I
Th om a s C orwin liff
Home M is s ion s
”
th e R oc k y Mo untains
Ap ostle
in
of
BY
JAME S D AVI D GI LLI LAN
T HE
M ETH O DI S T
NEW YO R K
CO N C E R N
C IN C INNATI
B OO K
C op yright , 1 9 19 , b y
N
JAME S DAVI D G I LLI LA
TO
T HE
MINI S TR Y
A ND
T HE
ME MBERS H I P
THE METH O DI S T EPI SCO PAL CHURCH
S PE C IALL Y OF THE G REAT W E S T ; W HERE
B ECAUS E OF H I S FER VENT S PIRIT AND
FER VID EL O! UEN C E
RELI G I O N I S
S TR O N G ER
PATRI O TI S M
PURER
A ND
FELL OWS HI P H OLIER IN ALL THE RE G I O N
FR OM CANADA T O ME ! IC O AND FR O M
T H E FATHER OF WATER S T O T H E PEA C E
FU L S EA
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A ND
RA PIDL Y DI MINI S H IN G G RAND
ARMY OF THE REPUB LIC HIS COMRADES
AND FELL OW S OF THE S T O RMIER DA YS
T O T HE
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C ON T EN T S
C HA PT ER
I N TR ODU C TI O N
AU T H OR
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s
PR E FA C E
T HE VE TE RAN O F T H E UNI TE D STATE S
ARMY R E E N LI S TS
T HE
NATI ON
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VI I I ADDRE S S AT DE DI C ATI ON OF GRA ND AR MY
MONUME N T
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C ON TEMPO RA RI E S
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C H ARAC TE R I STI C S
! I
A ND
C OWOR KE RS
.
OLD GLOR Y
IN
FR AN C E
ILL US T RA T ION S
T HOMA S C OR WI N I LI FF
Fronti spi ec e
F A C I NG P A G E
I LI FF C H U R C H , PE R R Y C O U N TY, OH I O
T HE
“
THE
“
H E AVE NLY T WINS
YOU NG SOLDI ER
FA C SI MI LE
OF
PE O P LE
”
”
’
S T I C KE T
33
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IN T RO DUCT I ON
A FTER the bloody uprising of th e B lack
f eet I ndians in the 7 o s General Ja me s A
G a rfie l d Commi ssioner o f I ndian Aff air s
accompanied by S ecretary B elknap o f
President Grant s Cabinet went into the
Wilds o f Montana for the purpose o f making
a t re a t y w it h th em
Wh ile inves tigating the cause of thi s di s
turb a nce General Garfield visited Misso ula
and hunted up the R ev T C I lifi the
Metho di st missionary for tha t remote
region He found th e preacher in th e gar
den o f the little parsonage looking a fter h is
flowers
“
I am General Garfield of t h e United
“
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States Army said the soldi er and I am
looking for a fighting parson by the name
O f I li fi
Can you tell me Where I can find
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him
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My name is I liff and I am a minister
Wa s the parson s ready reply ; and ha ving
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IN T RO DUCT I ON
12
said this he invited the Offic er into hi s hos
t
i
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l
e
home
The
General
remained
there
p
all the afternoon and O btained the settlers
version o f the recent trouble they had had
with the I ndi ans
A s he went away he j ocularly remarked
I know the head of your Missionary S o
c iety in N ew York
and when I see him I
shall tell him that I found his missionary in
Montana dr illing a company o f soldiers of
”
which he himself is li eutenant
“
K indly te ll him also General said Mr
“
that in order to save the souls o f men
I li fi
I must first save their lives You can say
to him t oo that every man in t he company
attends chur ch regularly and that they did
not do so until I had disciplined them as
”
s oldiers
A Montana newspaper had this note
which explains the foregoing more fully a
p osthumous statement !
“
L ike S aul of Tarsus Dr I lifi was a
fighting divine
I n times of peace he
preached the gospel to the Argonauts and
the adventurers who came early t o Mon
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IN T RO DUCT I ON
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tana ; in times o f war when the redskins
threatened his flock he girded the sword o f
the soldier about his loins and went out t o
do battle
“
B efore the c all t o the mi ni stry came to
h im he had been a soldier and fought through
the Civil W ar S o when the Blackfee t re
belled against the dictates of the F ederal
go v ernment and sent their braves on the
warp ath threatening the little community
o f Missoula the minister became the soldier
again H e organized and drilled a company
s o as to be in readiness
“
T he very name Utah had in those days
a far away sound ; about it clung an aroma
o f romance and adventure such as Moore
“
sets forth in L alla R ookh
The O riental
appeared transplanted in the O ccident The
mosque was represented in the tabernacle ;
the seraglio with its harems j oined close up
to the Templ e block Brigham Young fol
lowed the example Of his acknowledged
superior and contemporary Joseph Smith
and sheltered himself and his polygamous
deeds behind the Prophet s revelations
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IN T RO DUCT ION
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I n h umble token of this superiority t h e
“
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later Prophet S eer and R evelator took
in marriage some o f the former prophet s
women while many of his o fficial c ompanion s
and others were lik ewise well provided wit h
a plurality of wives
This was deemed un American by the peo
ple of the United States and steps were
taken to force a c omplete c essation of the
widely spreading practice
Divers law s
were enacted by the national Congr ess the
most notable at that time being the drasti c
and far reaching E dmunds Tucker Bill of
1 8 82
T his made it a misdemeanor to hold
out to the world more than one woman as
a wife and was punishable with both fine
and imprisonment
"
I t was at this strategi c date that Mr I lifi
became the s uperintendent o f the Utah Mis
sion This field embraced a ll of the Terri
tory of Utah and ext ended northward as
far a s the forty second p arallel ex c epting
F ort Hall I ndian R eser v ation and included
Bla ckfoot and Po c atello in I dah o
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A UTH OR
F OR
S P REF A C E
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thirty five year s e v entful in the
rapid progress and permanent de v elopment
o f the inter R o c ky Mountain region s and
resour c e s it was my privilege to be in
t imat ely as s o c iated with the subj e ct o f t h e s e
pages I n 1 883 in answer t o hi s c all I left
the work of the school tea cher in O hio and
for fifteen of the following year s c ollabo
rated mo st intimately with him in the v aried
tasks under the direction of the B oard of
Home Missions and Chur ch E xtension I t
prov ed to be the most strenuous year s po s
s ible for times of peace because o f the d itfi
the go v ernment had in e ff e cting
c ult ies
amicable relations between itself and the
people of Utah
W ith thi s doughty s uperintendent from
the Bu ckeye State it was my exalted priv i
lege to ride and otherwise to trav el by a l
mo s t e very con c ei vable conv eyance up and
down th e h ill s of t h e Utah Mi ss ion through
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A UTH OR S P REF AC E
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the velvety valleys and into and out o f the
craggy canyons hunting the miners farm
ers and is olated s ettlers all the while try
ing to do the work of good shepherds o f
Jesus C hrist
W e c amped ate s lep t ;
talked
rej oi c ed
s ympathiz ed ;
wept
laughed and shouted together in th e ebul
lient j oy o f the L ord and in the exuberance
of youth and mature manhood
By any standard of measurement he was
never known t o ass ume ot h er than equal
rank among the humble s t of h i s c ompany
No weather was too s e v ere no s torm too
tumultuous no mode of travel too strenuous
to swerve him and his men from these
pioneer trips
Hi s relation to the W est is shown in the
“
”
chapter on L ure of Gold the vital impact
he made on the un American doctrine and
practice o f polygamy is seen in the lecture on
”
Mormonism a Menace to the N ation
which wa s deli vered with tremendous power
from sh ore to shore of the nation ; and his
fervor as a patriot after the Civil W ar is
exhibited in the masterly address at the dedi
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A UTH OR S P REFA C E
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cation o f th e Grand Army Monument in
S alt L ake City I t was on this o c casion that
Judge Goodwin editor of the S alt L ake
Tribune and a most brilliant author said
“
to him I li ff it is time for you t o die now
”
wh ile your fame i s s e cure
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CH AP T ER I
B IO GRAPH I C A L
T H O MAS C OR W IN I LIF F was born at
M c Luney Perry Co unty O hio O ctober 2 6
1 8 4 5 s on o f W esle y and Harriett I lifi ;
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grandson o f John I lifi and Anna I lifl and
o f N oah Teal and A nna Teal o f the same
lo c ality O n the paternal side he wa s o f Ger
man descent ; hi s earliest Ameri c an an c estor
emigrated fr om E ngland to Ameri c a in 1 7 6 0
and settled at N ewton N ew Jersey O n hi s
mother s side he was of I ris h extraction His
father who was born in 1 8 1 4 and di ed in
1 8 8 3 was a native o f Pennsylvania ; h is
mother born in 1 8 1 8 and died in 1 8 7 2 was
a native o f O hio His parents were married
in Perry County O hio in 1 83 6 and Thomas
Corwin was the fo urth child and thir d son
of a family o f sev en childr en con s is ting o f
five sons and t w o daughters
His early education was received at the
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
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district school of his nati v e home F our
months O f the year were devoted t o scho o l
work and the remaining eight months were
spent at work on the farm His education
was interrupted however by the Civil W ar
and at sixteen he enlisted as a privat e He
took part in six ty engagements wa s with
Sherman in the march to the sea through the
Carolinas and wa s mustered out three
months after L ee surrendered to Grant at
Appomattox in 1 8 6 5
O n his return home he at once entered the
O hio University taking the c lassical course
and was graduated in 1 8 7 0 H e was re
into the O hio Conferen c e o f the
c eiv ed
Methodist Chur ch the same year and s ent
as j unior preacher to the Coolville Cir cuit
with twelve prea ching places
Three months later he was appointed by
Bishop Clark a s mis s ionary to the R ocky
Mountains a nd located at Missoula Mon
tana then a town of one hundred white peo
ple with thousands o f I ndians in the im
mediate vicinity Two thousand miles of
the trip was made by railroad and eight hun
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B IO G RA PH I C AL
dr ed
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miles by stage W ith his own hands
and money saved from his salary together
with what he was able to secure from the
people and five hundred dollars from the
B oard of Church E xtension he built the
first Protestant church between Helena
Montana and W alla W alla W ashington
I n 1 880 8 1 he traveled extensively
throughout E urope the Holy L and and
E gypt F or a period of twenty five years
from 1 8 7 5 to 1 9 0 1 Dr I lifi was in charge
o f the Methodist missions in Utah
He
preached in nearly e v ery Methodist church
through out Utah I dah o and Montana
built and de dicated many of them and par
t ic ip a t ed in all the battles for the supremacy
o f t h e American h ome
publi c school and
patriotism from the da ys of Brigham
Young the great leader to Joseph F
Smith the late prophet o f the Mormon
Church
D r I li ff was chairman of the allied Chris
tian and American forces O f Utah success
fully opposing the seating of Brigham H
R oberts
polygamous c ongressman elect
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
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from Utah in 1 89 9 D uring that camp aign
he went into thi rty S tates o f the Union and
his addresses before Conferen c es and public
assemblies had much to do with the uprising
of the Am erican people
H e met Mr
R obert s at the door of the national Con
gress and challenged his right to admission
not because Mr R oberts was a Mormon but
because he was a polygamist He procur ed
witnesses from Utah and was the a ckn owl
edged leader in handling the c ase before the
Congressional Committee
Dr I lifi was assistant secretary of t h e
B oard o f Home Missions and Chur ch E x
tension Methodist E piscopal Chur ch from
1 9 0 1 to 1 9 0 9 during which time he v isited
every State and Territory in the interest of
this society traveling for ty thousand miles
annually a total of over three hundred thou
sand miles
The honorary degree o f D octor o f Di vin
ity was conferred upon hi m by O hio and
De Pauw Univ ersities in 1 8 8 7 o n the same
day
H e married at B elpre O hio Mar ch 22
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B IO GRA PH I C AL
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Mary A daughter of R ichard and
S arah R obinson
F our children o f the
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union are li ving one s on and thr ee d a ugh
ters anoth er three dying in infancy Mrs
I lifi ac c ompanied her husband on hi s first
mi ssionary trip t o the F ar W est and was of
great service to him in hi s work for forty
seven years
Dr I li ff was prominent in Grand Ar my
a ffairs having been department c ommander
and chaplain in chief o f the na
o f Utah
“
Hi s le cture
The
tio na l organiz ation
—
Sunny Side of S oldier L ife Wh at a n O hio
”
Cavalr y B oy S aw in the Ar my h a s been
ven
in
all
s
e
c
tion
s
o
f
t
h
e
c
o
u
ntr
y
The
i
g
“
late Bishop Mc C ab e de clared I t is the best
”
of its kind
He was also an up to date a u
His le c
t hority on the Mormon question
”
ture Mormonism V ersus Americanism
stirred the nation from the Atlantic to the
Pacifi c
F o r a number o f years prior to his death
Dr I lifi lived at Uni versity Park Denver
and took a special interest in the I li fl S chool
O f Theology located there
During thi s
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
period his time was largely given t o l ectur
ing and preaching throughout the land and
in dedicating churches and in raising money
for church purposes
I n 1 880 the Utah Conference honored it
self by sending T h omas Corwin I li ff its min
i s t eria l delegate to the General Conferen c e
which met that year in Cincinnati
T hu s he continued in the activities o f the
church standing at all times in positions of
trust and honor till the time o f his final
release which came in 1 9 1 8 when he h ad
rea ched the ripe age o f seventy two
His niche in the R o cky Mountain c iviliz
ing agencies will not be filled because t h ere
is no need of another o f his kind There
was a di s tin ct pla c e for the sort of work he
di d ; h e wa s the man to do it He did it well
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B le ss ing s
on thee l i ttle man
B arefoot boy w i th c heek of tan !
Wi th thy turned up pantaloon s
A nd thy merry wh is tled t u ne s ;
With thy red l i p redder s t ill
Ki ss ed by s trawberrie s on the hill ;
W ith the s un s hine on thy fa c e
Through thy torn bri m s j aunty gra c e ;
F rom m y heart I g iv e thee j o y
I wa s on c e a barefoot boy !
