The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and ChildrenWaite, C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg)
History
The Mormon Prophet and His Harem: Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and Children
Waite, C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg)
Latter Day Saint churches; Young, Brigham, 1801-1877
The best articles of everything paid in for tithing--the choice hams and
beef, the best butter, cheese, etc.--are laid away until the families of
the first Presidency, the clerks, and a few of the elect are supplied.
The balance is served out to the mechanics and laborers. Thus the church
dignitaries literally live off of "the fat of the land." Often when
butter, or some other article not quite so abundant as usual, is called
for by the workman, he is told "there is none in the store," while at
the same time large quantities are stowed away; and scarcely is he out
of sight, before some member of higher standing in the church visits the
same store, and his wants are amply supplied.
As Brigham is not scrupulous on the subject of appropriating the means
of the "church," that is, of the people, minor officers, as Bishops of
settlements, do not hesitate to speculate upon their own account. This
is more or less tolerated, according to the faithfulness of the party to
the interests of the heads of the church, and his diligence in
"attending to counsel," or, in other words, in obeying orders. It is
notorious that the Bishops all become quickly wealthy. Appoint a man
Bishop of a settlement, and in two or three years his fortune is made;
and he who previously lived in a log-cabin, with barely the necessaries
of life, is soon in possession of a fine house, with carriages, horses,
&c., at his command. Every Bishop is expected to "build up the kingdom"
by having numerous wives. If he has less than half a dozen, he is
scarcely considered as "doing his duty to the church," and at once
exposes himself to remark, if not to censure.
Many incidents might be mentioned illustrative of the manner in which
property is accumulated by the Bishops. When the army under Col. Johnson
was located at Camp Floyd, a Bishop of one of the southern settlements
sold to the officers at the camp, at fifty cents per pound, all the
butter which had been paid in for tithing, and accounted for it at the
general tithing-office, at the tithing price,--twenty-five cents per
pound.
Frequently the people would in this way be deprived of luxuries which
had been sold, and the proceeds of which had gone into the pockets of
the Bishops and other officers of the church. On one occasion Kimball
alluded in his sermon to the complaints of the people, that they could
not get butter or anything else to eat on their bread. In response he
told them, if their bread was hard and dry, "dip it in City Creek."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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