waste, mosquito- infested, over which no large animal could pass and a man only with difficulty. But see what it had become by the co-operative efforts of the Saints! When they left the place, it was the most beautiful and prosperous town, as well as the largest, in Illinois. Had not the Prophet said once, apropos of Nauvoo, "If they [the Gentiles] should drive us to hell, we would kick the devil out and make a heaven of it." Well, the Gentiles had driven us here, and now we would turn it into a paradise. All the men in this group of explorers, however, made an attempt to see only the attractive features in the new country. Wilford "Woodruff's eyes rested only on "the heavy garment of vegetation," "the waters of the great lake," "the mountains towering to the skies," and "the streams, rivulets, and creeks of pure water running through the beautiful valley." It was a scene to draw his "wonder and admiration." And to George A. Smith certain wells a few miles to the south and certain wild goats, sheep, and antelope "playing about the hills" formed the main feature. But Elders "Woodruff and Smith were less practical - minded than Elder Benson. Ezra T. Benson was not, however, to remain in the Salt Lake valley more than five day«. President Young had other work for him to do than to explore or to build the Fort or to plow and plant crops that might never mature. Elder Benson had entered the Salt Lake valley on July 24, with President Young and the main body. This was two days later than the advance group had done, under the guidance of Orson Pratt. On August 2, however. Elder Benson left the valley, with the scout, Orrin Porter Rockwell and three ex-soldiers, to get in touch with the company of Saints now on the way to the new home in the mountains. For there was no other way to do that than by the most primitive method of the trusted messenger. And Elder Benson was the messenger in this case. The other four were his body guard. Similarly the Apostle Amasa M. Lyman had been dispatched, back there on the train, to communicate with some Saints wintering at Pueblo, on the Arkansas River. The company now on the train, the first one after the Pioneers, was a large one. It numbered "about two thousand souls." They traveled in upwards of seven hundred wagons, with the usual accompaniment of horses, oxen, cattle, sheep, chickens, cows, cats, and dogs. There were three general divisions, each of which reached the valley at a different time. The entire group, however, was under the general direction of the Apostles Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor. In Elder Benson's pocket was a letter from President Young (it is in the handwriting of Elder "Willard Richards) to General Charles C. Rich, who was a sort of manager of the company. This letter is a very interesting document. "We have delegated our beloved brother, Ezra T. Benson, and escort," the letter begins, "to communicate to you by express the cheering intelligence that we have , , arrived in the most beautiful valley of the Great Salt Lake; and every soul who left Winter Quarters with us is alive and almost every one enjoying good health." Then it told of the increase in the population of the place by the addition of some of the Mormon Battalion, discharged veterans, and some Mississippi Saints, which brought the number of white persons now in the valley to four hundred and fifty. It further added the news item that a city was then in course of being surveyed. This work, it may be added, was being done by Orson Pratt, with the aid of Albert Carrington and Henry G. Sherwood. Finally the letter asked for an inventory of '" the company: the number of men, women, and children, wagons, animals, and so on. This information was, no doubt, for the purpose of planning for their entertainment when they should have arrived. And it ended with this encouraging note: "Let all the brethren and sisters cheer up their hearts and know assuredly that God has heard and answered their prayers, and ours, and our souls are satisfied therewith. Brother Benson can give you many particulars that will be gratifying and cheering to you, of which I have not time to write." Obviously President Young, too, had looked on the valley with an optimistic eye. He had seen it as it would be, not as it actually was. Eleven days after this departure from the valley. Elder Benson met the company somewhere in the mountains. This would be on August 12. Six days later Elder Benson, with his escort, met John Taylor's company, which appears to have been the last of the long train. Elder Taylor gave Elder Benson a letter addressed to President Young, in which he expressed joy at receiving the "good news" that the Pioneers had reached their destination. On August 20 Elder Benson began his return journey to the Salt Lake valley. After traveling back for six days he encountered a group of men returning to Winter Quarters. Included in this group were "nearly half of the Pioneers," with some ex-soldiers. They had left the valley on August 18, traveling in wagons. Elder Benson informed them that the emigrant train was attended by "about five thousand head of stock." William Clayton, who was in this company, wrote that, "after eating with the company. Brother Benson and escort continued toward the valley." Three days farther on their road westward the Apostle met another company on its way eastward. In this group was President Young, with other Apostles. They had left the valley on August 26. Elder Benson joined these men, retracing his steps, and they all arrived at the Missouri town on October 31, after a most extraordinary journey. |
Evans, John Henry. "Ezra Taft Benson (I), A Special Mission." Instructor. September 1945. pg. 405-409.
Ezra Taft Benson (I) JOHN HENRY EVANS A SPECIAL MISSION ONE of the noticeable things in the life of Elder Benson is that the line of events is different from that of his fellow apostles. Biographies of several of these have been written. In many respects they are alike. The subjects of these accounts lived in Nauvoo, perhaps in Missouri and Ohio before that; they crossed the plains in about the same way, sometimes in the same company; and their work in "the Valleys of the Mountains," as the new home came to be called, was similar in a surprising way. A reading of the lives of these men will show how closely, how almost identical, the events of their careers were. There is very little resemblance, however, between the life of Ezra T. Benson and that of his contemporary apostles. This is largely, it seems, because he was chosen on so many occasions to do a special piece of work for which his talents appeared exactly to fit him. He was one of the men in Brigham Young's group whom that leader particularly trusted and to whom he gave special assignments. In the chapter immediately preceding this one, we saw how he was chosen to act as contact agent between the advance company of Latter-day Saints, now in the Salt Lake valley, and the companies on the way to that place. There was certain information which President Young needed about those companies, and he delegated this apostle to obtain that information. In the present section we shall see him on another of these special missions. He was sent East this time to seek contributions to aid in this mass migration to the West. That the migration of the Mormon people from the Mississippi to the inland salt sea was the largest and most hazardous in American history needs little amplification. In it were women and children as well as men. Moreover, it was a hasty exit from one of the states of the Union to a foreign country, though this was not the result of choice on the part of the leaders of the migration. They went willingly, George A. Smith had said, because they had to. And in consequence they went mostly without the necessary equipment for a journey of eleven hundred miles over an uninhabited country of prairie and mountain and desert. This was owing to their inability to sell their six years' accumulation of property in Nauvoo. It is a sad comment on human nature that the citizens in the area of which Nauvoo was the center were waiting to inherit that property. A single instance will show the dismal situation of the departing Saints. It is the case of Willard Richards. Willard Richards, in 1848, the date at which we have now arrived, was second counselor in the Presidency of the Church. Besides that he was Church Historian and Recorder, and had been confidential secretary to Joseph Smith. In Nauvoo he had owned one of the most attractive brick houses in the place. Situated in a fine residential part of the city, the land without the improvement was worth fifteen hundred dollars, and the real estate market before he left, or thought of leaving, was rising. Yet he had got almost nothing for his holdings, of which he could take very little with him. How he