March 23rd

Mar 23, 1837 - Wilford Woodruff describes worship service at the Kirtland Temple: "[T]he congregation took their seats, for the services of the day, in the following order: The house being divided into four parts by veils, the females occupied two parts & the males the others. Some of the presidency presided in each appartment. The time was taken up during the day in each appartment in singing, exortation, & prayer. Some had a tongue, others an interpetation, & all was in order. The power of GOD rested upon the people. The gifts were poured out upon us. Some had the administering of angels & the image of GOD sat upon the countenances of the Saints. At 4 oclock PM the Veils were all rolled up together which brought the whole Congregation in full view of each other and while the presence of the LORD filled the house the congregation of the Saints fell upon their knees & all as one man, vocally poured forth rejoicing, supplication & Prayer, before the God of Israel which Closed the services of the day, after contributing for the support of the poor."

Mar 23, 1844 - Joseph Smith gives "the charge" to the apostles and other members of the Council of Fifty.
William Clayton writes in his Journal: "A.M. rode with President Joseph and brother Neibaur to Doctor [Robert] Fosters. He was gone to appanose and his wife was at Mr. Gilmans. We went down there and saw her. President Joseph asked Sister Foster if she ever in her life knew him guilty of an immoral or indecent act. She answered no. He then explained his reasons for asking and then asked if ever he had used any indecent or insulting language to her, she answered, never. He further asked if he ever preached any thing like the spiritual wife doctrine to her only what he had preached in public. She said no! He asked her if he ever proposed to have illicit intercourse with her and especially when he took dinner during the Doctors absence. She said no. After some further conversation on the subject we left. Mrs. Gilman was present all the time."

Mar 23, 1856 - Second Counselor Jedediah M. Grant, in a discourse in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, refers to Joseph Smith as a "great lover of women."

Mar 23, 1857 - First Presidency and Twelve Apostles take up "the Case of Bishop Hoagland & his wife Agnes. She brought a Complaint against him that He did not pay attention enough to her & provide will enough for her." Brigham Young gives the decision: "I do not wish to say much about this case but I think many things that I do not want to say. There is many women that care more about their Husband sleeping with them than they do about God or his kingdom & if a man was to submit to such women he would not be worth shucks in building the kingdom of God. I have got some such women & I visit them one a year or once in 3 years as I please & they may go to heaven or Hell just as they please. I shall not turn away form the work of God for any woman."

Mar 23, 1877 - John D. Lee, age 64, is taken to Mountain Meadows, the scene of the massacre nineteen and one-half years earlier, where he was perched on the edge of his coffin and shot to death by a firing squad.
In St. George L. John Nuttall writes: "Bro. Thomas Allman gave to me his Sister, Sarah Allman, who was born at Handley, Staffordshire, England. She died in England when some 16 years old. She was baptized for 6th Feb. 1877 and confirmed same day, and had her endowments at St. George Temple, 23 Feb. 1877. Sister June Walker Allman being proxy for her in all these offices. Also in sealing today. I had Sarah Allman sealed to me by Elder Erastus Snow."

Mar 23, 1884 - The day after he took 3 "doses" 5 grains each of Hashish (Cannibas Indica) James E. Talmage writes in his journal: "Sunday. Spent quietly. Have had no result to be noted of my physiological experiment yesterday. I do not feel inclined to try again till the end of next week--as the realization of the effects of the drug are not desirable on working days."

Mar 23, 1885 - Christopher Stafford, a neighbor of Joseph Smith in Manchester, NY, and brother-in-law of Orrin Porter Rockwell writes in a signed statement, "Jo[seph Smith] was the laziest one of the family, and a dull scholar as were all the Smiths except Harrison and Catherine. . . . Joe claimed he could tell where money was buried, with a witch hazel consisting of a forked stick of hazel. He held it one fork in each hand and claimed the upper end was attracted by the money. . . . My mother-in-law Mrs. [Sarah Witt] Rockwell, said that the Prophet Jo Smith told her there was money buried in the ground and she spent considerable tie digging in various places for it. . . . Jo Smith told me there was a peep-stone for me and many others if we could only find them."

Mar 23, 1887 - Members of first presidency and Twelve meet for "eleven hours and tried every way to cut and contrive a way to keep our property. It was decided to fight the law by proving there was no Church Incorporation and for fear of a decision against us, it was decided to loose all of the property." The federal government was confiscating Church property as part of their campaign against polygamy.
Justus Morse swears in an affidavit that he had listened to Smith authorize a Danite meeting in Missouri to "suck the milk of the gentiles." Morse, who remained loyal to the prophet throughout his life, added that Smith explained "that we had been injured by the mob in Missouri, and to take from the gentiles was no sin." Morse also recalls that he and others were directed to assist each other when in difficulty by lying, "and to do it with such positiveness and assurance that no one would question our testimony."

Mar 23, 1888 - In Quorum of Twelve meeting, Apostle Erastus Snow says that apostles Wilford Woodruff and George Q. Cannon are "men worshippers [and] sycophants." Woodruff replies, "While Brother Cannon is charged with Nepotism, you go to St. George and the offices in that region are nearly all filled by his [Erastus Snow's] boys." Woodruff writes in his diary: "I never saw as much bitterness manifest against one good man by 5 Apostles since the days of the Apostate Twelve against the Prophet Joseph in Kirtland . . ."

Mar 23, 1893 - Apostle Marriner W. Merrill writes of the meeting of the First Presidency and the Apostles: "The subject of Apostle Moses Thatcher, B, H. Roberts, and C. W. Penrose was discussed at length; they all went in direct opposition to the First Presidency policy in the last fall political campaign. Those Brethren were not at the meeting, Brother Thatcher being very sick and had to go home. After a long discussion in which the First Presidency and ten of the Apostles (all that were present) were all unanimously agreed, it was decided that those Brethren should see their wrong, repent and make confessions to their Quorums and the Presidency. We all partook of bread and wine at 3:30 p. m. and adjourned at 4:30 p. m. to meet again on Monday, April 3rd. It was agreed upon that the Brethren above named should not attend the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple until they made matters right."

Mar 23, 1955 - Professors Hugh Nibley of the Brigham Young University and Sterling M. McMurrin of the University of Utah read papers at the Great Issues Forum at the University of Utah under the general title "Do Religion and History Conflict?"

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