Mormon folklore as diverse, tragic and humorous as other religions

 

A friend loaned me a book published in 1956, "Saints of Sage and Saddle: Folklore Among the Mormons," by Austin and Alta Fife, that turned into a treasure over the weekend I read it.

"Saints of Sage..." is a collection of Mormon folk tales and tall tales. Anecdotes abound from diverse sources that include prophets and pioneers. The prologue essay, "A Mormon from the Cradle to the Grave," is just plain outstanding. It's folksy and witty, irreverent but never disrespectful. Latter-day Saints, warts and all, are captured in this book, but there's always an affection underneath the banter.

I'd wager that any reader who has been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for at least 40 years can recall hearing some of the folklore related in the book. One anecdote on polygamy recalls two LDS apostles on the way to Idaho to attend a church meeting passing a school with children tumbling out of the schoolhouse. A non-Mormon reverend turned to the apostle and asked him if the scene reminded him of his childhood. The apostle replied, "No, it reminds me of my father's backyard."

Long ago, when the church was more interesting (as my friend Cal Grondahl says), devils were frequently cast out of hijacked members and the Three Nephites tended not to be so publicity shy. In one anecdote, one of the Nephite trio is generous enough to show himself to an elderly lady who praised God that late in her life her prayer to see a Nephite perform a miracle had been answered. LDS folklore has it that Governor Thomas Ford of Illinois, who failed to protect the Prophet Joseph Smith, died loathsome, unpopular and in poverty. Another past anecdote involves LDS apostle and Logan Temple president Marriner W. Merrill arguing with Satan himself in his temple office, Old Scratch having visited to request that Merrill stop temple proceedings.

The LDS belief in a pre-existence is noted in the book. Allegedly the LDS Prophet Wilford Woodruff warned in his journal that there were literally trillions of Satan's army on earth doing their best to lead them astray. Woodruff's calculation of the earth holding 1 trillion people at a time seems way too high to this reviewer, though. Nevertheless, the Mormon belief in a pre-mortal existence is very personal to members, who worry that they may have lost friends and family members to Lucifer long ago. It can provide mixed emotions on how to respond to temptation of a personal nature.

No book on Mormon folklore would be any good if there wasn't a section on the legendary, cussing, LDS leader J. Golden Kimball. He has a chapter in "Saints of Sage ..." The former mule skinner once said, "Yeah, I love all of God's children, but there's some of them that I love a damn sight more than I do others."

Kimball also possessed wit: When former LDS U.S. Sen. Reed Smoot wanted to marry, he boasted to Kimball that he had just received the blessing of LDS Prophet Heber J. Grant. Kimball dead-panned, "Well now, I just don't know, Reed. I just don't know. You're a pretty old man, you know. And Sister Sheets, she's a pretty young woman. And she'll expect more from you than just the laying on of hands."

And once, during an excommunication trial for a man accused of adultery, Kimball, after hearing the man admit to being in bed with the married woman but not having sex with her, laconically said, "Brethren, I move that the brother be excommunicated. It's obvious that he doesn't have the seed of Israel in him."

The Mountain Meadows Massacre, and its aftermath, created much darker folklore. The wife of a Southern Utah Mormon, in the brief interlude where the spared young children of the slain settlers were being cared for in LDS homes, recalls a woman coming to her in her garden asking to see her child. She was led into the house. The Mormon wife followed the mysterious visitor, who disappeared the moment she reached the room where the child was.

"Saints of Sage and Saddle" is folklore history that the interested will spend hours poring over. Besides the tales, there are old LDS hymns, period photos and an index for quick reference. I choose to end this column with a song Mormons once enjoyed I encountered in this book, and once sung by Ogden's L.M. Hilton:

The Boozer
I was out upon a flicker and had had far too much liquor,
And I must admit that I was quite pie-eyed,
And my legs began to stutter, and I lay down in the gutter
And a pig arrived and lay down by my side.
As I lay there in the gutter with my heart strings all aflutter,
A lady passed and this was heard to say,
You can tell a man who boozes by the company he chooses.
And the pig got up and slowly walked away.

 

--Doug Gibson

 

Originally published at StandardBlogs

 

Review: Joseph White Musser: A Mormon Fundamentalist

 

Review by Doug Gibson

Polygamy sects in more modern times are full of negative reports. Girls being beaten by parents who want to marry much older men, young marriagable men cast out, becoming "lost boys" because the gray beards living the "principle" want young wives, murders the past couple of generations between rival groups; not to mention the more recent capture and incarceration of Warren Jeffs for multiple felonies.