had got the necessary "fitout" for the journey between the Mississippi and the Missouri is not known, but he was extremely hard put to it to make the second leg of the journey. He had been able to go with the Pioneers and back only because he traveled with others. "In consequence of my great ill health," President Richards wrote to Orson Spencer and Orson Pratt, retiring and incoming Presidents of the European Mission, respectively, in 1848, "I have been unable to fit myself out for the mountains in time to proceed on my journey thither in company with Presidents Young and Kimball, who have gone ... I shall go [there] with a scanty outfit, not a change of raiment for myself, and my family are very destitute of clothing." And he explained that he was twelve hundred dollars in debt, which, of course, he was unable to pay. His purpose in writing this letter was to see whether there were not in the British Mission of the Church members who were able and willing to contribute money. By the first of August, however, he was on his way to the mountains, with his entire family, his outfit having been got together by Ezra T. Benson and George A. Smith, who were not to make the journey in 1848, by request of President Young. If such was the financial condition of one of the First Presidency, what could have been the circumstances of the mass of migrants? As a matter of fact, both President Young and President Kimball had to be helped on their second journey to the Salt Lake. The Mormons on the trail were in desperate straits financially. It was in an effort to relieve this situation that Elder Benson, with three others, went East. Elders Benson, Lyman (Amasa M.), Snow (E.), and Appleby (L A.) left Winter Quarters for St. Louis on January 1, 1848. That first night, after traveling twenty-five miles, which was a good day's journey, they stayed with a "Brother Lake." They reached St. Louis on the 14th. A letter from Elder Benson to Brigham Young, obviously written by Elder Appleby, gives some details of this fourteen-day journey. At Savannah they hired a carriage, which took them to Liberty, in Missouri. The stage conveyed them to Hannibal, where they expected to take a river boat, but could not because the river was so filled with ice floes that all traffic was stopped. Here, however, they "hired a gentleman to take us to St. Louis," which they reached "about noon." Their expenses thus far had been "about thirty dollars each." Where and how they had raised this amount, we are left to conjecture, for they had "but scant means" when they left home. Yet "we got along first rate." "We passed through the country of our former persecutors," says Elder Benson in the letter referred to, "saw the jails, etc., that some of our brethren were confined in, the posts where others were chained. But we did not make ourselves known, not considering it prudent. We traveled as gentlemen from the East: Colonel Benson, of Mass., Esquire Mason (Amasa Mason Lyman), of New Hampshire, Dr. Snow, of Boston, and Judge Appleby, of New Jersey. We fared like kings, coddled and caressed by those we stayed with." This traveling under titled nom-de-plumes was most likely the idea of Elder Lyman, since he had had experience with the Missourians of this region before, and had traveled among them in disguise. Also he had been confined in Liberty Jail. An addendum to this letter informed President Young that "Emma [Smith] married Louis Bidamon, that he keeps the Mansion House," and that "we have seen his advertisement" in the papers. At St. Louis the missionaries "held two meetings, attended by six hundred Saints and strangers." Here they were given contributions of $116.15, the credit for which they distributed among the four Elders. Shortly after leaving St. Louis on the steamboat Oregon, the four separated. Elder Benson going to Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington. From Boston Elder Benson wrote a letter to President Young, at Winter Quarters. It is dated Feb. 14, 1848. In it he detailed a meeting with Thomas L. Kane, in Philadelphia. Colonel Kane, an incredibly small man physically, weighing only a hundred pounds, had spent considerable time in the Mormon camps and knew their condition, sympathized with all his great heart with them. Benson found him "somewhat cast down" after having talked not long before this with Orson Hyde. He told me, the letter said, that "I should not give up until a fair trial had been made," because, while "not much can be done among the Saints" to change conditions on the frontier, "something will be done among the rich of this generation." Next morning at the Revere House the two met again. "The little Colonel was in good spirits." They talked on how to corkscrew donations out of "the rich of this generation." A man named Bedlam was "on hand, as usual, and will do all he can to raise $1000." It does not appear whether this man was one of the rich or a member of the Church. In Washington Benson was impressed by the contrast between the lack of means among his people and the lavish way in which Congress was spending money. Congress would do nothing to help the Saints, in answer to pleas that it should. "They [Congress] have been in session ten weeks and spent $500,000. One house has spent their time in discussing a loan of $500,000,000; the other is raising ten regiments to send to Mexico." Yet, out of the comparatively few Latter-day Saints and these in poverty and distress, had been raised more than five hundred soldiers for the army, and these were now in California or had been. "General Taylor," the letter added, "is a candidate for President," to follow Polk. Elder Benson returned "to Winter Quarters on April 28. From St. Louis he had gone to Council Bluffs on the steamer Mandars. He brought with him the sum of $371.70. However, this may not have represented all the contributions solicited from "the benevolent and philanthropic of the land to aid the Saints," for his expenses would have been taken out of the amount received and a debt (amount not given) owed to Beach & Eddy, in St. Louis, for "goods that are being brought up for" the merchant Edwin D. Woolley. Everywhere that Elder Benson had gone throughout the Eastern and Middle States—at least, where he had made his mission known — he had been met with sympathy. They "had acknowledged," he says with possible sarcasm, "that the Saints had been driven." But they had not, for the most part, been moved sufficiently by these feelings of sympathy to make any contribution in money. They were like the crowd of rustics surrounding the wagon whose reach was broken while going through the sand of their town. They were full of sympathy and advice, but no one offered to help the man who owned the wagon. But Elder Benson was grateful for what he had succeeded in extracting from "the benevolent and philanthropic" in the towns through which he had traveled. For the amount he had gathered, when put with the sums collected by other agents, would mean a considerable contribution. Some of the money brought to Winter Quarters by Elder Benson, we know, went to the outfitting of President Richards, though there was not enough, as we have seen, to enable him to go in the company headed by Brigham Young. For, on June 19, we read in the "Journal History" that "Dr. Richards arose from his sick bed and visited the brethren on the Pottawattarnie side of the river, and asked for assistance in teams to enable him to start westward. Elders George A. Smith and Ezra T. Benson exerted themselves among the brethren and helped the Doctor to procure the necessary teams for his outfit." Besides assisting President Richards and others to prepare for the journey to the mountains Elder Benson did what was necessary to pave the way for his own return to the Salt 'Lake valley. In June, for instance, he took across the river some mill irons and other public property and stored them where they remained until he himself took the westward trail." And then, in July, of this year, in company with Elder Lyman, he went to St. Louis for the purpose of getting the message of the First Presidency of the December previous, printed in the form of a circular. Shortly afterwards Elder Benson, with Elders Orson Hyde and George A. Smith, was appointed "to superintend the settling of the Pottawattamie country with the new arrivals from Europe and the States and the emigration to the Mountains." Another trip East for money, which was even less successful than the first; another effort to raise money among the Saints in Pottawattamie county to help those to emigrate who were without means; a business trip to Fort Leavenworth—these, and supervisory control, make up the rest of the year 1848 for Ezra T. Benson. |
Ezra Taft Benson (I)
|
Evans, John Henry. "Ezra Taft Benson (I), Pottawattamie and Salt Lake." Instructor. October 1945. pg. 465-468.
