DOCSLIB.ORG

The Memory of Joseph Smith in Vermont

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Memory of Joseph Smith in Vermont Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2002 American Prophet, New England Town: The Memory of Joseph Smith in Vermont Keith A. Erekson Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History of Religion Commons, and the Mormon Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Erekson, Keith A., "American Prophet, New England Town: The Memory of Joseph Smith in Vermont" (2002). Theses and Dissertations. 4669. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4669 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. ABSTRACT AMERICAN PROPHET NEW ENGLAND TOWN THE MEMORY OF JOSEPH SMITH IN VERMONT keith A erekson department of history master ofarts in december 1905 a large granite monument was erected at the birthplace of joseph smith on the one hundredth anniversary of his birth this thesis relates the history of the joseph smith memorial monument from its origins through its construction and dedication it also explores its impact on the memory of joseph smith in the local vermont and national context I1 argue that the history of the joseph smith memorial monument in vermont is the story ofthe formation and validation of the memory of joseph smith as an american prophet nineteenth century cormonsmormons remembered a variety of individual memories of joseph smith that were aggregated through reminiscences hymns and commemorations into three dominant collective memories joseph smith as prophet martyr and vermont schoolboy during the first decade of the twentieth century these three memories of joseph smith were filtered through the social religious and political interests and concretized into the joseph smith memorial birthplace monument the dedication of the joseph smith monument on 23 december 1905 and the messages presented at the site by junius F wells over the next five years shaped a broader interpretation of joseph smith as an american prophet the impact of the monument in vermont is examined through a case study of royalton vermont vermontisvermontsVermonts past had been aggregated into a tradition emphasizing the virtue patriotism and individuality vermontersofofvermontersVermonters and royalton residents responded to the joseph smith monument by concretizing their own memory of royalton as a typical new england town through monuments a town history and an annual town holiday competing memories of an american prophet and the new england town collided during construction of the royalton memorial library in 1922 and settlement of royaltonsRoyaltons division over the definition of a new england town validated the memory of joseph smith as an american prophet throughout the twentieth century the memories of an american prophet and new england town accommodated each other vermontisvermontsVermonts validation of the memory of joseph smith as an american prophet represents a national transformation in the memory of joseph smith AMERICAN PROPHET NEW ENGLAND TOWN THE MEMORY OF JOSEPH SMITH IN VERMONT by keith A erekson A thesis submitted to the faculty of brigham young university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts department of history brigham young university august 2002 copyright 0 2002 keith A erekson all rights reserved BRIGHAM YOUNG university GRADUATE COMMITTEE APPROVAL of a thesis submitted by keith A erekson this thesis has been read by each member ofthe following graduate committee and by majority vote has been found to be satisfactory U date susansan S rugh chair U A QZ date RicrichardlerichardmehardiehardlE bennett M 0 2 date 7 gary BRIGHAM YOUNG university As chair of the candidates graduate committee I1 have read the thesis ofkeith A erekson in its final form and have found that 1 its format citations and bibliographical style are consistent and acceptable and fulfill university and department style requirements 2 its illustrative materials including figures tables and charts are in place and 3 the final manuscript is satisfactory to the graduate committee and is ready for submission to the university library y jw 1 z 0 date I susanan S rugh chair graduate committee accepted for the department zw thomas G alexander graduate coordinator accepted for the college leiatarealtareaatalegata forste associate dean college offamily home and social sciences acknowledgementsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS many of my childhood memories connect me to the joseph smith birthplace memorial but it was a grant from the brigham young university office of research and creative activities that led me to establish a scholarly connection richard E bennett of the department of church history and doctrine at brigham young university introduced me to the world of mormon history