It's interesting to read a short biography, Joseph White Musser: A Mormon Fundamentalist, Cristina M. Rosetti, 2024, University of Illinois Press. (Here's an Amazon link.) The book, Rosetti notes, is "For the Mormons who call Joseph W. Musser a prophet." It is a mostly favorable biography, not without good reason. Musser, born into a polygamous family in 1872, grew up well into adulthood within a church and Utah culture that considered polygamous unions as a key toward exaltation, or the highest perch in the afterlife. Musser had commuications, some personal, with apostles, stake presidents and others who fervently believed in polgamy; events that occurred well after the Manifestos that purpotedly ended polygamy. In fact, Musser claims in his autobiography that LDS Church President Lorenzo Snow invited him to marry his first plural wife in 1899, well after the First Manifesto. It's accepted today that plural marriage continued after the Woodruff Manifesto, including among apostles.

But after the second Manifesto in 1904, delivered by Church President Joseph F. Smith, Rosetti notes that a trajectory of evdents occurred that would eventually lead to Musser's excommunication and expulsion from the Utah's church's acceptance. He would lose his job and the fidelity of some of his wives. Most of his children did not embrace polygamy. But Musser stayed committed to polygamy and proudly took on the mantle of Mormon fundamentalist. He edited and wrote essays in more than one publication, primarily Truth. He achieved top ecclesiastical status as a polygamous leader, and was imprisoned for a short time after the Short Creed raid of the 1940s. That's ironic because his father, Amos, was jailed in the mid 1880s. As Rosetti notes, for the same crime as his son.

Musser never wavered from his beliefs, despite the material and familial dysfunction it caused. Rosetti notes that late in his life he had concerns about the autocratic rule of polygamous leader Leroy Johnson. This dysfunctional leadership would eventually lead to the modern evil of Warren Jeffs. But Musser is revered today by nearly all Mormon fundamentalists as a prophet, and his articles and pamphlets still read with devout interest. He also penned an autobiography.

As Rosetti notes, Musser was influenced by Lorin C. Wooley, another polygamist leader. He attended the Wooley School of the Prophets, which included teachings that Adam was our God and that he had three wives. As Musser's writing grew, he was another voice for several polygamous beliefs: that the Priesthood was more powerful than both the church and its leaders; that the conventional Mormon's belief in tithing was sinful, and did not represent a true law of consecration that would provide equally to all; and, also, that Mormonism's third prophet, John Taylor, had a received a revelation in 1886 that commanded the church never to give up polygamy.

These beliefs compiled by Rosetti in the book underscore why Mormon fundamentalism will likely never go away. It has its history. It has its revelations. It has its modern-day prophets. Musser fully believed that one day the world will be saved by a high council of polygamous leaders.

Only one chapter is dedicated to Musser's life. The rest of the books focuses on Musser's doctrinal writings and key tenants of Mormon fundamentalism. Shortly before his death, Musser was deemed "patriarch in the high priesthood" among polygamist largely lead by a chiropracter, Rulon Allred. Musser died in 1954. Rosetti appropriately notes his death as such: "In a time of significant change in the LDS Church, Mussers's life is an exemplary account of a Mormon who disagreed with the church's response to modernization."

William Marks biography notes a major figure in early Mormonism often ignored

 

Review by Doug Gibson

"Come Up Hither to Zion: William Marks and the Mormon Concept of Gathering," 2024, Greg Kofford Books, (Amazon link here), is in one regard an effort to bring more sunshine into the life of a man who was a major player in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the late 1830s through several months after the assassination of church leader Joseph Smith. In fact, had Joseph Smith's widow Emma Smith had her way, William Marks would have succeeded Smith as prophet. Instead, in the turbulent months after Smith's dead, Marks was gradually moved out of his prominent ecclesiastical and secular positions in Nauvoo. Things eventually got uncomfortable enough that he, his wife Rosannah, and children left Nauvoo. 

In "Come Up Hither to Zion ..., authors Cheryl L. Bruno and John S. Dinger provide the argument that Marks yearned for a gathering place for members of the faith. Leaving Nauvoo must have been tough. He had solidified strong roots in his gathering place. He was a stake president, a Nauvoo alderman, a member of the church high council, a regent in the university, close to Joseph Smith. Marks did not object, for example, to the unwise and ill-fated decision to destroy the anti-Mormon periodical, The Nauvoo Expositor.

However, Marks did object to polygamy, and was against the 12 Apostles determining the leadership of the church following Smith's death. He was sympathetic to Sidney Rigdon's claim to be a caretaker to the church, although he later was unimpressed with Rigdon. As mentioned these were stressful times, and Marks' influence in Nauvoo decreased. His opposition was mostly passive, although he was extremely angry after a young man was assaulted for expressing support for Marks.

Marks, born in Vermont in 1792, was baptized in 1835 in New York. A successful businessman, his talents were quickly noted and utlized. In Kirtland he was a high council member and an agent for the church's newspaper there. After moving himself and family to Nauvoo, he moved into power positions. 

Marks was not an apostle. He didn't go out on long journeys to far away places preaching the gospel. As mentioned, he was opposed to polygamy. Late in his life he claimed that Joseph Smith admitted it was a mistake and wanted to change it. Whether true or the memories of an old man modified by time and circumstances is an open question. 

From this book, Marks appears to me as an influential but passive leader. The book notes at the possibility that he doubted his own leadership qualities, afraid that he would not be able to hold a movement together. Had polygamy not been adopted, I think it's likely the appeal of a  gathering place in Utah would have drawn him there, with an alive Smith or even Brigham Young. Marks had close family members who followed the Utah Mormons.

His post Nauvoo life was one of looking for a gathering place for the Saints, and a leader. He followed James J. Strang for awhile, but left primarily because Strang embraced polygamy. He was attracted to Charles B. Thompson's message to gather followers to start a community, but abandoned him after Thompson began to make excessive demands. During these episodes, Marks was recruited to try to find attractive locations to move to. Marks was sought out by wannabe church splinter leaders. He retained strong respect for his tenure in Nauvoo and friendship with Emma Smith. He also remained a good businesman and prosperous. Marks' post-Nauvoo movements were also noted by Brigham Young and members of the Utah church.

In his 60s, the authors note that Marks started to tire in his search, musing that just following the Book of Mormon and other scriptures with the like-minded was enough. He eventually became convinced that a lineal succession to Joseph Smith was needed to lead the Saints. He helped persuade an oft-reluctant Joseph Smith III to form the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The RLDS Church satisfied Marks need for a gathering of followers. He was eagerly accepted into it and eventually called as a counselor to Smith III. During his tenure he assisted in gathering Joseph Smith's manuscripts on the Bible and publishing them.

Marks died in 1872 at age 79 in Shabbona Grove, Ill., where he established residence for many years after Nauvoo. He is buried there. However, late in life -- after his Rosannah died and he remarried a younger widow he had previously known, Julia Ann Durfee -- Marks gathered with her to Plano, Ill. to live next to Smith III. Marks is buried next to Rosannah in Shabbona Grove. Despite never officially being excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was proxy rebaptized in 1965.

This is a fascinating read of a significant LDS Church early member who for scores of years was more or less airbrushed out of the historical records. He was never a hostile opponent of the predominant Mormon Church. He had strong, sincere opposition to polygamy and how succession was initiated. I hope over time his contributions and efforts are better appreciated.

Book explores Mormonism from a Peruvian perspective

 

In 1983, when I was 19, I began my LDS mission in Iquitos, Peru. It's a major city in the Amazon by the river. Early in my tenure there I was sitting in Sacrament meeting when a deacon passed me a note from the ward bishop. It read, in castellano, "Elder, could you give a 10-minute talk after this song?" I barely spoke the language, but soldiered through a halting talk.

What I recall about my mission was how "western" the LDS Church was. The meetings copied what I grew up with. The hymns were the same, and young 19 year olds like myself were frequently asked to provide advice to lay leaders scores older than me.

This was a time, it must be noted, before the Internet or even cable (in Peru). Semiannual general conferences were not provided on TV or radio. An LDS general authority traveling was a bigger deal than it is now, and it was infrequent. Two arrived during my then 18-month mission.

Being considered a "Gospel authority" did not trouble or surprise me. I thought I was there to teach the members. I realize now that attitude was condescending and an example of implicit bias from a still-teen adult whose only trips out of the U.S. had been to Baja California. Nevertheless, I made lifelong friends in Peru, many of whom I now connect with on Facebook. Some live in the U.S.

