Heber C. Kimball
Born: 14 June 1801
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 14 February 1835
Called as Counselor in the First Presidency: 27 December 1847 (Brigham Young)
Died: 22 June 1868
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 14 February 1835
Called as Counselor in the First Presidency: 27 December 1847 (Brigham Young)
Died: 22 June 1868
Talks About Heber C. Kimball
Apr 1857 - Brigham Young - Counsel to the Church, Missionary Conduct
Oct 1868 - George A. Smith - Historical Address
Oct 1880 - Wilford Woodruff - Organization of the First Presidency
Oct 1868 - George A. Smith - Historical Address
Oct 1880 - Wilford Woodruff - Organization of the First Presidency
Biographical Articles
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 1
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Contributor, June 1887, Heber C. Kimball
Juvenile Instructor, 1 September 1899, Lessons From the Lives of Our Leaders
Juvenile Instructor, 1 July 1901, Centenary of President Heber C. Kimball
Young Woman's Journal, June 1909, Heber Chase Kimball
Improvement Era, September 1910, Address to My Children
Young Woman's Journal, December 1915, A Day of God's Power
Young Woman's Journal, January 1916, Prophecies of Heber C. Kimball
Young Woman's Journal, October 1916, Heber C. Kimball's Baptism
Young Woman's Journal, October 1916, Healed Through Baptism
Young Woman's Journal, December 1916, A Little Girl's Prayer Answered
Young Woman's Journal, December 1916, A Dying Child Healed
Improvement Era, June 1930, Musings and Reminiscences in the Life of Heber C. Kimball
Instructor, October 1947, Heber C. Kimball
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Contributor, June 1887, Heber C. Kimball
Juvenile Instructor, 1 September 1899, Lessons From the Lives of Our Leaders
Juvenile Instructor, 1 July 1901, Centenary of President Heber C. Kimball
Young Woman's Journal, June 1909, Heber Chase Kimball
Improvement Era, September 1910, Address to My Children
Young Woman's Journal, December 1915, A Day of God's Power
Young Woman's Journal, January 1916, Prophecies of Heber C. Kimball
Young Woman's Journal, October 1916, Heber C. Kimball's Baptism
Young Woman's Journal, October 1916, Healed Through Baptism
Young Woman's Journal, December 1916, A Little Girl's Prayer Answered
Young Woman's Journal, December 1916, A Dying Child Healed
Improvement Era, June 1930, Musings and Reminiscences in the Life of Heber C. Kimball
Instructor, October 1947, Heber C. Kimball
Jenson, Andrew. "Kimball, Heber Chase." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 1. pg. 34-37.
KIMBALL, Heber Chase, first counselor to President Brigham Young from 1847 to 1868, was born June 14, 1801, at Sheldon, Franklin county, Vermont. He was the son of Solomon F. Kimball (born 1771), who was the son of James Kimball (born 1736), who was the son of Jeremiah Kimball (born 1707), who was the son of David Kimball (born 1671), who was the son of Benjamin Kimball (born 1637), who was the son of Richard Kimball (or Kemball), who was born at Rattlesden, county of Suffolk, England, in 1595, and who emigrated to America in 1634, crossing the Atlantic in the ship "Elizabeth," and settled in Massachusetts. Heber C. Kimball removed with the rest of his father's family from Sheldon, Vermont, to West Bloomfield, Ontario county, N. Y., in 1811. His father was a blacksmith and farmer. In 1806, Heber first went to school, continuing most of the time until he was 14 years of age. when he began to learn blacksmithing with his father. During the war of 1812, his father lost his property, and when Heber arrived at the age of nineteen, he found himself dependent on his own resources, and frequently suffering for the necessaries of life. His elder brother Charles, hearing of his destitute condition, offered to
teach him the potter's trade. The offer was accepted, and he continued with his brother until he was twenty-one years old. In this interim they moved to Mendon, Monroe county, where they pursued the pottery business. After having learned his trade, Heber worked six months for his brother for wages. In November, 1822, he married Vilate Murray, daughter of Roswell and Susannah Murray, who was born, in Florida, New York, June 1, 1806, and immediately afterwards he purchased the premises from his brother Charles, and went into business for himself as a potter, which trade he followed for upwards of ten years. Sometime in 1823 he received the three first degrees of masonry, and in 1824, with five others, he petitioned the Chapter at Canandaigua, asking to receive all the degrees up to that of Royal Arch Mason. The petition was granted, but just previous to the time they were to receive those degrees, the anti-Masons burned the
chapter buildings. In his early life Heber C. Kimball received many pressing invitations to unite himself with the different religious sects of the day, but did not see fit to comply until a revival occurred in his neighborhood, shortly after which he and his wife were baptized, and they joined the Baptists. About three weeks after this occurrence, some Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came from Pennsylvania to the residence of Phineas H. Young, in Victor, and learning of their arrival, curiosity prompted Heber to see them, and he then heard for the first time the everlasting gospel. He desired much to learn more, and in company with Brigham and Phineas H. Young and their wives, he started for Pennsylvania, where they stayed with the Church six days, regularly attending the meetings. In April,
1832, Alpheus GifEord called at Heber C. Kimball's shop; after a few moments' conversation, he expresed his readiness to be baptized, and he went with Elder Gifford to a small stream in the woods, about one mile distant, where the holy ordinance was administered to him. About two weeks later, his wife Vilate was baptized by Joseph Young. Brother Kimball was ordained an Elder by Joseph Young, and in company with him and Brigham Young, he preached in Genesee, Avon and Lyonstown where they baptized many and built up branches. In September, 1832, with Brigham and Joseph Young, he went to Kirtland, Ohio, and visited the Prophet Joseph Smith. In the fall of 1833, having sold his possessions, he started for Kirtland, accompanied by Brigham Young, arriving there about the 1st of November. May 5, 1834, he left Kirtland, in company with President Joseph Smith and about a hundred others, and arrived in New Portage, where Zion's Camp was organized. He was appointed captain of the third company. At the reorganization of the Camp at Salt river.Mo., he was elected
as one of President Smith's life guards. While on Fishing river, and after assisting to inter a number of the brethren who fell by the cholera, he himself was very severely attacked. Shortly after he received an honorable discharge in writing, and (in accordance with the instructions of President Joseph Smith) on the 30th he started for home.reaching Kirtland July 26th.About two weeks after his return, he established a pottery and continued to work at his business until cold weather set in. In the winter of 1834-5 he attended the theological schools—established in Kirtland. He was chosen and ordained one of the Twelve Apostles, Feb. 14, 1835. In May following, he started, in company with his fellow Apostles, on a mission to the Eastern churches, and visited, among other places, Sheldon, where he was born, preaching to his friends and relatives. He crossed the Green Mountains on foot and alone, and attended a conference in St. Johnsbury with the Twelve. Returning home he met others of the Twelve at Buffalo. They arrived at Kirtland Sept. 25th. Elder Kimball attended the dedication of the House of the Lord at Kirtland, March 27, 1836, and received his washings and anointings with the Twelve Apostles. From May to October he was engaged on a mission in the northern part of the United States. Having been called on a, mission to England by the Prophet Joseph, he left Kirtland in June, 1837, accompanied by Orson Hyde, Willard Richards and Joseph Fielding. As a passenger on the ship "Garrick," he sailed from New York, July 1, 1837, accompanied by other missionaries, and landed in Liverpool on the 20th. Two days later they went to Preston and on the following Sunday, they preached in the church of the Rev. James Fielding to a large congregation. A number of people believed and rejoiced in the message they had heard. Mr. Fielding, however, shut his doors against the Elders and would not suffer them to preach again in his church; but Elder Kimball and his companions continued to preach in private houses, on street corners and in market places, and by Christmas there were about one thousand members of the Church in England. The history of Apostle Kimball's first mission in England would make an interesting little volume of itself, as thrilling and accompanied by the power of God as thoroughly as was the travels of the Apostle Paul in Southern Europe more than eighteen centuries before. Elder Kimball returned to Kirtland May 22, 1835, being absent eleven months, and with his associates was instrumental in baptizing nearly fifteen hundred persons, and organizing large branches in various parts of England, thus opening and establishing the European mission from which has come to the Church of Christ in the last days more than one hundred thousand people. Joseph Smith and other leading men having removed to Missouri, Elder Kimball removed with his family to Far West. They journeyed chiefly by water, on the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers, reaching Far West July 25, 1838, and enjoyed a happy meeting with the Prophet and other leading men. Elder Kimball immediately set to work building a small house for his family. During its erection the family lived in a small shanty about eleven feet square-so low that Elder Kimball could scarcely stand upright in it. During the summer he went with the Prophet Joseph and
others to Daviess county to afford the Saints protection against mob violence. At the invasion of Far West by the mob militia, Elder Kimball was present to offer his life or undergo any ordeal that might come upon the Saints. He visited, in company with President Young, the Prophet in prison and did all he could to secure his release, and was also active in providing for the comfort of the wounded and helpless who had suffered from the outrages of their enemies. He attended the secret conference on the Temple grounds April 26. 1839, at which Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith were ordained Apostles and afterwards went with the Twelve to Quincy, Ill., where his family awaited him. From thence he moved to Nauvoo, where he built him a residence. In September, 1839, together with President Brigham Young, he started for England on his second mission. He was hailed with delight by his former acquaintances throughout the mission. He labored with great diligence for over one year. They leached Liverpool April 6, 1840, and returned to Nauvoo July 1, 1841. He was elected a member of the Nauvoo city council Oct. 23, 1841, and labored in various capacities to promote the growth and development of the city and the Church. From September to November, 1842, he, with Brigham Young, George A. Smith and Amasa M. Lyman, labored diligently in Illinois to allay excitement, remove prejudice and correct false doctrines. In July, 1843, he went on a preaching mission to the Eastern States, returning to Nauvoo, Oct. 22nd of the same year. In May, 1844, he started for Washington, D. C, to petition the authorities of the nation to redress the grievances heaped upon the Saints by their enemies in Missouri and Illinois. On his return trip he heard the sad news of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Apostle Kimball was active in sustaining the Saints in the great affliction by his encouraging councils, and united with his brethren to finish the Nauvoo Temple, and in every way nobly met under trying circumstances the responsibilities of his high calling as an Apostle of the Lord. What the people suffered he suffered, and the labors which they performed were his also. After the trying experiences of the exodus from Nauvoo, and the journey to Winter Quarters, he became one of the historic one hundred and forty-eight who constituted the Pioneer company that entered Salt Lake in July, 1847. Elder Kimball was one of the foremost men in all the important labors incidental to founding a great commonwealth in a desert land. In December, 1847,when President Young was sustained as President of the Church, Apostle Kimball was chosen as his first counselor, and sustained this position with credit and ability until his death in 1868. He was also lieutenant-governor in the Provisional State of Deseret until his decease. For a number of years he was a member of the legislative council, the last three years being president of that body. He was ever constant in his devotion to the Church, the State and the nation. He was a typical American, like his ancestors for many generations. He officiated in the House of the Lord. He visited every settlement in Utah, most of them many times, preached the gospel, uttered many prophecies which have received literal fulfillment, and gave counsel, spiritual and temporal, to advance the work of God upon the earth. In May, 1868, he received a severe fall at Provo, which brought on sickness and resulted in his death June 22, 1868, at his home in Salt Lake City. He died as he had lived, true, full of faith and in the hope of a glorious resurrection. President Kimball was a man of dignified bearing, standing about six feet in height and well proportioned. His complexion was dark and his hair thin. His piercing dark eyes seemed to penetrate one's very soul and read the very thoughts of the human heart. He was broad and magnanimous in his ways, kind to the widow and the fatherless, beloved by his associates in the Apostleship and by all the Saints. He fulfilled the characteristics of an honest man, "the noblest work of God." Many times he told men what they had done, and what would befall them, not by any human knowledge, but by the spirit of discernment and revelation. He had many odd sayings, which, said by him, left a lasting impression upon his hearers in public and private. Witn all his frank and fearless manner of telling the men what many would shrink from telling, he was a loving, peaceful man, and was designated as the "Herald of Peace." During the hard times in Salt Lake City, President Kimball was so blessed with temporal subsistence, breadstuff chiefly, that he was able to feed his own numerous family and loan to men considered much better financiers than himself. His special gift of the Spirit was that of prophecy. His predictions and their fulfillment would make a long chapter of themselves, and full of thrilling interest. When the Saints were about to settle in Commerce, Ill., and though received with open arms by the good people of Illinois, Apostle Kiinball looked upon the beautiful site arid said sorrowfully, "This is a beautiful place, but not a long resting place for the Saints." Sidney Rigdon was vexed at the prediction, but its fulfillment is too well known to need repeating here. When hard times pressed the Saints in Salt Lake City, and a thousand miles separated them from commercial points. President Kimball stood up in the Tabernacle and prophesied that in less than six months clothing and other goods would be sold in the streets of Great Salt Lake City cheaper than they could be bought in New York. This astonished the people. One of his brethren said to him after meeting that he did not believe it. "Neither did I," said Brother Kimball. "but I said it. It will have to go." No one saw the possibility of its verification. Six months, however, had not passed away when large companies of emigrants, burning with the gold fever from the East, came into the city, and becoming eager to reach the glittering gold fields of California, they sold their merchandise on the streets for a less price than the New York prices. They sold their large animals for pack animals, and thus more than literally fulfilled the remarkable prophecy of President Heber C. Kimball. These are but examples of many like predictions uttered by this great Apostle of the Lord. (For further information, see Life of Heber C. Kimball by Orson F. Whitney; "Contributor," Vol. 8; "Historical Record," Vol. 5, p. 33; "Southern Star," Vol. 2. p. 345; Faith-Promoting Series, Book 7, etc.)
KIMBALL, Heber Chase, first counselor to President Brigham Young from 1847 to 1868, was born June 14, 1801, at Sheldon, Franklin county, Vermont. He was the son of Solomon F. Kimball (born 1771), who was the son of James Kimball (born 1736), who was the son of Jeremiah Kimball (born 1707), who was the son of David Kimball (born 1671), who was the son of Benjamin Kimball (born 1637), who was the son of Richard Kimball (or Kemball), who was born at Rattlesden, county of Suffolk, England, in 1595, and who emigrated to America in 1634, crossing the Atlantic in the ship "Elizabeth," and settled in Massachusetts. Heber C. Kimball removed with the rest of his father's family from Sheldon, Vermont, to West Bloomfield, Ontario county, N. Y., in 1811. His father was a blacksmith and farmer. In 1806, Heber first went to school, continuing most of the time until he was 14 years of age. when he began to learn blacksmithing with his father. During the war of 1812, his father lost his property, and when Heber arrived at the age of nineteen, he found himself dependent on his own resources, and frequently suffering for the necessaries of life. His elder brother Charles, hearing of his destitute condition, offered to
teach him the potter's trade. The offer was accepted, and he continued with his brother until he was twenty-one years old. In this interim they moved to Mendon, Monroe county, where they pursued the pottery business. After having learned his trade, Heber worked six months for his brother for wages. In November, 1822, he married Vilate Murray, daughter of Roswell and Susannah Murray, who was born, in Florida, New York, June 1, 1806, and immediately afterwards he purchased the premises from his brother Charles, and went into business for himself as a potter, which trade he followed for upwards of ten years. Sometime in 1823 he received the three first degrees of masonry, and in 1824, with five others, he petitioned the Chapter at Canandaigua, asking to receive all the degrees up to that of Royal Arch Mason. The petition was granted, but just previous to the time they were to receive those degrees, the anti-Masons burned the
chapter buildings. In his early life Heber C. Kimball received many pressing invitations to unite himself with the different religious sects of the day, but did not see fit to comply until a revival occurred in his neighborhood, shortly after which he and his wife were baptized, and they joined the Baptists. About three weeks after this occurrence, some Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came from Pennsylvania to the residence of Phineas H. Young, in Victor, and learning of their arrival, curiosity prompted Heber to see them, and he then heard for the first time the everlasting gospel. He desired much to learn more, and in company with Brigham and Phineas H. Young and their wives, he started for Pennsylvania, where they stayed with the Church six days, regularly attending the meetings. In April,
1832, Alpheus GifEord called at Heber C. Kimball's shop; after a few moments' conversation, he expresed his readiness to be baptized, and he went with Elder Gifford to a small stream in the woods, about one mile distant, where the holy ordinance was administered to him. About two weeks later, his wife Vilate was baptized by Joseph Young. Brother Kimball was ordained an Elder by Joseph Young, and in company with him and Brigham Young, he preached in Genesee, Avon and Lyonstown where they baptized many and built up branches. In September, 1832, with Brigham and Joseph Young, he went to Kirtland, Ohio, and visited the Prophet Joseph Smith. In the fall of 1833, having sold his possessions, he started for Kirtland, accompanied by Brigham Young, arriving there about the 1st of November. May 5, 1834, he left Kirtland, in company with President Joseph Smith and about a hundred others, and arrived in New Portage, where Zion's Camp was organized. He was appointed captain of the third company. At the reorganization of the Camp at Salt river.Mo., he was elected
as one of President Smith's life guards. While on Fishing river, and after assisting to inter a number of the brethren who fell by the cholera, he himself was very severely attacked. Shortly after he received an honorable discharge in writing, and (in accordance with the instructions of President Joseph Smith) on the 30th he started for home.reaching Kirtland July 26th.About two weeks after his return, he established a pottery and continued to work at his business until cold weather set in. In the winter of 1834-5 he attended the theological schools—established in Kirtland. He was chosen and ordained one of the Twelve Apostles, Feb. 14, 1835. In May following, he started, in company with his fellow Apostles, on a mission to the Eastern churches, and visited, among other places, Sheldon, where he was born, preaching to his friends and relatives. He crossed the Green Mountains on foot and alone, and attended a conference in St. Johnsbury with the Twelve. Returning home he met others of the Twelve at Buffalo. They arrived at Kirtland Sept. 25th. Elder Kimball attended the dedication of the House of the Lord at Kirtland, March 27, 1836, and received his washings and anointings with the Twelve Apostles. From May to October he was engaged on a mission in the northern part of the United States. Having been called on a, mission to England by the Prophet Joseph, he left Kirtland in June, 1837, accompanied by Orson Hyde, Willard Richards and Joseph Fielding. As a passenger on the ship "Garrick," he sailed from New York, July 1, 1837, accompanied by other missionaries, and landed in Liverpool on the 20th. Two days later they went to Preston and on the following Sunday, they preached in the church of the Rev. James Fielding to a large congregation. A number of people believed and rejoiced in the message they had heard. Mr. Fielding, however, shut his doors against the Elders and would not suffer them to preach again in his church; but Elder Kimball and his companions continued to preach in private houses, on street corners and in market places, and by Christmas there were about one thousand members of the Church in England. The history of Apostle Kimball's first mission in England would make an interesting little volume of itself, as thrilling and accompanied by the power of God as thoroughly as was the travels of the Apostle Paul in Southern Europe more than eighteen centuries before. Elder Kimball returned to Kirtland May 22, 1835, being absent eleven months, and with his associates was instrumental in baptizing nearly fifteen hundred persons, and organizing large branches in various parts of England, thus opening and establishing the European mission from which has come to the Church of Christ in the last days more than one hundred thousand people. Joseph Smith and other leading men having removed to Missouri, Elder Kimball removed with his family to Far West. They journeyed chiefly by water, on the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers, reaching Far West July 25, 1838, and enjoyed a happy meeting with the Prophet and other leading men. Elder Kimball immediately set to work building a small house for his family. During its erection the family lived in a small shanty about eleven feet square-so low that Elder Kimball could scarcely stand upright in it. During the summer he went with the Prophet Joseph and
others to Daviess county to afford the Saints protection against mob violence. At the invasion of Far West by the mob militia, Elder Kimball was present to offer his life or undergo any ordeal that might come upon the Saints. He visited, in company with President Young, the Prophet in prison and did all he could to secure his release, and was also active in providing for the comfort of the wounded and helpless who had suffered from the outrages of their enemies. He attended the secret conference on the Temple grounds April 26. 1839, at which Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith were ordained Apostles and afterwards went with the Twelve to Quincy, Ill., where his family awaited him. From thence he moved to Nauvoo, where he built him a residence. In September, 1839, together with President Brigham Young, he started for England on his second mission. He was hailed with delight by his former acquaintances throughout the mission. He labored with great diligence for over one year. They leached Liverpool April 6, 1840, and returned to Nauvoo July 1, 1841. He was elected a member of the Nauvoo city council Oct. 23, 1841, and labored in various capacities to promote the growth and development of the city and the Church. From September to November, 1842, he, with Brigham Young, George A. Smith and Amasa M. Lyman, labored diligently in Illinois to allay excitement, remove prejudice and correct false doctrines. In July, 1843, he went on a preaching mission to the Eastern States, returning to Nauvoo, Oct. 22nd of the same year. In May, 1844, he started for Washington, D. C, to petition the authorities of the nation to redress the grievances heaped upon the Saints by their enemies in Missouri and Illinois. On his return trip he heard the sad news of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Apostle Kimball was active in sustaining the Saints in the great affliction by his encouraging councils, and united with his brethren to finish the Nauvoo Temple, and in every way nobly met under trying circumstances the responsibilities of his high calling as an Apostle of the Lord. What the people suffered he suffered, and the labors which they performed were his also. After the trying experiences of the exodus from Nauvoo, and the journey to Winter Quarters, he became one of the historic one hundred and forty-eight who constituted the Pioneer company that entered Salt Lake in July, 1847. Elder Kimball was one of the foremost men in all the important labors incidental to founding a great commonwealth in a desert land. In December, 1847,when President Young was sustained as President of the Church, Apostle Kimball was chosen as his first counselor, and sustained this position with credit and ability until his death in 1868. He was also lieutenant-governor in the Provisional State of Deseret until his decease. For a number of years he was a member of the legislative council, the last three years being president of that body. He was ever constant in his devotion to the Church, the State and the nation. He was a typical American, like his ancestors for many generations. He officiated in the House of the Lord. He visited every settlement in Utah, most of them many times, preached the gospel, uttered many prophecies which have received literal fulfillment, and gave counsel, spiritual and temporal, to advance the work of God upon the earth. In May, 1868, he received a severe fall at Provo, which brought on sickness and resulted in his death June 22, 1868, at his home in Salt Lake City. He died as he had lived, true, full of faith and in the hope of a glorious resurrection. President Kimball was a man of dignified bearing, standing about six feet in height and well proportioned. His complexion was dark and his hair thin. His piercing dark eyes seemed to penetrate one's very soul and read the very thoughts of the human heart. He was broad and magnanimous in his ways, kind to the widow and the fatherless, beloved by his associates in the Apostleship and by all the Saints. He fulfilled the characteristics of an honest man, "the noblest work of God." Many times he told men what they had done, and what would befall them, not by any human knowledge, but by the spirit of discernment and revelation. He had many odd sayings, which, said by him, left a lasting impression upon his hearers in public and private. Witn all his frank and fearless manner of telling the men what many would shrink from telling, he was a loving, peaceful man, and was designated as the "Herald of Peace." During the hard times in Salt Lake City, President Kimball was so blessed with temporal subsistence, breadstuff chiefly, that he was able to feed his own numerous family and loan to men considered much better financiers than himself. His special gift of the Spirit was that of prophecy. His predictions and their fulfillment would make a long chapter of themselves, and full of thrilling interest. When the Saints were about to settle in Commerce, Ill., and though received with open arms by the good people of Illinois, Apostle Kiinball looked upon the beautiful site arid said sorrowfully, "This is a beautiful place, but not a long resting place for the Saints." Sidney Rigdon was vexed at the prediction, but its fulfillment is too well known to need repeating here. When hard times pressed the Saints in Salt Lake City, and a thousand miles separated them from commercial points. President Kimball stood up in the Tabernacle and prophesied that in less than six months clothing and other goods would be sold in the streets of Great Salt Lake City cheaper than they could be bought in New York. This astonished the people. One of his brethren said to him after meeting that he did not believe it. "Neither did I," said Brother Kimball. "but I said it. It will have to go." No one saw the possibility of its verification. Six months, however, had not passed away when large companies of emigrants, burning with the gold fever from the East, came into the city, and becoming eager to reach the glittering gold fields of California, they sold their merchandise on the streets for a less price than the New York prices. They sold their large animals for pack animals, and thus more than literally fulfilled the remarkable prophecy of President Heber C. Kimball. These are but examples of many like predictions uttered by this great Apostle of the Lord. (For further information, see Life of Heber C. Kimball by Orson F. Whitney; "Contributor," Vol. 8; "Historical Record," Vol. 5, p. 33; "Southern Star," Vol. 2. p. 345; Faith-Promoting Series, Book 7, etc.)