Ezra Taft Benson (I) JOHN HENRY EVANS Pottawattamie and Salt Lake IN 1848-9 the membership of the Church was mostly on wheels—in that area between the Mississippi and the Missouri and in that larger area between the Missouri and the Great Salt Lake. About five thousand were in the Salt Lake valley, and were therefore in more or less permanent homes. It was this migratory population that Ezra T. Benson helped to supervise and direct. We have seen how, in January, February, March and April of 1848, he took a trip to the East to raise money for the exodus. He returned to Winter Quarters on April 28. We have also seen how, on the Pottawattamie, he aided in outfitting some of the leaders for the journey west, particularly Willard Richards. We have now to consider some more of his activities in the settlements, journey to the Valley, and his efforts to make a home there. How many Latter-day Saints were there in the Iowa and Nebraska settlements after the emigration of 1848? There are no exact figures, but one may venture an approximation. In Nauvoo there had been more than twenty thousand men, women and children. There were other thousands — how many we can only guess—in such places as Walnut Grove, Quincy, Lima, and smaller settlements, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, and in Montrose, Zarahemla, and other scattered settlements, on the west side of the river. Then there were hundreds in St. Louis. It would not be too high a figure to put these as between ten and fifteen thousand. Most of these, with some English immigrants, took to the road after the disasters at Nauvoo. In the two years, 1848 and 1849, 3,021 reached the Mormon settlements between the two rivers from Great Britain. Of this total number about five thousand as noted, were now in the Salt Lake valley. During these two years the First Presidency were in the Valley or on the way, and of the Apostles only three were left behind. By this time, however, Wight had been dropped, and three had been elevated to the Presidency. This left four vacancies. Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor were in the Valley, Orson Pratt was in England, and two were on the way there. To Orson Hyde, George A. Smith, and Ezra T. Benson was assigned the task of presiding over the settlements, the population of which, by reason of emigration, was not diminishing much. It was an enormous job. The newcomers had to be located and helped. For they had come from the factories, the farms, the mines, and the offices in England, Scotland, and Wales, and consequently knew nothing of pioneer life in Western America. Besides, most of them were without much means, and were dependent on others after their arrival at Winter Quarters. Then there were crops to be planted, to be grown and cared for, harvested, and the products properly distributed afterwards, so that no one would suffer. Moreover, the natives had to be placated. Not the least of the Apostles' troubles was to get the people away, for Government agents in Nebraska were constantly urging the Mormons to get off the Indian lands. Finally, there were political worries. Orson Hyde, as if the Saints were to remain here indefinitely, set up a periodical — The Frontier Guardian. It gave the most important news items, explained some of the doctrines of the Church, and defended the rights of the people. All this on the theory that, if we don't speak up for ourselves, no one else will, and we shall go unrepresented. To this end a press had to be got somehow, somewhere, printers obtained, and paper purchased. Elder Hyde, who loved this sort of work, took care of the publication and distribution of The Guardian. There remained the spiritual and the practical welfare of the camps, and these phases were taken in hand by Elders Smith and Benson, respectively. Of Elder Benson we read that, in July, 1848, he made another trip to the East, this time with Elder Hyde, to raise money for the migration, with what results we are not informed; that he preached a good deal, often at funerals, making what the historian records as "appropriate remarks"; that he looked after the operation of a flour mill, first, and then dismantled it for removal to the mountains, taking care that none of the precious parts were misplaced or injured or lost; that he made a business trip to Fort Leavenworth, but for what specific purpose the account does not say; that, in October, 1848, he conducted the three-day general conference of the Church on the Indian Lands, in Iowa; that, immediately after the conference, he went the rounds of the settlements for the purpose of "fitting out another expedition to the Valley," which probably meant choosing the people who would constitute the company. 1849 was the year when gold was discovered in California. By April of this year long trains of covered wagons were passing through the Council Bluffs region, on their way to the Sacramento valley. And so, at the April Conference of the Church in the settlements. Elder Benson took as the subject of a discourse "The Drift of Emigration." The substance of what he said, the spirit of it, was compressed in the —sentence—so the recorder sets down "I go in for salt instead of gold." These words, more than anything else, express the difference between the motive of the Saints, on the one hand, and of the average emigrants, on the other hand. The emigrants were seeking perishable, corruptible gold, the Saints, the eternal, satisfying treasure of home and God. Gold or Salt? At another public meeting. Elder Benson took for his text: "Oxen." One can easily imagine what he would say. About this time he went among the settlements seeking contributions of this patient, laborious, faithful and powerful animal, to take Church property, whatever it was, to the Valley. There was a difference between the ox and the horse or the mule. For one thing, the ox always stood up better than the other animals on the trail. Besides, he was more docile. He looked out of big, innocent eyes, and worked without complaint, and could keep going on less food. Always, where possible, the trekkers traded their horses and mules for oxen. And so the ox made a good text for a practical-minded man, a realist, like Ezra T. Benson. The sermon must have been effective, for, a few days later, we read that "three ox-wagons" were loaded and made ready for the journey. This was in May. One of the pieces of Church property was "a carding machine." The time had now come for another "expedition" to the Valley. And so, on July 14, "the last wagons left "Winter Quarters." They were led by Elders Smith and Benson. The company arrived at its destination on Oct. 28, 1849. Many things had taken place in the Valley since Elder Benson had left it, in 1847. For one thing, the people had moved out of the Fort, on to the land in various sections of the new home—the town itself, the settlement in what is now Mill Creek, even in the present town of Bountiful. And they had put in crops and seen these nearly destroyed by crickets. Then, too, measures had been taken to set up a political government. The new home was to be called the State of Deseret, and the first meeting had already been held to plan for it. Also a temple site had been chosen. The survey of the city had already begun while Elder Benson was here two years before. In the Bowery, on Temple Square, amid the sagebrush, Elder Benson spoke to the Saints, giving a report of his labors. By November 24, of this same year, Elder Benson was ready for business. At a meeting of the Council (presumably the Council of the Twelve), which was held "in Heber C. Kimball's school room," he asked for "the privilege of a mill site on Big Creek, on the east side of Tooele valley." He must have gone out there before this in order to select the site. There was more than that mill for Elder Benson in the Tooele valley, however. It was he who organized a branch of the Church there. This was on April 24, 1850. Tooele (the name originally was 'Tule,' the Indian name for a water flag abounding on the lake shore) was a large grazing area twenty-five miles by fifteen miles, in which Capt. Stansbury built an adobe house for his herders. Stansbury had come to Utah to survey the land for the Government, and was killed by Indians in the Gunnison valley. In the late autumn of 1849 Elder Benson hired Cyrus and Judson Tolman and Pheneas R. "Wright to go to Tooele valley, to build the mill for which he had obtained permission. The last named man was a millwright. The Tolmans later became prominent in Davis County. These were the first Latter-day Saint settlers in the Tooele valley. Later on, Francis X. Lougy, Samuel Mecham, and, later still, John Rowberry settled in the same general locality. Rowberry had crossed the plains in the Benson company. Here the first mills were set up—a lumber mill and then a grist mill. In the hills nearby was ample timber, and here a branch of the Church was organized by Elder Benson, with John Rowberry as presiding officer. |
Evans, John Henry. "Ezra Taft Benson (I), "The Big House"." Instructor. November 1945. pg. 512-516.
