-- Thursday, Jan 16, 1896
[Apostle John Henry Smith Diary] Salt Lake City
A large company spent the afternoon at President G. Q.. Cannon. Fifty three sat down to dinner at one time. Among them W. Woodruff and Wife, Lorenzo Snow and Wife, F. D. Richards, B. Young & Wife, F. M. Lyman and Wife, Joseph F. Smith and 2 wives, A. H. Cannon & 3 wives, Jos. E. Taylor and Wife, C. W. Penrose and Wife, A.M. Cannon and Wife,
John Q. Cannon and Wife, Frank J. Cannon and wife, C. H. Wilken and many others. (1)
-- Feb 13, 1896; Thursday
Presidency and Twelve met in Temple at 11 a.m. Quite a busy session which lasted until 1 p.m. Presidency went away and Seventies came[;] only 6 of the [Twelve] present. I was appointed to open the case which I did reading many extracts from an interview Bro[ther]. R[oberts]. had with Herald reporter. He denied nothing & took back nothing. Made some explanations on some unimportant points, but repeated his obnoxious expressions as the sentiments of his heart now. Every man viz. Lorenzo Snow, F[ranklin]. D. Richards B[righam]. Young, [Francis] M. Lyman H[eber]. J. Grant Jno. [John] W. T[aylor]. & M[arriner]. W[ood]. Merrill, all condemned the course Bro[ther]. R[oberts]. had taken. S[eymour]. B. Young, Geo[rge] Reynolds Rulon Wells, [J.] Golden Kimball & Bro[ther]. [Edward] Stevenson were perfectly agreed with the Twelve, some strong appeals were made to Bro[ther] R[oberts]. but it had not [sic] effect uppon [sic] him whatever. Motion adjourn it was put after Pres[iden]t [Lorenzo] Snow said I shall pray for you Bro[ther]. R[oberts]. I said "wait a moment, Bro[ther] R[oberts]. will you pray for yourself[."] He answered to tell the truth I do not feel much like it now. I said then Bro[ther] R[oberts]. I do not accept your decision for it is the one from beneath that influences you and I shall wait until that sweet Godlike feeling that I have seen in you in the past has possession of you before I give you up. Bro[ther] Lyman then approached Bro[ther]. R[oberts]. and weeping aloud implored him to yield to the unanimity of feeling manifested by his brethren. Bro[ther] R[oberts]. looked on Bro[ther]. L[yman's]. tears and upon all of us as if we who were sobbing aloud as tho[ugh]' we were acting apart. He never showed the least signs of relenting. Then we dismissed and Bro[ther]. R[oberts]. stalked out of the room with a hard expression upon his face not noticing myself & others, others he did notice. When I left the Temple going around the south side I sobbed aloud for in this investigation I feard that even one or perhaps more of the Twelve may be implicated. My nephew R[ichard]. W. Young is not friendly to the First Presidency and it will end [in] disaster should he persist in his present course. I can see one course only for the Presidency to pursue as also the Twelve Brethren, who in Cooler moments still adhear [sic] to statements made in heat of political argument must retract or be disfellowshipped. (2)
Endnotes:
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, http://bit.ly/johnhenrysmith
2 - Brigham Young Jr., Diary
LDS History Chronology: Lorenzo Snow
Mormon History Timeline: the life of Lorenzo Snow
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
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