Lorenzo Snow
Born: 3 April 1814
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 12 February 1849
Became President of the Quorum of the Twelve: 7 April 1889
Called as Superintendent of the YMMIA: 1898
Sustained as President of the Church: 13 September 1898
Called as Superintendent of the Sunday School: 1901
Died: 10 October 1901
Called to Quorum of the Twelve: 12 February 1849
Became President of the Quorum of the Twelve: 7 April 1889
Called as Superintendent of the YMMIA: 1898
Sustained as President of the Church: 13 September 1898
Called as Superintendent of the Sunday School: 1901
Died: 10 October 1901
Biographical Articles
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 1
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 3
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Juvenile Instructor, 15 January 1887, How He Became a "Mormon"
Juvenile Instructor, 15 October 1890, A Leaf From Elder Snow's Experience
Young Woman's Journal, February 1893, How I Gained My Testimony of the Truth
Juvenile Instructor, 1 October 1898, President Lorenzo Snow
Young Woman's Journal, October 1898, Our New President
Young Woman's Journal, October 1898, His Tender Consideration for the Interests of Woman
Improvement Era, June 1899, Life and Character Sketch of President Lorenzo Snow
Juvenile Instructor, 1 January 1900, Lives of Our Leaders - The Apostles, Lorenzo Snow
Young Woman's Journal, May 1901, President Lorenzo Snow
Improvement Era, November 1901, President Lorenzo Snow
Improvement Era, November 1901, Tribute of Respect to Lorenzo Snow
Young Woman's Journal, November 1901, President Lorenzo Snow
Young Woman's Journal, November 1901, Death and Burial of Prest. Snow
Young Woman's Journal, September 1903, President Lorenzo Snow As the Silver Grays of Today Remember Him
Juvenile Instructor, April 1919, True Pioneer Stories - Lorenzo Snow
Improvement Era, June 1919, Characteristic Sayings of Lorenzo Snow
Improvement Era, November 1930, Words of President Lorenzo Snow
Instructor, April 1931, Birthday Anniversary of President Lorenzo Snow
Improvement Era, February 1937, How Lorenzo Snow Found God
Instructor, December 1938, Lorenzo Snow: The Financial Liberator
Relief Society Magazine, December 1940, Excerpts from "Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow"
Instructor, April 1941, Lorenzo Snow Foretells Great War
Instructor, January 1942, Lorenzo Snow: A Pioneer in Recreation
Instructor, November 1946, Lorenzo Snow, Fifth President of the Church
Instructor, March 1949, Lorenzo Snow
Instructor, June 1956, Little Deeds From Big Lives - Building Together
Instructor, May 1960, In Preparation for Greatness
Relief Society Magazine, September 1963, He Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith - President Lorenzo Snow
Instructor, June 1967, Lorenzo Snow - Mighty Man of God
Instructor, October 1970, Inspiration from the Lives of Eight Men
Ensign, December 2011, President Lorenzo Snow (1814-1901)
Church News, 2 May 2024, 125 Years Ago: How President Lorenzo Snow’s Renewed Emphasis of Tithing Blessed the Church
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 3
Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 4
Juvenile Instructor, 15 January 1887, How He Became a "Mormon"
Juvenile Instructor, 15 October 1890, A Leaf From Elder Snow's Experience
Young Woman's Journal, February 1893, How I Gained My Testimony of the Truth
Juvenile Instructor, 1 October 1898, President Lorenzo Snow
Young Woman's Journal, October 1898, Our New President
Young Woman's Journal, October 1898, His Tender Consideration for the Interests of Woman
Improvement Era, June 1899, Life and Character Sketch of President Lorenzo Snow
Juvenile Instructor, 1 January 1900, Lives of Our Leaders - The Apostles, Lorenzo Snow
Young Woman's Journal, May 1901, President Lorenzo Snow
Improvement Era, November 1901, President Lorenzo Snow
Improvement Era, November 1901, Tribute of Respect to Lorenzo Snow
Young Woman's Journal, November 1901, President Lorenzo Snow
Young Woman's Journal, November 1901, Death and Burial of Prest. Snow
Young Woman's Journal, September 1903, President Lorenzo Snow As the Silver Grays of Today Remember Him
Juvenile Instructor, April 1919, True Pioneer Stories - Lorenzo Snow
Improvement Era, June 1919, Characteristic Sayings of Lorenzo Snow
Improvement Era, November 1930, Words of President Lorenzo Snow
Instructor, April 1931, Birthday Anniversary of President Lorenzo Snow
Improvement Era, February 1937, How Lorenzo Snow Found God
Instructor, December 1938, Lorenzo Snow: The Financial Liberator
Relief Society Magazine, December 1940, Excerpts from "Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow"
Instructor, April 1941, Lorenzo Snow Foretells Great War
Instructor, January 1942, Lorenzo Snow: A Pioneer in Recreation
Instructor, November 1946, Lorenzo Snow, Fifth President of the Church
Instructor, March 1949, Lorenzo Snow
Instructor, June 1956, Little Deeds From Big Lives - Building Together
Instructor, May 1960, In Preparation for Greatness
Relief Society Magazine, September 1963, He Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith - President Lorenzo Snow
Instructor, June 1967, Lorenzo Snow - Mighty Man of God
Instructor, October 1970, Inspiration from the Lives of Eight Men
Ensign, December 2011, President Lorenzo Snow (1814-1901)
Church News, 2 May 2024, 125 Years Ago: How President Lorenzo Snow’s Renewed Emphasis of Tithing Blessed the Church
Jenson, Andrew. "Snow, Lorenzo." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 1. pg. 26-31.
SNOW, Lorenzo, fifth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born April 30, 1814, in Mantua, Portage county. Ohio. He is the eldest son of Oliver Snow and Rosetta L. Pettibone. His parents were of the old Puritan stock, and, naturally enough, from them he inherited the sterling qualities which characterized the early promoters of civil and religious liberty in America. Ohio, at that time, was considered in the extreme west and although President Snow was reared upon a farm in the "wild west," and inured to hard manual labor, he early exhibited a strong desire to secure a good education and was often found by those seeking his company "hid up with his book." He also entertained an inclination to military tactics and gave them considerable attention. His faithful sister, Eliza R., made him a suit of uniform. She became somewhat alarmed at her brother's aspirations, lest he should become a military man. become identified with the armies of his country and end his career upon the gory battlefield. Her anxiety, however, was relieved when she found him turning his attention more completely to a collegiate course of education. He attended the celebrated Oberlin college, which at that time, was strictly Presbyterian. In the meantime his sister Eliza had identified herself with the Latter-day Saints. He would write home and ask her many questions regarding the subject of religion, on one occasion stating in a letter that if he found nothing better than he did at Oberlin college, "good-bye to all religions." During these years the Saints were building up the town of Kirtland, Ohio, and regions round about which were not very distant from the home of the Snow family. This brought them in close contact with the Latter-day Saints. On one occasion while journeying to Kirtland he fell into the company of Elder David W. Patten, who engaged him in conversation on religious matters. The ideas advanced by Elder Patten were both reasonable and Scriptural. They made such a lasting and favorable impression upon the youthful seeker after truth, that he constantly meditated upon them until he became fully convinced of the truth and embraced the gospel. In Kirtland he joined the Hebrew class and applied his mind closely to the study. He became intimately acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith, and as his association increased, so did his love and admiration for the Prophet of God. In June, 1836, he was baptized by Apostle John F. Boynton and confirmed by Hyrum Smith. Upon joining the Church he was filled with the desire to obtain a testimony for himself, and while pondering upon the promised witness, the adversary sought to darken his mind and weaken his faith. While in this frame of mind he retired to a secret place and sought the Lord in humble prayer. The following is a description of the result, given in his own words: "I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray than I heard a sound just above my head like the rushing of silken robes; and immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and oh, the joyful happiness I felt! No language can describe the almost instantaneous transition from a dense cloud of spiritual darkness into a refulgence of light and knowledge, as it was at that time imparted to my understanding. I received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and of the restoration of the Holy Priesthood, and the fulness of the gospel. It was a complete baptism— a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, the Holy Ghost; and even more physical in its effects upon every part of my system than the immersion by water." In the winter of 1836-37 he was ordained an Elder by Alva Beeman. Subsequent to the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, President Snow attended meetings there with the Prophet of the Lord, and other leading men of the Church. He enjoyed the rich outpouring of the Holy Spirit in that sacred edifice. During the trouble and apostasy in Kirtland, Elder Snow remained faithful and true to the Prophet Joseph Smith. In the spring of 1837 he performed his first mission, traveling in the State of Ohio "without purse or scrip." In the year 1838 the Snow family joined the Saints in Missouri, and there witnessed the scenes of mobocracy enacted in that State. From Missouri Lorenzo Snow went on his second mission, on which he labored in Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri. While in Kentucky he learned of the expulsion of the Saints from Missouri, and walked five hundred miles to Kirtland, Ohio. The two winters following. Elder Snow was occupied in Portage county, Ohio, as a school teacher, in which profession he was very successful. He was ordained a Seventy July 17, 1840, by Joseph Young, and the following day ordained - High Priest by Don Carlos Smith. Soon afterwards he went on a mission to England. It was prior to his mission in England that President Snow had revealed unto him this glorious principle, "As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be." This sublime truth was not then known to the Latter-day Saints. It had not been taught by the Prophet, and Brother Snow wisely kept the matter to himself, except that he confided in his sister Eliza R. Snow and President Brigham Young. The latter also cautioned him not to confide the matter to others. He presided over the London conference, besides laboring in Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. After the Twelve had left England, he acted as counselor to Parley P. Pratt, who presided over the European mission. Before leaving England, President Brigham Young, who had succeeded in raising means to publish the Book of Mormon, gave directions for copies to be specially prepared and richly bound for presentation to her Majesty and the Prince Consort. The honor of this devolved on Lorenzo Snow, who was at that time president of the London conference. The presentation was made in 1S42, through the politeness of Sir Henry Wheatley; and it is said her Majesty condescended to be pleased with the gift. A pamphlet entitled "The Only Way to be Saved," which Elder Snow published while on this mission, has been translated into nearly every language, w-here the fulness of the gospel has been preached under the "Mormon"' dispensation. At the close of this mission of nearly three years, he took charge of a large company of Saints, with whom he safely landed in Nauvoo, via New Orleans and the Mississippi river, April 12, 1843. On his return to Nauvoo he was welcomed by the Prophet Joseph. President Young now informed Brother Snow that the doctrine he had mentioned concerning God and man was true, the Prophet Joseph Smith having taught it to the Twelve. Until that time Elder Snow was unmarried, his intellectual and spiritual pursuits having excluded from his mind to a very considerable degree the subject of matrimony. While on a brief mission to Ohio Elder Snow heard of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Previous to the Prophet's death he taught Elder Snow the doctrine of celestial marriage, including a plurality of wives. He left with the exodus from Illinois, when the companies for emigration were organized by President Young, and he became a captain of ten. At Mount Pisgah, a temporary resting place for the Saints, Elder Snow was appointed to preside. Here he distinguished himself as a leader by organizing and planning to alleviate the sufferings of the people and to provide for their maintenance. He moved to Great Salt Lake Valley in the fall of 1848. In his new location he was among the most industrious and cheerful in the performance of every labor and duty incidental to building a city in the desert. Early in 1849 he was called to the Apostleship and was ordained a member of the Council of the Twelve Feb. 12, 1849, by Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards. As an Apostle of the Lord President Lorenzo Snow has labored with ability and energy since his ordination, covering a period of over half a century. At the October conference, 1849, he was called on a mission to Italy, to introduce and establish the gospel in that land; his mission also extended to other nations and countries wherever the opportunity should present itself. En route he visited London and Paris, and arrived in Genoa, Italy, June 25, 1850. Among the Catholics Elder Snow and companions made but little progress, but in the Piedmont valley they labored with considerable success among the Protestant Waldenses. In the prosecution of missionary work Elder Snow issued a number of pamphlets which were as widely circulated in their mission as circumstances would permit. Among these were "The Voice of Joseph" and "The Ancient Gospel Restored." He caused the Book of Mormon to be translated into Italian and under his direction the gospel was introduced to Switzerland, where good success attended the Elders. Elder Snow, was so thoroughly filled with the spirit of preaching the gospel to all nations, that he planned for missions to Turkey, Russia, Malta and other countries. He also sent missionaries to Calcutta and Bombay, where branches of the Church were organized. While engaged in missionary labors on Malta, he received his release to return home. He arrived in Salt Lake City, Aug. 30, 1852. The following year he was elected a member of the Utah legislature, and he subsequently served in that body for twenty-nine years. During several sessions he presided over the council. In 1853 he was called by President Young to remove to Box Elder county, and locate fifty families there. He cheerfully consented, and for forty years made his home at Brigham City, where he was the leading spirit, not only in spiritual matters, but in every laudable enterprise looking to the development of the country and the growth of the people in every desirable way. He also presided for years over Box Elder Stake of Zion. He organized the Brigham City Mercantile and Manufacturing Association, under which several industries were brought into successful operation, such as a woolen mill, tannery, shoe factory, hat factory, sheep and cattle herd, cheese factory, saw mills, tailor, furniture, blacksmith, wagon and tin shops. The products of these industries in 1875 amounted in value to $260,000. The enterprises were conducted as nearly as possible under the existing conditions in the spirit of the United Order. Although the organization became extinct, and the industries ceased. President Snow fully demonstrated the fact that under' a more perfect condition of the people spiritually the United Order is an absolute possibility. In 1864 Elder Snow, with Elders Ezra T. Benson, Joseph F. Smith and others Elders, went on a short mission to the Sandwich Islands. While attempting to land at Lahaina, Maui, the small boat carrying them was capsized and President Snow was thrown into the sea. When rescued he was to all appearances dead. The brethren exercised great faith and worked over him for more than an hour, when life came back to his body. He concluded his mission in Hawaii successfully and returned to resume his labors in Zion. In 1873, he, with his sister Eliza R., and other tourists, visited the land of Palestine. The interesting account of their visit will be found in "The Palestine Tourist." Upon his return home President Snow was active in his calling, frequently visiting the settlements of the Saints in company with President Brigham Young and other leading men. During the crusade against the Saints under the Edmunds- Tucker act, President Snow personally suffered the persecution incidental to those times. He was arrested by seven United States deputy marshals at his residence at Brigham City, Nov. 20, 1885, on a charge of unlawful cohabitation, three indictments having been found against him by the grand jury of the First District court. There were three regular trials, the first one commencing Dec. 30, 1885, and the last one ending Jan. 5, 1886, conviction being the result in each case. He was sentenced by Judge O. W. Powers, Jan. 16, 1886, the judgment being the full penalty of the law—imprisonment for six months and a fine of $300 and cost—under each conviction. Under this segregation process inaugurated by the Utah courts, but afterwards reversed by the United States supreme court, President Snow served eleven months without a murmur or complaint. Before being sentenced he was offered his liberty if he would do violence to his own conscience by making a certain promise. This he refused to do. After being sentenced, the defendant took an appeal to the Territorial supreme court and was in the meantime allowed to remain at large under bonds. The decision of the Territorial supreme court confirmed the judgment of the lower court. Chief Justice Zane concurring with Associate Justices Boreman and Powers in the first case, but dissenting from them in the other two. The two associate justices held that unlawful cohabitation was proved, in the absence of any other evidence, when it was shown that the defendant had lived with a plural wife while he had a legal wife living and undivorced. They held that the law presumed the living with the legal wife. In this view Judge Zane did not concur. The defendant took an appeal to the supreme court of the United States. In order to have the cases advanced upon the calendar of the court of last resort, it was necessary that he should be in durance. For the benefit of many of his brethren who had been indicted and others who were likely to be under the "segregating" process, he elected to go to prison to have the question of the right of the lower courts to so construe and administer the law, and other points, tested as early as practicable. The cases were argued and submitted,, and, on May 10, 1886, the United States supreme court dismissed the cases for want of jurisdiction. Oct. 22, 1886, Brother Snow petitioned the First District court for a writ of habeas corpus, which was denied the following day, but on the 25th, pursuant to section 9 of the Organic Act of Utah and section 1909 of U. S. Revised Statutes, an appeal to the supreme court of the United States was allowed. This finally came up for hearing, Jan. 20. 1887, and a decision was rendered on Feb. 7th to the effect that: (1.) There was but one entire offense for the continuous time. (2.) The trial court had no jurisdiction to inflict a punishment in respect of more than one of the convictions. (3.) As the want of jurisdiction appeared on the face of the proceedings, the defendant could be released from imprisonment on a habeas corpus. (4.) The order and judgment of the court below must be reversed, and the case remanded to that court, with a direction to grant the writ of habeas corpus prayed for. The next day (Feb. 8th), agreeable to this decision, Apostle Snow was liberated from the Utah Penitentiary. At the general conference, April 7, 1889, Lorenzo Snow was sustained as President of the Twelve Apostles, which position he filled with distinction until he became President of the Church subsequent to the death of President Woodruff) October 13, 1898. Soon after the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple in 1893, President Snow was installed in it as president, which honored position he still holds. No more fitting appointment could possibly have been made. He had ever been interested in Temple work. He is spiritually minded to a very high degree, and with his heavenly countenance and sweet, gentle dignity, no one living was better, if so well, qualified to stand as the watchman at the door which opens between the living and the dead. When President Snow succeeded to the Presidency of the Church, he said to his brethren: "I do not want this administration to be known as Lorenzo Snow's administration, but as God's in and through Lorenzo Snow." President Snow chose for his counselors George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, who had served faithfully in the same relationship to Presidents Taylor and Woodruff. During the first and very foremost subjects of consideration with President Snow was how to relieve the Church from the heavy burden of debt which has rested upon it since the confiscation of Church property by the government. He issued Church bonds, and with money borrowed almost entirely from our own people, liquidated the most pressing obligations of the Church. Soon after this he was impressed to make a tour among the settlements of the Saints in southern Utah. While in St. George the Lord revealed to him that the Saints must repent of their indifference to the law of tithing, reform and do better or many blessings would be withdrawn from them. On the other hand, if the Latter-day Saints would do their duty in this regard the obligations of the Church would be fully met, the land more thoroughly sanctified as a land of Zion, and the people prepared for the great redemption. President Snow and the brethren have visited many Stakes of Zion, and in all 1899 was a year of tithe preaching and tithe paying. The spirit of obedience to this law has permeated every Stake of Zion and every land and clime where a mission is established, and the Elders are found proclaiming the gospel to the nations of the earth. With the advancement made as a result of this movement, it may be safely believed that the administration of the Lord through President Snow will be one of the most remarkable the Church has ever seen. President Snow is now 87 years of age; he has been true and absolutely undeviating from the testimony he received sixty-five years ago. In reviewing the history of his life, we find him a humble farmer's boy, a student at college, a teacher and a missionary in many lands, "without money and without price," a pioneer colonizer, a promoter and manager of financial enterprises, a legislator and an Apostle of the Lord, a Prophet of God; truly a man who can sympathize with the people in all the conditions of life, especially those common to the experiences of a Latter-day Saint, thus aptly fitting him by experience for the high station he now occupies. He has suffered privation, hardships, persecutions, bonds and imprisonment, yet through it all he bears the same testimony given over sixty-five years ago. President Snow stands erect, is active in body and bright in every faculty of his mind, and, as said of Moses, "his natural force abateth not, neither doth his eye wax dim.' (For further information see Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, by Eliza R. Snow Smith; "Historical Record," Vol. 6, p. 138; sketch by Matthias F. Cowley in "Southern Star," Vol. 2, p. 193, etc.)
SNOW, Lorenzo, fifth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born April 30, 1814, in Mantua, Portage county. Ohio. He is the eldest son of Oliver Snow and Rosetta L. Pettibone. His parents were of the old Puritan stock, and, naturally enough, from them he inherited the sterling qualities which characterized the early promoters of civil and religious liberty in America. Ohio, at that time, was considered in the extreme west and although President Snow was reared upon a farm in the "wild west," and inured to hard manual labor, he early exhibited a strong desire to secure a good education and was often found by those seeking his company "hid up with his book." He also entertained an inclination to military tactics and gave them considerable attention. His faithful sister, Eliza R., made him a suit of uniform. She became somewhat alarmed at her brother's aspirations, lest he should become a military man. become identified with the armies of his country and end his career upon the gory battlefield. Her anxiety, however, was relieved when she found him turning his attention more completely to a collegiate course of education. He attended the celebrated Oberlin college, which at that time, was strictly Presbyterian. In the meantime his sister Eliza had identified herself with the Latter-day Saints. He would write home and ask her many questions regarding the subject of religion, on one occasion stating in a letter that if he found nothing better than he did at Oberlin college, "good-bye to all religions." During these years the Saints were building up the town of Kirtland, Ohio, and regions round about which were not very distant from the home of the Snow family. This brought them in close contact with the Latter-day Saints. On one occasion while journeying to Kirtland he fell into the company of Elder David W. Patten, who engaged him in conversation on religious matters. The ideas advanced by Elder Patten were both reasonable and Scriptural. They made such a lasting and favorable impression upon the youthful seeker after truth, that he constantly meditated upon them until he became fully convinced of the truth and embraced the gospel. In Kirtland he joined the Hebrew class and applied his mind closely to the study. He became intimately acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith, and as his association increased, so did his love and admiration for the Prophet of God. In June, 1836, he was baptized by Apostle John F. Boynton and confirmed by Hyrum Smith. Upon joining the Church he was filled with the desire to obtain a testimony for himself, and while pondering upon the promised witness, the adversary sought to darken his mind and weaken his faith. While in this frame of mind he retired to a secret place and sought the Lord in humble prayer. The following is a description of the result, given in his own words: "I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray than I heard a sound just above my head like the rushing of silken robes; and immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and oh, the joyful happiness I felt! No language can describe the almost instantaneous transition from a dense cloud of spiritual darkness into a refulgence of light and knowledge, as it was at that time imparted to my understanding. I received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and of the restoration of the Holy Priesthood, and the fulness of the gospel. It was a complete baptism— a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, the Holy Ghost; and even more physical in its effects upon every part of my system than the immersion by water." In the winter of 1836-37 he was ordained an Elder by Alva Beeman. Subsequent to the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, President Snow attended meetings there with the Prophet of the Lord, and other leading men of the Church. He enjoyed the rich outpouring of the Holy Spirit in that sacred edifice. During the trouble and apostasy in Kirtland, Elder Snow remained faithful and true to the Prophet Joseph Smith. In the spring of 1837 he performed his first mission, traveling in the State of Ohio "without purse or scrip." In the year 1838 the Snow family joined the Saints in Missouri, and there witnessed the scenes of mobocracy enacted in that State. From Missouri Lorenzo Snow went on his second mission, on which he labored in Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri. While in Kentucky he learned of the expulsion of the Saints from Missouri, and walked five hundred miles to Kirtland, Ohio. The two winters following. Elder Snow was occupied in Portage county, Ohio, as a school teacher, in which profession he was very successful. He was ordained a Seventy July 17, 1840, by Joseph Young, and the following day ordained - High Priest by Don Carlos Smith. Soon afterwards he went on a mission to England. It was prior to his mission in England that President Snow had revealed unto him this glorious principle, "As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be." This sublime truth was not then known to the Latter-day Saints. It had not been taught by the Prophet, and Brother Snow wisely kept the matter to himself, except that he confided in his sister Eliza R. Snow and President Brigham Young. The latter also cautioned him not to confide the matter to others. He presided over the London conference, besides laboring in Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. After the Twelve had left England, he acted as counselor to Parley P. Pratt, who presided over the European mission. Before leaving England, President Brigham Young, who had succeeded in raising means to publish the Book of Mormon, gave directions for copies to be specially prepared and richly bound for presentation to her Majesty and the Prince Consort. The honor of this devolved on Lorenzo Snow, who was at that time president of the London conference. The presentation was made in 1S42, through the politeness of Sir Henry Wheatley; and it is said her Majesty condescended to be pleased with the gift. A pamphlet entitled "The Only Way to be Saved," which Elder Snow published while on this mission, has been translated into nearly every language, w-here the fulness of the gospel has been preached under the "Mormon"' dispensation. At the close of this mission of nearly three years, he took charge of a large company of Saints, with whom he safely landed in Nauvoo, via New Orleans and the Mississippi river, April 12, 1843. On his return to Nauvoo he was welcomed by the Prophet Joseph. President Young now informed Brother Snow that the doctrine he had mentioned concerning God and man was true, the Prophet Joseph Smith having taught it to the Twelve. Until that time Elder Snow was unmarried, his intellectual and spiritual pursuits having excluded from his mind to a very considerable degree the subject of matrimony. While on a brief mission to Ohio Elder Snow heard of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Previous to the Prophet's death he taught Elder Snow the doctrine of celestial marriage, including a plurality of wives. He left with the exodus from Illinois, when the companies for emigration were organized by President Young, and he became a captain of ten. At Mount Pisgah, a temporary resting place for the Saints, Elder Snow was appointed to preside. Here he distinguished himself as a leader by organizing and planning to alleviate the sufferings of the people and to provide for their maintenance. He moved to Great Salt Lake Valley in the fall of 1848. In his new location he was among the most industrious and cheerful in the performance of every labor and duty incidental to building a city in the desert. Early in 1849 he was called to the Apostleship and was ordained a member of the Council of the Twelve Feb. 12, 1849, by Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards. As an Apostle of the Lord President Lorenzo Snow has labored with ability and energy since his ordination, covering a period of over half a century. At the October conference, 1849, he was called on a mission to Italy, to introduce and establish the gospel in that land; his mission also extended to other nations and countries wherever the opportunity should present itself. En route he visited London and Paris, and arrived in Genoa, Italy, June 25, 1850. Among the Catholics Elder Snow and companions made but little progress, but in the Piedmont valley they labored with considerable success among the Protestant Waldenses. In the prosecution of missionary work Elder Snow issued a number of pamphlets which were as widely circulated in their mission as circumstances would permit. Among these were "The Voice of Joseph" and "The Ancient Gospel Restored." He caused the Book of Mormon to be translated into Italian and under his direction the gospel was introduced to Switzerland, where good success attended the Elders. Elder Snow, was so thoroughly filled with the spirit of preaching the gospel to all nations, that he planned for missions to Turkey, Russia, Malta and other countries. He also sent missionaries to Calcutta and Bombay, where branches of the Church were organized. While engaged in missionary labors on Malta, he received his release to return home. He arrived in Salt Lake City, Aug. 30, 1852. The following year he was elected a member of the Utah legislature, and he subsequently served in that body for twenty-nine years. During several sessions he presided over the council. In 1853 he was called by President Young to remove to Box Elder county, and locate fifty families there. He cheerfully consented, and for forty years made his home at Brigham City, where he was the leading spirit, not only in spiritual matters, but in every laudable enterprise looking to the development of the country and the growth of the people in every desirable way. He also presided for years over Box Elder Stake of Zion. He organized the Brigham City Mercantile and Manufacturing Association, under which several industries were brought into successful operation, such as a woolen mill, tannery, shoe factory, hat factory, sheep and cattle herd, cheese factory, saw mills, tailor, furniture, blacksmith, wagon and tin shops. The products of these industries in 1875 amounted in value to $260,000. The enterprises were conducted as nearly as possible under the existing conditions in the spirit of the United Order. Although the organization became extinct, and the industries ceased. President Snow fully demonstrated the fact that under' a more perfect condition of the people spiritually the United Order is an absolute possibility. In 1864 Elder Snow, with Elders Ezra T. Benson, Joseph F. Smith and others Elders, went on a short mission to the Sandwich Islands. While attempting to land at Lahaina, Maui, the small boat carrying them was capsized and President Snow was thrown into the sea. When rescued he was to all appearances dead. The brethren exercised great faith and worked over him for more than an hour, when life came back to his body. He concluded his mission in Hawaii successfully and returned to resume his labors in Zion. In 1873, he, with his sister Eliza R., and other tourists, visited the land of Palestine. The interesting account of their visit will be found in "The Palestine Tourist." Upon his return home President Snow was active in his calling, frequently visiting the settlements of the Saints in company with President Brigham Young and other leading men. During the crusade against the Saints under the Edmunds- Tucker act, President Snow personally suffered the persecution incidental to those times. He was arrested by seven United States deputy marshals at his residence at Brigham City, Nov. 20, 1885, on a charge of unlawful cohabitation, three indictments having been found against him by the grand jury of the First District court. There were three regular trials, the first one commencing Dec. 30, 1885, and the last one ending Jan. 5, 1886, conviction being the result in each case. He was sentenced by Judge O. W. Powers, Jan. 16, 1886, the judgment being the full penalty of the law—imprisonment for six months and a fine of $300 and cost—under each conviction. Under this segregation process inaugurated by the Utah courts, but afterwards reversed by the United States supreme court, President Snow served eleven months without a murmur or complaint. Before being sentenced he was offered his liberty if he would do violence to his own conscience by making a certain promise. This he refused to do. After being sentenced, the defendant took an appeal to the Territorial supreme court and was in the meantime allowed to remain at large under bonds. The decision of the Territorial supreme court confirmed the judgment of the lower court. Chief Justice Zane concurring with Associate Justices Boreman and Powers in the first case, but dissenting from them in the other two. The two associate justices held that unlawful cohabitation was proved, in the absence of any other evidence, when it was shown that the defendant had lived with a plural wife while he had a legal wife living and undivorced. They held that the law presumed the living with the legal wife. In this view Judge Zane did not concur. The defendant took an appeal to the supreme court of the United States. In order to have the cases advanced upon the calendar of the court of last resort, it was necessary that he should be in durance. For the benefit of many of his brethren who had been indicted and others who were likely to be under the "segregating" process, he elected to go to prison to have the question of the right of the lower courts to so construe and administer the law, and other points, tested as early as practicable. The cases were argued and submitted,, and, on May 10, 1886, the United States supreme court dismissed the cases for want of jurisdiction. Oct. 22, 1886, Brother Snow petitioned the First District court for a writ of habeas corpus, which was denied the following day, but on the 25th, pursuant to section 9 of the Organic Act of Utah and section 1909 of U. S. Revised Statutes, an appeal to the supreme court of the United States was allowed. This finally came up for hearing, Jan. 20. 1887, and a decision was rendered on Feb. 7th to the effect that: (1.) There was but one entire offense for the continuous time. (2.) The trial court had no jurisdiction to inflict a punishment in respect of more than one of the convictions. (3.) As the want of jurisdiction appeared on the face of the proceedings, the defendant could be released from imprisonment on a habeas corpus. (4.) The order and judgment of the court below must be reversed, and the case remanded to that court, with a direction to grant the writ of habeas corpus prayed for. The next day (Feb. 8th), agreeable to this decision, Apostle Snow was liberated from the Utah Penitentiary. At the general conference, April 7, 1889, Lorenzo Snow was sustained as President of the Twelve Apostles, which position he filled with distinction until he became President of the Church subsequent to the death of President Woodruff) October 13, 1898. Soon after the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple in 1893, President Snow was installed in it as president, which honored position he still holds. No more fitting appointment could possibly have been made. He had ever been interested in Temple work. He is spiritually minded to a very high degree, and with his heavenly countenance and sweet, gentle dignity, no one living was better, if so well, qualified to stand as the watchman at the door which opens between the living and the dead. When President Snow succeeded to the Presidency of the Church, he said to his brethren: "I do not want this administration to be known as Lorenzo Snow's administration, but as God's in and through Lorenzo Snow." President Snow chose for his counselors George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, who had served faithfully in the same relationship to Presidents Taylor and Woodruff. During the first and very foremost subjects of consideration with President Snow was how to relieve the Church from the heavy burden of debt which has rested upon it since the confiscation of Church property by the government. He issued Church bonds, and with money borrowed almost entirely from our own people, liquidated the most pressing obligations of the Church. Soon after this he was impressed to make a tour among the settlements of the Saints in southern Utah. While in St. George the Lord revealed to him that the Saints must repent of their indifference to the law of tithing, reform and do better or many blessings would be withdrawn from them. On the other hand, if the Latter-day Saints would do their duty in this regard the obligations of the Church would be fully met, the land more thoroughly sanctified as a land of Zion, and the people prepared for the great redemption. President Snow and the brethren have visited many Stakes of Zion, and in all 1899 was a year of tithe preaching and tithe paying. The spirit of obedience to this law has permeated every Stake of Zion and every land and clime where a mission is established, and the Elders are found proclaiming the gospel to the nations of the earth. With the advancement made as a result of this movement, it may be safely believed that the administration of the Lord through President Snow will be one of the most remarkable the Church has ever seen. President Snow is now 87 years of age; he has been true and absolutely undeviating from the testimony he received sixty-five years ago. In reviewing the history of his life, we find him a humble farmer's boy, a student at college, a teacher and a missionary in many lands, "without money and without price," a pioneer colonizer, a promoter and manager of financial enterprises, a legislator and an Apostle of the Lord, a Prophet of God; truly a man who can sympathize with the people in all the conditions of life, especially those common to the experiences of a Latter-day Saint, thus aptly fitting him by experience for the high station he now occupies. He has suffered privation, hardships, persecutions, bonds and imprisonment, yet through it all he bears the same testimony given over sixty-five years ago. President Snow stands erect, is active in body and bright in every faculty of his mind, and, as said of Moses, "his natural force abateth not, neither doth his eye wax dim.' (For further information see Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, by Eliza R. Snow Smith; "Historical Record," Vol. 6, p. 138; sketch by Matthias F. Cowley in "Southern Star," Vol. 2, p. 193, etc.)
Jenson, Andrew. "Snow, Lorenzo." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 3. pg. 786-787.
SNOW, Lorenzo, fifth President of the Church. (Continued from Vol. 1: On Monday, January 8, 1900, President Lorenzo Snow issued a proclamation declaring that the Church had positively abandoned polygamy, and that if any member of the Church disobeyed the law, either as to polygamy or unlawful co-habitation, he must bear his own burden and be answerable to the tribunal of the land for his own action pertaining thereto. In May, 1900, President Snow, in behalf of the Church, donated to the Latter-day Saints College a land grant north of the old Deseret News corner in Salt Lake City. This is now the site of the Latter-day Saints University. At a meeting of the Deseret Sunday School Union, held May 9, 1901, President Snow was chosen general superintendent of all the Sunday schools in the Church, to succeed the late George Q. Cannon. For some time in 1901 President Snow's health had been failing and he continued to grow worse until Oct. 10, 1901, when he died at the Beehive house, in Salt Lake City. The "Deseret Evening News" of Oct. 16, 1901, commented upon the demise of President Lorenzo Snow as follows: "Once more the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in deep mourning. Again its chief Apostle and President has been called to a higher sphere. President Lorenzo Snow is dead. In the eighty-eighth year of his eventful life he has finished his work on earth and closed his mortal career. He has departed in peace. He died in the Lord; he is blessed of heaven; he rests from his labors, and his works do follow him as evidences of his worthiness and his title to a never-fading crown. Our departed leader was a man of mark from the beginning of his membership in the Church of the latter days. There was a place in his heart for the gospel and a place in the ministry for his talents. Of a spiritual nature, yet eminently practical, he was ready to receive the manifestations of the spirit and the revelations of heaven. He received a divine testimony so powerful and overwhelming that, to use his own words, it filled his whole being and quickened him spiritually, intellectually and physically; it never left him. He was as sensible of it to his last hours as on the day when he received it directly from the Lord. This inspiration guided him through all his labors and travels and ministry at home and abroad. His whole life was devoted to the cause of Christ and the salvation of man. Whether out among the nations preaching the gospel, or visiting the branches and Stakes of Zion, or directing the enterprises and temporal works necessary to the development of the community and the advancement of the State, as a legislator, a co-operative leader, an Apostle of the Lord, a counselor in Israel, a President of a Temple and of the Church, and a Prophet of the living God, Lorenzo Snow was equally active and able as a great spirit devoted to the truth, the welfare of humanity and the glory of the Eternal Father. * * * President Snow, at his first active assumption of the position to which he had been called at the head of the Church, had the strong desire to lift it from the burden of debt which was upon it, in consequence of the troubles through which it had passed. He was inspired to revive among the Saints obedience to the law of tithing, and his travels through the Stakes infused a new spirit among them in relation to it. The response was remarkable. It enabled him to pay off many obligations, to reduce the rates of interest that were being paid, to aid financially many of the interests of Zion, and to see before him the approaching end of the debts of the Church. But his time had come. His departure is a great loss to the people over whom he presided, and they will feel it keenly, but what a welcome he will meet on the other side of the veil! The Prophets, Elders and Saints of the last dispensation, who have 'gone before,' will greet him in Paradise, and rejoice at the aid he will render in the great work now in progress in the spirit world. * * * Our departed President will be ever known in Israel as one of the chosen and anointed sons of God, sent on earth for the work of the last dispensation, who magnified his calling, suffered for the truth's sake, and make a great impress upon this generation."
SNOW, Lorenzo, fifth President of the Church. (Continued from Vol. 1: On Monday, January 8, 1900, President Lorenzo Snow issued a proclamation declaring that the Church had positively abandoned polygamy, and that if any member of the Church disobeyed the law, either as to polygamy or unlawful co-habitation, he must bear his own burden and be answerable to the tribunal of the land for his own action pertaining thereto. In May, 1900, President Snow, in behalf of the Church, donated to the Latter-day Saints College a land grant north of the old Deseret News corner in Salt Lake City. This is now the site of the Latter-day Saints University. At a meeting of the Deseret Sunday School Union, held May 9, 1901, President Snow was chosen general superintendent of all the Sunday schools in the Church, to succeed the late George Q. Cannon. For some time in 1901 President Snow's health had been failing and he continued to grow worse until Oct. 10, 1901, when he died at the Beehive house, in Salt Lake City. The "Deseret Evening News" of Oct. 16, 1901, commented upon the demise of President Lorenzo Snow as follows: "Once more the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in deep mourning. Again its chief Apostle and President has been called to a higher sphere. President Lorenzo Snow is dead. In the eighty-eighth year of his eventful life he has finished his work on earth and closed his mortal career. He has departed in peace. He died in the Lord; he is blessed of heaven; he rests from his labors, and his works do follow him as evidences of his worthiness and his title to a never-fading crown. Our departed leader was a man of mark from the beginning of his membership in the Church of the latter days. There was a place in his heart for the gospel and a place in the ministry for his talents. Of a spiritual nature, yet eminently practical, he was ready to receive the manifestations of the spirit and the revelations of heaven. He received a divine testimony so powerful and overwhelming that, to use his own words, it filled his whole being and quickened him spiritually, intellectually and physically; it never left him. He was as sensible of it to his last hours as on the day when he received it directly from the Lord. This inspiration guided him through all his labors and travels and ministry at home and abroad. His whole life was devoted to the cause of Christ and the salvation of man. Whether out among the nations preaching the gospel, or visiting the branches and Stakes of Zion, or directing the enterprises and temporal works necessary to the development of the community and the advancement of the State, as a legislator, a co-operative leader, an Apostle of the Lord, a counselor in Israel, a President of a Temple and of the Church, and a Prophet of the living God, Lorenzo Snow was equally active and able as a great spirit devoted to the truth, the welfare of humanity and the glory of the Eternal Father. * * * President Snow, at his first active assumption of the position to which he had been called at the head of the Church, had the strong desire to lift it from the burden of debt which was upon it, in consequence of the troubles through which it had passed. He was inspired to revive among the Saints obedience to the law of tithing, and his travels through the Stakes infused a new spirit among them in relation to it. The response was remarkable. It enabled him to pay off many obligations, to reduce the rates of interest that were being paid, to aid financially many of the interests of Zion, and to see before him the approaching end of the debts of the Church. But his time had come. His departure is a great loss to the people over whom he presided, and they will feel it keenly, but what a welcome he will meet on the other side of the veil! The Prophets, Elders and Saints of the last dispensation, who have 'gone before,' will greet him in Paradise, and rejoice at the aid he will render in the great work now in progress in the spirit world. * * * Our departed President will be ever known in Israel as one of the chosen and anointed sons of God, sent on earth for the work of the last dispensation, who magnified his calling, suffered for the truth's sake, and make a great impress upon this generation."
Jenson, Andrew. "Snow, Lorenzo." Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 4. pg. 247, 341, 345.
SNOW, Lorenzo, general president of Y. M. M. I. A. from 1898 to 1901, died Oct. 10, 1901. (See Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 786.)
SNOW, Lorenzo, president of the Hawaiian mission for a short time in 1864, died Oct. 10, 1901. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 26.)
SNOW, Lorenzo, president of the Italian Mission from 1850 to 1851. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 26.)
SNOW, Lorenzo, general president of Y. M. M. I. A. from 1898 to 1901, died Oct. 10, 1901. (See Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 786.)
SNOW, Lorenzo, president of the Hawaiian mission for a short time in 1864, died Oct. 10, 1901. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 26.)
SNOW, Lorenzo, president of the Italian Mission from 1850 to 1851. (See Bio. Ency., Vol. 1, p. 26.)
