Mormon leader Brigham Young and Thomas L. Kane, bred for wealth, were certainly oil and water at first glance. Nevertheless, Philadelphia’s Kane, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and the rugged, bred-from-poverty pioneer leader Young enjoyed decades of respect and friendship that endured to death. Indeed, Kane is appropriately regarded as Mormonism’s most influential non-Mormon lobbyist and champion during the time the Saints were most unpopular.
Culled from archives and edited by scholars Matthew J. Grow and Ronald W. Walker, “The Prophet and the Reformer: The Letters of Brigham Young and Thomas L. Kane,” (Oxford University Press, 2015) detail a cordial, respectful and candid relationship between the pair. As the authors note, Kane, while having spiritual beliefs, was critical of the conventional Protestant religion of his day, and appalled by the ill treatment the Latter-day Saints received in Illinois. He saw the Mormon situation in terms of a people whose civil rights were being violated. Kane was a frail man, at one point he’s described as weighing 93 pounds. Succumbing to the disease-ridden camps, he nearly lost his life. Perhaps some of his decades-long lobbying for the Mormons stemmed from his appreciation to the Mormon women who nursed him back to health.
I suspect Young viewed Kane as a gift from God; he was indeed grateful and treated Kane with a respect and deference that the candid, hard-bitten leader usually deferred when dealing with others. And Kane was a valuable, productive ally. The son of a prominent Philadelphia judge, he had the ability to talk on even terms with presidents, congressmen, periodical editors, and state and local officials. He used his writing and organizational skills to manufacture favorable public opinion for the Saints, either by anonymously reporting or writing, and on one occasion, delivering a highly influential speech that, in that era, heavily swung public opinion to pity the Mormons for ill treatment received rather than be criticized for alleged sins.
A fascinating tidbit of history gleaned from this book is that Kane’s lobbying actually inspired a series of Easter U.S. fundraising activities for the Mormons as they struggled to migrate West. Indeed, Sara Childress Polk, the wife and first lady to U.S. President James K. Polk, even had a tea party fundraiser for the Mormons in 1846, as did other Washington socialites. As the editors note, even non-Mormon religious leaders participated in this 1846 effort. The genesis of this success was Kane, who produced and circulated a “Meeting for the Relief of Mormons” circular.
Kane rarely visited Utah, and turned down opportunities to be its governor. He primarily represented the church interests with lobbyists from Utah, advising Young on their effectiveness. He was candid, being particularly critical of a profane, Jack-Mormon-type Utah representgative named Almon Babbitt, whom he argued hurt Utah’s chances of territorial autonomy with his coarseness and crudeness. In later years, Kane and Young focused on statehood for Utah, a goal which would elude them until after their deaths. One of Kane’s biggest accomplishments was his skill in negotiating a shaky peace between Utah officials and the federal troops during the tension and conflict that erupted in the late 1850s.
Despite Kane’s talents, there were constant setbacks due to the public’s slow but consistent disapproval of the Mormon religion. Polygamy was an issue that caused Kane some embarrassment. In the years prior to the Saints’ admitting to the practice, Kane echoed the denials. Soon after church leader Jedediah Grant admitted the practice, huckstering a skeptical Kane with the explanation that a majority of Mormon women necessitated the practice, Kane sent a frank letter to Young, expressing his disappointment as a friend. He wrote, in part, “... I have to grieve over your favor to a custom which belongs essentially, I think, to communities in other respects behind your own. ...”
Young reciprocated the friendship, and took no offense at Kane’s disapproval, replying in part “... Permit me to thank you most cordially for the open, frank, and candid expression of your views and feelings, on one important truth connected with my history ...”
As important as the historical letters are, the complexities of Kane’s mind and intellect is explained through the letters. It was an egalitarian mind, and deeply conditioned to champion the underdog and seek justice. He found a cause in the Mormons, a group he firmly believed were both misunderstood and mistreated. His family respected Kane’s beliefs even while wondering about his close friendship with the polygamist self-proclaimed prophet Young. Kane’s accomplished wife, Elizabeth, recounted meeting Young in 1872, saying, “Vulgarly speaking, I couldn’t abide him. ... He was just as kind and hospitable to me as he could be, but I loathed him.”
As the authors note, though, “her husband, however, prized his relationship with Kane.” Helping the Mormons was his passion. Although never a church follower or member, he received a patriarchal-like blessing from the Latter-day Saints and noted it as he advanced in life; even asking his wife to receive one. She did.
After Young’s death in 1877, Kane, as many others have, reached Ogden by train. As befitting a confidante, he was greeted by a contingent of the Quorum of the Twelve, met with Young’s family, tried to soothe the disappointment of Young’s son, John W., who had been passed over by the church hierarchy, talked with Young’s wives at the Lion House, and visited his old friend’s grave. Kane died December 26, 1883.
-- Doug Gibson
Previously published at StandardNet
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