Jenson, Andrew. "Kimball, Heber C." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 4. pg. 315, 710.
KIMBALL, Heber C, president of the British Mission from 1837 to 1838. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 34.)
KIMBALL, Heber C, one of the original pioneers of Utah, was born June 14, 1801, at Sheldon, Franklin Co., Vermont, a son of Solomon Farnham Kimball and Anna Spaulding. He was baptized in April, 1832, by Alpheus Gifford and ordained an Elder in 1832, by Joseph Young. He was ordained an Apostle Feb. 14, 1835, under the hands of Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris. After helping to establish the headquarters of the Church in Great Salt Lake Valley, he returned with Pres. Brigham Young to Winter Quarters, and when the presidency of the Church was reorganized on Dec. 24, 1847, Bro. Kimball was selected and set apai't as first counselor to Pres. Brigham Young, which position he held until his death which occurred in Salt Lake City June 22, 1868. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 34.)
KIMBALL, Heber C, president of the British Mission from 1837 to 1838. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 34.)
KIMBALL, Heber C, one of the original pioneers of Utah, was born June 14, 1801, at Sheldon, Franklin Co., Vermont, a son of Solomon Farnham Kimball and Anna Spaulding. He was baptized in April, 1832, by Alpheus Gifford and ordained an Elder in 1832, by Joseph Young. He was ordained an Apostle Feb. 14, 1835, under the hands of Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris. After helping to establish the headquarters of the Church in Great Salt Lake Valley, he returned with Pres. Brigham Young to Winter Quarters, and when the presidency of the Church was reorganized on Dec. 24, 1847, Bro. Kimball was selected and set apai't as first counselor to Pres. Brigham Young, which position he held until his death which occurred in Salt Lake City June 22, 1868. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 34.)
Whitney, Orson F. "Heber C. Kimball." Contributor. June 1887. pg. 305-313.
HEBER C. KIMBALL.
Men like Heber C. Kimball are not accidents. They are emphatically and in the truest sense, children of destiny. If we seek their origin and would know their truth, we must not halt beside the humble cradle which lulled their infant cares to rest. We must rise, on spirit wings, above the mists and vapors of mortality, and survey them in the light of an eternal existence, a life without beginning or end.
Says one of old: "Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were good, and He stood in the midst of them, and He said, These I will make my rulers; for He stood among those that were spirits, and He saw that they were good; and He said unto me, Abraham, thou art one of them, thou wast chosen before thou wast born."
Again, unto Jeremiah: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou earnest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
What is true, in this respect, of ancient prophets, is true also of modern prophets; for verily are their origin, their mission and their destiny the same.
It devolved upon the subject of this writing to come forth at a time which has no parallel in all the ages of the past. The day of God's power and of Zion's glory was about to dawn. The Sun that set in blood behind Judea's hills was soon to rise o'er Zion's mountaintops and flood the world with light. The latter-day dispensation was opening. All things in Christ were to be gathered in one. The curtain of history had risen on the last act of the tragedy of Time.
Would God leave the world without "great and noble ones" at such an hour?
Heber Chase Kimball was born into this life June 14, 1801. The same soil produced him that, in colonial times, brought forth an Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga, and in Jater years the wondrous twain of spirits known to the world as Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. A far greater work than the •capture of a British fortress was in the future of this Mormon triad of "Green -Mountain Boys," who went forth "in the name of the great Jehovah," to invade the strong-holds of Satan, and plant the banner of Gospel truth above the ramparts of his conquered citadels.
Heber's birth-place was the town of Sheldon, Franklin County, Vermont, ten miles from the shores of Lake Champlain. He was the fourth child and second son in a family of seven, the order of whose birth was as follows: Charles S., Eliza, Abigail, Heber C, Melvina, Solomon and Daniel S., the last named of whom died in infancy.
His father's name was Solomon Farnham Kimball, a native of Massachusetts, by trade a blacksmith, and also a farmer and builder; he professed no religion, but was a man of good moral character, and taught his children correct principles. His mother's maiden' name was Anna Spaulding; she was a strict Presbyterian, led a virtuous life and, to the best of her knowledge, reared her family in the ways of righteousness. She was born in Plainfield, New Hampshire, on the banks of the Connecticut river.
The Kimballs were of Scotch descent, their ancient name, it is believed, being Campbell. Heber's grand-father and a brother came from England, in time to assist in gaining the independence of the Colonies.
Heber derived his given name from a Judge Chase, of Massachusetts, by whom his father was reared from a boy, and who chanced to visit his former protege soon after his son was born.
In February, 1811, the Kimballs migrated from Vermont and settled in West Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York. At the age of fourteen, Heber, having quit school, was put to work in his father's blacksmith shop, and acquired a knowledge of that useful trade. When he was nineteen, his father having met with business reverses and lost his property—he was thrown entirely upon his own resources, and now began to taste the first bitter experience of his life.
He was a singular compound, in his nature, of courage and timidity, of weakness and strength; uniting a penchant for mirth with a proneness to melancholy, and blending the lion-like qualities of a leader among men with the bashfulness and lamb-like simplicity of . a child. He was not a coward; a braver man probably never lived than Heber C. Kimball. His courage, however, was not of that questionable kind which "knows no fear." Rather was it of that superior order, that Christ-like bravery, which feels danger and yet dares to face it. He had all the sensitiveness of the poet—for he was both a poet and a prophet from his mother's womb—and inherited as his birth-right the power to feel pleasure or suffer pain in all its exquisiteness and intensity.
He consequently suffered much in his lonely hours and friendless condition. He relates that he often went two or three days without food, "being bashful and not daring to ask for it."
Finally, his brother, Charles, hearing of his condition, sent for him, and offered to teach him the potter's trade, an offer which he gladly accepted. While living with ;his brother, he removed to Mendon, Monroe County, where Heber finished learning his trade and commenced working for wages; six months later he purchased his brother's business, and set up in the same line for himself, in which he prospered for upwards of ten years.
Meanwhile, the sun of love dawned on his horizon. In one of his rides he chanced to pass, one warm summer day, through the little town of Victor, in the neighboring county of Ontario. Being thirsty, he drew rein near a house where a gentleman was at work in the yard, whom he asked for a drink of water. As the one addressed went to the well to draw a fresh bucketful of the cooling liquid, he called to his daughter, Vilate, to bring a glass from the house, which he filled and sent by her to the young stranger.
Heber was greatly struck with, the beauty and refined modesty of the young girl, whose name he understood to be "Milatie," and who was the flower and pet of her father's family. Lingering as long as propriety would permit, or the glass of water would hold out, he murmured his thanks and rode reluctantly away.
It was not long before he again had "business" in Victor, and again became thirsty just as he was opposite the house where the young lady lived. Seeing the same gentleman in the yard whom he had accosted before, he hailed him and asked him for a drink of water.
This time the owner of the premises offered to wait upon him in person, but Heber, with the blunt humor for which he was noted, nearly took the old gentleman's breath by saying: "If you please, sir, I would rather My-latie would bring it to me."
"Latie," as she was called by the household, accordingly appeared and did the honors as before, and returned blushing to meet the merriment and good-natured badinage of her sister and brothers.
She, however, was quite as favorably impressed with the handsome young horseman, as he was with her. More visits followed, acquaintance ripened into love, and on the seventh of November, 1822, they were married.
Vilate Murray—for that was her name —was the youngest child of Roswell and Susannah Murray. At the time of her marriage she was only in her seventeenth year.
Heber was past twenty-one, and fast developing into as fine a specimen of manhood as one might wish to behold. Tall and powerful of frame, with piercing black eyes that seemed to read one through, and before whose searching gaze the guilty involuntarily quailed, he moved with a stateliness and majesty all his own, as far removed from haughtiness and vain pride, as he was from the sphere of the upstart who mistakes scorn for dignity and an overbearing manner as an evidence of gentle blood. Heber C. Kimball was a humble man, and in his humility, no less than his kingly stature, consisted his dignity, and no small share of his greatness. It was his earnestness, simplicity, sublime faith and unwavering integrity to principle that made him great, not the apparel he wore, nor the mortal clay in which his spirit was clothed.
Heber's temperament was religious and poetical. Sociable as he was, and even bubbling over with mirth, at times, his soul was essentially of a solemn cast. He loved solitude, not with the selfish spirit of the misanthrope, but for the opportunities it gave of communing with his own thoughts—a pleasure that only poet minds truly feel—and of listening to the voice of God and nature, expressed in all the countless and varied forms of life.
It is not strange that a nature of this kind should have been led early to seek "an anchor for the soul"—a knowledge of the truth, as it is in Christ Jesus. But his search, for many years, was in vain. He found not, among the sects of Christendom, the precious pearl which an honest soul will sell all that it hath to obtain.
Sometime in the fall or winter of 1831, five Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came from Pennsylvania to Victor, a few miles from Mendon, and stopped at the house of Phineas H. Young. They were Eleazer Miller, Elial Strong, Alpheus Gifford, Enos Curtis and Daniel Bowen. Hearing of these men, Heber was prompted by curiosity to visit them, "when," says he "for the first time I heard the fulness of the Everlasting Gospel."
To hear, with him, was to believe, for he was convinced that they taught the truth, and was constrained to receive their testimony.
The glorious news of a restored Gospel and a living Priesthood, commissioned of and communicating with the heavens; the promise of the Holy Ghost, with signs following the penitent, baptized believer; the glad message and grand proclamation of the gathering of Israel, the building up of Zion, preparatory to the second coming of the Savior; all this fell upon the heart of this God-fearing man like dew upon thirsty ground. As the voice of a familiar spirit it seemed an echo from the far past —something he had known before.
He took time to investigate, however, before acting on his convictions, and having satisfied himself in this respect, on the fifteenth day of April, 1832, he was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church. The Elder who officiated in both ordinances was Alpheus Gifford; he desired also to ordain him to the Priesthood, to confer upon him the same authority that he himself held, but the new convert, feeling unworthy of such an honor, entreated him not to do so. Heber was subsequently ordained an Elder under the hands of Joseph Young.
In the latter part of October, or early in November, 1832, he visited Kirtland, Ohio, the head-quarters of the Church and home of Joseph the Prophet. Brigham and Joseph Young accompanied him. Their first meeting with the Prophet was on the eighth day of November. The hearts of Joseph and Heber at once knit with each other, in friendship like unto that of David and Jonathan.
In the fall of 1833, Elder Kimball sold his possessions in Mendon and settled his affairs, preparatory to gathering to the bosom of the Church. His father and mother and brother Charles were dead. Four children had been born to him in Mendon, the eldest and the youngest of whom, Judith Marvin and Roswell Heber, had died. The survivors were William Henry and Helen Mar. Heber was the only one of his father's household to embrace the Gospel.
He left Mendon late in October, and arrived in Kirtland about the first of November. Besides his own family he was accompanied by Elder Brigham Young and his two little daughters, who were motherless. In Mendon and in Kirtland the families of Brigham and Heber were as one.
The newly arrived pilgrims had fallen on perilous times. Mobocracy was rife and rampant, and persecution was raging against the Church, both in Ohio and in Missouri. Says Heber: "Our enemies were raging and threatening destruction upon us. We had to guard night after night, and for weeks were not permitted to take off our clothes, and were obliged to lie with our firelocks in our arms to preserve Brother Joseph's life and our own. At this time our brethren in Jackson County, Missouri, were also suffering great persecution'; about twelve hundred were driven, plundered and robbed, their houses burned and some of the brethren were killed. Mobs were organized around Kirtland, who were enraged against us, ready to destroy us."
Such was the state of affairs with the Church of the living God at the close of the year 1833.
In February, 1834, came a commandment from the Almighty, through His Prophet, to "gather up the strength of His house" and go up and "redeem Zion;" in other words to recover from the hands of a fierce and blood-thirsty mob the lands in Jackson County, Missouri, from which the Saints had been driven. Such was the origin and object of Zion's Camp, and such the nature of the perilous duty laid upon them.
Bidding farewell to his family and friends, whom he scarcely dared hope he would ever meet again in the flesh, Heber enrolled himself in the little band of heroes who set out from Kirtland on the 5th of May, 1834. They were about two hundred strong, well armed and equipped, and were led by the Prophet Joseph in person. We cannot now follow them through all the travels and trials of that eventful pilgrimage, with its tragic sequel of death and suffering. Suffice it that, owing to a spirit of disunion and rebellion that crept into the camp, notwithstanding the faith and fidelity of many, they were not permitted to completely fulfill their mission. On the contrary, through miraculously preserved from every human foe, they were punished by a visitation of divine wrath; the cholera broke out in the camp, and its numbers were decimated by the scourge. This occurred in the latter part of June, 1834, on Rush Creek, near Fishing river, Missouri.
Thus, by foes without, and the fell destroyer within, was the faith and integrity of Zion's Camp tried and tested. It was needful, for, from the ranks of the faithful who remained, were to be chosen the first Twelve Apostles of the last dispensation.
This important quorum was called into existence on the 14th of February, 1835, at Kirtland. Its members were as follows: Thomas B. Marsh, David W. Patten, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, William E. McLellin, Parley P. Pratt, Luke S. Johnson, William Smith, Orson Pratt, John F. Boynton, Lyman E. Johnson. They were ordained Apostles under the hands of Joseph Smith Jun., Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer.
The Twelve started on their first mission May 4, 1835. They traveled through the eastern States and in Canada, preaching, baptizing, setting in order the branches of the Church, raising up new branches, counseling the Saints to gather westward, and collecting means for the completion of the Lord's house in Kirtland. They returned late in the following September.
The Kirtland Temple was dedicated on the twenty-seventh of March, 1S36. The following five months were passed by Heber in the eastern States, fulfilling a mission, the first one he had yet taken alone.
The hour was approaching when Heber C. Kimball was to make his great mark as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. On Sunday, June 4, 1837, as he was sitting in one of the stands of the Temple, the Prophet Joseph stepped in and whispered in his ear: "Brother Heber, the Spirit of the Lord has whispered to me, saying, Let my servant Heber go to England, and proclaim my Gospel, and open the door of salvation to that nation."