"Forever Familias: Race, Gender and Indigeneity in Peruvian Mormonism," by Jason Palmer, University of Illinois Press, 2024, is not an easy read. It's a scholarly book, and I wouldn't be suprised if it's used as a textbook in classes.

It does have value as Palmer has painstakingly interviewed Peruvian Latter-day Saints, including those who have immigrated to the United States. It deals with these members attempting to blend the culture and traditions into a U.S.-based faith led by males, most of which are probably conservative Chamber of Commerce types. 

I won't go into depth but here are examples of how Peruvian members may differ from their U.S. counterparts. One immigrant interviewed by Palmer had a different perspective on getting a Visa through less than ethical means. Rather than tagging it as a sin, it was considered a miracle of God to be able to enter and live in a place that offers more opportunities.

Another contrast is Peruvian contextualizing the long-held Utah Mormon "pioneer story" to fit their history in Peru, with the high points, low points, tragedy, suffering and blood spilt.

A key fact I learned from Palmer is that South America's role in the Book of Mormon is a topic of study mostly ignored in the West and the church. He notes that a Book of Mormon think tank in South America has been snubbed.

Palmer also interviews members who said they were struggling in their faith, asking God for help, when a knock on the door was the crux, or miracle, that led them to the Gospel. This resonated with me as I met people at the door who told me they had been praying for me. That impressed me greatly and I understand now it underscores the Peruvian belief in fate and miracles.

I disagree with Palmer on some underlying opinions. I don't believe, as he said in an interview, that "The United States, and therefore The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is a force of destruction and colonization."

But I am encouraged at his assertion -- which I have heard from my Peruvian friends -- that Peruvians believe Peru is more compatible to Mormonism ideals than the U.S. That gives me hope that in today's world, a Sacrament meeting in Iquitos is more influenced by Peru and not the church office building in Salt Lake City.

-- Doug Gibson

Willard Bean, Mormonism's 'Fighting Preacher,' attracted the attention of the curious press

  

Above is an 1899 news clipping from The Boston Globe. I apologize the text is mostly unreadable. It's a feature, however, on a "preacher," Mormon no less, named Willard Bean. He was a very good prizefighter out of Utah 100 years plus a generation ago. I first blogged about Bean several years ago. Here's a  link. And below is Cal Grondahl's fantastic cartoon that accompanied the blog post.

Bean has an "official" 8-5-3 record with one no decision and one no contest on BoxRec between 1897 and 1902 but he likely had more wins unrecorded. He would be tagged a near world-class boxer, in my opinion. The reason I say that is his no decision fight of 10 tough rounds with Joe Choynski in 1899. Choynski is one of the greatest early pugilists; a Hall of Fame boxer. A small clip from a Quincy, Ill. newspaper is below that mentions the bout.

Bean also fought, and went the distance -- 20 rounds -- with the world-class heavyweight title challenger Fireman Jim Flynn, who fought Jack Johnson for the world heavyweight championship. Flynn also knocked out future heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey in one round a few years before Dempsey won the title. Dempsey avenged the loss about a year later with a first-round KO of Flynn. Below is a recap of the decision win by Flynn. 

Below are some long ago clips of recaps of a couple of bouts Bean won by knockout.

Most people know of Bean today due to his enthusiastic missionary skills and temple work later in life. A popular film on Bean and his wife's missionary efforts, "The Fighting Preacher,"' was released a couple of years ago. I reviewed it here. It's available on various streaming services, including Amazon Prime. The next clip exemplifies his missionary spirit. It is from The Salt Lake Tribune in 1899. 

One more picture of the Fighting Preacher, Willard Bean. I do not know the source.

On Twitter, a hospice nurse provides observations about our final moments.

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On Twitter, I encountered a fascinating series of observations on death from an unnamed hospice nurse. The Twitter account is from @Rachel, Spirited Sparrow. This particular Twitter link has garnered more than 5.4 million views.

Death fascinates us. The final moments fascinate us. Near-death experiences fascinate us. What the afterlife is like fascinates us. On this blog, we have reviewed at least three books that deal with these topics. One is Map Of Heaven. Another is Glimpses BeyondDeath’s Door. A more recent review is The Devil Sat on My Bed: Encounters with the Spirit World in Mormon Utah.

Now back to the Twitter post. The thread is here. I am going to share only a little of it below this paragraph. I urge readers to go to the above link. The response from readers is also very interesting to read.

