One of the Top Priorities

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In Howard Egan’s journal on Aug. 2^nd, 1847 what was one of the priorities of the Saints this day?

a.                  Obtaining wood to build a boat

b.                  Locating the temple

c.                   Prayer meeting

d.                  Sending elders on missions

Yesterday’s answer:

B   5 years and $500

Defining polygamy as a felony punishable with up to five years’ imprisonment and/or a $500 fine, the law became the basis for increased legal prosecution, and new appointees to the territory’s federal courts began in earnest a judicial crusade against polygamists. Following the lead of Church President John Taylor, many Mormon men and women went underground in an effort to elude federal marshals and nearly certain imprisonment.  Sixteen-year-old Nancy Clement Williams entered plural marriage” at a dark hour for the Saints when persecution against the principle raged on it highest.” Like others, she traveled to neighboring communities, hid out in friend’s homes, and used assumed names. Some Saints left Utah and nearby Idaho, where the “raid” against Mormons also raged. When John Taylor visited Mormon settlements in Arizona, he found similar legal persecution underway and advised Saints there to leave the county. Eventually Nancy and Fredrick Williams were among those who went to Mexico; others fled to Canada.

Women’s Voices-An Untold History of The Latter-day Saints 1830-1900 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1982), 340.