and sponsored my ORCA grant proposal J gary daynes opened my eyes to the significance of memory and its utility for historical inquiry my chair susan S rugh of the history department at brigham young university supported the project from the day I1 proposed it she read countless drafts and relentlessly pressed me deeper into the project while continually reminding me there is more to life than history the brigham young university history department provided funding for research and for travel to present my findings in vermont my grandparents robert L and virginia H mcshinsky graciously submitted to my questions about their history as well as that of the monument they introduced me to local church members G lester corwin II11 and elaine soule as well as to site director judson H flower jr all of whom have devoted much of their time to preserving the history of the monument and of the local LDS congregation in writing about royalton vermont I1 have benefited greatly by the work of town historians evelyn lovejoy hope nash and john dumville As my footnotes demonstrate this work would not have been possible without them I1 am equally indebted to theresa M harrington alison S gravel and janfrajanara D tompkins of the royalton town clerks office elaina griffith and karen anderson of the royalton memorial library dick drysdale and bob eddy of the herald of randolphofrandolph and beverly thomas of the south royalton comanswomans club paul carnahan and mamarjorieorieorlestrong from the vermont historical society and the staff at the bailey howe library at the university ofvermont provided valuable assistance in the LDS church archives ronald G watt bill slaughter steven R sorensen and ronald 0 barney lent their expertise as did LDS museum director glen M leonard and historical department members donald L enders and T michael smith larry C porter richard N holzapfel steven L olsen and sarah barringer gordon provided encouragement along the way my wife carolyn has lived through this project from the outset and her criticism and support have made it a better product CONTENTS list of tables x list of illustrations xi introduction crossed pasts I11 PART ONE FORMATION chapter 1 praise to his memory 1830190018301900.1830 1900 19 chapter 2 memories into monument 190119051901 1905 51 51.51 chapterchapters3 american prophet 1905191019051910.1905 1910 103 PART TWO validation chapter 4 royaltonsRoyaltons response 190519151905 1915 153 153.153 chapter 5 the mormon affair 191519351915 1935 189 chapter 6 new england prophet american town 20002311935200023119352000.231193520001935 2000 231 conclusion 281 illustrations 287 appendix A tables 307 B joseph smith memorial birthplace site personnel 328 328.328 C Timeline 329 D biographical sketches 333 bibliography 345 ix LIST OF TABLES table iili111.1 prominent nineteenth century cormonsmormons bomborn in vermont 307 307.307 121.2 Ververmontersmonters in early mormon history 308 212.1 construction of the joseph smith memorial monument309monument 309 22 222.2 dimensions of the joseph smith memorial monument 310 310.310 232.3 contents of the copper casket 311 313.1 local residents offering woodard hall to the latter day saintssaints312312 32 323.2 latter day saints attending monument dedication 23 dec 1905 314 314.314 333.3 Ververmontersmonters signing the guest register 23 dec 1905 316 316.316 343.4 joseph smith birthplace property purchases 317 353.5 vermont granite in latter day saint monuments and templestemples318318 363.6 latter day saint historic site purchases 319 414.1 early vermont monuments and markers 320 320.320 515.1 royalton memorial library donors and persons memorialized321memorialized 321 616.1gi distribution of 1967 press reports 324 626.2 visitors to the joseph smith memorial birthplace 1906199819983251906199832519061998.3251906 1998 325 636.3 royalton families in 1911 and 1975 326 646.4 latter day saint membership in vermont 327 x illustrations figure 1 vermont 289 289.289 2 junius F wells 1854193018541930.1854 1930 290 290.290 3 monument to daniel H wells salt lake city 290 290.290 4 royalton township 291 5 covered bridge over the first or tunbridge branch 292 292.292 6 setting the joseph smith memorial monument in place 292 292.292 7 julius orlando belknap 184019101840 1910 293 293.293 8 marvin H hazen 1856 293 9 john henry hewitt 1846 293 10 mark J sargent 1837 293 11 charles P tarbell 185019341850 1934 294 12 arthur G whitham 186619621866 1962 294 13 edgar J fish 18 5 1 294 14 charles henry woodard 185318 53 294 15 Os south royalton house woodard hallhalihailhalfhairigligi1910s191 295
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Download Chapter (PDF)