P rin c e thou art— the grown up m an
O nl y i s republi c an
Whi tti er B a refo o t B oy
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did the nightly chore s
B rought in the w ood from o ut of door s
L i ttered the s tall s and from the mow s
R aked do wn the herd s gra ss for the c ow s ;
H eard the hor s e whinn eying for hi s c orn ;
A nd s harply c la s hing horn on horn
Im patient do wn the s tan chion row s
The c attle s hake their walnut bow s
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S nowbound
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CH A PT ER I I
EARL Y LIFE
rocky hills of the eastern and the
southeastern portion of O hio are not r e
markable for fertility of soil They are rich
in mineral deposits of iron lime and stone
coal The steep escarpments were then and
are yet largely covered with a native growth
of shrubs and briers producing various kinds
o f edible berries
The wicked greenbriers
whose tough vines and poisonous thorns were
the bane o f the lad in bare feet ; the sassafras
tree whose root bark furnishes the tea for
all spring diseases ; the hazel brush that
bears the brown nut wrapped in its acrid
and ruffled husk ; the red service berry ; the
the fox and
W intergreen ( mountain tea )
other wild grapes are specimens o f the lesser
brush so c ommon I t has not been long since
those same hills were heavy with the greater
—
trees the oak O f many kinds chestnut
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
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maple di ff erent hickories walnut and
beech
The staple crop was corn which had a go od
growth on the steeps a s well as in the nar
row valleys S O sharp are these slopes that
a special tool the side hill plow was in
vented for their cultivation The farmer
being unable to go round his field in the
regulation manner of plowing started at
the bott om and plowed to and fro t urning
his mold board at each end of the furrow
“
”
land
until he reached the top of his
I n such regions were born men who made
history for their State their nation or their
church General Ulysses S Grant General
P hilip H Sheridan and Bishop S M Mer
These knew
rill were among this number
th e meani ng o f practical po v er ty and the
achings of him w h o wrung bread from the
poor soil o f the yellow hills where the gin
seng the puccoon the rattle root and other
efficacious herbs were to be found in wild
profusion ; in company with these were the
Sp ikenard and similar
leasant
swee
anise
t
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useful plants
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E A R L Y LIFE
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Thomas Corwin I lifi was born among
these hills and o f parents w h o though poor
in purse were rich in character This bare
”
foot b oy with cheek of tan knew th e ex
o f the
stubbed
toe
t
h
e
stone
er
i
e
n
ce
s
p
bruise chapped feet the trailing dewberry
vine and the lurking bumblebee nests H e
often had t o hunt the c ows through out the
large unfenced pastures and on many a
frosty morning was glad to stand for a few
minutes in the spot warmed by the sleeping
cattle in order t o thaw out his beet red feet
Much of the land was then uncleared of
its prime v al forests and these boundless
woods abounded in game
Deer and the
wild turkey were common ; the wild pigeons
had their ro o sts among the giant trees in
such number s that the branches were often
shattered by their sheer weight
S o abundant were these woods that the
farmers were continually compelled to clear
o ut new fields
S ome of the logs were made
into fen c e rails and the remainder burned
in great log heaps The rails were made
by splitting with maul iron wedge a nd d og
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
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wood glut ; the walnut the oak and the
chestnut furnished the most o f such rail
material in the earlier years F or the mak
ing of these log heaps a log rollin g was
necessary A boy would be sent to a dozen
farms pleasantly to notify the p a ter fa milias
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“
that his p ap was going to have a log roll
”
ing fr olic on such and such a day and in
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vit ed hi m to
come over and bring hi s
”
hand spike along
S ometimes the farm
er s wife would send word to the ma ter
”
“
m
l
to
come
over
along
although
i
a
s
a
i
f
thi s was usually included in the invitation
given to the head of the house By a queer
custom these in vitations were considered im
r a t iv e unless there were other pressing de
e
p
“
”
mands I t was the law of the pack a p art
of the un w ritten community regul ation
A t these gatherings there were sparring
matches for the younger men ; for often at
the dinner hour there would be wrestling
j umping and other such homely sport ; but
in the field while they worked like titans they
t ilted each other in feats of str ength such as
lifting the massive logs on their handspikes
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
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picking quilting carpet rag sewing and
many others common to such society ; for
they were all queens of the happy land where
there was enj oyed a perfect comm unism far
above any that smacks o f politics These
neighbors were truly keepers o f each other
and one another s interests in a way not t o
be compared to any plan evolved by any
mechanical system as yet advertised
There is a class o f teachers who declare in
general and most vehement terms that
poverty is the main cause o f sin v ice and
crime T o the one eyed dreamer this seems
true and he may be honest in his expression
because of his ignorance ; but ignorance cur
able by careful painstaking and unprej u
i
d ced observation seeking for the Whole
truth is not long to be called honesty but
dangerous prej udice O pen eyed O bservers
know true religion and dire po v erty can and
do exist under the same roof and in the same
life The rugged guttered gulches and the
briery fields o f O hio have not been known
as the best localities from which t o grow
criminals People more sturdy in religiou s
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EAR L Y LIFE
5
living and moral character do not exist than
they o f that portion of the Buckeye State
The practical principles o f Jesus find ready
acceptan c e in the hearts and li v es of these
”
“
plain people of the hi lls
B orn within the boundaries o f the same
county Perry both I li ff and Sheridan had
in them the metal and the mettle for the
mos t rigid fires and truest development
“
They did not grasp the skirts of happy
”
“
chance but they did breast the blow s o f
circumstance
Patriotism of the first water has e v er
had a home in the hill country o f every land
E very nation has taken lessons from the
Swiss Poverty patriotism and righ teous
ness are an inseparable tria d These t oo
compose the foundations of true ambition
“
”
T hen as now the woods were full o f
the appointments of the itinerating Meth
odist preacher who counted it a year lost
and who received a reprimand o f some sort
at Conference if he had not held successful
revival meetings on their huge circuits I n
the little o l d I li ff Chapel whose modest s uc
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
36
cessor is pi ctured on another page Tommy
was converted and at the age of s ixteen was
a class leader
Thus it was not by accident that O hio
produced such generals as Grant Sherman
Sheridan ; such statesmen as John Sherman
Garfield M c K inley ; such a littera teur as
W D Howells ; s uch churchmen as Merrill
M c C ab e Moore Cranston and many con
temporaries O nce Mr M c Kinley was asked
Why O hio had so many men capable o f filling
any Office or posi tion on earth ; he did not
“
modestly p arry the question but said ! I t
is be c ause of the many small colleges O hio
”
has
I n such surroundings breathing the deep
est draughts of physical mental and Spirit
ual purity our friend lived till he was called
t o the color s by the Ci vil W ar and ser v ed
to its close
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L URE OF G OL D
thee more s tately man s ion s O my s oul
A s the s w i ft s ea s on s roll !
L ea v e thy low v a u lted pa s t !
L et ea ch new temple nobler than the la s t
S hut thee from hea v en with a do m e more v a s t
T i ll thou at length art free
L ea v ing thine outgrown s hell by life s unre s ting
s ea
—0 liver Wend ell H olmes
B uild
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CH A PT ER I II
L URE O F G OL D
lure of gold and th e lure o f the home
were among the v ery earlie s t motiv es and
s entim ents causing the permanent civiliza
tion of the Great W est A dventure p ure
and simple was another mighty factor but
it brings no permanency
The R ocky Mountain row of bristling
giants ranging themselve s formidably are
“
”
the ancient free and a c cepted guardians
and are popularly
o f wealt h in c al c ulable
”
known a s Uncle S am s strong bo x Those
“
”
h oary peak s t h at proudly p rop the skies
are s tubborn arm s o f lo v e which embrace
uphold and maintain th e treasures of metals
galore ; the s oil mak ing material s gradu
ally and steadily being triturated from the
perishable cli ffs through the a ction of the
ceaseless and regular c ataclysms o f the fine
grin d ing mills of nature ; they hold in their
THE
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
40
frost dammed arms reservoir s not made
with hands the innumerable fountains to
feed the Misso uris the Color a dos the C o
l umbia s and the other carriers of fresh water
to the thirsty salt sated o c eans B eside s the s e
good offic es the lordly hills s tand unc on
quered warders pushing back the crazy
cyclone that would invade our intra mural
v alleys ; shunting aside t h e unconge ni al
norther whi ch t o find room for it s ugli
nes s mu s t s eek Tex a s K an s as or some
other O pen region ; forbidding the entran c e
desired by the ninety mile gale that s ome
time s attempt s to sweep o v er the Cas c ades
but which has to die beaten to death on their
westward slopes
The love of gold lured men westward into
the hard h earted hills Hood has it !
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Gold gold gold gold ;
H ea v y to get and hard to hold
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Pollo ck s ays
Gold many hunted s weat and bled for gold ;
W aked all the night and labored a ll the d a y
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42
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
camps which grew sometimes into set
t lements
The good government sent his
irregular mail to him and not only enlarged
the trail he had instinctively surveyed wit h
his life but made it safe Thither the minis
ter went be c ause the people were there ; for
where men and women abound more or less
of sin abounds The lure o f gold thus h ad
its part in calling the pioneer preacher
l is hed
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L URE
T HE
OF
H O ME
Man never can be considered complete
The nucleus of the
until he has a home
h ome is the sensible man married to the same
sor t o f woman ; a lo v er lo ving a lovable wife
The homeless man is a rolling stone a
floater ; flotsam sooner or later t o become
j etsam He is often almost a nameless
entity
The safest serenest most soul
satisfying spot known on earth is the home
the place nearest heaven
The o vercrowded centers e veryw here are
merely multiplying agencies scat tering their
expressed and superabounding units like
spores t o float finally t o s ome s uitable a n
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L URE O F G OL D
43
elsewhere Thus new hom es are
founded new c enters formed new c ommu
nities fostered
The price man has p aid for his home is
absolutely incalculable He has paid for it
with his life at the hand of the lurking sav
age ; sometim es it was with the life of his
wife and children in the same manner as
also in the dangers incident on travel in new
lands He has paid for it in years o f toil
and disappointment ; in poverty and tears ;
in battles with new climates wild beasts and
wilder men These were only second pay
ments howe v er The first heart breaking
payment w as made when loved ones were left
behind holy hearthstones abandoned sacred
shr ines forsaken ; grass grown graves which
were never to be seen again These are par
tial p ayments although first ones I n the
earlier days few if any pioneers expected
ever to see the older home again They gave
all the Old for the new
c hora ge
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L URE
OF
S O UL S
The h ome mak ers had been trekking into
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
44
I daho Utah Montana and everywhere
among the W estern uplands The intensely
fertile valleys were opening their pent up
treasures to the farmer under his magic
wand the plow O ne point in I daho was
far far away from the nearest railway ; and
this was the twentieth century
The Conference had appointed F ather
Hawkins a man j ust past the prime o f his
able life to be tra il breaker to this valley
There was but one way whereby this new cir
cuit of immensity could be reached ; that was
by team and wagon His wife and daughter
assisted in the final preparation and these
two women had charge of one of the two big
wagons ; the minister cared for the other
I dyllic I daho vies with ozonic O regon in
salubrity Of atmosphere and desirable
autumn days The month was S eptember
F rom the fat v alleys Of the Snake and the
B oise they ascended the u mbrageous uplands
among the sweet scented firs and lordly
pines Days passed slowly as the heavy
vehicles were toilsomely drawn up the roofy
s lopes The evenings were E lysian The
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L URE O F G OL D
5
’
decepti v e winds whispered the night s lul
laby o f pea c e a s they s ang the tired s oul
hunters to sleep in their sky c o v ered bed s
The meal s were c ook ed at the c ampfire s and
needed no peptoni c aid for digestion Su c h
a j ourney in su ch a region under s o h app y
surrounding s c an ea s ily be made too short
They h ad rea ched the high pas s at th e top
o f the last ridge o f hi ll s and were preparing
for the angry des c ent toward their new field
o f labor
Their road was little more th an
a widened deer trail down a granite ledge
never intended for human foo t or v ehicle
The wheels were carefull y rough lo cked
a
log
c
hain
o fi x ed that it would remain
s
(
between the dead wh eel and t h e earth ) and
the c areful father went down with his pon
dero ns load ; reach ing t h e foot of t h e most
dangerous escarpment a real precipi c e h e
stopped love held t o wat ch the oth er team
safely down
“
B e careful mamma he called
”
W e re all right father wa s the c on
fid ent reply as they scanned the s teep
Just then the deadened wheel s tru ck a
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46
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
bump causing the other wheels t o skid and
even as he looked the wagon with its pre
c io us co ntents t umbled over sidewise
down
into a gulch filled with the accumulated
—
debris o f many a winter logs brush and
rocks
Doubtless thinking they were killed or
badly inj ured neither of which was the fact
they escaping with minor cuts and bruises
the pioneer preacher s mind gave way F or
ten years he lingered The last months of
his life were endured with v ery acute mental
and physical su ffering and much of the t ime
force was required to restrain his acts a l
though he was harmless as to individuals
“
O ften he would be heard muttering 0
that terrible mountain ! that terrible moun
tain ! That awful scene and moment of the
years agone were indelibly pictured on the
retina of his memory
The writer often visited him and had
from his lips a great testimony supra
naturally given I n the su ff erer s worst and
wildest delirium he would slip to the side
o f his disordered bed and repeat in his ear
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L URE O F G OLD
47
a ri c h promi se from the B ook or repeat a
stanza o f our great hymn colle ction At
once he was quieted and sane as ever in his
long and useful life and for the nonce
“
rational I f it was I n my F ather s house
are many mansions he would at once point
”
“
upward and say Ye s there there ; or he
would j oin in a s ong of praise and faith
L ost t o the fleeting world and all its v ain
interests untouched and unreachable by
mundane reasoning he was at home in things
“
”
spiritual ; he was founded upon the R ock
O ne day the angels came called and
beckoned He understood ; he looked up
smiled and went
“
The lure o f souls had called th e church
to send him He went not knowing whither
or to what but it was done most willingly
He went faithful to death
This member of the I daho Conferen c e is
a ty pe
I t was t o t h ose who were thus lured into
the wondrous W e s t that the home mission
aries went
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Vi s ion s
of glory s pare my a ching s ight !
,
T h oma s Gra y
.