The thought was overpowering; he had been surprised at his call to the Apostleship; now he was overwhelmed. Like Jeremiah of old he staggered under the weight of his own weakness, and in his self humiliation exclaimed: "O Lord, I am a man of stammering tongue, and altogether unfit for such a work; how can I go to preach in that land, which is so famed throughout Christendom for learning, knowledge and piety; the nursery of religion; and to a people whose intelligence is proverbial."
Nevertheless, he resolved to go, believing it to be the will of God, in whom he trusted for every needed qualification.
He started on this important mission June 13, 1837, in company with Orson Hyde, Willard Richards and Joseph Fielding. He was compelled to leave his family almost destitute, and went forth, himself, literally "without purse or scrip." They sailed from New York on the first of July, and on the twentieth of that month landed in Liverpool.
The details of this, the first foreign mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and one of the most remarkable of modern times, are too voluminous for even hasty mention. After a marvelous experience, and equally wonderful success in preaching and baptizing, Heber C. Kimball, the father of the British mission, returned to his native land, after an absence of eleven months and nine days.
One incident of his mission we will relate, in his own words, as pertaining closely to one branch of his numerous family:
"The first child born in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Great Britain (October 7, 1837) was the daughter of James and Nancy Smithies. After she was born her parents wanted to take her to the church to be sprinkled, or christened, as they call it. I used every kind of persuasion to convince them of their folly; it being contrary to the Scriptures and the will of God; the parents wept bitterly, and it seemed as though I could not prevail on them to omit it. I wanted to know of them the reason why they were so tenacious; the answer was, 'if she dies she cannot have a burial in the churchyard.' I said to them, 'Brother and Sister Smithies, I say unto you in the name of Israel's God, she shall not die on this land, for she shall live until she becomes a mother in Israel; and I say it in the name of Jesus Christ, and by virtue of the Holy Priest hood vested in me.' That silenced them, and when she was two weeks old they presented the child to me; I took it in my arms and blessed it, that it should live to become a mother in Israel."
The child's name was Mary Smithies, who afterwards became Heber's wife and the mother of several children.
Finding, on his return from Europe, that the Church, with the exception of a few members, most of whom were lukewarm in the faith, had removed to Missouri, Heber at once prepared to follow. He left Kirtland with his family and a few others, about the first of July, 1838, and arrived at Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri, on the twenty-fifth of the month. He there met the Prophet Joseph and other dear friends and mingled with them tears of gratitude and joy.
The five years from 1833 to 1838 was one of the darkest periods in the Church's history. Mobocracy on one hand and apostasy on the other, dealt the cause of God cruel blows, such as no human work could hope to withstand. Six of the Twelve Apostles and one of the First Presidency became disaffected, and many other Elders fell away and joined hands with the robbers and murderers of their brethren. Like a rock in mid-ocean, facing the storm, unmoved by wind or wave, stood Heber C. Kim* ball, among the truest, true; among the bravest, brave.
In the fall of 1838, after a brief breathing spell, the mob troubles revived, and the tempest of persecution burst forth with tenfold fury. Far West was besieged and fell a prey to mob violence. Joseph and other leading Elders were betrayed and made prisoners, and murder and rapine held high carnival amid the smoking ruins of peaceful homes and ravaged fields.
Says Heber, who was as usual, in the thickest of the fray: "When the troops surrounded us, and we were brought into a hollow square, the first persons that I knew were men who had once professed to be beloved brethren, and they were the men who piloted these mobs into our city: William E. McLellin and Lyman E. Johnson, two of the Twelve, John Whitmer and David Whitmer, two of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon; and scores of others. * * * William E. McLellin wanted to know where Heber C. Kimball was; someone pointed me out to him, as I was sitting on the ground. He came up to me and said: 'Brother Heber, what do you think of Joseph Smith, the fallen prophet, now? Has he not led you blindfolded long enough; look and see, yourself, poor, your family stripped and robbed, and your brethren in the same fix; are you satisfied with Joseph?'
"I replied, Yes, I am more satisfied with him, a hundredfold, than ever I was before; for I see you in the very position that he foretold you would be in—a Judas to betray your brethren—if you did not forsake your adultery, fornication, lying and abominations. Where are you? What are you about; you and Hinkle and scores of others? Have you not betrayed Joseph and his brethren into the hands of the mob, as Judas did Jesus? Yes, verily you have; I tell you Mormonism is true, and Joseph is a true prophet of the living God, and you, with all others that turn therefrom, will be damned and go to hell, and Judas will rule over you."
Joseph and other leading brethren were driven off like cattle to prison. Heber, not being well known in Missouri, and consequently less an object of hatred in the eyes of the mob, was set at liberty, and with Brigham Young, his fellow Apostle, shared and assisted in the exodus of the Saints from Missouri, in the winter of 1838-9. He visited Joseph and the brethren in prison, repeatedly, sometimes at the peril of his life, and ministered to their comfort and consolation.
The following spring found the Church established at Commerce, afterwards Nauvoo, in the state of Illinois. Joseph had escaped from prison, with most of his captive companions, and the gathering of God's people was now resumed with unprecedented energy.
One day, while crossing the Mississippi, on a steamboat, looking towards and admiring the beautiful site of Nauvoo, Apostle Kimball observed: "It is a very pretty place, but not a long abiding home for the Saints."
Sidney Rigdon, one of the First Presidency, hearing of Heber's words, and dreading their prophetic potency, took him to task for it in the presence of Joseph and other Elders. "I should suppose," said he, petulantly, "that Elder Kimball had passed through sufferings and privations and mobbings and drivings enough, to learn to prophecy good concerning Israel." Heber replied: "President Rigdon, I prophecy good concerning you all the time—if you can get it." The retort amused Joseph, who laughed heartily, and Elder Rigdon yielded the point. Seven years later the truth and prescience of Heber's words were terribly confirmed.
Hardly was he settled in his new home in Nauvoo, when he was called to fulfill another mission. Again he must cross the mighty ocean, to renew in foreign lands the work which he and his fellow laborers had commenced two years before. This time he accompanied Apostle Brigham Young, then President of the Twelve, and the majority of his quorum. A great work was performed by the Apostles in the British Isles; the mission was established on a broad and permanent basis, and the mighty stream of Israel's emigration from foreign shores set in motion. They returned in the summer of 1841, after an absence of nearly two years.
It was during the days that followed their return, that Joseph taught Heber and others of the Twelve the principle of celestial or plural marriage.
The pathetic story of how Heber and Vilate Kimball received and embraced this holy principle has been tenderly told by their daughter, Helen. Here is her narrative:
"In Nauvoo, my father, among others of his brethren, was taught the plural wife doctrine, and was told by Joseph, the Prophet, three times, to go and take a certain woman as his wife; but not till he commanded him in the name of the Lord did he obey. At the same time Joseph told him not to divulge this secret, not even to my mother, for fear that she would not receive it; for his life was in constant jeopardy, not only from outside influences and enemies, who were seeking some plea to take him back to Missouri, but from false brethren who had crept like snakes into his bosom and then betrayed him.
"My father realized the situation fully, and the love and reverence he bore for the Prophet were so great that he would sooner have laid down his life than have betrayed him. This was the greatest test of his faith he had ever experienced. The thought of deceiving the kind and faithful wife of his youth, whom he loved with all his heart, and who with him had borne so patiently their separations, and all the trials and sacrifices they had been called to endure, was more than he felt able to bear.
"My mother had noticed a change in his manner and appearance, and when she inquired the cause, he tried to evade her questions. At last he promised he would tell her after a while, if she would only wait. This trouble so worked upon his mind that his anxious and haggard looks betrayed him daily and hourly, and finally his misery became so unbearable that it was impossible to control his feelings. He became sick in body, but his mental wretchedness was too great to allow of his retiring, and he would walk the floor till nearly morning, and some times the agony of his mind was so terrible that he would wring his hands and weep like a child, and beseech the Lord to be merciful and reveal to her this celestial principle, for he himself could not break his vow of secrecy.
"The anguish of their hearts was indescribable, and when she found it was useless to beseech him longer she retired to her room and bowed before the Lord and poured out her soul in prayer to him who hath said: "If any lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not." My father's heart was raised at the same time in supplication. While pleading as one would plead for life, the vision of her mind was opened, and, as darkness flees before the morning sun, so did her sorrow and the groveling things of earth vanish away.
"Before her was illustrated the order of celestial marriage, in all its beauty and glory, together with the great exaltation and honor it would confer upon her in that immortal and celestial sphere, if she would accept it and stand in her place by her husband's side. She also saw the woman he had taken to wife, and contemplated with joy the vast and boundless love and union which this order would bring about, as well as the increase of her husband's kingdoms, and the power and glory extending throughout the eternities, worlds without end.
"With a countenance beaming with joy, for she was filled with the spirit of God, she returned to my father, saying: 'Heber, what you kept from me the Lord has shown to me.' She told me she never saw so happy a man as father was when she described the vision and told him she was satisfied and knew that it was from God.
The three years following his return from England, Heber spent in the active prosecution of his apostolic labors. He fulfilled various missions in the States, but never again crossed the ocean to other lands. His purely missionary labors were drawing to a close. The hour of martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph was approaching, and upon the shoulders of the Twelve was about to roll the burden of the kingdom of the latter days.
On the twenty-first of May, of the fateful year, 1844, Heber C. Kimball left Nauvoo, on his last mission to the Gentiles. He accompanied President Brigham Young, and other Apostles and Elders. The object of their mission was to present to the nation the name of Joseph Smith, as a candidate for the presidency of the United States. While they were absent Joseph and Hyrum were assassinated in Carthage jail. Heber was in Salem, Massachusetts, when the terrible news reached his ears. The Twelve, grief-stricken and almost crushed with sorrow, turned their sad steps homeward, arriving in Nauvoo on the sixth of August, forty days after the martyrdom.
The Church had received a stunning blow, but with superhuman vitality it revived from the shock, and rose up in godlike energy to renew its mission of salvation to mankind. Under the magic stroke of the wand of Omnipotence, other great men had risen to perpetuate the works and memories of the martyred slain. Joseph's mantle fell upon Brigham Young. Heber C. Kimball was his right-hand man, and as he had before stood by Joseph, he now stood firm at the side of his successor, a pillar of faith and power not to be broken.
On the seventeenth of February, 1846, he left the doomed city of Nauvoo, and joined the camp of Israel on Sugar Creek, with their faces towards the Rocky Mountains. His prediction concerning Nauvoo was being fulfilled. The exodus of the Saints from Illinois had begun.
The camp commenced its westward march on Sunday, March 1, 1846. Three months later found them at Winter Quarters, on the Missouri river. From this point went forth the Mormon Battalion to Mexico, the same summer, and in the following spring, the Pioneers, whose destination was the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Heber C. Kimball was one of the famous little band whose wagons, on the twenty-fourth of July, forty years ago, rolled down yonder slope and encamped upon this then barren plain.
The fall of the year found him back at Winter Quarters, assisting to prepare for the next season's emigration. At a conference held there, on the twenty-seventh of December, 1847, the quorum of the First Presidency, which had been vacant since the death of Joseph, was reorganized, and Brigham Young was chosen President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world, with Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as his counselors. This action was confirmed at the General Conference in Great Salt Lake City, in October of the following year.
The residue of Heber C. Kimball's history, here so briefly told, is confined to the land which his wives and children now inhabit, and where much of it that will never be written is cherished as precious memories in the hearts of tens of thousands. Many will remember his famous prophecy in the year 1848—the year of the cricket plague —when the half-starved, half-clad settlers scarcely knew where to look for the next crust of bread, or for rags to hide their nakedness. His amazing assertion that within a few months, "States goods" would be sold in the streets of Salt Lake City as cheap as in New York, and that the people should be abundantly supplied with clothing, with its wonderful fulfillment in the unexpected advent of the gold-hunters en route for California, is a notable instance of the prescient power that rested upon him, and stamped him as a prophet of God.
In the famine year of 1856, he played a part like unto that of Joseph of old; feeding from his own bins and storehouses, filled by his providence and foresight in anticipation of the straitness of the times, the hungry multitude—kindred, strangers and all—who looked to him for succor.
It is related that, in the midst of this season of distress, a brother, sorely in need of bread, came to him for counsel as to how he should procure it.
"Go and marry a wife," was Heber's terse reply.
Thunderstruck at receiving such an answer, at such a time, when he could scarcely find food for himself, the man went his way, dazed and bewildered, thinking that President Kimball must be out of his mind. But the more he thought of the prophetic character and calling of the one who had given him this strange advice, the less he felt like ignoring it. Finally he resolved to obey counsel, let the consequences be what they might. But where was the woman who would marry him? was the next problem. Bethinking himself of a widow with several children, whom he thought might be induced to share her lot with him, he mustered up courage, proposed and was accepted.
In that widow's house was laid up a six months' store of provisions.
Meeting President Kimball shortly afterwards, the now prosperous man of family exclaimed:
"Well, Brother Heber, I followed your advice— "
"Yes," said the servant of God, "and you found bread."
But a volume might be written, and then the half remain untold, of the sayings and doings of this mighty man of God. We can only sketch them now, in haste and brevity, promising, by the blessing of the Lord, a book more worthy of the subject in the future.
On the 22nd of October, 1867, died Vilate Murray Kimball, as noble a wife and mother, and as unselfish and devoted a Saint, as ever drew breath. Her loss was a heavy blow to her sorrowing husband. "I shall not be long after her," was the sad prophecy that fell from his quivering lips, as he followed the remains of his beloved partner to the tomb. In less than a twelve-month his words were fulfilled.
On the morning of the 22nd of June, 1868, death again entered the household, leveling his fatal shaft at the mighty heart of its patriarchal head. At the age of sixty-seven years, his mind yet unimpaired, his iron frame unbent by age, but with health shattered by toil and trial in the service of his Maker, Heber C. Kimball, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, the tried and trusted friend of God passed peacefully from earth away. Freed from his mortal prison-house, of sorrow and of pain, his mission here completed, he sought once more the scenes and society of his spirit youth in the realms of eternal rest.
Past angels, Gods and sentinels, who guard
The gates celestial, challengeless and free,
That sovereign spirit soared unto its own;
By shouting millions welcomed back again,
With all his new-won laurels on his brow --
The meed of valor and of victory --
To exaltations endless as the lives!
Orson F. Whitney.
HEBER C. KIMBALL.
Men like Heber C. Kimball are not accidents. They are emphatically and in the truest sense, children of destiny. If we seek their origin and would know their truth, we must not halt beside the humble cradle which lulled their infant cares to rest. We must rise, on spirit wings, above the mists and vapors of mortality, and survey them in the light of an eternal existence, a life without beginning or end.
Says one of old: "Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were good, and He stood in the midst of them, and He said, These I will make my rulers; for He stood among those that were spirits, and He saw that they were good; and He said unto me, Abraham, thou art one of them, thou wast chosen before thou wast born."
Again, unto Jeremiah: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou earnest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
What is true, in this respect, of ancient prophets, is true also of modern prophets; for verily are their origin, their mission and their destiny the same.
It devolved upon the subject of this writing to come forth at a time which has no parallel in all the ages of the past. The day of God's power and of Zion's glory was about to dawn. The Sun that set in blood behind Judea's hills was soon to rise o'er Zion's mountaintops and flood the world with light. The latter-day dispensation was opening. All things in Christ were to be gathered in one. The curtain of history had risen on the last act of the tragedy of Time.
Would God leave the world without "great and noble ones" at such an hour?
Heber Chase Kimball was born into this life June 14, 1801. The same soil produced him that, in colonial times, brought forth an Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga, and in Jater years the wondrous twain of spirits known to the world as Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. A far greater work than the •capture of a British fortress was in the future of this Mormon triad of "Green -Mountain Boys," who went forth "in the name of the great Jehovah," to invade the strong-holds of Satan, and plant the banner of Gospel truth above the ramparts of his conquered citadels.
Heber's birth-place was the town of Sheldon, Franklin County, Vermont, ten miles from the shores of Lake Champlain. He was the fourth child and second son in a family of seven, the order of whose birth was as follows: Charles S., Eliza, Abigail, Heber C, Melvina, Solomon and Daniel S., the last named of whom died in infancy.
His father's name was Solomon Farnham Kimball, a native of Massachusetts, by trade a blacksmith, and also a farmer and builder; he professed no religion, but was a man of good moral character, and taught his children correct principles. His mother's maiden' name was Anna Spaulding; she was a strict Presbyterian, led a virtuous life and, to the best of her knowledge, reared her family in the ways of righteousness. She was born in Plainfield, New Hampshire, on the banks of the Connecticut river.
The Kimballs were of Scotch descent, their ancient name, it is believed, being Campbell. Heber's grand-father and a brother came from England, in time to assist in gaining the independence of the Colonies.
Heber derived his given name from a Judge Chase, of Massachusetts, by whom his father was reared from a boy, and who chanced to visit his former protege soon after his son was born.
In February, 1811, the Kimballs migrated from Vermont and settled in West Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York. At the age of fourteen, Heber, having quit school, was put to work in his father's blacksmith shop, and acquired a knowledge of that useful trade. When he was nineteen, his father having met with business reverses and lost his property—he was thrown entirely upon his own resources, and now began to taste the first bitter experience of his life.
He was a singular compound, in his nature, of courage and timidity, of weakness and strength; uniting a penchant for mirth with a proneness to melancholy, and blending the lion-like qualities of a leader among men with the bashfulness and lamb-like simplicity of . a child. He was not a coward; a braver man probably never lived than Heber C. Kimball. His courage, however, was not of that questionable kind which "knows no fear." Rather was it of that superior order, that Christ-like bravery, which feels danger and yet dares to face it. He had all the sensitiveness of the poet—for he was both a poet and a prophet from his mother's womb—and inherited as his birth-right the power to feel pleasure or suffer pain in all its exquisiteness and intensity.
He consequently suffered much in his lonely hours and friendless condition. He relates that he often went two or three days without food, "being bashful and not daring to ask for it."
Finally, his brother, Charles, hearing of his condition, sent for him, and offered to teach him the potter's trade, an offer which he gladly accepted. While living with ;his brother, he removed to Mendon, Monroe County, where Heber finished learning his trade and commenced working for wages; six months later he purchased his brother's business, and set up in the same line for himself, in which he prospered for upwards of ten years.
Meanwhile, the sun of love dawned on his horizon. In one of his rides he chanced to pass, one warm summer day, through the little town of Victor, in the neighboring county of Ontario. Being thirsty, he drew rein near a house where a gentleman was at work in the yard, whom he asked for a drink of water. As the one addressed went to the well to draw a fresh bucketful of the cooling liquid, he called to his daughter, Vilate, to bring a glass from the house, which he filled and sent by her to the young stranger.
Heber was greatly struck with, the beauty and refined modesty of the young girl, whose name he understood to be "Milatie," and who was the flower and pet of her father's family. Lingering as long as propriety would permit, or the glass of water would hold out, he murmured his thanks and rode reluctantly away.
It was not long before he again had "business" in Victor, and again became thirsty just as he was opposite the house where the young lady lived. Seeing the same gentleman in the yard whom he had accosted before, he hailed him and asked him for a drink of water.
This time the owner of the premises offered to wait upon him in person, but Heber, with the blunt humor for which he was noted, nearly took the old gentleman's breath by saying: "If you please, sir, I would rather My-latie would bring it to me."
"Latie," as she was called by the household, accordingly appeared and did the honors as before, and returned blushing to meet the merriment and good-natured badinage of her sister and brothers.
She, however, was quite as favorably impressed with the handsome young horseman, as he was with her. More visits followed, acquaintance ripened into love, and on the seventh of November, 1822, they were married.
Vilate Murray—for that was her name —was the youngest child of Roswell and Susannah Murray. At the time of her marriage she was only in her seventeenth year.
Heber was past twenty-one, and fast developing into as fine a specimen of manhood as one might wish to behold. Tall and powerful of frame, with piercing black eyes that seemed to read one through, and before whose searching gaze the guilty involuntarily quailed, he moved with a stateliness and majesty all his own, as far removed from haughtiness and vain pride, as he was from the sphere of the upstart who mistakes scorn for dignity and an overbearing manner as an evidence of gentle blood. Heber C. Kimball was a humble man, and in his humility, no less than his kingly stature, consisted his dignity, and no small share of his greatness. It was his earnestness, simplicity, sublime faith and unwavering integrity to principle that made him great, not the apparel he wore, nor the mortal clay in which his spirit was clothed.
Heber's temperament was religious and poetical. Sociable as he was, and even bubbling over with mirth, at times, his soul was essentially of a solemn cast. He loved solitude, not with the selfish spirit of the misanthrope, but for the opportunities it gave of communing with his own thoughts—a pleasure that only poet minds truly feel—and of listening to the voice of God and nature, expressed in all the countless and varied forms of life.
It is not strange that a nature of this kind should have been led early to seek "an anchor for the soul"—a knowledge of the truth, as it is in Christ Jesus. But his search, for many years, was in vain. He found not, among the sects of Christendom, the precious pearl which an honest soul will sell all that it hath to obtain.
Sometime in the fall or winter of 1831, five Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came from Pennsylvania to Victor, a few miles from Mendon, and stopped at the house of Phineas H. Young. They were Eleazer Miller, Elial Strong, Alpheus Gifford, Enos Curtis and Daniel Bowen. Hearing of these men, Heber was prompted by curiosity to visit them, "when," says he "for the first time I heard the fulness of the Everlasting Gospel."
To hear, with him, was to believe, for he was convinced that they taught the truth, and was constrained to receive their testimony.
The glorious news of a restored Gospel and a living Priesthood, commissioned of and communicating with the heavens; the promise of the Holy Ghost, with signs following the penitent, baptized believer; the glad message and grand proclamation of the gathering of Israel, the building up of Zion, preparatory to the second coming of the Savior; all this fell upon the heart of this God-fearing man like dew upon thirsty ground. As the voice of a familiar spirit it seemed an echo from the far past —something he had known before.
He took time to investigate, however, before acting on his convictions, and having satisfied himself in this respect, on the fifteenth day of April, 1832, he was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church. The Elder who officiated in both ordinances was Alpheus Gifford; he desired also to ordain him to the Priesthood, to confer upon him the same authority that he himself held, but the new convert, feeling unworthy of such an honor, entreated him not to do so. Heber was subsequently ordained an Elder under the hands of Joseph Young.
In the latter part of October, or early in November, 1832, he visited Kirtland, Ohio, the head-quarters of the Church and home of Joseph the Prophet. Brigham and Joseph Young accompanied him. Their first meeting with the Prophet was on the eighth day of November. The hearts of Joseph and Heber at once knit with each other, in friendship like unto that of David and Jonathan.
In the fall of 1833, Elder Kimball sold his possessions in Mendon and settled his affairs, preparatory to gathering to the bosom of the Church. His father and mother and brother Charles were dead. Four children had been born to him in Mendon, the eldest and the youngest of whom, Judith Marvin and Roswell Heber, had died. The survivors were William Henry and Helen Mar. Heber was the only one of his father's household to embrace the Gospel.
He left Mendon late in October, and arrived in Kirtland about the first of November. Besides his own family he was accompanied by Elder Brigham Young and his two little daughters, who were motherless. In Mendon and in Kirtland the families of Brigham and Heber were as one.
The newly arrived pilgrims had fallen on perilous times. Mobocracy was rife and rampant, and persecution was raging against the Church, both in Ohio and in Missouri. Says Heber: "Our enemies were raging and threatening destruction upon us. We had to guard night after night, and for weeks were not permitted to take off our clothes, and were obliged to lie with our firelocks in our arms to preserve Brother Joseph's life and our own. At this time our brethren in Jackson County, Missouri, were also suffering great persecution'; about twelve hundred were driven, plundered and robbed, their houses burned and some of the brethren were killed. Mobs were organized around Kirtland, who were enraged against us, ready to destroy us."
Such was the state of affairs with the Church of the living God at the close of the year 1833.
In February, 1834, came a commandment from the Almighty, through His Prophet, to "gather up the strength of His house" and go up and "redeem Zion;" in other words to recover from the hands of a fierce and blood-thirsty mob the lands in Jackson County, Missouri, from which the Saints had been driven. Such was the origin and object of Zion's Camp, and such the nature of the perilous duty laid upon them.
Bidding farewell to his family and friends, whom he scarcely dared hope he would ever meet again in the flesh, Heber enrolled himself in the little band of heroes who set out from Kirtland on the 5th of May, 1834. They were about two hundred strong, well armed and equipped, and were led by the Prophet Joseph in person. We cannot now follow them through all the travels and trials of that eventful pilgrimage, with its tragic sequel of death and suffering. Suffice it that, owing to a spirit of disunion and rebellion that crept into the camp, notwithstanding the faith and fidelity of many, they were not permitted to completely fulfill their mission. On the contrary, through miraculously preserved from every human foe, they were punished by a visitation of divine wrath; the cholera broke out in the camp, and its numbers were decimated by the scourge. This occurred in the latter part of June, 1834, on Rush Creek, near Fishing river, Missouri.
Thus, by foes without, and the fell destroyer within, was the faith and integrity of Zion's Camp tried and tested. It was needful, for, from the ranks of the faithful who remained, were to be chosen the first Twelve Apostles of the last dispensation.
This important quorum was called into existence on the 14th of February, 1835, at Kirtland. Its members were as follows: Thomas B. Marsh, David W. Patten, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, William E. McLellin, Parley P. Pratt, Luke S. Johnson, William Smith, Orson Pratt, John F. Boynton, Lyman E. Johnson. They were ordained Apostles under the hands of Joseph Smith Jun., Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer.
The Twelve started on their first mission May 4, 1835. They traveled through the eastern States and in Canada, preaching, baptizing, setting in order the branches of the Church, raising up new branches, counseling the Saints to gather westward, and collecting means for the completion of the Lord's house in Kirtland. They returned late in the following September.
The Kirtland Temple was dedicated on the twenty-seventh of March, 1S36. The following five months were passed by Heber in the eastern States, fulfilling a mission, the first one he had yet taken alone.
The hour was approaching when Heber C. Kimball was to make his great mark as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. On Sunday, June 4, 1837, as he was sitting in one of the stands of the Temple, the Prophet Joseph stepped in and whispered in his ear: "Brother Heber, the Spirit of the Lord has whispered to me, saying, Let my servant Heber go to England, and proclaim my Gospel, and open the door of salvation to that nation."
The thought was overpowering; he had been surprised at his call to the Apostleship; now he was overwhelmed. Like Jeremiah of old he staggered under the weight of his own weakness, and in his self humiliation exclaimed: "O Lord, I am a man of stammering tongue, and altogether unfit for such a work; how can I go to preach in that land, which is so famed throughout Christendom for learning, knowledge and piety; the nursery of religion; and to a people whose intelligence is proverbial."
Nevertheless, he resolved to go, believing it to be the will of God, in whom he trusted for every needed qualification.
He started on this important mission June 13, 1837, in company with Orson Hyde, Willard Richards and Joseph Fielding. He was compelled to leave his family almost destitute, and went forth, himself, literally "without purse or scrip." They sailed from New York on the first of July, and on the twentieth of that month landed in Liverpool.
The details of this, the first foreign mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and one of the most remarkable of modern times, are too voluminous for even hasty mention. After a marvelous experience, and equally wonderful success in preaching and baptizing, Heber C. Kimball, the father of the British mission, returned to his native land, after an absence of eleven months and nine days.
One incident of his mission we will relate, in his own words, as pertaining closely to one branch of his numerous family:
"The first child born in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Great Britain (October 7, 1837) was the daughter of James and Nancy Smithies. After she was born her parents wanted to take her to the church to be sprinkled, or christened, as they call it. I used every kind of persuasion to convince them of their folly; it being contrary to the Scriptures and the will of God; the parents wept bitterly, and it seemed as though I could not prevail on them to omit it. I wanted to know of them the reason why they were so tenacious; the answer was, 'if she dies she cannot have a burial in the churchyard.' I said to them, 'Brother and Sister Smithies, I say unto you in the name of Israel's God, she shall not die on this land, for she shall live until she becomes a mother in Israel; and I say it in the name of Jesus Christ, and by virtue of the Holy Priest hood vested in me.' That silenced them, and when she was two weeks old they presented the child to me; I took it in my arms and blessed it, that it should live to become a mother in Israel."
The child's name was Mary Smithies, who afterwards became Heber's wife and the mother of several children.
Finding, on his return from Europe, that the Church, with the exception of a few members, most of whom were lukewarm in the faith, had removed to Missouri, Heber at once prepared to follow. He left Kirtland with his family and a few others, about the first of July, 1838, and arrived at Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri, on the twenty-fifth of the month. He there met the Prophet Joseph and other dear friends and mingled with them tears of gratitude and joy.
The five years from 1833 to 1838 was one of the darkest periods in the Church's history. Mobocracy on one hand and apostasy on the other, dealt the cause of God cruel blows, such as no human work could hope to withstand. Six of the Twelve Apostles and one of the First Presidency became disaffected, and many other Elders fell away and joined hands with the robbers and murderers of their brethren. Like a rock in mid-ocean, facing the storm, unmoved by wind or wave, stood Heber C. Kim* ball, among the truest, true; among the bravest, brave.
In the fall of 1838, after a brief breathing spell, the mob troubles revived, and the tempest of persecution burst forth with tenfold fury. Far West was besieged and fell a prey to mob violence. Joseph and other leading Elders were betrayed and made prisoners, and murder and rapine held high carnival amid the smoking ruins of peaceful homes and ravaged fields.
Says Heber, who was as usual, in the thickest of the fray: "When the troops surrounded us, and we were brought into a hollow square, the first persons that I knew were men who had once professed to be beloved brethren, and they were the men who piloted these mobs into our city: William E. McLellin and Lyman E. Johnson, two of the Twelve, John Whitmer and David Whitmer, two of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon; and scores of others. * * * William E. McLellin wanted to know where Heber C. Kimball was; someone pointed me out to him, as I was sitting on the ground. He came up to me and said: 'Brother Heber, what do you think of Joseph Smith, the fallen prophet, now? Has he not led you blindfolded long enough; look and see, yourself, poor, your family stripped and robbed, and your brethren in the same fix; are you satisfied with Joseph?'
"I replied, Yes, I am more satisfied with him, a hundredfold, than ever I was before; for I see you in the very position that he foretold you would be in—a Judas to betray your brethren—if you did not forsake your adultery, fornication, lying and abominations. Where are you? What are you about; you and Hinkle and scores of others? Have you not betrayed Joseph and his brethren into the hands of the mob, as Judas did Jesus? Yes, verily you have; I tell you Mormonism is true, and Joseph is a true prophet of the living God, and you, with all others that turn therefrom, will be damned and go to hell, and Judas will rule over you."
Joseph and other leading brethren were driven off like cattle to prison. Heber, not being well known in Missouri, and consequently less an object of hatred in the eyes of the mob, was set at liberty, and with Brigham Young, his fellow Apostle, shared and assisted in the exodus of the Saints from Missouri, in the winter of 1838-9. He visited Joseph and the brethren in prison, repeatedly, sometimes at the peril of his life, and ministered to their comfort and consolation.
The following spring found the Church established at Commerce, afterwards Nauvoo, in the state of Illinois. Joseph had escaped from prison, with most of his captive companions, and the gathering of God's people was now resumed with unprecedented energy.
One day, while crossing the Mississippi, on a steamboat, looking towards and admiring the beautiful site of Nauvoo, Apostle Kimball observed: "It is a very pretty place, but not a long abiding home for the Saints."
Sidney Rigdon, one of the First Presidency, hearing of Heber's words, and dreading their prophetic potency, took him to task for it in the presence of Joseph and other Elders. "I should suppose," said he, petulantly, "that Elder Kimball had passed through sufferings and privations and mobbings and drivings enough, to learn to prophecy good concerning Israel." Heber replied: "President Rigdon, I prophecy good concerning you all the time—if you can get it." The retort amused Joseph, who laughed heartily, and Elder Rigdon yielded the point. Seven years later the truth and prescience of Heber's words were terribly confirmed.
Hardly was he settled in his new home in Nauvoo, when he was called to fulfill another mission. Again he must cross the mighty ocean, to renew in foreign lands the work which he and his fellow laborers had commenced two years before. This time he accompanied Apostle Brigham Young, then President of the Twelve, and the majority of his quorum. A great work was performed by the Apostles in the British Isles; the mission was established on a broad and permanent basis, and the mighty stream of Israel's emigration from foreign shores set in motion. They returned in the summer of 1841, after an absence of nearly two years.
It was during the days that followed their return, that Joseph taught Heber and others of the Twelve the principle of celestial or plural marriage.
The pathetic story of how Heber and Vilate Kimball received and embraced this holy principle has been tenderly told by their daughter, Helen. Here is her narrative:
"In Nauvoo, my father, among others of his brethren, was taught the plural wife doctrine, and was told by Joseph, the Prophet, three times, to go and take a certain woman as his wife; but not till he commanded him in the name of the Lord did he obey. At the same time Joseph told him not to divulge this secret, not even to my mother, for fear that she would not receive it; for his life was in constant jeopardy, not only from outside influences and enemies, who were seeking some plea to take him back to Missouri, but from false brethren who had crept like snakes into his bosom and then betrayed him.
"My father realized the situation fully, and the love and reverence he bore for the Prophet were so great that he would sooner have laid down his life than have betrayed him. This was the greatest test of his faith he had ever experienced. The thought of deceiving the kind and faithful wife of his youth, whom he loved with all his heart, and who with him had borne so patiently their separations, and all the trials and sacrifices they had been called to endure, was more than he felt able to bear.
"My mother had noticed a change in his manner and appearance, and when she inquired the cause, he tried to evade her questions. At last he promised he would tell her after a while, if she would only wait. This trouble so worked upon his mind that his anxious and haggard looks betrayed him daily and hourly, and finally his misery became so unbearable that it was impossible to control his feelings. He became sick in body, but his mental wretchedness was too great to allow of his retiring, and he would walk the floor till nearly morning, and some times the agony of his mind was so terrible that he would wring his hands and weep like a child, and beseech the Lord to be merciful and reveal to her this celestial principle, for he himself could not break his vow of secrecy.
"The anguish of their hearts was indescribable, and when she found it was useless to beseech him longer she retired to her room and bowed before the Lord and poured out her soul in prayer to him who hath said: "If any lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not." My father's heart was raised at the same time in supplication. While pleading as one would plead for life, the vision of her mind was opened, and, as darkness flees before the morning sun, so did her sorrow and the groveling things of earth vanish away.
"Before her was illustrated the order of celestial marriage, in all its beauty and glory, together with the great exaltation and honor it would confer upon her in that immortal and celestial sphere, if she would accept it and stand in her place by her husband's side. She also saw the woman he had taken to wife, and contemplated with joy the vast and boundless love and union which this order would bring about, as well as the increase of her husband's kingdoms, and the power and glory extending throughout the eternities, worlds without end.
"With a countenance beaming with joy, for she was filled with the spirit of God, she returned to my father, saying: 'Heber, what you kept from me the Lord has shown to me.' She told me she never saw so happy a man as father was when she described the vision and told him she was satisfied and knew that it was from God.
The three years following his return from England, Heber spent in the active prosecution of his apostolic labors. He fulfilled various missions in the States, but never again crossed the ocean to other lands. His purely missionary labors were drawing to a close. The hour of martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph was approaching, and upon the shoulders of the Twelve was about to roll the burden of the kingdom of the latter days.
On the twenty-first of May, of the fateful year, 1844, Heber C. Kimball left Nauvoo, on his last mission to the Gentiles. He accompanied President Brigham Young, and other Apostles and Elders. The object of their mission was to present to the nation the name of Joseph Smith, as a candidate for the presidency of the United States. While they were absent Joseph and Hyrum were assassinated in Carthage jail. Heber was in Salem, Massachusetts, when the terrible news reached his ears. The Twelve, grief-stricken and almost crushed with sorrow, turned their sad steps homeward, arriving in Nauvoo on the sixth of August, forty days after the martyrdom.
The Church had received a stunning blow, but with superhuman vitality it revived from the shock, and rose up in godlike energy to renew its mission of salvation to mankind. Under the magic stroke of the wand of Omnipotence, other great men had risen to perpetuate the works and memories of the martyred slain. Joseph's mantle fell upon Brigham Young. Heber C. Kimball was his right-hand man, and as he had before stood by Joseph, he now stood firm at the side of his successor, a pillar of faith and power not to be broken.
On the seventeenth of February, 1846, he left the doomed city of Nauvoo, and joined the camp of Israel on Sugar Creek, with their faces towards the Rocky Mountains. His prediction concerning Nauvoo was being fulfilled. The exodus of the Saints from Illinois had begun.
The camp commenced its westward march on Sunday, March 1, 1846. Three months later found them at Winter Quarters, on the Missouri river. From this point went forth the Mormon Battalion to Mexico, the same summer, and in the following spring, the Pioneers, whose destination was the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Heber C. Kimball was one of the famous little band whose wagons, on the twenty-fourth of July, forty years ago, rolled down yonder slope and encamped upon this then barren plain.
The fall of the year found him back at Winter Quarters, assisting to prepare for the next season's emigration. At a conference held there, on the twenty-seventh of December, 1847, the quorum of the First Presidency, which had been vacant since the death of Joseph, was reorganized, and Brigham Young was chosen President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world, with Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as his counselors. This action was confirmed at the General Conference in Great Salt Lake City, in October of the following year.
The residue of Heber C. Kimball's history, here so briefly told, is confined to the land which his wives and children now inhabit, and where much of it that will never be written is cherished as precious memories in the hearts of tens of thousands. Many will remember his famous prophecy in the year 1848—the year of the cricket plague —when the half-starved, half-clad settlers scarcely knew where to look for the next crust of bread, or for rags to hide their nakedness. His amazing assertion that within a few months, "States goods" would be sold in the streets of Salt Lake City as cheap as in New York, and that the people should be abundantly supplied with clothing, with its wonderful fulfillment in the unexpected advent of the gold-hunters en route for California, is a notable instance of the prescient power that rested upon him, and stamped him as a prophet of God.
In the famine year of 1856, he played a part like unto that of Joseph of old; feeding from his own bins and storehouses, filled by his providence and foresight in anticipation of the straitness of the times, the hungry multitude—kindred, strangers and all—who looked to him for succor.
It is related that, in the midst of this season of distress, a brother, sorely in need of bread, came to him for counsel as to how he should procure it.
"Go and marry a wife," was Heber's terse reply.