"How He Became a "Mormon"." Juvenile Instructor. 15 January 1887. pg. 22-23.
HOW HE BECAME A "MORMON."
From Lorenzo Snow's Journal.
WHILE attending college at Oberlin, Ohio, in the Spring of 1836, I had occasion to visit Kirtland, some sixty miles distant where two of my sisters, Eliza R. and Lenora A. Snow, were then residing. At that time, Kirtland was the principal settlement of the Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith the Prophet, his counselors and leading Elders then had their houses in that locality, and the Saints had just completed their beautiful temple.
I became personally acquainted with Joseph Smith, his counselors, and a number of the prominent Elders. I was invited to attend a "blessing meeting;" and after listening to several patriarchal blessings pronounced upon heads of different individuals with whose history I was acquainted, and of whom I knew the Patriarch was entirely ignorant, I was struck with astonishment to hear their peculiarities so positively and plainly referred to in their blessings. I was convinced that an influence, superior to human prescience, dictated the words of the one who officiated.
The Patriarch was the father of Joseph the Prophet, and after the services, I was introduced to him. At the close of an interesting conversation, he said: "Brother Snow, I see you are honest, and searching after the truth, and it will not be long before you will be convinced, see clearly your duty, be baptized and become a Latter-day Saint.
This prediction to me of course was quite strange, for at that time I had not cherished a thought of ever becoming a member of the "Mormon" Church. I looked at Father Smith, and silently asked myself the question, can that man be a deceiver?
His every appearance answered in the negative.
At first sight, his presence impressed me with feelings of love and reverence, for I had never seen age so prepossessing. Father Joseph Smith, the Patriarch, was indeed a noble specimen of aged manhood.
I attended several of their meetings at which was their custom for lay members, both men and women, to speak—give their experience, and testify regarding their extraordinary spiritual manifestations. I talked with those people, and their prominent Elders; with Joseph Smith the Prophet, and marveled and was exceedingly astonished while listening to what they solemnly declared regarding their wonderful experiences. The strange things I heard and saw at their prayer and testimony meetings, the marvellous experiences as related by men and women whose honesty and sincerity I could not doubt, which experiences they asserted were the natural and legitimate fruits of obedience to what they called the restored New Testament gospel, together with a Priesthood which held the keys or right to administer its ordinances of baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost—all these things, I say, overwhelmed me with astonishment.
I noticed that Joseph Smith assumed a position which no false Prophet would dare, viz: that he had received the visitation of three angels: Peter, James and John, who, in the name and by the command of the Son of God, authorized him to preach the gospel, administer its ordinances, and promise the Holy Ghost which would impart a knowledge of his authority and divine mission, and his right to organize the Church of God on the earth, to prepare a people for the second advent of the Son of Man. Under these circumstances and with these considerations, I could not otherwise believe than Joseph Smith was honest and sincere, for I knew that his statement was of that peculiar character that there could be no chance for deception and such testimony, if false, could be readily so proven and would exhibit of nothing less than positive villainy.
I was at that time a young man full of worldly aspirations, with bright prospects and means to gratify my ambition in acquiring a liberal, collegiate education. Besides I had many wealthy, proud, aristocratical friends and relatives who watched eagerly for me to achieve high honors in life. It will therefore be easily understood that no small effort was needed to form the resolution to abandon those prospects, disappoint those expectations and join the poor, ignorant, despised "Mormons," and become a follower of "Old Joe Smith, the money digger," as they and he, at that early day, were regarded. Of course, had I then understood as I now know, the ultimate results of obedience to the gospel, and a life of purity, and after its close an exaltation to the fullness of Celestial Glory, I should have been ashamed to call it a sacrifice. But in my ignorance of its blessings and glories, it proved the fiercest struggle of heart and soul I ever experienced.
However, through the help of the Lord—for I feel certain He must have helped me—I laid my pride, worldly ambition and aspirations upon the altar, and, humble as a child, went to the waters of baptism, and received the ordinances of the gospel, administered by one who claimed to be an Apostle.
In June, 1836, previous to accepting these ordinances, I became convinced in my investigations of the principles taught by the Latter-day Saints, which I proved by comparison to be the same as those mentioned in the New Testament, taught by Christ and His apostles, that obedience to them would impart miraculous powers, manifestations and revelations. With sanguine expectation of this result, I received baptism and the ordinance of laying on of hands by one who professed to have divine authority; and, having thus yielded obedience I was in constant expectation of the fulfillment of the promise of the reception of the Holy Ghost.
This manifestation did not immediately follow my baptism, as I expected. But, although the time was deferred, when I did receive it its realization was more perfect, tangible and miraculous than even my strongest hopes had led me to anticipate. One day while engaged in my studies, some two or three weeks after I was baptized, I began to reflect upon the fact that I had not obtained a knowledge of the truth of the work—that I had not realized the fulfillment of the promise: "He that doeth my will shall know of the doctrine;" and I began to feel very uneasy.
I laid aside my books, left the house and wandered around through the fields under the oppressive influence of a gloomy, disconsolate spirit, while an indescribable cloud of darkness seemed to envelop me. I had been accustomed, at the close of the day, to retire for secret prayer to a grove, a short distance from my lodgings, but at this time I felt no inclination to do so.
The spirit of prayer had departed, and the heavens seemed like brass over my head. At length, realizing that the usual time had come for secret prayer, I concluded I would not forego my evening service, and, as a matter of formality, knelt as I was in the habit of doing, and in my accustomed retired place, but not feeling as I was wont to feel.
I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray, than I heard a sound, just above my head, like the rustling of silken robes, and immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O, the joy and happiness I felt! No language can describe the instantaneous transition from a dense cloud of mental and spiritual darkness into a refulgence of light and knowledge, as it was at that time imparted to my understanding. I then received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and of the restoration of the Holy Priesthood, and the fulness of the gospel.
It was a complete baptism—a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, the Holy Ghost; and even more real and physical in its effects upon every part of my system than the immersion by water; dispelling forever, so long as reason and memory last, all possibility of doubt or fear in relation to the fact handed down to us historically, that the "Babe of Bethlehem" is truly the Son of God; also the fact that He is now being revealed to the children of men, and communicating knowledge, the same as in the apostolic times. I was perfectly satisfied, as well I might be, for my expectations were more than realized, I think I may safely say, in an infinite degree.
I cannot tell how long I remained in the full flow of this blissful enjoyment and divine enlightenment, but it was several minutes before the celestial element, which filled and surrounded me, began gradually to withdraw. On arising from my kneeling posture, with my heart swelling with gratitude to God beyond the power of expression, I felt--I have that he had conferred on me what only an Omnipotent Being can confer— that which is of greater value than all the wealth and honors worlds can bestow. That night, as I retired to rest, the same wonderful manifestations were repeated, and continued to be for several successive nights. The sweet remembrance of those glorious experiences, from that time to the present, bring them fresh before me, imparting an inspiring influence which pervades my whole being, and I trust will to the close of my earthly existence.
HOW HE BECAME A "MORMON."
From Lorenzo Snow's Journal.
WHILE attending college at Oberlin, Ohio, in the Spring of 1836, I had occasion to visit Kirtland, some sixty miles distant where two of my sisters, Eliza R. and Lenora A. Snow, were then residing. At that time, Kirtland was the principal settlement of the Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith the Prophet, his counselors and leading Elders then had their houses in that locality, and the Saints had just completed their beautiful temple.
I became personally acquainted with Joseph Smith, his counselors, and a number of the prominent Elders. I was invited to attend a "blessing meeting;" and after listening to several patriarchal blessings pronounced upon heads of different individuals with whose history I was acquainted, and of whom I knew the Patriarch was entirely ignorant, I was struck with astonishment to hear their peculiarities so positively and plainly referred to in their blessings. I was convinced that an influence, superior to human prescience, dictated the words of the one who officiated.
The Patriarch was the father of Joseph the Prophet, and after the services, I was introduced to him. At the close of an interesting conversation, he said: "Brother Snow, I see you are honest, and searching after the truth, and it will not be long before you will be convinced, see clearly your duty, be baptized and become a Latter-day Saint.
This prediction to me of course was quite strange, for at that time I had not cherished a thought of ever becoming a member of the "Mormon" Church. I looked at Father Smith, and silently asked myself the question, can that man be a deceiver?
His every appearance answered in the negative.
At first sight, his presence impressed me with feelings of love and reverence, for I had never seen age so prepossessing. Father Joseph Smith, the Patriarch, was indeed a noble specimen of aged manhood.
I attended several of their meetings at which was their custom for lay members, both men and women, to speak—give their experience, and testify regarding their extraordinary spiritual manifestations. I talked with those people, and their prominent Elders; with Joseph Smith the Prophet, and marveled and was exceedingly astonished while listening to what they solemnly declared regarding their wonderful experiences. The strange things I heard and saw at their prayer and testimony meetings, the marvellous experiences as related by men and women whose honesty and sincerity I could not doubt, which experiences they asserted were the natural and legitimate fruits of obedience to what they called the restored New Testament gospel, together with a Priesthood which held the keys or right to administer its ordinances of baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost—all these things, I say, overwhelmed me with astonishment.
I noticed that Joseph Smith assumed a position which no false Prophet would dare, viz: that he had received the visitation of three angels: Peter, James and John, who, in the name and by the command of the Son of God, authorized him to preach the gospel, administer its ordinances, and promise the Holy Ghost which would impart a knowledge of his authority and divine mission, and his right to organize the Church of God on the earth, to prepare a people for the second advent of the Son of Man. Under these circumstances and with these considerations, I could not otherwise believe than Joseph Smith was honest and sincere, for I knew that his statement was of that peculiar character that there could be no chance for deception and such testimony, if false, could be readily so proven and would exhibit of nothing less than positive villainy.
I was at that time a young man full of worldly aspirations, with bright prospects and means to gratify my ambition in acquiring a liberal, collegiate education. Besides I had many wealthy, proud, aristocratical friends and relatives who watched eagerly for me to achieve high honors in life. It will therefore be easily understood that no small effort was needed to form the resolution to abandon those prospects, disappoint those expectations and join the poor, ignorant, despised "Mormons," and become a follower of "Old Joe Smith, the money digger," as they and he, at that early day, were regarded. Of course, had I then understood as I now know, the ultimate results of obedience to the gospel, and a life of purity, and after its close an exaltation to the fullness of Celestial Glory, I should have been ashamed to call it a sacrifice. But in my ignorance of its blessings and glories, it proved the fiercest struggle of heart and soul I ever experienced.
However, through the help of the Lord—for I feel certain He must have helped me—I laid my pride, worldly ambition and aspirations upon the altar, and, humble as a child, went to the waters of baptism, and received the ordinances of the gospel, administered by one who claimed to be an Apostle.
In June, 1836, previous to accepting these ordinances, I became convinced in my investigations of the principles taught by the Latter-day Saints, which I proved by comparison to be the same as those mentioned in the New Testament, taught by Christ and His apostles, that obedience to them would impart miraculous powers, manifestations and revelations. With sanguine expectation of this result, I received baptism and the ordinance of laying on of hands by one who professed to have divine authority; and, having thus yielded obedience I was in constant expectation of the fulfillment of the promise of the reception of the Holy Ghost.
This manifestation did not immediately follow my baptism, as I expected. But, although the time was deferred, when I did receive it its realization was more perfect, tangible and miraculous than even my strongest hopes had led me to anticipate. One day while engaged in my studies, some two or three weeks after I was baptized, I began to reflect upon the fact that I had not obtained a knowledge of the truth of the work—that I had not realized the fulfillment of the promise: "He that doeth my will shall know of the doctrine;" and I began to feel very uneasy.
I laid aside my books, left the house and wandered around through the fields under the oppressive influence of a gloomy, disconsolate spirit, while an indescribable cloud of darkness seemed to envelop me. I had been accustomed, at the close of the day, to retire for secret prayer to a grove, a short distance from my lodgings, but at this time I felt no inclination to do so.
The spirit of prayer had departed, and the heavens seemed like brass over my head. At length, realizing that the usual time had come for secret prayer, I concluded I would not forego my evening service, and, as a matter of formality, knelt as I was in the habit of doing, and in my accustomed retired place, but not feeling as I was wont to feel.
I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray, than I heard a sound, just above my head, like the rustling of silken robes, and immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O, the joy and happiness I felt! No language can describe the instantaneous transition from a dense cloud of mental and spiritual darkness into a refulgence of light and knowledge, as it was at that time imparted to my understanding. I then received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and of the restoration of the Holy Priesthood, and the fulness of the gospel.
It was a complete baptism—a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, the Holy Ghost; and even more real and physical in its effects upon every part of my system than the immersion by water; dispelling forever, so long as reason and memory last, all possibility of doubt or fear in relation to the fact handed down to us historically, that the "Babe of Bethlehem" is truly the Son of God; also the fact that He is now being revealed to the children of men, and communicating knowledge, the same as in the apostolic times. I was perfectly satisfied, as well I might be, for my expectations were more than realized, I think I may safely say, in an infinite degree.
I cannot tell how long I remained in the full flow of this blissful enjoyment and divine enlightenment, but it was several minutes before the celestial element, which filled and surrounded me, began gradually to withdraw. On arising from my kneeling posture, with my heart swelling with gratitude to God beyond the power of expression, I felt--I have that he had conferred on me what only an Omnipotent Being can confer— that which is of greater value than all the wealth and honors worlds can bestow. That night, as I retired to rest, the same wonderful manifestations were repeated, and continued to be for several successive nights. The sweet remembrance of those glorious experiences, from that time to the present, bring them fresh before me, imparting an inspiring influence which pervades my whole being, and I trust will to the close of my earthly existence.
Woodruff, Wilford. "A Leaf From Elder Snow's Experience." Juvenile Instructor. 15 October 1890. pg. 631-632.
A LEAF FROM ELDER LORENZO SNOW'S EXPERIENCE.
AS AN instance of the "course which the Spirit once suggested and which resulted in good. Apostle Lorenzo Snow relates the following incident from his missionary experience in England:
Myself and companion were once traveling in a locality where there were no Saints. We were without money and had applied at several places for food and lodging, but without success. Finally we came to an inn or hotel, and, after stating to the proprietor that we were ministers of the gospel, requested him to give us a meal and bed.
For a moment he eyed us curiously and then said, " Gentlemen, it is our custom at this house to give food and lodging for money, and if you are not provided with this, I think you had better move on."
Disappointed, we started on, when the Spirit whispered to me that I had not done all my duty with regard to that man, and I turned back.
"Mister," I said, " you have a perfect right to refuse us your hospitality, but I desire you to understand that in doing so you are turning away the servants of God, and for this you will stand condemned in the day of judgment." I quoted to him concerning the time when Christ will come in His glory and there will be gathered before Him all nations, and He will separate the sheep and the goats. The former will be called to receive of the blessings of the kingdom because they cared for His servants, while the goats, because they failed to do so, shall be thrust out. "You may be one of the latter," I continued, and then turned to leave.
Before we had proceeded far he called out, "Hold on, gentlemen, don't go away angry. Come in, come in, you look as though you had plenty of money."
We entered his house and were most pleasantly entertained. He also sent out to his neighbors and called together quite a company, to whom we had the opportunity of bearing our testimony during the evening.
After a good night's rest we were given an excellent breakfast, and were sent on our way without any request whatever for pay for our accommodations.
W. W.
A LEAF FROM ELDER LORENZO SNOW'S EXPERIENCE.
AS AN instance of the "course which the Spirit once suggested and which resulted in good. Apostle Lorenzo Snow relates the following incident from his missionary experience in England:
Myself and companion were once traveling in a locality where there were no Saints. We were without money and had applied at several places for food and lodging, but without success. Finally we came to an inn or hotel, and, after stating to the proprietor that we were ministers of the gospel, requested him to give us a meal and bed.
For a moment he eyed us curiously and then said, " Gentlemen, it is our custom at this house to give food and lodging for money, and if you are not provided with this, I think you had better move on."
Disappointed, we started on, when the Spirit whispered to me that I had not done all my duty with regard to that man, and I turned back.
"Mister," I said, " you have a perfect right to refuse us your hospitality, but I desire you to understand that in doing so you are turning away the servants of God, and for this you will stand condemned in the day of judgment." I quoted to him concerning the time when Christ will come in His glory and there will be gathered before Him all nations, and He will separate the sheep and the goats. The former will be called to receive of the blessings of the kingdom because they cared for His servants, while the goats, because they failed to do so, shall be thrust out. "You may be one of the latter," I continued, and then turned to leave.
Before we had proceeded far he called out, "Hold on, gentlemen, don't go away angry. Come in, come in, you look as though you had plenty of money."
We entered his house and were most pleasantly entertained. He also sent out to his neighbors and called together quite a company, to whom we had the opportunity of bearing our testimony during the evening.
After a good night's rest we were given an excellent breakfast, and were sent on our way without any request whatever for pay for our accommodations.
W. W.
Snow, Lorenzo. "How I Gained My Testimony of the Truth." Young Woman's Journal. February 1893. pg. 214-217.
How I Gained My Testimony of the Truth.
Brigham City, Utah.
Jan. 30th, 1893.
Sister Susa Y. Gates:
In compliance with your request that I would furnish you a statement for the benefit of your young readers concerning the way and manner I received a testimony of the divine truth of this great work in which we are engaged, I will copy from my journal a portion of a letter written to my family while I was incarcerated in the Utah Penitentiary:
"Utah Penitentiary,
Oct. 9th, 1886.
"To My Family:
"Monday, Sept. 20th 1886, Marshal Dyer called at the Penitentiary, accompanied by Judge R. W. Morgan of Memphis, Tenn., and Col. W. H. Selden, of the Metropolitan Hotel, Washington, D. C. I was immediately called, and the marshal at once introduced me to the gentlemen.
"Their fine intellectual features, genial manners, dignified deportment and commanding presence impressed me at once very favorably that they were no ordinary interviewers.
"As it appears to be the practice to point me out to all visitors who secure passes to the Penitentiary as one of its principal curiosities on exhibition, therefore through my respect to Marshal Dyer, who treats me kindly, I endeavored to show myself to as good advantage as possible under the peculiar circumstances; consequently in an easy and pleasant way I led my interviewers directly to the favorite, all absorbing questions of the hour, viz: What is Mormonism? Why am I a Mormon? and myself and brethren in the Penitentiary? The marshal remained a listener to our conversation. After a few moments spent in preliminary questions, Judge Morgan began as follows:
"'Mr. Snow,' said he hesitatingly, 'we do not wish to ask questions which would appear impertinent or delicate.'
"'Oh, not at all, gentlemen,' I said: 'ask any questions you see proper.'
"'Well,' said the judge, 'if it is not an improper question, I wish to enquire how many wives, Mr. Snow, have you, and your number of children?'
"I answered the questions in a truthful and candid manner; and after a few other questions relating to my family he inquired regarding the family of President Young. I stated that I was not fully posted, but he had, when living, quite a number of wives and a numerous family of children. After a few other questions and answers given, I turned the subject with the observation that my incarceration was purely on account of my religion; that myself and brethren here had espoused the same religion, the same gospel as the ancient saints and apostles, and were now passing through the same ordeal, the same suffering and persecution as they were forced to experience.
"I have been over fifty years, gentlemen, actively engaged in bearing witness of my knowledge respecting the divine authenticity of what is called Mormonism, and have declared the principles of my religion and borne my testimony of them through various portions of my own country, also in Great Britain, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Turkey, Land of Palestine, and on the islands of the sea. These arduous and sacred responsibilities would never have been ventured by me without first knowing this religion, this gospel, and the authority to preach it had come direct from God to Joseph Smith, pure and unadulterated; not simply a belief but a knowledge direct to me from God himself.
"'Mr. Snow, if I may be allowed the inquiry,' said the judge, 'what you mean by the term knowledge is, I presume, a conviction arising from an internal feeling or inward light. I wish now,' he continued, 'it to be distinctly understood, Mr. Snow, that we are in the pursuit of information, not of indulging in criticisms.'
"'Judge Morgan,' said I, 'in speaking of knowledge I employ the term in its literal sense. I mean a physical demonstration, not belief alone, a feeling arising merely from mental enlightenment, as you mention, but a physical knowledge, through the organ of the senses, of a nature which could never be questioned or doubted by its possessor while life and memory exist.'
"'Would you object, Mr. Snow,' said the judge, 'to explain and fully describe the nature of that knowledge, and the precise manner in which it was given?'
"'I shall be happy, gentlemen, to do so; but you must allow me time, and to approach the question in my own way, a little circuitously. The following circumstances led me to investigate Mormonism.'
"'While attending college at Oberlin, Ohio, in the spring of 1836, I had occasion to visit Kirtland, some sixty miles distant, where two of my sisters were residing. At that time this was the principal settlement of the Mormons. Joseph Smith, the counselors and leading Elders then had their homes in that locality, and the Saints had just completed a beautiful edifice called a temple. I became acquainted with Joseph Smith, his counselors, and a number of the prominent leaders. I attended several of their meetings, at which it was their custom for lay members, both men and women, to speak--give their experiences, and testify regarding their extraordinary spiritual manifestations. I talked with these people, their prominent Elders, with Joseph and his aged father, the Patriarch of the Church. I marvelled and was exceedingly astonished while listening to what they solemnly declared regarding their wonderful experiences.
"'The strange things I heard and saw at their prayer and testimony meetings, those marvelous experiences as related by men and women whose sincerity and honesty I could not doubt, and as they asserted these were the natural and legitimate fruits of obedience to what they called the restored New Testament gospel, together with the priesthood, which held the keys of right to administer its ordinances of baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. These things, as I said, overwhelmed me with astonishment. Joseph Smith assumed this position which no false prophet would dare--viz: that he had received the visitation of three angels, Peter, James and John, who, in the name and by the command of the Son of God, authorized him to preach the gospel, administer its ordinances, and promise the Holy Ghost, which would impart a knowledge of his authority and divine mission, and his right to organize the Church of God on the earth, to prepare a people for the second advent of the Son of Man. Under these circumstances, gentlemen, I could not otherwise than believe that Joseph Smith was honest and sincere; and I knew that his statement was of that peculiar character in which with him there could be no chance for deception; and such testimony, if false, could be no less than positive villainy. In view of these facts, gentlemen, I felt it my duty to accept this gospel--and would you not yourselves?'
"'Being at that time a young man, full of worldly aspirations, with bright prospects, and means to gratify my ambition in acquiring a liberal collegiate education; also having a host of wealthy, proud, aristocratic friends and relatives watching eagerly for my achieving high honors in life, of course you can easily understand that it was a great trial, and required the strongest effort to form a resolution to abandon those prospects, disappoint expectations, join the poor, ignorant despised Mormons, and follow Old Joe Smith, the money digger, as he and they were regarded.'
"'Had I then understood as I now know, the ultimate results of obedience to the gospel, a life of purity, and after its close an exaltation to the fullness of the Godhead, I should then have been ashamed to have called it a sacrifice. But in my ignorance, at that time, of its blessings and glories, it proved the fiercest struggle of heart and will I ever experienced before or since. But through the help of the Lord, for I feel certain that He must have helped me, I laid my pride, worldly ambition and spirations upon the altar, and as humble as a child went to the waters of baptism, received the ordinance administered by an Apostle, and afterwards the laying on of hands.
"'One evening, a few days after this, when alone, engaged in earnest prayer, the heavens were opened, the veil was rent from my mind, and then and there I received the most wonderful manifestations, grand and sublime, I believe as man was ever permitted to receive, and beyond the power of language fully to describe. It was shown me in that vision that there truly existed a Son of God, that Joseph Smith was really a prophet of God.'
"'The first intimation of the approach of that marvelous vision was a sound just above my head like the rustling of silken robes, when immediately the Holy Spirit descended upon me, enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the souls of my feet, which was a complete baptism, as tangible an immersion in a heavenly principle or, element--the Holy Ghost--infinitely more real, physical in its effects upon every part of my system than was the immersion when I was baptized in water. That night after retiring to rest the same wonderful manifestations were repeated, and continued to be for several successive nights. From that time till the present on numerous occasions miraculous manifestations of the divine power have followed me and my administrations of the gospel ordinances. Judge Morgan, I continued, I profess to have, and actually do have, the right and authority from God to administer this gospel, and promise the Holy Ghost and divine knowledge to follow all who accept it with sincerity and purity of heart. I was intimately acquainted with Joseph Smith many years previous to martyrdom.' * * * *
"While in this train of conversation it being signified by the guard that the time allotted for the interview was up, the gentlemen arose, having listened with the deepest interest, shook hands, thanking me in the warmest and most expressive terms for the great pleasure I had afforded them in the plain, sincere, and intelligent answers and explanations given during the very interesting interview. As they left Judge Morgan said, if possible, he should like to avail himself of the privilege of another interview and renew the conversation. I replied that it would give me pleasure, and if he called again and would spend a couple of hours I felt certain that I would make the time both interesting and profitable. After inscribing, by request, their names and residences, repeating their feelings of thankfulness, they withdrew, attended by the marshal.
"Lorenzo Snow."
How I Gained My Testimony of the Truth.
Brigham City, Utah.
Jan. 30th, 1893.
Sister Susa Y. Gates:
In compliance with your request that I would furnish you a statement for the benefit of your young readers concerning the way and manner I received a testimony of the divine truth of this great work in which we are engaged, I will copy from my journal a portion of a letter written to my family while I was incarcerated in the Utah Penitentiary:
"Utah Penitentiary,
Oct. 9th, 1886.
"To My Family:
"Monday, Sept. 20th 1886, Marshal Dyer called at the Penitentiary, accompanied by Judge R. W. Morgan of Memphis, Tenn., and Col. W. H. Selden, of the Metropolitan Hotel, Washington, D. C. I was immediately called, and the marshal at once introduced me to the gentlemen.
"Their fine intellectual features, genial manners, dignified deportment and commanding presence impressed me at once very favorably that they were no ordinary interviewers.
"As it appears to be the practice to point me out to all visitors who secure passes to the Penitentiary as one of its principal curiosities on exhibition, therefore through my respect to Marshal Dyer, who treats me kindly, I endeavored to show myself to as good advantage as possible under the peculiar circumstances; consequently in an easy and pleasant way I led my interviewers directly to the favorite, all absorbing questions of the hour, viz: What is Mormonism? Why am I a Mormon? and myself and brethren in the Penitentiary? The marshal remained a listener to our conversation. After a few moments spent in preliminary questions, Judge Morgan began as follows:
"'Mr. Snow,' said he hesitatingly, 'we do not wish to ask questions which would appear impertinent or delicate.'
"'Oh, not at all, gentlemen,' I said: 'ask any questions you see proper.'
"'Well,' said the judge, 'if it is not an improper question, I wish to enquire how many wives, Mr. Snow, have you, and your number of children?'
"I answered the questions in a truthful and candid manner; and after a few other questions relating to my family he inquired regarding the family of President Young. I stated that I was not fully posted, but he had, when living, quite a number of wives and a numerous family of children. After a few other questions and answers given, I turned the subject with the observation that my incarceration was purely on account of my religion; that myself and brethren here had espoused the same religion, the same gospel as the ancient saints and apostles, and were now passing through the same ordeal, the same suffering and persecution as they were forced to experience.
"I have been over fifty years, gentlemen, actively engaged in bearing witness of my knowledge respecting the divine authenticity of what is called Mormonism, and have declared the principles of my religion and borne my testimony of them through various portions of my own country, also in Great Britain, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Turkey, Land of Palestine, and on the islands of the sea. These arduous and sacred responsibilities would never have been ventured by me without first knowing this religion, this gospel, and the authority to preach it had come direct from God to Joseph Smith, pure and unadulterated; not simply a belief but a knowledge direct to me from God himself.
"'Mr. Snow, if I may be allowed the inquiry,' said the judge, 'what you mean by the term knowledge is, I presume, a conviction arising from an internal feeling or inward light. I wish now,' he continued, 'it to be distinctly understood, Mr. Snow, that we are in the pursuit of information, not of indulging in criticisms.'
"'Judge Morgan,' said I, 'in speaking of knowledge I employ the term in its literal sense. I mean a physical demonstration, not belief alone, a feeling arising merely from mental enlightenment, as you mention, but a physical knowledge, through the organ of the senses, of a nature which could never be questioned or doubted by its possessor while life and memory exist.'
"'Would you object, Mr. Snow,' said the judge, 'to explain and fully describe the nature of that knowledge, and the precise manner in which it was given?'
"'I shall be happy, gentlemen, to do so; but you must allow me time, and to approach the question in my own way, a little circuitously. The following circumstances led me to investigate Mormonism.'
"'While attending college at Oberlin, Ohio, in the spring of 1836, I had occasion to visit Kirtland, some sixty miles distant, where two of my sisters were residing. At that time this was the principal settlement of the Mormons. Joseph Smith, the counselors and leading Elders then had their homes in that locality, and the Saints had just completed a beautiful edifice called a temple. I became acquainted with Joseph Smith, his counselors, and a number of the prominent leaders. I attended several of their meetings, at which it was their custom for lay members, both men and women, to speak--give their experiences, and testify regarding their extraordinary spiritual manifestations. I talked with these people, their prominent Elders, with Joseph and his aged father, the Patriarch of the Church. I marvelled and was exceedingly astonished while listening to what they solemnly declared regarding their wonderful experiences.
"'The strange things I heard and saw at their prayer and testimony meetings, those marvelous experiences as related by men and women whose sincerity and honesty I could not doubt, and as they asserted these were the natural and legitimate fruits of obedience to what they called the restored New Testament gospel, together with the priesthood, which held the keys of right to administer its ordinances of baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. These things, as I said, overwhelmed me with astonishment. Joseph Smith assumed this position which no false prophet would dare--viz: that he had received the visitation of three angels, Peter, James and John, who, in the name and by the command of the Son of God, authorized him to preach the gospel, administer its ordinances, and promise the Holy Ghost, which would impart a knowledge of his authority and divine mission, and his right to organize the Church of God on the earth, to prepare a people for the second advent of the Son of Man. Under these circumstances, gentlemen, I could not otherwise than believe that Joseph Smith was honest and sincere; and I knew that his statement was of that peculiar character in which with him there could be no chance for deception; and such testimony, if false, could be no less than positive villainy. In view of these facts, gentlemen, I felt it my duty to accept this gospel--and would you not yourselves?'
"'Being at that time a young man, full of worldly aspirations, with bright prospects, and means to gratify my ambition in acquiring a liberal collegiate education; also having a host of wealthy, proud, aristocratic friends and relatives watching eagerly for my achieving high honors in life, of course you can easily understand that it was a great trial, and required the strongest effort to form a resolution to abandon those prospects, disappoint expectations, join the poor, ignorant despised Mormons, and follow Old Joe Smith, the money digger, as he and they were regarded.'
"'Had I then understood as I now know, the ultimate results of obedience to the gospel, a life of purity, and after its close an exaltation to the fullness of the Godhead, I should then have been ashamed to have called it a sacrifice. But in my ignorance, at that time, of its blessings and glories, it proved the fiercest struggle of heart and will I ever experienced before or since. But through the help of the Lord, for I feel certain that He must have helped me, I laid my pride, worldly ambition and spirations upon the altar, and as humble as a child went to the waters of baptism, received the ordinance administered by an Apostle, and afterwards the laying on of hands.
"'One evening, a few days after this, when alone, engaged in earnest prayer, the heavens were opened, the veil was rent from my mind, and then and there I received the most wonderful manifestations, grand and sublime, I believe as man was ever permitted to receive, and beyond the power of language fully to describe. It was shown me in that vision that there truly existed a Son of God, that Joseph Smith was really a prophet of God.'
"'The first intimation of the approach of that marvelous vision was a sound just above my head like the rustling of silken robes, when immediately the Holy Spirit descended upon me, enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the souls of my feet, which was a complete baptism, as tangible an immersion in a heavenly principle or, element--the Holy Ghost--infinitely more real, physical in its effects upon every part of my system than was the immersion when I was baptized in water. That night after retiring to rest the same wonderful manifestations were repeated, and continued to be for several successive nights. From that time till the present on numerous occasions miraculous manifestations of the divine power have followed me and my administrations of the gospel ordinances. Judge Morgan, I continued, I profess to have, and actually do have, the right and authority from God to administer this gospel, and promise the Holy Ghost and divine knowledge to follow all who accept it with sincerity and purity of heart. I was intimately acquainted with Joseph Smith many years previous to martyrdom.' * * * *
"While in this train of conversation it being signified by the guard that the time allotted for the interview was up, the gentlemen arose, having listened with the deepest interest, shook hands, thanking me in the warmest and most expressive terms for the great pleasure I had afforded them in the plain, sincere, and intelligent answers and explanations given during the very interesting interview. As they left Judge Morgan said, if possible, he should like to avail himself of the privilege of another interview and renew the conversation. I replied that it would give me pleasure, and if he called again and would spend a couple of hours I felt certain that I would make the time both interesting and profitable. After inscribing, by request, their names and residences, repeating their feelings of thankfulness, they withdrew, attended by the marshal.
"Lorenzo Snow."
"President Lorenzo Snow." Juvenile Instructor. 1 October 1898. pg. 672-675.
PRESIDENT LORENZO SNOW. It may seem not at all needful that a sketch should be given of the life of President Lorenzo Snow. He has been an Apostle and a prominent man in the community so long that most of the Saints are acquainted with him and with what he has done. Yet his succession to the presidency of the Church creates such a peculiar relation between him and the members, that there is naturally a desire on their part to know more of the details of his life. It is an interesting subject to the young Saints, especially, since President Snow is one of the few left who can be said to have belonged to the same generation as the Prophet Joseph and who associated with him as men. President Snow was eight years younger than the Prophet. He was born April 3rd, 1814, in Mantua, Portage County, Ohio, not a great distance from Kirtland. As he grew up he acquired studious habits and a serious, thoughtful mind. He aimed at a military career and sought to educate himself in soldiery. A happy fate has led him to devote his strong energies during a long life-time to the promotion of peace. It is possible that as a young man he misjudged his character in considering himself adapted to the profession of warfare, and yet many qualities of the honorable soldier are essential for the missionary, pioneer, and leader of a people. After some preparation at a high school and under a Hebrew tutor. President Snow entered Oberlin College and there completed his education. Oberlin was strictly Presbyterian and its religious teachings were very unsatisfactory to the young man. His sister Eliza R. Snow had joined the Church, and at her invitation he came to Kirtland to study Hebrew. He was brought into association with Joseph and some of the Apostles, and though he had come purely for educational purposes he soon grew interested in the Gospel, and in June, 18.36, was baptized. A short time after baptism it occurred to him that he had not received a certain knowledge that the work was of God, and he was sorrowful. When evening came he retired to a place in the woods where he was wont to offer prayer. He began, and at the same moment he heard a rustling sound above, and the Holy Ghost came down upon him. All doubt immediately vanished and a fixed knowledge took its place. President Snow was ordained an Elder in Kirtland and in the spring of 1837 was sent on a mission. He traveled about in Ohio, depending on the Lord for food and shelter, and met with considerable success in his labors. He returned in time to join the Saints in moving from Kirtland to Missouri, in the spring of 1838. On the way he was stricken down with bilious fever and suffered terribly. His father had settled at Adam-ondi- Ahman, and at that time in this prairie country all kinds of game were plentiful. After President Snow s recovery he took his gun one day to hunt wild turkeys for pastime. He had always been extremely fond of hunting, but now the gentle influence of the Gospel on his mind was shown. He thought of the pain his sport would cause and the desire to kill left him permanently. As soon as he had regained his health he felt impressed to offer himself for further missionary work. For a year he preached in Missouri, Kentucky and Ohio, and had many adventures and hardships. He was threatened with destruction on the Missouri river, at the hands of mobs and through disease, brought upon him by exposure. During the winter of '39 and '40 he taught school in Ohio and in the spring he went to Nauvoo, Illinois, whither the Saints had been driven during his absence. Less than a month after President Snow reached home at La Harpe, near Nauvoo, he was called on a mission to England. He set out about May 20th, 1840, borrowed money to take him on his way and suffered the miseries of deck passage during a six-weeks' trip on the ocean. His work in England was very successful. Responsible positions were given him and during the last two years he presided over the London conference. During this time he presented Queen Victoria and Prince Albert each with a Book of Mormon. On his return trip he was placed in charge of about two hundred and fifty Saints and they arrived at Nauvoo April 12th, 1843. During the following winter President Snow again taught school and was eminently successful where former teachers had been turned out by the rough fellows that attended. When school was over he was called to electioneer in Ohio for Joseph Smith, who had been placed in nomination for the presidency of the United States. His work was cut short by the Prophet's assassination. So constantly had President Snow been laboring in the ministry that the subject of marriage had not seriously entered his mind. Joseph, before his death, explained plural and celestial marriage to him and showed him that matrimony was a great duty of life. As soon as practicable, therefore, he began courtship. He won the love of two good women and married them both at the, same time. It was not long before he had added two more wives to his household. These marriages were entered into with the mutual understanding that the husband was a minister of the Gospel and might at any time be called from home, and also that it might be his duty in the future to take more wives. On the 12th of February, 1846, President Snow left Nauvoo and crossed the Mississippi river. It was foreseen that the city would soon fall into the hands of the mob, and though it was severest winter the Saints began to leave their homes and go westward into the wilderness. A temporary settlement in Iowa was made and the place called Pisgah. President Snow was appointed to preside in the spring of 1817 over the Saints there, and in the spring of 1848 he set out for the valley as captain over a hundred. For about a year he mingled with the Saints in the valley. Of course during that time he was very busy. His household was large and it had to be sheltered and provided with food. He was also ordained an Apostle February 12th, 1849, and in this position he was called to various public labors. He took active part in the first public celebration in Utah, on the 24th of July, 1849; and that celebration was a most patriotic and interesting affair. He also traveled among the people soliciting contributions to help the destitute Saints across the plains. On the 19th of October he set out from home, in company with John Taylor, Franklin D. Richards, and other brethren, for another mission. He had been set apart to carry the Gospel to Italy and neighboring countries. On the sparsely inhabited desert, chosen as a resting place by the Saints, in one log house with earthen roof he left his wives and children with no resources outside themselves to supply their wants. He, without any knowledge of a Continental tongue, was setting out to bear an unpopular religion to the very heart of civilization and culture and of Catholic influence. He knew not how many years he would be absent, how much persecution he would have to endure, even whether his life would be spared. He traveled across the plains, sailed to Liverpool, passed through England and France and down into Italy. His attention was soon turned to the Waldenses, a Protestant people living at the foot of the Alps, and nearly all his missionary work in Italy was done among them. The Italians are not much inclined to receive the Gospel but a considerable number were converted and baptized through the labors of President Snow and the Elders with him. On this mission The Voice of Joseph was written and published in French and the Book of Mormon translated into Italian and published by President Snow. Under his direction the Gospel was carried to Switzerland. After traveling through many lands he returned home after nearly three years' absence. The next call made upon him was to lead fifty families sixty miles north from Salt Lake City and settle them there. He went cheerfully to work, laid out a city, named it Brigham after President Young, and soon was at the head of a flourishing settlement. He moved his family there, and with his whole soul entered into the labor of bringing welfare and prosperity to the people. He set them a wise example in work and in recreation; he established industries and theatrical companies and at the same time was the spiritual guide and authority to the Saints. Under President Snow's supervision probably the most successful co-operative system ever attempted grew into existence. The people were taught home industry on an extended scale and nearly everything used by them was supplied at one of the departments of the general organization. The people were united in the ownership and profits and advantages of unity were demonstrated. The woolen mill gave employment not only to the operatives but to the herders and shearers of the sheep owned by the company and to the planters and pickers of cotton on the company's plantation in southern Utah. The tannery supplied the material for the manufacture of boots and shoes, harness and saddles. The dairy encouraged the raising of cattle. The interests of one were made the interests of all and prosperity ensued. When President Young learned of the actions of Walter M. Gibson, who had been sent as a missionary to the Hawaiian Islands he immediately sent a committee to investigate conditions there. President Snow was one of the number. Together with Apostle Ezra T. Benson and Elders Joseph F. and Alma Smith and W. W. Cluff he left Salt Lake City at the beginning of March, 1864, and traveled by stage to San Francisco and by steamer on to Honolulu. In landing, while a heavy surf was running at Luhaina, a harbor of the island Maui, the boat was overturned and President Snow almost suffered death. For a time his body could not be found and it was only through the courage and persistent search of Elder W. W. Cluff that it was recovered. When at last they did find it and take it to shore all signs of life were gone. By vigorous treatment and by faith he was resuscitated. The Sandwich Island mission was set in order, Gibson was cut off the Church, and the brethren returned home. In the autumn of 1872 President George A. Smith formed a party and proceeded to Palestine. President Snow and his sister Eliza R. Snow Smith were chosen as members of the company. They visited the principal cities of England, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Greece, Austria and Germany. They met many notable and influential persons and performed the work for which they had gone abroad. When the First Presidency was organized after the death of President Taylor, Lorenzo Snow became the Senior Apostle and President of the quorum. He has filled the office in a most satisfactory manner. His demeanor has been unassuming yet dignified and he has preserved the best of feelings among those over whom he has presided. He has worked quietly, but he has worked well. After the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated in the spring of 1893, President Snow was appointed to take charge of the work there. During these five years he has gained the love and full confidence of every person associated with the Temple work. Under his direction a vast amount of labor for both the living and the dead has been performed. President Snow has lived a useful life, and never shirked a labor that has been put upon him. His nature is gentle and it is also strong, and he deserves and has the love and the respect of all the Saints. He is worthy of the Priesthood and the position he holds. He is a man of God. The Editor. |
"Our New President." Young Woman's Journal. October 1898. pg. 478-479.