CH AP T ER IV
AN H ONE S T IN D IAN
was during the days o f pioneer turhu
lence when the oncoming waves o f white set
t l er s were breaking with lashing fury on the
native I ndians that these Chris tian trail
makers had experiences of most thr illing in
Brave men they were who went out
t er es t
to meet and to conquer the opposing force s
whether in man or nature ; yet in many ways
were the women braver for they had to stay
at home not knowing at what time or in
what manner they might be visited or a t
t acked by the wondering and wandering red
man
Mrs I li ff while retiring and unassuming
was nevertheless as courageous as any o f the
“
”
fellow pioneers among the stern sex
She
relates the following incident in their early
Montana experiences as one among many
“
I t was in the fall of 1 873 while we were
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
52
living in B ozeman The N ez Perce I ndians
were a wild ro ving tribe though not hostile
to the whites at that t ime I t was their habit
every summer to go to the Yellowstone
country to hunt bu ffalo ; and as this region
was inhabited by the Siou x and looked upon
by them a s their exclusiv e po s session any
invasion by the other tribes in variably re
s ult ed in conflict between them and the a g
r
es
so
r
s
The
N
ez
Perce
never
too
k
their
g
squaws into the danger zone but s c attered
them in and about B ozeman ( which was
then but a small village ) safely quartered
in their tepees They were habitual beggars
and a constant source of annoyance to the
few whites ; alm ost e v ery day they came to
the houses asking for co ffee tea hoggy
meat
bis sykit
bread
and
sometimes
)
(
o ffering dirty bu ff alo tongue in exchange
“
O n one occasion Am os chief medicine
man for the tribe came stalking into my
kitchen ( for the I ndian never s tops to
knock at a door ) bringing with him four or
five dozen eggs for me to boil for him I
was a tenderfoot in every sense of the word
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TH E H ONE S T IN D IAN
53
in the world I knew of I ndians I had
read in books and that only of their sav
agery and thirst for blood ; so because o f
abj ect fear I never deni ed an I n di an his
request and even pretended t o be more than
glad to a cc ommodate the big medicine man
by granting his simple request
I w as
utterly alone that day
“
When he returned from his hunt in the
fall late toward winter he lost no time in
coming t o the house W ith great appear
ance of honest pride he thrust hi s hand into
an old di rty gunny sack he had and brought
o ut
six S ioux s calps ex c laiming ! Ugh
heap big pre s ent ! Ki ll S ioux take sc alp !
Present ! He had learned a few E nglish
words sufficient at least to make hims elf
understood O f cour se I could not do other
wise than express my delight
and
thanks
“
When it is recalled that an I ndian s rank
depends upon the number o f scalps taken
from the enemy warriors and that th ey mean
more than bu ffalo robes ponies or j ewels
we can appreciate the depth of gratitude this
Al l
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
Ch ief Amos really expressed in O ffering that
unique gift in repay for the small act of
”
boiling his egg s
These scalps were made use o f in an un
usual way afterward
Chaplain M c C a b e was Mrs I li ff s cousin
When he became missionary secretary he
found much interes t in the ere ction o f F irst
Church in S alt L ake City the building that
was located on Third S outh Street F or
years it stood uncompleted while many a
passer by laughed in his sleeve at what he
thought was a white elephant and a failure
o f the Methodists
But the valorous chaplain ne v er defeated
even in L ibby Prison knew the story o f his
cousin Mary then living in S alt L ake City
and procuring thos e long dried scalps he
made a tour o f the United States pleading
for h i s cousin in law s S alt L ake City
church ; and waving those ghastly trophies
of the warpath he told in his own matchless
”
“
manner the story of their obtaining Thus
“
as Dr I li ff used to say Chaplain M c C a b e
waved these gruesome scalps o ver the heads
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DR
SO
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I LI FF
Wel l
A ND
Kno w n
as
BR
th e
OT H E R
H ea v en l y
VA N,
”
T w i ns
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
56
host j oining with him in fer v ent tears and
halleluj ahs
“
These Twins were like the Siamese
Chang and E ng and v ery
ins ep ar
able
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,
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V
TH E VE T ERAN OF TH E U NI T E D
S T A T E S AR MY REENLI S T S
CH AP T ER V
TH E VE T ERAN O F TH E U NI T E D
S T A T E S AR MY REENLI S T S
YO UN G I li ff belonged t o that manly band
“
O f patriots who had become old soldiers
many o f them while yet in their later teens
and he had the fortitude and the good sense
to forsake the roof tree o f his father and go
W est
The experiences of the Civil W ar had
given to the soldiers o f both armies a widened
h orizon They were nOt the men who went
o ut to fight
There was now for them some
thing more than the narrow neighborhood
o f their birth ; their myopic sight had b e
come telescopic At once while animosities
were settling ; after peace had come ; after
those two gentlemen L ee and Grant had
met at Appomattox Courthouse many
many of them found their way to the mighty
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60
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
new W est j ust then coming into greater
national notice The unmeasured deposits
o f gold had been well heralded the new dis
c ov eries of silver and lead were attracting
the hungry eyes of a nation so nearly de
money
by
the
four
year
war
t
ed
o
f
l
e
p
B etter than all this was the vast unexplored
wealth of the exhaustless plains where as
yet roamed the myriads of bison I f good
for the wild beast why not good for the
!
domestic animal Thus the lovers of stock
reasoned and imm ediately began the expl or
ing and preempting o f the limitless range s
for their herds yet to be
The soldiers of whom ! enophon wrote in
h i s An abasis were never the same men who
went out to conquer the world They of
C aes ar became geographers and travelers
after the c ampaigns o f Gallia Brittania and
”
Ne p lus ultra had in their
Germania
minds an app lication and mean ing not in
tended probably by him who first uttered
“
N othing beyond
i t ; to these men it meant
my power to exp lore or discover
They
went e v erywhere They took home knowl
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E
R
I
D
L
S
S
A
D
E
K
O
A
O
O
H OW H E L
C
V
h
0
9
t
o
T
s
A
C
l
i
ff
I
o
a
C
m
h
S er g ea nt
rab l y
o
o
n
H
n
ra
h
o
c
C
T
s
a
J
h om
C a p ta i n
u
l
J
C
n
N
o
y
t
s
x
i
n
L
e
d
t
a
e
r
g
Di c h a g
e
r
b
t
o
c
d
i
t
e
l
e
n
s
O
e
H
20 1 8 6 5
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
62
of th irst The v ast tracts marked in the
geographies of the schooldays of these sol
“
”
diers The Great American Desert were
to be trans formed to titani c fields of N ilotic
richness
The o l d soldi er did these things all and
many more I nstead of becoming a menace
to Am erica as prophesied by E uropean
crowned heads and their hangers on these
men if of N orth or S outh who fought not
for glory but for liberty and principle set
to work at once to show the world the mean
i ng o f enf ranchi sed manhood
The world
looked on amazed ; it became instructed and
is now shoulder to shoulder doing its best
to create for all lands the ideals we have so
long held for ourselves
The o ld soldier became the mi ner the
cattle raiser the farmer the school teacher
the mi ni ster the business man the railway
constructor the th inker the prophet ; in
short he leaped at once into the active heart
of progressive and constructive activity o n
all practical subj ects from the Mississippi
to the Pacific and from the in visible Cana
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TH E VE T ERAN REENLI ST S
63
dian line to the tropical sands o f Mexico
He dis co v ered the truth of Milton s word
.
’
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hath her vi c torie s
”
NO le ss renowned than war
“
P ea c e
.
Among such conditions and people the
young groom t oo k his bride He married
Miss Mary R obinson cousin o f him who was
best known as Chaplain ( afterward Bishop )
M c C a b e At once they plunged into the
W estern depths too deep ever to be ex tri
“
lure of souls went
c a t ed and following the
t o be missionaries into the wilds that waited
all too impatiently for the coming of those
that were to subdue them The gulches o f
Montana whither they fir st were sent were
filled with wild beasts and wilder men and
women Much of the former ci vilization of
these they here found had been deposited
with the ancient remains o f F erdinand de
S oto in the Mississippi when they crossed
it from their E astern homes T oo many
men carried the law in their hip pockets and
the supreme court was the man who was
quickest of trigger
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
64
But it was American brain and brawn
Appomattox had settled the di fferences b e
tween the States ; s ated with strife and sick
of it but highly satisfied with the res ul ts
the men of the gray vied with them o f the
blue in making our country one to be r e
s p ect ed as well as loved
I n some portions
whole settlements were made up of S outhern
“
soldiers and their followers
The left wing
o f Pri c e s Ar my is cre di ted with a number
and if the right wing was
o f communities
as large as thi s left wing Pri c e s Army must
have been a pretty large bird But it mat
t er ed not t o these broad minded men of the
“
”
new country ; all were Americans and
ready to fight again for the perpetuation of
the new peace and th e better under s tanding
ong all citizens
.
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VI
P REA CH ER S A S S T A T E S ME N
P re s ident
T he
L
in
c
oln
di
s
c
o
v
ered
v
er
y
!
!
i ss ue s O f the war be ing mo ral the
ui
c
kly
that
the
q
s upport o f the ch u r che s wa s o f the la s t i m por
tan c e to him H e knew well that no men under
s tood the people s o thoroughly a s the M ethod is t
b ishop s wh o being without d i o c e s e s were c on
t inua lly pa ssi ng o v er the length and breadth of
—
the lan d G R C r o o ks D D
of B i s h op
,
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S imp s on
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,
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,
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CH AP T ER VI
P REA CH ER S A S S T A T E S M EN
is known that in times of great di stre ss
and when fundamental issues are at stake
the ministry in our denominations have been
drafted to supply the strength Of their lives
I t was so when the Continental Congress
was struggling to find the sure way to lay
right foundations for our baby republic
The R ev Jacob Duche was asked t o attend
the meetings and pray for di vine gui dance
Bishop S immon was the adviser of Abra
ham L incoln at tim es spending the whole
night in prayer with that overtaxed soul
I n the Spanish Am erican W ar Dr I li ff
was a trusted friend and counselor of Pre s i
dent M c K inl ey
When Brigham H R oberts the avowed
polygamist had been elected member of
Congress by the Utah L egislature Dr I li ff
said ! I f Mr R oberts attempts to enter the
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
68
halls of Congress I will be heard in e very
State of the Union
He made his word good and when the
case was before Congress itself for investi
n
a
t
i
o
and
settlement
the
patriotic
preach
g
er appeared to give evidence The res ult
was the rej ection o f the congress man elect
His statesmanship is shown even in better
light in the fact that knowing and prophesy
ing the result the primary mission school
would have on the Mormon public he fo s
t er ed and encouraged their introduction and
their c ontinuance These alarmi ng centers
planted so widely among the p eop le fr om
O xford I daho to S aint George Utah b e
c ame so productive o f a new sentiment in
the expanding minds o f the students that a
halt was deemed necessary by the dominant
church and W ilford W oodru ff the presi
”
“
dent received the revelation which event
ua ll y brought about Statehood for Utah an
act o f itself so mi s understood by the mission
ary societies of the churche s that s uppor t
was graduall y withdrawn
He encouraged the entran c e of th e W om
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LE CTURE M OR M ONI S M 3A M EN
A C E T O TH E NA T IO N
kingdom i s e s tabl is hed I t i s upon the
earth
The kingdom we are talki ng about
prea ching about and trying to buil d up i s the
—
i
k ngdom of God on earth not in the s tarry
hea v en s no r in the s un ; w e are trying to e s tab
l is h the ki ngdom Of God on the earth to whi ch
really and properly e v erything perta i ning to
men their faith their feel i ngs their c on vic t i on s
their de s ire s and e v ery a c t of their li v e s belong
that they may be s ealed by it s pi ritually and
te m porall y W e are c alled upon to e s tabli s h the
kingdom of God literall y j u s t a s m uch a s s p i r i t
ua ll y
T here i s no man o n earth who c an re c e iv e
the kingdom of God in h is heart and be go v ern ed
a c c ord i ng to the law s of that kingdom w i tho u t
be ing go v erned and c ontrolled in all temporal
—
m atter s S ermon by B righa m Young i n th e
The
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Jo urna l
o
f
D i s c ours es
,
Vol I V, p 7 7
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CH A PT ER VI I
—
LE CTURE
M OR M ONI S M A M EN
A C E T O TH E NA T I ON
I H AVE had O pportunity of knowing
Mormonism I have lived in Utah and in
adj oining States since 1 870 with residence
in S alt L ake City for a quarter of a cen
tury I ha v e mingled with the c ommon peo
ple from British possessions to Ar izona ;
have studied their history read their books
met and heard Brigham Young and all his
successors John Taylor Wilford W ood
ru ff L orenzo Snow and Joseph F Smith ;
their Twelve Apostles presidents bishops
and teachers I ought t o know whereof I
speak Duty and not pleasure constrains
me to indict Mormonism on its own record
before the bar of history I t is the ins titu
tion and the hierarchy that is on trial I
bear willing testimony that the masses of
the Mormon people are peaceable indus
t rious temperate and t o the e x tent O f their
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
74
knowledge and freedom well meaning c iti
zens F rom the days of Joseph Smith the
founder to the present ruling prophet ( his
nephew Joseph F 3 ) th ere has been serious
trouble between the leaders of the Mormon
Church and the government of the Uni ted
S tates I t is the part o f the speaker t o r e
v iew this confli ct assign reasons and gi v e
results
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W H Y Is M ORM O NI S M
M ENACE
A
T HE
To
N ATI O N !
The four corner stones of the temple of
li berty reared by our fathers are !