Thunderstruck at receiving such an answer, at such a time, when he could scarcely find food for himself, the man went his way, dazed and bewildered, thinking that President Kimball must be out of his mind. But the more he thought of the prophetic character and calling of the one who had given him this strange advice, the less he felt like ignoring it. Finally he resolved to obey counsel, let the consequences be what they might. But where was the woman who would marry him? was the next problem. Bethinking himself of a widow with several children, whom he thought might be induced to share her lot with him, he mustered up courage, proposed and was accepted.
In that widow's house was laid up a six months' store of provisions.
Meeting President Kimball shortly afterwards, the now prosperous man of family exclaimed:
"Well, Brother Heber, I followed your advice— "
"Yes," said the servant of God, "and you found bread."
But a volume might be written, and then the half remain untold, of the sayings and doings of this mighty man of God. We can only sketch them now, in haste and brevity, promising, by the blessing of the Lord, a book more worthy of the subject in the future.
On the 22nd of October, 1867, died Vilate Murray Kimball, as noble a wife and mother, and as unselfish and devoted a Saint, as ever drew breath. Her loss was a heavy blow to her sorrowing husband. "I shall not be long after her," was the sad prophecy that fell from his quivering lips, as he followed the remains of his beloved partner to the tomb. In less than a twelve-month his words were fulfilled.
On the morning of the 22nd of June, 1868, death again entered the household, leveling his fatal shaft at the mighty heart of its patriarchal head. At the age of sixty-seven years, his mind yet unimpaired, his iron frame unbent by age, but with health shattered by toil and trial in the service of his Maker, Heber C. Kimball, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, the tried and trusted friend of God passed peacefully from earth away. Freed from his mortal prison-house, of sorrow and of pain, his mission here completed, he sought once more the scenes and society of his spirit youth in the realms of eternal rest.
Past angels, Gods and sentinels, who guard
The gates celestial, challengeless and free,
That sovereign spirit soared unto its own;
By shouting millions welcomed back again,
With all his new-won laurels on his brow --
The meed of valor and of victory --
To exaltations endless as the lives!
Orson F. Whitney.
Parry, Edwin F. "Lessons From the Lives of Our Leaders." Juvenile Instructor. 1 September 1899. pg. 519-521.
LESSONS FROM THE LIVES OF OUR LEADERS;
Or Examples of Practical Religion.
I.
By the term 'our leaders" is meant the authorities of our Church, both past and present. The name is appropriate. They lead the way and kindly invite others to follow. They are not like the military commander who urges his soldiers to the front of the battle while he directs from a safe distance; nor the agitator of revolution who incites the masses to riot while he seeks refuge in a secure retreat.
The old adage, "Example is better than precept," has ever been adhered to by our leaders in guiding the Saints in their religious duties. At the same time, their precepts are consistent with their example, and are serviceable because they are the results of practical experience.
Practical religion consists in performing our every-day duties such as these set forth by the Savior in His sermon on the mount and in His other teachings given to His disciples as recorded in the holy scriptures. To point out instances wherein these teachings have been carried out in the lives of individuals will serve to show that they are not too extremely ideal to be practical, and may serve to encourage others to follow their noble example.
One of the injunctions of the Savior was to "love thy neighbor as thyself." This was beautifully exemplified in the life of the late President Heber C. Kimball.
In the early settlement of Utah there were times when food was extremely scarce. In 1848 the crickets, which appeared in great swarms, destroyed much of the crops; and were it not for the providential appearance of the gulls that came and devoured the crickets, the growing crops would evidently have been entirely eaten by that insect pest. At other times grasshoppers were so numerous that they became a plague, and caused a scarcity of breadstuff by their widespread ravages.
From the very earliest settlement of the Great Salt Lake Valley the Church leaders were inspired to counsel the Saints to save their grain for times of scarcity. But very frequently people neglected to follow the instructions imparted to them, and when crops were a failure they consequently suffered.
The harvest of 1855 was a very poor one, and by the beginning of the next year an actual famine was raging in the community. There was no flour on sale in the market, and some few individuals who had some to spare sold it as high as twenty-five and thirty dollars a hundred.
Heber C. Kimball, at that time counselor to President Brigham Young, was one who had not only appealed to the Saints to store their grain in times of plenty, but had also set them a practical example by laying up quantities of it himself. During the famine of 1856 he with his family might have lived in comfort, having plenty to eat, and considerably more that he could have disposed of at exorbitant prices. But this he did not do. He had learned to love his neighbor as himself, and to do unto others as he would like others to do to him. Instead of reproving the famine-stricken people for their disregard of counsel, his great soul was turned in sympathy towards them. He devoted his time to supplying those who were suffering from his own store of grain and flour. And so extensive became this labor of love that he employed the assistance of others besides himself and his good wife to distribute supplies to the needy. During the months of scarcity he kept open house, and fed from seventy-five to a hundred persons daily. Nor was this all, for he sent presents of flour and other food to many who did not come to his board; and then, in order that the benefits of his liberality might extend still further and save any from actual starvation, he placed himself and his family upon short rations.
When this famine began to be felt President Kimball had in store thousands of bushels of wheat, besides considerable quantities of other grain, but before harvest time came the supply was all gone.
Such an example of liberality and love for fellow-beings is not only worthy of record and remembrance, but also of emulation by all who profess to be followers of Christ or who believe in His word.
It might be added that there were others of our Church leaders who manifested this same self-sacrificing disposition at this critical time. And there are many other instances that might be related to show the loving character of those whom God has chosen to lead His people.
Edwin F. Parry.
LESSONS FROM THE LIVES OF OUR LEADERS;
Or Examples of Practical Religion.
I.
By the term 'our leaders" is meant the authorities of our Church, both past and present. The name is appropriate. They lead the way and kindly invite others to follow. They are not like the military commander who urges his soldiers to the front of the battle while he directs from a safe distance; nor the agitator of revolution who incites the masses to riot while he seeks refuge in a secure retreat.
The old adage, "Example is better than precept," has ever been adhered to by our leaders in guiding the Saints in their religious duties. At the same time, their precepts are consistent with their example, and are serviceable because they are the results of practical experience.
Practical religion consists in performing our every-day duties such as these set forth by the Savior in His sermon on the mount and in His other teachings given to His disciples as recorded in the holy scriptures. To point out instances wherein these teachings have been carried out in the lives of individuals will serve to show that they are not too extremely ideal to be practical, and may serve to encourage others to follow their noble example.
One of the injunctions of the Savior was to "love thy neighbor as thyself." This was beautifully exemplified in the life of the late President Heber C. Kimball.
In the early settlement of Utah there were times when food was extremely scarce. In 1848 the crickets, which appeared in great swarms, destroyed much of the crops; and were it not for the providential appearance of the gulls that came and devoured the crickets, the growing crops would evidently have been entirely eaten by that insect pest. At other times grasshoppers were so numerous that they became a plague, and caused a scarcity of breadstuff by their widespread ravages.
From the very earliest settlement of the Great Salt Lake Valley the Church leaders were inspired to counsel the Saints to save their grain for times of scarcity. But very frequently people neglected to follow the instructions imparted to them, and when crops were a failure they consequently suffered.
The harvest of 1855 was a very poor one, and by the beginning of the next year an actual famine was raging in the community. There was no flour on sale in the market, and some few individuals who had some to spare sold it as high as twenty-five and thirty dollars a hundred.
Heber C. Kimball, at that time counselor to President Brigham Young, was one who had not only appealed to the Saints to store their grain in times of plenty, but had also set them a practical example by laying up quantities of it himself. During the famine of 1856 he with his family might have lived in comfort, having plenty to eat, and considerably more that he could have disposed of at exorbitant prices. But this he did not do. He had learned to love his neighbor as himself, and to do unto others as he would like others to do to him. Instead of reproving the famine-stricken people for their disregard of counsel, his great soul was turned in sympathy towards them. He devoted his time to supplying those who were suffering from his own store of grain and flour. And so extensive became this labor of love that he employed the assistance of others besides himself and his good wife to distribute supplies to the needy. During the months of scarcity he kept open house, and fed from seventy-five to a hundred persons daily. Nor was this all, for he sent presents of flour and other food to many who did not come to his board; and then, in order that the benefits of his liberality might extend still further and save any from actual starvation, he placed himself and his family upon short rations.
When this famine began to be felt President Kimball had in store thousands of bushels of wheat, besides considerable quantities of other grain, but before harvest time came the supply was all gone.
Such an example of liberality and love for fellow-beings is not only worthy of record and remembrance, but also of emulation by all who profess to be followers of Christ or who believe in His word.
It might be added that there were others of our Church leaders who manifested this same self-sacrificing disposition at this critical time. And there are many other instances that might be related to show the loving character of those whom God has chosen to lead His people.
Edwin F. Parry.
"Centenary of President Heber C. Kimball." Juvenile Instructor. 1 July 1901. pg. 401.
CENTENARY OF PRESIDENT HEBER C. KIMBALL. ONE hundred years ago on June 14th, President Heber C. Kimball was born. What marvelous changes those one hundred years have made! His earlier years were the days of the old flint-lock musket and the tinder box, of the sickle and the flail, the tallow dip and the spinning wheel. Then nothing was known of the use of steam or electricity, there were no telegraphs, or telephones, or photographs, or sewing machines. Within the century the population of the world has doubled, and man's capacity for work increased one hundred fold, in some directions perhaps it would not be far from the truth to say a thousand fold. At that time the world advanced at a comfortable jog trot pace, today we are rushing along at lightning speed. Then how wonderfully science has advanced! A century ago we knew comparatively little of our own little earth, today we weigh the planets as they revolve in their orbits, and analyze the elements of which the suns are composed. Nothing, but how to prolong this mortal life for ever, seems beyond the reach of the sons of men. Then how different are our ideas of religion! In those days men were frightened into being good and doing right by the terrors of hell fire; nowadays “the devil is a myth, and hell is abolished.” In some respects in religious matters there has been simply change and not progress, and that change has not always been in the right direction. It is very questionable if men are not farther from God in 1901 than they were a hundred years ago. But in certain directions true progress has been made religiously, and men can, if they will, learn God's laws and keep His commandments in a way that was impossible when Heber C. Kimball was born; and to him, and his associates in the Holy Priesthood, the world is indebted, under God, for the vast change, the wonderful progress that has been made in true religion. |
PRESIDENT HEBER C. KIMBALL.
|
Smith, Joseph F., et al. "Heber Chase Kimball." Young Woman's Journal. June 1909. pg. 250-258.
Heber Chase Kimball.
President Joseph F. Smith.
My first remembrance of President Heber C. Kimball goes back to the days of my childhood. He was a familiar and prominent figure in my mind in Nauvoo, Illinois, as the father of his sons William, Heber, and David, with whom, as a little boy, I was more intimate, although the two former were several years my seniors. I also recall him in those early days as the possessor of one of the best homes in the City of Nauvoo, and as the husband of “Aunt” Vilate Kimball, one of the dearest, kindest, most motherly souls who ever came within the range of my memory, or acquaintance ; and also as the father of Helen M. Kimball, a beautiful young woman, very much resembling her mother in appearance, and who was somewhat noted in the Smith family as being in some way related to it, and who, after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was married to Horace K. Whitney and became the mother of our present poet and historian, Orson F. Whitney.
One of my most distinct recollections of President Kimball was in the winter of 1845-6 in the Nauvoo Temple. My mother and her sister, Mercy R. Thompson, were much engaged in the work going on in the temple that winter, and President Kimball was also associated with the work being done there. It was there that my father’s children were sealed to their parents, and President Kimball officiated.
In February, 1846, President Kimball took up the line of march, with the Twelve and the Saints who were driven out of Nauvoo, for their long journey into the wilderness, which eventually led to the occupancy of the valley of the Great Salt Lake, the settlement of Utah, by the Saints, and the fulfillment of the prophecy by Joseph Smith, that the Saints should gather to the Rocky Mountains.
The incident which more particularly specialized this departure of President Kimball to my mind, was the fact that my brother John, now the Patriarch, and then a boy of about twelve years, accompanied President Kimball and family on their pilgrimage into the unknown wilderness, leaving us in Nauvoo in great fear and doubt as to whether we should ever see them again or not. This made an indelible impression upon my mind, and ever after there seemed to be an inseverable tie connecting us with President Kimball and his family.
In 1848 we crossed the plains in a sub-division of President Kimball’s company. He baptized me in City Creek, in 1850, where the junction of East and North Temple streets now is.
In July, 1852, while attending a meeting which was held in Salt Lake City, my mother was taken sick, and went to the home of President Kimball, where she remained during her last illness; under the care of Aunt Vilate. This brought me almost constantly for months directly in contact with President Kimball and family.
It was here I became more familiar with his home life and habits. I was greatly impressed and moved by his manner of praying in his family. I have never heard any other man pray as he did. He did not speak to the Lord as one afar off, but as if conversing with Him face to face. Time and again I have been so impressed with the idea of the actual presence of God, while he was conversing with Him in prayer, that I could not refrain from looking up to see if He were actually present and visible. While President Kimball was very strict in his family, he was ever kind and tender towards them.
I sometimes thought he was even kinder to me than to his own boys. I have heard him reprove them, but no word of reproof ever fell from his lips upon me. Later, through him, I was sent on my first mission. No better or kinder thing was ever done for me. It gave me four years of experience and seasoning which fixed my whole course of life, and it came just at the right time to the boy that I was.
Later I was associated with him in the Endowment House, where I served with him and under his direction for years. This brought me into the most intimate relation with him, and gave to each the most complete and perfect opportunity of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the other. I learned to love him with the truest love, and the many evidences of his love and confidence in me are beyond all question.
My latest recollections of him are associated with a most unusual call made upon a number of brethren in 1868 by President Brigham Young to accompany him on a mission to Provo. Among these were Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, Abraham O. Smoot, Elijah F. Sheets, George G. By water and myself. These brethren all located in Provo with President Young, and those of the number possessed of means (Presidents Young and Kimball, and Elders Smoot and Sheets) proceeded at once to build themselves homes there.
It was while President Kimball was engaged in building and preparing a place for a portion of his family in Provo, that he met with m accident from which he did not recover, and soon after, Monday, June 22nd, 1868, came his final summons to meet the actual Presence of the Gracious Father, with whom he had, in prayer, so long and truly counseled, as if face to face with Him, and whom he had devotedly served to the last moment.
President Heber C. Kimball was one of God’s noblemen. True as steel to every trust. Pure as refined gold. Fearless of foes or of death. Keen of perception, full of the spirit of the prophets. Inspired of God. Valiant in the testimony of Christ. A lifelong, undeviating friend and witness of the divine calling and mission of Joseph Smith. He was called by the grace of God, ordained by divine authority, and lived and died an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A Daughter’s Tribute
No tribute paid to a great man can be more impressive than that of a wife, son, or daughter. They know his private as well as his public life. At no time are their hearts more tender nor do they think more of the departed than on the anniversary of his birth and death.
I have often been deeply moved by hearing Alice Kimball Smith speak of her father. The intense love she has for him is always evidenced whenever she speaks of him. I well remember the 107th anniversary of Brother Kimball’s birth because of the things I learned about him from his daughter Alice. I could see that she was stirred by some great emotion, but did not know what it was until she said, ‘’Today is my father’s birthday.” Then I knew how all her thoughts went out to that father whom she loved so much. I knew she was living over again her childhood days ere her father departed this life. Although he died when she was quite young, he had left a lasting impression upon her mind. She remembered his unwavering faith in God and devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. As she thought of his Church work the name of Brigham Young came to her mind and she said, ’‘There is only fourteen days difference between his age and that of President Brigham Young. They were born in the same month, the same year, and in. the same state, the state of Vermont. They were both members of the first quorum of Apostles, organized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I feel that they are kindred spirits, and I can scarcely think of one of them without thinking of the other.”
A chance remark called to her mind this interesting incident, which she introduced by saying : “My father taught me many lessons that I did not understand at the time. He used to have a store room where he kept a supply of shoes, calicoes and other articles. When we needed any of these things we had to go to father and ask him for them. I remember on one occasion, my sister Sarah and I needed some new shoes, so we went to our father. We must have been very little children, but we had made up our minds that we were going to have some very fine shoes. We never told him—he mud have guessed it. He took us into his little store-room, and I remember well how he looked at us and then selected two pairs of great big, broad-soled, low-topped, old-lady's shoes, and put them carefully on our feet. He laced them up and tied them, then he told us to walk. We could not walk, we shuffled around, and I will never forget as long as I live, the feeling of disappointment and horror that came over me when I looked down at my feet. When I turned to Sarah and saw tears rolling down her cheeks, I tried to be brave. After a moment my father gave one of his characteristic laughs; took them off, put them away and selected two pairs that were anything but pretty and fine, but they came somewhere near fitting us, and we went home very happy. I wondered why a man so great and grand as he, would select such shoes, put them on our feet and take the trouble to lace them up and tie them, when any one could see at a glance they would not do at all. One day, years afterwards, it dawned on me that if he had given us, in the first place, the shoes that finally made us happy, we would have been very much disappointed. After this experience, it was a relief to get something that came somewhere near fitting us, and we went home rejoicing. This made a lasting impression upon my mind, I have thought of it many times in my life, and I have practiced it upon every one of mv children, and I believe our Heavenly Father tries it on His children.”
I mentioned what a large family her father had. Her face lit up as she said: “Yes, and how he loved us all! He was very proud of us and wished us to appear well. Often did he march us through the streets. When he took us to a matinee or an entertainment, we had to walk in twos and keep in step; if one got out, father would say, 'Right! Left! Right! Left!’ until all were in perfect marching older.
"My father was a grand and noble man. He has many sons and daughters here upon the earth at the present time. Some of them are indifferent and some of them are as good as gold. He has a claim on us, and I believe those who stray away will be whipped back into line. If they sin, they will pay the penalty, but they will be gathered back to the fold. This is my faith and has been all the days of my life.”
What a satisfaction it must be to Brother Kimball’s children to have such an excellent biography of their father as that written by his grandson, Orson F. Whitney, I said, "You don’t know how eagerly I looked forward to reading it and how I enjoyed especially the parts taken from father’s own diary,” she replied, "I was so much pleased with the description of father’s character, that I committed it to memory the first time I read it he said:
“ ‘He was a singular compound, in his nature, of courage and timidity, of weakness and strength; uniting a penchant for mirth with a proneness to melancholy, and blending the lionlike qualities of a leader among men, with the bashfulness and lamb-like simplicity of a child. He was not a coward; a braver man probably never lived than Heber C. Kimball. His courage, however, was not of that questionable kind which ‘knows no fear.’ Rather was it of that superior order, that Christ-like bravery, which feels danger and yet dares to face it. He had all the sensitiveness of the poet—for he was both a poet and a prophet from his mother’s womb— and inherited by birthright the power to feel pleasure or suffer pain in all its exquisitiveness and intensity.'"
Never shall I forget the final tribute she paid him on that beautiful June morning. It was this: "I love my father’s memory, I cherish in my heart every word that I ever heard him utter and every impression that he made upon my life. I know he was a man of God. I know that he lived near to God, for I have heard him pray, and when he prayed to his Heavenly Father, he talked with Him as a son would talk with an earthly parent. This made a lasting impression upon my mind, and I believe that in all my life my Father in Heaven has seemed nearer to me because, when a child, I heard my father pray unto Him.
A Son’s Tribute.
Solomon F. Kimball.
