John Taylor: Elected president of ZCMI 5 October 1883. (1)
-- May 15, 1884
[Apostle Wilford Woodruff Journal] 15 We had a rainy night. Clear this Morning. I Called upon John Turner and administered to him He being sick. I Called upon Brother Teasdale who was sick at Br Turners. I then Met in Council upon the Dedication of the Temple. After Dinner I met again in Council at 3 oclok. J F Smith returned from Bear Lake Conference. I received a letter from Charles A Munch. I wrote him a letter in return. The temple was in Debt to the ZCMI some $20,000. I took Cold at night at Br Ricks and took a severe Cold. (2)
-- During 1884
(Karl G. Maeser) August 27: Sixty-seven students attended the opening of the Brigham Young Academy on Center Street in Provo, Utah. The school house was "a grim non-descript structure without beauty or grace or any other aesthetic feature calculated to invite a second look. The lower floor was made up of two large rooms at the front, and two small ones at the back. The upper floor had been designed for use as a theater. It consisted of one large room and a stageâ€"both so utterly bare and gloomy as to make inappropriate any form of entertainment except tragedy."
1884. Tragedy struck when the school burned to the ground. Classes reconvened in the ZCMI warehouse, which was used until 1892, when Education Hall was dedicated on University Avenue. (3)
-- Tues., June 30th, 1885
[Apostle Abraham H. Cannon Journal] Attended court part of the day where Bro. F. A. Brown's case was called. The forenoon was occupied in getting a jury, and in the afternoon at his own request he was sworn as a witness. He was then permitted to read a paper in which he gave a short review of his past life, admitting his marriage with two women and saying that he would rather have his head severed from his body than to deny his religion and his God. After his testimony the case went to the Jury who brought in a verdict of guilty with a recommendation for mercy. . . . As I was returning home I went to the Co op store where a large crowd had gathered. By suggestion of some of our leaders the flags over which the "Mormons" had control were mostly placed at half mast in mourning for the sad persecution now going on in our midst. The flags at the city hall and court house had already been raised to the masthead at the command of a few anti Mormons, and now, at 5 p.m. they had asse
mbled at ZCMI with threats of using force in hoisting the flag. The police were there in numbers, however, and no attempt at violence was made. Finally Wm. Jennings and Thos. G. Webber came and had the stars and stripes raised, to the utter disgust of the many staunch Saints. Threats were then made to raise the flags on the Gardo House, Presidents Office, Tithing and Es. News offices, the Temple and Tabernacle, but a number of friends assembled at my home and we had an exhibition of fireworks until quite a late hour. At the celebration in Ogden today Apostle Moses Thatcher threw a bombshell into the camp of the Liberals by reciting some of Utah's sufferings because of religious bigotry. His statements were too true to rest easy on the minds of the anti Mormons and he was reprimanded by Judge Powers, the orator of the day. Gentiles are really beginning to think that the Saints are in rebellion. (4)
Footnotes:
1 - Cook, Lyndon W., The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith: A Historical and Biographical Commentary of the Doctrine and Covenants, Seventy's Mission Bookstore, Provo UT, 1985
2 - Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993
3 - Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons
4 - Abraham H. Cannon Journal Excerpts
LDS History Chronology: Z.C.M.I
Mormon Timeline: Z.C.M.I
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
