BYU Studies Quarterly BYU Studies Quarterly

Volume 10 Issue 4 Article 21

10-1-1970

History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day

Saints F. Henry Edwards F. Henry Edwards

Russell R. Rich

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Rich, Russell R. (1970) "History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints F. Henry Edwards," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 10 : Iss. 4 , Article 21. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol10/iss4/21

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F HENRY EDWARDS history of the reorganized churchof jesus christ of latter day saints volume five independ-ence missouri herald house 1969 680 ppap 10.951095

reviewed by russell R rich professor of history of re-ligion at brigham young university dr rich is a specialiston the schismatic groups of the restoration

in september 1969 the leaders of the reorganized LDSchurch published volume five of their church history thefirst four volumes included the history through the year 1890and were authored principally by heman C smith who servedas both church historian and one of the twelve apostlesvolume five is a history of the church from 1891 through1902 compiled by F henry edwards longtimelong time counselor inthe first presidency married to alice smith great grand-daughter of the prophet joseph smith he is highly reveredby the membership of the reorganized church he was calledto be an apostle in 1922 and in 1946 as a counselor toisrael A smith third president of the RLDS church thenin april 1966 his function was changed to that of writingand teaching relieved from his duties in the first presidencyit was possible for him to have time to compile such work asvolume five

close family ties and years of devoted church service haveearned mr edwards the confidence of the reorganized churchofficials as well as complete access to church documents andrecords and minutes of the meetings of the first presidencyand the council of the twelve apostles he has drawnheavily from the saints herald official organ of the churchand is frank to admit in his preface that this volume is not animpartial record as the material in the book was selectedfrom a mass of material available and that selected has beeninfluenced by the author s interests and prejudices this is

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a commendable recognition and should apply to all historiansalthough many may not be as frank in admitting it

volume five follows the same format as the four earliervolumes considering each year separately consequently eachyear covers a multitude of topics many of which are alsocovered in succeeding years rendering volume five somewhatrepetitious and tedious in places however the book waswritten principally for the membership of the reorganizedchurch which increased 92 in the twelve year period cover-ed and for the benefit of the local and general ministryand the local and general administrative officers forthis reason also mr edwards devoted considerable space11

to legislative and administrative matters including much de-tail in some cases and even some minutia which serve wellthe people for whom the book was written but detract some-what from interest for other readers

occasionally throughout the volume mr edwards relatesan event from the history of the LIDSLDSliisllis church in some casesthe reason for including this material is not clear as its onlyconnection seems to be that it was chronologically contemconterncenternpory in other instances the author s purpose is plain butthe material presented is hardly in agreement with the factsavailable to him for example in regard to the kirtlandtemple lot suit mr edwards states one of the major con-cerns of the saints in 1890 now that they were confirmed inthe possession of the kirtland temple p 55 thisappears to be just a passing incidental statement but is insert-ed for the purpose of continuing to promote the long claimedand much publicized fallacy that the reorganized churchactually won this suit when in reality they lost it in spite ofthe fact that no one appeared against them to argue for thedefense 1

on may 6 1942 israel smith a lawyer in private lifewrote a letter to the county recorder in painesvillegainesvillePainesville ohio inwhich he requested a copy of everything pertaining to the suitstating this should include originals summons returnssubstituted service proof of publication etc and all entriesincluding final judgementjudgement and decree

thehe reviewer has twice been to the courthouse in painesvillegainesvillePainesville ohio wherehe made photostat and typewritten copies of all of the material pertaining tothis suit including three letters from israel smith when he was a counselorin the first presidency of the reorganized church