The true idea o f God and his revelation
to man ;
The true spirit of patriotism
O ne coun
try and one flag S eparation o f church and
state ;
The true American school and no inter
ference by priest prophet o r pope ;
—
The true idea o f the home one wife and
only o ne at a time and she the crowned
queen of that household
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1
D ie d
at
Sa lt La ke C ity U t a h, Nov emb er 1 9 , 1 9 1 8
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LE C T U R E M OR M ON I SM
75
Whatever mena c es these essential corner
stones is a menace to the grandest republi c
the world has ever known
Mormonism j udged by its history by its
doctrines by its teach ings and b y it s pra c
tices is a menace t o each and every o ne of
these corner stones Hence the irrepressible
conflict of the past eighty y ear s
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JO SEP H
S MIT H F O UNDER
,
A ND
P R O P H ET
Joseph Smith was born at Sharon V er
mont December 2 3 1 8 05 When ten years
o l d his family moved to the State o f N ew
York At the age o f seventeen he said an
angel directed him to a hill where he found
golden plates upon whi c h was written the
B ook o f Mormon The Mormon Church
was organized at Pa lmyra N ew York
A pril 6 1 830 Headquarters were estab
lis h ed in the town of K irtland O hio in the
early 3 0 s
Trouble soon c ompelled Smith to mo v e
to the F ar W est and then t o I ndependen c e
Missouri Here more trouble came cul
mina ting in an armed c onflict between t h em
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
and the Missourians They then migrated
to I llinois and built the town o f N auvoo
Smith was having revelations t o suit his
ambition and c onvenien c e He claimed to
be God s vicegerent with divine authority
to rule in all a ffairs to take possession of
property wives and daughters belonging to
other folks
Here amid great e x citement at N au v oo
and throughout I llinois and Missouri Smith
and his brother Hyrum with other leaders
were placed in j ail at Carthage charged with
treason and other lesser crimes O n June
2 7 1 8 44 a band o f hundreds of men stormed
the j ail and fired upon these pri s oners
Joseph and his brother were kill ed
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B RI G H AM
Y O UN G
At
the death o f Smith Brigham Young
the greatest leader the church e v er had be
came president prophet seer and revelator
He realized that the Mormon kingdom
would ne ver be tolerated by Christian civili
z a t ion and began at on c e t o isolate his fo l
”
“
lower s from all c onta ct with the Gentile
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
78
claimed to the world Smith s revelation on
polygamy and ordered its practice H e
established the custom in Utah and took to
himself a score or more of polygamous wives
and required the apostles and other leaders
to follow his example He blackened his
rec ord with the Mountain Meadow Massacre
and other atrocious crimes such as compose
the darkest pages of Am erican history He
organized the state o f Deseret and sent
representatives to W ashington demanding
its recognition He compell ed the go v ern
ment to send the United States army to
Utah in 1 8 5 8 to put down a Mormon rebel
lion costing the nation a million of dollars
as well as hun dr eds of lives through expo
sur e He never acknowledged the Uni ted
States authority to the day of hi s death in
1 8 77 except when forced to do so or when
it s uited his scheme The remotest sugges
tion that Brigham Young s statue be placed
in the Hall Of F ame at W ashington or his
picture put on the s ilverware of the battle
ship Utah is disgusting and properly meets
with an outburst o f indign ation
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LE C T U R E M OR M ONI SM
U NITED S TATE S
79
UTA H
IN
N ow the government had a distin cti v e
mission in Utah and thi s address has s pe
c ia lly t o do with this phase of the problem
F rom Brigham Young t o the present day
the Mormon hierarchy has claimed di vine
”
right to build up an imp erium in imp erio
in the heart of the R ocky Mountains un
American and destructive o f the foundations
o f the republic
The duty of the nation was
“
iI np er a tive
E ternal Vigilan c e is the pri c e
”
o f liberty
A s early as 1 8 6 2 Congress enacted law s
against polygamy in Utah and again in
1 870
They were denounced and defied by
Brigham Young The first e ffective blow
that was dealt the Mormon monster in Utah
was in 1 8 8 0 when E li H Murray was a p
pointed territor ial govern or O ther s had
filled the Offic e including Young himself but
General Murray will forev er stand o ut as
the great governor of Utah There was not
gold enough in the R ocky Mountains t o buy
him The denunciations and threats of the
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
hierarchy only served to inspire him for the
inevitable crisis The opportunity soon pre
sented itself The election for delegate to
Congress was soon after held and George
! Cannon first counselor to the ne w pr Oph
et seer and revelator John Taylor was re
elected having already served five terms
and who in W ashington and over the coun
try boasted his four wives When Governor
Murray was asked for the certificate of elec
tion entitling Mr Cannon to take his seat
for the sixth time it was emphatically re
fused and the consequences were challenged
This patriotic act of Governor Murray
transferred the conflict from S alt L ake City
to W ashington for Cannon was compelled
to make his appeal at the door of the na
t iona l c apital forcing the issue directly upon
Congress
Meantime something happened Wh en
the women o f the land irrespective of church
or party or section o f country rea l ized that
they h ad a champion at the front in the per
son o f Governor Murray who had the cour
age o f his convictions even at the peril of
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LE CTURE
M OR M ONI S M
81
his life they rallied to hi s slogan N o polyg
”
a mi s t need apply !
Congress was forced to obey the protest
that came up from every di strict of e v ery
State of the Union The result was that
George ! Cannon first counselor to the
prophet seer and revelator had to hie him
self back to Utah harem to look after his
increasing family cares That was the first
ray of light that gleamed from the nation s
capital into the dark v alleys o f Utah ; and
we are indebted to the women o f the land
for that daydawn Public conscience in and
out of Congress was so aroused that quickly
were passed the E dmunds and E dmunds
Tucker Bills E dmunds was a R epubli c an
senator from V ermont and Tucker a Demo
cratic representative from V irginia I t was
—
no political question then the sanctit y o f
the American Christian home should be pre
served
The enforcement Of these laws neces s i
t a t ed one o f three things ! obedience en
forced exile or the peni tentiary I sat in
the S alt L ake Tabernacle and heard leader
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
after leader denounce and insult the women
who had amended the measure the Congress
that passed it the President that approved
it and the courts that enforced it They
“
urged the people to disregard the laws li v e
”
their religion ( polygamy ) assuring them
that the Mormon God woul d break in pieces
the nation Hundreds including apostles
presidents o f stakes bishops and others
were imprisoned ; hundreds went on the
“
”
underground or fled to foreign countries
although every one was O ffered freedom if
he would obey the law George ! Cannon
in an address declared
The go vernm ent
will be as powerless in the future as it has
been in the past to enforce the anti polyg
”
amy law
N evertheless on his way from
“
W ashington he himself took to the under
”
ground railway when it had become effec
tive in Utah
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P RE S I DENT W OODRUFF S M ANIFE ST O
’
The hierarchy soon became tired o f play
ing the martyr ; also there was pending b e
fore Congress legislation that would deprive
84
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
I t was specified that said property should
be used only for the relief of the poor Of the
chur ch for education o f its children and
for the buil di ng and repair o f houses of wor
ship in which the rightfuln ess of the practice
of polygamy should not be incul cated
N ever were pledges more definitely made to
the nation and never so defiantly violated
as these were broken by the hierarchy All
the while politicians of both parties in
W ashington and in Utah and leaders of
the Mormon Church were coquetting for
Statehood ; e a ch courting favors and makin g
promises that Utah would be a R epublican
“
or a Democratic State Many o f the old
”
Gentile Guard opposed the movement de
c l a ring it would be neither R epublican nor
Democratic but Mormon first last and
always
The following was passed by the Confer
ence of the Methodists at the ir session in
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1 89 1
SE C
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3
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C o mmi t te e
on
S ta te
o
f
A fia i rs in Ut a h
.
Wh il e e ff ort s are be i ng made in S alt L ake and
thro u ghout U tah t o organ i z e nat i onal po lit ic al
—
LE C T U R E M OR M ONI S M
85
partie s w e bel i ev e the ti m e s are not yet ripe for
such mo v ement W e fear the formation o f su c h
party l i ne s w ill giv e opport u n i ty for M ormon is m
to m a s k i t s p u rpo s e s and u nder the guis e of polit
i c al patronage t o s e c u re the admissi on of U tah
a s a S tate and then by it s large ma j or i ty to
O btain c ontrol O f U tah pol i ti cs and re s tore a ll
the c ond i t i on s o f the pa s t whi c h it ha s c o s t s o
mu ch to o v erthrow
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ever utteranc e more prophetic !
O n July 4 1 8 9 6 the forty fifth star was
“
placed on the F lag of Stars a monu
mental mistake for which both R epublican
and Democratic leaders are responsible The
day for the launching of Statehood and in
a ugur a t ing its O fficials was a great occasion
as
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I NAU GURATI O N
OF
G ovE R NOR
H M WELL S
.
.
The exercises were held in the S alt L ake
Tabernacle The day preceding the event
I was waited upon by the committee in
charge and invited to be one O f the two
chaplains of ceremonies ; President Wilford
W oodr u ff had been sele cted for the other
I reported for duty the next morning T O
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
86
my utter amazement I was honored with
a seat in the prophet s carriage and it led
the parade through the streets of the city
”
o f the Saints
Gentile boys from the house
tops and from telegraph poles piped out
“
Hello I li ff ! When did you j oin the Mor
”
“
”
!
!
mons
How many wives have you got
By and by the procession halted in front
of the Tabernacle The police opened the
way through the surging crow d into thé
packed building I was instructed to hold
o n to the prophet s arm who led me down
the aisle up the steps passing by bishops
apostles and elders to the chief seat in the
S anhedrin while the great organ pealed and
the multitude shouted President W ood
ru ff by his first counselor George ! Can
n on opened with a prayer which he said the
L ord had dictated to him the night before
I closed the exercises with a prayer which
though I say it reverently the L ord may
not have dictated ; for I felt sure that Con
gress and the country had been deceived
I n less than twelve months after the act
o f granting Statehood to Utah was com
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LE C T U R E M OR M ONI SM
87
polygamy was res umed if in fact
it was ever abandoned except by the very
few ; and dictation by the Mormon leaders
o n political matters was so intolerable that
it caused a temporary rupture among the
hierarchy itself
et e d
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B RI G H AM
H R O B ERTS
.
I n less than three years the whole nation
was shocked at the election of a polygami st
Brigham H R oberts to the fifty sixth C on
gress I t was as natural as it was defiant
Brigham Young in 1 8 72 made the declara
tion that he would fool both the political
parties and get Statehood for Utah and
then cram polygamy down the throat of the
Congress Both parties had been fooled ;
Statehood had been secured but the remain
ing part o f Brigham s prophecy must be ful
filled The polygamist , R oberts h a d been
selected for the high privilege o f cramming
polygamy down the throat of the fifty sixth
Congress I appealed personally to Apostle
John Henry Smith H on W W R iter
and other leaders with whom I h a d friendly
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
88
relations t o hav e R oberts c alled o ff by the
church authorities assuring them that the
Protestant churches and the women o f the
land would never su ff er a polygamist to have
a seat in the Congress of the United States
O f course my entreaties received no seri
o us consideration and Brigham H R oberts
was sent by t he hierarchy o f Utah to pollute
the House o f R epresentatives
F ollowing the election o f Mr R oberts a
meeting of the Protestant clergy was held
in S alt L ake City to devise plans for pro
testing against his admission to Congress
I t resulted in the appointment o f a commit
tee Of three with full power to prepare and
present to the country at large and to Con
gress in p articular charges and remon
I was honored with the chairman
s tra nc e s
ship Of this committee The R ev Dr W
M Paden pastor of the F irst Presbyterian
Church and the R ev C T Brown pastor
o f the F irst Congregational Church both of
S alt L ake were the other members
I
spoke in thirty States of the Union before
Conferences Presbyteries mass meetings
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LE C T U R E
M OR M ONI SM
89
societies o f women traveling from Maine t o
California and from Minnesota to F lorida ;
all t o help the women in arousing publi c
sentiment
,
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R E J ECTI O N
OF
R OB ER T S
Three weeks before the meeting o f Con
gress I went to see the Hon C H Gros
v en or o f O hio enlisting the sympathy and
the patriotic force o f himself and others
members of Congress with the well known
—
result the prevention of Mr R oberts from
taking the coveted seat
The rej ection o f Brigham H R oberts by
the fifty sixth Congress was the severest
puni shm ent ever infli cted upon the Mormon
hierarchy and some of us who were active in
the movement will never be forgi ven
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T W IN S
THE
O ne O f the plural wives o f Mr R obert s
had borne him twins The S alt L ake Trib
un e a non Mormon daily had a wide awake
cartoonist w ho made much capital of the
fact Wh en the gentleman ele ct started for
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
90
W ashington to gain his contested seat this
cartoon man brought out a picture of the
innocent chil d ren holding hands and danc
ing saying
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ho there goe s p a
D own to W a s hington
B ut he won t take ma
Oh,
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When the sad end came and with head
not so erect the disappointed man had to
return home to the bosoms o f his family the
same innocents were again dancing saying
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ho here c o m e s pa
B a c k from W a s h i ngton ;
T O O mu c h ma
Oh ,
,
But the Mormon monster is neither dead
nor dying When Brigham Young died in
churchm en statesmen and editors
1 8 77
over the country said Mormonism will
”
now go to pieces
Senator Mark Hanna
that astute and far seeing politician said to
me in W ashington city soon after the r e
ec
t
i
o
n
of
Mr
R
oberts
I
li
f
f
you
ought
to
j
let up on the Mormons now ; they will be
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
few thousand Mormons so close was the
vote in the State that both political parties
cour ted the favor of Joseph Smith N auvoo
was granted such pri vileges by the L egisla
ture that it was next to impossible to make
an arrest within the municipality I t was a
law unto itself F inally a mob put an end
to the outrages The same political con
I n the final
di tio ns preva il to day in Utah
analysis one man Jos ep h F S mith d ic ta tes
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I f Utah were the only State involved the
menace would not be so serious ; but the pur
pose is to sec ure the balance of power in
every R ocky Mountain and Pacific State
and eventually the United States These
include N evada Montana Washington
O regon California Ariz ona and N ew
—
Mexico as well as Utah a n area ten times
as large as the original colonies and almost
as ext ensive as the Confederate States
These possess boundless resources ; ma nv of
them have resources scarcely touched and
grow fruits and cereals of every zone and
variety of climate I t is not to be wondered
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LE C T U R E
M OR M ONI SM
93
at that when Brigham Young reached the
shores of Great S alt L ake and struck his
sta ff to the earth he shouted ! This is the
! ion of the L ord the land that flows with
milk and honey and I will hold it against
all invaders I say as the L ord lives we
are bound to become an independent nati on
by ourselves
While I do not believe that the hi erarchy
of to d ay can carry to consummation the
revelations and predictions of Brigham
“
Young nevertheless it behooves Am eri
cans to be on guard
Bear with me in closing I wi ll cite c on
d it ions and dangers t o date
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S AME
OLD
S ERPENT
F irst ! Mormonism is the same old serpent
The leopard has not changed his spots
Polygamy is believed taught and practiced
by Mormons to day in Utah and in adj oin
ing States not only by the deluded followers
but also by the leaders themselves At the
Smoot investigation the admission o f the
president and Apostles was made that they
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
94
had resumed c onj ugal relations with p olyga
mous wives B oth Mormons and Gent iles
were amazed at the bland and blatant testi
mony Prophet Joseph F Smith un der
oath boldly declared to th e S enate Commit
tee that he was then li ving with five wives
and that to date they had borne him eleven
children since he had pledged himself to
obey and live within the provisions o f the
manifesto or revelation of 1 8 9 0 forbidding
all p olygamous relations Wh en questioned
as to his purpose in the future he frankly
informed the Committ ee that he would con
tinne in the practice Apostle L yman who
is next in succession for the presidency was
interrogated b y the late S enator Hoar as
follows !