    CONTENTS Introduction by Fawn Μ. Brodie Note on the Text ROUTE FROM LIVERPOOL το GREAT SALT LAKE VALLEY Preface [Chapters I-IX by Linforth] Chapter I. Commencement of the Latter-day Saints' Emigration—History until the Suspension in 1846 Chapter II. Memorial to the Queen—Re-opening of the Emigration—History until 1851 Chapter III. History of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund—Act of Incorporation by the General Assembly of Deseret Chapter IV. History of the Emigration from 1851 to 1852—Contemplated Routes via the Isthmus of Panama and Cape Horn Chapter V. History of the Emigration from 1852 to April, 1854—Extensive Operations of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company vi CONTENTS Chapter VI. Foreign Emigration passing through Liverpool 38 Chapter VII. Statistics of the Latter-day Saints' Emigration from the British Isles 40 Chapter VIII. Mode of conducting the Emigration 49 Chapter IX. Instructions to Emigrants 54 [Chapters X-XXI by Piercy] Chapter X. Departure from Liverpool—San Domingo—Cuba—The Gulf of Mexico—The Mississippi River—The Balize—Arrival at New Orleans—Attempts of "Sharpers" to board the Ship and pilfer from the Emigrants 62 Chapter XI. Louisiana—The City of New Orleans—Disembarkation 71 Chapter XII. Departure from New Orleans—Steam-Boats—Negro-Slavery— Carrollton—The Face of the Country—-Baton Rouge—Red River —Mississippi—Unwholesomeness of the waters of the Mississippi —Danger in procuring Water from the Stream—Washing away of the Banks of the River—Snags—Landing at Natchez at night —Beautiful effect caused by reflection on the Water of the Light from the Steamboat Windows—^American Taverns and Hospi- tality—Rapidity at Meals—American Cooking Stoves and Wash- ing Boards—Old Fort Rosalie—An Amateur Artist 73 Chapter XIII.
    [Show full text]
  • Moroni: Angel Or Treasure Guardian? 39
    Mark Ashurst-McGee: Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian? 39 Moroni: Angel or Treasure Guardian? Mark Ashurst-McGee Over the last two decades, historians have reconsidered the origins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the context of the early American tradition of treasure hunting. Well into the nineteenth century there were European Americans hunting for buried wealth. Some believed in treasures that were protected by magic spells or guarded by preternatural beings. Joseph Smith, founding prophet of the Church, had participated in several treasure-hunting expeditions in his youth. The church that he later founded rested to a great degree on his claim that an angel named Moroni had appeared to him in 1823 and showed him the location of an ancient scriptural record akin to the Bible, which was inscribed on metal tablets that looked like gold. After four years, Moroni allowed Smith to recover these “golden plates” and translate their characters into English. It was from Smith’s published translation—the Book of Mormon—that members of the fledgling church became known as “Mormons.” For historians of Mormonism who have treated the golden plates as treasure, Moroni has become a treasure guardian. In this essay, I argue for the historical validity of the traditional understanding of Moroni as an angel. In May of 1985, a letter to the editor of the Salt Lake Tribune posed this question: “In keeping with the true spirit (no pun intended) of historical facts, should not the angel Moroni atop the Mormon Temple be replaced with a white salamander?”1 Of course, the pun was intended.
    [Show full text]
  • MEMBERS of the CHURCH of JESUS CHRIST of LATTER-DAY SAINTS Bmby S-ER 26,1830 Ly Mmd
    MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS BmBY S-ER 26,1830 Ly mmD. Platt On September 26,1830 at the second conference By her I had one son and two daughters. The Church of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints it was was not organized but soon after, April 6, 1830. A few days stated that there were sixty-two members, and that thrrty- afterwards] I was baptized in the waters of Seneca Lake by five of them had joined the church since the fist conference Joseph Smith." (0PH2599)It is possible that Solomon was on June 9th. This means that fiom April 6,1830 to June 9, baptized between April 8th and April 10th. As nearly all of 1830 there were twenty-seven people who joined the the baptisms talk place on Sunday during these initial Church, each of whom has been identified for many years, months, the fact that he was not part of the group baptized except fur two. The complete number of sixty-two members on Sunday, April 1 Ith, points to a date of the 8th, 9th or by September 26th has never been identifled prior to this 10th to quai@ for the "few days" noted in his article. autobiography. He had had to iraveI from his home in the vicinity of Lyons, Wayne. New York, just north of Fayette, Joseph Smith, Jr., Oliver Cowdery, and Samuel H. to be baptized, so it was not far. Smith were all initially baptized on May 15, 1829 (LMS:337).