Some takeaways after my conversation with a hospice nurse of 12 years based on her experience:

… The people who have the smoothest transition to death tend to be those with a deep faith. The people who have the most difficulty are those who are adamantly anti-faith (rather than just having no faith)

… Men overwhelming more than women will pass when everyone has left the room. ...

… Based on what the dying have said during the end, it seemed to her that they were seeing through sheer curtains, whereas we are always looking at the other side through blackout curtains.

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Recently, LDS Apostle Jeffrey Holland, who has been in poor health, more or less revealed to church members in the church’s April conference that he had a near-death experience. I hear frequend anecdotes about family members near death, conversing with deceased family members that only they can see. I think that correlates with the hospice nurse’s comment about “seeing through sheer curtains.”

The debate over life after death, or whether we will greet deceased family and friends when we die, will always have fervent supporters and opponents. The proof, for better or worse, arrives when we die.

Review: American Trinity: And Other Stories from the Mormon Corridor

 

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Review by Doug Gibson

I really enjoy reading fiction by David G. Pace. He often captures the conflict between traditional Mormonism, its cultural comfort level, and inevitable questioning and repudiation of mores necessary in a changing world. In Pace's work, this conflict, if continued, can irreparably damage a marriage, cause a general authority to want to rebel, or lead one of the Three Nephites to be fed up with Christ for giving him a never-ending gospel calling.

That leads to the signature story, "American Trinity," in this new anthology, published by BCC Press. Zed is one of the Three Nephites, and the endless stretch of time, the constant changing of environments and culture, have him burnt out, to put it mildly. He only has occasional contact with the other two Nephites, and spends a lot of time at the theater. One of the Three Nephites, Jonas, has become of the world, enjoying multiple marriages and children that he outlives. The other, Kumen, goes the other way, living nomadic and looking for little, mundane miracles he can give to Saints. They are the kind of miracles tailor made for a Fast Sunday sacrament meeting.

I was enjoying the story, Zed's history and his anguish, and expected it to just end, with Zed facing another day. And then wordsmith Pace ups the ante and provides a powerful climax that near brought me to tears. Our protagonist comes across the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, in Greenwich Village, on May 25 1911. Zed comes to a 12-year-old girl, who jumped out to escape flames. She's dying. He can't help her. But somehow this brave soul accepts her death, and -- at least for a little while -- saves Zed. "'Don't be afraid,' she told him."

There are 12 stories in the anthology. Some I particularly enjoyed were "City of the Saints," a Babbit-esque tale of a recently called lesser LDS general authority trying to assert himself and resist conformity. Another, "Sagarmatha," involves a disaffected Latter-day Saint man escaping his crumbling marriage by traveling to Nepal on a mountain-climbing trek. While on it, he devotes considerable energy to protecting a sick dog.

"Caliban Revels Now Ended" is a well-crafted story of a missionary, with his companion, who read The Book of Mormon to a stroke victim, Ian, who cannot talk to them. "There was something about reading the verses aloud--the way they filled the old house with an authoritative cadence--that conjured for Ethan an assurance he hadn't felt before: that the book was a good one; that it was speaking to him," Pace writes. The story concludes 20 years later, with Ethan no longer an orthodox Mormon, no longer a believer in the Book of Mormon as fact. Yet Pace writes, "Still, as Ethan drove away that summer night, he hoped that someone had read one of the final passages of the Mormon's book to Ian before he passed on--a passage that, to Ethan seemed to transcend both orthodoxy and disbelief."

I see through the stories a respect for the Book of Mormon, not as a factual tome, but as a book, created by a man with talents, that can change the lives of individuals. In "American Trinity," Zed reiterates his deep affection for the Book of Mormon as a history that survived, although he is disappointed at Mormon's excessive abridgment.

A couple of others stories I particularly recommend are "Stairway to Heaven," for its take on how surprising too-soon death can be interpreted within LDS culture, and "The Mormon Moment," a lighthearted yet insightful tale -- told in quotes -- of an older LDS man trying to convince "Dot" to vote for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama. It reminded me of the culture of 2012, only 12 years ago but it seems like a long time. Frankly, I'd like to see Pace capture this subject with Donald Trump in 2024.

Buy this anthology, and also pick up Pace's novel, Dream House on Golan Drive. It's an excellent read of a Utah Mormon family in the 1970s, and the novel's narrator is "Zed" of the Three Nephites. I've no doubt Zed's still around today, hoping against hope for Christ's Second Coming, and an end to his calling.