The First London Mormons: 1840-1845: "What Am I and My Brethren Here For?"
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Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1988 The First London Mormons: 1840-1845: "What Am I and My Brethren Here For?" Lynne Watkins Jorgensen Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the European History Commons, and the Mormon Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Jorgensen, Lynne Watkins, "The First London Mormons: 1840-1845: "What Am I and My Brethren Here For?"" (1988). Theses and Dissertations. 4841. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4841 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]. THE FIRSTF I1 rst LONDON MORMONS 1840 1845 WHAT AM I1 AND MY BRETHREN HERE FOR A thesis presented to the department of history brigham young university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of arts by lynne watkins jorgensen december 19551988 this thesis by lanonelynone lynne watkinswati ms jorgensen is accepted in its presentpre i nt form by the department of history of brigham young univeruniversityolty as sattsatisfyingfylng the thesis requirement for the degree ofor lastermaster1 of arts V ay H yy davidjfpratt committee chairman ddneow filsjhfitsmitsb jh C 0 104vl V robertfilsC kenzer lycommittee member 9 aw 2 20a C 9 00avqldyolayaldyoldy 6w C ilffns date david C montgomery grdujgraduatete focoordinator 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS list of tables and charts iv list of maps iv list of illustrations iv PREFACE V CHAPTER I1 I1 I1 ON I1 introductionNTRODUCT 1 II11I1 I1 LONDON 1840 THE TWO SIDES OF THE EARLY VICTORIAN CITY 15 III111 LONDON MORMON lii demographics 1840451840 45 43 43.43 IV nonconformist LONDON AND THE MORMONS 6262.62 V ALONG THE MORMON TRAIL FROM LONDON TO ZION 8383.83 VI LONDONERS IN THEIR UTAH communities 96gg96.96 vilVIIVI I1 conclusions the poulter saga 115 conclusions 1288 APPENDIX I1 london branches organization history 133 APPENDIX II11 occupation status classification 135135.135 APPENDIX illliiIII111111 notes on frederick piercy membership 137 APPENDIX IVI1 V names of london cormonsmormons whoemigratedWho Emigrated 142 APPENDIX V london convert members of the willwiilwi I1 I1 iei e martin handcart companies of 185615561856. 147 APPENDIX VIV I1 james godson bleak letters to london 149 APPENDIX VII descendant persistence family records 152 APPENDIX VIIIVI I1 I1 information abbreviations and family history library call numbers 155 155.155 APPENDIX IX london cormonsmormons membership list 156 bibliography OF WORKS CITED 205205.205 iii LIST OF TABLES I1 london mormon converts by birthplace 4646.46 ILII11 occupation status percentages 5555.55 illililiiIII111 age of london converts at time of baptism 59595.599 IVI1 V recorded missionary baptism percentages by year 7979.79 LIST OF CHARTS I1 london borough status identification 5050.50 II11 occupation lists westnorthwestworthWest North males 5151.51 ililiiIII111 occupation list eastsoutheast5outhEast South malesmaies 535553.53 IVI1 V occupation list females 5454.54 V london mormon convert family groups gl6161.61 VIV 1 london conference leadership 78 78.78 vilVIIVI 1 tentative missionary conversion numbers bi8181.81 VIIIVI 11 london branches leadership 8282.82 IXI1 X occupation persistence and convert estate 113 LISTL I1 ST OF MAPS I1 london boroughs westnorthwestworthWest North eastsouthEast South 4242.42 II11 shires counties of england 47 47.47 illliiIII111 conversion residential patterns 4149dg.49 LIST OF illustrations I1 15411841 census lorenzo snow and benlbenjbenj morgan 151313.13 II11 1841 census henry morgan on georges row 14 ilililIII111 occupation artifacts including 114 james staples n3nahasonbasonnasonqol7 s time book deseret currency brigham city cooperative signed by william lampard watkins iv PREFACEP ACE london is the hardest place I1 have ever visited for establishingestablisestablishcinqhinq the gospel it is full of everything but righteousness 1 50 wrote wilford woodruff with fervor and indignation on 2 5eptemberib40september 1840 woodruff would neither believe nor accept the slow response the mormon american missionaries received in the teeming metropolis A revealing article by james 13 alienailenand malcolm R thorpe in the summer 1975 issue of BYU studies concerning the mission of the twelve to england illustrates his frustration the report details the successful efforts of the early miss- ionariesionlonio ariesartesnarles throughout the british isles then adds two brief pages which sum up the london effort as the greatest disappointment of the proselyting careers of the missionaries george A smith wilford woodruff and heber C kimball opened up