    [Show full text]
  • Wayward Saints: the Godbeites and Brigham Young Ronald W. Walker
    BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 39 Issue 1 Article 10 1-1-2000 Wayward Saints: The Godbeites and Brigham Young Ronald W. Walker Dean L. May Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Part of the Mormon Studies Commons, and the Religious Education Commons Recommended Citation May, Dean L. (2000) "Wayward Saints: The Godbeites and Brigham Young Ronald W. Walker," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 39 : Iss. 1 , Article 10. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol39/iss1/10 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected]. May: <em>Wayward Saints: The Godbeites and Brigham Young</em> Ronald W book reviews RONALD W WALKER foreword by jan shipps wayward saints the Godgodbeitesbeites and brigham young urbana university of illinois press 1998 399 appp illustrations bibliography notes index hardback 4995499549.95 paper- back 2500250025.00 reviewed by dean L may the Godgodbeitesbeites were a group of mormon dissenters mostly of british birth who in the 1870si8yos took strong exception to the communal economic policies of brigham young and other leaders of the church so outspoken was their criticism that most were eventually excommunicated several after becoming attached to spiritualism this belief apparently served as a surrogate for the excitement and zeal that they had experienced as new
    [Show full text]
  • DIALOGUE DIALOGUE PO Box 381209 Cambridge, MA 02238 Electronic Service Requested
    DIALOGUE DIALOGUE PO Box 381209 Cambridge, MA 02238 electronic service requested DIALOGUE a journal of mormon thought 49.4 winter 2016 49.4 EDITORS EDITOR Boyd Jay Petersen, Provo, UT ASSOCIATE EDITOR David W. Scott, Lehi, UT WEB EDITOR Emily W. Jensen, Farmington, UT DIALOGUE FICTION Julie Nichols, Orem, UT POETRY Darlene Young, South Jordan, UT a journal of mormon thought REVIEWS (non-fiction) John Hatch, Salt Lake City, UT REVIEWS (literature) Andrew Hall, Fukuoka, Japan INTERNATIONAL Gina Colvin, Christchurch, New Zealand Carter Charles, Bordeaux, France POLITICAL Russell Arben Fox, Wichita, KS HISTORY Sheree Maxwell Bench, Pleasant Grove, UT SCIENCE Steven Peck, Provo, UT FILM & THEATRE Eric Samuelson, Provo, UT PHILOSOPHY/THEOLOGY Brian Birch, Draper, UT ART Andrea Davis, Orem, UT IN THE NEXT ISSUE Brad Kramer, Murray, UT Brad Cook, “Pre-Mortality in Mystical Islam” BUSINESS & PRODUCTION STAFF BUSINESS MANAGER Mariya Manzhos, Cambridge, MA PRODUCTION MANAGER Jenny Webb, Huntsville, AL Allen Hansen & Walker Wright, “Worship through COPY EDITORS Sarah Moore, Madison, AL Corporeality in Hasidism and Mormonism” Richelle Wilson, Madison, WI INTERNS Stocktcon Carter, Provo, UT Nathan Tucker, Provo, UT Fiction from William Morris Geoff Griffin, Provo, UT Christian D. Van Dyke, Provo, UT Fiction from R. A. Christmas Ellen Draper, Provo, UT EDITORIAL BOARD Lavina Fielding Anderson, Salt Lake City, UT William Morris, Minneapolis, MN Mary L. Bradford, Landsdowne, VA Michael Nielsen, Statesboro, GA Claudia Bushman, New York, NY Nathan B. Oman, Williamsburg, VA Daniel Dwyer, Albany, NY Thomas F. Rogers, Bountiful, UT Ignacio M. Garcia, Provo, UT Mathew Schmalz, Worcester, MA Join our DIALOGUE! Brian M. Hauglid, Spanish Fork, UT David W.