June 14th marks the one hundred and eighth anniversary of the birth of Heber Chase Kimball. This worthy Prophet, pioneer, and colonizer, was born in 1801, at Sheldon, Franklin County, Vermont. His fourth great-grandfather, Richard, was born in 1595, at Rattlesden, Suffolk County, England, and came to America in 1634, on the ship Elizabeth.
President Kimball was not always understood even by his nearest and dearest friend. The greater the love he had for a man, the more severe was the test he applied to that man. This he did for a wise purpose, just as the Lord, through the Prophet Joseph and President Brigham Young had tried him. He well understood this principle, knowing that when a righteous man is chided it makes him more humble; while on the other hand, a corrupt man becomes rebellious.
The enemies of this remarkable man, who find fault with him for the blunt and forceful expressions which he made, should read his history, and then try to imagine what they would have done under similar varying circumstances in which he found himself. In the first place, in connection with the Latter-day Saints in general, figuratively speaking, he had been made a football of for fifteen years; and for no other reason than that they were worshiping Israel’s God according to the light revealed to them from the heavens, through their great Prophet and leader Joseph Smith. To cap the climax, the Saints, with starvation staring them in the face, were driven fifteen hundred miles from their comfortable homes, into a howling wilderness. Then, before Heber C. Kimball and other mighty leaders had fairly established themselves in ties then barren region, their persecutors were again snapping at their heels, with the hope and determination of driving them into the Pacific Ocean.
If a worm turns when stepped upon, what could be expected of men of Heber C. Kimball’s calibre? He was a man of character, determination, full of vim, a natural born financier who could accumulate wealth where an ordinary man might starve. He was Godfearing, as tenderhearted as a child, and possessed the gift of healing to a remarkable degree. His heart was filled with compassion towards all men, and his soul was full of love. He was ready at all times to give counsel to the weakest child that came in his way, and thousands of the older members of the Church remember him with love and respect. He was a man of such great discernment that it was almost impossible to deceive him. He was an ardent lover of animals, and had regard even for the lower species.
This is what President George Q. Cannon had to say about him: “Heber Chase Kimball was one of the greatest men of this age. There was a certain nobility about his disposition, that would have made him conspicuous in any community. He was a man of commanding presence, with eyes so keen as to almost pierce one through, and before which the guilty involuntarily quailed. He was fearless and powerful in rebuking the wrong-doer, but kind, benevolent and fatherly to the deserving. He possessed such wonderful control over the passions of men, combined with such wisdom and diplomacy, that the Prophet Joseph Smith called him, “The peace maker.”
“His great faith, zeal, earnestness, devotion to principle, cheerfulness under the most trying circumstances, energy, perseverance and honest simplicity marked him as no ordinary man. He possessed great natural force and strong will powers, yet in his submission to the Priesthood and obedience to the laws of God, he set a pattern to the whole Church. No man perhaps, Joseph Smith excepted, who has belonged to the Church in this generation, ever possessed the gift of prophecy to a greater degree than Brother Kimball.”
Apostle Franklin D. Richards in writing of President Kimball’s missionary work in England had this to say: “The wonderful following and ingathering of souls at the opening of the British Mission, evidenced the purity and power of his Apostleship which was unexcelled since the awakening in Judea by Jesus and John.” According to Heber C. Kimball’s own estimation, he converted and baptized into the “Mormon” Church not less than 3,000 souls.
During the troublesome times at Kirtland, Ohio, he stood so high :n the estimation of the Prophet Joseph, that that mighty leader recorded in his journal, that Heber C. Kimball was one of the Apostles who had never raised his heel against him; and President Brigham Young declared at his funeral, “That he was a man of as much integrity, he presumed, as any man who ever lived upon the earth.”
A number of the most prominent Kimballs of the United States have publicly declared that Heber Chase Kimball is the greatest Kimball that America has ever produced, and these eminent non-“Mormons” have placed his history in some of the most noted libraries in the United States.
The subject of prayer was probably as well understood by him, as by any other living man. When in sore trouble, he pleaded with the Lord like a living son with his earthly father, and never ceased praying till he felt the Spirit of God burning in his bosom. He often remarked that a prayer was never heard under ordinary circumstances unless such was the case.
Before family prayers he most always made a few remarks upon religious topics, or read several pages from some of the standard works of the Church; then before he had prayed many minutes, those who were present could not only feel the Spirit of the Lord permeating their being, but at times it seemed like the whole room was filled with heavenly angels. On such occasions it was no unusual occurrence to see his family and friends with bowed heads, sobbing as if their hearts would melt within them.
Valiant for the Truth
Emmeline B. Wells
A number of choice spirits were born into the world during the early part of the nineteenth century, beside the chosen Prophet of God, Joseph Smith, and his illustrious brother Hyrum the Patriarch; born too upon the same soil in the vales of the rugged Green Mountains of Vermont—that state that has produced so many stalwart sons of liberty, who have borne themselves nobly in peace and in war, and have attained merited distinction in various fields of the world’s work.
Among these men of valor and renown whose names will stand high on the scroll of fame, and of whom we speak most reverently because of their fidelity and integrity and their undying devotion to the truths revealed from heaven, two of the closest friends of the Prophet Joseph Smith were Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. To one who knew them well in their palmiest days, it is difficult to speak of one without mentioning the other, so closely were their lives interwoven for many years. And yet in personality and in many attributes of character, they were distinctively different—each one equally great in himself.
Heber C. Kimball was perfect and symmetrical in figure—tall and straight and dignified in appearance and manner. He was a man of sound judgment, read character well, and was rarely mistaken in his opinions of people. He was honest and upright in all his transactions, and as tender-hearted as a little child. His was an extremely sensitive nature, and a deeply emotional temperament. He had a strong individuality and was a man who made a lasting and indelible impression upon people wherever he went. He was always himself, he despised ostentation or show, was pleasing in conversation, a good story teller, dealing much in metaphor, and invariably illustrating his remarks with simile. He possessed a rare vein of humor—a legacy conveyed in more or less degree to some of his sons. He was intensely original, if there be such a thing as originality (which some people deny); indeed this may be said to have been his strong point, for he was not like any other man that we have ever known. Moreover he was totally devoid of fear and had the courage of a lion. Add to all this his devoted allegiance to Joseph the Prophet and to his life-long companion Brigham Young—an allegiance without reserve and almost without parallel—and you behold a character illumined by sublimity of soul which it is an inspiration to contemplate.
In his youth Heber C. Kimball had few advantages of education, hut he had all the best qualities and attributes of greatness; he was largely self-taught, though no one could be intimately associated with Joseph Smith, as he was, and not imbibe the teachings of that mastermind. The Prophet seemed in constant communication with the world beyond and its higher powers, and the gems of truth thus revealed were glorious, far exceeding earthly knowledge or wisdom. Inevitably those who were in daily contact with him partook of this same spirit.
In memory I can picture Brigham and Heber as they walked side by side, or rode in the same carriage on the streets of Nauvoo, or as they sat at the table at the noon hour in the large unfinished dining room over the tithing office on the Temple hill. As I listened to their conversation, and that of other great men, how wonderful it all seemed to me. Looking back at it now, it is like a fairy tale. But this was one of the grave realities of those wonderful days: they were planning for the work to be done in the House of the Lord, and for the journey afterwards into the wilderness.
On the long and tedious march from Nauvoo the Kimballs and Whitneys were close to one another the two families like one. In Winter Quarters the families again lived very near together and we saw Brother Kimball daily, except when he came with the pioneers to the Valley in 1847. Journeying across the plains we were in the same company and in the Valley again we were close neighbors. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that I came to know Brother Heber well and to note his moods and peculiarities—call some of them eccentricities if you will. Thus during his daily life and conversation, I can testify of his marvelous power in proclaiming the Gospel and the mighty faith and zeal manifest in all he put his hand to do. His heart and soul were in the Latter-day work, he never shirked a duty however arduous, and he used his great talents for the public good. A most remarkable gift possessed by him in an uncommon degree was the gift of prophecy. He had a strongly prophetic nature; he seemed to read the future clearly without effort, and many of his prophetic utterances have already marvelously come to pass, and undoubtedly the others will also be fulfilled.
This is the Lord’s work, and His is the glory. But so far as human agencies are concerned it is great men like Heber C. Kimball who have fashioned largely the future destiny of this people by laying the strong foundations of virtue, morality, honesty, sobriety and temperance in all things, and brotherly love in dealing with each other. Those who knew him best loved him most, for he was a man of God, who loved his fellowmen—a patriot in heart and soul with a love for his country, born of ancestry who fought for liberty of conscience and the right to worship God according to its dictates. He was a hero of his age and time, and leaves a memory imperishable in the annals of history of this Western world, which he assisted in colonizing and where he helped establish the standards of industry, peace, harmony, and protection for all under the banner of freedom.
I count myself wiser and happier and better to have known Heber C. Kimball. It is close personal association with such choice spirits that gives vitality and depth to life, and makes the world a better place to live in.
Heber Chase Kimball.
President Joseph F. Smith.
My first remembrance of President Heber C. Kimball goes back to the days of my childhood. He was a familiar and prominent figure in my mind in Nauvoo, Illinois, as the father of his sons William, Heber, and David, with whom, as a little boy, I was more intimate, although the two former were several years my seniors. I also recall him in those early days as the possessor of one of the best homes in the City of Nauvoo, and as the husband of “Aunt” Vilate Kimball, one of the dearest, kindest, most motherly souls who ever came within the range of my memory, or acquaintance ; and also as the father of Helen M. Kimball, a beautiful young woman, very much resembling her mother in appearance, and who was somewhat noted in the Smith family as being in some way related to it, and who, after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was married to Horace K. Whitney and became the mother of our present poet and historian, Orson F. Whitney.
One of my most distinct recollections of President Kimball was in the winter of 1845-6 in the Nauvoo Temple. My mother and her sister, Mercy R. Thompson, were much engaged in the work going on in the temple that winter, and President Kimball was also associated with the work being done there. It was there that my father’s children were sealed to their parents, and President Kimball officiated.
In February, 1846, President Kimball took up the line of march, with the Twelve and the Saints who were driven out of Nauvoo, for their long journey into the wilderness, which eventually led to the occupancy of the valley of the Great Salt Lake, the settlement of Utah, by the Saints, and the fulfillment of the prophecy by Joseph Smith, that the Saints should gather to the Rocky Mountains.
The incident which more particularly specialized this departure of President Kimball to my mind, was the fact that my brother John, now the Patriarch, and then a boy of about twelve years, accompanied President Kimball and family on their pilgrimage into the unknown wilderness, leaving us in Nauvoo in great fear and doubt as to whether we should ever see them again or not. This made an indelible impression upon my mind, and ever after there seemed to be an inseverable tie connecting us with President Kimball and his family.
In 1848 we crossed the plains in a sub-division of President Kimball’s company. He baptized me in City Creek, in 1850, where the junction of East and North Temple streets now is.
In July, 1852, while attending a meeting which was held in Salt Lake City, my mother was taken sick, and went to the home of President Kimball, where she remained during her last illness; under the care of Aunt Vilate. This brought me almost constantly for months directly in contact with President Kimball and family.
It was here I became more familiar with his home life and habits. I was greatly impressed and moved by his manner of praying in his family. I have never heard any other man pray as he did. He did not speak to the Lord as one afar off, but as if conversing with Him face to face. Time and again I have been so impressed with the idea of the actual presence of God, while he was conversing with Him in prayer, that I could not refrain from looking up to see if He were actually present and visible. While President Kimball was very strict in his family, he was ever kind and tender towards them.
I sometimes thought he was even kinder to me than to his own boys. I have heard him reprove them, but no word of reproof ever fell from his lips upon me. Later, through him, I was sent on my first mission. No better or kinder thing was ever done for me. It gave me four years of experience and seasoning which fixed my whole course of life, and it came just at the right time to the boy that I was.
Later I was associated with him in the Endowment House, where I served with him and under his direction for years. This brought me into the most intimate relation with him, and gave to each the most complete and perfect opportunity of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the other. I learned to love him with the truest love, and the many evidences of his love and confidence in me are beyond all question.
My latest recollections of him are associated with a most unusual call made upon a number of brethren in 1868 by President Brigham Young to accompany him on a mission to Provo. Among these were Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, Abraham O. Smoot, Elijah F. Sheets, George G. By water and myself. These brethren all located in Provo with President Young, and those of the number possessed of means (Presidents Young and Kimball, and Elders Smoot and Sheets) proceeded at once to build themselves homes there.
It was while President Kimball was engaged in building and preparing a place for a portion of his family in Provo, that he met with m accident from which he did not recover, and soon after, Monday, June 22nd, 1868, came his final summons to meet the actual Presence of the Gracious Father, with whom he had, in prayer, so long and truly counseled, as if face to face with Him, and whom he had devotedly served to the last moment.
President Heber C. Kimball was one of God’s noblemen. True as steel to every trust. Pure as refined gold. Fearless of foes or of death. Keen of perception, full of the spirit of the prophets. Inspired of God. Valiant in the testimony of Christ. A lifelong, undeviating friend and witness of the divine calling and mission of Joseph Smith. He was called by the grace of God, ordained by divine authority, and lived and died an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A Daughter’s Tribute
No tribute paid to a great man can be more impressive than that of a wife, son, or daughter. They know his private as well as his public life. At no time are their hearts more tender nor do they think more of the departed than on the anniversary of his birth and death.
I have often been deeply moved by hearing Alice Kimball Smith speak of her father. The intense love she has for him is always evidenced whenever she speaks of him. I well remember the 107th anniversary of Brother Kimball’s birth because of the things I learned about him from his daughter Alice. I could see that she was stirred by some great emotion, but did not know what it was until she said, ‘’Today is my father’s birthday.” Then I knew how all her thoughts went out to that father whom she loved so much. I knew she was living over again her childhood days ere her father departed this life. Although he died when she was quite young, he had left a lasting impression upon her mind. She remembered his unwavering faith in God and devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. As she thought of his Church work the name of Brigham Young came to her mind and she said, ’‘There is only fourteen days difference between his age and that of President Brigham Young. They were born in the same month, the same year, and in. the same state, the state of Vermont. They were both members of the first quorum of Apostles, organized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I feel that they are kindred spirits, and I can scarcely think of one of them without thinking of the other.”
A chance remark called to her mind this interesting incident, which she introduced by saying : “My father taught me many lessons that I did not understand at the time. He used to have a store room where he kept a supply of shoes, calicoes and other articles. When we needed any of these things we had to go to father and ask him for them. I remember on one occasion, my sister Sarah and I needed some new shoes, so we went to our father. We must have been very little children, but we had made up our minds that we were going to have some very fine shoes. We never told him—he mud have guessed it. He took us into his little store-room, and I remember well how he looked at us and then selected two pairs of great big, broad-soled, low-topped, old-lady's shoes, and put them carefully on our feet. He laced them up and tied them, then he told us to walk. We could not walk, we shuffled around, and I will never forget as long as I live, the feeling of disappointment and horror that came over me when I looked down at my feet. When I turned to Sarah and saw tears rolling down her cheeks, I tried to be brave. After a moment my father gave one of his characteristic laughs; took them off, put them away and selected two pairs that were anything but pretty and fine, but they came somewhere near fitting us, and we went home very happy. I wondered why a man so great and grand as he, would select such shoes, put them on our feet and take the trouble to lace them up and tie them, when any one could see at a glance they would not do at all. One day, years afterwards, it dawned on me that if he had given us, in the first place, the shoes that finally made us happy, we would have been very much disappointed. After this experience, it was a relief to get something that came somewhere near fitting us, and we went home rejoicing. This made a lasting impression upon my mind, I have thought of it many times in my life, and I have practiced it upon every one of mv children, and I believe our Heavenly Father tries it on His children.”
I mentioned what a large family her father had. Her face lit up as she said: “Yes, and how he loved us all! He was very proud of us and wished us to appear well. Often did he march us through the streets. When he took us to a matinee or an entertainment, we had to walk in twos and keep in step; if one got out, father would say, 'Right! Left! Right! Left!’ until all were in perfect marching older.
"My father was a grand and noble man. He has many sons and daughters here upon the earth at the present time. Some of them are indifferent and some of them are as good as gold. He has a claim on us, and I believe those who stray away will be whipped back into line. If they sin, they will pay the penalty, but they will be gathered back to the fold. This is my faith and has been all the days of my life.”
What a satisfaction it must be to Brother Kimball’s children to have such an excellent biography of their father as that written by his grandson, Orson F. Whitney, I said, "You don’t know how eagerly I looked forward to reading it and how I enjoyed especially the parts taken from father’s own diary,” she replied, "I was so much pleased with the description of father’s character, that I committed it to memory the first time I read it he said:
“ ‘He was a singular compound, in his nature, of courage and timidity, of weakness and strength; uniting a penchant for mirth with a proneness to melancholy, and blending the lionlike qualities of a leader among men, with the bashfulness and lamb-like simplicity of a child. He was not a coward; a braver man probably never lived than Heber C. Kimball. His courage, however, was not of that questionable kind which ‘knows no fear.’ Rather was it of that superior order, that Christ-like bravery, which feels danger and yet dares to face it. He had all the sensitiveness of the poet—for he was both a poet and a prophet from his mother’s womb— and inherited by birthright the power to feel pleasure or suffer pain in all its exquisitiveness and intensity.'"
Never shall I forget the final tribute she paid him on that beautiful June morning. It was this: "I love my father’s memory, I cherish in my heart every word that I ever heard him utter and every impression that he made upon my life. I know he was a man of God. I know that he lived near to God, for I have heard him pray, and when he prayed to his Heavenly Father, he talked with Him as a son would talk with an earthly parent. This made a lasting impression upon my mind, and I believe that in all my life my Father in Heaven has seemed nearer to me because, when a child, I heard my father pray unto Him.
A Son’s Tribute.
Solomon F. Kimball.
June 14th marks the one hundred and eighth anniversary of the birth of Heber Chase Kimball. This worthy Prophet, pioneer, and colonizer, was born in 1801, at Sheldon, Franklin County, Vermont. His fourth great-grandfather, Richard, was born in 1595, at Rattlesden, Suffolk County, England, and came to America in 1634, on the ship Elizabeth.
President Kimball was not always understood even by his nearest and dearest friend. The greater the love he had for a man, the more severe was the test he applied to that man. This he did for a wise purpose, just as the Lord, through the Prophet Joseph and President Brigham Young had tried him. He well understood this principle, knowing that when a righteous man is chided it makes him more humble; while on the other hand, a corrupt man becomes rebellious.
The enemies of this remarkable man, who find fault with him for the blunt and forceful expressions which he made, should read his history, and then try to imagine what they would have done under similar varying circumstances in which he found himself. In the first place, in connection with the Latter-day Saints in general, figuratively speaking, he had been made a football of for fifteen years; and for no other reason than that they were worshiping Israel’s God according to the light revealed to them from the heavens, through their great Prophet and leader Joseph Smith. To cap the climax, the Saints, with starvation staring them in the face, were driven fifteen hundred miles from their comfortable homes, into a howling wilderness. Then, before Heber C. Kimball and other mighty leaders had fairly established themselves in ties then barren region, their persecutors were again snapping at their heels, with the hope and determination of driving them into the Pacific Ocean.
