1833 – Upon hearing that the Saints in Independence were in grave danger from the mob, a group of about 100 brethren from the surrounding area formed a group and marched to Independence. They camped on the outskirts of town to wait and see what had happened. The prisoners held in the Jackson County Jail had been released in the morning. With the assurance of protection by the Lieutenant-Governor, Lillburn Boggs, the Saints gave into the request of the government officials and surrendered their arms in the name of peace. Almost immediately, the mobs began to burn and destroy the property of the Saints, chasing more than one thousand women and children from their homes under threat during a cold stormy blast of winter. Latter-day Saint men were hunted, beaten, shot at, and arrested.
1835 – The Prophet Joseph had a busy day beginning with attending school in the morning. He was called upon to visit Thomas Burdick, who was sick, and along with his scribe “prayed for and laid our hands on him in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and rebuked his affliction.’ He met with William M’Lellin and Orson Hyde, and later with Brigham Young, and read to them the revelation concerning the Twelve received two days previous. (History of the Church, 2:301-302)
1838 – The Prophet Joseph, and those with him, were kept under a small guard and were treated better than they had previously since their arrest. People continued to flock to see them and they had many opportunities to explain the doctrine of the Church and remove prejudice among the population of Jackson County, Missouri. The men of Far West were ordered by General Clark to form a line. The names of fifty-six men were then called and they were placed under arrest. (History of the Church, 3:202)
1842 – A group of Native-American Indians visited with the Prophet Joseph in Nauvoo, Illinois. “They expressed great friendship for the Mormon, and said they were their friends.’ They spent considerable time in Nauvoo, staying for a meal and conversation with the Prophet. (History of the Church, 5:183)
1895 – The people of Utah vote to ratify the state constitution, approve statehood, and elect the first Mormon state governor, Heber M. Wells. Utah would officially become a state on January 4, 1896, two months after the election.
1896 – The First Presidency announces that fast day will be moved from the first Thursday of each month to the first Sunday of the month.
1903 – The Church announces it had purchased Carthage Jail, the site of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch.
1913 – The ground is broken for the Cardston Alberta Temple, the first temple built outside the United States.
1978 – The Saskatoon Saskatchewan Stake, the first stake in Saskatchewan, Canada, is organized.
1985 – President Spencer W. Kimball dies in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the age of ninety. Also, the first branch of the Church is organized in Swaziland.
1988 – The first converts, Serge and Christie Bonuoit, are baptized in French Guiana.
2003 – Olene Walker is sworn in as the Governor of Utah, the highest state political position obtained by an LDS woman in the United States.
Lorenzo and Erastus Snow
2009 – Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, dedicated a statue of its two namesakes, President Lorenzo and Elder Erastus Snow. Founded as Sanpete Stake Academy, the first classes were held Nov. 5, 1888, in the Ephraim Co-op, a building located on Main Street in Ephraim. The statue was crafted by Snow College art professor Brad Taggart, and dedicated by Elder Steven E. Snow, a descendant of Erastus Snow and a member of the Presidency of the Seventy.
2015 – Single adults from nine countries in the Middle East—native to six continents—gathered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for a two day LDS singles conference which included an interfaith humanitarian project.
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