    [Show full text]
  • The Secret Mormon Meetings of 1922
    University of Nevada, Reno THE SECRET MORMON MEETINGS OF 1922 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History By Shannon Caldwell Montez C. Elizabeth Raymond, Ph.D. / Thesis Advisor December 2019 Copyright by Shannon Caldwell Montez 2019 All Rights Reserved UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA RENO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by SHANNON CALDWELL MONTEZ entitled The Secret Mormon Meetings of 1922 be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS C. Elizabeth Raymond, Ph.D., Advisor Cameron B. Strang, Ph.D., Committee Member Greta E. de Jong, Ph.D., Committee Member Erin E. Stiles, Ph.D., Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph.D., Dean, Graduate School December 2019 i Abstract B. H. Roberts presented information to the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in January of 1922 that fundamentally challenged the entire premise of their religious beliefs. New research shows that in addition to church leadership, this information was also presented during the neXt few months to a select group of highly educated Mormon men and women outside of church hierarchy. This group represented many aspects of Mormon belief, different areas of eXpertise, and varying approaches to dealing with challenging information. Their stories create a beautiful tapestry of Mormon life in the transition years from polygamy, frontier life, and resistance to statehood, assimilation, and respectability. A study of the people involved illuminates an important, overlooked, underappreciated, and eXciting period of Mormon history.
    [Show full text]
  • Essays on the Persecution of Religious Minorities by David Thomas Smith
    Essays on the Persecution of Religious Minorities by David Thomas Smith A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Political Science) in the University of Michigan 2011 Doctoral Committee: Professor William R. Clark, co-chair Professor Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, co-chair Professor Robert J. Franzese, Jr. Professor Andrei S. Markovits Professor Robert W. Mickey i Acknowledgements Throughout the last six and a half years I have benefited enormously from the mentorship and friendship of my wonderful dissertation committee members: Bill Clark, Anna Grzymala-Busse, Andy Markovits, Rob Mickey and Rob Franzese. I assembled this committee before I even knew what I wanted to write about, and I made the right choices—I cannot imagine a more supportive, patient and insightful group of advisers. They gave me badly-needed discipline when I needed it (which was all the time) and oversaw numerous episodes of Schumpeterian “creative destruction.” They also gave me more ideas than I could ever hope to assimilate, ideas which will be providing me with directions for future research for many years to come. But these huge contributions are minor in comparison to the fact that they taught me how to think like a political scientist. I couldn’t ask for anything more. All of these papers had trial runs in various internal workshops and seminars at the University of Michigan, and I profited greatly from the structured feedback that I received from the Michigan political science community, faculty and grad students alike. Thanks to everyone who was a discussant for one of these papers—Zvi Gitelman, Chuck Shipan, Sana Jaffrey, Cassie Grafstrom (twice!), Ron Inglehart, Ken Kollman, Allison Dale, Pam Brandwein, Andrea Jones-Rooy, Rob Salmond and Jenna Bednar.
