Comments on: Brigham Young’s mailbag

By: Jon W.

Jon W. — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:27:58 +0000

Hmm fascinating stuff. Especially the offers to be a plural wife, too funny.

I love this kind of stuff Ardis it is great.

By: Ray

Ray — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:19:51 +0000

“Bosh!” – That’s awesome.

It’s amazing what people assumed – and still assume.

Frankly, I don’t want to see some of the mail that Pres. Monson gets. My mom was a secretary in Pres. McKay’s office, working for Claire Middlemiss, for a little over a year while my dad served his mission. One of her duties was to open his mail from unknown sources and funnel it to the appropriate person, since much of what was addressed to the Prophet actually needed to go elsewhere.

She said that this often was inspirational, as she got to read correspondences from members regarding their spiritual experiences, but it also often was horrifying – as she had to read the vitriol and bile that anti-Mormon writers spewed in their letters. She said some of the things contained in those letters were beyond disgusting – truly vile and evil things.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:10:21 +0000

Ha! Hadn’t heard that one, kevinf, thanks.

By: kevinf

kevinf — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:06:02 +0000

Slightly off topic, but your first paragraph, quoting a popular song, reminded me of Randy Newman’s song, The Beehive State, from about 1970, later covered by the Doobie Brothers on their first album:

The Beehive State

“Since you’re the delegate from Kansas
Will you kindly take the floor
And tell us what Kansas is thinking
And what is Kansas for?”

“Well Kansas is for the farmer
We stand behind the little man
And we need a firehouse in Topeka
So help us if you can”

“I see the gentleman from Utah
Our friendly Beehive State
How can we help you, Utah?
How can we make you great?”

“Well, we got to irrigate our deserts
We’ve got to get some things to grow
And we got to tell this country about Utah
`Cause nobody seems to know”

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:27:27 +0000

BHodges, BY’s incoming correspondence (tens of thousands of items) is divided by year, and within each year is arranged alphabetically by name of letterwriter. I don’t know whether the clerks of the 1860s filed all the “Bosh!” together in one place, but today I know it takes some time and handle-cranking to search the dozens of reels of microfilm for these nuggets. Most of the letters are more serious, more important, but it’s delightful to run across one of these for occasional comic relief.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:24:28 +0000

I read a fascinating book a few months ago — Thomas J. Craughwell, Stealing Lincoln’s Body (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 2007) — about a bungled attempt to steal Lincoln’s body from his Springfield, Ill. mausoleum and hold it for ransom. The motive was tied to counterfeiting, and the book gives a lengthy account of the history of American counterfeiting, which in the generation before the Civil War centered on the Mississippi River Valley. I am not well enough versed in pre-Utah LDS history to say anything authoritatively, but the regional context of counterfeiting could explain why charges of counterfeiting were so prevalent against us — with something like 50% of banknotes in circulation being forgeries, Mormons almost certainly passed bad money, but could have been entirely ignorant of what they were doing and innocent of having manufactured it. I do know of a case of counterfeiting of financial documents in Utah a few months after the Utah War, and I may blog about that sometime, but I’m not aware of any credible evidence of Mormon-created bogus at Nauvoo or Winter Quarters.

JM — Wouldn’t you just love an afternoon to sort through the modern “Bosh!” piles!

By: BHodges

BHodges — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:12:00 +0000

Very enjoyable read. How would one peruse the Bosh box?

By: JM

JM — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:36:23 +0000

Makes you wonder what sort of mail GBH received or TSM gets!

By: J. Stapley

J. Stapley — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:31:08 +0000

The title alone got me giddy.

I seem to remember talk a counterfeiters in Winter Quarters and the trek west, though I can’t remember if they were just allegations.