The Prophet and the Reformer
The Prophet
and the
Reformer
The Letters of Brigham Young
and Thomas L. Kane
z
Edited by
MATTHEW J. GROW
AND RONALD W. WALKER
1
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The prophet and the reformer : the letters of Brigham Young and Thomas L. Kane /
edited by Matthew J. Grow and Ronald W. Walker.
pages cm
ISBN 978–0–19–539773–4 (hardback)
1. Young, Brigham, 1801–1877—Correspondence. 2. Prophets—United
States—Correspondence. 3. Kane, Thomas L. (Thomas Leiper), 1822–1883—
Correspondence. 4. Mormon converts—United States—Correspondence. I. Grow,
Matthew J., editor. II. Walker, Ronald W. (Ronald Warren), 1939– editor.
BX8695.Y7A4 2015
289.3092—dc23
2014039210
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Paul and Beverly Bawden (MJG)
and Kenneth and Ingaborg Midgley (RWW)
Contents
Abbreviations Used in Notes
xiii
Editorial Method/Transcription Symbols
xv
Introduction
1
Letters
1. Young to Kane, August 2, 1846
15
2. Kane to Young, September 10, 1846
25
3. Kane to Young, September 22, 1846
32
4. Kane to Young, November 5, 1846
36
5. Kane to Young or Willard Richards, December 2, 1846
38
6. Young and Willard Richards to Kane, December 6, 1847
43
7. Kane to Young, December 9, 1847
51
8. Young to Kane, February 9, 1848
56
9. Kane to Young, March 14, 1848
60
10. Young to Kane, May 9, 1848
62
11. Young to Kane, October 20, 1849
64
12. Kane to Young, July 11, 1850
67
13. Kane to Young, September 24, 1850
79
14. Kane to Young, February 19, 1851
91
15. Kane to Young, February 21, 1851
107
viii Contents
16. Kane to Young, April 7, 1851
108
17. Kane to Young, April 7, 1851
110
18. Kane to Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards,
July 29, 1851
112
19. Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards to Kane,
September 15, 1851
123
20. Young to Kane, May 29, 1852
132
21. Kane to Young, October 17, 1852
138
22. Young to Kane, May 20, 1853
145
23. Kane to Young, July 18, 1853
151
24. Young to Kane, January 31, 1854
157
25. Kane to Young, April 28, 1854
164
26. Young to Kane, June 29, 1854
167
27. Young to Kane, October 30, 1854
171
28. Kane to Young, January 5, 1855
178
29. Kane to Young, July 10, 1855
184
30. Young to Kane, September 30, 1855
186
31. Young to Kane, April 14, 1856
190
32. Young to Kane, January 7, 1857
198
33. Young to Kane, January 31, 1857
211
34. Kane to Young, circa March 1857
215
35. Kane to Young, May 21, 1857
219
36. Young to Kane, June 29, 1857
223
37. Young to Kane, September 12, 1857
227
38. Kane to Young, February 17, 1858
233
39. Kane to Young, February 25, 1858
239
40. Young to Kane, February 25, 1858
241
Contents
ix
41. Young to Kane, March 9, 1858
245
42. Kane to Young, ca. March 16, 1858
249
43. Young to Kane, April 17, 1858
254
44. Young to Kane, May 8, 1858
260
45. Young to Kane, May 12, 1858
263
46. Kane to Young, July 5, 1858
266
47. Kane to Young, July 18, 1858
271
48. Young to Kane, August 6, 1858
276
49. Kane to Young, August 25, 1858
283
50. Young to Kane, September 1, 1858
287
51. Young to Kane, September 10, 1858
290
52. Young to Kane, October 22, 1858
299
53. Young to Kane, October 29, 1858
306
54. Young to Kane, November 22, 1858
309
55. Young to Kane, January 14, 1859
316
56. Young to Kane, May 3, 1859
322
57. Kane to Young, July 24, 1859
330
58. Young to Kane, September 17, 1859
336
59. Young to Kane, December 15, 1859
344
60. Young to Kane, March 22, 1860
352
61. Kane to Young, April 25, 1860
356
62. Young to Kane, April 26, 1860
360
63. Kane to Young, August 15, 1860
363
366
65. Young to Kane, September 21, 1861
369
66. Kane to Young, November 23, 1861
378
x Contents
67. Young to Kane, April 29, 1864
380
68. Young to Kane, April 15, 1866
387
69. Young to Kane, November 9, 1867
389
70. Kane to Young, May 4, 1869
392
71. Kane to Young, October 13, 1869
396
72. Young to Kane, October 15, 1869
399
73. Young to Kane, October 26, 1869
402
74. Young to Kane, February 14, 1870
405
75. Kane to Young, March 20, 1870
410
76. Kane to Young, June 18, 1870
414
77. Young to Kane, August 16, 1870
417
78. Young to Kane, April 16, 1871
420
79. Young to Kane, September 27, 1871
427
80. Kane to Young, October 12, 1871
433
81. Kane to Young, November 9, 1871
436
82. Kane to Young, November 30, 1871
440
83. Young to Kane, March 5, 1872
447
84. Kane to Young, October 16, 1872
453
85. Young to Kane, October 31, 1872
456
86. Young to Kane, December 9, 1872
458
87. Kane to Young, April 2, 1873
462
88. Kane to Young, April 4, 1873
465
89. Kane to Young, April 15, 1873
469
90. Young to Kane, May 7, 1873
471
91. Young to Kane, July 31, 1873
474
92. Young to Kane, November 16, 1873
479
93. Kane to Young, December 4, 1873
482
Contents
xi
94. Kane to Young, September 12, 1875
489
95. Kane to Young, May 28, 1876
491
96. Kane to Young, October 21, 1876
495
97. Kane to Young, February 8, 1877
498
98. Kane to Young, March 2, 1877 [Letter #1]
500
99. Kane to Young, March 2, 1877 [Letter #2]
503
Epilogue
507
Index
513
Abbreviations Used in Notes
APS
American Philosophical Society
BYOF
Brigham Young Office Files, Church History Library
CHL
Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints
Kane Collection, BYU Thomas L. and Elizabeth W. Kane Collection, L. Tom
Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,
Brigham Young University
Editorial Method
Our gOal is to publish a verbatim transcription of the letters exchanged
between Brigham Young and Thomas L. Kane. We have used the final copy
as the primary text, except where a copy of the final letter is not extant. In
these cases, we have used drafts of letters. We have standardized some fea-
tures of the letters, including paragraph breaks and placement of dates and
places. To ensure quality, the transcription of the letters has been verified
three times. Each letter is preceded by a historical introduction and accom-
panied by footnotes to explain historical context and any textual issues. We
have left in some duplication in the introductions and notes so that the book
can be read both cover-to-cover and used as a reference volume.