S o you an Apostle of your church ex
e ct in
to
succeed
Mr
Smith
to
the
presi
g
p
d enc y and in that capacity to receive divine
revelations yourself confess that you are
now living and expect to live in disobedience
to the law of the coun try the law of the
”
!
church and the law of God
To which question Apo stle Francis
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
96
cities towns and vill a ges over America
That it had an unusual hearing and found
ready sympathy among the hearers is evi
d enc ed by the results which followed )
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VI II
ADD RE S S A T D E D I C A T I ON OF
GRAN D AR MY M ON UM EN T
s eternal c amping gr ound
Their s ilent tent s are s pread
A nd Glory gu ard s with s olemn round
The biv oua c of the dead
On F ame
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T h eod o
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re
O H a ra
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
c ountry s defenders
I t is
the gift of the W oman s R elief Corp s o f
James B M c Kea n Post Grand Army o f
the R epublic which entails upon e very old
soldier lasting obligations of gratitude and
admiration to these loyal women
The
cause in which loved ones fell whose gra ve s
o
u
ha
v
e
j
ust
c
overed
with
flowers
and
bap
y
t iz ed with your tears must have failed unless
it had been sustained by the ranks of the
patriotic mothers and daughters through
o ut the N orth
You have in vited me to de
li ver an address appropriate to the occasion
and however earnestly I may desire to meet
your wish I shall fall far below my idea o f
what this grani te s h aft means and for what
it stands
I t has been my good fortune to look upon
monuments in many lands erected t o com
memorate histori c events and in honor of
great men I hav e stood on the apex o f the
pyramid o f Cheops amid the sands o f the
E gyptian desert and looked down on the
mighty Sphinx whose sleepless eyes have
k ept watch o ver the mysteriou s N ile for
of
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D E D I C A T OR Y AD D RE S S
1 01
thousands of years At the close O f many
a glorious sunset as the blue Me di terranean
was bur ning with a crimsoned glow I have
sat on the ruins of the A cropolis at Athens
remembering that the ancient Greek pointed
with pride to the matchless Parthenon a s
enshrining the Palla di um o f his country and
reverently li stened that I might hear the
voices of Plato and Demosthenes speaking
w ith the clear light O f hea v enly knowledge
I have walked at e v ening hour when the
closing day showed dimly through the win
dows of S chloss K irche at W ittenberg as
the simple to wnsfolk were strolli ng in and
out o f the sacred edi fice where rests the
dust of Martin L uther I n imagination I
saw the greatest of Protestant reformers as
he came to that spot nearly four hundred
years ago with the immortal theses in one
hand and the hammer in the other The ring
of that hammer as he sent home the nai l s
startled Germany out of the slumbers of the
Dark Ages and its reverberations were dis
t inc tly heard at the V atican o n the Tiber
I hav e wandered by the hour t hrough that
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 02
greatest Abbey of all countries W es tmin
ster and looked admiringly upon monuments
that seemed to breathe with the inspiration
o f heroes
poets scholars and reformers
whose dust sleeps beneath the arches of the
holy place I have mingled with the busy
throng in Trafalgar S quare and admired
the beautiful column commemorativ e o f the
achievements of L ord N elson on the sea I
have been enraptured at the magnificence
of the tomb of N apoleon in Paris sullen
with gloom portentous of the shadows O f
W aterloo but holding the rema ins of one
o f the most richly endowed men God ever
created and who trod down E urope for
fifteen years I have stood at sunset in the
shadow of the W ashington monument at
capital and to myself have
o ur nation s
“
said This stands for that maj estic figure
and sentiment F irst in war first in peace
and first in the hearts of his countrymen
I have gazed upon that silent shaft which
pierces the sky on Bunker Hill until my soul
has been stirred with a love of c ountry born
of an an c estral patriotism that antedates the
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1 04
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
which this monument stands That idea in
spired the charter o f our liberties in the
hum ble cabin o f the Mayflower and the
framers o f the Declaration of I ndependence
I t sent echoing around the world the v ibra
tions o f the old L iberty B ell as it proclaimed
“
L iberty to all the inhabitants o f the earth
a hundred and eighteen years a go I t broke
the shackles o f four million slaves and in
the grav es where sleep the nation s dead it
buried side by side with them the heresy of
State rights and secession
The idea o f liberty and the rights o f in
dividual man is not o f human origin I t
had its birth at B ethlehem I t took dual
shape in the F atherhood o f God and the
brotherhood of man a s taught and practiced
”
“
by the W onder o f the Ages
N o such
idea had ever dawned upon the race The
Jew called the S amaritan a dog and the
Greek c alled the Jew a barbarian Ev en
Athens whose temples shone with splendor
whose marble almost breathed under the
touch of Phidias whose birds pecked at the
grapes o f Apelles and whose academic
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D E D I CA T OR Y ADD RE S S
1 05
groves were vocal with the hum o f bees the
—
philosophy o f S ophocles Athens with a ll
her unbaptized learning eloquence philos o
phy art and civiliz ation could say no more
“
than this ! There are three things for which
to thank all the gods ! first I am a reasoning
being and not a brute ; second I am a Greek
and not a barbarian ; third I am a man and
not a
The mightiest product Of
all h er philosophy and learning could not
rise above the pre j udices o f race or sex The
crowning glory for which this monument
stands is that there is neither Jew nor Gen
tile Greek nor barbarian bond nor free
male nor female but a universal world
wide brotherhood knowing no caste no
color no previous condition o f servitude
The struggle for the recognition o f such
an idea has been long and hard This sub
lime hope Of the race has had to contend in
turn with warrior and prophet state and
church priest and king nobility and aris
But running
t o c ra c y position and wealth
through all the past o f which history gives
any record there is seen a bright chain of
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1 06
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
—
goal civil and
destiny leading up to
religious li berty ; and the final culmination
o f this struggle wa s at A ppomatto x Court
House April 9 1 8 6 5
F or the sake of our faith and h ope let u s
review a little !
O n June 5 1 2 1 5 K ing John of E ng
land signed the Great Charter ( Magna
Charta ) which has been considered by all
s ucceeding ages the basis o f E nglish liber
ties and t o which e v ent America in part
owes the germs of h er independence
O n May 2 3 1 4 9 8 S a vonarola was
h anged burned and his ashes flung into the
Ar no ; but after four hundred years the lib
er ty for which he was a martyr hastens t o
honor and to prep etuat e his memory To
o ne o f the most beautiful squares in F l o
rence I taly they have given the name
no t of a k ing not o f a pope but S a v onarola
and on the spot where he was burned they
have erected a fountain o f which all F loren
tines may well be proud A s I watched the
descendants of the Medici come and drink
at this fountain I heard a v oice throughout
o ne
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 08
with the king will be the greatest man in
E ngland
The crisis soon came and under
the fervid eloquence and flashing sword of
“
that sloven the people s battle cry of G o d
”
and L iberty rang out over the bloody fields
o f Marston Moor and Dunbar
and O liver
Cromwell became the hero o f the E nglish
common people and an inspiration to our
Pilgrim F athers
T w o hundred and se v enty four years ago
there leaped from the deck o f the Mayflower
to Plymouth R ock a governm ent founded
upon the same exal te d idea o f liberty and
“
equal rights fo r all men
The o c casion wa s
”
not an ac c ident but a result
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W e know what ma s ter s laid thy keel
What workmen wro u ght thy rib s of s t eel
Who made ea c h m a s t and s a il and rope
”
What anvil s rang what hammer s beat
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I t is true that the seeds Of liberty were
wafted to us from Holland and from E ng
land but they took root under our free sky
pure air and virgin soil and we sent back
and sowed through all E urope the s am e
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D E D I C A T OR Y ADD RE S S
1 09
blessed truth s wh i ch emancipated u s E ng
land Germany R ussia Austria I taly and
I reland are now feeling the power of th at
idea There are go vernments that s till s ay
tha t men are not born equal But t h e cry
o f t h e people thunders round t h e world to
“
day ! N ot th e k ing not the prie st not the
royalty not the nobility not the president
not the money power but th e people a re
”
the masters
O f the same chara cter of thi s long lin e
o f historic events is that sublime de c laration
“
o f the re v olutionary fathers !
W e there
fore the representatives of the U nited
States o f Am erica in general Congre ss as
sembled appealing to the Supreme Judge
o f the world for the rec t itude o f our inten
tions do in the name and by the auth ority
o f the good people o f these united colonies
solemnly publish and declare that these
united c olonies are and of right ough t to
be free and independent States
There
fore the march o f all the c enturies up free
dom s path toward individual self go v ern
ment c rystall ize s around the De c laration of
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
110
I ndependence and the Constitution of the
United States
There is one more act in the development
of this wonderful philosophy of history to
which I want to refer T he grea t rebellion
o f 1 8 6 1 was the culmination o f the working
out o f the mighty forces of the problem of
self government I t was the crowning act
o f all the pre c eding struggles for l iber ty and
the rights of the people I t was the con
—
summation o f eighteen centuries the full
fruition o f hopes long deferred
I purpose to turn back the telescope of
memory over that great period of our hi s
tory with which some o f us are too familiar
but whi ch must not be forgotten lest the
lesson which it teaches should also perish
I am apprehensive that such a review may
provoke criti cism ; but the oc c asion of this
hour and the previous condition O f the c oun
try M pel me to day to speak plainly o f the
past earnestly o f the present and hopefully
“
o f the future
F or when the sons o f God
c ame to present themselves before the L ord
”
S atan came also among them
I n the w on
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
c ry I t swept along the coast o f the north
ern Atlantic t o Manhattan I sland where
among the Dutch s ettlers the spirit of Wil
Under
li am the Silent had be en planted
the mighty impulse o f a c ommon brother
h ood and the strong engine of free labor it
rolled onward through the N ew E ngland
and the Middle States s wept o ver th e
heights of the A lleghanies d owrf the great
v alleys of the O hio across the broad prairies
o f I llinois and I owa hurrying and laugh ing
o ver desert and plain halting not in the pres
en c e o f the W ahsatch Sierra N evada or
Coa s t R ange and re v eling in e x ultant j oy
under the I talian skies and on the golden
fields of the Pacific slope This triumphant
host carried as their coat of arms the p eo
ple s rights o f life liberty and the pursuit
Their poli tical gods were free
o f happines s
thought free speech free press free labor
free school and free ballot They bore a s
their credentials the F atherhood of God and
the brotherhood o f man Their numbers in
creased so rapidly that in 1 8 60 the p0 pul a
tion of the free States had reached more than
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D E D I C A T OR Y AD D RE S S
113
nineteen millions W hile that of the slav e
State s was less than thirteen millions The
leaders o f the S outh had sought t o meet this
overwhelming flood of freedom s h osts
F irst they clothed themselv es with a repr e
s ent a t ion in Congress based on the ratio o f
their slav es Then they passed the fugitiv e
slave law the most cruel insult that was
e ver o ffered by men giv en o ver by fate to
”
fatuity
Then came the K ansas struggle
and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise
and fina lly the contemplated changes in the
Constitution by which slavery should be as
national as liberty Dark times were upon
us from 1 8 5 6 to 1 8 60 when it looked a s if
God intended to break this nation in pieces
to teach the world the terrible guilt of hu
man bondage I was but a boy from ten
to fifteen but I had drunk in the lo v e of lib
erty from the day that my mother ga v e me
birt h and I do not remember an hour in
those dark days when my soul was not on
fire for the rights of man My parents were
anti slavery and our home was a refuge for
many a fleeing slave
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
114
I n the great c ontest that seated Stephen
A Douglas in the United States S enate
Mr L incoln s challenge was a summons to
“
battle
A house divided against itself can
”
“
not stand he said
I belie v e this govern
ment c annot endure permanently half slave
and half free I do not expe ct the Union
to be dissolved I do not expect the house
to fall but I do expe c t it shall c ease to be
di vided
O n this issue he fough t the presi
dential campaign Of 1 8 6 0 Memorable year !
The nation had been marching up to it for
nearly a century I n N ovember the people
asserted their will at the ballot bo x and by
one h undred and eighty votes out O f three
hundred and three in the electoral college
freedom placed the invincible wand o f power
in the hands of that incomparable and in
c orruptible Am erican patriot and states
man Abraham L incoln
“
Those whom the gods would destroy they
first make mad
The S outh recklessly a t
tacked the fundamental principle o f p0 pu
lar government that the maj ority must rule
Again and again the slave power had elected
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
call some o f you responded and the muster
in song was taken up all o v er the N orth !
,
W e are gather ing from the E a s t
W e are gathering from the W e s t
Shouting the battle c ry O f F reedom
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A little later N ew E ngland the Middle
States and the W est made mountain valley
and plain teeming city and country village
schoolhouse and chur ch resound with re
c r uit ing songs
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W e are c oming w e are c oming the U nion to
re s tore
W e are c o mi ng F ather Abraham s ix hundred
thou s and more ;
I f you look up all the v alley s where the gro wing
harv e s t s Shine
Yo u c an s ee our s turdy farmer boy s fa s t falling
into line ;
And c hildren from the i r mother s knee s are pull
ing at the weed s
A nd learning how to reap and s o w again s t their
c ountry s need s ;
A nd a farewell group s tand s weeping at e v ery
c ottage doo r
we are c om i ng F ather Abraham s ix hundr ed
”
thou s and more
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D E D I C A T OR Y ADD RE S S
1 17
L ater still company and regiment
di vision and brigade Army o f the Potomac
and the Army o f the Tenn essee shook the
nation with their tread and song !
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tramp tramp the boy s are mar c hing
C heer up c omrade s they will c ome
A nd beneath the s tarry fla g
W e wil l breathe the a i r again
O f the freemen in our own belo v ed home
T ramp
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God permi tted that awful strife to c on
I t c o s t the
t inue for four d readful years
government billi ons of treasure and
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hundred thou s and men
The bra v e the good the t r ue
O n battlefield and in pri s on pen
L ie dead for me and you good friend s
L i e dead fo r me and you
F our
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I h av e briefly referred to the s e fa ct s of
histo ry to make clear the j ustness of the
statement that the act of secession was trea
son treason against a go v ernment that had
been patient and long su ffering submitting
t o inj ury and insult rather than s ee the c oun
try plunged into c i vil war I t was an assault
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
118
upon the rights o f man the freedom of
speech and the potency o f the ballot W hat
other name can history use when it describes
rightly the awful act o f firing upon Sumter
!
but treason L et it be written and spoken
over and over that the children may never
be in doubt that Je fferson Davis and his
Confederacy were in rebellion against the
country of W ashington and A dams and
Je fferson and that Abraham L incoln and
his generals and soldiers were the defenders
o f the rights of man the promoters of lib
er ty and the preservers o f the Union
Thus far I have spoken of the past I t
is fitting that I dwell for a little on the pres
ent and the future Peace has its dangers
as well as war The security of that magnifi
cent past ought to be the foundation upon
which we will build for a ll time This monu
ment stands for the preservation of the
Union and the abolition O f slavery
“
The Union must and shall be preserved
should be made the motto of every State and
the password of every organization When
L ee surrendered to Grant at Appomatto x
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T H O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 20
Pro c lamation whereby the seal o f liberty
was placed on those millions o f slaves The
contraband of war be c ame a free man a
soldier and a c itiz en ; and he must be pro
t ect ed fore v er in all hi s inalienable rights a s
a loyal American
I t may be that we old soldier s are o v er
sensitive and too suspicious B e that as it
may I shall stand guard while there is a
solid S outh making solid claims on the party
in power My comrades do you know that
twenty of the Uni ted States senators are
e x Confederates and only ten are from the
!
F ederal army That twenty of the ex Con
federate soldiers are chair men of committees
in the senate and twenty two are chairmen
!
in the House That there are but seventy
four Uni on sol di ers in Congress as against
seventy six Confederates including Speaker
!
Crisp
These figures were given by the
N ew York S un
W e are confronted with the most stupen
dous problems that ever appealed to any
“
”
government ; problems says Gladstone
“
arising from the c omplexitie s and the per
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D E D I C A T OR Y A DD RE S S
1 21
of
conser ving the integrity o f
modern c ivilization F rom the sub arcti c
lands o f Ic eland to the shores o f the Helle s
pont from the Spanish peninsula to the
mountains o f the Caucasus there i s no t a
nation not a tribe or people but is sending
it s mighty contingent wasted by despoti s m
and c orrupted by vi c e into the E astern p or
tions o f the c ontinent while the celestials
nonassimilative are thundering at the W est
”
ern portals and for c ing a dm ission
O ur
population has grown from less than forty
million t o more t h an sixty five million since
the war George Bancroft was born when
we had but five million ; when h e died we
had s i x ty five milli on Joseph Cook s ay s
that in the year 2 0 00 we will h av e some
four hundred million while Mr Glad
stone puts it at eight hundred million
F ormerly we re c eiv ed the v ery best elements
o f all nationalities
I t does s eem now that
in a large measure we a re getting down to
the v ery dregs W e have made our s elves
the B otany B ay O f the world S ome one
“
ha s s aid ! There is danger that our boa s ted
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 22
republic shall become one v ast menageri e
with the beasts not caged ; and presently
these hordes gathered from the slums o f all
lands march to the polls full fled ged citi
zens and elect the President of the United
”
States
O ver our country s doorway we
should from this hour write in broad letters
“
which may s hine over all the world N o
”
anarchist need apply
Many of those wh o
come to us make patriotic and useful citi
zens I have not forgotten the I rishman
who fought under General Meagher nor the
German who followed the brave S igel I
welcome any decent element from any coun
try if he comes here to become a loyal Am eri
can That wise thinker Chauncey Depew
“
has well said ! W e can still welcome those
who will add to our strength and assist in
the development of our resources but we
should rigidly inquire who these immigrants
are and for what purpose they c ome W e
are no longer in need of the surplus p opula
tion o f the O ld W orld and should thus c are
fully examine our guests W e quarantine
cholera yellow fever and smallp ox and
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
the near future o f our national existence
the di viding line will not be Mason and
Dixon s
T h at dividing line wi ll be
patrioti s m and intelligence on the one hand
and ignoran c e and superstition on the
other
He added ! Cultivate as you love
America free speech free press free schools
free religion k eep church and state di stinct
or the time may come when our republic will
fall through the apathy of its citizens
S ome o f you followed the lead o f this silent
hero to Corinth Shiloh Vicksburg Chatta
n o og a and the W ilderness and on to A p
o
o
m
x
W
ill
u
obey
and
teach
your
a
tt
o
y
p
childr en to Obey the great commander con
“
c erning the pub lic school as the high tower ,
the thick wall and the moated gate of the
”!
republic
I quote again fro m that clear thinker and
“
patrioti c citizen Mr Depew ! I gnorance
j udges the invisible by the visible Turn
Teach first and last Ameri
o n the lights
L et no youth be permitted to leave
c a nis m
the publi c school without being thorough ly
grounded in the history the principles and
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D E D I CA T OR Y ADD RE S S
1 25
th e incalculable blessings of Ameri c an li b
erty
Let th e boys be trained soldier s of
constitutional freedom the girls the int elli
gent mothers Of freemen and the s ons o f
the anarchist will become t h e bulwark of
”
the law
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PA TRI O TI S M
A ND
T HE
F LA G
This monument stands for patriotis m
the flag
.
“
B reathe s
there a man with s o ul s o dead
Who nev er t o hims elf hath s a i d
Thi s i s m y O wn m y nat iv e land !
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The need o f Ameri c a to d ay is intell igent
—
p atriotism a patriotism that watches o ver
every interest o f the republic Therefore
p atriotis m and the pub li c school s hould
mar ch h and in hand down the ages teachi ng
the history and principles o f our govern
ment to e v ery c hild whi le over e very school
house waves th e American flag I wo ul d
1
hav e o ur thirteen mi llion chil dr en o f publi c
school children declaim and write O f our
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C ens us
of
1916
sh owed
o ve r
en roll ed .
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 26
heroes and o ur wars and sing daily
rapturous j oy
,
c ountry ti s of thee
S weet land o f l i berty
O f thee I s ing
L and where my father s died
L and of the p i lgrim s pride
F ro m e v ery mo u nta i n si de
p
L et freedo m r i ng
My
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T h ere is room in this c ountry for o nl y one
“
”
flag and O ld Glory must lead the proces
sion This blood consecrated banner is the
symbol o f our nation s honor I t must float
in the breeze without a rival W e should
forbid the carrying o f any flag banner or
t ransparency in public processions except
the glorious stars and stripes W e want no
orange flags no red flags no green flags no
black flags waving over our children L et
there float upon the Am erican breeze fore v er
o ne flag only
T i s the s tar s pangled banner ! 0 long may it
wav e
O er the land o f the free and the home of the
bra v e
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 28
a crisis may be delayed but it is sure to reach
us sooner or later unless turned aside I t
is not the time for has ty re ck less infl a mma
tory speeches ; neither is it time to be silent
—
I f the country is in peril and the God of
—
r
ou
fathers mus t know that it is then it
be c omes our duty to speak and a c t as in
t ellig ent law abiding freemen
Shall we
be deaf to the wail of the millions that are
!
c rying for bread
S hall we continue an
administration and a Congres s that seem to
be so heartlessly indiff erent to the appeals
bf the su ffering millions ! Shall we approve
o f courts and e x ecutives whose treatment of
peaceable and law abiding c itizens is unj us t
!
and nu American
Shall we sit s upinely
!
s till and see our c ountry wre cked to ruin
Su c h a course would render us unwort hy to
strew flowers over the grav es o f our c om
rades or dedi c ate this monument t o their
memory W e are not slav es W e are free
“
men who know their rights and knowing
”
dare maintain
W e are not subj ects of a
despot who knows no law but his o wn will
W e are Am erican s with the blood O f a n
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D E D I C A T OR Y ADD RE S S
1 29
who fought at R unnymede N aseby
Bunker Hill and Gettysburg running in o ur
veins L et us solemnly see to it that there
“
is some little governm ent for the people
”
and by the people at W ashington Our
legislators have been in session at the na
tion s capital a lmost continuously for ten
months and the condition of the common
people and country at large has become
worse each succeeding day and yet Congress
lifts n ot a finger except to please the trusts
and conciliate the money power But my
countrymen my appeal is not to arms W e
must bow to the supremacy of the law O bey
the orders of the j udiciary and regard the
o fficial acts of the E xecutive whether j ust
on unj ust
To us is given the potency o f
the ballot the exponent of free men s will
and therein lies our peaceful resort W e
must see to it at the polls that power is
placed in the hands of true Americans who
in some degree are worthy to occupy the
“
chair of the immortal L inco ln the rail
“
”
”
Grant the tanner ;
S plitter ; Ulysses S
“
”
and Charles Sumner the un c orruptible
c es t or s
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1 30
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
Herein lies the real remedy While with
sympathize with the op
a ll my heart I
pressed and the multitudes out o f employ
ment I promise high heav en I will stand
by the common people if unj ustly assailed
N evertheless I want to say that
or treated
notwithstanding all the frets to which the
laboring class is subj ected there is no law
for material or force re v olution NO upris
ing to destroy person or property can be
tolerated in this country All of us must
obey the laws and peacefully wait till our
ballots which are more potent than bullets
shall change them if they are wrong
I n closing I turn from these gloomy fore
bodings o f the present to a glorious future
I am not a visionary optimist for I can see
danger and plan to meet it I am not an
imbecile pessim ist for I am wi l ling to help
c onquer the perils without fear or favor I
believe in the future o f this great land I
belie v e that the law of the survival of the
fittest will find its sublimes t political illustra
tion in the perpetuity of this republic I n
“
the language of Daniel W ebster ! W e shall
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132
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
standing
F ellow Americans
here to day
in the memory o f the monumental facts of
the past history of our country remember
ing the way by which God has led us I seem
to hear the coming o f the millions of freemen
on this continent gathered from every zone
on earth o f every race and tongue ; proud
intelligent patriotic inhabitants of our great
heritage I t is the anthem o f a homogeneous
people o f many origins and so all sounds
—
mi ngle in harmony the woodman s ax
clearing giant forests the rattle of the reaper
gathering golden grain the hum of ma
chinery manufacturing home industries the
whistle of the engine breaking the long
silence of mo untain and valley the rever
berating blast significant o f the earth giving
up her vast treas ures the cheer of loving
women and the shouts of happy children
m ingling their voices with stalwart men in
home and church and school and market
all in spirit and tune with the nati onal hymn
O ur father s G o d to thee
A utho r o f l i berty
T o thee we s ing ;
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D E D I C A T OR Y A DD RE S S
L ong
may our land be bright
Wi th freedom s holy light ;
P rote c t u s by thy might
Great God our King
’
,
A fter darkness L ight !
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1 33
c all my brother ba ck to me !
I c annot play alone
The s um m er c o m e s w i th flower and
Wh ere i s my brother gone !
Oh ,
b ee
— F eli c ia D H ema us
.
,
CH A P T ER
I!
C ON T E MP ORARIE S AN D
C OWOR K ER S
S IN CE this narrative should be history de
pendable and intended for a place among
o ur ecclesiastical archives
it is o nl y proper
that the names of the men a nd the women
who were employed by him in Ut a h should
be given The names of the stations opened
and m aintain ed are also herein recorded so
far as known
There was a short period of history made
before he became the superintendent for
Utah was originally a portion of the mighty
R ocky Mou ntain Conference which covered
the Territories of Montana I daho Utah
and a little o f the western side of the Terri
tory o f Wyoming I t was thought when t hé
Conference was organized that E vanston
was in Utah ; for that reason it was named
in the list of the first appointments
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1 37
,
1 38
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
Bishop F oster presided over his first Con
ference in Utah ; this was in 1 8 7 2
The men appointed at the first session of
the R ocky Mountain Conference at S alt
L ake City August 8 1 8 72 included some
other builders R obert M Guinn was sent
a s pioneer to B oise City and others y et t o
be known for their executive ability were
Am ong them was James M
on that list
Jameson of the O hio Conference He was
sent to Corinne
When Mr I li ff took charge o f the Utah
work as superintendent in 1 8 8 2 it was not
his first Utah experience for he had been
presiding elder of the B eaver District from
1 876 on to 1 8 80 with residence in S alt L ake
I n 1 8 8 0 the General Conferen c e at Cincin
nati had changed Utah s status from a C on
feren c e to a mission T h e roster of h is first
men is here given Bishop Hurst pres id
ing read o ff ! B eaver E rastus Smith
Corinne A W A dkinson ; F risco to be sup
plied ; O gden A W A dkinson ; Provo G
E Jayne ; S alt L ake T C I li ff ; Tooele J
P Morris and E Smith
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 40
R ic hfield D is tric t
,
E E Mork P E
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E phraim and Spring
City
Hyrum and L ogan
Monroe and Marys
vale
Mt Pleasant
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Provo and S anta
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nore
S alt
L ake
Brigham
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S a lt L a ke D is tric t
Corinne
L ogan
Murray
O gden F irst
Mission
Price
T C I li ff P E
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S alt L ake F irst
Heath
I li ff
L iberty
Park
S e c ond
V ernal
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and E lsi
R ic hfield
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The maximum number O f schools was si x
teen and they were located at B eaver B en
son Brigham E lsinore E phraim Grants
ville Grassvalley Heber Hyrum L evan
Moroni Mt Pleasant Murray N ephi Ox
ford Payson Provo R ichfiel d S alt L ake
S antaquin Spanish F ork Spring City
Stockton Tooele and W eston
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C ON T E MP ORARIE S
1 41
These were the ministers who serv ed the
v arious charges in this period !
Martin Anderson A W A dkinson F
J Bradley W J Bo nh am N B ascom F
Brock W K B eans J D Bird
G W Cohagan E E Carr W C Culp
S J Carroll W Car v er A B C lucker
M
Crowther
George
R
Glockner
W
(
)
W V Comer J G Clark N Christopher
son 0 Christenson S Cates C H Camp
bell
W C Damon M D eMot te C E De
L a M a tyr E P F De arborn
P A H F ranklin D J F rew H D
F isher J H F itzwater G P F ry J H
F razier
J J G arvin W W Glanville E C
Gra ff J D Gillilan
L Hartsough founder o f the Mission H
Hammer T J Hooper S Hooper A W
Hartshorn R M Hardman E G Hunt
D T Hedges J W Hill N ils L Han
s o n Hans I Hansen J M Hanson C J
H eckner W A Hunter W B Hyde M
H owI s on A H Henry
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 42
G E Jayne T Johns G M Je ff rey
H A Jones J W Jones H J ohns en J
M Jameson N P Johnson
J E K irbye
T W L inco ln C L L ibbey S P L ong
street L W B L ong C P L yford F N
L apham
C M c C oard J M E ld owney J P
Morris E E Mork W D Mabry G P
Miller W Murphy G E Morse G L
Mar vin
Martinus N elson
L ars O lson
P A Paulson G M Peir c e J T Pier c e
H W Parker J F Price
L A R udisill G W R ich W J R i ch
ards
D G Strong C C Stratton E Smith
R T Smith H N S t a a lberg E H Snow
H L Steves R L Steed E C Strout
H S kew es C Smith F S Stein Joel A
Smith
J Telfer J E Turner S W Thornton
N P Tedrick O O Tweede J W Tay
lor
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIF F
1 44
but by this superintendent it was ne ver
abused
He understood democracy to mean such
masterful manipulation of the Golden R ule
as will cause the people among who m we
move not to be obliged to think out the fact
that we are only equals
This rule he
sedulously practiced magnanimous to the
confession of a fault ; always ready to go
more than half way to e ff ect a reconciliation
all the way if necessary
N o night was too dark no trail too long
no task too hard in any appearance to deter
him in his undertaki ng to help anyone in
need His many endeavors to do good were
limited only by his inabili ty to reach them
in want
The children of the households where he
visited were forever his chums His love for
them was not more perfunctory than was
their welcome
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S O ME S TA GE E ! PERIEN CE S T H AT WERE
NOT S TAGED
I n the days of the nation makers the
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un
C ON T E MP ORAR IE S
1 45
expected was ever and forever the expected
The traveler took his gun in one hand and
his life in the other
Many are the now seemingly semi weird
stories that can be fil ched from the early par
t ic ip a t or s in them specially such as relate
to occurrences which smack of the bravado
sort Most of the narrators modestly decli ne
relating them because of the personal refer
ence necessary to the complete tale Mrs
I li ff has such a fine fund o f them but she
is like the others ! must be almost cross ques
“
t ione d in order to O btain them
0 I do
”
not like to ta lk about myself say she and
they
Here is a li ttle coterie of recitals obtained
from her by the writer
“
O n that memorable weddin g trip from
Corinne Utah to Montana made wholly
by stagecoach while going through Port
N euf Canyon near where Pocatello now
stands we saw at some distance ahead o f
us two or three men who were riding in our
direction horseback The driver thought he
recogni zed them as road agents as the
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 46
common highway robber was styled He at
once turned his horses in the opposite dirce
tion and made for the home station five miles
behind us the one we had but j ust left and
nothing could induce him to budge until day
light I n Our party was a middle aged
gentleman accompanied by his wife ; they
were from Philadelphia He carried a con
s id era b l e sum of money which he was plan
ning to invest in Montana mines When our
scare came he was the most excited man on
the stage and it was very interesting to see
him stu ffing the rolls of bills down into his
shoes ; and as we were not burdened with
greenbacks we succeeded pre tty we ll in
maintaining o ur equilibrium
“
O n another occasion we were on our way
from B ozeman to S alt L ake City for Con
feren c e and had stopped over at F ort Hall
I n di an Agency to spend S unday with Dr
R eid the agent an O ld friend Monday
night when we were to start there was j ust
one vacant seat in the stage Mr I li ff must
for
his
Conference
examinations
so
Dr
o
;
g
R eid and myself waited till the next e v e
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X
CH AR A CT ERI S T I C S
he c ould no t help a friend he w oul d lie do wn
”
be s ide him
A no nymo us
If
,
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.