the london area in august 1840 smith left after just twenty two short days having become dangerously ill in the polluted city environment kimball also departed to fitfillpli a more friendly assignment brigham young joined wilford woodruff for a few weeks in december except for a few days in september woodruff remained in london until the men were recalled to nauvoo in february 1841 london remained indifferent to the fact that in its midst were men who would one day be called prophets of the lord by october 56 1scottoescottoscott 0 kenney ed wilford woodruff journals 17 volsvoismidvale utah signature books 198315061983 1506 hereafter cited woodruff clournijournals91s v 15401840 these master missionaries had only gathered eleven members which compared dismally with other english conferences where members joined by the hundreds in may 15411841 lorenzo snow who replaced the original missionary apostles reported only sixty three membersmembers22f lorenzo further complained inm a letter to george A smith that london was a seat of satan from which his predecessors had so fortunately escaped 3 I1 have been fascinated and curious about this effort for sometime as my great great grandparents were baptized inm london in october 15401840 their son my great grandfather and his sister were baptized in may 15411841 there is no record in the london conference of this family though they appear in the 15411841 london fosburyfmsburyfinsburyFinsbury census they migrated to nauvoo in december 15411841 on the ship emeraldemer and were part of the later westward trek they and their descendants have since been closely involved with the mormon church I1 have been challenged to learn if the london effort of the first missionaries was really a disaster in numbers or in descendant activity 1 lorenzo snow also a future prophet confided further I want your prayers for the powers of darkness are great in this city and I1 shall soon be left alone being assisted only by those who are infants in the kingdom 4 this thesis demonstrates that the london mission was successful between 1840451840 45 and that the infants in the kingdom developed into men qosephdoseph2joseph smith jr history of thefeieefee churchcarcy of jesuslletustas christ of lattertattertatten dahdaveavday saints58ints ed B H roberts 7vo1s7 volsvoisSLC deseret news press 1946501946 50 4360 hereafter cited &5toryofhistory of thefleeflye church lorenzo snew to georgegeorgeaoeorgeaA smith 1 dec 1840 as quoted by james B alienailenand malcolm R thorpe mission of the twelve to england BYU Stastustudiesoliesvliesvexes 155 summersummer 19755101975 510 francisaf4franciancls bibbonsoibbonsgi bbons Llorenzoorel7zo snow SLC deseret book press 1985 p 33 vi and women of stature in addition new insight is provided on the origins of early victorian london cormonsMormormonsmons I1 have had much encouragement in developing this thesis I1 would ikeilkelikeI1 to thank the many individuals who helped me with each step I1 am espe- cially grateful to my husband dr leland H jorgensen for sharing his remarkable editing skills and my father victor H watkins who listenedHstenedbened patiently to my stories of the london cormonsMormormonsmons I1 appreciate the careful guidance of dr david H pratt my thesis advisor and the members of his committee dr james 5 alienailenwho chaired my orals committee helped me greatly in the final stage of editing I1 also appreciate linda L haslam my friend from the ldald5 church history department who called my attention to a definitive article which I1 had missed finally I1 would like to thankchank1hank jonathan bennett and dr raymond 5 wright my supervisors in the family history library for their unfailing encouragement and support VII APTERCHAPTER I1 introduction what am I1 and my brethren here for fretted wilford woodruff in his london journal on 18 august 1840 1 neither woodruff nor later students of mormon history have fully appreciated the impact of the churchs early experience in london and there has been little definitive research for this reason this thesis considers in detaldetailI1 the first london cormonsmormons between the years 1840 and 1845 its main purposes are as follows 01 to identify the london converts during the years 1840451840 45 2 to show them demographically in comparison with losLDS church and british civil records for this period 3 to discuss their london neighborhoods and cultural backgrounds 4 to discuss nonconformist influences and responses 5 to identify those who emigrated to the USA 6 to identify those who followed brigham young to the utah territory 7 to explain the cultural influences which they brought to the west 8 to introduce london mormon journals and american missionary