Transcription Symbols
The editorial method and transcription symbols employed by the Joseph
Smith Papers in publishing the papers of Mormonism’s founder have served
as our model. This exemplary, ongoing project represents some of the best
thinking in modern editing procedures. For our purposes, we have modified
and simplified some of their symbols and procedures.
[Brackets]
Square brackets “enclose editorial insertions that expand, cor-
rect, or clarify the text.” A question mark is included where
the information in the bracket is a conjectured editorial
insertion.
[ Italic]
Italics within brackets are used to describe the physical state of
the original letter, such as a tear or water damage.
[ Illegible]
An illegible word is placed in italics within brackets.
xvi Editorial Method
[p. x]
“Bracketed editorial insertions indicate the end of an originally
numbered manuscript page, regardless of the location of the
written page number on the manuscript page.” Page num-
bers are included for every page, even when the original letter
lacked page numbers.
Underlined
Underlining is presented in this manner.
superscript
Superscript is presented in this manner.
Canceled
Strikeouts and other cancelations are presented in this manner.
placed within angle brackets.1
1. Quotations are taken from <
http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/editorialmethod>.
The Prophet and the Reformer
Introduction
On July 11, 1846, a 24-year-old, diminutive, sickly, and elite Philadelphian
arrived in a refugee camp on the plains of western Iowa to visit the Mormons
who had been forcibly expelled from Illinois that year. The unlikely visitor,
Thomas L. Kane, had not stumbled upon the Mormon camps by chance. Two
months earlier, Kane had met Jesse C. Little, an agent dispatched by Mormon
leader Brigham Young to lobby for government support for the Latter-day
Saints. An aspiring social reformer, Kane believed that a relationship with
the Mormons would prove mutually advantageous. Sympathizing with the
Mormons’ plight, he thought that a book recounting their woes would help
their cause and establish his reputation as an author and humanitarian. He
further dreamed that accompanying the Mormons to California, their pur-
ported destination, would open political doors for him, possibly even the
governorship, once California entered the United States. As he confided to a
brother, he hoped “to help the poor Mormons to my utmost, principally—but
also to help myself if I see anything outstanding.”1 There may have been some-
thing else that prompted his visit. Kane would later claim to have been part
of a “little state secret,” known only to a handful of men, perhaps a role in
President James K. Polk’s schemes to expand American borders.2
Six weeks prior to his arrival in the Mormon camps, Kane had drawn
upon his father’s extensive political connections to assist Little in persuad-
ing Polk and his cabinet to commission a regiment of Mormon soldiers for
the Mexican–American War. An army officer, who had arrived in the make-
shift Mormon settlements a few days before Kane to recruit the soldiers, had
1. Thomas L. Kane to Elisha K. Kane, M
ay 27, 1846, Thomas L. Kane Papers, APS.
2. Kane to Elizabeth Wood, May 19–21, 1852, Kane Collection,
BYU.
2 intrOductiOn
encountered substantial opposition in convincing Mormons to enlist. Deeply
suspicious of the government’s intentions, most Mormons envisioned a plot
to further weaken and perhaps even destroy their community. Brigham Young,
the 45-year-old forceful leader of the Mormon emigration and president of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, realized that Little’s mission had succeeded
and saw opportunity where most of his co-religionists sniffed a conspiracy.
Kane’s confirmation of Polk’s decision to raise the Mormon troops, along with
Young’s preaching, dispelled the rumors about the government’s intentions
and 500 Mormons soon enlisted. Intrigued by Kane, at their first meeting
Young privately discussed with him the “state of the nations” and told him
“the time would come when the Saints would support the government of the
U.S. or it would crumble to atoms.”3
Whatever the religious skeptic Kane thought of Young’s apocalyptic
rhetoric, he became deeply impressed by the Mormons’ sincerity and con-
cerned about their long-term prospects for peaceful coexistence with the
United States. Encouraged by Young, who saw him as a potential ally, Kane
The Prophet and the Reformer Page 1