June 10th

June 10, 1835 - Joseph Smith is tried for assault and battery on his brother-in-law, Calvin W. Stoddard. The trouble likely stemmed from Stoddard calling Joseph "a d--d false prophet". Witnesses testified that Stoddard had been the first aggressor. The court dismissed the case, stating that "there could be no cause for further prosecution; that the assault might perhaps be justified on the principle of self-defense."

June 10, 1838 - The "Danites" are organized during a clandestine meeting when Jared Carter, George W. Robinson, and Sampson Avard, "under the instruction of the [First] [P]residency, formed a secret military society, called the 'daughter of Zion.'" Avard instructs the newly inducted members: "As the Lord had raised up a prophet in these last days like unto Moses it shall be the duty of this band to obey him in all things, and whatever he requires you shall perform being ready to give up life and property for the advancement of the cause[.] When any thing is to be performed no member shall have the privilege of judging whether it would be right or wrong but shall engage in its accomplishment and trust God for the result[.]" The next month Joseph Smith's scribe writes in "The Scriptory Book of Joseph Smith, Jr.": "[W]e have a company of Danites in these times, to put right physically that which is not right, and to cleanse the Church of verry great evils which hath hitherto existed among us inasmuch as they cannot be put to right by teachings & persuas[ions]."

June 10, 1844 - Joseph and Hyrum Smith (both secretly practicing polygamy) tell Nauvoo City Council that the 1843 revelation pertains to ancient polygamy, not to modern times. Under the authority of Mayor Joseph Smith and the Nauvoo City Council, police, members of the Nauvoo Legion under orders of "Lieutenant-General" Joseph Smith and a "possey consisting of some hundred" destroy the press, office and papers of The NAUVOO EXPOSITOR as "a public nuisance." Afterward the crowd gathers in front of Joseph Smith's house where he, "gave them a short address told them they had done right. That they had executed my orders required of me by the city council that I would never submit to have another libellous publication in [print] established in this city."

June 10, 1859 - Wilford Woodruff writes: "President Young Called at the office to attend our lessons in the Deseret Alphabet."

June 10, 1875 - First organization for young men is local innovation of Salt Lake 13th Ward. It becomes church-wide organization on December 8, 1876.

June 10, 1885 - Apostle John Henry Smith writes in his journal: "After our Council was over Prest. G[eorge] Q. Cannon said to Bros. F[ranklin] D. Richards, B[righam] Young [Jr.], F[rancis] M. Lyman, H[eber] J. Grant and I that Prest. J[ohn] Taylor desired the Apostles to refrain from telling vulgar stories and all light minded-ness as it grieved the spirit of the Lord."

June 10, 1891 - Dissolution of church-controlled People's Party which instructs its members to join one of the two national parties, Democratic or Republican.

June 10, 1920 - U.S. Department of Justice files charges against church president Heber J. Grant and Presiding Bishop Charles W. Nibley for illegal profiteering on behalf of church's Utah-Idaho Sugar Company. Nibley is already under indictment on related charge of conspiracy in restraint of trade. Federal grand jury excludes Grant but includes Nibley in its indictments on Aug. 21. Grant speaks in Nibley's defense at general conferences and govenrment eventually drops charges.

June 10, 1965 - The First Presidency writes "To PRESIDENTS of TEMPLES" that "approval has been granted for limited modification in the design of the garment used in the temple to allow for better fit and greater wearing comfort. The approved modified design for women has a button front rather than string ties, a brassiere top patterned after the brassiere top of garments used for day-time wear, a . . . All other features of the garment, including the collar, long legs, and long sleeves, remain the same as heretofore. The approved modified design of the garment for men has a button front, closed crotch, . . . All other features of the men's garment also, including the collar, long legs and long sleeves, remain the same as heretofore."

June 10, 1988 - High school honor student, Eagle Scout, and returned missionary Arthur Gary Bishop is executed at Utah State Penitentiary for the kidnapping and murder of five young boys, ages four to thirteen, over a five-year period in the Salt Lake County area.

June 10, 1993 - BYU officials terminate five junior professors, including Cecelia K. Farr (pro-choice feminist) and anthropologist David Knowlton who has published studies of Latin American terrorism against LDS buildings and missionaries. In immediate response more than 100 students rally to protest lack of academic freedom at BYU, first such student demonstration at BYU since 1911. Subsequent rallies include holders of prestigious "Benson Scholarship," and Third World students who compare BYU's current situation with repressive regimes these students have fled. This is reported at length in CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, thus worsening BYU's reputation for academic freedom among administrators of nation's universities and grant-giving foundations.

No comments: