“The Worst Man in Utah”

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In an 1899 interview with Apostle Charles W. Penrose and a New York newspaper, who did Elder Penrose state was the worst man in Utah?

a.                  Brigham Young

b.                  William R. Campbell, a Presbyterian missionary

c.                   Butch Cassidy

d.                  Thomas C. Iliff, a Methodist Bishop

Yesterday’s answer:

C.   The fact that the LDS church and Utah’s governor tried to stop it from being shown

The following is in reference to a Danish election that [Frederik Ferdinand] Samuelsen ran in. He was LDS at a time when the LDS church was persecuted:   Samuelsen wrote that he was surprised that he had done so well—as well he should have been, given the circumstances. For one thing, it was widely known that he was a Latter-day Saint, a member of a tiny religious minority that had recently attracted waves of negative publicity. Beginning two years earlier, Europe had been treated to a barrage of accusations against the Mormons in a variety of media. In 1911 a Danish company, Nordisk Film, released a major silent movie, Mormonens Offer (A Victim of the Mormons), that quickly became an international box office hit. In the English-language version, the villain, an American named Andrew Larson, played by the popular actor Valdemar Psilander, wins the attractive young Florence Grange (actress Clara Pontoppidan) away from her fiancé, smuggles her on board a steamer bound for America, takes her to Utah to become his plural wife, and locks her  in a bedroom. Andrew first wife sympathizes with Florence. The plot thickens as Florence’s fiancé and her brother sail for America. You get the general idea. Attempts by the LDS Church and the governor of Utah to prevent the showing of the movie apparently contributed to its popularity.

Richard L. Jensen, “Mr. Samuelsen Goes to Copenhagen: The First Mormon Member Of A National Parliament,” Journal of Mormon History, Spring 2013, 1-2.