Thi s
goodly fra m e the earth s eem s to me a
s terile promontory ; th is mo s t e x c ellent c anopy
the air look yo u th is bra v e o erh a nging firma
ment th is maj e s t i c al roof fretted w i th golden
fir e why it appear s no other th i ng to me than a
fo ul and pe s t ilent i al c ongregation o f v apor s
What a p i e c e o f work is a man ! ho w noble in
rea s on ! how infin ite i n fa c ulty ! in form and mo v
ing how e xpre ss and adm irable ! i n a c tion h ow
like an angel ! in apprehen s ion how like a god !
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S h a kes p ea re
.
the glory of the
—
man s e s tate B a c on
For
’
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C reator
and the relief of
1 52
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
dullest black gnat to the fieries t coachman ;
and Mr Trout will w a g his lazy tail and
pretend not to see the bait the angler is sure
is so seductive I t is at such times that many
a man who claims direct descent from the
patient Job discovers to his disgust that he
has not enough patience for such angry
trials What can be more annoying than
to have the knowledge that a certain hole had
beauties galore be able indeed to see them
darting and glancing in the sunlight yet not
get a single strike !
O n one particular day the fish all seemed
t o be well fed on something more real than
the imitation fly that Dr I li ff cast and cared
nothing for any one in his book although he
tried them all They evidently had con
spired against him had gone on a strike or
else had dined away from home They
a ffec t ed
t o despise his every e ff ort and
thwarted his skill while hour after hour he
noiselessly as possible swished the silken line
over the purling ri ffles or beyond his eye to
some dimpling eddy ; but all to no purpose
except to produce a self taunting which he
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CH ARA CT ERI S T I C S
1 53
could not well endure To be defeated by
a simple trout ! His arm was aching ; per
spiration oozed plentifully from many a
pore The sun was descending and the
tapering firs cast long and longer shadows
over the boiling churning waters the perfect
home of the elusive rainbow trout
He seldom accepted defeat as a member
of his company He was not easily dis
heartened He believed always that if suc
cess did not attend his e ff orts he was not
doing his best O n this occasion he was de
At last espying
t ermined not t o be downed
an eddying pool far across a deep par t o f
the rapid stream he made a long cast and
the hovering fly alighted by a circling is
land Of flaky foam ; no sa lmon fly could have
made a more delicate and perfectly natural
descent S carcely waiting for the snare to
reach the water a monster rainbow that had
been long expecting such visitant leaped
from the water and nabbed the alluring
camouflage at the same time turning to dart
behind some tree roots that extended into
the deeper hollows of the pool
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1 54
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
O ur fisherman saw the red sides of the
quick trout and knew he had hooked a prize ;
but the quarry was not his as yet although
at the end of his line and the reel was spin
“
”
ning with a beautiful whir r r r
He
tried to dislodge the gay animal from the
mesh of roots but the result was hopeless
entanglement
Unless something were
done more quickly than this is being told the
leader or line would break and the victim
escape Had it been open water nothing
would have a fforded him more particular or
more rapturous delight than to hav e given
his quarry the line and played him until he
became exhausted or had committed suicide
by drowning which a trout can do if
properly hooked But something must be
done quickly ; an afternoon s fishing must
not be defeated by the loss of so fine a Speci
men which itself fully recompenses F ind
ing no hope from so long a distance he took
his knife from his pocket placed it between
his teeth do ffed his clothing and plunged
into that seething cauldron o f water almost
ice cold and struck out swimming for the
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 56
E very person has his Mount of V ision
hi s hour of decision as we l l as his precrucial
Gethsemane where as w ith Jacob at J a bb ok
and Jesus by K edron victories alone with
God are gained decisions that are dated
fix ed and made irrevocable I li ff had his
whose dates and places onl y he and the
F ather knew
He was a high and worthy exponent and
exemplar of the meaning of that rare
quality Christian socialism ! he was brother
to every one most specially him whom he
foun d willing to accept and share his spon
t a neous spirit
He could fight and would fight honor
ably but would never quarrel O nce a ques
tion o f principle was settled he woul d not
permit a reopening of it I t was in a r ail
way train that a loud mouthed fellow voiced
his opini ons in the lauding of the S outh and
”
“
the lost cause in general making as if
he would be glad and willi ng to fight the
Civil W ar over again His braggadocio
manner at last became so irritating that a
peacemaker was needed Dr I li ff a most
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CH ARA CT ERI S T I C S
57
listener descended t o the needs of
the painful occasion and approached the
noisy man ; in a voice sufficiently loud to be
heard by the annoyed assemblage he said !
E xcuse me sir you appear the essence o f
bravery and patriotism I wish to ask o f
you if y ou were in the late war of which you
”
Speak so eloquently
“
N o I was not retorted the bully
”
W ell I was said the peacemaking doc
“
t or
and it took all the fight out o f me
The crowd roared and the crestfallen hero
b
e
never
to
retired
to
the
smoker
)
(
A s a sample o f Christian strategy the
incident below is cited
I n the early 8 0 s I daho being yet a Terri
tory the Utah Mission extended as far as the
fortieth parallel excluding F ort Hall R eser
vation This took in that portion o f I daho
which includes O xford and Albion where the
Utah Mission had schools and preaching
points A lbion more especially was quite a
frontier town and the F ederal court had
j urisdicti on ; Judge C M Hays was on the
bench
irnpa t ient
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158
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
A murder trial had been engaging the a t
tention o f the cour t and district when S atur
day evening came ; with the overland stage
came the superintendent o f Utah Mission
There was as yet no chur ch building and the
only pla c e available for public gatherings
was the town hall where the sessions of the
court were being held Mr I li ff had a quiet
talk with the amiable j udge telling him why
“
”
he was present ; it pleased the c ourt to say
that sympathetic cooperation would be made
in the proceedings of the next day When
the tim e for adj ournment c ame Judge Hays
simply said Court is adj ourned till to
morrow ! Sunday ! at ten O clock
When
that hour arrived every j uror and attorney
was in his expectant place and the hall was
packed by interested onlookers
W ithout waiting for the clerk to read the
j ournal Judge Hays quietly remarked
W e will adj ourn long enough to hear a
sermon from the R ev Mr I li ff who is pres
”
ent
A fter thanking the court the preacher b e
“
gan by saying ! Gentlemen during the week
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 60
“
A trainman said The fog makes your
”
light dim this morning Charlie
”
“
Yes rep lied the conductor but I hav e
”
a brighter one inside of me
A minut e or two later slipping on the icy
ground he fell under the moving car and
was instantly killed His brighter light was
needed for the darkn ess of death
I n the days when Utah and her people
were being taught the meaning of the will
o f the people of the United States ; in the
days when short Vi s I Oned friends and c o
workers could not un derstand and would not
forbear criticism ; when his plans for the
future seemed futile ; when at times he
lacked fullest sympathy O f certain members
of the Missionary B oard ; when there was
found not only incompetency in some o f his
men and in rare cases serious charges o f
immorality must be faced ; when tongues of
calumny did not spare the character of this
valorous leader he li fted his chin clenched
his strong hands shook his abundant locks
every
curve
out
of
his
r en d ic ul a riz ed
e
p p
spine and with steady tread marched ahead
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CH ARA CT ERI S T I C S
1 61
trusting G od and his other steadfast friend s
to c are for his reputation He stood grow
ing always till the perfect day
T h ree times the somber wing of death
carried to the I li ff home the weighty burden
o f sorrow
Three times he and his philo
sophi c wife bared their fa c es to meet the
force o f the ou coming and relentless bliz
zard ; and three times they emerged chas
tened sweetened and uns c athed showing
a faith that w i ll not s hr i nk
Though pre ss ed by e v ery foe
That w i ll not tremble o n the brink
O f any earthly woe !
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w i ll not murmur nor c omplain
B eneath the cha s ten i ng rod
B ut in the hour of grief o r pain
”
Wil l lean u pon it s God
That
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At no time in all his career in the moun
tains were the children of the parsonages
displeased to have it known that the s uperin
tendent was coming His perennial j oyous
ness was infectious and e ff ectual His was
that undimmed light that for more than a
quarter o f a century poured itself unstinted
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1 62
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
into the O ften isolated homes Of the preachers
O f that inland Utah empire almost as large
as the States of Pennsylvania and N ew
York combined
E qually at home astride a mule or buck
ing broncho enduring the narrower inc on
v enienc e o f the crowded stagecoach in the
Pullman or afoot o v er some precipitous
mountain trail he was ever the uno st ent a
tious yet c ommanding center o f attraction
Not only was Dr I li ff fas cinating ly
strong on social lines it was his ability in
the pulpit and on the platform that made
him the c ompeller o f audiences Attractive
in per s onal appearance and pleasing in de
meanor he immediately placed his hearers
at c omplete ease while he held them from his
first utterance I n stature neither short nor
tall and o f sturdy and rather heavy build
for his height specially in the days of his
prime he was the picture o f perfect man
hood His tousled hair flying and fre
quently thrust through with his fingers he
a
n
mployed
his
own
native
unstudied
d
e
I lifli a n gestures all o f which added im
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 64
were always o f the deeply spiritual sort
which capti vated held and s ometime s con
v ert ed hi s hearers
This masterful quality native and im
pro v ed upon made him the success he was
in times and in places where purse strings
were tangled and tightly tied This imagi
nary purse s tring is the human heart and
mind which he would always unlock He
was an advocate before a j ury ; he won his
people before he asked for the v erdict I n
this he ranked with B enoni I I ve s and the
Chaplain Bishop Mc C a b e
L ike an ocean liner rigged and pro
visioned for a v oyage of indefini te length
but whose final port was certain he sailed
stern faced sometimes but always steadily
in one d irection through many a billowy
sea meeting wave on wave of human op
position t hreatened by un d erfill ed areas of
spiteful and seditious sub c r a ft ; but he
proudly yet not boastingly overrode it all
while knowing the dangers as did F arragut
in Mob ile B ay Thus to the end he outrode
every gale and made the harbor of victory
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XI
M E M ORIAL S ERVI C E S
A P OS T R O P H E
I M M O R TAL I T Y
TO
portion o f addre ss deliv ered by D r Il i ff on
the o cc a s ion of the death of hi s friend M atthew
H W alker )
A
(
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I m mortality !
W e b o w before the v ery word
im m ortal i ty ! B efore i t rea s on s tagger s c al c ula
tion re c l i ne s her tired head and im agi nation fold s
her weary pin i on s
Imm ortal i ty ! I t p u t s a deathle ss c ro wn upon
e v ery ch ild o f earth I t s ay s to e v ery un c rowned
“
—
king L iv e fore v er c ro wned fo r a deathle ss de s
”
tiny !
a gn i tu de that
Wh o c an mea su re the m
s u c h a tho u ght throw s aro u nd all c ondit i on s of
l i fe ! O C hr is t i an i ty what i s thy one great mi s
—
si on P to go and wherev er there is a hea vy heart
or troubled s oul or a home in darkne ss or a
s epul cher of night and plant the bea tific hope
O f l i fe again o f l i fe abo v e l i fe fore v er m ore
Fo r
Je s us C hr is t hath abol is hed death and bro u ght
l i fe and immortal i ty to l i ght through the go s pel
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
State had charge of the funeral services
which were held in th e F ir s t Methodist
Church
The chief address was made by D r Jame s
D Gillilan superintendent of the Boise
Di strict of the I daho Conferen c e and former
associate of Dr I li ff in Utah The R ev
E E Mork in charge of the Metho di st
S candinavian Missions in Utah spoke and
H G R ollins commander o f the Maxwell
M c K ea n Post talked about Dr I li ff s serv
ice to his c ountry in Civil W ar days
Prayer was o ffered by the R ev J H N
W illi ams pastor of the F irst Methodist
Church Dr Josiah M c C l a in former super
int end ent o f the Presbyterian Missions in
Utah and an associate o f Dr I li ff read the
twenty third psalm ; and the R e v F W
Bross read the N ew Testament lesson
A quartet c onsisting o f Mrs A S
Peters Mrs E G Caster A E berhardt
“
and Paul Armstrong sang F aith of our
F athers and the congregation j oined in
the rendering o f O God O ur Help in
”
Ages P a st
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M E M ORIAL S ERVI C E S
1 69
At the grave in Mount O livet the Masonic
L odge and the G A R Post held ritualistic
services The entir e family was present
This funeral was condu cted in one of the
fiercest snowstorms the springtime e v er per
mits in the S alt L ake valley
The pallbearer s included men of h igh
rank and calling and among these was
Simon B amberger the governor of th e State
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ADDRE SS
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BY
J D GILLIL AN
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.
