Category: 19th Century

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19th Century 20th Century Latter-day Saint History Scriptures

What Did “Shake the Dust Off Your Feet” Mean to Early Latter-day Saints?

Oil painting of early 1830s Latter-day Saint missionaries shaking dust from their feet, symbolizing rejection and divine judgment in the New Testament and Doctrine and Covenants.

Early Latter-day Saints understood “shaking the dust off your feet” as a ritual curse adapted from Jesus’s New Testament command to His disciples. Joseph Smith revealed the practice as a form of priesthood cursing in several revelations, now canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants (sections 24, 60, 75, 84, and 99). Missionaries most often performed the rite after rejection or persecution. While rarely expected to bring immediate consequences, it symbolized divine judgment reserved for Christ’s Second Coming. In this interview, historian Samuel R. Weber explains how the practice largely disappeared by the early 1900s.

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19th Century Latter-day Saint History

Who Was Vienna Jaques?

A black and white photograph of Vienna Jaques in pioneer Utah.

Vienna Jaques was an early Latter-day Saint convert who consecrated her wealth to build Zion. Although largely anonymous today, Jaques witnessed the first baptism for the dead, donated money to purchase the Kirtland Temple site, and received a personal letter from Joseph Smith. She is one of only two women mentioned by name in the Doctrine and Covenants, alongside Emma Smith. Biographer Brent Rogers shares her story in this interview and explains how Jaques received the peace promised her in D&C 90.

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19th Century American West

What Was The Utah War?

Militia members of the Nauvoo Legion fortify Echo Canyon as U.S. troops advance during the Utah War.

The Utah War was an armed confrontation between the United States government and Latter-day Saint settlers in the West—yet almost no one fired a shot. Sparked by rumors of rebellion, political missteps, and religious distrust, the standoff saw President James Buchanan dispatch Johnston’s Army to replace Brigham Young as territorial governor. The conflict was ultimately resolved through diplomacy, with federal troops entering Utah peacefully and a new governor taking office without violence.

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19th Century American West Latter-day Saint History

Was Slavery Practiced in Utah Territory?

A collage of figures associated with slavery in pioneer Utah.

The priesthood and temple ban against individuals with Black African ancestry is often traced to Brigham Young, who announced the policy during an 1852 legislative session in Utah Territory. That announcement happened in the midst of a debate over how to legislate unfree labor, including slavery of Black and indigenous peoples in the territory. In this interview, W. Paul Reeve and Christopher B. Rich discuss the history of unfree labor in Utah Territory.

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19th Century Latter-day Saint History

What Was the Kirtland Endowment?

The Kirtland Temple Endowment took place in this building as painted by Al Rounds.

The Lord promised early Latter-day Saints an endowment of power that began at the Kirtland Temple in 1836. It was a time of great spiritual outpourings and the receipt of power from on high. However, the “Kirtland endowment” didn’t explicitly refer to rituals and ordinances. For example, it wasn’t until 1842 that Joseph Smith introduced “the endowment” that gave rise to the ceremony familiar to modern church members. Scott Woodward explains more about what the Kirtland endowment was in this interview.

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19th Century Book excerpts Theology

How Did Early Latter-day Saints React to D&C 76?

An AI image of early Latter-day Saints in Kirtland, Ohio discussing Section 76, also known as "the Vision."

Joseph Smith recognized that preparation to receive an expansive view of the afterlife as presented in the Vision in the Doctrine and Covenants was still limited. Later, he acknowledged: “I could explain a hundred fold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms manifested to me in the vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them.”

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19th Century Brigham Young Joseph Smith Latter-day Saint History Polygamy

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and ‘A House Full of Females’

The cover art for A House Full of Females by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich depicture a family living plural marriage

After attending a Relief Society meeting in 1857, Wilford Woodruff recorded in his journal that “the house was full of females.” As someone who practiced plural marriage instituted by the Prophet Joseph Smith, the comment could have applied to Woodruff’s home life. In this interview, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich discusses how early Latter-day Saint sources shed light on female authority and plural marriage.

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19th Century Come Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Latter-day Saint History

Susa Young Gates and the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead

An aerial black-and-white photo of a 1900s crowd at Temple Square where the vision of the redemption of the dead recounted to Susa Young Gates was shared with the general church membership.

Susa Young Gates was one of the first members of the church to learn about the vision of the redemption of the dead. Joseph F. Smith told her about his revelatory experience before it was publicly known. In this interview, historian Lisa Olsen Tait tralks about the relationship between Susa Young Gates and the prophet—and what happened the night she learned about the vision.

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19th Century Brigham Young Latter-day Saint History

How Important Was ZCMI to Utah Pioneers?

A 1920 glass plate negative of Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI) on South Main Street in Salt Lake City
A 1920 glass plate negative of Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI) on South Main Street in Salt Lake City. Courtesy Utah State Historical Society.

Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI) is known as America’s first department store. Founded by Brigham Young in 1869, the store played a central role in the early Utah economy. Nineteenth pioneers saw ZCMI as a tool to eliminate poverty—and it was a requirement for Latter-day Saints to shop there. In this interview, Jeffrey Paul Thompson explains the fascinating history of the ZCMI department store in Salt Lake City.

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19th Century Brigham Young Latter-day Saint History

Why Did Brigham Young Almost Suspend Tithing?

Latter-day Saint pioneers delivered in-kind donations to the Tithing Office

In a startling moment in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the First Presidency suggested that tithing should be suspended. This was in response to a decision that the Church’s tithing was a taxable income, resulting in an initial assessment of $59,338.51 that President Brigham Young was expected to pay. In this interview, Samuel Brunson discusses how the predicament came about, how Church leaders responded, and the surprising ending to the whole episode.

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