Ezra Taft Benson (I) JOHN HENRY EVANS ''The Big House” EARLY Utahns had outlook. Between the years 1849 and 1860, the period covered in this article, all sorts of foundational things happened in the colony. For one thing, its population spread out incredibly, considering the dangers from Indians and nature— out into Davis County and the Weber valley, on the north; into the Tooele valley and even farther into Nevada on the west, which Utahns, ambitious for expansion, claimed as part of their new home; southward into Utah valley, Juab valley. Southern Utah generally, and almost to the west coast, in San Bernardino, a "chain of settlements" to the sea. For another thing, the Saints built private dwellings, larger and better as time and opportunity offered; public buildings, the Council House, where the University was later housed; the Bowery, to be presently supplanted by the "Old" Tabernacle, new then, which, in turn was to be displaced by the New Tabernacle, the present commodious structure; the State House in Fillmore, in which the Legislature met one year. And, for still another thing, there arose here a cultural life such as no community west of the Mississippi River knew at the time. There was a Theological Institute, in which religion was discussed; a pomological, a horticultural, a typographical society, a dramatic society, a Health Society, a polysophical society. The last named organization, which was established by the Apostle Lorenzo Snow and given a name that never was on land or sea, was, while it lasted, the Royal Society of the Mormons. Finally, there was the University of Deseret, holding its sessions first in a private home, then in the Council House, then in an adobe structure, which was later turned into a knitting factory. Ezra T. Benson was a member of all these societies, except the Dramatic Association, gave lectures on health and the necessity of gaining useful knowledge, went to Fillmore as a representative of Tooele County, and was a regent of the University. All this besides his full quota of duties as an Apostle and his labors as a constructive farmer, miller, and business man, earning his living by the sweat of his brow. One of the elegant private residences in Salt Lake City (Lorenzo Snow had another) was erected by Ezra T. Benson. Benson's place was called "The Big House." Just when he built it, is not known for certain. There is no doubt, however, that he built it before the midsummer of 1855. It was valued at $12,000. In the Colonial style of architecture, it had wide porches, large high-ceilinged rooms, deep windows with green shutters, a wide entrance door, a spacious hall from which a winding stairway reached the upper rooms. To the west and to the east there was a garden, where grew apple, plum, peach, and mulberry trees. In front were lilac and rose bushes. It bordered on a stream of clear, cold mountain water, and the stream was fringed with cottonwood trees, in which were birds' nests in the spring. The reader may be surprised to learn that this beautiful residence stood on the corner of Main Street and South Temple Street, where Zion's Savings Bank building now stands. There are two stories of how its builder and owner disposed of "The Big House." One is to this effect: In 1855 it seems to have become a white elephant on his hands. It is not clear how this was. It may be that, being away from home so much, the expense of keeping it up may have been too great. Besides, his family was large (he had more than one wife) and constantly increasing. We do not know for certain that the family even lived there, though the probability is that they did. At any rate, so the record goes, he sold it to the Church for $12,000. And the record goes on to say that its owner "feels much relieved"—which is full of suggestion—and that he "will build a smaller house on the east part of the lot." For he had sold only the west half of the lot. The other account goes thus: After building "The Big House" Elder Benson "furnished it." But the family never lived in it. For the Apostle was called to preside over the settlements in Cache valley and was advised by President Young to sell it—which he did to Daniel H. Wells. This, the record goes on to say, was a great disappointment to the family, which should go without saying; but the wives, as Elder Benson is said to have remarked, responded wholeheartedly "without a murmur from their lips." Prior to this they had occupied log cabins. The first of these two accounts is the more likely. It is an entry in the Journal History of the Church, under date of August 31, 1855. Elder Benson was not called to go to Cache valley till 1860. Since the dwelling was built before 1855, it is highly probable that the family occupied it. The evidence seems to indicate that they occupied it prior to 1855, when it was sold, not to Daniel H. Wells, but to the Church, from which President Wells acquired it. At all events, "The Big House" became the property of Daniel H. Wells—just when is not stated. It became widely known as the "Wells Mansion," though it often went by the name "The Big House." These years between 1850 and 1860 were tremendously active years for the Apostle Benson, For the most part he was on wheels. In those days there was living in Salt Lake City a man by the name of William W. Phelps. Before joining the Church, in 1831, he had owned and edited a political paper in New York State and had been thought of and discussed as the nominee of his party for lieutenant governor. In the Church he continued his literary efforts, editing the Evening and Morning Star, in Missouri, the first Church periodical, acted as private secretary to President Joseph Smith, and wrote articles and hymns for our magazines. In Nauvoo Phelps gave each of the Apostles a sobriquet. Brigham Young, for instance, was called the “Lion of the Lord," Orson Pratt the "Gauge of Philosophy," John Taylor the "Champion of Liberty," and Lyman Wight the "Wild Ram of the Mountains." The names were supposed to express the main characteristics of those who bore them. Then the exodus occurred. On the plains and in Utah other men took their places in the Council of the Twelve, and it was necessary that these, also, be given sobriquets. Ezra T. Benson was called the "Helmet of Righteousness." There is no explanation—only the name. But it is significant. "Righteousness" means "right conduct," behavior that squares with the rules of life. A righteous man's disposition and conduct conform with the standard set up in the divine law of right and justice. But a helmet is a defensive covering for the head, a guard. In fencing with evil a helmet enables one to be protected from the dart, the sword, or other weapon of the adversary. Benson, therefore, was conceived of as warding the most vital part of the Church, the head, from attacks on the fundamental quality of righteousness. And surely in this decade he did just that. He did it negatively and positively. Twice more he made trips across the plans—once on his way to the Pottawattamies, to supervise a large emigration, and once on his way to England to preside, with Orson Pratt, over the European Mission. On the "mission to the States" he was accompanied by Elders Orson Hyde, Ammon W. Babbit, and Jedediah M. Grant. For these men a "social party" was given in the "Bath House." The Bath House was at Warm Springs, north of the town, a resort, where one splashed around in water warmed by nature. Benson and Grant had been appointed "agents to gather the poor," who were still on the plains. This was in 1851. In the spring there was to be a mass immigration to Utah. On the Apostle Benson's return, in October, 1852, at the head of a large company, he gave a lecture on health before the "Council of Health" in Salt Lake City. Meantime he had been elected to the lower house of the legislature. He represented Tooele county. Whether any part of his family resided there, cannot be ascertained. When the legislature met, he went to Fillmore, named for the President of the United States, where a building had been erected for the purpose. Elder Benson served, also in the legislature for 1856. The mission to Europe was in 1856. With George A. Smith, shortly after his appointment, he went to Provo, to attend a conference there. At one of the meetings Elder Smith told the people that his companion had been called on a mission to Europe. Whereupon they made a contribution to him of "520 lbs. of breadstuffs, 22 1/2 lbs. of vegetables, a barrel and a half of fish, and some pork." This was partly for the use of his family while he was away, but partly for his own use on the way over the plains. Elders Benson and Pratt, who had left home in June, 1856, sailed for Liverpool from Boston harbor. Elder Benson, in a letter from President Young, was appointed "Counsellor to the President of the Mission in Great Britain and adjacent countries." Unfortunately there are no details of this, mission. He returned home in October, 1857, by way of San Pedro and San Bernardino. The reason for the shortness of this mission is to be found in the march toward Utah of Colonel Johnston's army, to "quell" a rebellion that was thought to exist in the Territory. Not only missionaries, but whole colonies—the San Bernardino colony, for instance—were "called home," on account of this unhappy incident. It was necessary for the Saints to concentrate. Between these two missions Elder Benson had visited all parts of the Territory in pursuance of his duties as an Apostle. In 1851 he and Wilford Woodruff were the only Apostles at home. All the others were on missions. In this year Benson, with two others, was made counsellor to Brigham Young in an organization that aimed to "build a railroad to Red Butte." What the nature of the road was the record does not say. In those perilous days when the army was in Utah, the leaders of the Church were anxious. This is evident from such items as these: "Ezra T. Benson said that he fasted three days, and was blessed in it, and thought we should not be discouraged, but fast and pray for what we want." This followed a meeting of the Twelve in the Historian's Office, "where they fasted and prayed until 4 p.m." And at a later meeting "Elder Benson prayed for the Lord to hedge up the way of their enemies that they shall have no power over" the authorities of the Church. Elder Benson was one of the men appointed to meet the commissioners, to settle the trouble between the Saints and the Government. —More next month |
Ezra Taft Benson (I)
Benson's "Big House"
|
Evans, John Henry. "Ezra Taft Benson (I), A Mission to Northern Utah." Instructor. December 1945. pg. 581-584, 603.