If a worm turns when stepped upon, what could be expected of men of Heber C. Kimball’s calibre? He was a man of character, determination, full of vim, a natural born financier who could accumulate wealth where an ordinary man might starve. He was Godfearing, as tenderhearted as a child, and possessed the gift of healing to a remarkable degree. His heart was filled with compassion towards all men, and his soul was full of love. He was ready at all times to give counsel to the weakest child that came in his way, and thousands of the older members of the Church remember him with love and respect. He was a man of such great discernment that it was almost impossible to deceive him. He was an ardent lover of animals, and had regard even for the lower species.
This is what President George Q. Cannon had to say about him: “Heber Chase Kimball was one of the greatest men of this age. There was a certain nobility about his disposition, that would have made him conspicuous in any community. He was a man of commanding presence, with eyes so keen as to almost pierce one through, and before which the guilty involuntarily quailed. He was fearless and powerful in rebuking the wrong-doer, but kind, benevolent and fatherly to the deserving. He possessed such wonderful control over the passions of men, combined with such wisdom and diplomacy, that the Prophet Joseph Smith called him, “The peace maker.”
“His great faith, zeal, earnestness, devotion to principle, cheerfulness under the most trying circumstances, energy, perseverance and honest simplicity marked him as no ordinary man. He possessed great natural force and strong will powers, yet in his submission to the Priesthood and obedience to the laws of God, he set a pattern to the whole Church. No man perhaps, Joseph Smith excepted, who has belonged to the Church in this generation, ever possessed the gift of prophecy to a greater degree than Brother Kimball.”
Apostle Franklin D. Richards in writing of President Kimball’s missionary work in England had this to say: “The wonderful following and ingathering of souls at the opening of the British Mission, evidenced the purity and power of his Apostleship which was unexcelled since the awakening in Judea by Jesus and John.” According to Heber C. Kimball’s own estimation, he converted and baptized into the “Mormon” Church not less than 3,000 souls.
During the troublesome times at Kirtland, Ohio, he stood so high :n the estimation of the Prophet Joseph, that that mighty leader recorded in his journal, that Heber C. Kimball was one of the Apostles who had never raised his heel against him; and President Brigham Young declared at his funeral, “That he was a man of as much integrity, he presumed, as any man who ever lived upon the earth.”
A number of the most prominent Kimballs of the United States have publicly declared that Heber Chase Kimball is the greatest Kimball that America has ever produced, and these eminent non-“Mormons” have placed his history in some of the most noted libraries in the United States.
The subject of prayer was probably as well understood by him, as by any other living man. When in sore trouble, he pleaded with the Lord like a living son with his earthly father, and never ceased praying till he felt the Spirit of God burning in his bosom. He often remarked that a prayer was never heard under ordinary circumstances unless such was the case.
Before family prayers he most always made a few remarks upon religious topics, or read several pages from some of the standard works of the Church; then before he had prayed many minutes, those who were present could not only feel the Spirit of the Lord permeating their being, but at times it seemed like the whole room was filled with heavenly angels. On such occasions it was no unusual occurrence to see his family and friends with bowed heads, sobbing as if their hearts would melt within them.
Valiant for the Truth
Emmeline B. Wells
A number of choice spirits were born into the world during the early part of the nineteenth century, beside the chosen Prophet of God, Joseph Smith, and his illustrious brother Hyrum the Patriarch; born too upon the same soil in the vales of the rugged Green Mountains of Vermont—that state that has produced so many stalwart sons of liberty, who have borne themselves nobly in peace and in war, and have attained merited distinction in various fields of the world’s work.
Among these men of valor and renown whose names will stand high on the scroll of fame, and of whom we speak most reverently because of their fidelity and integrity and their undying devotion to the truths revealed from heaven, two of the closest friends of the Prophet Joseph Smith were Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. To one who knew them well in their palmiest days, it is difficult to speak of one without mentioning the other, so closely were their lives interwoven for many years. And yet in personality and in many attributes of character, they were distinctively different—each one equally great in himself.
Heber C. Kimball was perfect and symmetrical in figure—tall and straight and dignified in appearance and manner. He was a man of sound judgment, read character well, and was rarely mistaken in his opinions of people. He was honest and upright in all his transactions, and as tender-hearted as a little child. His was an extremely sensitive nature, and a deeply emotional temperament. He had a strong individuality and was a man who made a lasting and indelible impression upon people wherever he went. He was always himself, he despised ostentation or show, was pleasing in conversation, a good story teller, dealing much in metaphor, and invariably illustrating his remarks with simile. He possessed a rare vein of humor—a legacy conveyed in more or less degree to some of his sons. He was intensely original, if there be such a thing as originality (which some people deny); indeed this may be said to have been his strong point, for he was not like any other man that we have ever known. Moreover he was totally devoid of fear and had the courage of a lion. Add to all this his devoted allegiance to Joseph the Prophet and to his life-long companion Brigham Young—an allegiance without reserve and almost without parallel—and you behold a character illumined by sublimity of soul which it is an inspiration to contemplate.
In his youth Heber C. Kimball had few advantages of education, hut he had all the best qualities and attributes of greatness; he was largely self-taught, though no one could be intimately associated with Joseph Smith, as he was, and not imbibe the teachings of that mastermind. The Prophet seemed in constant communication with the world beyond and its higher powers, and the gems of truth thus revealed were glorious, far exceeding earthly knowledge or wisdom. Inevitably those who were in daily contact with him partook of this same spirit.
In memory I can picture Brigham and Heber as they walked side by side, or rode in the same carriage on the streets of Nauvoo, or as they sat at the table at the noon hour in the large unfinished dining room over the tithing office on the Temple hill. As I listened to their conversation, and that of other great men, how wonderful it all seemed to me. Looking back at it now, it is like a fairy tale. But this was one of the grave realities of those wonderful days: they were planning for the work to be done in the House of the Lord, and for the journey afterwards into the wilderness.
On the long and tedious march from Nauvoo the Kimballs and Whitneys were close to one another the two families like one. In Winter Quarters the families again lived very near together and we saw Brother Kimball daily, except when he came with the pioneers to the Valley in 1847. Journeying across the plains we were in the same company and in the Valley again we were close neighbors. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that I came to know Brother Heber well and to note his moods and peculiarities—call some of them eccentricities if you will. Thus during his daily life and conversation, I can testify of his marvelous power in proclaiming the Gospel and the mighty faith and zeal manifest in all he put his hand to do. His heart and soul were in the Latter-day work, he never shirked a duty however arduous, and he used his great talents for the public good. A most remarkable gift possessed by him in an uncommon degree was the gift of prophecy. He had a strongly prophetic nature; he seemed to read the future clearly without effort, and many of his prophetic utterances have already marvelously come to pass, and undoubtedly the others will also be fulfilled.
This is the Lord’s work, and His is the glory. But so far as human agencies are concerned it is great men like Heber C. Kimball who have fashioned largely the future destiny of this people by laying the strong foundations of virtue, morality, honesty, sobriety and temperance in all things, and brotherly love in dealing with each other. Those who knew him best loved him most, for he was a man of God, who loved his fellowmen—a patriot in heart and soul with a love for his country, born of ancestry who fought for liberty of conscience and the right to worship God according to its dictates. He was a hero of his age and time, and leaves a memory imperishable in the annals of history of this Western world, which he assisted in colonizing and where he helped establish the standards of industry, peace, harmony, and protection for all under the banner of freedom.
I count myself wiser and happier and better to have known Heber C. Kimball. It is close personal association with such choice spirits that gives vitality and depth to life, and makes the world a better place to live in.
Kimball, Heber C. "Address to My Children." Improvement Era. September 1910. pg. 988-991.
Address to my Children. WRITTEN BY HEBER C. KIMBALL. To my Beloved Children, Sent Greeting: I desire to speak to my children this morning that they may be wise and honored of God and of men ; and I pray that I may be inspired by the Holy Ghost. My soul is swallowed up in God. As to the things of this world, they are lost to me. I do not feel concerning them as I have heretofore; I care only for the things of eternity. When I behold the great things of God and the glory which awaits the righteous, and when I reflect that the road is so straight that but few find it, I feel to pray the Lord to bless my children and save them. I am thankful to God because I live in a day when some will find it, and will become gods. A man may become a god as Jesus Christ did. For this he must prepare himself while in the flesh, that he may be enthroned as a judge is enthroned. I have a desire that my children may be crowned, and if I be enthroned I want to have the privilege of wafting myself, by the power of God, to visit my children. Everything we see here is typical of what will be hereafter. Oftentimes, when I hear people talk of their difficulties, it appears like foolishness to me; I scarcely notice them. I want my children to be an example to others, and I want the older ones to be an example to the younger children, and not only to them, but to their friends and to their sex. My children, listen to the instructions of your parents, and when they say to you, do a thing, do it. Overcome every spirit of tyranny and oppression, and be as clay in the hands of the potter. The time will come when you will have children, and you will have tender feelings for them, and will then look back and appreciate the tender feelings that your parents had for you. My soul has mourned for the welfare and salvation of my children. When I look at the things of the eternal world, I feel willing to make sacrifices that I may enjoy the privileges which God is willing to give his people. When I speak to my children, I speak as a father, and there is no person on the earth that has more tender feelings for his children than I have. I want the older ones to be a pattern for the younger ones, and inasmuch as there is hardness, put it away; for it is like a seed which, if it be cultivated, grows to a tree, grows to maturity, and when it brings forth fruit, it brings forth hardness and tyranny. We should always endeavor to plant peace and kindness. Remember always to be affectionate to your parents; for you will have posterity, because God has promised it; and if the oldest are not faithful, God will raise a posterity from the younger. I want my children to show proper respect to all men, and be gentle to them, as you want they should be gentle to you. Be subject to all officers, both civil and religious, and reverence them in their offices. When you speak of the prophet and the apostles, speak well of them and not reproachfully. Reverence all men in their respective places, and never speak disrespectfully of them, nor of any person on the earth. If you cannot speak well, keep your mouth shut. If you do this, you shall be respected as your father has been, for this has always been my course. Be attentive to these instructions and be faithful in all things, and you shall be enthroned in the kingdom of God and shall increase from generation to generation, and there shall be no end of the increase. When I come into the presence of God, he will permit me to stand at your head as Adam will stand at the head of all families of the earth. Don't give way to evil, my children, lay aside all wickedness, and never suffer yourselves to go into wicked company or corrupt places. If we give way to sin even a little it will conceive in our bosoms and grow. I know if I am faithful no good thing will be withheld from me, but if I make a misstep it may all be taken away. We are acting in view of eternity, we are laying a foundation for eternity. If you remember these things, God will bless you with glory and eternal life. I want you to remember that inasmuch as you honor your father, when you become old and are engaged in the ministry, you shall be honored. The gospel of Jesus Christ, as revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith, is true; I know it, for God has revealed it to me. Every man who rejects it will be damned, and every one who receives it will be saved. Baptism is a sign of the resurrection, and it is the password whereby we enter into the kingdom of God. All the ordinances are signs of things in the heavens. I want my children to observe these things, for we have come into a dispensation when we have got to open a door to receive all dispensations of old. I want to become just what I ought to be. My children, never cultivate a spirit of covetousness. When you see anybody who is poor, and you have means, assist him; and when poor men or poor women come along, take them into your house and feed and clothe them. Always enlist on the side of the oppressed. This principle was always in me, and I want my children to cherish it. If you show mercy, you shall have mercy. The character of the Almighty is noble, and none will come into his kingdom only those who are noble, kind, merciful, virtuous and obedient. The course I take in this life will be handed down to future generations. You will hand it down from generation to generation, and all records which are made here on earth will be had in heaven. Now, my children, God recognizes all that you do. Never cultivate anything wicked, corrupt or dishonest. Instead of taking a penny from a neighbor, give him two. As you do unto others, so shall it be measured unto you again. Let these instructions sink deep into your minds: for God is bound to bestow these blessings upon us. Even so. Amen. |
HEBER C. KIMBALL.
From a Photo taken in 1867. Born June 14, 1801; died June 22, 1868. The 109th anniversary of the birth of this venerable leader in the Church was celebrated in June, 1910, at a family reunion held in Whitney Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah. |
"A Day of God's Power." Young Woman's Journal. December 1915. pg. 778-780.
A Day of God’s Power.
In 1839 the Latter-day Saints began the settlement of Nauvoo, Illinois. They had been driven from the state of Missouri. They were without homes and were living in wagons and tents. Many were sick from exposure and from the unhealthy condition of the lowlands along the banks of the Mississippi. It was at this time that an event took place which is memorable in our Church history.
(2) Heber C. Kimball relates another incident connected with this great event: “When he [the Prophet] had healed all the sick by the power given unto him, he went down to the ferry boat, when a stranger rode up almost breathless, and said that he had heard that Joseph Smith was raising the dead, and healing all the sick, and his wife begged him to ride up and get Mr. Smith to go down and heal her twin children, about three months old. Joseph replied, ‘I cannot go, but will send some one.’ In a few minutes he said to Elder Woodruff, ‘You go and heal those children, and take this pocket handkerchief, and when you administer to them, wipe their faces with it, and they shall recover.’ Brother Woodruff did as he was commanded and the children were healed.”[1]
[1] Life of Heber C. Kimball,” p. 274.
A Day of God’s Power.
In 1839 the Latter-day Saints began the settlement of Nauvoo, Illinois. They had been driven from the state of Missouri. They were without homes and were living in wagons and tents. Many were sick from exposure and from the unhealthy condition of the lowlands along the banks of the Mississippi. It was at this time that an event took place which is memorable in our Church history.
(2) Heber C. Kimball relates another incident connected with this great event: “When he [the Prophet] had healed all the sick by the power given unto him, he went down to the ferry boat, when a stranger rode up almost breathless, and said that he had heard that Joseph Smith was raising the dead, and healing all the sick, and his wife begged him to ride up and get Mr. Smith to go down and heal her twin children, about three months old. Joseph replied, ‘I cannot go, but will send some one.’ In a few minutes he said to Elder Woodruff, ‘You go and heal those children, and take this pocket handkerchief, and when you administer to them, wipe their faces with it, and they shall recover.’ Brother Woodruff did as he was commanded and the children were healed.”[1]
[1] Life of Heber C. Kimball,” p. 274.
"Prophecies of Heber C. Kimball." Young Woman's Journal. January 1916. pg. 58-59.
Prophecies of Heber C. Kimball.
(1) “It was during the time of famine (in Utah), when the half-starved, half-clad settlers scarcely knew where to look for the next crust of bread or for rags to hide their nakedness—for clothing had become almost as scarce with them as bread-stuffs—that Heber C. Kimball, filled with the spirit of prophecy, in a public meeting declared to the astonished congregation that, within a short time, ‘States goods’ would be sold in the streets of Great Salt Lake City cheaper than in New York and that the people should be abundantly supplied with food and clothing.
“ ‘I don’t believe a word of it”, said Charles C. Rich and he but voiced the sentiments of nine-tenths of those who had heard the astounding declaration. Heber himself was startled at his own words. * * * On resuming his seat he remarked to the brethren that he was ‘afraid he had missed it this time’. But they were not his own words, and He who had inspired them knew how to fulfill.
“The occasion for the fulfillment of this remarkable prediction was the unexpected advent of the gold- hunters, on their way to California * * * Salt Lake valley became the resting place, or ‘half-way’ house of the nation, and before the Saints had had time to recover from their surprise at Heber’s temerity in making such a prophecy, the still more wonderful fulfillment was brought to their very doors. The gold-hunters were actuated by but one desire to reach the Pacific Coast.
* * * Impatient at their slow progress, in order to lighten their loads, they threw away or ‘sold for a song’ the valuable merchandise with which they had stored their wagons to cross the plains. Their choice, blooded, though now jaded stock, they eagerly exchanged for the fresh mules and horses of the pioneers, and bartered off, at almost any sacrifice, dry goods, groceries, provisions, tools, clothing, etc., for the most primitive outfits, with barely enough provisions to enable them to reach their journey. Thus, as the Prophet Heber had predicted, ‘States goods’ were actually sold in the streets of Salt Lake City cheaper than they could have been purchased in the city of New York.”[1]
(2) In May, 1854, Prest. Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and some others of the leading brethren took a trip through the Southern part of Utah to investigate conditions connected with the missionary work among the Indians. They met with the missionaries at Harmony, twenty miles south of Cedar City, and gave them much valuable instruction concerning their labors. “Previous to this meeting, President Young asked some brethren who had been into the country south of Harmony, if they thought a wagon road could be made down to the Rio Virgin. Their replies were very discouraging, but, in the face of this report, Brother Kimball prophesied in this meeting that a road would be made from Harmony over the Black Ridge; and a temple would be built on the Rio Virgin, and the Lamanites would come from the east side of the Colorado River and get their endowments in it. All these prophecies have since been fulfilled.” The St. George Temple is built on the Rio Virgin and the Indians have come to it to receive their endowments.[2]
[1] Jacob Hamblin”, p. 31, 32
[2] Life of Heber C. Kimball”, pp. 401, 402.
Prophecies of Heber C. Kimball.
(1) “It was during the time of famine (in Utah), when the half-starved, half-clad settlers scarcely knew where to look for the next crust of bread or for rags to hide their nakedness—for clothing had become almost as scarce with them as bread-stuffs—that Heber C. Kimball, filled with the spirit of prophecy, in a public meeting declared to the astonished congregation that, within a short time, ‘States goods’ would be sold in the streets of Great Salt Lake City cheaper than in New York and that the people should be abundantly supplied with food and clothing.
“ ‘I don’t believe a word of it”, said Charles C. Rich and he but voiced the sentiments of nine-tenths of those who had heard the astounding declaration. Heber himself was startled at his own words. * * * On resuming his seat he remarked to the brethren that he was ‘afraid he had missed it this time’. But they were not his own words, and He who had inspired them knew how to fulfill.
“The occasion for the fulfillment of this remarkable prediction was the unexpected advent of the gold- hunters, on their way to California * * * Salt Lake valley became the resting place, or ‘half-way’ house of the nation, and before the Saints had had time to recover from their surprise at Heber’s temerity in making such a prophecy, the still more wonderful fulfillment was brought to their very doors. The gold-hunters were actuated by but one desire to reach the Pacific Coast.
* * * Impatient at their slow progress, in order to lighten their loads, they threw away or ‘sold for a song’ the valuable merchandise with which they had stored their wagons to cross the plains. Their choice, blooded, though now jaded stock, they eagerly exchanged for the fresh mules and horses of the pioneers, and bartered off, at almost any sacrifice, dry goods, groceries, provisions, tools, clothing, etc., for the most primitive outfits, with barely enough provisions to enable them to reach their journey. Thus, as the Prophet Heber had predicted, ‘States goods’ were actually sold in the streets of Salt Lake City cheaper than they could have been purchased in the city of New York.”[1]
(2) In May, 1854, Prest. Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and some others of the leading brethren took a trip through the Southern part of Utah to investigate conditions connected with the missionary work among the Indians. They met with the missionaries at Harmony, twenty miles south of Cedar City, and gave them much valuable instruction concerning their labors. “Previous to this meeting, President Young asked some brethren who had been into the country south of Harmony, if they thought a wagon road could be made down to the Rio Virgin. Their replies were very discouraging, but, in the face of this report, Brother Kimball prophesied in this meeting that a road would be made from Harmony over the Black Ridge; and a temple would be built on the Rio Virgin, and the Lamanites would come from the east side of the Colorado River and get their endowments in it. All these prophecies have since been fulfilled.” The St. George Temple is built on the Rio Virgin and the Indians have come to it to receive their endowments.[2]
[1] Jacob Hamblin”, p. 31, 32
[2] Life of Heber C. Kimball”, pp. 401, 402.