Our New President.
With President Lorenzo Snow there enters into the history of the leadership of this Church one of the most remarkable and lofty characters ever seen in ancient or modern times. Of a modest and somewhat reserved temperament, President Snow possesses one of the strongest and grandest spirits which clustered about the boy-prophet in the dawning of this Church. High-minded, essentially pure, it would be impossible to conceive of anything common or unclean about Brother Lorenzo Snow. His spirit is of the exquisite fiber and texture enjoyed by some of the ancient Hebrew prophets. Harmonious in all its workings, there can no contention and strife exist under the guidance of this great and good man. President Snow is not known by the masses of the people, neither was President Woodruff. The simple, lofty influence of our new President will be diffused among the people as was the simple, plain spirit of our late President. Brother Snow is highly spiritual in his temperament. Visit the stake of Zion where he once presided and feel in every ward and city the deep spiritual influence prevailing, and you will recognize the spirit of the man who so long and lovingly presided over that stake. Question the Quorum of the Twelve, and their unanimous testimony will be that the gentle, loving, yet strong leadership of President Snow is the golden thread which has bound them together in peace and harmony. Visit the Salt Lake Temple, and enjoy within those sacred walls the peaceful repose so largely due to the strong, yet essentially gentle, spirit which has presided there. I may not be a prophet but then is a promise in my spirit that during the presidency of Lorenzo Snow there will be an era of peace with such an outpouring of spiritual gifts and influences on this people as has not been known in Israel since the time of the Prophet Joseph.
Our New President.
With President Lorenzo Snow there enters into the history of the leadership of this Church one of the most remarkable and lofty characters ever seen in ancient or modern times. Of a modest and somewhat reserved temperament, President Snow possesses one of the strongest and grandest spirits which clustered about the boy-prophet in the dawning of this Church. High-minded, essentially pure, it would be impossible to conceive of anything common or unclean about Brother Lorenzo Snow. His spirit is of the exquisite fiber and texture enjoyed by some of the ancient Hebrew prophets. Harmonious in all its workings, there can no contention and strife exist under the guidance of this great and good man. President Snow is not known by the masses of the people, neither was President Woodruff. The simple, lofty influence of our new President will be diffused among the people as was the simple, plain spirit of our late President. Brother Snow is highly spiritual in his temperament. Visit the stake of Zion where he once presided and feel in every ward and city the deep spiritual influence prevailing, and you will recognize the spirit of the man who so long and lovingly presided over that stake. Question the Quorum of the Twelve, and their unanimous testimony will be that the gentle, loving, yet strong leadership of President Snow is the golden thread which has bound them together in peace and harmony. Visit the Salt Lake Temple, and enjoy within those sacred walls the peaceful repose so largely due to the strong, yet essentially gentle, spirit which has presided there. I may not be a prophet but then is a promise in my spirit that during the presidency of Lorenzo Snow there will be an era of peace with such an outpouring of spiritual gifts and influences on this people as has not been known in Israel since the time of the Prophet Joseph.
"His Tender Consideration for the Interests of Woman." Young Woman's Journal. October 1898. pg. 479-480.
His Tender Consideration for the Interests of Woman
No more endearing trait in Brother Snow’s character is shown than his generosity and helpfulness to women. He does not labor entirely for the benefit and blessing of men. That which is necessary for the benefit and uplifting of women has his equal care and support. A man whose nature is responsive to the highest truths of the universe is invariably a friend to women. Reared in a home of refinement, culture and chivalry have ever been distinguishing traits of Brother Snow’s character. From his infancy he has had the advantage of associating with the noblest types of womanhood. The highly gifted, well beloved poetess and, by common consent of the women, lady elect of our church, Eliza R. Snow Smith, is his sister The companionship of a sister so noble, infused in his youthful heart an admiration for womankind. Subsequent associations did not diminish his respect for true womanhood, on the contrary, his appreciation has grown with his understanding of the laws of God. Every girl in this Church may well pray to have President Snow’s life prolonged until the day of the coming of the Savior, for woman and woman’s interests have no better friend than the present head of the Church. From its inception he has been the friend of this Journal. He has helped us with money when we were poor and struggling, and he has written for us and spoken to us sweet words of sympathy and good cheer. It is so good to do work which is sustained and approved by the servants of the God of Heaven. We urge the girls to study the life and character of our new President, to pray for him constantly and to ask God to spare him to us for many years to come.
His Tender Consideration for the Interests of Woman
No more endearing trait in Brother Snow’s character is shown than his generosity and helpfulness to women. He does not labor entirely for the benefit and blessing of men. That which is necessary for the benefit and uplifting of women has his equal care and support. A man whose nature is responsive to the highest truths of the universe is invariably a friend to women. Reared in a home of refinement, culture and chivalry have ever been distinguishing traits of Brother Snow’s character. From his infancy he has had the advantage of associating with the noblest types of womanhood. The highly gifted, well beloved poetess and, by common consent of the women, lady elect of our church, Eliza R. Snow Smith, is his sister The companionship of a sister so noble, infused in his youthful heart an admiration for womankind. Subsequent associations did not diminish his respect for true womanhood, on the contrary, his appreciation has grown with his understanding of the laws of God. Every girl in this Church may well pray to have President Snow’s life prolonged until the day of the coming of the Savior, for woman and woman’s interests have no better friend than the present head of the Church. From its inception he has been the friend of this Journal. He has helped us with money when we were poor and struggling, and he has written for us and spoken to us sweet words of sympathy and good cheer. It is so good to do work which is sustained and approved by the servants of the God of Heaven. We urge the girls to study the life and character of our new President, to pray for him constantly and to ask God to spare him to us for many years to come.
Anderson, Nephi. "Life and Character Sketch of President Lorenzo Snow." Improvement Era. June 1899. pg. 560-570.
LIFE AND CHARACTER SKETCH OF LORENZO SNOW,
PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, AND GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE YOUNG MEN'S MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS.
BY NEPHI ANDERSON.
I.
When the time came for a nation of freemen to be formed in the earth, a nation wherein could be exercised freedom of conscience and of religious worship, the Lord raised up strong, noble men and inspired them to do his will in the matter. Such were the founders of our nation, both warriors and statesmen.
When the time came for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be restored to the earth, by and through which the earth should be sanctified and prepared for the reign of the King of kings, what more natural than that the Lord should have at hand souls, valiant and true, whose hearts could be touched and moved by the divine message, and whom he might call out and make mighty in establishing the principles of the Gospel in the earth! Such was truly the case. History has done justice to such names as Washington, Adams, Jefferson, but such as Smith, Young, Pratt, Taylor, Woodruff must wait awhile.
The assertion is often made by perverters of the truth that the Latter-day Saints operate among the unlearned only, and that Mormonism flourishes best where ignorance is most dense. Aside from the teachings of the Church that "The glory of God is intelligence," and that "no man can be saved in ignorance," a long list of names might be made that would irrefutably disprove such an assertion; and prominent among that list would be the names of President Lorenzo Snow, and his gifted sister, Eliza R. Snow.
If there be virtue in Puritan blood, why should that virtue be lost when one becomes a member of the Church of Jesus Christ? President Snow is a direct descendant of the Puritans who landed at Plymouth Rock.
II.
In the year 1814 the State of Ohio was in the extreme "West,'' wild and sparsely settled. Here in the northeastern part of the state, in the small town of Mantua, Lorenzo Snow was born, April 3, 1814. Being the oldest of three brothers, much of the responsibility and work of his father's family would naturally fall upon him; and we are told that he proved himself worthy of this trust. As a boy he was a great reader, and as a young man he was an earnest student, completing his schooling at Oberlin College.
At this time the Saints were building up the town of Kirtland, not far from Mantua. His sister Eliza was teaching school there, and at the close of his college course she invited him to come to Kirtland and attend a class engaged in the study of the Hebrew language. On the way to Kirtland he met Elder David W. Patten, who engaged him in conversation on the principles of the Gospel. This conversation deeply impressed the young man, and from that time a new field of thought was opened to his mind.
At Kirtland he became acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was baptized by Apostle John Boynton, in June, 1836, and shortly after received a powerful testimony of the truth. Added to this were the many manifestations of the power of God which he witnessed in the meetings held in the Kirtland Temple.
In the spring of 1837 Lorenzo went on his first mission, traveling through Ohio ''without purse and scrip." In 1838 the Snow family moved to Missouri, where they witnessed some of the outrageous scenes of mobocracy there enacted. From this point Elder Snow made another missionary journey through the states of Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. While in the latter state he heard of the expulsion of the Saints from Missouri, and made his way to Kirtland, a distance of five hundred miles, which he walked in winter. The next two winters Lorenzo taught school in Portage County, Ohio.
In the Spring of 1840 Elder Snow left Nauvoo for a mission to England. He traveled slowly eastward, mostly on the Erie Canal, and crossed the ocean in the steerage of a sailing vessel, the voyage lasting forty-two days. After laboring for some time in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, he was appointed to preside over the London Conference, in which capacity he labored until January, 1843, when he returned with a company of two hundred and fifty Saints. On his arrival at Nauvoo he was warmly received by the Prophet Joseph, who shortly after sent him on another mission to Ohio. While in this labor he heard of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, and returned to Nauvoo.
Up to this time Elder Snow was unmarried. His missionary labors had occupied his mind to the exclusion, seemingly, of matrimonial affairs. Some time before the Prophet's death Elder Snow had had a conversation with him about celestial marriage, in which the prophet taught him the rightfulness of the doctrine of a plurality of wives, and now, not justifying himself longer in the neglect of this duty, he made up for lost time by taking two wives at the same time. He received his endowments with his wives in the Nauvoo Temple, and left with the exodus from Illinois, being a captain of ten when the company was organized by President Brigham Young. In the spring of 1847 he was appointed to preside at Pisgah, one of the temporary resting places of the Saints in their journey westward. Here he organized the Saints, planned for their maintenance, and did much to alleviate the suffering attendant upon that memorable journey. The next year he moved to the mountains, arriving in Salt Lake City in the fall.
On February 12, 1849, Elder Snow was ordained a member of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles. At the October Conference, the same year, he was called on a mission to Italy. After visiting London and Paris, he arrived at Genoa, on June 25th, 1850. Here in the midst of Catholicism, it seemed impossible to gain an opening, and the task was indeed a discouraging one; but in the Piedmont Valley, among the Protestant Waldenses, the Elders began their work with considerable success. President Snow now issued a number of publications—"The Voice of Joseph," "The Ancient Gospel Restored," "The Only Way to be Saved." Under his direction the Book of Mormon was translated into Italian. From Italy the Gospel was sent to Switzerland, where a good opening was made.
While upon this mission President Snow planned some extensive missionary operations. He certainly was imbued with the spirit of "preaching the Gospel to every kindred, nation, tongue, and people." Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Malta, and even far-off India came under the vision of his mind's eye. He sent missionaries to Calcutta and Bombay, where branches of the Church were organized. At Malta many converts were made. While at the latter place, on his journey towards the east, he was released and called home, arriving at Salt Lake City, July 30, 1852.
In 1853 he was elected a member of the Legislature of Utah, which position he occupied for twenty-nine years, ten of which he was President of the council.
In the fall of 1853 Elder Snow was directed by President Young to locate fifty families in Box Elder County, and was appointed President of that Stake of Zion. Brigham City was founded and settlers invited to make their home there. The Brigham City Mercantile and Manufacturing Association was organized. This was a system of co-operative enterprises somewhat in the spirit of the United Order, and which gave employment to a large number of people. Remembering that the country was new and unbroken, and its resources undeveloped, the greatness of the task will be seen; an idea of which may be gained when it is known that the following industries were put in operation and were successful for many years: a large woolen mill, a tannery, a boot and shoe shop, a hat factory, a sheep herd, a cattle herd, a cheese factory, saw mills, blacksmith, tailor, furniture, wagon and tin shops. The value of the products of these industries in the year 1875 was about $260,000.
In 1864 Elder Snow became a member of a company of Elders sent to the Sandwich Islands on Church business. After reaching the islands, and while trying to go on shore through the surf, the boat containing Elder Snow capsized and he was thrown into the sea. After some time he was taken from the water, but to all appearance he was dead. The brethren worked over him for about an hour before life came back to his body.
In October, 1872, President Snow, with a party of tourists, visited Palestine, returning in July of the next year.
President Snow did not escape the persecutions for plural marriage. He was convicted on three counts, under the segregation ruling of the Utah courts, and served eleven months, until the ruling was declared invalid by the Supreme Court of the United States, when he was released.
At the general conference, April 7, 1889, Elder Snow was sustained as President of the Twelve Apostles. When the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated, April 6, 1893, he was appointed to preside in that sacred edifice.
At the conference held October, 1898, President Wilford Woodruff having died, Lorenzo Snow was sustained as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world.
III.
"Godliness cannot be conferred, but must be acquired," says President Snow; and towards that end his life has truly been shaping. Herein lies the foundation, the basic principle, of Mormonism: that man is a child of God; that this life is a school of experience wherein to be tried, to be taught, to be developed in all the Godlike faculties and attributes inherited from the Eternal Father.
The ideal, then, is not a one-sided development but a symmetrical growth of the whole. "The playing of many parts" must tend to that development, to which the Perfect must have attained. President Snow's spheres of action have been many, for we have seen him as student^ teacher, missionary, writer, organizer of missions, pioneer, colonizer, a prisoner for conscience sake. Apostle, Temple President, President of the Church.
As a student, "hid up with his book," is a phrase that became proverbial of him in the household; and the habits thus early formed have served him well. As a teacher, he gained a high reputation in managing wild country boys and bringing them up to a high degree of excellence in their studies.
As a missionary, he started at the beginning and has gone through the whole course. He must, therefore, be well acquainted with every phase of missionary life. On foot and alone in a newly settled country, without purse or scrip; enduring the long, weary ocean voyage of early days; in the cities of England, mingling with the crowds of London, or presenting the Book of Mormon to Queen Victoria; in priest-bound, classical Italy; in the Alps of Switzerland; among the natives of the islands of the sea—surely every Elder in the Church may know that his president feels for him, because he can know of his trials and understand his situations.
As a writer, President Snow is closely akin to his gifted sister. His Gospel tracts have had a wide circulation. His letters, describing his travels and labors, abound in strong, beautiful language, and are replete with philosophical and historic allusions, and are often of a high, poetic order. Tullidge, the historian, says of one of President Snow's letters: "It is its beautiful enthusiasm, tenderness of spirit and tone, and the graphic eloquence of the description which constitute the charm of this gem of epistolary literature."
President Snow is essentially of a deeply spiritual nature, yet he has come in contact and struggled with the grosser elements of earth. Being one of the pioneers of the West, he must of necessity have passed through the hardships of those early days. Mormonism teaches a very close relationship between the spiritual and the temporal. In President Snow spirituality is combined with an ability to grasp material situations. He has shown his skill as an organizer in many ways, and especially in the industrial enterprises at Brigham City. Although these undertakings were not enduringly successful, the fact still remains that President Snow demonstrated to the world what can and might be done in the way of co-operation under more favorable circumstances than those under which he worked.
Then President Snow has been behind prison walls for the testimony of the truth. His life in the Utah Penitentiary was one of calm fortitude, showing to his brethren how to endure even this hardship in the spirit of him whom they served. President Snow was seventy-two years old at this time, yet his name stands at the head of the list of those who declined to accept deliverance by repudiating their wives and children.
As Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the Church, President Snow has already shown that God always has the right man for the right place. Although at this writing he is eighty-five years old, he attends to the duties of his office every day. The little storm through which the Church is passing does not disturb our captain. With a keen, alert eye and a firm hand he stands on the bridge, and under God's direction we shall see that the ship will get safely through the squall. Meanwhile with much fervor the Saints may sing:--
"We thank thee O, God for a prophet
To guide us in these latter days.
IV.
A characteristic of President Snow's sermons and writings is an unbounded faith—a reaching out towards the infinite, depicting the glory of man's estate, the possibilities and perfectness of his future. He is not satisfied with knowledge second-hand, a trait exhibited from the beginning. When he joined the Church he wanted a testimony for himself, and he got it. As President Snow often refers to this wonderful manifestation, his own account of it should be of interest. After detailing how he had pondered on the promised testimony, he says a spirit of darkness seemed to take possession of him; but he retired to his usual place of prayer — and now his own account: --
"I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray than I heard a sound just above my head like the rustling of silken robes; and immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O, the joy and happiness I felt! No language can describe the almost instantaneous transition from a dense cloud of mental and spiritual darkness into a refulgence of light and knowledge as it was at that time imparted to my understanding. I received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and of the restoration of the holy Priesthood, and the fullness of the Gospel. It was a complete baptism—a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, the Holy Ghost; and even more real and physical in its effects upon every part of my system than the immersion by water."
This manifestation was repeated for a number of nights in succession. "The sweet remembrance of these glorious experiences," continues President Snow, "from that time to the present brings them fresh before me, imparting an inspiring influence which pervades my whole being, and I trust will to the close of my earthly existence."
President Snow's associates bear testimony that ever amid the hardships of pioneer life the gentleness of his character has always been prominent, while his charity is unbounded; and although firmness is one of his marked characteristics, yet he has a manner of quietly drawing others to his way of thinking.
Naturally the life experiences of such a man should mark themselves in the man himself; and who that has looked into the face of President Snow, observed those characteristic lines—the deep, keen eyes and finely modeled countenance, beaming with intelligence —can say aught but his must have been a life in the service of the Master?
So much, then, from the standpoint of a devotee, one who believes him to be a Prophet of God. What would a disinterested, unbelieving outsider say of such a man? Let me here quote the testimony of the Rev. Dr. Prentis, a student of human nature, who gives, unsolicited, the following pen sketch of President Snow: --
"YE ARE MY WITNESSES."
"Nothing is stranger in this strange world of inquiry and wonderment than the subtle power of the human heart to distil itself through and utter itself permanently in the human face. Every face is either a prophecy or a history. The tender grace of a baby's face commanding peace to the troubled waves of the mother's heart, is but a prophecy of the conquered peace of a noble life upon which that warm heart may later lean. The droop of the school girl's eye lash, the furrow of the student's brow, the compression of the youth's lips in the various trials of life, are all promises to the physiognomist of a tale that is yet to be told; but upon the countenance of the aged saint or sinner every line, every shade, every tracing speaks unerringly of a history of glorious triumph or disastrous defeat. Before the story is told and the character completed, regularity of feature, lines of texture, and delicacy of coloring may cover up from careless eyes the deadly work of spiritual destruction going on beneath the appearances; but when these have fallen like forest leaves in the autumn of life, and the hoar frost of winter whitens the head and furrows the smooth skin, the history of the life can no longer be hid, and men may read it as in an open book. By a subtle alchemy intractable to human control, the soul shines in the face, and the countenance is a monument of warning or a poem of benedictions. "Whatever estimate men may place upon the claims of Jesus of Nazareth, his fiercest detractors have never challenged his perfect knowledge of what was in man. To no one was this power of the soul to distil itself into the lineaments of the face better known than to him. Not to logical symmetry of doctrines, not to abstract beauty of truths revealed, but to the living beings who had 'walked with Jesus,' did the great Physiognomist appear as the best evidence of the power of the Gospel of peace. The face which speaks of a soul where reigns the Prince of Peace is his best witness. Now and then in a life spent in the study of men, I have found such a witness. Such was a face I saw today; saw where and when I least expected it; saw it in a business office, where great affairs are transacted, where grave responsibilities are borne, and where serious troubles come. I had expected to find intellectuality, benevolence, dignity, composure and strength depicted upon the face of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; but when I was introduced to President Lorenzo Snow, for a second I was startled to see the holiest face but one I had ever been privileged to look upon. His face was a power of peace; his presence a benediction of peace. In the tranquil depths of his eyes were not only the 'home of silent prayer,' but the abode of spiritual strength. As he talked of the 'more sure word of prophecy' and the certainty of the hope which was his, and the abiding faith which had conquered the trials and difficulties of tragic life, I watched the play of emotions and studied with fascinated attention the subtle shades of expression which spoke so plainly the workings of his soul; and the strangest feeling stole over me, that I 'stood on holy ground:' that this man did not act from the commonplace motives of policy, interest, or expediency, but he 'acted from a far-off center.' I am accustomed to study men's faces, analyze every line and feature, dissect each expression, and note every emotion, but I could not here. What would be the use of my recording the earnestness of the brow, the sweetness of the mouth, and all my commonplace descriptive terms. The man is not reducible to ordinary description. If the Mormon Church can produce such witnesses, it will need but little the pen of the ready writer or the eloquence of the great preacher."
LIFE AND CHARACTER SKETCH OF LORENZO SNOW,
PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, AND GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE YOUNG MEN'S MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS.
BY NEPHI ANDERSON.
I.
When the time came for a nation of freemen to be formed in the earth, a nation wherein could be exercised freedom of conscience and of religious worship, the Lord raised up strong, noble men and inspired them to do his will in the matter. Such were the founders of our nation, both warriors and statesmen.
When the time came for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be restored to the earth, by and through which the earth should be sanctified and prepared for the reign of the King of kings, what more natural than that the Lord should have at hand souls, valiant and true, whose hearts could be touched and moved by the divine message, and whom he might call out and make mighty in establishing the principles of the Gospel in the earth! Such was truly the case. History has done justice to such names as Washington, Adams, Jefferson, but such as Smith, Young, Pratt, Taylor, Woodruff must wait awhile.
The assertion is often made by perverters of the truth that the Latter-day Saints operate among the unlearned only, and that Mormonism flourishes best where ignorance is most dense. Aside from the teachings of the Church that "The glory of God is intelligence," and that "no man can be saved in ignorance," a long list of names might be made that would irrefutably disprove such an assertion; and prominent among that list would be the names of President Lorenzo Snow, and his gifted sister, Eliza R. Snow.
If there be virtue in Puritan blood, why should that virtue be lost when one becomes a member of the Church of Jesus Christ? President Snow is a direct descendant of the Puritans who landed at Plymouth Rock.
II.
In the year 1814 the State of Ohio was in the extreme "West,'' wild and sparsely settled. Here in the northeastern part of the state, in the small town of Mantua, Lorenzo Snow was born, April 3, 1814. Being the oldest of three brothers, much of the responsibility and work of his father's family would naturally fall upon him; and we are told that he proved himself worthy of this trust. As a boy he was a great reader, and as a young man he was an earnest student, completing his schooling at Oberlin College.
At this time the Saints were building up the town of Kirtland, not far from Mantua. His sister Eliza was teaching school there, and at the close of his college course she invited him to come to Kirtland and attend a class engaged in the study of the Hebrew language. On the way to Kirtland he met Elder David W. Patten, who engaged him in conversation on the principles of the Gospel. This conversation deeply impressed the young man, and from that time a new field of thought was opened to his mind.
At Kirtland he became acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was baptized by Apostle John Boynton, in June, 1836, and shortly after received a powerful testimony of the truth. Added to this were the many manifestations of the power of God which he witnessed in the meetings held in the Kirtland Temple.
In the spring of 1837 Lorenzo went on his first mission, traveling through Ohio ''without purse and scrip." In 1838 the Snow family moved to Missouri, where they witnessed some of the outrageous scenes of mobocracy there enacted. From this point Elder Snow made another missionary journey through the states of Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. While in the latter state he heard of the expulsion of the Saints from Missouri, and made his way to Kirtland, a distance of five hundred miles, which he walked in winter. The next two winters Lorenzo taught school in Portage County, Ohio.
In the Spring of 1840 Elder Snow left Nauvoo for a mission to England. He traveled slowly eastward, mostly on the Erie Canal, and crossed the ocean in the steerage of a sailing vessel, the voyage lasting forty-two days. After laboring for some time in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, he was appointed to preside over the London Conference, in which capacity he labored until January, 1843, when he returned with a company of two hundred and fifty Saints. On his arrival at Nauvoo he was warmly received by the Prophet Joseph, who shortly after sent him on another mission to Ohio. While in this labor he heard of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, and returned to Nauvoo.
Up to this time Elder Snow was unmarried. His missionary labors had occupied his mind to the exclusion, seemingly, of matrimonial affairs. Some time before the Prophet's death Elder Snow had had a conversation with him about celestial marriage, in which the prophet taught him the rightfulness of the doctrine of a plurality of wives, and now, not justifying himself longer in the neglect of this duty, he made up for lost time by taking two wives at the same time. He received his endowments with his wives in the Nauvoo Temple, and left with the exodus from Illinois, being a captain of ten when the company was organized by President Brigham Young. In the spring of 1847 he was appointed to preside at Pisgah, one of the temporary resting places of the Saints in their journey westward. Here he organized the Saints, planned for their maintenance, and did much to alleviate the suffering attendant upon that memorable journey. The next year he moved to the mountains, arriving in Salt Lake City in the fall.
On February 12, 1849, Elder Snow was ordained a member of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles. At the October Conference, the same year, he was called on a mission to Italy. After visiting London and Paris, he arrived at Genoa, on June 25th, 1850. Here in the midst of Catholicism, it seemed impossible to gain an opening, and the task was indeed a discouraging one; but in the Piedmont Valley, among the Protestant Waldenses, the Elders began their work with considerable success. President Snow now issued a number of publications—"The Voice of Joseph," "The Ancient Gospel Restored," "The Only Way to be Saved." Under his direction the Book of Mormon was translated into Italian. From Italy the Gospel was sent to Switzerland, where a good opening was made.
While upon this mission President Snow planned some extensive missionary operations. He certainly was imbued with the spirit of "preaching the Gospel to every kindred, nation, tongue, and people." Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Malta, and even far-off India came under the vision of his mind's eye. He sent missionaries to Calcutta and Bombay, where branches of the Church were organized. At Malta many converts were made. While at the latter place, on his journey towards the east, he was released and called home, arriving at Salt Lake City, July 30, 1852.
In 1853 he was elected a member of the Legislature of Utah, which position he occupied for twenty-nine years, ten of which he was President of the council.
In the fall of 1853 Elder Snow was directed by President Young to locate fifty families in Box Elder County, and was appointed President of that Stake of Zion. Brigham City was founded and settlers invited to make their home there. The Brigham City Mercantile and Manufacturing Association was organized. This was a system of co-operative enterprises somewhat in the spirit of the United Order, and which gave employment to a large number of people. Remembering that the country was new and unbroken, and its resources undeveloped, the greatness of the task will be seen; an idea of which may be gained when it is known that the following industries were put in operation and were successful for many years: a large woolen mill, a tannery, a boot and shoe shop, a hat factory, a sheep herd, a cattle herd, a cheese factory, saw mills, blacksmith, tailor, furniture, wagon and tin shops. The value of the products of these industries in the year 1875 was about $260,000.
In 1864 Elder Snow became a member of a company of Elders sent to the Sandwich Islands on Church business. After reaching the islands, and while trying to go on shore through the surf, the boat containing Elder Snow capsized and he was thrown into the sea. After some time he was taken from the water, but to all appearance he was dead. The brethren worked over him for about an hour before life came back to his body.
In October, 1872, President Snow, with a party of tourists, visited Palestine, returning in July of the next year.
President Snow did not escape the persecutions for plural marriage. He was convicted on three counts, under the segregation ruling of the Utah courts, and served eleven months, until the ruling was declared invalid by the Supreme Court of the United States, when he was released.
At the general conference, April 7, 1889, Elder Snow was sustained as President of the Twelve Apostles. When the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated, April 6, 1893, he was appointed to preside in that sacred edifice.
At the conference held October, 1898, President Wilford Woodruff having died, Lorenzo Snow was sustained as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in all the world.
III.
"Godliness cannot be conferred, but must be acquired," says President Snow; and towards that end his life has truly been shaping. Herein lies the foundation, the basic principle, of Mormonism: that man is a child of God; that this life is a school of experience wherein to be tried, to be taught, to be developed in all the Godlike faculties and attributes inherited from the Eternal Father.
The ideal, then, is not a one-sided development but a symmetrical growth of the whole. "The playing of many parts" must tend to that development, to which the Perfect must have attained. President Snow's spheres of action have been many, for we have seen him as student^ teacher, missionary, writer, organizer of missions, pioneer, colonizer, a prisoner for conscience sake. Apostle, Temple President, President of the Church.
As a student, "hid up with his book," is a phrase that became proverbial of him in the household; and the habits thus early formed have served him well. As a teacher, he gained a high reputation in managing wild country boys and bringing them up to a high degree of excellence in their studies.
As a missionary, he started at the beginning and has gone through the whole course. He must, therefore, be well acquainted with every phase of missionary life. On foot and alone in a newly settled country, without purse or scrip; enduring the long, weary ocean voyage of early days; in the cities of England, mingling with the crowds of London, or presenting the Book of Mormon to Queen Victoria; in priest-bound, classical Italy; in the Alps of Switzerland; among the natives of the islands of the sea—surely every Elder in the Church may know that his president feels for him, because he can know of his trials and understand his situations.
As a writer, President Snow is closely akin to his gifted sister. His Gospel tracts have had a wide circulation. His letters, describing his travels and labors, abound in strong, beautiful language, and are replete with philosophical and historic allusions, and are often of a high, poetic order. Tullidge, the historian, says of one of President Snow's letters: "It is its beautiful enthusiasm, tenderness of spirit and tone, and the graphic eloquence of the description which constitute the charm of this gem of epistolary literature."
President Snow is essentially of a deeply spiritual nature, yet he has come in contact and struggled with the grosser elements of earth. Being one of the pioneers of the West, he must of necessity have passed through the hardships of those early days. Mormonism teaches a very close relationship between the spiritual and the temporal. In President Snow spirituality is combined with an ability to grasp material situations. He has shown his skill as an organizer in many ways, and especially in the industrial enterprises at Brigham City. Although these undertakings were not enduringly successful, the fact still remains that President Snow demonstrated to the world what can and might be done in the way of co-operation under more favorable circumstances than those under which he worked.
Then President Snow has been behind prison walls for the testimony of the truth. His life in the Utah Penitentiary was one of calm fortitude, showing to his brethren how to endure even this hardship in the spirit of him whom they served. President Snow was seventy-two years old at this time, yet his name stands at the head of the list of those who declined to accept deliverance by repudiating their wives and children.
As Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the Church, President Snow has already shown that God always has the right man for the right place. Although at this writing he is eighty-five years old, he attends to the duties of his office every day. The little storm through which the Church is passing does not disturb our captain. With a keen, alert eye and a firm hand he stands on the bridge, and under God's direction we shall see that the ship will get safely through the squall. Meanwhile with much fervor the Saints may sing:--
"We thank thee O, God for a prophet
To guide us in these latter days.
IV.
A characteristic of President Snow's sermons and writings is an unbounded faith—a reaching out towards the infinite, depicting the glory of man's estate, the possibilities and perfectness of his future. He is not satisfied with knowledge second-hand, a trait exhibited from the beginning. When he joined the Church he wanted a testimony for himself, and he got it. As President Snow often refers to this wonderful manifestation, his own account of it should be of interest. After detailing how he had pondered on the promised testimony, he says a spirit of darkness seemed to take possession of him; but he retired to his usual place of prayer — and now his own account: --
"I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray than I heard a sound just above my head like the rustling of silken robes; and immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O, the joy and happiness I felt! No language can describe the almost instantaneous transition from a dense cloud of mental and spiritual darkness into a refulgence of light and knowledge as it was at that time imparted to my understanding. I received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and of the restoration of the holy Priesthood, and the fullness of the Gospel. It was a complete baptism—a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, the Holy Ghost; and even more real and physical in its effects upon every part of my system than the immersion by water."
This manifestation was repeated for a number of nights in succession. "The sweet remembrance of these glorious experiences," continues President Snow, "from that time to the present brings them fresh before me, imparting an inspiring influence which pervades my whole being, and I trust will to the close of my earthly existence."
President Snow's associates bear testimony that ever amid the hardships of pioneer life the gentleness of his character has always been prominent, while his charity is unbounded; and although firmness is one of his marked characteristics, yet he has a manner of quietly drawing others to his way of thinking.
Naturally the life experiences of such a man should mark themselves in the man himself; and who that has looked into the face of President Snow, observed those characteristic lines—the deep, keen eyes and finely modeled countenance, beaming with intelligence —can say aught but his must have been a life in the service of the Master?
So much, then, from the standpoint of a devotee, one who believes him to be a Prophet of God. What would a disinterested, unbelieving outsider say of such a man? Let me here quote the testimony of the Rev. Dr. Prentis, a student of human nature, who gives, unsolicited, the following pen sketch of President Snow: --
"YE ARE MY WITNESSES."
"Nothing is stranger in this strange world of inquiry and wonderment than the subtle power of the human heart to distil itself through and utter itself permanently in the human face. Every face is either a prophecy or a history. The tender grace of a baby's face commanding peace to the troubled waves of the mother's heart, is but a prophecy of the conquered peace of a noble life upon which that warm heart may later lean. The droop of the school girl's eye lash, the furrow of the student's brow, the compression of the youth's lips in the various trials of life, are all promises to the physiognomist of a tale that is yet to be told; but upon the countenance of the aged saint or sinner every line, every shade, every tracing speaks unerringly of a history of glorious triumph or disastrous defeat. Before the story is told and the character completed, regularity of feature, lines of texture, and delicacy of coloring may cover up from careless eyes the deadly work of spiritual destruction going on beneath the appearances; but when these have fallen like forest leaves in the autumn of life, and the hoar frost of winter whitens the head and furrows the smooth skin, the history of the life can no longer be hid, and men may read it as in an open book. By a subtle alchemy intractable to human control, the soul shines in the face, and the countenance is a monument of warning or a poem of benedictions. "Whatever estimate men may place upon the claims of Jesus of Nazareth, his fiercest detractors have never challenged his perfect knowledge of what was in man. To no one was this power of the soul to distil itself into the lineaments of the face better known than to him. Not to logical symmetry of doctrines, not to abstract beauty of truths revealed, but to the living beings who had 'walked with Jesus,' did the great Physiognomist appear as the best evidence of the power of the Gospel of peace. The face which speaks of a soul where reigns the Prince of Peace is his best witness. Now and then in a life spent in the study of men, I have found such a witness. Such was a face I saw today; saw where and when I least expected it; saw it in a business office, where great affairs are transacted, where grave responsibilities are borne, and where serious troubles come. I had expected to find intellectuality, benevolence, dignity, composure and strength depicted upon the face of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; but when I was introduced to President Lorenzo Snow, for a second I was startled to see the holiest face but one I had ever been privileged to look upon. His face was a power of peace; his presence a benediction of peace. In the tranquil depths of his eyes were not only the 'home of silent prayer,' but the abode of spiritual strength. As he talked of the 'more sure word of prophecy' and the certainty of the hope which was his, and the abiding faith which had conquered the trials and difficulties of tragic life, I watched the play of emotions and studied with fascinated attention the subtle shades of expression which spoke so plainly the workings of his soul; and the strangest feeling stole over me, that I 'stood on holy ground:' that this man did not act from the commonplace motives of policy, interest, or expediency, but he 'acted from a far-off center.' I am accustomed to study men's faces, analyze every line and feature, dissect each expression, and note every emotion, but I could not here. What would be the use of my recording the earnestness of the brow, the sweetness of the mouth, and all my commonplace descriptive terms. The man is not reducible to ordinary description. If the Mormon Church can produce such witnesses, it will need but little the pen of the ready writer or the eloquence of the great preacher."
Whitney, Orson F. “Lives of Our Leaders—The Apostles. Lorenzo Snow.” Juvenile Instructor. 1 January 1900. pg. 1-8.
LIVES OF OUR LEADERS—THE APOSTLES.
LORENZO SNOW.
THERE is not in all Utah, nor in the entire West, a more interesting personality than the present Prophet, Seer, Revelator and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That this is due in part to the position he occupies and the peculiar circumstances surrounding him and his people, there can be no doubt; but that the general interest he excites centers largely in the man himself, independent of the externals of office and environment, is every whit as unquestionable. Nearly eighty-six years of age, his past life crowded with stirring events ranging all the way from his arduous experiences as a youthful preacher of an unpopular faith in America and in Europe, through his subsequent participation in the compulsory exodus of the Saints from Illinois and their colonization of the "Great American Desert," down to the climacteric incidents of his almost fatal drowning in the Pacific Ocean and his imprisonment for conscience sake within the walls of the Utah Penitentiary, he is today, in spite of all these toils and tribulations, in sound health, with powers of mind and body unimpaired, a physical and mental marvel, and amid threatening elements portentous of further persecution, an embodiment of calm hope and cheerful serenity, beautiful if not wonderful to behold.
"As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm.
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread.
Eternal sunshine settles on its head."
Placidity of mind, even in the midst of trouble and danger, is characteristic of President Snow. He makes the best of every situation, and readily adapts himself to his surroundings, however uncomfortable and oppressive they may be, holding it to be the part of true wisdom, the optimistic stoicism expected of a Saint, to seek to derive from every condition the knowledge and discipline which the All-wise Dispenser of human affairs intended that condition to bestow. He undoubtedly owes to this faculty and disposition, quite as much as to his virtuous and temperate life, that remarkable perpetuation of youthful vigor, which, like the Gulfstream in Arctic waters, softens and tempers for him the frostiness of age, renders fruitful the present, and promises to make productive the shores of the distant future.
President Snow's mentality is a rare and varied combination. He is a natural financier, and at the same time a spiritually-minded man, of literary tastes and poetic temperament. His early experiences as a convert to and an exponent of Mormonism not only border upon but are within the realm of the marvelous, while his latest achievements in the direction of lifting from the shoulders of the Church the burden of debt that has so long rested upon it, and causing a more faithful observance of the law of tithing among its members, are as extraordinary as they are gratifying to all having the welfare of the Church at heart. It was to be expected that the business acumen and executive ability which founded and carried on the United Order of Brigham City—a co-operative system the nearest and most successful approach to the United Order projected by the Prophet Joseph Smith yet realized — would do something towards relieving the tension under which the Church was laboring at the time of President Snow's advent into power; but that such an impetus as has been manifested would be given, particularly at his time of life, was altogether unlooked for. Not since the days of President Young, of whose firm-handed, puissant administration the present one is strikingly reminiscent, have the Latter-day Saints been so stirred by the preaching of their leaders as during the first year of Lorenzo Snow's presidential incumbency—a year of tithe-preaching and tithe-paying almost unprecedented, and already resultant in a better condition of affairs, temporally and spiritually, than the Church has known for years.
President Snow is not a sanctimonious man; he could not be a fanatic or a bigot if he wished; he is too well-balanced, broad-minded and charitable for that. He would never persecute a man for his opinions, neither indeed for his actions, however much he might disapprove of them. He would never interfere with a man's religious worship, let him worship how, where or what he might. He is remarkably broad and liberal in relation to such things. At the same time he is a pattern of true piety, an exemplary Christian gentleman, zealous in and devoted to the cause he deems divine. No tyrant, yet a man of firm will, fearless in conceiving, prompt and decided in executing his purposes. Without being a politician, he is wisely politic, and while fearing no man, he is prudent and cautious, regardful of proprieties and of all men's rights. Once convinced of the correctness of an idea, be it a doctrine, policy, principle or course of conduct, he adheres to it with inflexible resolution. He may make enemies by so doing, but he cares little or nothing for that. “l would as lief have some enemies as not," he remarked sententiously in a recent conversation with the writer.
And yet he is not combative in his disposition. He is essentially a man of peace, a humanitarian. Though, as a youth, fired with military ardor and ambitious to distinguish himself upon the field of Mars, it was not the love of strife and bloodshed that inspired him, but the romance and chivalry of a soldier's life, as haloed and handed down by the memories and traditions of the heroic past, particularly of Revolutionary times. The martial spirit did not abide with him, or was turned into loftier and purer channels when he became a soldier of the cross, waging war, not with his fellowman, but, like ancient Paul, with evil "principalities and powers." He relates how on a certain day, in his youth, while out hunting, he fell into a reflection upon the nature of his pursuit, that of amusing himself by giving pain and death to harmless, innocent creatures that perhaps had as much right to life and enjoyment as he had; feeling condemned, he laid his gun upon his shoulder, returned home, and thenceforth had no inclination for that "murderous amusement."