Ezra Taft Benson (I)[1] JOHN HENRY EVANS A Mission to Northern Utah CACHE VALLEY under the blue-green waters of Lake Bonneville long centuries, if not aeons ago, girded by high precipitous retaining mountains, shimmering in the scorching rays of a July sun or freezing in the deep sub zeroes of a December moon into an illimitable skating rink, but with no human feet to glide over its smooth surface, the waters of this island sea splashing continuously, monotonously on the hillside and making a mark there that shall never be erased, the only sound to be heard in the vast stillness! Submerged beauty! Cache Valley in the somber reign of the bison and the Indian, generations agone; the bison disappearing, one winter before the nineteenth century opened, under fifteen feet of snow, coming down lightly, flutteringly, flake on flake; the natives living mostly theretofore on the fruits of the chase, catching the scent of disaster in the storm and fleeing to a place of safety before it was too late, but returning in the spring when the snows were gone, only to find the whole region littered with the bones of the awkward-running animal, picked clean by wolves, coyotes, and birds of prey! A ghastly sight! And ill-smelling! Cache Valley, home of the trapper, who, in his search for furbearing animals on creek and river, on mountain and in vale, "cached" his pelts in this now lovely, quiet area, thus, perhaps unconsciously giving it a name that should have been more in keeping with beauty and silence and loveliness. One of these, Jim Bridger, outdistanced them all—Jim Bridger, the unwashed, the lousy squawman, with seeing feet which never lost their way in thicket or mountain, always finding their place of beginning and returning to the hut where the squaw lived and the papooses, who welcomed their sire with silent inner laughter, with his stacks of pelts. Cache Valley, when the home seeking, home-making, community building white man, peering anxiously under his broad-brimmed hat or out-stretched open palm, entered from the southern gate, with intent to stay, carrying in his wagon his plow and harrow, his hammer and plane and saw, his pick and shovel, and driving or leading his cow and pigs, to establish here a civilized life where water or bison or Indian had spread their negations; building, constructing, doing team-work; digging the earth, milking the cows at twilight, making butter and cheese, raising more than the corn grown by the labor-averting barbarian of the preceding era; grinding, baking, setting up a life of eager goings forward to the end of time! Four epochs, these, in the evolution of Cache Valley, the last being the greatest, the culmination, because it alone put meaning and purpose into life and things—the blanket of foliage, now green and now golden, which the great Hand had thrown over the mountain side, as if to hide a defect; the trees in the canyons and on the high ridges, which are presently cut down with the sharp, shining axe in the hands of the hardy pioneer, smiling the smile of triumph, for he thinks of this wood in terms of houses and barns and churches; the water, flowing cool and clear from the ravines and gulches, going in canals and ditches out upon the land in the pleasant valley, which shortly blooms in corn and rye, wheat and oats, potatoes and alfalfa and redtop— food for man and beast, come winter, come summer, to have and to hold! This is the creative era, the era of production for use, the era of plenty—the era also of battle, of overcoming, of goings-on to Destiny! One of these creative spirits was Ezra Taft Benson. Brigham Young was a wise man. He knew how to pick men, and he knew what to do with them when they were picked. Some of his workers he inherited from his predecessor, Joseph Smith. There was Orson Pratt, for one, the philosopher-apostle, who walked more miles, preached more sermons, and converted more people than any other man of his generation; who hob-nobbed with professors in Paris, debated with members of the Royal Society in London, and argued with the philosophers in Edinburgh. There was the lordly John Taylor, for another, ex-Methodist minister, Mormonism's Patrick Henry, loving to wear the tall hat and to lean lightly on the cane with a crook for the hand, setting down his press for turning out copies of his argumentative periodical, The Mormon, in the very heart of New York newspaperdom, bearding the lion in his lair. And there was, for a third, the mild mannered, eternally active Wilford Woodruff, Mormonism's Pepys with his Diary, putting down in his Journal infinite details on this and that, so that future generations would have knowledge of what his keen eyes had seen. These men were primarily missionaries. The Prophet's successor chose men of a different stamp from these. A different work was to be done. Not preaching, so much as building, not traveling in coaches and living in hotels and eating in taverns, but making roads where there was no road before, cutting down trees for houses, raising wheat and potatoes, filling the land with Saints so there would be no room for Gentiles — this was what must be done now. For this job a different kind of talent was required. What was needed now was not the eloquent tongue, but the ready hand; not the quill dipped in black ink, but the axe sharpened on the grindstone; not the Prince Albert coat, but shirtsleeves and calloused hands; not knowledge to tell, but wisdom to do. And so we have, for the most part, the practical man, the man of affairs. Ezra T. Benson was the first of these to be chosen by the new commander. Benson had tended the farm for his grandmother when her husband was gone, had kept a hotel in a Massachusetts town and made it pay, had established the boundaries of a new county in Illinois, had operated a nursery there and so knew trees. It is significant that this man was the first choice of the new leader. After him had come Charles C. Rich, a man of muscle and brawn, a man-mountain, fabulously strong, a farmer and a descendant of farmers. He could shoe a horse, build a house, run a mill, manage the Indians, advise his people "in all things temporal." Next came Erastus Snow, oblivious of time, indifferent to harsh environment, a pioneer of pioneers, who knew good soil from poor, could select sites infallibly. The only choice of men by President Young not in keeping with this sturdy brand was Lorenzo Snow, the Shelley-like, the esthete, who could write good prose and verse, organize polysophical societies, dream about Gods and the future rule of the saved. Brigham Young kept his Apostles out in the field somewhere or other: Pratt and Taylor and Woodruff either in Europe or the United States, writing, editing, preaching; Erastus Snow in Southern Utah, telling the people where to put their houses, how to get along with the Indians, what to plant, how to irrigate their crops; Lyman and Rich in California first and then the former in Millard county, the latter in Bear Lake, Rich having the harder load to carry, partly because of the unfavorable conditions there; Orson Hyde in Nevada, which was then a part of Utah; Lorenzo Snow in Box Elder county, organizing the United Order there, which was to go, much of it, into Bellamy's Looking Backward. Ezra T. Benson, it seems, was reserved for Cache Valley, the former arm of the inland sea, the home of the bison and the Indian, the hiding place for the trapper, the region of alluvial soil, rich with the wealth of time. Each of these men—Benson, the two Snows, Hyde, Lyman, and Rich —was a king in his own domain. He had room to grow, according to his peculiar talent. He governed through advice, admonition, warning, kindness, love; and he became wiser every day in the wisdom of life. There was not much going on in Cache Valley when Ezra T. Benson arrived there in 1860, to take charge of the settlements. In 1855 President Young had sent a few men to the place, with some cattle belonging to himself and the Church. It was, of course, known that the valley provided excellent range. Tall grass, watered by abundant streams and springs, grew everywhere in luxuriance. In this group of ten men were Bryant Stringham, who was captain, and Brigham Young, Jr., a private and only nineteen. "This was the first group to come to Cache Valley and commence building operations and establish a ranch." Later, in the same year, another small group of men arrived, with some more cattle of their own and the Church's. They established the Elkhorn Ranch, later known as the Church Farm. But in the winter following, which was unusually severe, most of the cattle that remained in the valley died, and the herders barely escaped with their lives. In the spring these planted some land to seed, but there was no crop. In 1856 the first colony arrived in the valley. Peter Maughan was called by Brigham Young to conduct a small group of people to the place, with a view to settlement. They located at what is now Wellsville, named for Daniel H. Wells. Maughan, an English convert, was then forty-five, and hailed directly from Tooele, where he had shown some talent for pioneering. Cache county had just been created by the legislature, and so one of the first things done here by the settlers was to organize. By December, 1857, the county government was running smoothly, and the tax collector had garnered the sum of $54.00, of which ten per cent was retained by that official for his pains in making the collection. In "the Move South," however, on account of the danger apprehended from Johnston's army, the valley was all but depopulated. Fort Maughan (Wellsville) was abandoned to the Indians, and when the settlers returned, in 1859, the Maughan furniture was being used by the natives, a piece here, a piece there. Wellsville was the first settlement in Cache Valley, and its first citizen was Peter Maughan. The second settlement in the valley was Providence, whose chief founder was Hopkin Matthews. This latter settlement was created in 1859. An upright saw mill, a co-op store, and a molasses mill were among the industries in Providence. One of the "manufacturers" of molasses, it is said, was the late President Charles W. Penrose. Thus Cache Valley in 1860, when Ezra T. Benson arrived there to preside. [1] For much of the matter in this article I am indebted to an unpublished manuscript, "Early History of Cache Valley," by M. R. Hovey, Secretary to the Logan Chamber of Commerce, who has graciously allowed me the use of it. Based on original material, the work is invaluable. |
Ezra Taft Benson (I)
|
Evans, John Henry. "Ezra Taft Benson (I), "The Shepherd Saint of Lanai"." Instructor. January 1946. pg. 18-22, 47.
