Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); West (U.S.) -- Social life and customs
We passed back into the long hall on either side of which were rooms,
each of which was formerly occupied by one of President Young's wives.
All of these rooms are comparatively small, old-style, and simple in
their appointments. We visited the old dining-room, where the president
and his family, including his many children sat at their meals, using a
single long table, at the head of which the president was accustomed to
sit. In another room, which is in the basement, we were served with an
excellent lunch by the young ladies of the domestic science school, who
were courteous, gracious, and each apparently as worthy of a good whole
husband as is any daughter that graces fashionable circles in the East.
The work of the school, to which Sister Zina, as she was called, is
devoting her mature years, was fully explained. It is almost needless to
state, that when she had summoned and introduced David McKenzie, the
venerable manager and director of the theater, the man who had presented
her to her first audience in 1866, our conversation turned into a
lighter and more reminiscent vein. We did, however, speak of the trials
of her people and of many serious matters already referred to in these
chapters, and of some incidents which, though interesting, would require
more space if mentioned at all, than could here be given them. But
Sister Zina is loyal to her father's memory.
In March, 1912, the curtain fell and closed the last act in McKenzie's
life. He was a devout Mormon, had often preached in the tabernacle and
maintained local dramatic art along high moral lines.
Gibbon classes among the most furious sectaries of religion much
persecuted, such Christians as the Hussites of Bohemia, the Calvinists
of France and the Paulicians of America in the ninth century, but he was
too just a historian to put all their leaders outside the pale of worthy
citizenship.
So when I have sat in the presence of the venerable Mrs. Emeline B.
Wells, now 85 years of age, I have always been inspired with profound
respect for her noble character and high culture. She was an early
Mormon pioneer and is still editor of "The Woman's Exponent," an
accomplished writer and conversationalist.
When I read her exquisite poem "The Wife to the Husband," I am led to
the conviction that whatever there may be wrong in Mormon teachings
there are women among that people who have exalted conceptions of
domestic relations.
In the old days the Tithing House was a large adobe structure situated
near the Tabernacle, where was received in kind a tenth of the surplus,
as a consecration, and after that, one tenth of the increase or earnings
annually. The earliest revelations to Joseph Smith in 1831, commanding
the payment of tithes, are quoted in _Times and Seasons_, Vols. IV and
V. The later alleged revelations and instructions are published in the
several Mormon journals.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account