But while humane and merciful, Lorenzo Snow is no namby-pamby weakling; one who presumed upon this supposition would speedily discover his mistake. Regardful of others' rights, he is equally insistent upon his own. No man ever imposed upon him without his knowing it. He is bland and soft-spoken as a rule, though he can be stern, and is always plain and straightforward in expressing his opinions. In his public discourses he speaks straight to the point, makes no effort at oratory, and his manner and style are entirely without ostentation. His temperament, as stated, is poetic, though he has seldom essayed to wield the poet's pen. In literature, it is as a letter writer that he shines; his descriptive correspondence especially possessing a beauty that borders on the classical. What he does is for the glory of God. A key to his character, an index to the spirit of the man, is furnished in his laconic speech to the Council of the Apostles on becoming President of the Church. "Brethren," said the silver-haired, slender-framed, but straight-limbed and still vigorous veteran, standing erect, in the midst of that solemn conclave—"I don't want this administration to be known as Lorenzo Snow's administration, but as God's, in and through Lorenzo Snow." A volume could tell no more.
A native of Mantua, Portage County, Ohio, where he was born April 3rd, 1814, Lorenzo Snow, the eldest son of Oliver and Rosetta L. Pettibone Snow, was reared with the rest of his father's family upon a farm, where, as his sire was much away on public business, he was frequently left in charge, and "early in life became accustomed to responsibilities which he discharged with scrupulous punctuality." From childhood he exhibited energy and decision of character, and was "ever a student, whether at home or in school." Though religiously trained from infancy by pious Baptist parents, up to the age of twenty-two he professed no religion. His earliest ambition was to be a soldier, and he held from the Governor of Ohio a commission, first as an ensign and afterwards as a lieutenant in the State militia. Becoming ambitious for a classic education, at the age of twenty-one he entered Oberlin College, at that time exclusively a Presbyterian institution, to which he was admitted as a special favor through the influence of an intimate friend connected therewith. He remained impervious to the teachings of orthodox Christianity, with which he became very familiar while at Oberlin, and just before leaving there wrote to his sister Eliza, (who had been converted to Mormonism and was then a resident of Kirtland, teaching the family school of the Prophet Joseph Smith) asking many questions concerning her religion, and adding, "if there is nothing better than is to be found here in Oberlin College, good-by to all religions." Subsequently he went to Kirtland, by his sister's invitation, and studied in a Hebrew school founded by the Prophet at that place, and it was through his association with Joseph Smith and other leading Elders who were also students in this school that he acquired a knowledge of their religion and was converted thereto. He was baptized in June, 1836, by John F. Boynton, one of the Twelve Apostles.
Ordained an Elder early in 1837, he first went preaching among his relatives and friends in Ohio, and in the spring of 1838 removed with his parents, who had also joined the Church, to Missouri. He was on a mission in Kentucky when his people were driven into Illinois, and it was at Nauvoo that he rejoined them about May 1st, 1840. The same month he started upon his first mission to Europe.
Prior to leaving his native land, he received a remarkable spiritual manifestation, in which was revealed to him a doctrine, the sublimest perhaps to be found in the whole arcana of the "Mormon" faith. It came to him in the form of a couplet, running as follows:
As man now is, God once was;
As God now is, man may be.
This bold and startling, yet sublime and magnificent conception was not then the familiar doctrine to the Latter-day Saints that it is today. It had never been taught to the Church, nor had any one heard it even from the lips of the Prophet, Seer and Revelator, Joseph Smith, whose sole and exclusive right it was (as after him the sole and exclusive right of his successor) to receive revelations for, and teach or authorize the teaching of new doctrines to the Church. Elder Snow himself was startled by the communication and amazed at the magnitude and newness of the principle involved; yet after all, it was perfectly simple, as sublime things always are, and he felt in his inmost soul that it was true. If, he reasoned, God is indeed the father of man, the literal father of his spirit, why should not man, in process of time and by continuous development, eventually become God? And if man, made in the image of God and endowed with Godlike attributes, thus ascends the scale of knowledge, power, glory, and dominion to the plane of Deity, why should not God have ascended the scale in like manner?
But the young Elder was wise and kept his own counsel, knowing the fate of those who prematurely voice the truth, and recognizing also the impropriety of teaching or in any way circulating a doctrine which had not been passed upon and approved by the highest authority in the Church. He did confide it, however, to two persons, namely, his sister Eliza, who was ever his faithful friend and close confidant, and President Brigham Young, the chief of the Twelve Apostles. He communicated it to his sister at Nauvoo, before leaving for Europe, and to President Young after reaching England, where most of the Twelve Apostles were then laboring, and where Elder Snow arrived on the 21st of October, 1840. President Young listened with interest to his recital, and then said: "Brother Snow, that is a new doctrine; if true, it has been revealed to you for your own private information, and will be taught in due time by the Prophet to the Church; till then I advise you to lay it upon the shelf and say no more about it.” Elder Snow took this wise counsel, and after he had returned to America, it was Brigham Young himself who came to him and told him that what had been revealed to him was true, for the Prophet had just been teaching it to the people.
While in England, Elder Snow became one of the Presidency of the European Mission, by appointment of President Parley P. Pratt, who in 1842 followed the other Apostles back to America. President Young, prior to returning, had directed that copies of the Book of Mormon, which he had caused to be published in England, should be specially prepared and richly bound for presentation to the Queen and the Prince Consort. The honor of making this presentation devolved upon Lorenzo Snow, then President of the London Conference, and it was accomplished through the politeness of Sir Henry Wheatley. At the close of his mission, which lasted nearly three years, Elder Snow took charge of a large company of emigrating Saints, and landed them in safety at Nauvoo April 12, 1843.
Up to this time Lorenzo Snow had lived the life of a bachelor, but soon after returning home he married, entering at once into the order of celestial marriage, taught him by the Prophet, who, during Lorenzo's absence in Europe, had wedded his sister Eliza in that order. Elder Snow espoused on the same day two wives, and subsequently took several others. At Nauvoo he earned his living by school teaching. He was a captain in the Nauvoo Legion and one of a committee appointed by the Twelve Apostles, under the direction of the Prophet, to make explorations in California and Oregon, with a view to finding a new home for the Saints beyond the Rocky Mountains. The expedition never left Nauvoo, being detained by events leading up to the Prophet's martyrdom, which took place while Lorenzo Snow, with other prominent Elders, including most of the Apostles, was absent on an electioneering tour in the interest of the Prophet, who was a candidate for the Presidency of the United States.
He left Nauvoo in the general exodus of his people about the middle of February, 1846. In the organization of the camps for traveling he was appointed captain of ten wagons. He resided at Mount Pisgah in the spring of 1847, and in the general emigration of 1848 was captain of one hundred wagons in the great company led by President Brigham Young from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake Valley.
At Salt Lake City, February 12, 1849, Lorenzo Snow was ordained an Apostle, under the hands of Presidents Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Apostles Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor, and simultaneously became a member of the Council of the Twelve; Elders Charles C. Rich, Erastus Snow and Franklin D. Richards being ordained Apostles and becoming members of that Council at the same time. At the General Conference in the following October he was appointed to establish a mission in Italy and adjacent countries. He started upon this mission October 19th, in company with a large number of other Elders bound for various nations, the first missionaries sent out from the Rocky Mountains.
In the opening of the Italian Mission, he was assisted by Elders Jabez Woodard, Joseph Toronto and T. B. H. Stenhouse. These four on November 25th, 1850, organized the Church in Italy, on the summit of a snow crowned peak overlooking the valley of Piedmont. The peak they had previously named "Mount Brigham." Their first converts were among the Waldenses. From there the work spread to Switzerland and other parts. Apostle Snow caused the Book of Mormon, as well as several pamphlets that he had written, to be translated and published in Italian, and wrote a series of letters descriptive of Italy and the Italian Mission to the Millennial Star and to various friends and co-laborers in different parts of the world.
Having established “Mormonism” in the land of the Caesars and in the land of William Tell, he next turned his attention to the East. He sent Elder William Willes and afterwards Elder Joseph Richards to Calcutta, Elder Hugh Findlay to Bombay, and made arrangements for Elder Thomas Obray to labor on the Island of Malta. He then started for India himself, but was detained at Malta by an accident to his ship, and being under instructions to return home in time to take part in the laying of the corner stones of the Salt Lake Temple, was compelled to forego his design of visiting India and returning home over the waters of the Pacific. By way of Gibraltar, Portsmouth, London, Liverpool, New York and St. Louis, he reached Salt Lake City July 30, 1852.
In the fall of 1853 he was given a mission to locate fifty families in what is now Box Elder County, where a small settlement had already been formed, but was greatly in need of reinforcement and government by a master spirit, such as now came among them in the person of this zealous and energetic Apostle. He laid out a city, which he named (as he had previously named the snowy peak in Piedmont) Brigham, in honor of the President of the Church. There he settled and became President of Box Elder Stake, holding that position until honorably released in August, 1877. When the County was organized by the Legislature, he was elected a member of the Council branch of the Assembly, representing the district composed of Box Elder and Weber Counties. He had previously sat in the Legislature, being first elected in 1852 while a resident of Salt Lake City. He was a member of the Legislative Council continuously for thirty years, during about twelve of which he presided over the deliberations of that body.
The drowning episode referred to in the beginning of this article, occurred on the coast of the Island of Maui, one of the Hawaiian group, March 31, 1864, Apostle Snow with Apostle Ezra T. Benson and others being then upon a special mission to the Islands for the purpose of setting in order, by direction of President Young, the affairs of that mission, which had become sadly demoralized through the nefarious operations of one Walter M. Gibson, who, all unauthorized, had gone to the Islands and imposed himself upon the unsuspecting native members of the Church as a spiritual and temporal ruler to whom they must pay abject homage. Those accompanying the Apostles were Elders Joseph F. Smith, Alma L. Smith and W. W. Cluff. The party arrived at Honolulu about March 27th, and sailing thence two days later, came to anchor on the morning of the 31st about a mile from the mouth of the little harbor of Lahaina. The sea was rather rough, especially at the mouth of the harbor— a narrow passage between coral reefs—and in attempting to land, the ship's small boat containing Apostles Benson and Snow, Elders Cluff and Alma Smith, the Captain and several natives, capsized in the foaming surf. Apostle Snow and the Captain were drowned. Their apparently lifeless bodies were taken from the waves, and after protracted and persistent labor resuscitated. Apostle Snow was virtually dead, and though rolled on a barrel till all the water he had swallowed was ejected, he gave no signs of life until those in attendance on him had placed their mouths to his and inflated his lungs with their breath, inhaling and exhaling in imitation of natural respiration. By this means he was gradually brought back to life. He and his brethren successfully accomplished their mission. They cut Elder Gibson off the Church and persuaded the people whom he had deceived to return to their homes on the various islands and follow after him no more. The two Apostles then returned to America.
It was soon after his return that the Apostle Lorenzo entered upon his great work of organizing the Brigham City Mercantile and Manufacturing Association, otherwise known as the United Order of Brigham City. It began with a mercantile department consisting of four stockholders, including himself, with a capital of about three thousand dollars, upon which dividends were paid in store goods, amounting usually to about twenty-five per cent per annum. As this enterprise prospered, they continued receiving capital stock and adding new names to the list of stockholders until they had a surplus of capital and had succeeded in uniting the interests of the people and securing their patronage. The establishment of home industries followed, a score or more of them springing into existence, each paying dividends in the articles produced. Hundreds of people were furnished with employment, new and commodious buildings were erected for the various departments and everything was prosperous. The subsequent disastrous experience of the Order, through fire, vexatious lawsuits, illegal and oppressive taxation, etc., need not here be recounted. Suffice it that the success of this magnificent enterprise during the twenty years of its existence, will always stand as a monument to the practical genius, industrial thrift and business sagacity of its founder. The fictitious achievements of M. Madeleine, Mayor of M. Sur M.—as portrayed by Victor Hugo in his great novel “Les Miserables"— found a historical parallel in the achievements of Apostle Lorenzo Snow, President of Box Elder Stake and head of the United Order of Brigham City.
The anti-polygamy crusade under the Edmunds law began in the fall of 1884, and was at its height a year later when Apostle Snow fell into its meshes. After being arrested, he refused to allow his friends to rescue him, resigning himself to his fate with the calm complacency so characteristic of him. How he was tried and convicted three times for one alleged offense—that of living with, or acknowledging a plurality of wives—heavily fined and imprisoned in the penitentiary; how while there he and the forty-eight Elders imprisoned with him for like offenses declined Governor West's offer of amnesty, made on condition that they would obey a law aimed at a principle of their religion; and how finally after eleven months' experience behind bolts and bars Apostle Snow was released by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, shattering the illegal doctrine of "segregation," under which the triple sentence had been pronounced upon him —all this is familiar history to our readers.
The accession of Wilford Woodruff to the Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April 6, 1889, made Lorenzo Snow the senior in the Council of the Twelve Apostles, and on the same day he was sustained as the standing President of that body. He had always been interested in Temple work, having served for years as a member of the Logan Temple committee, and soon after the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple, in April, 1893, in which ceremonies he played a conspicuous part, he was installed as its President, a position which he still occupies.
Lorenzo Snow succeeded to the Presidency of the Church September 13, 1898, eleven days after the death of President Woodruff. He chose as his counselors Apostles George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, who had been the counselors of his two predecessors, and the three were sustained as the First Presidency by the united vote of the Council of the Apostles and afterwards by the unanimous vote of the General Conference.
President Snow's first moves were largely of a financial character, designed to relieve the Church of the heavy burden of debt that has rested upon it ever since the confiscation of its property under the operations of the Edmunds-Tucker act. As Trustee-in-Trust he authorized two great bond issues, aggregating a million dollars, and with the means thus obtained—almost entirely from home capitalists —he paid off the Church's most pressing obligations and materially reduced the rate of interest it was paying upon borrowed money.
This done, he threw his soul into a movement destined to mark his administration as one of the most notable in the history of the Church—a movement that may be designated as a revival along the lines of tithe-preaching and tithe-paying. Proceeding in May, 1899, with a large party, to St. George, at the extreme southern end of the State, he there proclaimed as the word of the Lord to the Latter-day Saints, that if they would continue to enjoy His blessings and reap the fruition of His promises of peace and prosperity upon this land, they must live the law of the Lord in relation to tithes and offerings. Past remissness would be forgiven if the future witnessed a faithful observance of the statute, and heaven would shower more abundantly than ever its blessings upon the people; but if the law were not honored, calamities would come and the people would be scourged for their disobedience. Other speakers took up the theme, and it was echoed and re-echoed until the whole region rang and resounded with it. From St. George the great reformatory wave rolled northward, thronged meetings being held at all principal points between that place and Salt Lake City, at which the law of tithing was almost the sole and exclusive theme dwelt upon. During the summer a great representative fast meeting, attended by officers of the Church from all the stakes and wards throughout the Rocky Mountain region, was held in the Salt Lake Temple, where the same admonitions were repeated, to be carried back to the people residing in the remotest settlements of the Saints from Canada to Mexico. Northern Utah and Southern Idaho were also visited by President Snow and the Apostolic party in the interests of the same cause. The President gave his hearers to understand that the Saints were to pay their tithing, not because it would get the Church out of debt—which was merely an incident—but because it was the law of the Lord, a law upon whose faithful observance great blessings were predicated. The effect of this evangelical movement was instantaneous. The President had previously possessed in a marked degree the love and confidence of his people, and now these good feelings were increased and intensified; tithes and offerings came pouring in with a promptness and plenitude unknown for years, and in every way, spiritually and temporally, the Church's condition improved and its prospects brightened.
Many changes and improvements in its affairs may be looked for as the result of the energetic and progressive policy inaugurated by its present head. His example and precepts all point in the direction of a spiritual and temporal revival among the Latter-day Saints. God willing—and it is God that he acknowledges as the source of all his success—he will free the Church from bondage, the bondage of debt (a freedom predicted by him several years since) and prepare his people for the advent of still greater things; perhaps for the establishment of that order of “unity, equality, fraternity," introduced by their first Prophet and President, the martyred Joseph, and upon the principles of which alone can Zion be built up and redeemed. At an age when most men proverbially have "one foot in the grave," Lorenzo Snow stands upon its brink like an angel of the resurrection, calling upon the sleeping to awake, upon the dead to rise.
Orson F. Whitney
LIVES OF OUR LEADERS—THE APOSTLES.
LORENZO SNOW.
THERE is not in all Utah, nor in the entire West, a more interesting personality than the present Prophet, Seer, Revelator and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That this is due in part to the position he occupies and the peculiar circumstances surrounding him and his people, there can be no doubt; but that the general interest he excites centers largely in the man himself, independent of the externals of office and environment, is every whit as unquestionable. Nearly eighty-six years of age, his past life crowded with stirring events ranging all the way from his arduous experiences as a youthful preacher of an unpopular faith in America and in Europe, through his subsequent participation in the compulsory exodus of the Saints from Illinois and their colonization of the "Great American Desert," down to the climacteric incidents of his almost fatal drowning in the Pacific Ocean and his imprisonment for conscience sake within the walls of the Utah Penitentiary, he is today, in spite of all these toils and tribulations, in sound health, with powers of mind and body unimpaired, a physical and mental marvel, and amid threatening elements portentous of further persecution, an embodiment of calm hope and cheerful serenity, beautiful if not wonderful to behold.
"As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm.
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread.
Eternal sunshine settles on its head."
Placidity of mind, even in the midst of trouble and danger, is characteristic of President Snow. He makes the best of every situation, and readily adapts himself to his surroundings, however uncomfortable and oppressive they may be, holding it to be the part of true wisdom, the optimistic stoicism expected of a Saint, to seek to derive from every condition the knowledge and discipline which the All-wise Dispenser of human affairs intended that condition to bestow. He undoubtedly owes to this faculty and disposition, quite as much as to his virtuous and temperate life, that remarkable perpetuation of youthful vigor, which, like the Gulfstream in Arctic waters, softens and tempers for him the frostiness of age, renders fruitful the present, and promises to make productive the shores of the distant future.
President Snow's mentality is a rare and varied combination. He is a natural financier, and at the same time a spiritually-minded man, of literary tastes and poetic temperament. His early experiences as a convert to and an exponent of Mormonism not only border upon but are within the realm of the marvelous, while his latest achievements in the direction of lifting from the shoulders of the Church the burden of debt that has so long rested upon it, and causing a more faithful observance of the law of tithing among its members, are as extraordinary as they are gratifying to all having the welfare of the Church at heart. It was to be expected that the business acumen and executive ability which founded and carried on the United Order of Brigham City—a co-operative system the nearest and most successful approach to the United Order projected by the Prophet Joseph Smith yet realized — would do something towards relieving the tension under which the Church was laboring at the time of President Snow's advent into power; but that such an impetus as has been manifested would be given, particularly at his time of life, was altogether unlooked for. Not since the days of President Young, of whose firm-handed, puissant administration the present one is strikingly reminiscent, have the Latter-day Saints been so stirred by the preaching of their leaders as during the first year of Lorenzo Snow's presidential incumbency—a year of tithe-preaching and tithe-paying almost unprecedented, and already resultant in a better condition of affairs, temporally and spiritually, than the Church has known for years.
President Snow is not a sanctimonious man; he could not be a fanatic or a bigot if he wished; he is too well-balanced, broad-minded and charitable for that. He would never persecute a man for his opinions, neither indeed for his actions, however much he might disapprove of them. He would never interfere with a man's religious worship, let him worship how, where or what he might. He is remarkably broad and liberal in relation to such things. At the same time he is a pattern of true piety, an exemplary Christian gentleman, zealous in and devoted to the cause he deems divine. No tyrant, yet a man of firm will, fearless in conceiving, prompt and decided in executing his purposes. Without being a politician, he is wisely politic, and while fearing no man, he is prudent and cautious, regardful of proprieties and of all men's rights. Once convinced of the correctness of an idea, be it a doctrine, policy, principle or course of conduct, he adheres to it with inflexible resolution. He may make enemies by so doing, but he cares little or nothing for that. “l would as lief have some enemies as not," he remarked sententiously in a recent conversation with the writer.
And yet he is not combative in his disposition. He is essentially a man of peace, a humanitarian. Though, as a youth, fired with military ardor and ambitious to distinguish himself upon the field of Mars, it was not the love of strife and bloodshed that inspired him, but the romance and chivalry of a soldier's life, as haloed and handed down by the memories and traditions of the heroic past, particularly of Revolutionary times. The martial spirit did not abide with him, or was turned into loftier and purer channels when he became a soldier of the cross, waging war, not with his fellowman, but, like ancient Paul, with evil "principalities and powers." He relates how on a certain day, in his youth, while out hunting, he fell into a reflection upon the nature of his pursuit, that of amusing himself by giving pain and death to harmless, innocent creatures that perhaps had as much right to life and enjoyment as he had; feeling condemned, he laid his gun upon his shoulder, returned home, and thenceforth had no inclination for that "murderous amusement."
But while humane and merciful, Lorenzo Snow is no namby-pamby weakling; one who presumed upon this supposition would speedily discover his mistake. Regardful of others' rights, he is equally insistent upon his own. No man ever imposed upon him without his knowing it. He is bland and soft-spoken as a rule, though he can be stern, and is always plain and straightforward in expressing his opinions. In his public discourses he speaks straight to the point, makes no effort at oratory, and his manner and style are entirely without ostentation. His temperament, as stated, is poetic, though he has seldom essayed to wield the poet's pen. In literature, it is as a letter writer that he shines; his descriptive correspondence especially possessing a beauty that borders on the classical. What he does is for the glory of God. A key to his character, an index to the spirit of the man, is furnished in his laconic speech to the Council of the Apostles on becoming President of the Church. "Brethren," said the silver-haired, slender-framed, but straight-limbed and still vigorous veteran, standing erect, in the midst of that solemn conclave—"I don't want this administration to be known as Lorenzo Snow's administration, but as God's, in and through Lorenzo Snow." A volume could tell no more.
A native of Mantua, Portage County, Ohio, where he was born April 3rd, 1814, Lorenzo Snow, the eldest son of Oliver and Rosetta L. Pettibone Snow, was reared with the rest of his father's family upon a farm, where, as his sire was much away on public business, he was frequently left in charge, and "early in life became accustomed to responsibilities which he discharged with scrupulous punctuality." From childhood he exhibited energy and decision of character, and was "ever a student, whether at home or in school." Though religiously trained from infancy by pious Baptist parents, up to the age of twenty-two he professed no religion. His earliest ambition was to be a soldier, and he held from the Governor of Ohio a commission, first as an ensign and afterwards as a lieutenant in the State militia. Becoming ambitious for a classic education, at the age of twenty-one he entered Oberlin College, at that time exclusively a Presbyterian institution, to which he was admitted as a special favor through the influence of an intimate friend connected therewith. He remained impervious to the teachings of orthodox Christianity, with which he became very familiar while at Oberlin, and just before leaving there wrote to his sister Eliza, (who had been converted to Mormonism and was then a resident of Kirtland, teaching the family school of the Prophet Joseph Smith) asking many questions concerning her religion, and adding, "if there is nothing better than is to be found here in Oberlin College, good-by to all religions." Subsequently he went to Kirtland, by his sister's invitation, and studied in a Hebrew school founded by the Prophet at that place, and it was through his association with Joseph Smith and other leading Elders who were also students in this school that he acquired a knowledge of their religion and was converted thereto. He was baptized in June, 1836, by John F. Boynton, one of the Twelve Apostles.
Ordained an Elder early in 1837, he first went preaching among his relatives and friends in Ohio, and in the spring of 1838 removed with his parents, who had also joined the Church, to Missouri. He was on a mission in Kentucky when his people were driven into Illinois, and it was at Nauvoo that he rejoined them about May 1st, 1840. The same month he started upon his first mission to Europe.
Prior to leaving his native land, he received a remarkable spiritual manifestation, in which was revealed to him a doctrine, the sublimest perhaps to be found in the whole arcana of the "Mormon" faith. It came to him in the form of a couplet, running as follows:
As man now is, God once was;
As God now is, man may be.
This bold and startling, yet sublime and magnificent conception was not then the familiar doctrine to the Latter-day Saints that it is today. It had never been taught to the Church, nor had any one heard it even from the lips of the Prophet, Seer and Revelator, Joseph Smith, whose sole and exclusive right it was (as after him the sole and exclusive right of his successor) to receive revelations for, and teach or authorize the teaching of new doctrines to the Church. Elder Snow himself was startled by the communication and amazed at the magnitude and newness of the principle involved; yet after all, it was perfectly simple, as sublime things always are, and he felt in his inmost soul that it was true. If, he reasoned, God is indeed the father of man, the literal father of his spirit, why should not man, in process of time and by continuous development, eventually become God? And if man, made in the image of God and endowed with Godlike attributes, thus ascends the scale of knowledge, power, glory, and dominion to the plane of Deity, why should not God have ascended the scale in like manner?
But the young Elder was wise and kept his own counsel, knowing the fate of those who prematurely voice the truth, and recognizing also the impropriety of teaching or in any way circulating a doctrine which had not been passed upon and approved by the highest authority in the Church. He did confide it, however, to two persons, namely, his sister Eliza, who was ever his faithful friend and close confidant, and President Brigham Young, the chief of the Twelve Apostles. He communicated it to his sister at Nauvoo, before leaving for Europe, and to President Young after reaching England, where most of the Twelve Apostles were then laboring, and where Elder Snow arrived on the 21st of October, 1840. President Young listened with interest to his recital, and then said: "Brother Snow, that is a new doctrine; if true, it has been revealed to you for your own private information, and will be taught in due time by the Prophet to the Church; till then I advise you to lay it upon the shelf and say no more about it.” Elder Snow took this wise counsel, and after he had returned to America, it was Brigham Young himself who came to him and told him that what had been revealed to him was true, for the Prophet had just been teaching it to the people.
While in England, Elder Snow became one of the Presidency of the European Mission, by appointment of President Parley P. Pratt, who in 1842 followed the other Apostles back to America. President Young, prior to returning, had directed that copies of the Book of Mormon, which he had caused to be published in England, should be specially prepared and richly bound for presentation to the Queen and the Prince Consort. The honor of making this presentation devolved upon Lorenzo Snow, then President of the London Conference, and it was accomplished through the politeness of Sir Henry Wheatley. At the close of his mission, which lasted nearly three years, Elder Snow took charge of a large company of emigrating Saints, and landed them in safety at Nauvoo April 12, 1843.
Up to this time Lorenzo Snow had lived the life of a bachelor, but soon after returning home he married, entering at once into the order of celestial marriage, taught him by the Prophet, who, during Lorenzo's absence in Europe, had wedded his sister Eliza in that order. Elder Snow espoused on the same day two wives, and subsequently took several others. At Nauvoo he earned his living by school teaching. He was a captain in the Nauvoo Legion and one of a committee appointed by the Twelve Apostles, under the direction of the Prophet, to make explorations in California and Oregon, with a view to finding a new home for the Saints beyond the Rocky Mountains. The expedition never left Nauvoo, being detained by events leading up to the Prophet's martyrdom, which took place while Lorenzo Snow, with other prominent Elders, including most of the Apostles, was absent on an electioneering tour in the interest of the Prophet, who was a candidate for the Presidency of the United States.
He left Nauvoo in the general exodus of his people about the middle of February, 1846. In the organization of the camps for traveling he was appointed captain of ten wagons. He resided at Mount Pisgah in the spring of 1847, and in the general emigration of 1848 was captain of one hundred wagons in the great company led by President Brigham Young from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake Valley.
At Salt Lake City, February 12, 1849, Lorenzo Snow was ordained an Apostle, under the hands of Presidents Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Apostles Parley P. Pratt and John Taylor, and simultaneously became a member of the Council of the Twelve; Elders Charles C. Rich, Erastus Snow and Franklin D. Richards being ordained Apostles and becoming members of that Council at the same time. At the General Conference in the following October he was appointed to establish a mission in Italy and adjacent countries. He started upon this mission October 19th, in company with a large number of other Elders bound for various nations, the first missionaries sent out from the Rocky Mountains.
In the opening of the Italian Mission, he was assisted by Elders Jabez Woodard, Joseph Toronto and T. B. H. Stenhouse. These four on November 25th, 1850, organized the Church in Italy, on the summit of a snow crowned peak overlooking the valley of Piedmont. The peak they had previously named "Mount Brigham." Their first converts were among the Waldenses. From there the work spread to Switzerland and other parts. Apostle Snow caused the Book of Mormon, as well as several pamphlets that he had written, to be translated and published in Italian, and wrote a series of letters descriptive of Italy and the Italian Mission to the Millennial Star and to various friends and co-laborers in different parts of the world.
Having established “Mormonism” in the land of the Caesars and in the land of William Tell, he next turned his attention to the East. He sent Elder William Willes and afterwards Elder Joseph Richards to Calcutta, Elder Hugh Findlay to Bombay, and made arrangements for Elder Thomas Obray to labor on the Island of Malta. He then started for India himself, but was detained at Malta by an accident to his ship, and being under instructions to return home in time to take part in the laying of the corner stones of the Salt Lake Temple, was compelled to forego his design of visiting India and returning home over the waters of the Pacific. By way of Gibraltar, Portsmouth, London, Liverpool, New York and St. Louis, he reached Salt Lake City July 30, 1852.
In the fall of 1853 he was given a mission to locate fifty families in what is now Box Elder County, where a small settlement had already been formed, but was greatly in need of reinforcement and government by a master spirit, such as now came among them in the person of this zealous and energetic Apostle. He laid out a city, which he named (as he had previously named the snowy peak in Piedmont) Brigham, in honor of the President of the Church. There he settled and became President of Box Elder Stake, holding that position until honorably released in August, 1877. When the County was organized by the Legislature, he was elected a member of the Council branch of the Assembly, representing the district composed of Box Elder and Weber Counties. He had previously sat in the Legislature, being first elected in 1852 while a resident of Salt Lake City. He was a member of the Legislative Council continuously for thirty years, during about twelve of which he presided over the deliberations of that body.
The drowning episode referred to in the beginning of this article, occurred on the coast of the Island of Maui, one of the Hawaiian group, March 31, 1864, Apostle Snow with Apostle Ezra T. Benson and others being then upon a special mission to the Islands for the purpose of setting in order, by direction of President Young, the affairs of that mission, which had become sadly demoralized through the nefarious operations of one Walter M. Gibson, who, all unauthorized, had gone to the Islands and imposed himself upon the unsuspecting native members of the Church as a spiritual and temporal ruler to whom they must pay abject homage. Those accompanying the Apostles were Elders Joseph F. Smith, Alma L. Smith and W. W. Cluff. The party arrived at Honolulu about March 27th, and sailing thence two days later, came to anchor on the morning of the 31st about a mile from the mouth of the little harbor of Lahaina. The sea was rather rough, especially at the mouth of the harbor— a narrow passage between coral reefs—and in attempting to land, the ship's small boat containing Apostles Benson and Snow, Elders Cluff and Alma Smith, the Captain and several natives, capsized in the foaming surf. Apostle Snow and the Captain were drowned. Their apparently lifeless bodies were taken from the waves, and after protracted and persistent labor resuscitated. Apostle Snow was virtually dead, and though rolled on a barrel till all the water he had swallowed was ejected, he gave no signs of life until those in attendance on him had placed their mouths to his and inflated his lungs with their breath, inhaling and exhaling in imitation of natural respiration. By this means he was gradually brought back to life. He and his brethren successfully accomplished their mission. They cut Elder Gibson off the Church and persuaded the people whom he had deceived to return to their homes on the various islands and follow after him no more. The two Apostles then returned to America.
It was soon after his return that the Apostle Lorenzo entered upon his great work of organizing the Brigham City Mercantile and Manufacturing Association, otherwise known as the United Order of Brigham City. It began with a mercantile department consisting of four stockholders, including himself, with a capital of about three thousand dollars, upon which dividends were paid in store goods, amounting usually to about twenty-five per cent per annum. As this enterprise prospered, they continued receiving capital stock and adding new names to the list of stockholders until they had a surplus of capital and had succeeded in uniting the interests of the people and securing their patronage. The establishment of home industries followed, a score or more of them springing into existence, each paying dividends in the articles produced. Hundreds of people were furnished with employment, new and commodious buildings were erected for the various departments and everything was prosperous. The subsequent disastrous experience of the Order, through fire, vexatious lawsuits, illegal and oppressive taxation, etc., need not here be recounted. Suffice it that the success of this magnificent enterprise during the twenty years of its existence, will always stand as a monument to the practical genius, industrial thrift and business sagacity of its founder. The fictitious achievements of M. Madeleine, Mayor of M. Sur M.—as portrayed by Victor Hugo in his great novel “Les Miserables"— found a historical parallel in the achievements of Apostle Lorenzo Snow, President of Box Elder Stake and head of the United Order of Brigham City.
The anti-polygamy crusade under the Edmunds law began in the fall of 1884, and was at its height a year later when Apostle Snow fell into its meshes. After being arrested, he refused to allow his friends to rescue him, resigning himself to his fate with the calm complacency so characteristic of him. How he was tried and convicted three times for one alleged offense—that of living with, or acknowledging a plurality of wives—heavily fined and imprisoned in the penitentiary; how while there he and the forty-eight Elders imprisoned with him for like offenses declined Governor West's offer of amnesty, made on condition that they would obey a law aimed at a principle of their religion; and how finally after eleven months' experience behind bolts and bars Apostle Snow was released by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, shattering the illegal doctrine of "segregation," under which the triple sentence had been pronounced upon him —all this is familiar history to our readers.
The accession of Wilford Woodruff to the Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April 6, 1889, made Lorenzo Snow the senior in the Council of the Twelve Apostles, and on the same day he was sustained as the standing President of that body. He had always been interested in Temple work, having served for years as a member of the Logan Temple committee, and soon after the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple, in April, 1893, in which ceremonies he played a conspicuous part, he was installed as its President, a position which he still occupies.
Lorenzo Snow succeeded to the Presidency of the Church September 13, 1898, eleven days after the death of President Woodruff. He chose as his counselors Apostles George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, who had been the counselors of his two predecessors, and the three were sustained as the First Presidency by the united vote of the Council of the Apostles and afterwards by the unanimous vote of the General Conference.
President Snow's first moves were largely of a financial character, designed to relieve the Church of the heavy burden of debt that has rested upon it ever since the confiscation of its property under the operations of the Edmunds-Tucker act. As Trustee-in-Trust he authorized two great bond issues, aggregating a million dollars, and with the means thus obtained—almost entirely from home capitalists —he paid off the Church's most pressing obligations and materially reduced the rate of interest it was paying upon borrowed money.
This done, he threw his soul into a movement destined to mark his administration as one of the most notable in the history of the Church—a movement that may be designated as a revival along the lines of tithe-preaching and tithe-paying. Proceeding in May, 1899, with a large party, to St. George, at the extreme southern end of the State, he there proclaimed as the word of the Lord to the Latter-day Saints, that if they would continue to enjoy His blessings and reap the fruition of His promises of peace and prosperity upon this land, they must live the law of the Lord in relation to tithes and offerings. Past remissness would be forgiven if the future witnessed a faithful observance of the statute, and heaven would shower more abundantly than ever its blessings upon the people; but if the law were not honored, calamities would come and the people would be scourged for their disobedience. Other speakers took up the theme, and it was echoed and re-echoed until the whole region rang and resounded with it. From St. George the great reformatory wave rolled northward, thronged meetings being held at all principal points between that place and Salt Lake City, at which the law of tithing was almost the sole and exclusive theme dwelt upon. During the summer a great representative fast meeting, attended by officers of the Church from all the stakes and wards throughout the Rocky Mountain region, was held in the Salt Lake Temple, where the same admonitions were repeated, to be carried back to the people residing in the remotest settlements of the Saints from Canada to Mexico. Northern Utah and Southern Idaho were also visited by President Snow and the Apostolic party in the interests of the same cause. The President gave his hearers to understand that the Saints were to pay their tithing, not because it would get the Church out of debt—which was merely an incident—but because it was the law of the Lord, a law upon whose faithful observance great blessings were predicated. The effect of this evangelical movement was instantaneous. The President had previously possessed in a marked degree the love and confidence of his people, and now these good feelings were increased and intensified; tithes and offerings came pouring in with a promptness and plenitude unknown for years, and in every way, spiritually and temporally, the Church's condition improved and its prospects brightened.
Many changes and improvements in its affairs may be looked for as the result of the energetic and progressive policy inaugurated by its present head. His example and precepts all point in the direction of a spiritual and temporal revival among the Latter-day Saints. God willing—and it is God that he acknowledges as the source of all his success—he will free the Church from bondage, the bondage of debt (a freedom predicted by him several years since) and prepare his people for the advent of still greater things; perhaps for the establishment of that order of “unity, equality, fraternity," introduced by their first Prophet and President, the martyred Joseph, and upon the principles of which alone can Zion be built up and redeemed. At an age when most men proverbially have "one foot in the grave," Lorenzo Snow stands upon its brink like an angel of the resurrection, calling upon the sleeping to awake, upon the dead to rise.
Orson F. Whitney
“President Lorenzo Snow.” Young Woman's Journal. May 1901. pg. 236.
President Lorenzo Snow
Lorenzo Snow we extend our most sincere congratulations as he enters upon his eighty-eighth year. April 3rd marks the auspicious date of his birth and the recent anniversary was fittingly observed by about 200 of his friends and co-laborers in Temple and other Church work. A most touching tribute was that offered by four little children who went with their gifts of flowers and songs of love in the early morning, before President Snow had yet left his room.
The marvelous work accomplished during the long lifetime of this noble man, can scarcely be comprehended by any save a few who have been his companions. How impressive it was a short time ago to hear him tell of some important undertaking —something he did “Fifty years ago, when I was comparatively a young man.”
He stands as a living monument testifying the benefits of a righteous life. Full of spirituality he is known to be, and because of his frequent soul communions with the Father, he can the more ably lead His children temporally as well as spiritually.
That he is a most earnest friend of the women of Zion none can doubt who know him, and we feel that we are but echoing the prayers of every Improvement member when we say in all sincerity of soul, God grant thee peace. 0 noble Prophet! and lengthen out the days of thy useful ministrations upon earth.
President Lorenzo Snow
Lorenzo Snow we extend our most sincere congratulations as he enters upon his eighty-eighth year. April 3rd marks the auspicious date of his birth and the recent anniversary was fittingly observed by about 200 of his friends and co-laborers in Temple and other Church work. A most touching tribute was that offered by four little children who went with their gifts of flowers and songs of love in the early morning, before President Snow had yet left his room.
The marvelous work accomplished during the long lifetime of this noble man, can scarcely be comprehended by any save a few who have been his companions. How impressive it was a short time ago to hear him tell of some important undertaking —something he did “Fifty years ago, when I was comparatively a young man.”
He stands as a living monument testifying the benefits of a righteous life. Full of spirituality he is known to be, and because of his frequent soul communions with the Father, he can the more ably lead His children temporally as well as spiritually.
That he is a most earnest friend of the women of Zion none can doubt who know him, and we feel that we are but echoing the prayers of every Improvement member when we say in all sincerity of soul, God grant thee peace. 0 noble Prophet! and lengthen out the days of thy useful ministrations upon earth.
“President Lorenzo Snow.” Improvement Era. November 1901. pg. 58-63.
PRESIDENT LORENZO SNOW.
How rapidly the veteran ranks are thinning! Presidents Woodruff, Richards and Cannon are recently gone; and a hundred aged leaders in the stakes of Zion it seems have only yesterday followed to their rest. And now the Saints are called to mourn the departure of President Lorenzo Snow, who for nearly sixty-five years of his busy life has been an active minister among his people—sixty-five years, too, of wonderful achievement wrought in the midst of privation, toil and hardship, in all of which, with childlike confidence in God, and love for his fellow men, he fully, cheerfully, bravely, and with unwavering determination bore his share of the day's heat and burden.
Lorenzo Snow, the fifth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints passed away at his home in the Bee Hive House, Salt Lake City, Utah, Thursday, October 10, 1901, at 3:35 o'clock p. m. The cause of his sudden death was a cold contracted some weeks before which was not considered serious, but which later developed into bronchitis. He was unable to attend more than one meeting of the semi-annual conference—on Sunday afternoon of the 6th, when he gave his last address to a vast congregation assembled in the great tabernacle.
The burden of his last message to the Saints was, "God bless you." Upon the presidents of stakes, and high councillors, he specially placed the sacred responsibility of the local government of the fifty stakes of Zion, enjoining them to regard and take an interest in the people in their various dominions, as they would members of their own families, studying wherein they may best render them help, physical, spiritual and financial. He repeatedly cautioned them not to forget his words, and that they must remember that it is their duty to look after these things. It is not the business of the apostles. They, with the seventies, are chosen to care for the interest of the world, as special witnesses of the gospel unto the nations. He also announced that he had chosen a counselor, in place of the late President George Q. Cannon, since he felt his age, and desired more help. At the same meeting, President Joseph F. Smith was sustained as his first counselor, and Elder Rudger Clawson as his second.