Ezra Taft Benson (I) JOHN HENRY EVANS "The Shepherd Saint of Lanai" Some time in October, 1859, there breezed into Salt Lake City one of the most unusual persons that ever visited that town. His name, as he afterwards wrote it himself, was Walter Murray Gibson. Born on the sea in 1822, of American parents, he was reared in the turbulent hills of South Carolina; taught school there at fifteen; married at seventeen; was a widower with three children, a girl and two boys, at twenty-one; and at this ripe age bought a schooner, "the first iron steamship ever built in the United States," which he tried vainly to sell in Guatemala; conferred upon himself the title of captain; was arrested and jailed in a Dutch fort on an island of the Malayan Archipelago; spent several years in Washington, D.C., in a vain endeavor to pry money from the Dutch government; stole some incriminating papers from the Washington archives; proposed to move the entire Mormon people, then in trouble with Uncle Sam, to "some great unoccupied island of Oceania." According to George A. Smith, who talked with him at the instance of President Brigham Young, Gibson's purpose in coming to Salt Lake City was "to get the Saints to move to New Guinea, or Papau, where the climate is very temperate, ranging from 72° to 91° . . . Gibson wanted to do this, he said, 'to do good to the natives, as he believed them to be descendants of the House of Israel." President Young told Gibson that he could do more good to the natives of New Guinea, if that was his purpose," by repenting of his sins, being baptized, and going there on a mission. Gibson took the President at his word, was baptized, but in Stead of going to New Guinea as a missionary, he went instead to the Eastern States, after having been ordained a High Priest. He left his three children in the care of the Saints. The editor of the Deseret News, however, took no stock in Walter Murray Gibson. Said the editor: "He was always polite, affable, and told the best story, and made the most of a small thing of any man we ever listened to. His lectures were very interesting and captivating to that class who see with tickled ears, and understand with their digestive organs. Many who read this will recall how interesting a gentleman was Captain Gibson, and how many would have been ready, on half a word from the proper quarter, to have forsaken their irrigation fields and adobe dwellings to march for the orange groves, the rice and spice fields, when the richest odors known to the senses of mortals and Gods were wafted on every breeze." Well, this oily individual went on his mission in the Eastern States, described to the Saints there the scene in Utah (according to a letter from him to Wilford Woodruff) with the same zest as he had done the scene in New Guinea, and came back presently, with his head full of schemes. He stayed in Salt Lake City seventeen days, at the end of which he took his daughter to San Francisco and sailed for the Sandwich Islands. Arrived in Honolulu, Gibson's schemes began to come to the surface in a hurry. First, he told the native Saints that he had been appointed "chief president of the islands of the sea, and of the Hawaiian Islands, for the Church of the Latter-day Saints." Then he proceeded to organize the Church. He chose twelve apostles, for which they paid him one hundred and fifty dollars apiece. High Priests, Seventies, Elders, Bishops paid a lower fee, each in proportion to his degree of priesthood and office. There were Archbishops, too, but we are not told how much they paid for the office. With part of the money derived thus Gibson bought half of the island of Lanai, and here the Saints gathered. Not only did the "priesthood" pay, but all those who owned property were required to deed it to the "church," which was Walter Murray Gibson, though the natives did not suspect this. For instance, the widow of the deceased Kailihune gave "800 goats, 2 horses, 3 turkeys, $50.00 in cash, and $5.00 for a certificate." "My heart is with the red-skinned children of Abraham," Gibson said to the natives "I am a child of the ocean and of God. . .like Moses, I shall lead you; Uke Joshua, shall I fight for you; and like Jesus, if God wills it, I will die for you." He knew his Bible, did Walter Murray Gibson. The queer thing about this religious leader was that he forbade the members of the Church from meeting together. Meeting together was old-fashioned. Also he prohibited them from praying in their homes. That was outmoded, too. Twice a year, however, they were to meet in a general conference of the Church under his direction. No time could have been more propitious for this fantastic program. In 1858 all the Elders had been withdrawn from the islands, on account of the trouble over the coming of the army of the United States to Utah and the "move south" of the entire people to Utah County. This left the native Saints without any other guidance than they themselves could furnish — which was little enough, considering the state of their culture and intelligence. And so, when Walter Murray Gibson arrived suddenly among them, with his impressive personality they hailed him with joy, especially when they learned that he was there in obedience to a call from President Brigham Young. Indeed, he showed them a document signed by the head of the Church, which he had dolled up with seals and ribbons, to impress the simple minds of the natives. Gibson further ingratiated himself with the native Saints when he introduced among them some of the superstitions from which the missionaries from Utah — George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith, and others—^had weaned them. This new leader had arrived on the islands in 1861. But Walter Murray Gibson was hoist on his own petard. Among his congregation were some natives who had their suspicions. So they wrote to Elders in Utah whom they knew. They told the story of Gibson and his doings in some detail, in their own language, and asked what they should do in the situation. A translation of this letter was made for President Young, and the brethren discussed it freely. The result was that the Apostles Ezra T. Benson and Lorenzo Snow, with Elders Joseph F. Smith, W. W. Cluff, and Alma L. Smith, were called to make a trip to the Hawaiian Islands, with a view to settling the difficulty. The five Elders left Salt Lake City, in the old-fashioned stage coach, in March 1864, and Lorenzo Snow's detailed account of the journey to San Francisco gives a picture of the time. Horace Greeley, editor of the powerful New York Tribune, Elder Snow notes, may have bounced around in the coach, being alone in it, but those five missionaries gave it a balance that kept them in their seats. At a certain mining town, which the account does not name, the stage stopped at the Post Office, to exchange mail. As the five passengers were outside stretching their legs, a Negro youth came running out of a nearby saloon and took off up the street, a man with a pistol after him. Some shots, a fall by the Negro, loud groans, and the Salt Lakers on the scene wanting to help, a shout from the coach that it was about to resume the journey—that was a picture which was unforgettable. Later they took on a new driver, who was so drunk as to throw a genuine scare into the passengers. At first the whisky manifested itself in singing "the most pathetic, melodious" songs Elder Snow ever heard, whose effects were exaggerated by the wild, moon-lit scenery through which they were passing. But later, on the icy curves of the upper Sierras, it expressed itself in a dangerous appeal that was terrifying. On first taking the reins the new driver appeared to be a mild, gentlemanly, cultured fellow and this fact much impressed Elder Snow, but as the liquid began to work, he became loud, oathy, and profane —so much so that Elder Benson vainly tried to get him to modify both his speed and his language. The passengers were greatly relieved when, on the descent at the next stop, the drunken driver was discharged. He had proved to be no "gentleman" at all. The good ship Nettie Merrill took the special missionaries from San Francisco to Honolulu, where they landed on March 29. April 3 found them on the island of Lanai, headquarters of the Gibsonites. Their reception was anything but hearty. The "head" of the "church" there, who told the natives that he was "superior" to "the prophet in Salt Lake City," refused to recognize Elder Benson's authority, and he defiantly waved that certificate with seals and ribbons in proof. (It was the one which he had received when he went to the Eastern States, and had no reference at all to the native Saints.) As for the natives, they treated the five as intruders. For hours at a stretch the missionaries labored with Gibson, but to no purpose. It was now April 6, the thirty-fourth anniversary of the Church, and a "general conference" had been called on the island. The five Elders, with Gibson, walked toward the building in which the meeting was to be held. But, on nearing the building, Gibson suddenly remembered that he had forgotten something. The five Elders entered the house and took their places on the stand. In a little while Gibson entered, whereupon the entire congregation rose, as they had been wont to do in the olden days when the King came into the building. Gibson called the meeting to order before Elder Benson could recover from his surprise. But the Apostle called upon one of his party to pray, and thus he recovered control. Then he asked Joseph F. Smith to speak, who did so in the native tongue. Now, Gibson, in opening the meeting, had made slighting remarks about the visitors. Who were they, and why had they come unwarningly among us? "When I find out, I will be sure to let you know. These strangers may say they are your friends, but let me remind you how, when they lived here years ago, they lived upon your scanty substance. Did they make any such improvements as you see I have made? Did I not find you without a father, poor and discouraged? Did I not gather you here and make all these improvements that you today enjoy? Now, you my red-skinned friends, must decide who your friend and father is, whether it is these strangers or I who have done so much for you." Elder Benson suggested to Elder Smith that he ignore what Gibson had said and confine his remarks to what the early Elders had done for the people. The Apostle Snow in his account, says that Elder Smith made a powerful discourse. It was, apparently, of little avail, however, since, when a vote to disapprove of what Gibson had done was taken, all the natives sustained Gibson, with one exception. This was at a priesthood meeting on April 7, which was largely attended. Elder Snow, when he was called upon to speak afterwards, predicted that the time would come when "not one of the Saints" would remain with Gibson. This was the meeting at which Gibson waved the beribboned certificate. After his harangue, Elder Benson spoke to the gathering, his discourse being interpreted by Joseph F. Smith. According to the Snow account, he "reviewed Mr. Gibson's past course, and showed that, in making merchandise of the offices of the Priesthood, introducing the former pagan superstitions of the people for the purpose of obtaining a temporal and independent kingdom on the Pacific Isles, were all in antagonism to the plan laid down in the gospel for the redemption of man. The spirit manifested by Mr. Gibson proved that he was ignorant of the powers of the priesthood, or that he ignored them for purely selfish motives. What they had seen and heard since their arrival proved that the complaints made by the native Elders, in their letters to Utah, were correct, so far as they went, but the half had not been told." It was after this talk that the vote was taken on the conduct of the usurper. The Apostle Benson announced at this priesthood meeting that Joseph F. Smith, when the missionaries left for home, would have charge of the Saints in the islands. He also informed those present that all who wished to be regarded as in good standing in the Church should leave Lanai and return to their homes on the other islands, where branches would be organized. The next day Gibson was excommunicated from the Church. Then all the special missionaries, excepting Joseph F. Smith, left for their mountain home. There is an interesting sequel to this strange episode. For one thing, in less than a month. Elder Snow's prediction was fulfilled: not one member of the Church stayed with Gibson. All of them left the island and returned to their homes on the other islands. Moreover, Gibson, although he retained title to the land, some eight hundred acres, looked for another job than that of the "Shepherd Saint of Lanai." He became foreign minister under King Kalakoua, remaining such for four years, and then was appointed attorney general in the King's cabinet and a member of the legislature. However, he does not appear to have held any grudge against those who had shattered his dreams of empire or the Church he had so grossly misunderstood. For he befriended the Elders and the Saints whenever he could do so. After living in Hawaii for many years, he moved to San Francisco where he died, in July 1888, leaving his Lanai estate to his three children. Thus ended the most fantastic episode in the history of the Church. |
Ezra Taft Benson (I)
|
Evans, John Henry. "Ezra Taft Benson (I), Last Years and Death." Instructor. February 1946. pg. 80-85.
Ezra Taft Benson (I) JOHN HENRY EVANS LAST YEARS AND DEATH Returning from his special mission to the Sandwich Islands, as they were known then, Elder Benson plunged at once into active service at home. He had but four years to live and work, but how should he have known that? There was plenty to do in Utah, work at which he was expert — building, making laws, and engineering a vast transportation project, visiting settlements north and south, east and west. The northern commonwealth, as we know, was young. There were settlements to lay out, houses and barns and fences to build, grist and saw mills to establish, disputes to settle between the Saints and the natives. In all this, Benson was in his element. As president of the Cache stake and one of the general authorities of the Church, he was the Big Man there, the one to whom everyone looked for guidance. And he had a hand in everything that went on. In 1868 he was in the upper chamber of the Territorial legislature. That was a high honor then, for it meant that one was prominent in the community. At that time there were no political parties in Utah—^no Democrats and Republicans— but only citizens interested in the welfare of all the people instead of special classes or sections of the community. For the settlers put up for election, not those who sought office, but rather those whom the office called for. Thus Charles C, Rich represented Bear Lake, Ezra T. Benson Cache, Lorenzo Snow Boxelder, Lorin Farr Weber, Erastus Snow Washington county, Amasa M. Lyman Millard, A. O. Smoot Utah county, and such men as John Taylor, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Salt Lake county. Before he moved to Logan, Benson had been a member of the lower house of the legislature from Tooele county. The People's Party and the Liberal Party (otherwise the Mormon and non-Mormon parties) did not come into being until the 1870s, and the Democratic and Republican party organizations in Utah until the 1890s. As a result of this policy of choosing the ablest men for the business of law-making, there was no such thing known in our legislative halls as pressure by groups, class legislation, or bribery. One searches the record in vain for anything but a desire for the greatest good to the greatest number. How could it have been otherwise with such men as these in the legislature? In 1868, too, was formed the company of Benson, Farr, and West. These last two were residents of Ogden. The company had been organized to take contracts for the building of the railroad. The transcontinental railway had long been the great dissideratum, east and west, but especially west. The inhabitants of Utah had longed for its advent. Indeed, when the pioneer company chose its route to the Salt Lake area, in 1847, one of the things they had in mind, according to George A. Smith, was the building of a railroad. As a matter of fact, the pioneer route was the one taken by the Union Pacific from the east. Prior to the coming of the steam horse the Mormon Country was upwards of eight hundred miles from any major settlement on the West Coast and more than that from any major settlement eastward. Everything, therefore, had to be hauled in a wagon drawn by oxen, mules, or horses over these distances. The telegraph wires stretched over Utah early in Lincoln's administration, which brought news fast; but the prairie schooner continued in use until 1869. The Benson, Farr, and West Company's contract was for the "building or grading of one hundred miles of railroad west of Promontory." A large percentage of the men hired by this company was from Cache county, the Apostle's home. And, when this job was finished, the firm took another large contract, "commencing at the east end of the other." Not everything was smooth sailing, however, connected with these contracts. There was difficulty in getting the money—about two hundred thousand dollars—after the work was completed. The president of the Central Pacific, where the contracts were, was Leland Stanford, governor of California, whose widow later endowed the Leland Stanford University, at Palo Alto, in that state. Just why he did not pay the contractors, the record does not make clear. But he did not, and in consequence the head of the firm was worried. According to George A. Smith, who spoke at the Benson funeral, this was one cause of Elder Benson's death. His death occurred on Sept. 3, 1869. He had come, with a Brother Crockett, from Logan that afternoon, and he had stopped at Lorenzo Snow's home, in Brigham City, for dinner. On the way to Ogden he seemed to be in a particularly happy mood. On approaching the Junction City, however, one of his horses "took the colic," and on reaching Lorin Farr's home, he doctored the animal. After doing so, he put a small boy on the sick horse, to ride it around slowly for exercise. On the return of the animal and its rider, Elder Benson suddenly fell to the ground in the yard. Men rushed