Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Hawaii’s First Gathering


See the source image
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Hawaii_regions_map.png/1200px-Hawaii_regions_map.png

Where was the first gathering of the Hawaiian Saints?
a.                  Utah
b.                  Hawaii
c.                   Australia
d.                  California
Yesterday’s answer:
C   Because he paid his  men 7 days wages for 6 days work
From the life of Jesse Knight:   After several years, Jesse had an experience that changed his life. A dead rat contaminated the water in the family well, and his beloved two-year-old daughter Jennie was on the verge of death. The doctors considered her case to be hopeless. After the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints administered to her, Jennie regained consciousness and eventually made a full recovery. From that time on, Jesse, who had not previously been active in the LDS Church, was converted to his religion. He spent the remainder of his life finding ways to give service to others.
While grazing his cattle near the Tintic Mining District, he staked out a small mine that he called the “June Bug.” In 1890 he sold it for fourteen thousand dollars, but he had been so generous with his money that he was nearly bankrupt. He returned to Godiva Mountain and spotted some promising limestone outcrops. After considerable difficulty he obtained financing for a claim that he named the “Humbug.” That mining claim changed his fortune, for in 1896 he unearthed one of the richest lead-silver deposits ever found in the west.
Jesse Knight was always fair and considerate of the men who worked for him. He had witnessed the immoral conditions in other mining towns and reasoned that Latter-day Saint miners would need a town of their own where they could work and still live their religion. Accordingly, he built Knightsville in the hills above Eureka. It was the only mining town in the west without a saloon. He hired workers on the condition that, if they were found drunk or neglecting their families, they would be fired. He built a school at his own expense and hired a teacher. All other mines operated seven days a week, but Jesse paid his men the same wages for only six days of work and gave them Sundays off. His employees affectionately called him “Uncle Jesse.”
Knight’s wealth came at a time when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was in financial difficulty. On at least two occasions, he loaned the Church ten thousand dollars. There was a widespread economic depression in the 1890s, and many Latter-day Saints were financially stressed. Jesse responded by opening a cooperative store and revitalizing the Provo Woolen Mill. When unemployment in the Provo area was high, he financed a road-building project between Provo and Springville just to provide jobs. He also directed his son Raymond in establishing cattle and sugar industries in Raymond, Alberta, Canada.
One of his favorite beneficiaries was Brigham Young Academy (now Brigham Young University). Over the years he gave the academy more than five hundred acres of land, as well as bonds, cash, and trust funds. His wife, Amanda Knight, awarded scholarships to deserving young people. A women’s dormitory at BYU was named in her honor.
Lesson Committee, Museum Memories-Daughters of Utah Pioneers, (Salt Lake City, Talon Printing, 2010), 2: 142-143.

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