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considering mr edwards close family ties his intimateassociation with israel smith and his being a student ofchurch history it is difficult for one to understand how hecould have failed to recognize that the reorganized churchlost the suit in the suit the lawyer for the plaintiff put fortha set of statements as to what he desired the court to findbut when the judge rendered his decision he did so in thesewords

and the court finds that said smith had no titletidetitietlde to saidproperty except as the trustee of said church and that no titlehereto passed to the purchasers at said sale and that saidparties inin possession have no legal title to said property andthe court further finds that the legal title to said property isisvested in the heirs of said joseph smith inin trust for the legalsuccessor of said organized church italics are the reviewersand that the plaintiffs are not inin possession thereof andthereupon the court finds as a matter of law that the plaintiffreorganized churchlchurchechurch is not entitled to the relief prayed forin its petition and thereupon it is ordered and adjudgedthat this action be dismissed as the costs of the plaipialpiaiplaintiffntiffnaiff 2

another example isis found in his discussion of the jacksoncounty temple lot suit mr edwards does not personally saythat the doctrine of polygamy had no existence until afterjoseph smith s death but he quotes newspaper articles thatsay so page 240 which serve the purpose of promoting theidea yet mr edwards had full access to the private files intheir church historian s office which contain an abundanceof evidence showing that plural marriage was introduced byjoseph smith one of these references is the latter day saintsherald for january i8601860 volume 1 no 1 in which articlesappear that make it plain that it was joseph smith who intro-duced plural marriage one of the articles in speaking ofjoseph smith s repenting of his connection with polygamy endswith the statement that if abraham and jacob by repentancecan obtain salvation so can joseph smith later referring tothese articles p 412 he passes them off saying their argu-ments had been met many times however mr edwards isonly following the policy of the reorganized church whoseofficers are fully aware of the facts but have never been will-

forfor an excellent analysis of the whole suit read paul F reimannReirnann thereorganized church and the civil courts salt lake city utah utah printingco 1961 296 pages

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ing to admit to the general membership of their church thatjoseph smith did introduce plural marriage one can onlywonder why there are other places in the book where a vig-orous defense for the reorganized position is presented andcertainly this is to be expected but one does wonder why itshould be necessary to spend so much time defending theirposition if the leaders themselves are confident of it

in discussing succession joseph smith 111IIIill is quoted p361 as saying it makes me decidedly tired to have men whothink themselves to be possessed of ordinary good sense to askme did your father ordain you to be italics are the reviewer shis successor where sic they know he was living and oc-cupying the position himself sic how could a successor beordained to the office until it was vacant yet further onpage 456 mr edwards states that james whitehead was

present in nauvoo in 1843 when joseph smith jr blessed hiseldest son joseph III111 to be italics mine his successor in theprophetic office

one point of particular interest to members of the LDSchurch is an 1891 statement by president joseph smith III111ilip 89 in which he said the attitude in which the utahpeople now stand before the world calls for a judicious actionon the part of the reorganized church it is my conviction thatthere are men in those valleys who hold legitimate priesthoodand who will have to be recognized this is in line with laterstatements page 385 490 made at joint meetings by repre-sentativessenta tives of the reorganized church and church of christtemple lot that there may be individuals in different fac-tions who hold the priesthood

better preparing the reader to understand some of the ad-ministrative problems presented mr edwards explains thata common understanding of their distinctive functions duringthis period 189118921891 1892 was never fully achieved betweenthe presidency of the church and the twelve apostles how-ever the statement should have also applied to other adminis-trative bodies as quite often the reader is given the impressionthat other quorums were also confused over the problems ofjurisdiction and responsibility until a condition of what onemight call organized confusion is presented not in the bookbut among the administrative quorums of the church onemust be aware however that this was a formative period in

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the history of the RLDS church causing multiple problems toarise

adding considerably to its usefulness the book containsa subject index and a biographical index both of which appearto be quite thorough the vocabulary is well chosen and expres-sive leaving no doubt in the reader s mind as to what the au-thor is trying to say the project appears to cover thoroughlythe history of the reorganized church for the period designa-ted mr edwards has succeeded in accomplishing the purposesfor which he wrote the book

features inin the AUTUMN 1970 issue

hebraisms inin the book of mormon by john A tvedtnescivilizations inin space by hollis R johnsonutah landscape an oil painting by floyd breinholteconomic policy making and the council of economic advisors

by sidney L jonesgrooksbrooks poems by piet heinthe search for love lessons from the catholic debate over

moral philosophy by louis C midgleythe historians corner

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Rich: <em>History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter D

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