to his side. The apostle Franklin D. Richards, whose home was in Ogden and who was on the scene almost immediately, telegraphed to President Young that it was not certain Elder Benson was dead and that attempts were being made to revive him. But the apostle was dead. He had taken but two or three breaths after his collapse. The whole commonwealth was shocked. Said the Deseret News the next evening: "Had our community been told that one of the twelve apostles had died, without the name of the deceased being mentioned, and had they been asked to say who it was, they would probably have mentioned Ezra T. Benson among the last. He was so hale and vigorous and full of energy, that his prospects for life seemed excellent." He was fifty-eight years old. When the body reached Logan, it was met by a large concourse of people, military and civilian, with all the community's dignitaries. It had been accompanied from Ogden by his fellow apostles, who were at the funeral. The funeral was held in the Bowery, and was attended by about four thousand persons. President George A. Smith and the Apostle "Wilford Woodruff were the speakers. Both extolled the deceased, comforted the mourners, admonished the congregation; and President Smith gave many interesting particulars in Elder Benson's life. The body was interred in the Logan cemetery, on a quiet hill overlooking the town and much of the valley. One of the singular things emphasized by both President Smith and Elder Woodruff in their discourses was the fact that Elder Benson had, as they put it, "died in the harness." The remark is very significant. Elder Benson, as the Apostle Woodruff put it, was the only one of the faithful general authorities of the Church, to have died a natural death. Before this the Apostle David W. Patten had died in a battle in defense of his people in Missouri; Joseph and Hyrum Smith had been murdered in Carthage, Illinois, by the very men whom the weak, cowardly governor, Thomas Ford, had set to guard them; and Parley P. Pratt had been shot to death while on a mission. This remark by Elder Woodruff summarized, epitomized, the history of the Church during the first years of its existence—a history filled with persecution. But Ezra T. Benson had died a natural death! He had died "in the harness!" How times had changed for the Latter-day Saints! Among the mourners of the Apostle Benson were the Indians in and around Cache valley. Heads bent, eyes dimmed with suppressed tears, a large group of them followed his body up the hill to its last resting place. There does not seem to have been any precedent for this grief on the part of the red men. Six years before this, in 1863, there had been a battle between the Bannock and the Shoshone Indians in the Bear River country and the Federal troops from Fort Douglas, under Colonel Connor, Utah's stormy petrel. Connor, with his soldiers, had gone up there to arrest three native chiefs for the killing of some miners in Cache valley while on their way from the Dakota gold fields to the West Coast. The Indians refused to allow these arrests. There was a battle in which many were killed on both sides. Among the slain were some Indian women, mothers with children; some of the orphans were taken home by whites living in Idaho and northern Utah, to be reared. Some squaws, with their children, were taken to Franklin, where they were cared for by the settlers. One of the orphans, or half-orphans, a boy, was reared by Samuel R. Parkinson. He was known as Shem Parkinson, and died at the age of twenty-five. A girl was received into the home of William Hall, and given the family name. When she became of the proper age, she was married and reared a respectable family, dying but recently. Ezra T. Benson adopted two Indian children at the same time, a boy and a girl. Many of the particulars are unknown. It is said that the Apostle bought them from some Indians who had taken them, probably to sell. He gave a sack of flour for each. They were incorporated into his already large family, and given the same care and education as his own flesh and blood. The girl was named Nellie and the boy Sam —Nellie and Sam Benson. We are not told how old they were when they were purchased. There is a romance connected with Nellie. At the home where she lived, there was a boy, a member of the family. As the two entered their teens, Nellie evidently formed an attachment for her foster-brother, but, Indian-like, she kept it so secret that few detected it. Then, later on, the young man married, but with his bride, continued to live with his mother. Nellie left at once and went to live with another of Elder Benson's wives. She never married. As for Sam Benson, he, also, left the Benson roof. This was some time after the death of his foster father. His explanation was that he "did not want to be bossed by women." Later he wrote to members of the family from Wyoming where he had gone. He was doing well. Then the Bensons lost track of him. This attitude toward the Lamanites was characteristic of Ezra T. Benson. It was a language they could understand. Benson had been the head of the militia in Cache valley, but he could exert more influence with the tongue and kindly deeds than with powder and lead. And the Indians reacted favorably to this treatment. The long line of natives walking mournfully in the funeral procession shows that. Many years after Benson's death, one of his daughters entered a native's home in another valley. The native family did not know her. Observing a picture of her father on a piece of furniture, she picked it up affectionately and told them of their relationship. Instantly the Indians fell into a reverential attitude. They would have liked to worship her. All the natives gathered round her in a sort of adoration. They were her friends forever. She was the daughter of the man they loved! Ezra T. Benson stood five-feet-eleven in his shoes, and weighed two hundred and forty pounds. Up to the time he came West he wrestled a good deal, and was never thrown. He used to wrestle with Joseph Smith, but neither could throw the other. He quit wrestling when, in the front yard of his own home one time, he threw a man and broke his leg, in "the grapevine twist." There was nothing conventional about Benson. In the summer time, when the weather was hot, he used to take off his coat when he preached. And, in England, he often, in hot weather, walked on the street with his coat slung over his arm — much to the embarrassment of his more fastidious missionary companions. He was then Assistant President of the European mission. In his travels among the settlements he observed the improvements that had been made since his last visit, and complimented the settlers on them. If they had made no improvements, he advised them to do so, and told them where to begin and how to make them. He was competent to give this counsel. To the people of Beaver, in 1864, he said, "Don't wait until you are able to do something great, but do a little as you can, progressing from the little to the greater." At Fillmore he complimented the settlers on their fine display of fruit. These were the things that characterized him best — practical aspects of life, life here and now, as a preparation for whatever life the Hereafter might bring. It was an effective philosophy, which he himself practiced. Mormonism was the poorer without this man. Ezra T. Benson walks elusively through the Mormon Country. He wrote little (except that first sketch of his life before he became an apostle — which shows what he could do when he set his mind to it), and what little he said in his journal was hardly worth the recording. It was as if he kept a diary reluctantly. Moreover, he rarely got into the papers. He was not a self-advertiser. Most likely he detested it. By o nature he seems to have been modest, self-effacing, content with doing now what was to be done and letting that speak for itself. But he was one of the "efficient ones," whom the late Professor James was so fond of praising, because they were so rare. It is a thousand pities that we do not know more of this fine spirit than we do—not for his sake, but for ours. But he made a deep impression on his contemporaries, on those who knew him. And, after all, that is one of the main outcomes of a man's life. Wilford Woodruff, after an intimate acquaintance with him, spoke of him as a "true man," a man who never shirked, who was always "willing." But what strikes one most in this man's life is his fitness for his job. Life conditions were rough, coarse, exacting on the material side. Keats, the poet, and Jones, the architect, and Handel, the composer, and Turner, the artist, would have been out of their element here, would have died of starvation or dullness. The time and the place called for the practical man, the man who could brace people against the hard life of the Deseret, who could show them how to plow the land, to dig canals, to raise vegetables and fruit, to thresh and mill the grain; also to help them to direct their eyes upward toward the light that never was on sea or land. That was the business assigned to Ezra Taft Benson, and he seems to have done it magnificently. —The End |
Ezra Taft Benson (I)
|