[Apostle John Henry Smith Diary] Salt Lake City
The Directors of Z.C.M.I. met today. President Joseph F. Smith and I wrote a letter to Mark Hanna. (1)
-- Wednesday, Nov 18, 1896
[Apostle John Henry Smith Diary] Salt Lake City
I met with Geo. Q. Cannon, Jos. E. Taylor, C. W. Penrose, C. H. Wileken, Jos. F. Smith, Geo. F. Gibbs, Heber J. Grant, and A.M. Cannon to talk over the candidacy of Prest. Geo. Q. Cannon for the Senate. We did nothing.
The Directors of Z.C.M.I. met at the office. Business seems good. I spent the evening at Josephine's. (1)
-- Dec 1, 1896
[Apostle Brigham Young Jr. Diary] [[Met Thatcher in front of the ZCMI building. They were mutually kind but Young longed to tell Thatcher of his feelings regarding publication of his correspondence in a paper hostile to the Kingdom of God, correspondence held with the dearest friends he has on earth. Young adds that if Thatcher had been a member of a city ward, he would have laid a charge against him.]] (2)
-- During 1896
[Utah Statehood] STATEHOOD FOR UTAH [p0000188.jpg] ZCMI Building at statehood, 1896 (3)
-- Jan 5, 1897
[Apostle Heber J. Grant Diary] [Council meeting] Marriner W. Merrill Speaking of men going out of the Church of Christ he said they did not go all in a day, but the their disaffection was one that came by degrees. There is always a cause when men go out of the Church. Referred to having a visit with Moses Thatcher on the train going from Salt Lake to Ogden, the day after he was deposed as an apostle. He wanted to remind Bro[ther] Moses of a number of things, but Moses would not allow him to get in a word but insisted in doing all of the talking and he simply talked and talked in a line to justify his position and condemn his brethren. He was not in the least surprised at the downfall of Moses, as he had heard him talk for years about his brethren in a way and a manner that he knew was not right and was not in accord with the Spirit of the Lord. He said that the Lord might over rule for Moses Thatcher to go to the Senate, and that for a time he might seem to triumph over his b
rethren his brethren but the day would come when he and all those who fight against the Church of God will be forgotten and the work of the Lord will triumph and that gloriously. Heber J. Grant spoke on many items that he had noticed in the life and labors of Moses Thatcher in years gone by that made it very plain to him now that Moses had been going the wrong way for many years. Spoke of business affairs where he had not treated his brethren with a proper spirit. Told of his letter of March 8th 1886 about the ZCMI syndicated which purchased the ZCMI stock of the Church and of the false doctrine in the letter in the estimation of himself and brother Lyman who was stopping at his home. Told of many times having listened to Bro[ther] Moses finding fault with his brethren. George Teasdale spoke Referred to the downfall of Moses Thatcher ad said the fact that he was being praised by the enemies of the work of God should be enough of a testimony to any one who has the spirit of t
he Lord to show them that he was in the dark. (4)
Footnotes:
1 - Jean Bickmore White (editor), Church, State, and Politics: The Diaries of John Henry Smith, Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates, Salt Lake City, 1990
2 - Diary of Apostle Brigham Young Jr.
3 - Utah History Encyclopedia: Utah Statehood, http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/s/STATEHOOD.html
4 - Diary Excerpts of Heber J. Grant,
LDS History Chronology: Z.C.M.I
Mormon Timeline: Z.C.M.I
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