    [Show full text]
  • The Keys That Never Rust
    The Keys That Never Rust Elder James E. Faust Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Ensign, Nov. 1994, 72-74 A few months ago, my beloved Ruth, Elder Holland very much, saying in substance, ‘Now, if they kill me, and his sweet Patty, and I accompanied a group into the you have all the keys and all the ordinances and you can fascinating old city of Jerusalem to look for the door confer them upon others, and the powers of Satan will with the name of Hyde carved on it. The enchanting not be able to tear down the kingdom as fast as you will smells of the open containers of spices and the sounds of be able to build it up, and upon your shoulders will the men selling their wares were exhilarating. As we entered responsibility of leading this people rest.’ ” (Joseph St. Saviour’s Monastery, looking for the door, we Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. entered into old passageways surrounded by stone walls. McConkie, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56], We were told that some parts of the walls went back to 1:259) the time of the Crusaders. On one wall hung an After learning of the deaths of the Prophet Joseph assortment of ancient rusted keys. Some of these keys and the Patriarch Hyrum, Wilford Woodruff reports his were huge. All were larger than the keys we use today. meeting with Brigham Young, who was then the Many of them were very ornate. Many of the doors the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as keys were made to open no longer exist, or if they do, the follows: “I met Brigham Young in the streets of Boston, keys and the locks would be too rusty to open them.
    [Show full text]
  • 2008 Conference Hotel and Other Information
    2008 IACA Conference Salt Lake City, Utah Hotel, Airport, Transportation, General Information Hotel: Little America 500 South Main Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 Tel: 801-596-5700 Fax: 801-596-5911 http://www.littleamerica.com/slc/ Rate: $145/night - plus 12.5% tax Rate is good for 3 days prior and 3 days after the conference, subject to availability. Reservations: 1-800-453-9450 Online: https://reservations.ihotelier.com/crs/g_reservation.cfm?groupID=93657&hotelID=4650 • Cancellations must be made at least 24 hours prior to arrival. • Complimentary parking • Free High Speed Internet Access – Please bring your own Ethernet cord or buy one at the hotel for $6.00 Airport: Salt Lake City International Airport http://www.slcairport.com/ 1 Airlines Serving Salt Lake City International Airport Currently, there are 12 airlines with service from Salt Lake City International Airport. Airline Flight Info Gate Assignment America West Express/Mesa 800-235-9292 A2 2 flights per day American Airlines 800-433-7300 A1 7 flights per day Continental Airlines 800-525-0280 A6 3 flights per day Continental Express 800-525-0280 A6 2 flights per day Delta Air Lines 800-221-1212 B2, B4, B6, B8, B10, 95 flights per day B12, C1-13, D1-D13 Delta 800-453-9417 E Gates Connection/SkyWest Airlines 212 flights per day Frontier Airlines 800-432-1359 A5 6 flights per day jetBlue Airways 800-538-2583 A7 5 flights per day Northwest Airlines 800-225-2525 A4 4 flights per day Southwest Airlines 800-435-9792 B11, B13, B14-B18 44 flights per day United Airlines 800-241-6522 B5, B7, B9 6 flights per day United Express 800-241-6522 B5, B7, B9 10 flights per day US Airways 800-235-9292 A2 5 flights per day Car rental facilities are located on the ground floor of the short-term parking garage directly across from the terminal buildings.
    [Show full text]
  • Park Assistant Professor of History, Sam Houston State University
    Benjamin E. Park Assistant Professor of History, Sam Houston State University Mailing Address: Contact Information: Department of History email: [email protected] Box 2239 phone: (505) 573-0509 Sam Houston State University website: benjaminepark.com Huntsville, TX 77341 twitter: @BenjaminEPark EDUCATION 2014 Ph.D., History, University of Cambridge 2011 M.Phil., Political Thought and Intellectual History, University of Cambridge -with distinction 2010 M.Sc., Historical Theology, University of Edinburgh -with distinction 2009 B.A., English and History, Brigham Young University RESEARCH INTERESTS 18th and 19th Century US history, intersections of culture with religion and politics, intellectual history, history of gender, religious studies, slavery and antislavery, Atlantic history. ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS 2016- Assistant Professor of History, Sam Houston State University HIST 1301: United States History to 1876 HIST 3360: American Religious History HIST 3377: America in Mid-Passage, 1773-1876 HIST 3378: Emergence of Modern America, 1877-1945 HIST 5371: Revolutionary America (Grad Seminar) HIST 5378: American Cultural and Religious History (Grad Seminar) 2014-2016 Kinder Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History, University of Missouri HIST 1100: United States History to The Civil War HIST 4000: The Age of Jefferson HIST 4004: 18th Century Revolutions: America, France, Haiti HIST 4972: Religion and Politics in American History 2012-2014 Lecturer and Supervisor, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge Paper 22: American History through 1865 PUBLICATIONS Books American Nationalisms: Imagining Union in the Age of Revolutions, 1783-1833 (Cambridge University Press, January 2018). Benjamin Park C.V. Peer-Reviewed Articles “The Angel of Nullification: Imagining Disunion in an Era Before Secession,” Journal of the Early Republic 37:3 (Fall 2017): 507-536.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rise of Cornelius Peter Van Ness 1782- 18 26
    PVHS Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society 1942 NEW SERIES' MARCH VOL. X No. I THE RISE OF CORNELIUS PETER VAN NESS 1782- 18 26 By T. D. SEYMOUR BASSETT Cornelius Peter Van Ness was a colorful and vigorous leader in a formative period of Vermont history, hut he has remained in the dusk of that history. In this paper Mr. Bassett has sought to recall __ mm and IUs activities and through him throw definite light on h4s ---------­ eventfultime.l.- -In--this--study Van--N-esr--ir-brought;-w--rlre-dt:a.mot~ months of his attempt in the senatorial election of I826 to succeed Horatio Seymour. 'Ulhen Mr. Bassett has completed his research into thot phase of the career of Van Ness, we hope to present the re­ sults in another paper. Further comment will he found in the Post­ script. Editor. NDIVIDUALISM is the boasted virtue of Vermonters. If they I are right in their boast, biographies of typical Vermonters should re­ veal what individualism has produced. Governor Van Ness was a typical Vermonter of the late nineteenth century, but out of harmony with the Vermont spirit of his day. This essay sketches his meteoric career in administrative, legislative and judicial office, and his control of Vermont federal and state patronage for a decade up to the turning point of his career, the senatorial campaign of 1826.1 His family had come to N ew York in the seventeenth century. 2 His father was by trade a wheelwright, strong-willed, with little book-learning. A Revolutionary colonel and a county judge, his purchase of Lindenwald, an estate at Kinderhook, twenty miles down the Hudson from Albany, marked his social and pecuniary success.s Cornelius was born at Lindenwald on January 26, 1782.
    [Show full text]
  • The Joseph Smith Memorial Monument and Royalton's
    The Joseph Smith Memorial Monument and Royalton’s “Mormon Affair”: Religion, Community, Memory, and Politics in Progressive Vermont In a state with a history of ambivalence toward outsiders, the story of the Mormon monument’s mediation in the local rivalry between Royalton and South Royalton is ultimately a story about transformation, religion, community, memory, and politics. Along the way— and in this case entangled with the Mormon monument—a generation reshaped town affairs. By Keith A. Erekson n December 23, 1905, over fifty members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) gathered to Odedicate a monument to their church’s founder, Joseph Smith, near the site of his birth on a hill in the White River Valley. Dur- ing the previous six months, the monument’s designer and project man- agers had marshaled the vast resources of Vermont’s granite industry to quarry and polish half a dozen granite blocks and transport them by rail and horse power; they surmounted all odds by shoring up sagging ..................... KEITH A. EREKSON is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Indiana University and is the assistant editor of the Indiana Magazine of History. Vermont History 73 (Summer/Fall 2005): 117–151. © 2005 by the Vermont Historical Society. ISSN: 0042-4161; on-line ISSN: 1544-3043 118 ..................... Joseph Smith Memorial Monument (Lovejoy, History, facing 648). bridges, crossing frozen mud holes, and beating winter storms to erect a fifty-foot, one-hundred-ton monument considered to be the largest of its kind in the world. Since 1905, Vermont histories and travel litera- ture, when they have acknowledged the monument’s presence, have generally referred to it as a remarkable engineering feat representative of the state’s prized granite industry.1 What these accounts have omitted is any indication of the monument’s impact upon the local community in which it was erected.
    [Show full text]