President Snow was in the harness till the last day of his life. His last public signature was to the letter of introduction to the bishops and presidents of stakes, carried by the fifty-eight missionaries of the Y. M. M. I. A. who were set apart for their missions on October 8. This he signed on Tuesday evening at 6:30. On Wednesday, he was seriously ill, and, as stated, he died in the afternoon of Thursday. It is a noteworthy fact that the signature to the document above referred to was the first and only one signed by the new First Presidency as sustained at the October conference.
The young people, and particularly the officers of the Improvement Associations, have special occasion to remember President Snow because of the blessings which he promised to them at a conference held on the 30th of May, 1898. On that occasion, he spoke to them on the subject that seemed to be uppermost in his mind—the subject of tithing—and plead with the young people to observe the law of the Lord, that this might be a land of Zion unto them. His address is found in Vol. 2, page 792, of the Era. At the close of President Snow's address, the following resolution was presented by Elder B. H. Roberts:
"Resolved: That we accept the doctrine of tithing, as now presented by President Snow, as the present word and will of the Lord unto us, and we do accept it with all our hearts; we will ourselves observe it, and we will do all in our power to get the Latter- day Saints to do likewise."
This resolution was unanimously adopted by all present rising to their feet and shouting, "Aye."
President Francis M. Lyman arose and said: "President Snow, I believe this body of men is about as clear upon this law, and have about as faithfully met their obligations in regard to tithing as any body of men in the Church. It is a splendid thing, brethren, for us to be always in shape to accept the will of the Lord when it comes."
It was at this moment that President Snow, visibly affected, arose and said: "Brethren, the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, bless you. Every man who is here who has made this promise will be saved in the Celestial Kingdom. God bless you. Amen."
We believe that the young men have kept their promise thus far, but it is their duty now and in the future to faithfully remember their obligation, not only strictly to pay their tithing themselves, but also to use their influence to get all the young people to do likewise. This is an important labor that should not be forgotten. The blessings that have followed the observance of this law is perceptible in all parts of Zion. Not only is the Church prosperous, but as individuals, men are coming out from under the bondage of debt, and the blessings spiritual and temporal are upon them. With the promise so fulfilled, the duty of the future is plain.
President Lorenzo Snow was born at Mantua, Portage County, Ohio, April 3, 1814, and entered Oberlin College at twenty-one years of age, where he received a good education. In 1836, he was baptized into the Church, and in the following year began his ministerial career. Three years later, he went with Parley P. Pratt to Europe on his first mission, and while in England published a religious pamphlet, "The Only Way to be Saved," a work that has served to familiarize more people, in more languages, with the first principles of the gospel, than any other publication of the kind ever written; and through which, though dead, he will continue to bear his testimony to the nations. Returning to America in 1843, at the head of two hundred and fifty converts, he conducted, in the year following, a vigorous campaign in Ohio for Joseph Smith for President of the United States. Later, he taught the grammar school in Nauvoo, and finally, after much sickness and tribulation, arrived in Salt Lake Valley in 1848. On the year following, having first been ordained an Apostle on February 12th, he opened the Italian mission, translating the Book of Mormon. Returning in July, 1852, after three years absence, he was elected a member of the territorial legislature, where he served three terms in the house and twenty-three in the council, until 1882. With fifty families, he founded Brigham City, in 1855, where he dwelt, established the united order of Brigham, and presided over the Box Elder Stake for twenty-two years, until August 1877, serving also on two missions during this period—in 1872 with George A. Smith to Europe and Palestine, and, in 1864, to the Sandwich Islands. It was in March while on this latter mission that he was providentially saved after being drowned in the Pacific. About the time the "raid" was in full force, in November, 1885, he was convicted of unlawful cohabitation, and sentenced to three terms of six months each in the Utah penitentiary, serving eleven months, and being later released on a writ of habeas corpus. On the 6th of April, 1889, he became president of the quorum of Twelve Apostles, which position he magnified until he was made President of the Church, September 13, 1898, eleven days after the death of President Woodruff. He chose as his counselors George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith.
When he became President, the Church, owing to the troubles incident to the confiscation of its property, was largely involved in debt, and so he set about to relieve the financial strain by authorizing two bond issues aggregating a million dollars, thus paying the most pressing obligations of the Church, and materially reducing the interest rate. Then followed the movement which revived the observance of the law of tithing,—a movement which has marked his administration as one of the most notable in the history of the Church. It began by meetings in St George and the South, in May, 1899, and was followed by a universal gathering of the leading authorities of the Priesthood in the Temple, whence the message of reform, like a wave, rolled over every stake of Zion, awaking the people to their duty. The Saints were reminded of the promise that this would be a land of Zion only to those who obeyed the divine law in relation to tithes and offerings. They must pay their tithes, not alone to release the Church from debt, which was a mere incident, but because it is a command of the Lord and must be obeyed. Past remissness would be forgiven, but in the future, there must be no neglect of the heavenly law. It was promised that if the law were obeyed, great blessings would come to the Saints; while if it were not heeded, the Lord for their disobedience would scourge them with calamities. The people responded in humility and love, and tithes and offerings came as never before. President Snow grew in their estimation as they in the fear of God. Their conditions improved, prospects brightened, and with them came improvements in the affairs of the Church. At no time has God showered blessings upon his people in greater abundance than since they began to comply with this law. The floating obligations of the Church were paid; and means are on hand to meet all obligations, as they become due. Changes and improvements followed, with great temporal as well as spiritual revivals, that promise mighty results for the future.
The Bee Hive block was divided, making two new streets — College Avenue and Temple Street; the Bee Hive was made the official residence of the President; old, unsightly landmarks were removed, and the Church property renovated; the Latter-day Saints University was established, and one of its buildings erected; the Brigham Young Memorial Building and Barratt Hall were begun; the Woman's building was founded and encouraged; the tabernacle organ was remodeled; organ recitals were instituted; the magnificent Deseret News building was nearly completed; the printing of Church publications was taken from private printers and placed in the hands of the Church printing office; and the Deseret News greatly improved and made the official organ of the Church. To President Snow must be given the credit, in the hands of God, of inaugurating this progressive business policy.
Of his chief personal characteristics, Historian Orson F. Whitney says:
President Snow's mentality was a rare and varied combination. He was a natural financier, and at the same time a spiritually minded man, of literary tastes and poetic temperament. He was not sanctimonious; he could not be a fanatic or a bigot if he wished. He was too well-balanced for that—too broad-minded and charitable. He would never persecute a man for his opinions, nor interfere with his religious worship, however much he might disapprove of them. At the same time he was a pattern of piety, an exemplary Christian gentleman, zealous in and devoted to the cause that he deemed divine. No tyrant, but a man of firm will, prompt in deciding, fearless and thorough in executing his purposes. No politician, yet wisely politic, regardful of proprieties and of all men's rights. No one ever imposed upon him without his knowing it, and few cared to impose upon him twice. Bland and soft-spoken, as a rule, he could be stern, and was plain and straightforward in expressing his opinions. Once convinced of the correctness of an idea, a doctrine, principle, policy or course of conduct, he adhered to it with inflexible resolution. In his public discourses he spoke straight to the point, and his manner and diction were entirely without ostentation. While spirited and independent, he was not combative in his disposition, but was essentially a man of peace, a humanitarian. * * * *
There was not in all Utah, nor in the entire West, a more interesting personality than this great Prophet, Seer, Revelator and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. * * * Placidity of mind, even in the midst of trouble and danger, was characteristic of President Snow. He made the best of every situation, and readily adapted himself to his surroundings, however uncomfortable and oppressive they might be, holding it to be the part of true wisdom, the optimistic stoicism expected of a saint, to seek to derive from every condition the knowledge and discipline which the All-wise Dispenser of human affairs intended that condition to bestow. He undoubtedly owed to this faculty and disposition, quite as much as to his virtuous and temperate life, that remarkable perpetuation of youthful vigor, which, like the Gulf stream in Arctic waters, softened and tempered for him the frostiness of age.
With song, and music, and eulogy, mingled with the tears of old and young, President Snow's body was laid to rest, Sunday, October 13, on the hillside, in the cemetery above the beautiful settlement, Brigham—city of his founding. His spirit is exalted with the just. To him went out, in death as they had in life, the love and respect of a mighty and peculiar people, all of whom, if it had been possible, would gladly have placed flowers upon his bier; or, like the children of Box Elder, bestrewn with blossoms the pathway of his last journey.
PRESIDENT LORENZO SNOW.
How rapidly the veteran ranks are thinning! Presidents Woodruff, Richards and Cannon are recently gone; and a hundred aged leaders in the stakes of Zion it seems have only yesterday followed to their rest. And now the Saints are called to mourn the departure of President Lorenzo Snow, who for nearly sixty-five years of his busy life has been an active minister among his people—sixty-five years, too, of wonderful achievement wrought in the midst of privation, toil and hardship, in all of which, with childlike confidence in God, and love for his fellow men, he fully, cheerfully, bravely, and with unwavering determination bore his share of the day's heat and burden.
Lorenzo Snow, the fifth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints passed away at his home in the Bee Hive House, Salt Lake City, Utah, Thursday, October 10, 1901, at 3:35 o'clock p. m. The cause of his sudden death was a cold contracted some weeks before which was not considered serious, but which later developed into bronchitis. He was unable to attend more than one meeting of the semi-annual conference—on Sunday afternoon of the 6th, when he gave his last address to a vast congregation assembled in the great tabernacle.
The burden of his last message to the Saints was, "God bless you." Upon the presidents of stakes, and high councillors, he specially placed the sacred responsibility of the local government of the fifty stakes of Zion, enjoining them to regard and take an interest in the people in their various dominions, as they would members of their own families, studying wherein they may best render them help, physical, spiritual and financial. He repeatedly cautioned them not to forget his words, and that they must remember that it is their duty to look after these things. It is not the business of the apostles. They, with the seventies, are chosen to care for the interest of the world, as special witnesses of the gospel unto the nations. He also announced that he had chosen a counselor, in place of the late President George Q. Cannon, since he felt his age, and desired more help. At the same meeting, President Joseph F. Smith was sustained as his first counselor, and Elder Rudger Clawson as his second.
President Snow was in the harness till the last day of his life. His last public signature was to the letter of introduction to the bishops and presidents of stakes, carried by the fifty-eight missionaries of the Y. M. M. I. A. who were set apart for their missions on October 8. This he signed on Tuesday evening at 6:30. On Wednesday, he was seriously ill, and, as stated, he died in the afternoon of Thursday. It is a noteworthy fact that the signature to the document above referred to was the first and only one signed by the new First Presidency as sustained at the October conference.
The young people, and particularly the officers of the Improvement Associations, have special occasion to remember President Snow because of the blessings which he promised to them at a conference held on the 30th of May, 1898. On that occasion, he spoke to them on the subject that seemed to be uppermost in his mind—the subject of tithing—and plead with the young people to observe the law of the Lord, that this might be a land of Zion unto them. His address is found in Vol. 2, page 792, of the Era. At the close of President Snow's address, the following resolution was presented by Elder B. H. Roberts:
"Resolved: That we accept the doctrine of tithing, as now presented by President Snow, as the present word and will of the Lord unto us, and we do accept it with all our hearts; we will ourselves observe it, and we will do all in our power to get the Latter- day Saints to do likewise."
This resolution was unanimously adopted by all present rising to their feet and shouting, "Aye."
President Francis M. Lyman arose and said: "President Snow, I believe this body of men is about as clear upon this law, and have about as faithfully met their obligations in regard to tithing as any body of men in the Church. It is a splendid thing, brethren, for us to be always in shape to accept the will of the Lord when it comes."
It was at this moment that President Snow, visibly affected, arose and said: "Brethren, the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, bless you. Every man who is here who has made this promise will be saved in the Celestial Kingdom. God bless you. Amen."
We believe that the young men have kept their promise thus far, but it is their duty now and in the future to faithfully remember their obligation, not only strictly to pay their tithing themselves, but also to use their influence to get all the young people to do likewise. This is an important labor that should not be forgotten. The blessings that have followed the observance of this law is perceptible in all parts of Zion. Not only is the Church prosperous, but as individuals, men are coming out from under the bondage of debt, and the blessings spiritual and temporal are upon them. With the promise so fulfilled, the duty of the future is plain.
President Lorenzo Snow was born at Mantua, Portage County, Ohio, April 3, 1814, and entered Oberlin College at twenty-one years of age, where he received a good education. In 1836, he was baptized into the Church, and in the following year began his ministerial career. Three years later, he went with Parley P. Pratt to Europe on his first mission, and while in England published a religious pamphlet, "The Only Way to be Saved," a work that has served to familiarize more people, in more languages, with the first principles of the gospel, than any other publication of the kind ever written; and through which, though dead, he will continue to bear his testimony to the nations. Returning to America in 1843, at the head of two hundred and fifty converts, he conducted, in the year following, a vigorous campaign in Ohio for Joseph Smith for President of the United States. Later, he taught the grammar school in Nauvoo, and finally, after much sickness and tribulation, arrived in Salt Lake Valley in 1848. On the year following, having first been ordained an Apostle on February 12th, he opened the Italian mission, translating the Book of Mormon. Returning in July, 1852, after three years absence, he was elected a member of the territorial legislature, where he served three terms in the house and twenty-three in the council, until 1882. With fifty families, he founded Brigham City, in 1855, where he dwelt, established the united order of Brigham, and presided over the Box Elder Stake for twenty-two years, until August 1877, serving also on two missions during this period—in 1872 with George A. Smith to Europe and Palestine, and, in 1864, to the Sandwich Islands. It was in March while on this latter mission that he was providentially saved after being drowned in the Pacific. About the time the "raid" was in full force, in November, 1885, he was convicted of unlawful cohabitation, and sentenced to three terms of six months each in the Utah penitentiary, serving eleven months, and being later released on a writ of habeas corpus. On the 6th of April, 1889, he became president of the quorum of Twelve Apostles, which position he magnified until he was made President of the Church, September 13, 1898, eleven days after the death of President Woodruff. He chose as his counselors George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith.
When he became President, the Church, owing to the troubles incident to the confiscation of its property, was largely involved in debt, and so he set about to relieve the financial strain by authorizing two bond issues aggregating a million dollars, thus paying the most pressing obligations of the Church, and materially reducing the interest rate. Then followed the movement which revived the observance of the law of tithing,—a movement which has marked his administration as one of the most notable in the history of the Church. It began by meetings in St George and the South, in May, 1899, and was followed by a universal gathering of the leading authorities of the Priesthood in the Temple, whence the message of reform, like a wave, rolled over every stake of Zion, awaking the people to their duty. The Saints were reminded of the promise that this would be a land of Zion only to those who obeyed the divine law in relation to tithes and offerings. They must pay their tithes, not alone to release the Church from debt, which was a mere incident, but because it is a command of the Lord and must be obeyed. Past remissness would be forgiven, but in the future, there must be no neglect of the heavenly law. It was promised that if the law were obeyed, great blessings would come to the Saints; while if it were not heeded, the Lord for their disobedience would scourge them with calamities. The people responded in humility and love, and tithes and offerings came as never before. President Snow grew in their estimation as they in the fear of God. Their conditions improved, prospects brightened, and with them came improvements in the affairs of the Church. At no time has God showered blessings upon his people in greater abundance than since they began to comply with this law. The floating obligations of the Church were paid; and means are on hand to meet all obligations, as they become due. Changes and improvements followed, with great temporal as well as spiritual revivals, that promise mighty results for the future.
The Bee Hive block was divided, making two new streets — College Avenue and Temple Street; the Bee Hive was made the official residence of the President; old, unsightly landmarks were removed, and the Church property renovated; the Latter-day Saints University was established, and one of its buildings erected; the Brigham Young Memorial Building and Barratt Hall were begun; the Woman's building was founded and encouraged; the tabernacle organ was remodeled; organ recitals were instituted; the magnificent Deseret News building was nearly completed; the printing of Church publications was taken from private printers and placed in the hands of the Church printing office; and the Deseret News greatly improved and made the official organ of the Church. To President Snow must be given the credit, in the hands of God, of inaugurating this progressive business policy.
Of his chief personal characteristics, Historian Orson F. Whitney says:
President Snow's mentality was a rare and varied combination. He was a natural financier, and at the same time a spiritually minded man, of literary tastes and poetic temperament. He was not sanctimonious; he could not be a fanatic or a bigot if he wished. He was too well-balanced for that—too broad-minded and charitable. He would never persecute a man for his opinions, nor interfere with his religious worship, however much he might disapprove of them. At the same time he was a pattern of piety, an exemplary Christian gentleman, zealous in and devoted to the cause that he deemed divine. No tyrant, but a man of firm will, prompt in deciding, fearless and thorough in executing his purposes. No politician, yet wisely politic, regardful of proprieties and of all men's rights. No one ever imposed upon him without his knowing it, and few cared to impose upon him twice. Bland and soft-spoken, as a rule, he could be stern, and was plain and straightforward in expressing his opinions. Once convinced of the correctness of an idea, a doctrine, principle, policy or course of conduct, he adhered to it with inflexible resolution. In his public discourses he spoke straight to the point, and his manner and diction were entirely without ostentation. While spirited and independent, he was not combative in his disposition, but was essentially a man of peace, a humanitarian. * * * *
There was not in all Utah, nor in the entire West, a more interesting personality than this great Prophet, Seer, Revelator and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. * * * Placidity of mind, even in the midst of trouble and danger, was characteristic of President Snow. He made the best of every situation, and readily adapted himself to his surroundings, however uncomfortable and oppressive they might be, holding it to be the part of true wisdom, the optimistic stoicism expected of a saint, to seek to derive from every condition the knowledge and discipline which the All-wise Dispenser of human affairs intended that condition to bestow. He undoubtedly owed to this faculty and disposition, quite as much as to his virtuous and temperate life, that remarkable perpetuation of youthful vigor, which, like the Gulf stream in Arctic waters, softened and tempered for him the frostiness of age.
With song, and music, and eulogy, mingled with the tears of old and young, President Snow's body was laid to rest, Sunday, October 13, on the hillside, in the cemetery above the beautiful settlement, Brigham—city of his founding. His spirit is exalted with the just. To him went out, in death as they had in life, the love and respect of a mighty and peculiar people, all of whom, if it had been possible, would gladly have placed flowers upon his bier; or, like the children of Box Elder, bestrewn with blossoms the pathway of his last journey.
“Tribute of Respect to Lorenzo Snow.” Improvement Era. November 1901. pg. 69.
TRIBUTE OF RESPECT
FROM THE Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations
TO LORENZO SNOW,
General Superintendent of the Associations from October 5, 1898, to the time of his Death, October 10, 1901.
Adopted by the General Board at its Meeting, Wednesday, October 16, 1901.
WHEREAS, in the providence of our Eternal Father, his servant, President Lorenzo Snow, for the past three years General Superintendent of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, has been called into the spirit world to mingle with his brethren gone before, having completed a long life of devoted service to the cause of Truth and the salvation of mankind; and
Whereas, in the work of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations President Snow gave graciously and truly of his abundant wisdom, blessings, counsel and encouragement, to all their officers and members, and was by them and by us greatly beloved, be it
Resolved, by the officers and members of the General Board of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations that in response to the universal sentiment of respect and love for him; of admiration for his noble character and grand achievements in the sphere of intellect, morals and religion, we revere his memory, and hold precious the lessons of his ministry and example among us; and that we spread this testimonial of honor and respect upon the records of the General Board, authorize their publication in the Improvement Era, and direct that copies of the same be presented to the family of our beloved president, with whom we deeply sympathize in their bereavement.
TRIBUTE OF RESPECT
FROM THE Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations
TO LORENZO SNOW,
General Superintendent of the Associations from October 5, 1898, to the time of his Death, October 10, 1901.
Adopted by the General Board at its Meeting, Wednesday, October 16, 1901.
WHEREAS, in the providence of our Eternal Father, his servant, President Lorenzo Snow, for the past three years General Superintendent of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, has been called into the spirit world to mingle with his brethren gone before, having completed a long life of devoted service to the cause of Truth and the salvation of mankind; and
Whereas, in the work of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations President Snow gave graciously and truly of his abundant wisdom, blessings, counsel and encouragement, to all their officers and members, and was by them and by us greatly beloved, be it
Resolved, by the officers and members of the General Board of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations that in response to the universal sentiment of respect and love for him; of admiration for his noble character and grand achievements in the sphere of intellect, morals and religion, we revere his memory, and hold precious the lessons of his ministry and example among us; and that we spread this testimonial of honor and respect upon the records of the General Board, authorize their publication in the Improvement Era, and direct that copies of the same be presented to the family of our beloved president, with whom we deeply sympathize in their bereavement.
Talmage, James E. “President Lorenzo Snow.” Young Woman's Journal. November 1901. pg. 482-486.
PRESIDENT LORENZO SNOW.
Dr. James E. Talmage.
For the fifth time in its comparatively belief history of less than seventy-two years, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is mourning the death of its chief Apostle and President. Word of the deprivation that has so recently befallen the people came almost unheralded; for while it had become generally known that the President’s health was impaired, and that his physical strength was somewhat reduced, there appeared to be, even among his intimate associates, small thought that the shadows of the grave were gathering so thickly about him.
The multitudes who assembled at the last General Conference of the Church gave frequent expression to the sorrow and disappointment they felt at the absence of their venerable leader from the earlier meetings; and when he appeared on the stand at the last session on the afternoon of Sunday, October 6th, their joy was openly manifest. Few in that great audience of nearly twelve thousand souls conceived the thought that they were looking for the last time upon the living features of their beloved Prophet. When on that occasion he rose to address them, there was no mistaking the spirit of sustaining faith and earnest prayer that pervaded the congregation, and his words, eloquent in their fervent simplicity, deeply significant in their import fell upon eager ears and found an echo in faithful hearts.
Four days later the pure spirit had quitted its frail tabernacle of clay, and the people of latter-day Israel were weeping for their honored dead. But they weep not as do those who are without hope; their tears are offerings of resignation to the All wise will, and of thanksgiving that they have been privileged to live for a season under the inspired guidance of such a man.
History, it has been said, is largely a matter of biography; and the study of history is the study of philosophy by example. An important epoch in the history of the Church is marked by the administration of President Lorenzo Snow; and all who were privileged to know him personally and intimately are wiser and better for that association. The mantle of his high calling enveloped him. and the spirit of his Priesthood was manifest in all his works. The story of his life is one of training and preparation for the higher labors that awaited him in his later years.
He presented an unusual and harmonious combination of mental and spiritual powers. By nature a student, hv education and training a scholar, strongly philosophical and investigative, he was none the less efficient as a man of affairs, eminently successful as an organizer and a leader, conservative yet bold in practical enterprises of business and progress. But superior to all these characteristics were those of profound spirituality, and of unqualified devotion to the Divine will.
In his tastes and inclinations, Lorenzo Snow was a type of refinement and culture; in his personal bearings and in all his dealings with others he was a true gentleman. To those who knew him best, his biography is a story of a blameless life.
He possessed the rare excellence of keeping theory and fact distinct in his mind. It has been the writer's privilege on many occasions to converse with President Snow on matters of scientific import, and more particularly on subjects that belong to the borderland of human knowledge and revealed truth. Every such instance impressed me by the broad liberality with which he treated the opinions of others and not less by the firmness with which he held to what he knew to be true. He saw the workings of the Divine Hand in every phase of human progress, whether of thought or of material achievement; yet he was ever watchful for the word of direct revelation from the fountainhead of truth, that would make plain the errors of man's deductions, and establish the right.
President Snow was a lover of wisdom, and a friend of education. During his three years' administration as the President of the Church he continued and in many respects amplified the work of his predecessors in developing the schools of the Church: yet he was none the less concerned for the stability and growth of the secular schools of the State in all their grades.
A volume would be required to present an adequate summary of the facts and events important in the biography of President Snow. Only a brief outline can be attempted here. He was born at Mantua. Portage county, Ohio, April 3rd. 1814, and was the eldest son of the family. He appears to have developed at an early age energy and business ability, combined with a sense of personal responsibility, and of strict devotion to duty. His parents were devout members of the Baptist church, but the son, though religiously inclined, refrained from any open profession in sectarian churches. Even the Presbyterian influence dominating Oberlin College, which institution he entered to pursue classical studies, did not convert him to sectarianism. In June, 1836, when he was twenty- two years of age, Lorenzo Snow embraced the Gospel and was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Apostle John F. Boynton. Soon after his entrance into the Church he was ordained an Elder, and immediately entered upon the labors of a missionary.
In 1840 be left Nauvoo on a mission to Europe, and returned in 1843. It was during this first mission abroad that he presented the Book of Mormon to Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort, Albert. In 1846 Elder Snow bade adieu to Nauvoo in the course of the general exodus, and in 1848 reached the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. In February, 1849, he was ordained an Apostle; and eight months later he was called to missionary labor in Italy, in the course of which he effected the publication of the Book of Mormon and several doctrinal pamphlets in the language of that country. The work of this mission was extended into Switzerland. He was home again in 1852: and during the next year he was made president of Boxelder Stake, which office he held continuously for nearly twenty-four years. During his presidency Brigham City was founded, other settlements were established, and many business enterprises were inaugurated and developed within the Stake. For thirty years, beginning with 1852, Apostle Snow was a member of the Utah Legislative Assembly, and officiated as President of the legislative Council for twelve years of this period.
In 1864 Brother Snow, in company with other Elders, proceeded to the Hawaiian Islands to adjust matters of importance in connection with that mission. It was while attempting to land on the Island of Maui, March 31st, 1864 that he was thrown into the surf through the capsizing of a boat, and was to all appearances drowned Through prompt and efficient aid and by Divine blessing, however, he recovered.
In 1872 he accompanied a party under the leadership of Apostle George A. Smith (at the time First Counselor in the First Presidency) on a tour of the principal European countries and Palestine. During this visit to Palestine the land was dedicated by the Apostles as the gathering-place of the Jews, according to prophetic promise.
The heroic stand taken by President Snow in the course of the antipolygamy crusade is doubtless remembered by many of those who may read these lines. In 1885 he was prosecuted and of course convicted on the common charge, and by the application of the infamous segregation doctrine, was placed under a triple sentence of the extreme penalty for a single alleged offense. While imprisoned in the Utah penitentiary he declined the amnesty offered by the territorial Governor because of the conditions demanded.
During the administration of President Wilford Woodruff, Apostle Snow was president of the Council of the Twelve; and on September 13, 1898, eleven days after Prest Woodruff's death, he was made President of the Church.
Among the notable acts of Prest, Snow's administration the following will be remembered:—His strenuous and highly successful efforts to lighten the debt into which the Church had fallen through the unjust confiscation of property by the Federal government and other causes; his endeavors to improve the property of the Church, and thus to increase its intrinsic value; his inspired admonitions to the people in the matter of tithe-paying, and the prompt response whereby the material condition of the Church was bettered, and the people were aroused to greater zeal in their temporal and spiritual duties; his plans, already well begun, for carrying the Gospel to the nations and peoples amongst whom the saving word has not heretofore been proclaimed; and finally his lucid and authoritative instructions (so strongly emphasized in his memorable sermon and last public utterance) directing stake and ward officers to personally assume the responsibilities of their charges, thus leaving the Apostles free to pursue their labors as special witnesses of Christ throughout the world.
President Snow passed to his rest at 3:35 p. m., (Mountain Time) Thursday, October 10, 1901. The physical cause of death was congestion of the lungs, following bronchitis, which in turn was the result of a severe cold. His works are such as live in spite of the grave, and the beneficent results of his labors will never die out among the people of the Church. Deep as is our grief, we are consoled by the knowledge that the power and authority that he exercised so wisely is vet with the Church, and that his successor whom God hath commissioned shall be in very truth a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator unto Israel.
As a convenient summary of certain events in President Snow's life, the following condensed statement is incorporated. The greater part of it has already appeared in tabular form, and its reprint here is by permission.
He was born at Mantua, Portage Co., Ohio, April 3, 1814.
At twenty-one he entered Oberlin College to secure a classical education.
In 1836 he became a convert to Mormonism and was baptized by Elder John S. Boynton.
In 1837 he began the active ministerial career continued throughout his busy life.
In May, 1840, he took his first mission to Europe and was appointed counselor to Parley P. Pratt, president of the British mission.
In 1841 he published a pamphlet, “The Only Way to be Saved,” which has been translated into German, French, and Italian.
In 1843 he returned to America at the head of 250 converts on a specially chartered vessel.
In 1844 he conducted a vigorous campaign in Ohio for Joseph Smith for President of the United States.
In 1845, turning to education, he was placed at the head of the Nauvoo grammar school.
He left Nauvoo in the exodus of 1846 for Salt Lake but on account of sickness, did not arrive before 1848.
On February 12, 1849, he was ordained to the Apostleship under the hands of the First Presidency of the Church, and was received as a member of the Council of the Twelve.
In October, 1849 he was sent on a mission to Italy where he remained for three years and translated the Book of Mormon.
In 1852 he was elected a member of the Utah House of Representatives, in accordance with the law' of 1850.
He was returned to every session until 1882—three times to the House and twenty-three times to the Council.
In 1855, with fifty families, he founded and named Brigham City, which was his home for many years.
In 1864 he went on a mission to the Sandwich Islands and labored diligently for a time in that part of the Pacific.
In 1872 he accompanied George A. Smith and other Utah people on a tour of the countries of Europe and Palestine.
In 1877 he was released as president of Boxelder Stake after having presided over it since its organization.
In 1886 he was convicted of unlawful cohabitation and sentenced to three terms of six months each, but later was released on a writ of habeas corpus.
On April 6, 1889, he became the president of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which position he retained until September 13, 1898.
On this last named date he became the President of the Church and chose as his counselors Apostles George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith.
In May, 1889, at St. George, Utah, he began his instructions to the people regarding the necessity of faithfulness in tithe-paying. These instructions were repeated in every Stake.
On October 6, 1901, he chose Rudger Clawson as second counselor in the First Presidency, and appointed Joseph F. Smith his first counselor. The vacancy in the First Presidency had been caused by the death of First Counselor George Q. Cannon.
On Thursday, October 10, 1901, at 3:33 p. m. President Snow died at his official residence, the Bee Hive House, Salt Lake City.
On Sunday, October 13, funeral services were held in the Tabernacle which had been beautifully and elaborately decorated for the occasion. After the services the remains were conveyed by special train to Brigham City and were there interred.
PRESIDENT LORENZO SNOW.
Dr. James E. Talmage.
For the fifth time in its comparatively belief history of less than seventy-two years, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is mourning the death of its chief Apostle and President. Word of the deprivation that has so recently befallen the people came almost unheralded; for while it had become generally known that the President’s health was impaired, and that his physical strength was somewhat reduced, there appeared to be, even among his intimate associates, small thought that the shadows of the grave were gathering so thickly about him.
The multitudes who assembled at the last General Conference of the Church gave frequent expression to the sorrow and disappointment they felt at the absence of their venerable leader from the earlier meetings; and when he appeared on the stand at the last session on the afternoon of Sunday, October 6th, their joy was openly manifest. Few in that great audience of nearly twelve thousand souls conceived the thought that they were looking for the last time upon the living features of their beloved Prophet. When on that occasion he rose to address them, there was no mistaking the spirit of sustaining faith and earnest prayer that pervaded the congregation, and his words, eloquent in their fervent simplicity, deeply significant in their import fell upon eager ears and found an echo in faithful hearts.
Four days later the pure spirit had quitted its frail tabernacle of clay, and the people of latter-day Israel were weeping for their honored dead. But they weep not as do those who are without hope; their tears are offerings of resignation to the All wise will, and of thanksgiving that they have been privileged to live for a season under the inspired guidance of such a man.
History, it has been said, is largely a matter of biography; and the study of history is the study of philosophy by example. An important epoch in the history of the Church is marked by the administration of President Lorenzo Snow; and all who were privileged to know him personally and intimately are wiser and better for that association. The mantle of his high calling enveloped him. and the spirit of his Priesthood was manifest in all his works. The story of his life is one of training and preparation for the higher labors that awaited him in his later years.
He presented an unusual and harmonious combination of mental and spiritual powers. By nature a student, hv education and training a scholar, strongly philosophical and investigative, he was none the less efficient as a man of affairs, eminently successful as an organizer and a leader, conservative yet bold in practical enterprises of business and progress. But superior to all these characteristics were those of profound spirituality, and of unqualified devotion to the Divine will.
In his tastes and inclinations, Lorenzo Snow was a type of refinement and culture; in his personal bearings and in all his dealings with others he was a true gentleman. To those who knew him best, his biography is a story of a blameless life.
He possessed the rare excellence of keeping theory and fact distinct in his mind. It has been the writer's privilege on many occasions to converse with President Snow on matters of scientific import, and more particularly on subjects that belong to the borderland of human knowledge and revealed truth. Every such instance impressed me by the broad liberality with which he treated the opinions of others and not less by the firmness with which he held to what he knew to be true. He saw the workings of the Divine Hand in every phase of human progress, whether of thought or of material achievement; yet he was ever watchful for the word of direct revelation from the fountainhead of truth, that would make plain the errors of man's deductions, and establish the right.
President Snow was a lover of wisdom, and a friend of education. During his three years' administration as the President of the Church he continued and in many respects amplified the work of his predecessors in developing the schools of the Church: yet he was none the less concerned for the stability and growth of the secular schools of the State in all their grades.
A volume would be required to present an adequate summary of the facts and events important in the biography of President Snow. Only a brief outline can be attempted here. He was born at Mantua. Portage county, Ohio, April 3rd. 1814, and was the eldest son of the family. He appears to have developed at an early age energy and business ability, combined with a sense of personal responsibility, and of strict devotion to duty. His parents were devout members of the Baptist church, but the son, though religiously inclined, refrained from any open profession in sectarian churches. Even the Presbyterian influence dominating Oberlin College, which institution he entered to pursue classical studies, did not convert him to sectarianism. In June, 1836, when he was twenty- two years of age, Lorenzo Snow embraced the Gospel and was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Apostle John F. Boynton. Soon after his entrance into the Church he was ordained an Elder, and immediately entered upon the labors of a missionary.
In 1840 be left Nauvoo on a mission to Europe, and returned in 1843. It was during this first mission abroad that he presented the Book of Mormon to Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort, Albert. In 1846 Elder Snow bade adieu to Nauvoo in the course of the general exodus, and in 1848 reached the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. In February, 1849, he was ordained an Apostle; and eight months later he was called to missionary labor in Italy, in the course of which he effected the publication of the Book of Mormon and several doctrinal pamphlets in the language of that country. The work of this mission was extended into Switzerland. He was home again in 1852: and during the next year he was made president of Boxelder Stake, which office he held continuously for nearly twenty-four years. During his presidency Brigham City was founded, other settlements were established, and many business enterprises were inaugurated and developed within the Stake. For thirty years, beginning with 1852, Apostle Snow was a member of the Utah Legislative Assembly, and officiated as President of the legislative Council for twelve years of this period.
In 1864 Brother Snow, in company with other Elders, proceeded to the Hawaiian Islands to adjust matters of importance in connection with that mission. It was while attempting to land on the Island of Maui, March 31st, 1864 that he was thrown into the surf through the capsizing of a boat, and was to all appearances drowned Through prompt and efficient aid and by Divine blessing, however, he recovered.
In 1872 he accompanied a party under the leadership of Apostle George A. Smith (at the time First Counselor in the First Presidency) on a tour of the principal European countries and Palestine. During this visit to Palestine the land was dedicated by the Apostles as the gathering-place of the Jews, according to prophetic promise.
The heroic stand taken by President Snow in the course of the antipolygamy crusade is doubtless remembered by many of those who may read these lines. In 1885 he was prosecuted and of course convicted on the common charge, and by the application of the infamous segregation doctrine, was placed under a triple sentence of the extreme penalty for a single alleged offense. While imprisoned in the Utah penitentiary he declined the amnesty offered by the territorial Governor because of the conditions demanded.
During the administration of President Wilford Woodruff, Apostle Snow was president of the Council of the Twelve; and on September 13, 1898, eleven days after Prest Woodruff's death, he was made President of the Church.
Among the notable acts of Prest, Snow's administration the following will be remembered:—His strenuous and highly successful efforts to lighten the debt into which the Church had fallen through the unjust confiscation of property by the Federal government and other causes; his endeavors to improve the property of the Church, and thus to increase its intrinsic value; his inspired admonitions to the people in the matter of tithe-paying, and the prompt response whereby the material condition of the Church was bettered, and the people were aroused to greater zeal in their temporal and spiritual duties; his plans, already well begun, for carrying the Gospel to the nations and peoples amongst whom the saving word has not heretofore been proclaimed; and finally his lucid and authoritative instructions (so strongly emphasized in his memorable sermon and last public utterance) directing stake and ward officers to personally assume the responsibilities of their charges, thus leaving the Apostles free to pursue their labors as special witnesses of Christ throughout the world.
President Snow passed to his rest at 3:35 p. m., (Mountain Time) Thursday, October 10, 1901. The physical cause of death was congestion of the lungs, following bronchitis, which in turn was the result of a severe cold. His works are such as live in spite of the grave, and the beneficent results of his labors will never die out among the people of the Church. Deep as is our grief, we are consoled by the knowledge that the power and authority that he exercised so wisely is vet with the Church, and that his successor whom God hath commissioned shall be in very truth a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator unto Israel.
As a convenient summary of certain events in President Snow's life, the following condensed statement is incorporated. The greater part of it has already appeared in tabular form, and its reprint here is by permission.
He was born at Mantua, Portage Co., Ohio, April 3, 1814.
At twenty-one he entered Oberlin College to secure a classical education.
In 1836 he became a convert to Mormonism and was baptized by Elder John S. Boynton.
In 1837 he began the active ministerial career continued throughout his busy life.
In May, 1840, he took his first mission to Europe and was appointed counselor to Parley P. Pratt, president of the British mission.
In 1841 he published a pamphlet, “The Only Way to be Saved,” which has been translated into German, French, and Italian.
In 1843 he returned to America at the head of 250 converts on a specially chartered vessel.
In 1844 he conducted a vigorous campaign in Ohio for Joseph Smith for President of the United States.
In 1845, turning to education, he was placed at the head of the Nauvoo grammar school.
He left Nauvoo in the exodus of 1846 for Salt Lake but on account of sickness, did not arrive before 1848.
On February 12, 1849, he was ordained to the Apostleship under the hands of the First Presidency of the Church, and was received as a member of the Council of the Twelve.
In October, 1849 he was sent on a mission to Italy where he remained for three years and translated the Book of Mormon.
In 1852 he was elected a member of the Utah House of Representatives, in accordance with the law' of 1850.
He was returned to every session until 1882—three times to the House and twenty-three times to the Council.
In 1855, with fifty families, he founded and named Brigham City, which was his home for many years.
In 1864 he went on a mission to the Sandwich Islands and labored diligently for a time in that part of the Pacific.
In 1872 he accompanied George A. Smith and other Utah people on a tour of the countries of Europe and Palestine.
In 1877 he was released as president of Boxelder Stake after having presided over it since its organization.
In 1886 he was convicted of unlawful cohabitation and sentenced to three terms of six months each, but later was released on a writ of habeas corpus.
On April 6, 1889, he became the president of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which position he retained until September 13, 1898.
On this last named date he became the President of the Church and chose as his counselors Apostles George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith.
In May, 1889, at St. George, Utah, he began his instructions to the people regarding the necessity of faithfulness in tithe-paying. These instructions were repeated in every Stake.
On October 6, 1901, he chose Rudger Clawson as second counselor in the First Presidency, and appointed Joseph F. Smith his first counselor. The vacancy in the First Presidency had been caused by the death of First Counselor George Q. Cannon.
On Thursday, October 10, 1901, at 3:33 p. m. President Snow died at his official residence, the Bee Hive House, Salt Lake City.
On Sunday, October 13, funeral services were held in the Tabernacle which had been beautifully and elaborately decorated for the occasion. After the services the remains were conveyed by special train to Brigham City and were there interred.
“Death and Burial of Prest. Snow.” Young Woman's Journal. November 1901. pg. 520-521.
Death and Burial of Prest. Snow
Doubtless the saddening intelligence has long since reached our readers that President Lorenzo Snow has been called to a higher sphere. Only four days before the fatal summons came he addressed the assembled multitudes at the last meeting of the October conference; and his forceful instructions and wise counsels will not soon be forgotten by those whose privilege it was to hear the last public utterance of our departed Prophet.
On the morning of October 10th it was made known that President Snow was seriously and even critically ill; in the afternoon of that day his death was announced. Ho died in the Bee Hive House at 3:35 p. m. on the day named.
The funeral services were held on Sunday, October 13th. Perfect in conception and execution to the least details were the plans for the last sad rites. No effort that would tend to make the occasion worthy of one who was so honored and loved was spared.