"Heber C. Kimball's Baptism." Young Woman's Journal. October 1916. pg. 646.
Heber C. Kimball’s Baptism.
Heber C. Kimball was a potter by trade. One day when he was at work in his shop, Alpheus Gifford, a missionary, entered and they conversed on the gospel. Brother Kim ball had been investigating this for some time and now said, “Brother Alpheus, I am ready to go forward and be baptized.” He relates the incident as follows: “I arose, pulled off my apron, washed my hands, and started with him, with my sleeves rolled up to my shoulders, and went a, distance of one mile, where he baptized me in a small stream in the woods. After I was baptized, I kneeled down and he laid his hands upon my head and confirmed me a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, and said unto me, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ, and by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, receive ye the Holy Ghost;’ and before I got up off my knees he wanted to ordain me an Elder; but I plead with him not to do it, for I felt myself un worthy of such a calling, and such high office * * *
“Under the ordinances of baptism and the laying on of hands, I received the Holy Ghost, as the disciples did in ancient days, which was like a consuming fire. I felt as though I sat at the feet of Jesus, and was clothed in my right mind, although the people called me crazy.”[1]
[1] Life of Heber C. Kimball, pp. 37, 38.
Heber C. Kimball’s Baptism.
Heber C. Kimball was a potter by trade. One day when he was at work in his shop, Alpheus Gifford, a missionary, entered and they conversed on the gospel. Brother Kim ball had been investigating this for some time and now said, “Brother Alpheus, I am ready to go forward and be baptized.” He relates the incident as follows: “I arose, pulled off my apron, washed my hands, and started with him, with my sleeves rolled up to my shoulders, and went a, distance of one mile, where he baptized me in a small stream in the woods. After I was baptized, I kneeled down and he laid his hands upon my head and confirmed me a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, and said unto me, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ, and by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, receive ye the Holy Ghost;’ and before I got up off my knees he wanted to ordain me an Elder; but I plead with him not to do it, for I felt myself un worthy of such a calling, and such high office * * *
“Under the ordinances of baptism and the laying on of hands, I received the Holy Ghost, as the disciples did in ancient days, which was like a consuming fire. I felt as though I sat at the feet of Jesus, and was clothed in my right mind, although the people called me crazy.”[1]
[1] Life of Heber C. Kimball, pp. 37, 38.
"Healed Through Baptism." Young Woman's Journal. October 1916. pg. 646-647.
Healed Through Baptism.--
Apostle Kimball also tells the following: “I had visited Thomas Walmesley’s house, whose wife was sick of the consumption and had been for several years; she was reduced to skin and bones, a mere skeleton; and was given up to die by the doctors. I preached the gospel to her, and promised her in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ if she would believe, repent; and be baptized, she should be healed of her sickness. She was carried to the water, and after her baptism began to amend, and at her confirmation she was blessed, and her disease rebuked, when she immediately recovered, and in less than one week after she was attending to her household duties.”[1] This sister afterwards gathered to Zion and lived to a good old age.
[1] Life of Heber C. Kimball, p. 149.
Healed Through Baptism.--
Apostle Kimball also tells the following: “I had visited Thomas Walmesley’s house, whose wife was sick of the consumption and had been for several years; she was reduced to skin and bones, a mere skeleton; and was given up to die by the doctors. I preached the gospel to her, and promised her in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ if she would believe, repent; and be baptized, she should be healed of her sickness. She was carried to the water, and after her baptism began to amend, and at her confirmation she was blessed, and her disease rebuked, when she immediately recovered, and in less than one week after she was attending to her household duties.”[1] This sister afterwards gathered to Zion and lived to a good old age.
[1] Life of Heber C. Kimball, p. 149.
"A Little Girl's Prayer Answered." Young Woman's Journal. December 1916. pg. 772-773.
A Little Girl’s Prayer Answered.
Heber C. Kimball, in the presence of the prophet Joseph, related the following incident: "My wife, one day, when going out on a visit, gave my daughter Helen Mar charge not to touch the dishes, for if she broke any during her absence, she would give her a whipping when she returned. While my wife was absent my daughter broke a number of the dishes by letting the table leaf fall, and then she went out under an apple tree and prayed that her mother’s heart might be softened, that when she returned she might not whip her. Her mother was very punctual when she made a promise to her children, to fulfil it, and when she returned she undertook, as a duty, to carry this promise into effect. She retired with her into her room, but found herself powerless to chastise her; her heart was so softened that it was impossible for her to raise her hand against the child. Afterwards, Helen told her mother she had prayed to the Lord that she might not whip her.
“Heber paused in his simple narrative. Tears glistened in the eyes of his hearers; the Prophet Joseph was weeping like a child. He told the brethren that that was the kind of faith they needed; the faith of a little child, going in humility to its Parent, and asking for the de sire of its heart.”[1]
[1] “Life of Heber C. Kimball,” p 82.
A Little Girl’s Prayer Answered.
Heber C. Kimball, in the presence of the prophet Joseph, related the following incident: "My wife, one day, when going out on a visit, gave my daughter Helen Mar charge not to touch the dishes, for if she broke any during her absence, she would give her a whipping when she returned. While my wife was absent my daughter broke a number of the dishes by letting the table leaf fall, and then she went out under an apple tree and prayed that her mother’s heart might be softened, that when she returned she might not whip her. Her mother was very punctual when she made a promise to her children, to fulfil it, and when she returned she undertook, as a duty, to carry this promise into effect. She retired with her into her room, but found herself powerless to chastise her; her heart was so softened that it was impossible for her to raise her hand against the child. Afterwards, Helen told her mother she had prayed to the Lord that she might not whip her.
“Heber paused in his simple narrative. Tears glistened in the eyes of his hearers; the Prophet Joseph was weeping like a child. He told the brethren that that was the kind of faith they needed; the faith of a little child, going in humility to its Parent, and asking for the de sire of its heart.”[1]
[1] “Life of Heber C. Kimball,” p 82.
"A Dying Child Healed." Young Woman's Journal. December 1916. pg. 775.
A Dying Child Healed.
Apostles Kimball and Hyde were on their way to England. The officers and crew were disposed to be quite friendly and Brother Kimball says:
“The Lord also gave us favor in the eyes of the passengers, who treated us with the greatest respect. During the voyage, a child belonging to one of the passengers was very sick, and given up by the doc tor to die; consequently its parents had given up all hopes of its recovery, and expected to have to commit their little one to the ocean. Feeling a great anxiety for the child, I went to its parents and reasoned with them, and laid before them the principle of faith, and told them that the Lord was able to re store their child, notwithstanding there was no earthly prospect of its recovery. To which they listened with great interest. Shortly after, having an opportunity to secretly lay hands upon the child, I did so, and in the name of Jesus Christ rebuked the disease which preyed upon its system. The Spirit of the Lord attended the administration, and from that time the child began to recover, and in two or three days after it was running about, perfectly well. Afterwards I informed the parents that I had laid hands on the child, and they acknowledged that it was healed by the power of the Almighty.”[1]
[1] “Life of Heber C. Kimball,” p. 128.
A Dying Child Healed.
Apostles Kimball and Hyde were on their way to England. The officers and crew were disposed to be quite friendly and Brother Kimball says:
“The Lord also gave us favor in the eyes of the passengers, who treated us with the greatest respect. During the voyage, a child belonging to one of the passengers was very sick, and given up by the doc tor to die; consequently its parents had given up all hopes of its recovery, and expected to have to commit their little one to the ocean. Feeling a great anxiety for the child, I went to its parents and reasoned with them, and laid before them the principle of faith, and told them that the Lord was able to re store their child, notwithstanding there was no earthly prospect of its recovery. To which they listened with great interest. Shortly after, having an opportunity to secretly lay hands upon the child, I did so, and in the name of Jesus Christ rebuked the disease which preyed upon its system. The Spirit of the Lord attended the administration, and from that time the child began to recover, and in two or three days after it was running about, perfectly well. Afterwards I informed the parents that I had laid hands on the child, and they acknowledged that it was healed by the power of the Almighty.”[1]
[1] “Life of Heber C. Kimball,” p. 128.
Smith, Alice K. "Musings and Reminiscences in the Life of Heber C. Kimball." Improvement Era. June 1930. pg. 558-559.
Musings and Reminiscences on the Life of Heber C. Kimball By His Daughter ALICE K. SMITH "A prince and a great man has this day passed from among us; tike a babe falling into a gentle slumber, he passed away. It was a scene of victory and triumph. What a host of faithful ones have awaited his arrival in the spirit world. Will it not be home to him when he meets those bright ones with whom he had labored so long and so familiarly, and who knew his guileless simplicity, his truthfulness, his unshrinking faith, his integrity and worth?" THUS was Heber C. Kimball eulogized in a Deseret News editorial on the day he passed away, June 22nd, 1868, just sixty-seven years and eight days after the day of his birth. The editorial reflects the calm and true nature of Heber C. Kimball. .The existence of that other world" was just as actual to him as was this. The literalness with which he accepted the words of the Master did not rob them of any depth nor spiritual meaning, but added to them the full force of fact. He was not only a philosopher, but a prophet and a seer. "He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and he that liveth and believeth on me shall never die." HEBER C. KIMBALL stood next to Brigham Young in seniority in the original quorum of the twelve when it was reorganized according to the age of its members, he being just fourteen days younger than President Young; and when the latter became president of the Church, Heber was chosen as his first counselor. His name is interlinked with the history of this organization almost from its inception, even as the Church's name is interlinked with the history of the pioneering and development of Utah and the great west. Therefore, the history of his people. their trials, journeyings and accomplishments is a history of him, for he never forsook the Church nor his friends, nor did he once waiver in his integrity, whether in the midst of persecution or prosperity. Brigham Young said of him, "His knees never trembled, his hands never shook." As a pioneer and colonizer of the great west, he stood second only to President Brigham Young. The versatility of his nature suited him preeminently for that period in our history when the desert had to be subdued and the foundation of an empire laid. I WAS only a child when Heber C. Kimball passed to the great beyond, my heart and soul went out to him in love and reverence. and I almost worshiped him. He seemed to me the biggest man I ever saw. I have watched him come down the hill on North Main Street and in my childish mind it seemed that he filled the whole sidewalk. In my mind's eye he has always appeared to me as he was so beautifully described many years after his death by his grandson, Apostle Orson F. Whitney: "He was a singular compound, in his nature, of courage and timidity, of weakness and strength, uniting a penchant for mirth with a proneness to melancholy, and a blending of the lion-like qualities of a leader among men with the bashfulness and lamb-like simplicity of a child. "He was not a coward; a braver man probably never lived than Heber C. Kimball. His courage, however, was not of that questionable kind which 'knows no fear.' Rather was it of that superior order, that Christ-like bravery, which feels danger yet dares to face it. He had all the sensitiveness of the poet—for he was both a poet and a prophet from his mother's womb—and inherited by birthright the power to feel pleasure or suffer pain in all its 'exquisiteness and intensity.' " BROTHER WHITNEY further describes him as being, "Tall and powerful of frame, with piercing black eyes that seemed to read one through, and before whose searching gaze the guilty could not choose but quail. He moved with a stateliness and majesty all his own. He was a humble man and in his humility, no less than his kingly stature, consisted his dignity, and no small share of his greatness. It was his intelligence, earnestness, simplicity, sublime faith and unwavering integrity to principle that made him great, not the apparel he wore, nor the mortal chy in which his spirit was clothed. Nevertheless, nature had given him a noble presence in the flesh, worthy the godlike stature of his spirit. * * * "His temperament was religious and poetical. Sociable as he was and even bubbling over with mirth at times, his soul was essentially of a gloomy cast. * * * He was a diamond in the rough, but a diamond nevertheless. Unlettered and untaught, save in nature's school, the university of experience, where he was an apt and profound scholar, he was possessed of marvelous intuition, a genius God-given, which needed no kindling at a college shrine to prepare it for the work which providence had designed. Not but education would have polished the gem, causing it to shine with what the natural eye would deem a brighter lustre; but the fact remains that Heber C. Kimball, as he was, not as he might have been, was best adapted for the divine purpose, the career marked out for him by the finger of Deity." MANY lasting impressions were * * * made upon my mind through little incidents which set my childish mind to working. When my father prayed to his Eternal Father, he told him of his plans, his worries, his. joys, and his sorrows. He talked with him as a son to an earthly father in whom he had great love and confidence, not as some being far off on another planet. On one occasion at family prayers when it seemed to me he was unusually earnest and was supplicating his Father for some especial blessing or favor, I was so impressed that I peeked carefully around to see if his Father stood there before him. I was disappointed, for it seemed he must be there. This made a deep impression upon my mind, for all through my childhood days, my youth, my mature life, my Father in Heaven has not been so far away from me. I could appeal to him as a father who was full of love and compassion for his children. MY sister Sarah was two years * A younger than me and one day when we were very small, father took us to his store-house where he kept supplies of shoes, dry goods and whatnot for his family. He was going to give us each a pair of shoes. Like all little girls we went off delighted with the prospect of having some pretty new shoes. Father placed us on a table or counter, and took off our old shoes. He took down from a shelf two pairs of old ladies' shoes. I can see them now, low topped, wide soles, low heels. He put them on our feet, laced them up and tied them, then told us to walk. We were horrified. I kept a stiff upper lip but I saw that Sarah was weakening. Father gave one of his characteristic laughs, sat us up on the table again and took them off. Then he put on our feet some shoes that were anything but pretty, but they came somewhere near fitting us, and we went home rejoicing. This puzzled me for a long time. Why should my father who seemed to know everything take the time to put such shoes on the feet of two little girls when anyone could see that they would not do at all? It finally dawned upon me that had he, in the first place, given us the shoes that finally pleased us we would have been greatly disappointed. But after our first shock we went away happy and contented. It was a wonderful lesson he taught us two little girls who were then too young to comprehend its meaning. He must have known that the day would come when we would understand. He gave us the best he had and through his wonderful understanding made us happy. FOLLOWING an accident, the direct cause of his death which occurred a few weeks later, he sent for his children to meet him at his headquarters (the "Big House," as we used to call it) on North Main, for he wished to talk to them. I was too young to remember the language he used or exactly what he said, but this is the impression that was made upon my mind: He did not expect to be with us long, and was going to heaven, where he would build beautiful white homes for his family. That impression stayed with me and has always been so vivid that until this day, when I pass a beautiful white house, I can see my father as he looked on that day so long ago, and I recall the picture which I beheld in my imagination of the beautiful white homes which my father would build for us. Shortly after this my mother was taken seriously ill. I remember one day, as father sat by her bedside, he seemed very much depressed. He bowed his head and the tears coursed down his cheeks. Perhaps he had a premonition that he was about to leave us and his heart ached for the widows and fatherless. I stood near, watching him and witnessing his grief, and my heart went out to him in such love and yearning that I could scarcely control myself, and I resolved in my heart that I would always try to honor his name. When he got up to leave, he put his arms around me and with love and tenderness pressed me to his bosom. I wondered if he knew what I was thinking. Just a day or two after this he was stricken with paralysis, the final result of his accident, and from this he never recovered. HOW well I remember the day of the funeral! As the procession was about to leave for the tabernacle, the rain was coming down in torrents. The draping in the building was all in black, the coffin was elevated in the aisle and was covered with a black pall. One beautiful scene connected with the event helped to assuage our grief and seemed to betoken to our lonely hearts that even though he were dead we would meet him again. Apostle Whitney describes this beautiful scene: "And now occurred a remarkable, though purely natural, phenomenon. As the first clods of earth fell upon the coffin, the setting sun burst forth from his cloudy covering, shedding a golden halo of glory upon the scene, while instantaneously in the eastern horizon appeared a rainbow, the bright and beauteous token of promise, directly spanning the grave. It was no illusion; and as the last particles of mother earth were gathered above the still bosom that slept below, the rainbow dissolved." AND now as I am nearing the end of the way, the twilight of my life in this beautiful world, after varied experiences of three score years and ten, my heart is filled with praise and gratitude to my Father above for the many blessings that have been mine. I feel with all my soul that when the summons comes, "My child, this night I require thy soul, thy mortal life is at an end," and I have passed the portals, that I will meet my earthly father again with a tender and loving embrace, just as I hope eventually to meet my Heavenly Father at the end of the road. In my mind I hear them both say, "My daughter, you have passed through tribulations, and have been true and faithful. Welcome home!" And now, as I await the final call, when the Lord wants me, the greatest desire of my heart, above health, wealth, position and all else besides, is that my children will be true and faithful to the Gospel, and that when they pass from this world of action they will merit the meeting with their earthly father again who is indeed a prince of the most High God, and he will welcome them home with joy and satisfaction. |
Heber C. Kimball
|
L. C. "Heber C. Kimball." Instructor. October 1947. pg. 458, 495.
Heber C. Kimball This month's cover subject is Heber C. Kimball, whom we are honoring as a pioneer and leader in building up the Church. The pattern of his early life was somewhat similar to that of Brigham Young, who became one of his most intimate friends. He was born in Vermont only two weeks later than Brigham, on June 14, 1801. He obtained some schooling in local schools and learned blacksmithing from his father. At nineteen he began learning the pottery trade from his elder brother. During this time they moved to Mendon, New York, where Heber later bought his brother's business and was married to Vilate Murray. Here he and Brigham Young became acquainted and developed their close friendship. Through Brigham's brother, Phineas, Heber C. Kimball first saw the Book of Mormon and heard the Mormon elders preach; He had Joined the Baptist Church only a few weeks before, but after study and investigation of the gospel he felt sure enough of its truth to be baptized in April of 1832. Before long he was ordained an elder and began preaching with the Youngs in nearby towns. A number of people were baptized and branches built up. Later that year he went to Kirtland to visit the Prophet and in the following fall sold his possessions and moved to Kirtland. Zion's Camp was organized in 1834 and he participated in this march as a captain of one of the companies. In 1835 when the first Quorum of the Twelve was organized he was ordained an apostle. As such he performed short missions in the States, but his great missionary calling came when he was set apart to open the mission in England, the first to be established in a foreign country. During the latter half of 1837 and the first part of 1838 he and his companions, Orson Hyde, Willard Richards and Joseph Fielding, baptized nearly fifteen hundred persons, thus making a good beginning in what proved to be a fertile field for missionary labor. He performed a second mission to England with the other apostles in 1839, departing from the temple lot at Far West, in fulfilment of prophecy. After his return from this mission he was active in city and Church affairs in Nauvoo. He led a division of the Saints out of Nauvoo when they were forced to flee. He went with the advance company to the Valley in 1847 and was in charge of another company that crossed the plains the next summer. Returning to Winter Quarters after the first trek to Salt Lake he was chosen as first counselor in the First Presidency, fulfilling a blessing given him by Hyrum Smith that he should be "not one whit behind the chiefest . . . and as a prophet you shall attain to the honor of the three." He made many great prophecies. At a meeting during the hard winter of 1848-49 he said that within six months goods would be sold cheaper on the streets of Salt Lake City than they could be bought in New York. This prophecy was fulfilled by the gold seekers enroute to California who in the interest of speed sold their merchandise in Salt Lake. In the latter part of his life President Kimball was prominent in territorial affairs. He died in Salt Lake City in 1868.—L.C. |