Thomas Corwin I li ff was a man who faced
wrong and any other opposition in the open
He never fought a stroke in the dark nor
stabbed any enemy in the back He was an
A chilles who never at any moment su lked
in his tent
His was an aggressive nature s o much s o
that he di d not belong to the rear ranks He
—
was a N estor a pattern of that heroic
Homeri c kni ght whose stentorian voi c e coul d
“
”
always arouse the large soul ed Greeks
B orn in O hio of German and I rish a n
he became because of that strong
c es t r y
admi x ture a high type o f that newer c itizen
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
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the Ameri c an A s such he
o f the world
stood in priv ate as in publi c for the Golden
R ule o f demo cracy namely the pro curing
defending and making sure and s e c ure the
same political religious so cial and personal
privileges for others that he demanded for
himself a nd his o wn His heart was so
great the world did not fil l it ; he had room
enough for heaven too
H e gloried in confli c t for the j oy o f
e ven the hope of final victory His oppos
ings were always of principle and never of
a personal nature I f he knew how to be
vindictive none o f his nearest associates e ver
disco v ered the fact He never practiced
hating his fellows and therefore did not
know how to do it
B ecause o f the state O f unrest between
the se c tions of our divided republic he b e
came an early participant in the Civil W ar
E nli sting in 1 8 6 1 he served until the s ur
render Of L ee at Appomattox in the N inth
O hio V olunteer I nfantry C o A I n later
life his standing among his c omrades O f the
Ol d army was s o eminent he was ele cted t o
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 72
Mountain Conference of Methodism at it s
organization by Bishop R S F oster who
was presiding o v er his first session in S alt
L ake City This mighty ecclesiastical terri
tory embra c ed Utah Montana the greater
portion of I daho a s well as western Wyo
ming R emaining in Montana four s tren
uous years longer
he became in 1 8 76 a
member of the Utah Conference and was a p
pointed presiding elder o f B eav er District
He together with the honored late Judge
Jacob S B oreman represented Utah Meth
odism in the General Conference of 1 8 80
taking part in the election o f Bishop Henry
White W arren that distinguished a s trono
mer poet and Christian gentleman A t
this session o f the General Conference Utah
became a mission of the church and Gus
tavus M Peirce was appointed s uperin
tendent
Mr I li ff then transferred to
I lli nois and was made pastor in the city o f
Bloomington A fterward he toured E gypt
and the Holy L and with his O ld time friend
Bishop S M Merrill
I n 1 8 8 2 Mr I li ff was appointed b y
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M E M ORIAL S ERVI C E S
1 73
Bishop Hurst superintendent of the Utah
work which position he held un til 1 9 00
A fter this date he was made assistant secre
tary of the B oard of Home Missions and
Church Extension unt il 1 9 09 ; dur ing all
thi s time and until the setting o f his earthly
s un he was busy do ing the sort o f work
a ffording him chi efest pleasure that of rais
ing church finances and dedicating new
edifices which he did from Ma ine to Cali
forni a and from the Great L ake s to the
Gulf I n this sort o f acti vit y he may have
had a peer but surely ne v er a superior in
handling hard financial situ ations c onse
quent upon and in conne ction with the ere c
tion of new church bui ldings The next to
the last act in that line was the completion
o f the perfect temple o f victory upon what
seemed to the most sanguine of us broken
scattered and sha ttered pilasters and fo un
dation stones at Cascade I daho
His A lma Mater and De Pauw Uni
versity on the same day conferr ed on him
the honorary degree O f Doctor of Di vini ty
He wore it harmlessly
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1 74
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
Dr I li ff was never a plotting politi cian
or a p artisan demagogue
He was an
American and a Christian I n the s o called
”
“
dark days in this State a nd when things
politico social were aboil in Utah he was
call ed upon to do his part at the behest o f
Congress and he hesitated not a moment
A man of mark he was an easy target yet
no shaft o f any O pposer ever found a j oint
in his harness E xposed as he was to every
sort of frontier social danger and political
temptation he maintained his whiteness of
soul until his opponents prai sed him ; fo r
like the diamond the more hardly pressed
the brighter he shone
A s an administrator his church work grew
from seven actual appointments in 1 8 8 2 to
three districts with twenty seven appoint
ments in 1 8 9 9 ; and from a membership of
one hundred and sixty seven to one thou
sand two hundred and forty nine not reck
oning them in preparatory membership
Church edifices increased from six to twenty
fiv e in 1 89 9
Per s onally we trav eled camped talked
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 76
eart hly activity and care one o f the ablest
and be s t loved champions of right in this
section of the United States and his work
will be long remembered by those among
whom he labored in the missionary field of
Utah and I daho He was a militant Meth
odist and prea ched the Word with all the
force and vigor at his command Yet he
was a man of infin ite patience and o f the
most kindly feeling and consideration to
the superlative degree
A veteran of the Civil W ar he shortly
after its close began the work o f a mission
ary for which he was well qualified and in
which he was eminently successful
N ews of Dr I li ff s death will be recei v ed
with something o f a shock by the people of
all denominations in S alt L ake who had the
honor o f a personal acquaintance with the
truly great man for he was robust in spite
and it had been fondly hoped
o f his years
that he would be spared for a long time to
come And now that the Maker of all things
has s um moned this tireless worker to his
reward we bow our heads in humble s ubmis
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M E M ORIAL S ERVI C E S
1 77
sion and bid farewell t o a fearles s C h ris
tian missionary a patriotic c itizen a kind
husband and loving father
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AT
M I SSO ULA
I mpre s siv e ser vi c es in honor of Dr
Thomas C I li ff the first pastor and the
members o f the congregation now ser ving
their country in the field were held at the
F irst Methodist Church yesterday
The memorial servi c es for Dr I li ff who
founded the church here in 1 8 7 1 were held
in the morning with the R e v W W V an
Ors d el the R e v Jacob Mills Mrs E mma
C Dickinson and the R ev Charles D
Crouch speak ing in eulogy o f the pioneer
preacher
Dr V an Ors d el and Mrs Dickinson gav e
the principal talks at the morning meeting
The latter is the only sur v iving member o f
the little congregation which h eard Dr
“
”
I li ff s first sermon here
Brother V an
as Dr V an Or s d el is known was Dr I li ff s
companion in pioneer mis s ionary work in
Montana Territory
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 78
Mrs Dickinson came to Misso ula two
years before the Metho di st Chur ch was
organized She spoke briefly o f those early
days and of the organi z ation of the church
“
There was neither church nor s chool
house in Missoula when Brother I li ff c ame
”
“
here she said
The courthouse wa s the
o nl y place then for gatherings of any kind
Brother Comfort had preached there in
1 8 6 9 the first Protestant prea cher in t h i s
p art o f the territory
“
Brother I li ff and hi s bride arrived in
1 8 7 1 and imme di ately arrangements were
made for the building o f a chur ch Mr
I li ff himself donned overalls that summer
and worked with the other laborers to erect
the buil di ng
“
Mrs Dana and I were the only mem
bers of the Methodist Church here at that
time and when the church was organiz ed
there were seven charter members
“
I n the fall o f 7 1 Mr Dickinson and I
were married by Brother I li ff O urs was
the first marriage by a Protestant preacher
in Montana west o f Deer L odge
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1 80
TH O M A S C ORWIN I LIFF
there a chan c e to do good and sav e s ouls !
This to him was paramount t o all else He
under God was a great leader not only of
the Methodists but to all Christendom
During his ministry because o f his
ability in raising funds he either dedicated
o r assisted in dedicating o v er five hundred
churches and raised over three million dol
lars for that purpose
I n the early history o f the Territory
before railroads we made long j ourneys to
gether sometimes b y stage c oach At d ifi er
ent times we took our liv e s in our hands
as it were in crossing rivers and dangerous
mountain streams and sometime s amidst
hostile I ndian s were O ften the first t o hold
Ch ristian servi c e in some frontier settle
ment
Dr I li ff was a man full of faith and the
Holy Ghost O f him it may be s aid as
“
David s aid o f Abner Know ye not that
there is a prin c e and a great man fallen this
”
day in I srael !
Da vid followed the bier
and wept and all the people wept at the
gra v e of Abner be c ause of their great lo v e
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M E M ORIAL S ERVI C E S
1 81
for h im S o i s this true o f our own departed
brother
A most intimate acquaintance was formed
by the deceased and the writer forty five
years ag o This was strengthened and made
more enduring through all these years and
was like unto that o f Da vid and Jonathan
There is no friendship so endearing as
Christian friends h ip and espe c ially that
which grows out of Christian acti vity along
the new frontier o f the R o cky Mo untain
country
O ne o f our fav orite hymns was
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M y late s t s un i s s inking fa s t ,
M y ra c e i s nearly run ;
My s tronge s t trial s now are pa s t
”
My triumph i s begun
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Tis not t o be wondered at th at thi s was
his sentiment from the fa c t that he had lived
and preached the pure gospel O f Chri s t
He has rea ched that sun bright c lime ;
That life is more real than this Thi s brings
to us the reality of that hymn we have s o
often sung
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 82
Ov er
and o v er ; ye s deeper and deeper
My heart i s pier c ed through with life s s orro w
and c ry
B ut the tear s of the s o w er and the s ong s of the
reaper
S hall mi ngl e together in j oy by and by
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And wh ic h is further emphasiz ed by
Palms O f Victory palms o f glory you shall
”
wear
0 ! our dear departed brother whom we
loved so well thou art not dead j ust gone
before ; safe in the paradise of God I f
faithful t o him we shall see thee again in
that beautiful home over there where the
long dark night and the toil wearying day
ne v er tarni sh the bright golden plain for
thou hast taken thy place with the blood
washed v ictors
Yes we shall roam together again in
E lysian fields o f glory H ow we shall all
miss thee ! B ut heaven is nearer and Christ
is dearer than e v er before May thy saintly
mantle rest not only upon t he family but
upon the whole church
Ye s to thee the gates hav e opened wide
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1 84
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
O L D GLOR Y IN FRAN C E
D EDICATED
BY
T HE
A UTH OR
TO D R
.
I LIFF
O ld Glory in F ran c e !
What a migh ty advan c e
This leader of liber ty take s !
I t s tr ide s over sea s
T o t h e nations whose knees
Are bowed to the God of t h e righ t
Day and night while they fight ;
And t h e throne of crowned infamy
S h akes to it s bas e at the s igh t
.
O ld Glory in F ran c e !
A t the front in advan c e
W aving out the glad word
”
“
That the flag of the free
“
F rom the home o f the brav e
Crosses ocean s wide wav e
A redeemer to be !
F or the pea c e o f the world
I s O ld Glory unfurled
And forever nailed fast
T o the head of the mast !
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M E M ORI A L S ERVI C E S
1 85
O ld Glory in F rance !
H ow the children will d anc e
I n L afayette s land
Wh ere the undaunted s tand
By their tri c o lor true
An d our R ed White and Blue
I n blended communion
A san ctified union !
The mother will shout in e x uberant j oy
F or thi s unified aegis prote c ting h er boy
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T h us we s end F ran c e our lo v e
Wh ich has never grown c old ;
W e send her our gold
W e s end her our s ons
But we s end her O ld Glory
To float o er her gun s
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AP P EN D IX I
I t is the fashion of Gentile writer s to
sneer at Mormon c onv erts as belonging to
”
“
the lower classes
S o did
S o they did
a certain group of fishermen colle cted on
the shores o f L ake Tiberias nineteen c en
The slur has this much of j u s tice
turies a go
that few persons o f education few persons
even who had what might be called the edu
c a t iona l habit o f mind were gathered in by
the zealous missionaries o f the Mormon
But neither did these missionaries
! ion
appeal t o paupers c riminals nor n er do
wells They wanted sturdy farmers skilled
—
mechani c s faithful laborers and these they
secured and with them o cc asionally a
family or an individual o f high worldly
standard Charles Dickens who v isited a
shipload of Mormon emigrant s on the eve
pronounced them the
o f their departur e
cream of E ngland o f their c lass W it h all
due allowan c e for Dicken s s tenden cy t o
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1 89
TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
190
—
exaggerate this is high prais e B righa m
Young a nd H is M ormon K ing d om pp 2 5 3
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A PP END IX I I
The politi c al control of the hierarchy is
so absolute that a Mormon o fficial has been
redu c ed t o the ranks for circulating at a
s chool ele ction a di fferent ticket from the
o ne favored by hi s c hurch superiors ; and at
W ashington an Apostle sits in the S enate as
ambassador of the polygamous kingdom
an ambassador who has a highly important
vote in the S enate of the republic to which
—
he is accredite d B rig ha m Young a nd H is
M ormon K ing d om p 3 9 0
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.
A PP EN D IX I I I
THE
A NTI P O L YG AM Y M AN I FE S T O
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Whom it May Concern ! Press dis
patches ha ving been sent for political pur
poses from S alt L ake City which have been
widely published to the e ff ect that the Utah
Commission in their recent report to the
S ecretary o f the I nterior allege that plural
To
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TH O M A S C ORWIN ILIFF
1 92
Hous e wa s by my ins tru ction taken down
without delay
I nasmu ch as laws hav e been ena cted by
Congres s forbidding plural marriage which
laws ha ve been pronounced c onstitutional by
the court o f last resort I hereby declare my
intention to submit to those laws and to use
my influence with the members of the church
o v er wh i ch I preside to hav e them do like
wise
There is nothing in my teachings to the
church or in those o f my associates during
the time specified which c an reasonably be
c onstrued t o inculcate or encourage polyg
amy and when any E lder of the church has
used language whi ch appeared to c onvey
any such teaching he has been promptly
reproved A nd now I publi c ly declare that
my advice to the L atter Day S aints is to
refrain from contracting any marriage for
bidden by the law of the land
W ILF ORD W OODRUFF
President of the Church o f Jesus Christ of
L atter Day S aints
S alt L ake City Utah S ept 2 4 1 8 9 0
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A PP EN D I C E S
1 93
A PP EN D IX IV
When t h e Manifesto of 1 8 9 0 wa s i ssued
forbidding further practice o f plural mar
ria ge
polygamy
it
was
the
Mormon
)
(
women who were mo s t pained and most re
s ent ful
But here and there wa s one who
saw deeper beyond the temporary disrupt
ing o f home ties t o the peace and confidence
which lay ahead O ne Apostle whose firs t
wife was o f this caliber asked her what she
“
thought o f it She answered ! W ell E
I ve always thought that some time God
would get as tired o f polygamy as I am
That woman was an ex c eption howe ver
Ev en now when plur al marriage h a s been
renewed under circumstan c es o f se cre cy and
de c eit that would ruin the most righteous
ins titution Mormon women resent th e faint
est c hallenge Of polygamous faith or pra e
ti c e ; and they would perj ure them s elves b e
fore c ourts and investigating c ommittees
to clear their h usbands e v en at t h e c ost
—
of
bastardizing their ch ildre n B righa m
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Young
a nd
H is
M ormon E mpire
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2
3
0
p
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