The west end of the Tabernacle was transformed into a scene of rare grace and beauty. There were no black symbols of mourning, white draperies and flowers were used. The gallery pillars were encased in fluted white, and about them twined rich English ivy mingled with autumn leaves. A white catafalque supporting the casket of the same pure color was adorned with festoons and wreaths of smilax white blossoms and leaves in rich designs gave an artistic effect of the most impressive kind
A magnificent painting of the departed President was hung above the organ and underneath was a model of the Salt Lake Temple, made in flowers.
Long before the time for beginning, the great building was crowded to the doors and many were unable to gain admission. The musical selections were such as President Snow had ofttimes expressed a preference for. The speakers, in the order named, were Apostles Brigham Young, John Henry Smith, John W. Taylor, Rudger Clawson and President Joseph F. Smith.
Apostle John Henry Smith told of an incident of more than passing interest which he witnessed when on a recent visit to Washington. He had carried to Prest. William McKinley a message from our Prophet and was told while delivering it of an introduction that had taken place between these two when the former was a very young man, but so strong had been the impression made upon him by the personality of Mr. Snow that it had remained with him through his life and he wished Apostle Smith to convey his most sincere regards to this man whom he was convinced was true to the cause that he believed to be right,’ true to his country and true to his God.
Apostle John W. Taylor emphasized the fact that President Snow had been a living testimony of the truth of modern revelation, for unto him had come the direct communication from Heaven that “As man now is God once was; as God now is man may become.” And this great truth had shaped President Snow's course in life. Apostle Rudger Clawson spoke feelingly of his close association with the departed President, extending over many years and through varied experiences. One circumstance he related concerning the time of their imprisonment for conscience sake, when President Snow had told all who were his brethren there that it was their privilege if they so desired to offer unto God the mighty shout of Hosanna. It was done and Bro. Clawson believed that it was heard and recorded in Heaven. President Joseph F. Smith's remarks, though of necessity very brief, were full of strong praises of his President, and rich in blessings for those who were bereft. The opening prayer was offered by Apostle Marriner W. Merrill, and the benediction was pronounced by Bishop John R. Winder.
All that was mortal of our beloved leader was borne to the station, where a special train was in waiting to convey him to Brigham City, the site of his former home. About 350 of the Church officials, associates and friends of the Prophet, accompanied the remains.
A beautiful and touching sight was that in his old home city. The main thoroughfares were lined with faces eager to pay a last tribute to their beloved leader. Little tots— hundreds in number—threw flowers in front of the hearse, then stood with reverent mien while the cortege passed.
The casket was lowered into a mire white tomb; and the dedicatory prayer was offered by Apostle George Teasdale.
The young women of Zion should know and remember that in the death of President Snow their cause of Mutual Improvement has lost one of its staunchest friends and supporters.
From its beginning he has used his influence to foster and encourage its development. The interest shown in those early days has outlived the years and even during the busy season of his Presidency he found time to attend one or two of our general officers' meetings to give encouragement and blessing to those whose long experience had taught them the need and value of such.
As is well known, it was through his generosity in donating the ground that the women of Zion find it possible to erect a building that shall fill a long felt need and, we trust, do credit to the site and to the cause they represent.
God bless thy memory, President Snow! May the influence of thy life's work be ever felt by Zion's maids and matrons, that in the remembrance of the glorious record thou hast made they shall be inspired with greater zeal and go forth with renewed courage toward the accomplishment of life's duty. Let the prayers of every heart continue to ascend for him whom God has called to fill the place of this great Prophet whom we mourn!
Death and Burial of Prest. Snow
Doubtless the saddening intelligence has long since reached our readers that President Lorenzo Snow has been called to a higher sphere. Only four days before the fatal summons came he addressed the assembled multitudes at the last meeting of the October conference; and his forceful instructions and wise counsels will not soon be forgotten by those whose privilege it was to hear the last public utterance of our departed Prophet.
On the morning of October 10th it was made known that President Snow was seriously and even critically ill; in the afternoon of that day his death was announced. Ho died in the Bee Hive House at 3:35 p. m. on the day named.
The funeral services were held on Sunday, October 13th. Perfect in conception and execution to the least details were the plans for the last sad rites. No effort that would tend to make the occasion worthy of one who was so honored and loved was spared.
The west end of the Tabernacle was transformed into a scene of rare grace and beauty. There were no black symbols of mourning, white draperies and flowers were used. The gallery pillars were encased in fluted white, and about them twined rich English ivy mingled with autumn leaves. A white catafalque supporting the casket of the same pure color was adorned with festoons and wreaths of smilax white blossoms and leaves in rich designs gave an artistic effect of the most impressive kind
A magnificent painting of the departed President was hung above the organ and underneath was a model of the Salt Lake Temple, made in flowers.
Long before the time for beginning, the great building was crowded to the doors and many were unable to gain admission. The musical selections were such as President Snow had ofttimes expressed a preference for. The speakers, in the order named, were Apostles Brigham Young, John Henry Smith, John W. Taylor, Rudger Clawson and President Joseph F. Smith.
Apostle John Henry Smith told of an incident of more than passing interest which he witnessed when on a recent visit to Washington. He had carried to Prest. William McKinley a message from our Prophet and was told while delivering it of an introduction that had taken place between these two when the former was a very young man, but so strong had been the impression made upon him by the personality of Mr. Snow that it had remained with him through his life and he wished Apostle Smith to convey his most sincere regards to this man whom he was convinced was true to the cause that he believed to be right,’ true to his country and true to his God.
Apostle John W. Taylor emphasized the fact that President Snow had been a living testimony of the truth of modern revelation, for unto him had come the direct communication from Heaven that “As man now is God once was; as God now is man may become.” And this great truth had shaped President Snow's course in life. Apostle Rudger Clawson spoke feelingly of his close association with the departed President, extending over many years and through varied experiences. One circumstance he related concerning the time of their imprisonment for conscience sake, when President Snow had told all who were his brethren there that it was their privilege if they so desired to offer unto God the mighty shout of Hosanna. It was done and Bro. Clawson believed that it was heard and recorded in Heaven. President Joseph F. Smith's remarks, though of necessity very brief, were full of strong praises of his President, and rich in blessings for those who were bereft. The opening prayer was offered by Apostle Marriner W. Merrill, and the benediction was pronounced by Bishop John R. Winder.
All that was mortal of our beloved leader was borne to the station, where a special train was in waiting to convey him to Brigham City, the site of his former home. About 350 of the Church officials, associates and friends of the Prophet, accompanied the remains.
A beautiful and touching sight was that in his old home city. The main thoroughfares were lined with faces eager to pay a last tribute to their beloved leader. Little tots— hundreds in number—threw flowers in front of the hearse, then stood with reverent mien while the cortege passed.
The casket was lowered into a mire white tomb; and the dedicatory prayer was offered by Apostle George Teasdale.
The young women of Zion should know and remember that in the death of President Snow their cause of Mutual Improvement has lost one of its staunchest friends and supporters.
From its beginning he has used his influence to foster and encourage its development. The interest shown in those early days has outlived the years and even during the busy season of his Presidency he found time to attend one or two of our general officers' meetings to give encouragement and blessing to those whose long experience had taught them the need and value of such.
As is well known, it was through his generosity in donating the ground that the women of Zion find it possible to erect a building that shall fill a long felt need and, we trust, do credit to the site and to the cause they represent.
God bless thy memory, President Snow! May the influence of thy life's work be ever felt by Zion's maids and matrons, that in the remembrance of the glorious record thou hast made they shall be inspired with greater zeal and go forth with renewed courage toward the accomplishment of life's duty. Let the prayers of every heart continue to ascend for him whom God has called to fill the place of this great Prophet whom we mourn!
Snow, Leslie Woodruff. “President Lorenzo Snow As the Silver Grays of Today Remember Him.” Young Woman's Journal. September 1903. pg. 388-393.
[We corrected the apparent mistake of switching pages 392 and 393.]
PRESIDENT LORENZO SNOW.
AS THE SILVER GRAYS OF TODAY REMEMBER HIM,
Leslie Woodruff Snow.
The late President Lorenzo Snow was a faithful aide-de-camp of that great Director General, President Brigham Young, who so masterfully engineered our western civilization through the perils of its birth and infancy to that point of development where, being firmly established, it could launch out upon a triumphant career of progress to magnificent attainments.
From the parent settlement of Salt Lake was recruited and sent forth the little bands of determined heroes who bravely battled for existence and conquered the surrounding wilds. There was a call for a leader to go into the north, and Apostle Snow was the man chosen.
President Young said, in substance:
“Brother Snow, we would like to have you go north sixty miles, where you will find a few cabins and there build up one of the cities of Zion.”
Apostle Snow fully sensed the importance of this mission. He knew the man who had spoken, and understood his high ideals as to what should figure largely in the founding and development of a city of Zion. He knew these principles were high, and man is mortal. His experience in frontier life enabled him to fully appreciate with what he and his people would have to contend. All things considered, he knew that efforts to reach the ideal must in a measure fail, yet, with his untiring energy and indomitable courage, resolved to wrest success, so far as possible, from the grudging hand of adversity.
In his work as town-builder he gathered around him a little band of noble hearts, who in the dark hours of trial were ever ready to uphold, befriend and sustain him.
Some of these Silver Gray pioneers are still living and it is from them that much of the subject matter of this sketch is obtained. His was a powerful personality, capable of creating lasting impressions in the hearts and minds of his fellowmen.
President Snow was a man of few promises, was ever cautious in obligating himself, but his word once given became a moral bond that under all circumstances must be kept. For example, he promised a number of Salt Lake people if they would emigrate to Box Elder he would see that they obtained land. All the water was owned by a few families, and he depended on increasing the supply by taking out the waters of Bear River. Jesse W. Fox. the Territorial Surveyor, reported the project feasible, but the expense beyond the resources of the people.
President Snow, at the meeting where the report was made, prophesied that the time would come when the waters of Rear River would be diverted and sent flowing over the thirsty land, making it yield in wonderful abundance. The West Side Rear river canal is a fulfilment of that prediction.
Out of the failure of the Bear river project arose the first crisis in the experience of the town-builder. Depending on his ability to keep his promise, many families had gathered in Box Elder. They were waiting: there was no land for them, what was to be done?
“Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity,” and here the Powers above compelled President Snow to fall back on one of the highest laws of Heaven.
The log meeting house contained perhaps the most historic gathering of its time. President Snow went there filled with the power of the Lord, for he was a man who could get near to the Lord, and this was a time of great need, for the future of the settlement depended on the result of this meeting. He fully sensed this, for beneath that dirt and willow roof, facing those hardy Saints seated on slab benches, he preached the sermon of his life.
His theme was not the full law of the consecration of property; only a phase of that law; a big step which would carry the Saints to its border line. His sermon was on the division of irrigated land. At that time it was all in the hands of a few. It must be so adjusted that those who were without land could obtain sufficient for their maintenance. He did not propose that this property he handed out gratis; but the purchase price was not to be based on the value of the land, but on the circumstances of the people. The settler was to receive, both in kind and amount, whatever the buyer was able to pay. President Snow expounded the principle of honesty: how this trade could be made fair to each and all.
As he liked deliberation, never deciding hastily on any important matter, but always taking time to consider, ponder it over, look at all phases and then make a decision, he gave the land owners two weeks time to consider how much of their land each would relinquish.
At the subsequent meeting many responded generously, and thus he fulfilled his promise to the people; but more important still, this arrangement made possible the enlargement of the settlement.
President Snow worked for advancement and progress along all lines, moral, intellectual, temporal and spiritual. He was continually striving for attainments higher, for things better than he had vet known. Difficulties, instead of disheartening, only served as stimulants urging him to greater exertion.
This trait is strongly exhibited in a series of herculean efforts extending through a period of thirty-five years. His the brain to plan, the ability to execute the many enterprises that roused to life and energy dormant Box Elder. By successive stages of healthy progress he led the town on and up till, when he dropped the reins of control, he left prosperous Brigham City, where, in those now almost legendary “early days,” he found a few pioneer cabins. His efforts were unceasing along the lines of better homes, improvement of surroundings, growing shade trees, orchards, vineyards and later on lawns and ornamental shrubbery. This untiring zeal brought about greatly improved conditions.
He was a man of resources. Many times in the struggle with poverty and unpropitious environments his ingenuity was taxed to its utmost, but generally his fertile mind devised wavs and means to meet the difficulties. The people were very poor: food and clothing were scarce. The timber question was always a knotty one.
“Going to the canyon” is strictly a western phrase fully understood only by those hardy knights of the axe:
Who oft at midnight in their mountain lodge,
Awoke and listened to the coyotes howl
Their doleful chorus, and the wintry blast
Sighing amid the balsam and the pine.
Orion W. Snow.
While President Snow was not one of the knights of the axe himself, as an adviser and leader of those men, he occasionally took trips among the mountains, sometimes on horseback, in the interest of the timber question.
President Snow was an energetic colonizer. Many settlements in Box Elder County were established under his direction, and Brigham City became the fortress of the North, which facilitated the settlement of Cache Valley and portions of southern Idaho.
In the vicissitudes, trials and difficulties encountered by the Saints in building up these settlements, they found in President Snow a wise counsellor, a substantial supporter and a true friend.
In the location of a town site, one of the most important questions was that of water. The era of town building was the era of canal building. While they worked on canals and ditches on a small scale, those sturdy pioneers looked forward to canals and reservoirs on a large scale.
At the present time we see and read a great deal about the reclamation of the arid west through immense canals and reservoirs for the conservation of waste water. This day was foreseen by the broad minded Brigham Young and other able leaders.
President Snow had one objection to the settlement of the mountain valley of Mantua. “That valley,” said he, “should not be settled; it should be retained as a site for a large reservoir to furnish the future Brigham City with water.” The great question before that town today is, where can it obtain an increased supply of water? This could easily be answered if there were no settlement in that natural reservoir site.
He believed in the people having their hours of recreation. Himself a lover of amusement, he fostered the entertainment, the concert, the dance and the theatre.
He was president of the first dramatic association in Brigham City, and, while he never took part himself, he used his best efforts to secure facilities for presenting the drama.
One evening, on hearing where he had gone, a co-laborer who was not such a lover of the drama said: “I am afraid if there are no theatres in Heaven. Brother Snow will have a dull time there.”
President Snow recognized in amusements a potent factor for good when they were elevating in spirit, tending to a better feeling of good fellowship, or were wholesome mental and physical recreation.
He was a promoter of education, and paid much attention to the schools of Brigham City, endeavoring to secure good teachers and urging their patronage by the people. In early days able instructors were almost as scarce as the proverbial hen’s teeth, while the population to be schooled was of the “wild and wooly” variety, many of whom would prefer tackling a fractious broncho to a problem in arithmetic.
Under these conditions, he acted the part of judge between teacher and pupil to see that methods were not introduced that would tend to animalize rather than refine the pupil; and that a good disciplinarian was encouraged and upheld in his efforts to utilize and properly direct the vast amount of obstreperous energy under his care. President Snow desired to live in an educated community, and put forth his best efforts to raise the standard of education and culture in Brigham City.
Under the most discouraging conditions. President Snow in the capacity of organizer and financier, established many industrial institutions.
They were started partly through contributions of cash or its equivalent. In payment the contributors took stock in the business. President Snow had no financial backing or funds to draw from in case of an emergency.
There was no choice as to the quality of the labor; skilled or unskilled had to be taken just as it came, with the result that in many of the institutions inexperienced men were managers with unskilled workmen under them.
Conditions were such that every dollar in cash that could be squeezed out of the entire co-operative system, year by year, had to be sent away from home to meet the cash expenses.
Owing to lack of capital, few of the enterprises were so thoroughly equipped that they could compete with the imported articles.
These and other unfavorable conditions formed the load for the struggling institution to bear. The system prospered, however, getting a little stronger each year, and during its successful operation every man and as many women as desired it were given employment. There were no idlers in Brigham City. A period of activity and prosperity existed that was probably never equalled in the history of any other settlement in the state. Every morning at the ringing of the bells, every workman went cheerfully to work, and the settlement was a veritable Deseret, a hive of willing working bees.
The temple was the mutual dwelling place
Where mind and heart and soul united toiled,
Untrammeled by the grosser things of earth.
President Snow was a good conversationalist. witty, and loved a joke. Through his mind and heart flowed elevating thoughts and desires, and these came out in profitable talks and conversations. On those tedious trips before the advent of the railroad, he employed the time in instructive conversation, and enlivened it with amusing incidents and anecdotes. On all such occasions his language was chaste and his ideas were refined and elevating.
He was a very punctual man. He always kept his appointments and was especially particular to be on time at all meetings. On one occasion, when the high office of President of a Stake was to be filled, he said of a certain man. “He is qualified in all other respects, but I object to him because he is always late at his meetings. The spirit of tardiness will spread throughout the stake if he is sustained in that position.”
He died at the good old age of eighty-seven and a half years. His longevity was largely due to his temperate habits. He was a moderate eater usually retired early and was not, as a rule, an early riser.; yet as his work was more mental than physical, he would often lie awake endeavoring to solve some difficult problem of life.
He respected the authority of the Priesthood, and expected all members of the church to do the same.
He kept the temple of his own soul free from tobacco and intoxicants. As a faithful sentinel on the watch tower of Zion, he did his duty in warning and persuading the people against the use of these poisons.
In whatever position he was placed, whether it was lay member of the church, or the high office of its President, he displayed a marked capacity for adaptation to circumstances and a largeness of mind to grasp and handle the most weighty questions.
President Snow respected and loved the Saints among whom he labored and in turn was respected and loved of them.
His last request was that his remains might rest where the flowers above his tomb could be kissed by the same zephyrs that wafted the fragrance from the-blossoms of his beloved city.
When the funeral train reached Brigham City, a multitude of people thronged the place, gray-haired veteran? with their children and grandchildren. As the procession passed along the peaceful streets, it traversed a carpet of flowers strewn by thousands of loving hands. Such a tribute spoke eloquently of a heartfelt welcome home to their honored dead.
This brilliant personality, like the most valuable of gems, displayed from every side the radiant luster of the soul within.
Better trust all and be deceived,
And weep that trust and that deceiving,
Than doubt one heart that, if believed,
Had blessed one’s life with true believing.
Butler.
But the busy little community could not provide cash enough for an emergency. The inevitable came, and a tornado of overwhelming losses marked the decline of the industrial period.
President Snow had a two-fold object in establishing this system of industries. There were the spiritual and the temporal sides to the question. but the spiritual was by far the more important.
He endeavored, under President Young’s direction, to institute a social order which would include the following conditions:
A co-operative plan of industries owned, operated and sustained by the people. Every member to be a shareholder and support “co-op,” as it was called, with his means, influence and labor, and “co-op,” in return, to furnish him employment, paying him wages. The net earnings of the institution to be returned to the shareholders as dividends on the stock they held.
“Co-op” was not to interfere with a member’s domestic affairs, his home and land were separate and apart—his business only in common.
The great cementing element of union that was to hold this temporal body of workmen together was to be spiritual. Love, unity, mutual forbearance and truth, the commandments. “Love the Lord thy God” and “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” and all the gospel precepts as they taught man’s duty to God. his fellow man and himself, were to be actually put into practice and lived up to in the daily lives of the members of the community.
For a number of years the woolen factory hands were called together every morning and in earnest prayer asked God’s blessings to attend them through the day.
The spiritual leader dictated in this temporal organization and from a gospel standpoint instructed the people how to conduct their temporal affairs.
It was a grand effort. The principle is correct. All the members of “co-op” were Latter-day Saints. As a rule they had endured much for their religion. They were a noble people, and God gave them this higher law to test how near in their mortality, they could attain celestial conditions. The test proved they were still mortal, and could not endure everything.
The Silver-grays declare that had all in that institution lived up to the full requirements in act and spirit as was originally intended, a magnificent social order would have been in existence today. It was the adoption and observance of this principle that exalted the people of Enoch, and it could have accomplished great things for the Saints of our day.
President Snow’s spirituality was highly developed. It was the predominating trait of his character . All other traits were simply adjuncts and accessories clustering around this one great dictator, obedience to its will and assisting to accomplish its aim. For years he preached about and labored in the affairs of this world, but things temporal were only the means to things spiritual. The financier was at all times subservient to the Apostle. As his son Orion has written:
When he presided in that sacred Fane,
Where loving toils aid the remembered dead.
He surely found at eventide of life
His ideal sphere of action here on earth.
[We corrected the apparent mistake of switching pages 392 and 393.]
PRESIDENT LORENZO SNOW.
AS THE SILVER GRAYS OF TODAY REMEMBER HIM,
Leslie Woodruff Snow.
The late President Lorenzo Snow was a faithful aide-de-camp of that great Director General, President Brigham Young, who so masterfully engineered our western civilization through the perils of its birth and infancy to that point of development where, being firmly established, it could launch out upon a triumphant career of progress to magnificent attainments.
From the parent settlement of Salt Lake was recruited and sent forth the little bands of determined heroes who bravely battled for existence and conquered the surrounding wilds. There was a call for a leader to go into the north, and Apostle Snow was the man chosen.
President Young said, in substance:
“Brother Snow, we would like to have you go north sixty miles, where you will find a few cabins and there build up one of the cities of Zion.”
Apostle Snow fully sensed the importance of this mission. He knew the man who had spoken, and understood his high ideals as to what should figure largely in the founding and development of a city of Zion. He knew these principles were high, and man is mortal. His experience in frontier life enabled him to fully appreciate with what he and his people would have to contend. All things considered, he knew that efforts to reach the ideal must in a measure fail, yet, with his untiring energy and indomitable courage, resolved to wrest success, so far as possible, from the grudging hand of adversity.
In his work as town-builder he gathered around him a little band of noble hearts, who in the dark hours of trial were ever ready to uphold, befriend and sustain him.
Some of these Silver Gray pioneers are still living and it is from them that much of the subject matter of this sketch is obtained. His was a powerful personality, capable of creating lasting impressions in the hearts and minds of his fellowmen.
President Snow was a man of few promises, was ever cautious in obligating himself, but his word once given became a moral bond that under all circumstances must be kept. For example, he promised a number of Salt Lake people if they would emigrate to Box Elder he would see that they obtained land. All the water was owned by a few families, and he depended on increasing the supply by taking out the waters of Bear River. Jesse W. Fox. the Territorial Surveyor, reported the project feasible, but the expense beyond the resources of the people.
President Snow, at the meeting where the report was made, prophesied that the time would come when the waters of Rear River would be diverted and sent flowing over the thirsty land, making it yield in wonderful abundance. The West Side Rear river canal is a fulfilment of that prediction.
Out of the failure of the Bear river project arose the first crisis in the experience of the town-builder. Depending on his ability to keep his promise, many families had gathered in Box Elder. They were waiting: there was no land for them, what was to be done?
“Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity,” and here the Powers above compelled President Snow to fall back on one of the highest laws of Heaven.
The log meeting house contained perhaps the most historic gathering of its time. President Snow went there filled with the power of the Lord, for he was a man who could get near to the Lord, and this was a time of great need, for the future of the settlement depended on the result of this meeting. He fully sensed this, for beneath that dirt and willow roof, facing those hardy Saints seated on slab benches, he preached the sermon of his life.
His theme was not the full law of the consecration of property; only a phase of that law; a big step which would carry the Saints to its border line. His sermon was on the division of irrigated land. At that time it was all in the hands of a few. It must be so adjusted that those who were without land could obtain sufficient for their maintenance. He did not propose that this property he handed out gratis; but the purchase price was not to be based on the value of the land, but on the circumstances of the people. The settler was to receive, both in kind and amount, whatever the buyer was able to pay. President Snow expounded the principle of honesty: how this trade could be made fair to each and all.
As he liked deliberation, never deciding hastily on any important matter, but always taking time to consider, ponder it over, look at all phases and then make a decision, he gave the land owners two weeks time to consider how much of their land each would relinquish.
At the subsequent meeting many responded generously, and thus he fulfilled his promise to the people; but more important still, this arrangement made possible the enlargement of the settlement.
President Snow worked for advancement and progress along all lines, moral, intellectual, temporal and spiritual. He was continually striving for attainments higher, for things better than he had vet known. Difficulties, instead of disheartening, only served as stimulants urging him to greater exertion.
This trait is strongly exhibited in a series of herculean efforts extending through a period of thirty-five years. His the brain to plan, the ability to execute the many enterprises that roused to life and energy dormant Box Elder. By successive stages of healthy progress he led the town on and up till, when he dropped the reins of control, he left prosperous Brigham City, where, in those now almost legendary “early days,” he found a few pioneer cabins. His efforts were unceasing along the lines of better homes, improvement of surroundings, growing shade trees, orchards, vineyards and later on lawns and ornamental shrubbery. This untiring zeal brought about greatly improved conditions.
He was a man of resources. Many times in the struggle with poverty and unpropitious environments his ingenuity was taxed to its utmost, but generally his fertile mind devised wavs and means to meet the difficulties. The people were very poor: food and clothing were scarce. The timber question was always a knotty one.
“Going to the canyon” is strictly a western phrase fully understood only by those hardy knights of the axe:
Who oft at midnight in their mountain lodge,
Awoke and listened to the coyotes howl
Their doleful chorus, and the wintry blast
Sighing amid the balsam and the pine.
Orion W. Snow.
While President Snow was not one of the knights of the axe himself, as an adviser and leader of those men, he occasionally took trips among the mountains, sometimes on horseback, in the interest of the timber question.
President Snow was an energetic colonizer. Many settlements in Box Elder County were established under his direction, and Brigham City became the fortress of the North, which facilitated the settlement of Cache Valley and portions of southern Idaho.
In the vicissitudes, trials and difficulties encountered by the Saints in building up these settlements, they found in President Snow a wise counsellor, a substantial supporter and a true friend.
In the location of a town site, one of the most important questions was that of water. The era of town building was the era of canal building. While they worked on canals and ditches on a small scale, those sturdy pioneers looked forward to canals and reservoirs on a large scale.
At the present time we see and read a great deal about the reclamation of the arid west through immense canals and reservoirs for the conservation of waste water. This day was foreseen by the broad minded Brigham Young and other able leaders.
President Snow had one objection to the settlement of the mountain valley of Mantua. “That valley,” said he, “should not be settled; it should be retained as a site for a large reservoir to furnish the future Brigham City with water.” The great question before that town today is, where can it obtain an increased supply of water? This could easily be answered if there were no settlement in that natural reservoir site.
He believed in the people having their hours of recreation. Himself a lover of amusement, he fostered the entertainment, the concert, the dance and the theatre.
He was president of the first dramatic association in Brigham City, and, while he never took part himself, he used his best efforts to secure facilities for presenting the drama.
One evening, on hearing where he had gone, a co-laborer who was not such a lover of the drama said: “I am afraid if there are no theatres in Heaven. Brother Snow will have a dull time there.”
President Snow recognized in amusements a potent factor for good when they were elevating in spirit, tending to a better feeling of good fellowship, or were wholesome mental and physical recreation.
He was a promoter of education, and paid much attention to the schools of Brigham City, endeavoring to secure good teachers and urging their patronage by the people. In early days able instructors were almost as scarce as the proverbial hen’s teeth, while the population to be schooled was of the “wild and wooly” variety, many of whom would prefer tackling a fractious broncho to a problem in arithmetic.
Under these conditions, he acted the part of judge between teacher and pupil to see that methods were not introduced that would tend to animalize rather than refine the pupil; and that a good disciplinarian was encouraged and upheld in his efforts to utilize and properly direct the vast amount of obstreperous energy under his care. President Snow desired to live in an educated community, and put forth his best efforts to raise the standard of education and culture in Brigham City.
Under the most discouraging conditions. President Snow in the capacity of organizer and financier, established many industrial institutions.
They were started partly through contributions of cash or its equivalent. In payment the contributors took stock in the business. President Snow had no financial backing or funds to draw from in case of an emergency.
There was no choice as to the quality of the labor; skilled or unskilled had to be taken just as it came, with the result that in many of the institutions inexperienced men were managers with unskilled workmen under them.
Conditions were such that every dollar in cash that could be squeezed out of the entire co-operative system, year by year, had to be sent away from home to meet the cash expenses.
Owing to lack of capital, few of the enterprises were so thoroughly equipped that they could compete with the imported articles.
These and other unfavorable conditions formed the load for the struggling institution to bear. The system prospered, however, getting a little stronger each year, and during its successful operation every man and as many women as desired it were given employment. There were no idlers in Brigham City. A period of activity and prosperity existed that was probably never equalled in the history of any other settlement in the state. Every morning at the ringing of the bells, every workman went cheerfully to work, and the settlement was a veritable Deseret, a hive of willing working bees.
The temple was the mutual dwelling place
Where mind and heart and soul united toiled,
Untrammeled by the grosser things of earth.
President Snow was a good conversationalist. witty, and loved a joke. Through his mind and heart flowed elevating thoughts and desires, and these came out in profitable talks and conversations. On those tedious trips before the advent of the railroad, he employed the time in instructive conversation, and enlivened it with amusing incidents and anecdotes. On all such occasions his language was chaste and his ideas were refined and elevating.
He was a very punctual man. He always kept his appointments and was especially particular to be on time at all meetings. On one occasion, when the high office of President of a Stake was to be filled, he said of a certain man. “He is qualified in all other respects, but I object to him because he is always late at his meetings. The spirit of tardiness will spread throughout the stake if he is sustained in that position.”
He died at the good old age of eighty-seven and a half years. His longevity was largely due to his temperate habits. He was a moderate eater usually retired early and was not, as a rule, an early riser.; yet as his work was more mental than physical, he would often lie awake endeavoring to solve some difficult problem of life.
He respected the authority of the Priesthood, and expected all members of the church to do the same.
He kept the temple of his own soul free from tobacco and intoxicants. As a faithful sentinel on the watch tower of Zion, he did his duty in warning and persuading the people against the use of these poisons.
In whatever position he was placed, whether it was lay member of the church, or the high office of its President, he displayed a marked capacity for adaptation to circumstances and a largeness of mind to grasp and handle the most weighty questions.
President Snow respected and loved the Saints among whom he labored and in turn was respected and loved of them.
His last request was that his remains might rest where the flowers above his tomb could be kissed by the same zephyrs that wafted the fragrance from the-blossoms of his beloved city.
When the funeral train reached Brigham City, a multitude of people thronged the place, gray-haired veteran? with their children and grandchildren. As the procession passed along the peaceful streets, it traversed a carpet of flowers strewn by thousands of loving hands. Such a tribute spoke eloquently of a heartfelt welcome home to their honored dead.
This brilliant personality, like the most valuable of gems, displayed from every side the radiant luster of the soul within.
Better trust all and be deceived,
And weep that trust and that deceiving,
Than doubt one heart that, if believed,
Had blessed one’s life with true believing.
Butler.
But the busy little community could not provide cash enough for an emergency. The inevitable came, and a tornado of overwhelming losses marked the decline of the industrial period.
President Snow had a two-fold object in establishing this system of industries. There were the spiritual and the temporal sides to the question. but the spiritual was by far the more important.
He endeavored, under President Young’s direction, to institute a social order which would include the following conditions:
A co-operative plan of industries owned, operated and sustained by the people. Every member to be a shareholder and support “co-op,” as it was called, with his means, influence and labor, and “co-op,” in return, to furnish him employment, paying him wages. The net earnings of the institution to be returned to the shareholders as dividends on the stock they held.
“Co-op” was not to interfere with a member’s domestic affairs, his home and land were separate and apart—his business only in common.
The great cementing element of union that was to hold this temporal body of workmen together was to be spiritual. Love, unity, mutual forbearance and truth, the commandments. “Love the Lord thy God” and “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” and all the gospel precepts as they taught man’s duty to God. his fellow man and himself, were to be actually put into practice and lived up to in the daily lives of the members of the community.
For a number of years the woolen factory hands were called together every morning and in earnest prayer asked God’s blessings to attend them through the day.
The spiritual leader dictated in this temporal organization and from a gospel standpoint instructed the people how to conduct their temporal affairs.
It was a grand effort. The principle is correct. All the members of “co-op” were Latter-day Saints. As a rule they had endured much for their religion. They were a noble people, and God gave them this higher law to test how near in their mortality, they could attain celestial conditions. The test proved they were still mortal, and could not endure everything.
The Silver-grays declare that had all in that institution lived up to the full requirements in act and spirit as was originally intended, a magnificent social order would have been in existence today. It was the adoption and observance of this principle that exalted the people of Enoch, and it could have accomplished great things for the Saints of our day.
President Snow’s spirituality was highly developed. It was the predominating trait of his character . All other traits were simply adjuncts and accessories clustering around this one great dictator, obedience to its will and assisting to accomplish its aim. For years he preached about and labored in the affairs of this world, but things temporal were only the means to things spiritual. The financier was at all times subservient to the Apostle. As his son Orion has written:
When he presided in that sacred Fane,
Where loving toils aid the remembered dead.
He surely found at eventide of life
His ideal sphere of action here on earth.
Jean. “True Pioneer Stories - Lorenzo Snow.” Juvenile Instructor. April 1919. pg. 176-177.
TRUE PIONEER STORIES
Contributed by Daughters of Utah Pioneers
Lorenzo Snow
By Jean
"As man now is, God once was:
As God now is, man may be."
In 1836, the spirit of investigation took possession of President' Snow. He sought out an Elder and asked for a Patriarchal Blessing. This- seems strange, for he had not yet received baptism. But the desire was strong within him to obtain a blessing from a "Mormon" Elder. This wish was finally accomplished, and the blessing took on the form of a prophecy, for the Elder said : "There is no height too great, no ambition too remote that you may not aspire to." This troubled President Snow, and only by prayer could he get relief. In secret he went into the woods. There he found an answer that partly satisfied his mind. Being a very young man at this period, and of a religious nature, it required four years to prepare him for the vision that came to him at a friend's house, where the couplet referred to was given him, and wonderfully did it influence the life of this great and good man. Every act of his later life seemed founded on the principle of growth and development of the spirit, for his spirituality was always in the ascendant. He would often call the attention of his friends, when at home or in any informal gathering, to a babe or young child who might be present, to the possible progress of the Spirit in the child and its limitless opportunities, and would say : "This helpless little being in a few years will be capable of thinking and reasoning and planning great things. O, the miracle of it all ! Yet we see it every day, and its spiritual progress is marvelous. It is only a few weeks old in mortality, but it has passed through ages of experience in the endless eternities. The body is young but the spirit is old, and as it progresses it may yet call together unorganized elements to form a world as great as this." These were his reflections on the mysterious subject, his writings in later years bearing out the truth of it.
One day when visiting the B. Y. at Provo he became intensely interested in watching the young children mould spheres out of mud. Taking one of the spheres in his hand, he called attention to the world we live in, and said: "Possibly one of these little boys may yet become a God, go out into space, call together the existing elements and form a world as a place of habitation for his own vast posterity." These thoughts became every day subjects with him. His ideas seemed endless when, talking to others about the development of the spirit.
President Snow, in his boyhood days, was extremely fond of hunting, and in looking over data of his early life and character, which is now being compiled by his son, LeRoi Snow, for future publication, one finds many interesting reminiscences that will make valuable reading for the young. His passionate sense of justice for the life of even the smallest creature that crawls, his love for animals and thoughts concerning their well being, will draw the attention of boys and girls to his book when ready for distribution. It is a well known fact, that the tenderest hearts for existence of animal life take definite form in men and women of prominence in the world's history. Great writers and thinkers have clung to the faithful dog, when even companionship of their own kindred would annoy and irritate. Naturalists whose names are legion have shown great love for the welfare of dumb animals and have brought about reforms for the treatment and care of them. President Snow had a deep respect for all living creatures. Man and beast occupied a big place in his moments of reflection, and as he grew to manhood and his love for outdoor sport increased he developed a fondness for the woods and big forests that bordered his home in Mantua, Ohio. The pure enjoyment of shouldering a gun and penetrating deep into the woods to indulge his fancy for hunting game became a tremendous factor in his young life.
One day, while out on pleasure, he saw a squirrel quietly sunning himself on the limb of a tree. Raising his gun he took aim. In a moment there flashed through his brain the thought : "What right have I to take the life of this innocent creature? God has given it life and happiness. If I killed it I could not restore it to life, and its right to freedom and enjoyment of life is as great as my own." And so he pondered, and in his heart vowed to never again hunt animals for the pleasure of it. These thoughts came to him while alone in the woods. The prophecy of Isaiah that the lion and the lamb should lie down together in peace came to him, and to himself he said: "That time will never come until man shall cease killing animals for food, and the fear and hatred animals have for man will disappear when the human being learns to treat them with kindness." These reflections always were in his mind during his entire life.
At another time, while presiding in the Salt Lake Temple, and taking an hour's rest from his duties in his room there, his little son who had been sleeping on the couch, but had awakened unknown to his father, saw his attention drawn to some object on the floor. Following the gaze he saw a large red bug slowly creeping along. President Snow laid down the book he was reading and regarded the little insect with evident interest for some time. Taking a piece of writing paper he carefully placed it under the little animal, and opening the window laid paper and bug on the window ledge. Closing the window he resumed his reading and then fell into deep thought, as was his custom when alone.
There are so many characteristic sketches of President Snow which are being preserved by his son, that pages could be written on their usefulness for young and old. He was a thinker, a philosopher, a tender, big-hearted man with the polish of the old school in marked degree. So we remember Lorenzo Snow, a gentleman of the olden days, a type now almost obsolete.
TRUE PIONEER STORIES
Contributed by Daughters of Utah Pioneers
Lorenzo Snow
By Jean
"As man now is, God once was:
As God now is, man may be."
In 1836, the spirit of investigation took possession of President' Snow. He sought out an Elder and asked for a Patriarchal Blessing. This- seems strange, for he had not yet received baptism. But the desire was strong within him to obtain a blessing from a "Mormon" Elder. This wish was finally accomplished, and the blessing took on the form of a prophecy, for the Elder said : "There is no height too great, no ambition too remote that you may not aspire to." This troubled President Snow, and only by prayer could he get relief. In secret he went into the woods. There he found an answer that partly satisfied his mind. Being a very young man at this period, and of a religious nature, it required four years to prepare him for the vision that came to him at a friend's house, where the couplet referred to was given him, and wonderfully did it influence the life of this great and good man. Every act of his later life seemed founded on the principle of growth and development of the spirit, for his spirituality was always in the ascendant. He would often call the attention of his friends, when at home or in any informal gathering, to a babe or young child who might be present, to the possible progress of the Spirit in the child and its limitless opportunities, and would say : "This helpless little being in a few years will be capable of thinking and reasoning and planning great things. O, the miracle of it all ! Yet we see it every day, and its spiritual progress is marvelous. It is only a few weeks old in mortality, but it has passed through ages of experience in the endless eternities. The body is young but the spirit is old, and as it progresses it may yet call together unorganized elements to form a world as great as this." These were his reflections on the mysterious subject, his writings in later years bearing out the truth of it.
One day when visiting the B. Y. at Provo he became intensely interested in watching the young children mould spheres out of mud. Taking one of the spheres in his hand, he called attention to the world we live in, and said: "Possibly one of these little boys may yet become a God, go out into space, call together the existing elements and form a world as a place of habitation for his own vast posterity." These thoughts became every day subjects with him. His ideas seemed endless when, talking to others about the development of the spirit.
President Snow, in his boyhood days, was extremely fond of hunting, and in looking over data of his early life and character, which is now being compiled by his son, LeRoi Snow, for future publication, one finds many interesting reminiscences that will make valuable reading for the young. His passionate sense of justice for the life of even the smallest creature that crawls, his love for animals and thoughts concerning their well being, will draw the attention of boys and girls to his book when ready for distribution. It is a well known fact, that the tenderest hearts for existence of animal life take definite form in men and women of prominence in the world's history. Great writers and thinkers have clung to the faithful dog, when even companionship of their own kindred would annoy and irritate. Naturalists whose names are legion have shown great love for the welfare of dumb animals and have brought about reforms for the treatment and care of them. President Snow had a deep respect for all living creatures. Man and beast occupied a big place in his moments of reflection, and as he grew to manhood and his love for outdoor sport increased he developed a fondness for the woods and big forests that bordered his home in Mantua, Ohio. The pure enjoyment of shouldering a gun and penetrating deep into the woods to indulge his fancy for hunting game became a tremendous factor in his young life.
One day, while out on pleasure, he saw a squirrel quietly sunning himself on the limb of a tree. Raising his gun he took aim. In a moment there flashed through his brain the thought : "What right have I to take the life of this innocent creature? God has given it life and happiness. If I killed it I could not restore it to life, and its right to freedom and enjoyment of life is as great as my own." And so he pondered, and in his heart vowed to never again hunt animals for the pleasure of it. These thoughts came to him while alone in the woods. The prophecy of Isaiah that the lion and the lamb should lie down together in peace came to him, and to himself he said: "That time will never come until man shall cease killing animals for food, and the fear and hatred animals have for man will disappear when the human being learns to treat them with kindness." These reflections always were in his mind during his entire life.
At another time, while presiding in the Salt Lake Temple, and taking an hour's rest from his duties in his room there, his little son who had been sleeping on the couch, but had awakened unknown to his father, saw his attention drawn to some object on the floor. Following the gaze he saw a large red bug slowly creeping along. President Snow laid down the book he was reading and regarded the little insect with evident interest for some time. Taking a piece of writing paper he carefully placed it under the little animal, and opening the window laid paper and bug on the window ledge. Closing the window he resumed his reading and then fell into deep thought, as was his custom when alone.
There are so many characteristic sketches of President Snow which are being preserved by his son, that pages could be written on their usefulness for young and old. He was a thinker, a philosopher, a tender, big-hearted man with the polish of the old school in marked degree. So we remember Lorenzo Snow, a gentleman of the olden days, a type now almost obsolete.
“Characteristic Sayings of Lorenzo Snow.” Improvement Era. June 1919. pg. 651-652.
Characteristic Sayings of President Lorenzo Snow The reward for righteousness is exaltation. Godliness cannot be conferred, but must be acquired. We approach godliness as fast as we approach perfection. Before I die I hope to see the Church cleared of debt and in a commanding position financially. If we are faithful, we shall at some time do our own work, but now we are doing the work of our Father. The Lord has shown me most clearly and completely that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Greater work was never done by man since the days of Adam than is being done here in the temple. We have all the possibilities of God himself, and we should so act that every faculty shall be developed to the utmost. A mother who has brought up a family of faithful children ought to be saved, if she never does another good thing. The glorious opportunity of becoming truly great belongs to every faithful elder in Israel; it is his by right divine. Before the lion and the lamb shall lie down together in peace man must desist from hunting, killing and eating the flesh of animals. I would like to live to see the time when the old bitterness between "Mormons" and non-"Mormons" shall have disappeared. Man may become like his Father, doing the works which his Father did before him, and he cannot be deprived of the opportunity of reaching this exalted state. The destiny of man is to be like his Father—a god in eternity. This should be a bright, illuminating star before him all the time—in his heart, in his soul, and all through him. As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be. A son of God, like God to be, Would not be robbing Deity. |
LORENZO SNOW
Fifth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. |
“Words of Lorenzo Snow.” Improvement Era. November 1930. pg. 9, 24.
Words of President Lorenzo Snow
WE HAVE a perfect right to understand something of what we may receive in the other life. We have to suffer almost everything in accomplishing the duties that are imposed upon us in moving along in this line that we have chosen. In the past, if we had time we might relate the various sacrifices the Latter- day Saints have been called to make; and if they did not make these sacrifices their own consciences would condemn them, because of the light which they had received and the knowledge they had of what they should do. It has proved very true with the Latter-day Saints what Jesus said on a certain occasion, when he compared the kingdom of God to a man seeking pearls. Having found one of very great value, he went and sold all that he possessed that he might secure that pearl. Then again He compared it unto a man that found a treasure in a field, which, having found, he went and sold everything that he possessed in order that he might come in possession of that treasure. That has been the case with the Latter-day Saints. We have been called to suffer and to sacrifice that which was more dear to ourselves than our lives, and some have been called to sacrifice their mortal existence, having been placed in circumstances that they could not avoid suffering the loss of their lives. We are called upon daily to make sacrifices, the Lord requiring this at our hands, and we as a general thing have complied. It is our privilege to know something in regard to the future- — what will be the result of this sacrifice, what will be the result of traveling upon this path. Indeed a Latter-day Saint can hardly sustain himself in the Church of God unless he does get some knowledge of this kind that cannot be unfolded by common wisdom. We are no better than other people if this be not so.
I have read something that is very peculiar in regard to the promises that are made, and which I know will be fulfilled, if we on our part do our duty. I have not lived in this Church for about sixty-two years without finding out something. I devoted myself to be worthy to receive something that no mortal man can receive except through the spirit and power of the Holy Ghost, and the Lord has shown me things and made me to understand them as clearly as the sun at noon-day in regard to what shall be the outcome of those Latter-day Saints that are faithful to their callings. Jesus says:
"He that receiveth me receiveth my Father.
"And he that receiveth my Father, receiveth my Father's kingdom, therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him."
THIS is in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. Now, if it were in the New Testament some people, though they might not understand it, would pass it as being true, because it was in the Bible. Well, I am just as sure of its truth as if it were found in the New Testament. And the New Testament bears us out in this doctrine. Jesus said, as recorded in the Revelation of St. John:
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcome, and am sat down with my Father in his throne." There are many Scriptures bearing upon this point. I believe in this. I believe that we are the sons and daughters of God, and that He has bestowed upon us the capacity for infinite wisdom and knowledge, because He has given us a portion of Himself. We are told that we were made in His image, and we find that there is a character of immortality in the soul of man. There is a spiritual organism within this tabernacle, and that spiritual organism has a divinity in itself, though perhaps in an infantile state; but it has within itself the capability of improving and advancing, as the infant that receives sustenance from its mother. Though the infant may be very ignorant, yet there are possibilities in it that by passing through the various ordeals of childhood to maturity enable it to rise to a superiority that is perfectly marvelous, compared with its infantile ignorance. Why and how is it that this is accomplished? Because it possesses the susceptibilities and the capabilities of its father. So in regard to ourselves. There is a divinity within ourselves that is immortal and never dies. Thousands and thousands of years hence we will be ourselves, and nobody else, so far as our individuality is concerned. That never dies from all eternity to all eternity. Immortality never dies, and it is immortal. We are as children growing and increasing in knowledge and wisdom. Some men we read of, like Elijah, Elisha, Samuel, or Moses, great prophets, advanced themselves to that degree of knowledge, and developed their immortal possibilities to an extent that is perfectly astonishing. And you and I will have to advance in this line until we control those things that the world cannot possibly do. * * *
AS TO our receiving these wonderful things about which I have read to you, I am just as sure of it as I am that I am talking to you today. Although it seems marvelous, it is here so stated, and I know the Lord tells that which is true. When he gives comfort to His Saints in His promises, those promises when fulfilled are vastly greater than the words seem to have indicated. * * *
"The time is speedily coming — we do not want to talk very much, though, about going to Jackson County, Missouri, because through our foolishness and weakness we would not care anything about building houses and making ourselves comfortable here. I know when we first started a colony in
Brigham City, the people generally thought it was nonsense, perfectly useless, to plant peach trees, apple trees, currant bushes and the like, because we were going to Jackson County so speedily; and it was with the utmost effort that we were enabled to disabuse them of this idea. We are not going tomorrow, nor next day, this week or next week; but we are going, and there are many—hundreds and hundreds within the sound of my voice that will live to go back to Jackson County and build a holy temple to the Lord our God. Be prepared for these things that have been taught us during this conference, and make ourselves worthy, and we will receive everything that I have read to you in this section." — General Conference, April 10, 1898.
Words of President Lorenzo Snow
WE HAVE a perfect right to understand something of what we may receive in the other life. We have to suffer almost everything in accomplishing the duties that are imposed upon us in moving along in this line that we have chosen. In the past, if we had time we might relate the various sacrifices the Latter- day Saints have been called to make; and if they did not make these sacrifices their own consciences would condemn them, because of the light which they had received and the knowledge they had of what they should do. It has proved very true with the Latter-day Saints what Jesus said on a certain occasion, when he compared the kingdom of God to a man seeking pearls. Having found one of very great value, he went and sold all that he possessed that he might secure that pearl. Then again He compared it unto a man that found a treasure in a field, which, having found, he went and sold everything that he possessed in order that he might come in possession of that treasure. That has been the case with the Latter-day Saints. We have been called to suffer and to sacrifice that which was more dear to ourselves than our lives, and some have been called to sacrifice their mortal existence, having been placed in circumstances that they could not avoid suffering the loss of their lives. We are called upon daily to make sacrifices, the Lord requiring this at our hands, and we as a general thing have complied. It is our privilege to know something in regard to the future- — what will be the result of this sacrifice, what will be the result of traveling upon this path. Indeed a Latter-day Saint can hardly sustain himself in the Church of God unless he does get some knowledge of this kind that cannot be unfolded by common wisdom. We are no better than other people if this be not so.
I have read something that is very peculiar in regard to the promises that are made, and which I know will be fulfilled, if we on our part do our duty. I have not lived in this Church for about sixty-two years without finding out something. I devoted myself to be worthy to receive something that no mortal man can receive except through the spirit and power of the Holy Ghost, and the Lord has shown me things and made me to understand them as clearly as the sun at noon-day in regard to what shall be the outcome of those Latter-day Saints that are faithful to their callings. Jesus says:
"He that receiveth me receiveth my Father.
"And he that receiveth my Father, receiveth my Father's kingdom, therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him."
THIS is in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. Now, if it were in the New Testament some people, though they might not understand it, would pass it as being true, because it was in the Bible. Well, I am just as sure of its truth as if it were found in the New Testament. And the New Testament bears us out in this doctrine. Jesus said, as recorded in the Revelation of St. John:
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcome, and am sat down with my Father in his throne." There are many Scriptures bearing upon this point. I believe in this. I believe that we are the sons and daughters of God, and that He has bestowed upon us the capacity for infinite wisdom and knowledge, because He has given us a portion of Himself. We are told that we were made in His image, and we find that there is a character of immortality in the soul of man. There is a spiritual organism within this tabernacle, and that spiritual organism has a divinity in itself, though perhaps in an infantile state; but it has within itself the capability of improving and advancing, as the infant that receives sustenance from its mother. Though the infant may be very ignorant, yet there are possibilities in it that by passing through the various ordeals of childhood to maturity enable it to rise to a superiority that is perfectly marvelous, compared with its infantile ignorance. Why and how is it that this is accomplished? Because it possesses the susceptibilities and the capabilities of its father. So in regard to ourselves. There is a divinity within ourselves that is immortal and never dies. Thousands and thousands of years hence we will be ourselves, and nobody else, so far as our individuality is concerned. That never dies from all eternity to all eternity. Immortality never dies, and it is immortal. We are as children growing and increasing in knowledge and wisdom. Some men we read of, like Elijah, Elisha, Samuel, or Moses, great prophets, advanced themselves to that degree of knowledge, and developed their immortal possibilities to an extent that is perfectly astonishing. And you and I will have to advance in this line until we control those things that the world cannot possibly do. * * *
AS TO our receiving these wonderful things about which I have read to you, I am just as sure of it as I am that I am talking to you today. Although it seems marvelous, it is here so stated, and I know the Lord tells that which is true. When he gives comfort to His Saints in His promises, those promises when fulfilled are vastly greater than the words seem to have indicated. * * *
"The time is speedily coming — we do not want to talk very much, though, about going to Jackson County, Missouri, because through our foolishness and weakness we would not care anything about building houses and making ourselves comfortable here. I know when we first started a colony in
Brigham City, the people generally thought it was nonsense, perfectly useless, to plant peach trees, apple trees, currant bushes and the like, because we were going to Jackson County so speedily; and it was with the utmost effort that we were enabled to disabuse them of this idea. We are not going tomorrow, nor next day, this week or next week; but we are going, and there are many—hundreds and hundreds within the sound of my voice that will live to go back to Jackson County and build a holy temple to the Lord our God. Be prepared for these things that have been taught us during this conference, and make ourselves worthy, and we will receive everything that I have read to you in this section." — General Conference, April 10, 1898.
“Birthday Anniversary of President Lorenzo Snow.” Instructor. April 1931. pg. 196-198.
Birthday Anniversary of President Lorenzo Snow By Lula Greene Richards The fifth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Lorenzo Snow—was born on the third of April, 1814, in Mantua, Portage County, Ohio. We honor his memory this third of April, 1931, remembering it is his one hundred and seventeenth birthday here. The Church Book of Doctrine and Covenants, section 110, shows that very remarkable visions were given of the Lord to Joseph the Seer and to Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple, on the third day of April, 1836. Indeed, so consequential and far-reaching are the qualities of the manifestations then given through the Prophet and his associate that the third of April might be held as a date of universal importance to the whole world if the people could hear, read and understand. However, the promises therein made are being rapidly fulfilled and the whole world will be brought to see and acknowledge the power and greatness of God before long. In June of that year, 1836, when slightly past 22 years of age, Lorenzo Snow accepted the restored Gospel as taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was baptized. He was soon so thoroughly converted to the principles of the newly established religion that a strong desire came to him to assist in the work of spreading the Gospel of Salvation among the peoples of the earth. Through faith and prayer the desire of his heart was granted. He was ordained an Elder in the Church and sent out to preach. He embraced the Gospel so whole-heartedly that ever after doing so during his long and eventful life he was on hand to promptly respond to any call made by the Church authority over him. Many glorious manifestations he was favored with from the Lord in various ways. At one time during the drivings and persecutions to which the Church was subjected in its early days, by the enemies of truth and righteousness, Lorenzo while traveling became extremely ill through over-fatigue, exposure to inclement weather and hardships of many kinds. He lay on a bed in a wagon, watched over and nursed with as tender care as possible by his wife and his sister, Eliza R. Snow Smith, our modern Zion's greatest and most esteemed poetess. The two women took turns watching their fading invalid and driving their team, as they dragged along with the company of Saints in which they traveled. One afternoon it seemed to the anxious watchers that death had certainly laid claim to their beloved Lorenzo. His breathing appeared to have entirely ceased. They wept over him with nothing to comfort their crushed hearts except the assurance that his sufferings were over and that "God doeth all things well." When the company stopped to camp for the night, both women were too exhausted and faint to go to any of the brethren and report the condition of affairs with themselves and Lorenzo until they could fix their tent and prepare and partake of much needed refreshments. As quickly as possible they made ready and were seating themselves to eat and be nourished when to their utter astonishment Lorenzo stood before them in the doorway of the tent. They believed it was his spirit which was taking its departure and that his body lay dead in the wagon. Lorenzo, defining their thoughts, smiled on them and said to them, as his Master, Christ, had said to others, "Why are ye troubled? for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have. * * * Have ye here any meat?" And he touched them, and then they knew he had been raised up by the power of the Lord. As the three ate together the repast they were all so much in need of, Lorenzo related to his two over-joyed listeners some of the most wonderful events, we may believe, ever experienced by mortal man. While he had been dying and dead, as his watchers had thought, he had seemed to be in himself very keenly sensitive to things that were passing around him. He had actually been in a visionary state, in which condition he had felt and known, in a manner too real to ever be forgotten, the torments of an eternally condemned, unpardonable soul. That excruciating sense of eternal condemnation had been upon him really but a short time, yet, with the realization that no rescue from that pain could ever be even anticipated, he had felt the weight of eternal torture resting upon him. As sudden as his appearance in the tent door had been to his wife and sister, his condition of intense pain had changed to one of exquisite pleasure. He was made to realize the extraordinary blessedness of forgiveness being brought to bear in the rescue of the condemned and lost soul. He was given to know that the power of the work of the resurrection of the just was operating upon him, and no one in mortality could describe or (even imagine the fulness of joy which comes with that heavenly experience, unless aided by the divine influence of the Holy Spirit. After that symbol representing the resurrection had been given him, Lorenzo heard three distinct voices speak in his favor. The first spoke his name, "Lorenzo " and uttered it three times. The second voice said, "He is worthy," speaking the same words three times. The words of the third voice were "Let him enter," spoken three times. He discovered himself standing by a door which opened and he was ushered into a glorious room where he saw and was welcomed by our Heavenly Father and His beloved Son, our Savior, and others of the blest whom he recognized. Soon after that he found himself in the bed in the wagon where he had been left. All pain and weakness had been removed from him and he was able to again take up his burdens with the other travelers. Lorenzo Snow was among the first Elders to introduce the restored Gospel into Italy and also Switzerland. In a letter from Geneva dated 6th of February, 1851, he wrote of difficulties encountered in publishing Church literature in Italy, and mentioned some of the works carried "in my trunk, pockets and hat. I crossed the Alps in the midst of a snow storm, scarcely knowing whether I was dead or alive. It is one thing to read of traveling over the backbone of Europe in the depth of winter, but doing it is quite different." The refined and beautiful characteristics evinced in the life work of President Lorenzo Snow, in fact in his very appearance appealed to all who met him, strangers as well as friends. So much can be told of such personalities it is hard to find a stopping place when writing of them, but space, or lack of it, decides the matter. |
LORENZO SNOW, FIFTH PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH
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Snow, LeRoi C. “How Lorenzo Snow Found God.” Improvement Era. February 1937. pg. 82-84, 105.
How Lorenzo Snow Found GOD By LeROI C. SNOW Of the Church Historian's Office HOW DO MEN FIND GOD, THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW HIM? LORENZO SNOW HAS LEFT US THIS INFORMATION ABOUT HIS OWN EXPERIENCE AND IN HIS OWN WORDS. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent," How do men find God, that they might know Him? Thousands of young men and women testify that they found God and learned to know Him while serving in the mission field. The result of this knowledge is a testimony of the truth of the Gospel. Here are some of their enthusiastic expressions: "I have enjoyed my labors very much and have gained a wonderful testimony of the Gospel. It has been the happiest two years of my life." "Words cannot express my appreciation for the privilege I have had the past twenty-six months. I have thoroughly enjoyed my work, gained a testimony, and my sincere desire is to live worthy of the Priesthood I hold." Many of these young people could not have made such statements before they went into the mission field. Something has come into their lives which they had not felt or known before. "My mission was one of the greatest blessings of my life and I hope I may ever retain the spirit of it and some time go again." "I am grateful to my Father in Heaven for this splendid opportunity. I wish that every young man in the Church could have the same opportunity that has enriched my life." What is this great change that has come into the lives of these young people? What is the "testimony" to which they refer? Something miraculous has come into their hearts and minds. Here are more: "I have received a testimony of the truth of the Gospel. I will glory in it the rest of my life." "My mission was a glorious privilege. I found God. I hope to be faithful and devoted the rest of my life." What enthusiasm! Supreme joy! Glorious spirituality! Divine knowledge! While these young people tell of "finding God," and of receiving this "testimony," they do not tell just how it came about, the process of its development, or just how it was received. Lorenzo Snow does give this information about his own experience and in his own words. At twenty-two years of age, just a hundred years ago now, he "found the Lord" and received his testimony. He has given a clear and complete description of his experiences which culminated in this "perfect knowledge." Lorenzo Snow Sees the Prophet for the First Time "The first time I saw Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Lord, I was seventeen years of age. It was in 1831, in the fall of the year. It was rumored that he was going to hold a meeting in Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, about four miles from my father's home, where I was born and brought up. Having heard many stories about him, my curiosity was considerably aroused and I thought I would take advantage of this opportunity to see and hear him. Accordingly, in company with some of the members of my father's family, I rode over to Hiram in our carriage. "When we reached there the people were already assembled in a small bowery; there were about two hundred and fifty or two hundred people present. I had heard something about the "Mormon" Prophet and felt some anxiety to see him and judge for myself, as he was generally believed to be a false prophet. The meeting had already commenced and Joseph Smith was standing in the door of Father Johnson's house, looking into the bowery and addressing the people. "I made a critical examination as to his appearance, his dress, and his manner as I heard him speak. He was only twenty-five years of age and was not, at that time, what would be called a fluent speaker. His remarks were confined principally to his own experiences, especially the visitation of the angel, giving a strong and powerful testimony in regard to these marvelous manifestations. He simply bore his testimony to what the Lord had manifested to him, to the dispensation of the Gospel which had been committed to him, and to the authority that he possessed. At first he seemed a little diffident and spoke in rather a low voice, but as he proceeded he became very strong and powerful, and seemed to affect the whole audience with the feeling that he was honest and sincere. It certainly influenced me in this way and made impressions upon me that remain until the present day. "As I looked upon him and listened, I thought to myself that a man bearing such a wonderful testimony as he did, and having such a countenance as he possessed, could hardly be a false prophet. He certainly could not have been deceived, it seemed to me, and if he was a deceiver he was deceiving the people knowingly; for when he testified that he had had a conversation with Jesus, the Son of God, and had talked with Him personally, as Moses talked with God upon Mount Sinai, and that he had also heard the voice of the Father, he was telling something that he either knew to be false or to be positively true.[1] "I was not at that time what might be called a religious boy, but I was interested in what I saw and heard there. However, being busy in other directions, it passed measurably out of my mind until some three or four years later. After completing my classical studies at Oberlin College I went to Kirtland to continue my study of Hebrew with Dr. Joshua Seixas. "Soon after arriving in Kirtland I was on the street with my sister, Eliza. Joseph Smith came along. He was in a great hurry and stopped just long enough to be introduced and shake hands. He turned to my sister and said: 'Eliza, bring your brother over to the house to dinner.' She was then boarding at his home and teaching his private school. As he left us I watched him just as far as I could see him and then I turned to my sister and said: 'Joseph Smith is a most remarkable man; I want to get better acquainted with him. Perhaps, after all, there is something more to Joseph Smith and to Mormonism than I have ever dreamed. "Accordingly, the next time I saw the Prophet was at his own house in Kirtland following his invitation to me to take dinner with him. I remember this meeting and conversation as if it were but yesterday. He sat down at one end of the table and I sat next to him. Eliza sat on the other side. He seemed to have changed considerably in his appearance since I first saw him at Hiram, four and a half years before. He was very ready in conversation, and had apparently lost that reserve and diffident feeling that he seemed to have before. He was free and easy in his conversation with me, making me feel perfectly at home in his presence. In fact, I felt as free with him as if we had been special friends for years. He was very familiar. "I became perfectly acquainted with Joseph Smith, the Prophet, sat at his table frequently, and had many conversations with him. I had joined Professor Seixas' Hebrew class, which was my principal reason for coming to Kirtland. I was also attending high school in the temple and preparing myself for some eastern college or university. A professor by the name of Haws was teaching us. Wilford Woodruff and other brethren attended this school. "I listened to the teaching of the Gospel and received these truths with an open heart. I was determined not to rest there. I was exceedingly anxious to know without doubt that Joseph Smith was a true prophet." First Experience With the Patriarch "It was Sunday, June 5, (1836), about a week after I arrived in Kirtland, that I first saw Father Smith. He was holding a patriarchal blessing meeting, in the Kirtland Temple, at which there were twelve or fifteen persons present. I was then searching to know whether there was any truth in Mormonism. I had never experienced anything supernatural, with one slight exception, and I did not know that anything supernatural had ever occurred among the children of men. I had heard Methodists, Presbyterians, and others relate their experiences, but I thought I could attribute all they said to natural causes. It was hard for me to be convinced that there could be such extraordinary manifestations as I saw exhibited in visiting the temple and listening to the testimonies of persons and hearing the extraordinary accounts of what the Lord had manifested to them. "It was at my sister's invitation that I attended this meeting conducted by Father Smith. I listened with astonishment to him telling the brethren and sisters their parentage, their lineage, and other things which I could not help but believe he knew nothing about, save as the Spirit manifested them unto him. After listening to several patriarchal blessings pronounced upon the heads of different individuals with whose history I was acquainted, and of whom I knew the Patriarch was entirely ignorant, I was struck with astonishment to hear the peculiarities of those persons positively and plainly referred to in their blessings. I was convinced that an influence, superior to human prescience, dictated his words. . . . "After this meeting, my sister introduced me to him, and in the course of the conversation he remarked: 'Why, Brother Snow (he called me Brother Snow, although I had not been baptized, and did not know that I ever would be), do not worry,' he said, 'I discover that you are trying to understand the principles of Mormonism,' 'Yes,' I replied, 'that was the object I had in view,' 'Well,' said he, 'do not worry, but pray to the Lord and satisfy yourself; study the matter over, compare the scriptures with what we are teaching; talk with the brethren that you are acquainted with, and after a time you will be convinced that "Mormonism" is of God, and you will be baptized.' . . . "Anyone seeing Father Smith as he then appeared and having read of old Father Abraham in the scriptures, would be apt to think that Father Smith looked a good deal like Abraham must have looked; at least, that is what I thought. I do not know that any man among the Saints was more loved than Father Smith; and when any one was seriously sick Father Smith would be called for, whether it was night or day. He was as noble and generous a man as I have ever known. . . . "At the first sight, his presence impressed me with a feeling of love and reverence for him. I had never before seen age so prepossessing. Father Joseph Smith, the Patriarch, was indeed a noble specimen of aged manhood. "He surprised me when he said, 'Don't worry, take it calmly and the Lord will show you the truth of this great latter-day work, and you will want to be baptized.' ... I studied the principles. . . I heard the Prophet discourse upon the grandest of subjects. At times he was filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking as with the voice of an archangel and filled with the power of God, his whole person shone and his face was lightened until it appeared as the whiteness of the driven snow. . . . Finally my prayers were answered and I was convinced of the truth sufficiently to want to be baptized to get a knowledge for myself of the testimony that Joseph Smith had seen God. . . . "In my investigations," Lorenzo Snow writes in his journal, "of the principles taught by the Latter-day Saints, which I proved, by comparison, to be the same as those mentioned in the New Testament taught by Christ and His Apostles, I was thoroughly convinced that obedience to those principles would impart miraculous powers, manifestations and revelations. "On Sunday, June 19, 1836, in the Kirtland Temple, Joseph arose in the pulpit just before the meeting closed and said: 'A young man by the name of Lorenzo Snow wishes to be baptized, and Brother John Boynton (who was then one of the Twelve Apostles ) will baptize him.' After the meeting I was baptized in the stream that ran through Kirtland, and I was confirmed by Hyrum Smith who, with some others, laid hands upon me. "I received no special manifestation at that time, but I was perfectly satisfied that I had done what was wisdom for me to do under the circumstances. I had studied the scriptures and was convinced that the Gospel as preached by the Latter-day Saints was in accordance with that taught by the Son of God and by His Apostles in former days. "A peaceful, good spirit came upon me that I had never experienced before, and I felt satisfied at the sacrifice I had made. Since then I have been ashamed to call it a sacrifice, but at that time it was a sacrifice to me, because I could see that it would change my whole future and perhaps destroy all my worldly prospects and aspirations, besides being a great disappointment to my relatives and friends. "Although the promise of the reception of the Holy Ghost did not immediately follow my baptism, when I did receive it, its realization was more perfect, tangible and miraculous than even my strongest hopes had led me to anticipate. "I went before the Lord and made this 'covenant' with Him, that 'if the Lord gives me a testimony of the truth of Mormonism, direct from Himself, I will devote my entire life to the promulgation of its glorious truths.' . . "Some two weeks after my baptism, I retired as usual, at the close of day, for secret prayer, in a grove a short distance from my lodgings. . . . "I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray, than I heard a sound just above my head, like the rustling of silken robes, and immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me in power, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O, the joy and happiness I felt! That will never be erased from my memory as long as memory endures. It came upon me and enveloped my whole system. . . . "I then received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, of the restoration of the Holy Priesthood, that Joseph the Prophet had received the authority which he professed to have, and of the fulness of the Gospel. It was a complete baptism—a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, the Holy Ghost, and even more real and physical in its effects upon every part of my system than the immersion by water had been a few days before, dispelling forever, all possibility of doubt. ... I was perfectly satisfied, for my expectations were more than realized. ... I remained for some time in the full flow of the blissful enjoyment and divine enlightenment. "On arising from my kneeling posture, with my heart swelling with gratitude to God, beyond the power of expression, I felt—I knew that He had conferred on me what only an omnipotent being can confer—that which is of greater value than all the wealth and honors worlds can bestow. "The satisfaction and the glory of that manifestation no language can express! I returned to my lodgings. I could now testify to the whole world that I knew, by positive knowledge, that the Gospel of the Son of God had been restored, and that Joseph was a Prophet of God, authorized to speak in His name. "That night as I retired to rest, the same wonderful manifestations were repeated, and continued to be for several successive nights. The sweet remembrance of those glorious experiences, from that time to the present, bring them fresh before me, imparting an inspiring influence which pervades my whole being, and I trust will to the close of my earthly existence. "As soon as I became perfectly convinced and satisfied in relation to the truth of 'Mormonism,' everything that I had thought about in a religious way was changed; every part of my system became convinced, through the power of the Holy Ghost, that God is my Father, that Jesus Christ is my elder Brother and that Joseph Smith is His Prophet. . . . "When the Lord gave me the revelation of the truth of the Gospel, I made up my mind that I would do my duty and that this principle would be my guide through life. I made up my mind solidly that whatever I was asked to do in the Church and Kingdom of God, I would try to do it." President Lorenzo Snow's long life of faithful devotion to the Gospel and to the Church proves how true he was to the covenant which he made in youth: "If the Lord gives me a testimony of the truth of Mormonism, direct from Himself, I will devote my entire life to the promulgation of its glorious truths." He kept this promise constantly before him, with the glorious blessings that are in store for those who are faithful to the end. This was his guiding star through life and his strength in the hour of temptation. Do our testimonies of the divinity of this great latter-day work mean as much to us? I hope these incidents from President Snow's life may strengthen the rest of us and encourage us in a greater love for the Gospel and devotion to its divine teachings. [1] There for the first time I heard his voice. When I heard his testimony in regard to what the Lord had revealed to him, it seemed to me that he must be an honest man. He talked and looked like an honest man. He was an honest man. |
LORENZO SNOW
EAST BRANCH, CHAGRIN RIVER, KIRTLAND, WHERE LORENZO SNOW WAS BAPTIZED. THE KIRTLAND TEMPLE IS SEEN IN THE DISTANCE.
PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH'S HOME IN KIRTLAND, OHIO.
LE ROI C. SNOW
CINCINNATI HALL (SLAB HALL) TEMPORARY QUARTERS OF OBERLIN COLLEGE, ATTENDED BY LORENZO SNOW.
THE BIG TENT, WHICH WAS "PUT UP" SUNDAYS ONLY FOR OBERLIN COLLEGE SACRED SERVICES.
THE JOHNSON HOME IN HIRAM, OHIO, WHERE JOSEPH SMITH LIVED, 1831-32.
COLONIAL HALL, OBERLIN COLLEGE, ATTENDED BY LORENZO SNOW.
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Widtsoe, John A. “Lorenzo Snow: The Financial Liberator.” Instructor. December 1938. pg. 574-575.
LORENZO SNOW: THE FINANCIAL LIBERATOR By Elder John A. Widtsoe, of the Council of the Twelve A tribute paid at the Conference of the Deseret Sunday School Union, October 8, 1938 Lorenzo Snow, fifth President of the Church, accepted the Gospel in 1836, when twenty-two years of age. He had the privilege of being taught the Gospel by the Prophet Joseph Smith, himself, and by other early leaders of the Church. These brethren delighted in the sincere unwavering faith of this attractive, college-trained youth. Lorenzo Snow was of a scholarly temperament, of an artistic and clear mind, a lover of books and knowledge concerning earth and man. This led him to organize, in early pioneer days, the so-called Polysophical Societies, for the mental and cultural development of young and old. These societies, were really forerunners of our auxiliary activities and our present academic extension divisions and lecture courses. He was also able to apply his knowledge for human good, that is, he was practical. This is well shown in the two score or more cooperative enterprises he brought into successful operation in Box Elder County, Utah, while he served that region as its presiding officer. He demonstrated, there, that cooperation among men is possible and practicable; and that men profit by helping one another. The world might do well, in our difficult day, to study the methods and results of cooperation under the leadership of Lorenzo Snow. Intellectual and practical achievements in the life of Lorenzo Snow were but products of his deep spiritual nature. For him, life's efforts had spiritual values. He had a clear inner vision, which often penetrated into the unseen world. He lived near to divinity and the Lord spoke to him. Thus, under inspiration, he summarized the Gospel doctrine of eternal progression in the now famous saying, "As man now is, God once was; As God now is man may be." Lorenzo Snow was true to his convictions and was willing to sacrifice for them. Aside from his life-long service in the wards and stakes, and home councils of the Church, he filled missions in the United States, England, Italy, and Hawaii. He opened the Gospel doors in Italy, and directed the beginnings of Gospel work in India, Switzerland and other places, and as President of the Church he caused the Japanese Mission to be organized. The Church had need of such a man. The offices of the Priesthood were conferred upon him, as he grew in spiritual understanding. He served long as one of the Council of Twelve Apostles; he was the first, beloved President of the Salt Lake Temple; he was one of the seven men President Brigham Young, in his old age, called to assist him as counselors. Lorenzo Snow was called to the Presidency of the Church in 1898, when he was 84 years of age. The burden seemed heavy, but President Snow, who had always trusted the Lord asked for divine help and received it. The crying need of the Church was the temporal and spiritual rehabilitation of a people which for years had been persecuted and harassed. President Snow knew that obedience to the principles of tithing is unequalled in bringing about spiritual and temporal strength. So, he went forth among the people and taught this principle to the Church during the brief period of his presidency. The people responded to the call. There followed a rebirth of the spirit among the people and a material prosperity which continues to this day. Lorenzo Snow, in full faith, and obedient to divine direction, did the work of a lifetime in three short years. When he died in 1901, 87 years of age, all Israel called him blessed. Lorenzo Snow was a kingly man in body and spirit, and he gave kingly service to his people. His life shows the power that comes to those who serve the Lord. On his 70th birthday his gifted sister Eliza R. Snow Smith concluded an address to President Snow's family as follows: "Review your father's life since first he took Upon himself the great Redeemer's yoke. From duty's post and God's eternal law, No threat can drive him, and no bribe can draw; Whether at home, on missions, or abroad, 'Tis all the same with him—the work of God, His wise example unto you will be A rich behest — a royal legacy." All Zion would do well to follow the example of the life of Lorenzo Snow. |
JOHN A. WIDTSOE
LORENZO SNOW
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Smith, Eliza R. Snow. “Excerpts from "Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow".” Relief Society Magazine. December 1940. pg. 840.
EXCERPTS FROM "BIOGRAPHY AND FAMILY RECORD OF LORENZO SNOW"
By Eliza R. Snow Smith (Selected by Marianne C. Sharp)
"It is a noticeable feature in those who cherish a spirit of apostasy from the light of the Gospel, that they adopt the doctrine of universalism and think none too wicked for a complete and unconditional salvation." (Page 31)
"Early in the spring of 1840, I was appointed to a mission in England. I here record a circumstance which occurred a short time previous—one which has been riveted on my memory never to be erased, so extraordinary was the manifestation. At the time, I was at the house of Elder H. G. Sherwood; he was endeavoring to explain the parable of our Savior, when speaking of the husbandman who hired servants and sent them forth at different hours of the day to labor in his vineyard.
"While attentively listening to his explanation, the Spirit of the Lord rested mightily upon me—the eyes of my understanding were opened, and I saw as clear as the sun at noonday, with wonder and astonishment, the pathway of God and man. I formed the following couplet which expresses the revelation, as it was shown me, and explains Father Smith's dark saying to me at a blessing meeting in the Kirtland Temple, prior to my baptism, as previously mentioned in my first interview with the Patriarch.
As man now is, God once was;
As God now is, man may be.
"I felt this to be a sacred communication, which I related to no one except my sister, Eliza, until I reached England, when in a confidential, private conversation with President Brigham Young, in Manchester, I related to him this extraordinary manifestation." (Pages 46-47)
(Traveling in France in 1852.) "In passing over the country, and searching the mind of the Spirit in reference to its inhabitants, my heart is pained in contemplating the dark, dreary and bloody fate and scourge that await this nation." (Page 202)
(While opening the Italian mission in 1850.) "Our course is often dark and difficult; but I. believe that, however slow it may be for a while, it will ultimately brighten with complete success. Popery, ignorance, and superstition form a threefold barrier to our efforts. Strange customs, laws and languages surround us" on every side. In a word, we feel that we are in Italy —the polluted fountain which has overspread the earth with her defiling waters." (Page 135)
"Let me say to the brethren . . . that the Priesthood was bestowed upon you, as upon the Son of God, for no other purpose than that through sacrifice you might be proven, that, peradventure at the last day, you might stand approved before the Lord." (Page 376)
"I would say, let this motto be that of every Elder in Israel, and of every person worthy to be called Saint: Fear not—never stand still—move on." (Page 402)
(1872) "Our mission is to the world, and not simply to carry the Gospel to the people, but to establish plans and lay foundations for their temporal salvation. Our object is as much for the temporal as for the spiritual salvation of the people. The time is approaching when the nations will be broken up, on account of their wickedness. The Latter-day Saints are not going to war against them—they will destroy themselves with their immorality and abominations. They will quarrel and contend one with another, state with state, and nation with nation, until they are broken up; and thousands, tens and hundreds of thousands will, undoubtedly, come for protection at the hands of the servants of God, as much so as in the days of Joseph of Egypt, when he was called upon to devise a plan for the salvation of the house of Israel. We have received revelations, and, accordingly, we are here in these mountain vales, and we are going to stay. We shall cultivate our farms and lay a foundation for a time when the nations shall be broken up. Multitudes will then flee to these valleys of the mountains for safety, and we shall extend protection to them. You may say, 'Shall you require them to be baptized and become Latter-day Saints?' Not by any means." (Page 346)
EXCERPTS FROM "BIOGRAPHY AND FAMILY RECORD OF LORENZO SNOW"
By Eliza R. Snow Smith (Selected by Marianne C. Sharp)
"It is a noticeable feature in those who cherish a spirit of apostasy from the light of the Gospel, that they adopt the doctrine of universalism and think none too wicked for a complete and unconditional salvation." (Page 31)
"Early in the spring of 1840, I was appointed to a mission in England. I here record a circumstance which occurred a short time previous—one which has been riveted on my memory never to be erased, so extraordinary was the manifestation. At the time, I was at the house of Elder H. G. Sherwood; he was endeavoring to explain the parable of our Savior, when speaking of the husbandman who hired servants and sent them forth at different hours of the day to labor in his vineyard.
"While attentively listening to his explanation, the Spirit of the Lord rested mightily upon me—the eyes of my understanding were opened, and I saw as clear as the sun at noonday, with wonder and astonishment, the pathway of God and man. I formed the following couplet which expresses the revelation, as it was shown me, and explains Father Smith's dark saying to me at a blessing meeting in the Kirtland Temple, prior to my baptism, as previously mentioned in my first interview with the Patriarch.
As man now is, God once was;
As God now is, man may be.
"I felt this to be a sacred communication, which I related to no one except my sister, Eliza, until I reached England, when in a confidential, private conversation with President Brigham Young, in Manchester, I related to him this extraordinary manifestation." (Pages 46-47)
(Traveling in France in 1852.) "In passing over the country, and searching the mind of the Spirit in reference to its inhabitants, my heart is pained in contemplating the dark, dreary and bloody fate and scourge that await this nation." (Page 202)
(While opening the Italian mission in 1850.) "Our course is often dark and difficult; but I. believe that, however slow it may be for a while, it will ultimately brighten with complete success. Popery, ignorance, and superstition form a threefold barrier to our efforts. Strange customs, laws and languages surround us" on every side. In a word, we feel that we are in Italy —the polluted fountain which has overspread the earth with her defiling waters." (Page 135)
"Let me say to the brethren . . . that the Priesthood was bestowed upon you, as upon the Son of God, for no other purpose than that through sacrifice you might be proven, that, peradventure at the last day, you might stand approved before the Lord." (Page 376)
"I would say, let this motto be that of every Elder in Israel, and of every person worthy to be called Saint: Fear not—never stand still—move on." (Page 402)
(1872) "Our mission is to the world, and not simply to carry the Gospel to the people, but to establish plans and lay foundations for their temporal salvation. Our object is as much for the temporal as for the spiritual salvation of the people. The time is approaching when the nations will be broken up, on account of their wickedness. The Latter-day Saints are not going to war against them—they will destroy themselves with their immorality and abominations. They will quarrel and contend one with another, state with state, and nation with nation, until they are broken up; and thousands, tens and hundreds of thousands will, undoubtedly, come for protection at the hands of the servants of God, as much so as in the days of Joseph of Egypt, when he was called upon to devise a plan for the salvation of the house of Israel. We have received revelations, and, accordingly, we are here in these mountain vales, and we are going to stay. We shall cultivate our farms and lay a foundation for a time when the nations shall be broken up. Multitudes will then flee to these valleys of the mountains for safety, and we shall extend protection to them. You may say, 'Shall you require them to be baptized and become Latter-day Saints?' Not by any means." (Page 346)
Snow, LeRoi C. “Lorenzo Snow Foretells Great War.” Instructor. April 1941. pg. 168-169.
LORENZO SNOW FORETOLD THE WORLD WAR By LeRoi C. Snow October 26, 1936, Brother Mark Austin told me the following experience: I want to add my testimony that Lorenzo Snow was a true Prophet of God and to the fulfilment of a prediction which he made. In the fall of 1914, while riding on the train from Salt Lake City to Idaho, I sat with Brother J. M. Tanner who was en route to Canada. The World War had broken out August 14, a few months before. We were discussing the terrible destruction. During the conversation Brother Tanner said: "President Lorenzo Snow, while president of the Church, told me I should live to see the greatest war in all history." Brother George Reynolds and I were assistants to President Snow in the General Superintendency of the Sunday Schools. Brother Reynolds was assistant editor of the Juvenile Instructor and he asked me to write an article for publication on "Peace for the World." I told him I didn't think it was an appropriate subject, because the prophecies were against peace and I didn't think I could write such an article. "Yes you can," he said, "I know you can write a fine article on The Future Peace of the World." After I had written the article and handed it to Brother Reynolds he read it and said: "It is fine, Brother Tanner, we will publish it in the Instructor." I told him I thought he had better show it to President Snow first and get his approval. We went together to the President's office. Brother Reynolds handed the article to President Snow, who, after reading it, asked: "Brother George, who wrote this?" "Brother J. M. Tanner," was the reply. "Well, it is very beautifully written," the President said. "However, it does need a few corrections." "Go right ahead, President Snow, that is what we have brought it to you for, you are at liberty to do whatever you please with it," Brother Reynolds replied. "Well, then," the President continued, "If I am at liberty to do whatever I please with it, I will just tear it up and throw it in the waste basket {which he proceeded to do) because it is not true. It is not good manners for you or me to correct the prophets of the Lord. They all have prophesied against peace and we are not going to have peace. You and I will soon go the way of all mankind, but you, Brother Tanner," and then President Snow looked right straight into my eyes, "thou art comparatively a young man, and I being one of the latter prophets, I say unto you, you will live to see the greatest war in all history." (No doubt meaning history up to the time of Brother Tanner's death.) As Brother Tanner and I continued our conversation on the train we agreed that the present World War, which was then in progress, was a certain fulfilment of the remarkable prediction made by this modern prophet of God, Lorenzo Snow. If President Snow had not stopped this article it would undoubtedly have been published as being the attitude of our Church leaders. (Original signed by Brother Mark Austin) Later I read the above to Brother Harold G. Reynolds, son of George Reynolds, and he told me that he had heard his father, many times, tell of the above experience. LeRoi C. Snow. Note: LeRoi is compiling a biography of his father. This picture and prophecy from his manuscript copy will be appreciated by our readers.—Editor. |
GEORGE REYNOLDS, LORENZO SNOW, JOS. M. TANNER
General Superintendency Sunday Schools, 1901. |
Snow, LeRoi C. “Lorenzo Snow: A Pioneer in Recreation.” Instructor. January 1942. pg. 5, 7.
LORENZO SNOW-A PIONEER IN RECREATION
By LeRoi C. Snow
A PIONEER IN RECREATION
This is perhaps the very finest interior picture of the Salt Lake Theatre. The railroad train is a back-stage curtain. The occasion was a performance of West's Minstrels, well remembered by theatre goers at that time.
The lower box, at the left, was Apostle Heber J. Grant's. He can be seen in the picture. The upper box, at the right, was reserved for Presidents George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith and their families and friends.
The lower box, at the right, was my father's as President of the Church and of the Salt Lake Dramatic Society. He can be seen in the photograph. My mother is sitting at his left and B. Morris Young sits in front of her. I am at Morris' right. This photograph was taken early in March, 1899. I know this because I wore a beard for only about a week after my return from the German mission, March 4. It was a time exposure, which explains the indistinct outlines of the figures on the stage. Willard Weihe was orchestra leader at this time.
A GREAT CONTRAST
Lorenzo Snow had always enjoyed and participated in recreational activities. In his "Mansion House," also known as "Lorenzo Snow's Hall," in the early 50's in Salt Lake City, he organized the "Polysophical Society"—(a word which he coined) for the promotion of "many sciences," educational and recreational, including dancing. In his first "homestead" in Brigham City and continued in the Court House he developed one of the finest dramatic organizations in Utah. However, these earlier undertakings were not amidst the elegant surroundings of the grand old Salt Lake Theatre.
DISTRESS IN THE DESERT
Perhaps Lorenzo Snow's first effort in recreational entertainment was at Mt. Pisgah, an outfitting post on the Pioneer Trail, between Nauvoo and Winter Quarters, where he had been appointed to preside. In his journal he writes: "The Saints in Pisgah were in a very destitute condition, not only for food and clothing, but also for teams and wagons to proceed on their journey. Several families were entirely out of provisions, and dependent on the charity of their neighbor, who, in most cases, were illy prepared to assist them. But, above all this, a sweeping sickness had visited the settlement and there were not sufficient well ones to nurse the sick. Death followed in the wake, and fathers, mothers, children, brothers, sisters and dearest friends fell victims to the destroyer and were buried with little ceremony, and some, destitute of proper burial clothes. Thus were sorrow and mourning added to destitution."
A PIONEER WELFARE PLAN
What a discouraging condition! Surely it required great faith, leadership and courage. All this Lorenzo Snow had. He proved himself equal to the occasion. He organized the brethren in companies, selected their leaders and sent them to obtain work in neighboring settlements, for which they received provision and clothing. Others put in crops at home and cared for the families left at home. Wagons were repaired, new ones made out of old ones. They manufactured chairs, barrels, tubs, churns, baskets and such other articles as could be disposed of in near-by villages.
Through the full hearted support of nearly all the people Lorenzo Snow established here a cooperative union which would do credit to any community today. It is a worthy example of successfully uniting all the interests and efforts of a destitute people resulting in at least a degree of happiness and contentment.
Brethren were sent as far as Ohio soliciting financial help from men of wealth. They succeeded in gathering about six hundred dollars in contributions with which food and clothing were purchased and assistance given to those who were prepared to proceed on the westward journey.
A GIFT TO BRIGHAM YOUNG
In his journal, my father says: "I had the pleasure of taking a wagon load of provisions up to the Bluffs, (Winter Quarters, about 160 miles west) and in behalf of the Saints of Pisgah, presented it to President Brigham Young as a New Year's gift, (January 1, 1848), who manifested a warm feeling of gratitude for this kind token of' remembrance.
"During the long winter months, I sought to keep up the spirits and courage of the Saints in Pisgah, not only by inaugurating meetings for religious worship and exercises, in different parts of the settlement, but also by making provisions for, and encouraging proper amusements of various kinds. These entertainments corresponded with our circumstances, and, of course, were of a very unpretentious and primitive character; their novel simplicity and unlikeness to anything before witnessed, added greatly to the enjoyment. They were truly exhibitions of ingenuity.
"As a sample, I will attempt a description of one, which I improvised for the entertainment of as many as I could reasonably crowd together in my humble family mansion, which was a one-story edifice, about fifteen by thirty, constructed of logs, with a dirt roof and ground floor, displaying at one end a chimney of modest height, made of turf cut from the bosom of Mother Earth. Expressly for the occasion we carpeted the floor with a thin coating of clean straw, and draped the walls with white sheets drawn from our featherless beds.
"How to light our hall suitably for the coming event was a consideration of no small moment, and one which levied a generous contribution on our ingenuity. But we succeeded. From the pit where they were buried, we selected the largest and fairest turnips —scooped out the interior, and fixed short candles in them, placing them at intervals around the walls, suspending others to the ceiling above, which was formed of earth and cane. Those lights imparted a very peaceable, quiet. Quakerlike influence, and the light reflected through those turnip rinds imparted a very picturesque appearance.
"During the evening exercises, several of my friends, in the warmest expressions possible, complimented me and my family for the peculiar taste and ingenuity displayed in those unique and inexpensive arrangements.
"The hours were enlivened, and happily passed, as we served up a dish of succotash, with short speeches, full of life and sentiment, spiced with enthusiasm, appropriate songs, recitations, toasts, conundrums, exhortations, etc., etc. At the close all seemed perfectly satisfied, and withdrew, feeling as happy as though they were not homeless."
LORENZO SNOW-A PIONEER IN RECREATION
By LeRoi C. Snow
A PIONEER IN RECREATION
This is perhaps the very finest interior picture of the Salt Lake Theatre. The railroad train is a back-stage curtain. The occasion was a performance of West's Minstrels, well remembered by theatre goers at that time.
The lower box, at the left, was Apostle Heber J. Grant's. He can be seen in the picture. The upper box, at the right, was reserved for Presidents George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith and their families and friends.
The lower box, at the right, was my father's as President of the Church and of the Salt Lake Dramatic Society. He can be seen in the photograph. My mother is sitting at his left and B. Morris Young sits in front of her. I am at Morris' right. This photograph was taken early in March, 1899. I know this because I wore a beard for only about a week after my return from the German mission, March 4. It was a time exposure, which explains the indistinct outlines of the figures on the stage. Willard Weihe was orchestra leader at this time.
A GREAT CONTRAST
Lorenzo Snow had always enjoyed and participated in recreational activities. In his "Mansion House," also known as "Lorenzo Snow's Hall," in the early 50's in Salt Lake City, he organized the "Polysophical Society"—(a word which he coined) for the promotion of "many sciences," educational and recreational, including dancing. In his first "homestead" in Brigham City and continued in the Court House he developed one of the finest dramatic organizations in Utah. However, these earlier undertakings were not amidst the elegant surroundings of the grand old Salt Lake Theatre.
DISTRESS IN THE DESERT
Perhaps Lorenzo Snow's first effort in recreational entertainment was at Mt. Pisgah, an outfitting post on the Pioneer Trail, between Nauvoo and Winter Quarters, where he had been appointed to preside. In his journal he writes: "The Saints in Pisgah were in a very destitute condition, not only for food and clothing, but also for teams and wagons to proceed on their journey. Several families were entirely out of provisions, and dependent on the charity of their neighbor, who, in most cases, were illy prepared to assist them. But, above all this, a sweeping sickness had visited the settlement and there were not sufficient well ones to nurse the sick. Death followed in the wake, and fathers, mothers, children, brothers, sisters and dearest friends fell victims to the destroyer and were buried with little ceremony, and some, destitute of proper burial clothes. Thus were sorrow and mourning added to destitution."
A PIONEER WELFARE PLAN
What a discouraging condition! Surely it required great faith, leadership and courage. All this Lorenzo Snow had. He proved himself equal to the occasion. He organized the brethren in companies, selected their leaders and sent them to obtain work in neighboring settlements, for which they received provision and clothing. Others put in crops at home and cared for the families left at home. Wagons were repaired, new ones made out of old ones. They manufactured chairs, barrels, tubs, churns, baskets and such other articles as could be disposed of in near-by villages.
Through the full hearted support of nearly all the people Lorenzo Snow established here a cooperative union which would do credit to any community today. It is a worthy example of successfully uniting all the interests and efforts of a destitute people resulting in at least a degree of happiness and contentment.
Brethren were sent as far as Ohio soliciting financial help from men of wealth. They succeeded in gathering about six hundred dollars in contributions with which food and clothing were purchased and assistance given to those who were prepared to proceed on the westward journey.
A GIFT TO BRIGHAM YOUNG
In his journal, my father says: "I had the pleasure of taking a wagon load of provisions up to the Bluffs, (Winter Quarters, about 160 miles west) and in behalf of the Saints of Pisgah, presented it to President Brigham Young as a New Year's gift, (January 1, 1848), who manifested a warm feeling of gratitude for this kind token of' remembrance.
"During the long winter months, I sought to keep up the spirits and courage of the Saints in Pisgah, not only by inaugurating meetings for religious worship and exercises, in different parts of the settlement, but also by making provisions for, and encouraging proper amusements of various kinds. These entertainments corresponded with our circumstances, and, of course, were of a very unpretentious and primitive character; their novel simplicity and unlikeness to anything before witnessed, added greatly to the enjoyment. They were truly exhibitions of ingenuity.
"As a sample, I will attempt a description of one, which I improvised for the entertainment of as many as I could reasonably crowd together in my humble family mansion, which was a one-story edifice, about fifteen by thirty, constructed of logs, with a dirt roof and ground floor, displaying at one end a chimney of modest height, made of turf cut from the bosom of Mother Earth. Expressly for the occasion we carpeted the floor with a thin coating of clean straw, and draped the walls with white sheets drawn from our featherless beds.
"How to light our hall suitably for the coming event was a consideration of no small moment, and one which levied a generous contribution on our ingenuity. But we succeeded. From the pit where they were buried, we selected the largest and fairest turnips —scooped out the interior, and fixed short candles in them, placing them at intervals around the walls, suspending others to the ceiling above, which was formed of earth and cane. Those lights imparted a very peaceable, quiet. Quakerlike influence, and the light reflected through those turnip rinds imparted a very picturesque appearance.
"During the evening exercises, several of my friends, in the warmest expressions possible, complimented me and my family for the peculiar taste and ingenuity displayed in those unique and inexpensive arrangements.
"The hours were enlivened, and happily passed, as we served up a dish of succotash, with short speeches, full of life and sentiment, spiced with enthusiasm, appropriate songs, recitations, toasts, conundrums, exhortations, etc., etc. At the close all seemed perfectly satisfied, and withdrew, feeling as happy as though they were not homeless."
Evans, John Henry. “Lorenzo Snow, Fifth President of the Church.” Instructor. November 1946. pg. 529.
Lorenzo Snow JOHN HENRY EVANS FIFTH PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH A close examination of the main leaders of the Church during the last one hundred years reveals the fact that they possessed in unusual degree two qualities: one, a grasp of the material, two, a grasp of the spiritual. None of these leaders shows these two qualities together in higher degree than does Lorenzo Snow. The purpose of including him in this study is that in his early days he developed the idea of the United Order to a point which had not been quite reached by any of his predecessors in the leadership of the Church. Lorenzo Snow was born in Mantua, Ohio in 1814. At the time Mormonism found him, he was a student at Oberlin College. By this time, however, his sister Eliza R. Snow had joined the Church and taken up her residence in Kirtland. It was on a visit to Kirtland at the invitation of Eliza, that Lorenzo first saw the Prophet in that town, and was very favorably impressed with him. He was baptised in June 1836. The next few years from 1836 to 1842 Lorenzo spent on missions, partly in the United States, partly in Europe. He did not achieve prominence in the Church until after the Prophet's death, though he was on very intimate terms with that leader. On the Plains, at Mount Pisgah, he was made president of the branch there and was instrumental in gathering up much money for the use of the Saints on their way west. In 1849, he was chosen one of the Twelve Apostles, thereupon, his rise became at once noticeable. In 1853 President Young called him to locate fifty families in what is now Brigham City. These people were drawn mostly from his own converts or people whom he knew intimately. Here he established the Law of Consecration. All property and any common property out of the common storehouse, people drew in proportion to their needs and in proportion to. their earnings. Factories belonged to the community, also stores. One could have bought there anything in leather goods, from boots and shoes to harness and saddles. In Southern Utah was a cotton mill established as an outlet and feeder partly, of this Brigham Young experiment. It is the most nearly detailed phase of the workings of the United Order of which we have any record. |
Lyon, T. Edgar. “Lorenzo Snow.” Instructor. March 1949. pg. 109-110, 129.
Lorenzo Snow
T. EDGAR LYON
LORENZO Snow was born in the Township of Mantua, Ohio, on April 3, 1814. There was nothing so unusual in either the position of his family or the incident of birth to foreshadow the great heights to which he ultimately arose. In his youth he became thrilled with accounts of the revolutionary War and the War of 1812 as related by veterans of these conflicts who were his neighbors, and he determined that a military career was to be his work in life. In preparation for this, he studied diligently, hoping to gain an appointment to the military academy. He possessed a good mind and was apt at learning. Accordingly he entered Oberlin College, at Oberlin, Ohio, which was an orthodox Presbyterian school. He suffered an aversion to formal religion as a consequence of this contact and expressed his opinion that if Christianity had nothing better to offer than this type of religion, he would say farewell to all creeds and sects.
About this time his Sister Eliza embraced the teachings of the restored gospel and moved to Kirtland, Ohio. Lorenzo desired to learn Hebrew, as a knowledge of this language was then considered essential for all educational pursuits. At Kirtland there was a capable Hebrew teacher and Eliza persuaded Lorenzo to go there for this instruction. This sojourn in Kirtland brought him in contact with the Prophet Joseph Smith and soon led to his conversion. He was baptized by apostle John F. Boynton on April 6, 1836. This act appears to have marked the point at which the martial spirit that had previously motivated him was transformed into making him become a "soldier of the Cross."
Lorenzo Snow performed various missions for the Church, both in the United States and abroad in the days of Joseph Smith. At the time of the martyrdom he was making his livelihood as a teacher at Nauvoo. His first position in the Church as an administrative officer was at Mt. Pizgah, Iowa, during the winter of 1846-1847. Brigham Young called him to this responsibility and in this temporary settlement of the Saints he manifested unusual powers of leadership. He sent some of the brethren to neighboring settlements to labor in exchange for foodstuffs to feed the Saints. Others were placed at manufacturing furniture, churns, barrels and wash tubs that could be disposed of to the permanent settlers in the surrounding country. Others were set to repairing and manufacturing wagons for the continuance of the westward trek. He organized a dramatic company and coached plays to provide recreation for his weary and suffering people, as well as arranging for regular dances. This combination of work, recreation and the religious devotions he directed enabled the Saints at Mt. Pizgah to survive the winter much better than those at Winter Quarters.
Continued devotion to the cause of the Church led to his selection as one of the Council of the Twelve Apostles in October, 1849. The following fifty-two years found him devoting his time and efforts to building the Kingdom of God on earth. Most noteworthy among his achievements are his direction of the agricultural and manufacturing co-operatives of Brigham City, which were the most successful of all the various phases of the United Order that were fostered, commencing in 1868, the opening of Italy, Switzerland and the island of Malta for the preaching of the gospel and his revival of the observance of the law of tithing by the Latter-day Saints at the close of the nineteenth century, which placed the Church on a firm financial basis.
At the advanced age of eighty-three, he became president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. He was assisted in this calling by George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, as his first and second counselors. George Q. Cannon had been very active in the promotion of the Sunday School work of the Church. As a step toward improvement of both teaching and lesson material, the general board of the Sunday Schools had been organized and President Cannon served as general superintendent of this board. Upon his death in the spring of 1901, the board was reorganized. The following extract from an editorial announcement in the Juvenile Instructor of May 15, 1901 indicates the esteem in which the aged president of the Church was held;
"At the regular meeting of the Board of the Deseret Sunday School Union held May 9, 1901, on motion of President Joseph F. Smith, President Lorenzo Snow was unanimously chosen as a member of the Board. On his accepting this position, President Smith moved that President Lorenzo Snow be the General Superintendent of the Sunday Schools of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This motion received a number of seconds and was unanimously carried. The President made a pleasant little speech of acceptance, after which Elders George Reynolds and Joseph Marion Tanner were respectively sustained as first and second assistant general superintendents."
By virtue of this new calling, Lorenzo Snow became the editor of the Juvenile Instructor as well as the administrative officer of the Board.
President Snow's life had been devoted to furthering the cause of idealism among the Latter-day Saints. He had set an example of industry, strenuous effort, thrift and integrity. He had promoted manufacturing and agriculture as opposed to mining because he saw in the former the secure foundations for his people, their homes, the Church and society in general. Easy wealth of the world would not produce strong characters and safeguard the weak against exploitation and debauchery. Under his administration the Sunday Schools of the Church continued to develop a program of teaching both old and young the truths of the restored gospel. In his capacity as general superintendent of the Sunday School he visited various Sunday Schools of the Church encouraging both old and young to study the gospel. He gave his whole hearted support to the Sunday School cause and wrote the song "For the Strength of the Hills We Bless Thee," which is still a popular Sunday School song.
He served as general superintendent of the Deseret Sunday School Union only five months. His death occurred at Salt Lake City on October 10, 1901.
Lorenzo Snow
T. EDGAR LYON
LORENZO Snow was born in the Township of Mantua, Ohio, on April 3, 1814. There was nothing so unusual in either the position of his family or the incident of birth to foreshadow the great heights to which he ultimately arose. In his youth he became thrilled with accounts of the revolutionary War and the War of 1812 as related by veterans of these conflicts who were his neighbors, and he determined that a military career was to be his work in life. In preparation for this, he studied diligently, hoping to gain an appointment to the military academy. He possessed a good mind and was apt at learning. Accordingly he entered Oberlin College, at Oberlin, Ohio, which was an orthodox Presbyterian school. He suffered an aversion to formal religion as a consequence of this contact and expressed his opinion that if Christianity had nothing better to offer than this type of religion, he would say farewell to all creeds and sects.
About this time his Sister Eliza embraced the teachings of the restored gospel and moved to Kirtland, Ohio. Lorenzo desired to learn Hebrew, as a knowledge of this language was then considered essential for all educational pursuits. At Kirtland there was a capable Hebrew teacher and Eliza persuaded Lorenzo to go there for this instruction. This sojourn in Kirtland brought him in contact with the Prophet Joseph Smith and soon led to his conversion. He was baptized by apostle John F. Boynton on April 6, 1836. This act appears to have marked the point at which the martial spirit that had previously motivated him was transformed into making him become a "soldier of the Cross."
Lorenzo Snow performed various missions for the Church, both in the United States and abroad in the days of Joseph Smith. At the time of the martyrdom he was making his livelihood as a teacher at Nauvoo. His first position in the Church as an administrative officer was at Mt. Pizgah, Iowa, during the winter of 1846-1847. Brigham Young called him to this responsibility and in this temporary settlement of the Saints he manifested unusual powers of leadership. He sent some of the brethren to neighboring settlements to labor in exchange for foodstuffs to feed the Saints. Others were placed at manufacturing furniture, churns, barrels and wash tubs that could be disposed of to the permanent settlers in the surrounding country. Others were set to repairing and manufacturing wagons for the continuance of the westward trek. He organized a dramatic company and coached plays to provide recreation for his weary and suffering people, as well as arranging for regular dances. This combination of work, recreation and the religious devotions he directed enabled the Saints at Mt. Pizgah to survive the winter much better than those at Winter Quarters.
Continued devotion to the cause of the Church led to his selection as one of the Council of the Twelve Apostles in October, 1849. The following fifty-two years found him devoting his time and efforts to building the Kingdom of God on earth. Most noteworthy among his achievements are his direction of the agricultural and manufacturing co-operatives of Brigham City, which were the most successful of all the various phases of the United Order that were fostered, commencing in 1868, the opening of Italy, Switzerland and the island of Malta for the preaching of the gospel and his revival of the observance of the law of tithing by the Latter-day Saints at the close of the nineteenth century, which placed the Church on a firm financial basis.
At the advanced age of eighty-three, he became president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. He was assisted in this calling by George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith, as his first and second counselors. George Q. Cannon had been very active in the promotion of the Sunday School work of the Church. As a step toward improvement of both teaching and lesson material, the general board of the Sunday Schools had been organized and President Cannon served as general superintendent of this board. Upon his death in the spring of 1901, the board was reorganized. The following extract from an editorial announcement in the Juvenile Instructor of May 15, 1901 indicates the esteem in which the aged president of the Church was held;
"At the regular meeting of the Board of the Deseret Sunday School Union held May 9, 1901, on motion of President Joseph F. Smith, President Lorenzo Snow was unanimously chosen as a member of the Board. On his accepting this position, President Smith moved that President Lorenzo Snow be the General Superintendent of the Sunday Schools of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This motion received a number of seconds and was unanimously carried. The President made a pleasant little speech of acceptance, after which Elders George Reynolds and Joseph Marion Tanner were respectively sustained as first and second assistant general superintendents."
By virtue of this new calling, Lorenzo Snow became the editor of the Juvenile Instructor as well as the administrative officer of the Board.
President Snow's life had been devoted to furthering the cause of idealism among the Latter-day Saints. He had set an example of industry, strenuous effort, thrift and integrity. He had promoted manufacturing and agriculture as opposed to mining because he saw in the former the secure foundations for his people, their homes, the Church and society in general. Easy wealth of the world would not produce strong characters and safeguard the weak against exploitation and debauchery. Under his administration the Sunday Schools of the Church continued to develop a program of teaching both old and young the truths of the restored gospel. In his capacity as general superintendent of the Sunday School he visited various Sunday Schools of the Church encouraging both old and young to study the gospel. He gave his whole hearted support to the Sunday School cause and wrote the song "For the Strength of the Hills We Bless Thee," which is still a popular Sunday School song.
He served as general superintendent of the Deseret Sunday School Union only five months. His death occurred at Salt Lake City on October 10, 1901.
“Little Deeds From Big Lives - Building Together.” Instructor. June 1956. pg. 171.
Little Deeds from Big Lives Building Together IN 1853 President Brigham Young called Lorenzo Snow to take 50 families to a little settlement 60 miles north of Salt Lake City now known as Brigham City. When Elder Snow drove his wagon into the settlement, he found a few huts with leaky roofs and dirt floors and people who were worried about water. Elder Snow believed that people could do difficult tasks if they would but work together. He called a meeting at which time he asked the original settlers to give up their water rights. Then he divided the water so there would be some for both old and new settlers. Elder Snow led the people of Brigham City in working together to build a cheese factory, saw mills, wagon and tin shops, a shoe factory and other plants. Under Lorenzo Snow, Brigham City prospered. Today it is one of the cleanest, most progressive- little cities in the Mountain West. |
Anderson, Arthur S. “In Preparation for Greatness.” Instructor. May 1960. pg. 150.
In Preparation for Greatness By Arthur S. Anderson LORENZO SNOW Lorenzo Snow became seriously ill while he was moving with his parents from Kirtland, Ohio, to Adam-ondi-Ahman. The sickness was still lingering with him several months later when the 24- year-old Lorenzo concluded that he should return to the mission field. He was convinced that his health would improve more rapidly if he were engaged in missionary service than if he remained at home. With this conviction, Lorenzo Snow bid farewell to his family and friends and began his mission. The progress at first was slow because the determined missionary was weak and required frequent rests. Each day, however, he found his strength increasing until his health was restored. Lorenzo Snow filled several more missions for the Church and served as its president from 1898 until his death in 1901. Though frequently faced with hardships and challenges almost beyond physical endurance, he always pursued the Lord's work vigorously, believing that while he was thus engaged he would be given the strength necessary to perform whatever task was required of him.[1] [1] Romney, Dr. Thomas C, The Life of Lorenzo Snow. 1955; Deseret News Press, Salt Lake City, Utah; pages 34-37. |
Lorenzo Snow was born in Mantua, Ohio, on Apr. 3, 18H,
He joined the Church in June, 1836. In 1837, he performed his first mission, in Ohio. On Feb. 12, 18A9, he was named to the Council of the Twelve and was ordained by Brigham Young, While on a mission to Italy, he caused the Book of Mormon to be translated into Italian. On Apr. 7, 1889, he was sustained President of the Council of the Twelve. He became the fifth President of the Church Sept. 13, 1898. He died on Oct. 10, 1901, at the Beehive House in Salt Lake City. |
Nibley, Preston. “He Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith - President Lorenzo Snow.” Relief Society Magazine. September 1963. pg. 654-655.
He Knew the Prophet Joseph Smith IV — President Lorenzo Snow Preston Nibley Assistant Church Historian Lorenzo Snow, the fifth President of the Church, was born in Mantua, Portage County, Ohio, April 3, 1814. He was the son of Oliver and Rosetta Snow. Lorenzo's sister, Eliza R. Snow, joined the Church when Lorenzo was a youth; when he reached the age of twenty-two, he also allied himself with the organization. He went to Kirtland and became a close friend of the Prophet Joseph Smith; he also filled a mission in Ohio, Kentucky, and Missouri. In 1840 he filled a mission for the Church in England, which continued for nearly three years. After the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, in 1844, Lorenzo followed the leadership of President Brigham Young in the move to the West. In 1849 he was made a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. He then filled a three-year mission for the Church in Italy. In 1853 Lorenzo moved to Brigham City, Box Elder County, Utah, where he made a permanent home. He remained there until he was called to be president of the Salt Lake Temple in 1893. After the death of President Wilford Woodruff, in September 1898, Lorenzo Snow became the President of the Church. He presided until his death in October 1901. In a sketch of the Prophet Joseph Smith, which Lorenzo Snow wrote in 1850, when he served as president of the Italian Mission, there is a brief description of the early life of the Prophet, as follows: "Joseph Smith, Junior, whom it pleased the Lord to select and appoint to restore the primitive gospel, and apostolic priesthood, was born in 1805, in Vermont, United States. When about fifteen years of age, being seriously impressed with the necessity of seeking the Lord and preparing for a future state, his mind became much perplexed through difficulties thrown in the path of his researches by the multitude of religious sects and parties with which he was surrounded. Each system required belief, and gave hope, but none could communicate a knowledge of its divine authority. In comparing them, one with another, there seemed to be too much confusion; the same appeared in looking at each separately. “Turning therefore from these clashing systems, and being encouraged and inspired with the following passage in St. James, 'If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God,' he retired to a grove a little distance from his father's house, and in fervent prayer besought the Lord to communicate with him and reveal the way of salvation. While thus engaged, a light brilliant and glorious appeared in the heavens, gradually descending towards him till he was enveloped in it and wrapped in celestial vision; when he beheld two glorious beings, similar in dress and appearance, who informed him that the religious sects had all departed from the ancient doctrine of the apostles, and that the gospel with its gifts and blessings should be made known to him at a future period. Many important things were manifested in this vision which the brevity of this work will not permit to notice. ''On the evening of the twenty-first of September 1823, having retired to rest, his mind became filled with anxious desires to receive the information which he had been previously promised. While engaged in prayer and striving to exercise faith, the room became filled with light far surpassing that of noonday, but in the midst thereof appeared an additional glory surrounding a person whose countenance was as lightning, yet so full of goodness and innocence and of such a glorious appearance as to banish all apprehension. He announced himself as an angel of God, commissioned to inform him that the covenant with ancient Israel touching their posterity should soon be accomplished — that the great work preparatory to the second coming of Messiah should speedily commence, and the plenitude of the gospel be made known to all nations. He also in- formed him that the aborigines of America were a remnant of Israel who, when they first inhabited that land, enjoyed the ministry of inspired men; that records of the most important events in their history had been preserved from their first settlement down to the period of their national degeneracy; that these records had been concealed in the earth by one of their last Prophets, and a promise of the Lord given that they should be revealed in the last days. "The following day the angel returned and instructed Mr. Smith to go to the place where the sacred records were deposited" (The Biography and Autobiography of Lorenzo Snow by his sister Eliza R. Snow, pp. 136-138). |
PRESIDENT LORENZO SNOW
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Smart, William B. “Lorenzo Snow - Mighty Man of God.” Instructor. June 1967. pg. 220-222.
LORENZO SNOW MIGHTY MAN OF GOD[1] by William B. Smart[2] We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. (Ninth Article of Faith.) This statement of belief is fundamental to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its implications are far-reaching. It states, unequivocally, that the heavens are open and that God reveals His will to man. It clearly implies that there must be men to receive and teach what God reveals. For the Church, this function centers in the Prophet of God who is also President of the Church. What of the men—nine of them—who have occupied this high and holy position? Have they indeed been prophets who have heard and heeded God's voice? Let us consider the one who served as President the shortest time—Lorenzo Snow. He presided over the Church for three years, 1898-1901. How do you identify a prophet? Perhaps you would look for prophecies concerning his life and work. You might expect that he would heal the sick, perhaps even raise the dead. You would expect, certainly, evidences of the Lord's will being made known to him, as indicated not only by his testimony of such teaching but also by his actions as a result. You might even dare to hope that he would see the Savior in person. All this, and more, is found in the life of Lorenzo Snow, President of the Church at the turn of the century. It is startling to learn that President Snow, born 153 years ago, has a daughter now living in Salt Lake City. She is Lucile Snow Tracy, born when President Snow was 82 years old. That birth itself fulfilled prophecy, for a year earlier he had heard a baby's voice in the temple three nights in a row calling, "Papa, Papa, Papa." By this he knew that there was yet a spirit waiting to come to him and his last wife. It is from the recollections and files of Sister Tracy and the writings of the late LeRoi C. Snow, her brother, that most of this account is drawn. Early critics of the Church charged that it attracted mostly the ignorant and superstitious. Among many who disproved that libel was Lorenzo Snow. He was a student at Oberlin College, Ohio, in 1836, when he visited Kirtland where his sister, Eliza R. Snow, had already joined the Church. Deeply impressed by the Prophet Joseph Smith, Lorenzo Snow soon accepted baptism. Fervently seeking a full testimony of the truthfulness of the work, he retired to a wooded area to pray. He recalled: I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray, than I heard a sound, just above my head, like the rustling of silken robes, and immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O, the joy and happiness I felt. . . . I then received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the son of God, of the restoration of the holy Priesthood, and the fulness of the Gospel.[3] A Patriarchal Blessing Shortly thereafter, under the hands of Patriarch Joseph Smith, father of the Prophet, he received a remarkable blessing. Among its promises were these: Thou hast a great work to perform. . . . God has called thee to the ministry. Thou must preach the gospel . . . to the inhabitants of the earth. Thou shalt become a mighty man. Thou shalt have . . . power to rend the vail [veil] and see Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father . . . there shall not be a mightier man on earth than thou, thy faith shall increase and grow stronger till it shall become like Peter's—thou shalt restore the sick; the diseased shall send to thee their aprons and handkerchiefs and by thy touch their owners shall be made whole. The dead shall rise and come forth at thy bidding. . . . Thou shalt have long life . . . yet not be old; age shall not come upon thee; the vigor of thy mind shall not be abated and the vigor of thy body shall be preserved. . . . No power shall be able to take thy life as long as thy life shall be useful to the children of men.[4] This remarkable prophecy, given to a young man just 22 years old who had barely joined the Church, was explicitly and completely fulfilled in ways no human power possibly could have foretold., Lorenzo Snow did indeed do a great work; certainly there was no mightier man on earth, in the spiritual sense, while he presided over the Church. Among other accomplishments, the vigor and inspiration with which he preached the newly reemphasized law of tithing pulled the Church back from the brink of financial ruin and laid the foundation of its present strength and growth. He did heal the sick, and specifically in the ways his patriarchal blessing specified. Sister Tracy recalls how the sick would send handkerchiefs to her father, and how he would retire to his closet, kneel in prayer, and bless the senders to health and strength. The Miracle of Life And he did call forth the dead to life. While speaking in the Brigham City tabernacle, he was given a note stating that a young girl, Ella Jensen, had just died, and asking that he arrange the funeral. He went immediately, taking with him Rudger Clawson, then president of Box Elder Stake, later president of the Council of the Twelve. It was more than two hours after the girl had died that the two elders reached the home. Jacob Jensen, the girl's father, recalled what happened: . . . After standing at Ella's bedside for a minute or two, President Snow asked if we had any consecrated oil in the house. I was greatly surprised, but told him yes and got it for him. He handed the bottle of oil to Brother Clawson and asked him to anoint Ella. He then confirmed the anointing. During the administration I was particularly impressed with some of the words which he used and can well remember them now. He said: "Dear Ella, I command you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to come back and live, your mission is not ended. You shall yet live to perform a great mission." He said she should yet live to rear a large family and be a comfort to her parents and friends. . . . After President Snow had finished the blessing, he turned to my wife and me and said: "Now do not mourn or grieve any more. It will be all right. Brother Clawson and I are busy and must go, we cannot stay, but you just be patient and wait, and do not mourn, because it will be all right." An hour passed. Friends, hearing of the death, came to offer condolences. The father continued his account: ... We were sitting there watching by the bedside, her mother and myself, when all at once she opened her eyes. She looked about the room, saw us sitting there, but she looked for someone else, and the first thing she said was: "Where is he? Where is he?" We asked, "Who? Where is who?" "Why, Brother Snow," she replied. "He called me back. . . . Why did he call me back? I was so happy and did not want to come back."[5] This girl, who then gave a thrilling account of her experiences in the three hours after death, lived to become the mother of eight children. President Snow himself was virtually raised from the dead, while serving on a mission in Hawaii in 1864. Elder Snow and some others were in a small boat which overturned while they were trying to land on the island of Maui. When, after long searching, Elder Snow was finally pulled into a rescue boat, his body was stiff, his life apparently gone. Elder W. W. Cluff, one of the missionaries, wrote: Brother A. L. Smith and I . . . laid Brother Snow across our laps and, on the way to shore, we quietly administered to him and asked the Lord to spare his life, that he might return to his family and home. Once on the shore, they continued their efforts to revive him. Elder Cluff reports: After working over him for some time, without any indications of returning life, the bystanders said that nothing more could be done for him. But we did not feel like giving him up, and still prayed and worked over him, with an assurance that the Lord would hear and answer our prayers. Finally we were impressed to place our mouth over his and make an effort to inflate his lungs, alternately blowing in and drawing out the air, imitating, as far as possible, the natural process of breathing [apparently the first recorded instance of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, long before it became the standard of lifesaving] .... After a little, we perceived very faint indications of returning life . . . it must have been fully one hour after the upsetting of the boat.[6] Thus was the promise fulfilled that no power would be able to take his life until his mission was fulfilled. Nor was the promise of vigorous mental and physical health in his last years denied. His daughter, Lucile Snow Tracy, recalls, "Why, he used to carry me up the stairs on his back up to the last year of his life."[7] But the crowning fulfillment of the promise given through Patriarch Smith came in the Salt Lake Temple, September 2, 1898, the day President Wilford Woodruff died. Weighed down by the heavy responsibilities he knew would be his, President Snow went to the temple, put on his temple robes, knelt at the altar and poured out his heart to God. He reminded the Lord how he had prayed for President Woodruff's life, that he (President Snow) would not have to carry the responsibilities of the presidency. But, he continued, if it were the Lord's will that he do so, then would the Lord please show him what he should do. For three days and nights, fasting, he supplicated the Lord and waited for an answer. None came. Disappointed, he finally left the room. Then as he passed through the celestial room and out into the corridor, he was given a glorious manifestation. Later he pointed out the spot to a granddaughter, Allie Young Pond, and said, . . . It was right here that the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to me at the time of the death of President Woodruff. He instructed me to go right ahead and reorganize The First Presidency of the Church at once and not wait as had been done after the death of previous presidents, and that I was to succeed President Woodruff. . . .[8] Who can doubt, with such well-attested experiences as these, that this great man—and all the men sustained to lead and preside over the Church—were 1 and are indeed prophets of God, taught by Him, that they, in turn, might teach His children? Library File Reference: SNOW, LORENZO. [1] (For Course 3, lesson of August 13, "The First Presidency"; for Course 7, lesson of August 13, "Lorenzo Snow"; for Course 9, lessons of July 30 and August 27, "A Leader Produces Good Fruits" and "A Leader Seeks the Lord"; for Course 13, lesson of June 25, "Joy, the Goal of Life"; for Course 25, lesson of July 2, "Towards Spiritual Maturity"; for Course 29, lessons of June 4, July 23, and August 13, "Candidates for Godhood," "Road to Salvation and Exaltation," and "Sons and Daughters of God"; to support family home evening lessons 22, 23, and 24; and of general interest.) [2] William B. Smart is executive editor of the Deseret News Publishing Company and bishop of Federal Heights Ward, Emigration Stake. He has been active as a scouter, as a member of the YMMIA general board, and as a civic club officer. He earned a BA. degree from Reed College in 1948. He and his wife, the former Donna Toland, have five children. [3] Eliza R. Snow Smith, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow; Deseret News Company, Printers, 1884; pages 7-8. [4] Given in the Kirtland Temple, December 15, 1836, by Joseph Smith, Sr., patriarch. See "Devotion to a Divine Inspiration," by LeRoi C. Snow, The Improvement Era, June, 1919; page 655. [5] "Raised From the Dead," by LeRoi C. Snow; The Improvement Era, September, 1929: pages 881-886. [6] Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow, pages 278-279. [7] Conversation with Lucile Snow Tracy, Salt Lake City, March 27, 1967. [8] An Experience of My Father's," by LeRoi C. Snow, The Improvement Era, September, 1933, page 677. |
Lucile Snow Tracy, age two, youngest child of President Lorenzo Snow, is now living in Salt Lake City.
Her mother, Minnie Jensen Snow, deceased.
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Richards, Lynn S. “Inspiration from the Lives of Eight Men.” Instructor. October 1970. pg. 378-379.
Inspiration from the Lives of Eight Men by First Asst. General Superintendent Lynn S. Richards Lorenzo Snow George Q. Cannon was followed as general superintendent by the President of the Church, Lorenzo Snow, who was appointed May 9, 1901, and served until his death on October 10, 1901. His life was devoted to furthering the cause of idealism among the Latter-day Saints. He had a delicate and sensitive nature, with an artistic spirit and refinement. It is said that he sought the companionship of those who were refined and gentle. In his firmness there was a spirit of tolerance, and a recognition of the rights and privileges of his fellowmen.[1] Orson F. Whitney said of President Snow: There is not in all Utah, nor in the entire West, a more interesting personality than the present Prophet. . . . President Snow is not a sanctimonious man; he could not be a fanatic or a bigot if he wished; he is too well-balanced, broad-minded, and charitable for that.[2] [1] See "Editorial Thoughts," The Juvenile Instructor, November 1, 1901, page 656. [2] "Lorenzo Snow," by Orson F. Whitney, from Lives of Our Leaders, a series; The Juvenile Instructor, January 1, 1900, page 1. |
LORENZO SNOW
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