March 1852


1 March 1852 • Monday

At Waiehu reading &c.

2 March 1852 • Tuesday

Bro. Burnham rode down from Makawao this morning.

3 March 1852 • Wednesday

Bro. B. and Bro. Rice went in to Lahaina and I sent a letter by them that I had wrote to Aunt [Leonora Taylor] on Monday; it was a general letter and a long one.1 In afternoon went to Wailuku.2

4 March 1852 • Thursday

Translating Book of Mormon. Baptised & confirmed five.

5 March 1852 • Friday

Bros. R. & B. returned from Lahaina and stopped at Napela’s; they brought a paper from L. (the N. York Herald [Jan. 10, 1852]) with a long tirade in the Editorial about the Mormons; and a long letter from the Judges & Secretary of our Territory (Utah) to the President; enumerating a long list of grievances and evils existing there too gross to be tolerated—and they considering that they could no longer remain there with justice to themselves or to the Government of the U.S., and3 returned and made the announcement officially to the Pres. They asserted that they had been insulted there repeatedly by the Gov. and others; and that the people were in a high state of sedition—that Bro. Brigham’s (the Gov.) inf unbounded influence was used to the detriment of the Gov. of the U.S.—the power of the Church appeared to be superior to any other—and that murder had been committed and the murderer go unpunished—and polygamy was practised almost universally and to a very great extent—the letter occupied upwards of two columns in fine print—they evidently had went there with a prejudice against us, and had noted every thing however trivial and had put wrong constructions upon much that had been said and done with the intention of making it tell against us as soon as opportunity would afford, if things would not go as they would wish in all things. They also had embellished it with some very glaring falsehoods. What the result will be I cannot at present imagine—but feel to trust to the Lord. There have reports reached us from Oregon and elsewhere—that our people were fortifying themselves and had published a declaration4 of independance as <and> also hoisted the flag of independance. Whether this is true, or not, I cannot say—but I do not think it at all probable. Time must determine.5

6 March 1852 • Saturday

Bro’s. Winchester, Davis & Baker came from Makawao to-day. Held meeting this evening and instructed the Saints in regard to the Lord’s Supper, as we intended eating to morrow. Bro. W. and myself went over to Bro. Hammond’s and slept.

7 March 1852 • Sunday

We went over to Wailuku. There were a good many in attendance I preached and a good flow of the spirit it was intended to strengthen the Saints when persecution assailed them. Baptised two during intermission. In afternoon had the Lord’s supper and had an excellent meeting. I enjoyed the spirit much.

8 March 1852 • Monday

Engaged translating the Book of Mormon.

9 March 1852 • Tuesday

do. do. do. Raining &c.

10 March 1852 • Wednesday

do. do. do.

11 March 1852 • Thursday

Started on foot to Makawao to the evening meeting and was overtaken by Bros. Hammond and Rice on horseback.6 We had an excellent meeting Bro. Hawkins being present from Kula.

12 March 1852 • Friday

After meeting <breakfast> left M. Bro. Gaston accompanying us he going to Oahu [O‘ahu] to obtain land for farming purposes.7

13 March 1852 • Saturday

variously engaged.8

14 March 1852 • Sunday

Preached & enjoyed the spirit much. Also in afternoon.9 Baptised one man.

15 March 1852 • Monday

Engaged variously

16 March 1852 • Tuesday

Went to Wailuku; translating &c.

17 March 1852 • Wednesday

do. do. Attended meeting and had a good meeting.

18 March 1852 • Thursday

Engaged translating, my mind while occupied with this business has been much drawn out and I cannot help thinking it a great privilege to be permitted to do this. I feel that the Lord has indeed been kind to me in casting my lot in this generation and permitting me to hear and believe and receive a part in this dispensation. Bro. [William] Uaua let <gave> me a dollar to-day.

19 March 1852 • Friday

Engaged Bro. Napela and myself revising what had been translated.

20 March 1852 • Saturday

do. do. In evening started for Waiehu; raining nearly all day.10

21 March 1852 • Sunday

Raining heavily all day, not able to go out to meeting.11

22 March 1852 • Monday

do. do. do12 Bro. Winchester & Bro. Burnham called here on their way to Wailuku; they were both well as also the folks at Makawao; Last Sunday but one they baptised and confirmed two native women wives of Bros. Davis & Baker. They said they enjoyed their meetings excellently.

23 March 1852 • Tuesday

Reading &c. still unsettled weather.

24 March 1852 • Wednesday

Bro. Hawkins came over from Kaalia [Kealia] and Napela accompanyed him from Wailuku and was shortly after followed by Bro. [William] Perkins from Lahaina;13 he brought me a letter that had been sent from Honolulu by Bro. Lewis—they were all well and things were progressing slowly—in answer to a letter that I wrote inviting him to attend the conference—he said poverty prevented him from attending.14 Sister [Patty] Perkins’ health is not very good; Bro. P. intends taking her with him to Molokai [Moloka‘i] when he returns after conference. Rained during afternoon; in evening returned in company with Napela to Wailuku.

25 March 1852 • Thursday

Translating &c.

26 March 1852 • Friday

do do

27 March 1852 • Saturday

do do Raining all day; in evening returned to Waiehu.

28 March 1852 • Sunday

Rather rainy stayed all day at Wai<e>hu preached morning and evening. Baptised seven

29 March 1852 • Monday

Bro. Davis arrived from Wailuku stayed until evening and then started for Makawao.

30 March 1852 • Tuesday

Writing &c.15

31 March 1852 • Wednesday

Started on horseback to go to Conference at Makawao by way of Waiehu. Rode up in company with Bro. & Sis Hammond and Bro. Rice; arrived about middle of afternoon found them all well. Bro. Keeler had arrived from Kaupo whither he had gone and had preached and baptised 32. In evening held meeting and had a very good time.

Cite This Page

Cite This Page

March 1852, The Journal of George Q. Cannon, accessed December 7, 2024 https://chpress-web.churchhistorianspress.org/george-q-cannon/1850s/1852/03-1852

Footnotes

  1. [1]See Appendix 2, Item 13.

  2. [2]Cannon returned to Wailuku “to avail himself of the assistance of Napela in correcting” the Book of Mormon translation (Hammond journal, Mar. 1, 1852).

  3. [3]Written over had.

  4. [4]At this point in the journal Cannon made two pages of notes on English grammar, focusing on verb tenses. These notes are in pencil, while the surrounding pages are all recorded in ink.

  5. [5]Following the creation of Utah Territory in 1850, President Millard Fillmore appointed Lemuel G. Brandebury and Perry E. Brocchus judges of the territorial supreme court, and Broughton D. Harris, secretary of the territory. Fillmore balanced these selections by appointing Brigham Young as governor and other Latter-day Saints to other positions. The stay of these three non-Mormon officials in Utah was both brief and controversial, however, sowing seeds of misunderstanding that plagued the territory for years. After these officials arrived in Utah in late summer 1851, difficulties between them and the Latter-day Saints began almost immediately. Judge Brocchus made public remarks critical of the Mormons’ patriotism and morality. Governor Young, visibly irritated, defended the Saints and criticized Brocchus and other government officers. Shortly afterward, a disagreement developed between Young and Harris over who controlled the money that Congress had appropriated for the territory. Before the end of September, Brandebury, Brocchus, and Harris had left the territory. By December 1851 they had reached the nation’s capital, and on December 10 they wrote to President Fillmore the letter that Cannon read. While many of the allegations spread by these “runaway officials” were eventually discredited, their actions added to the mistrust that already existed between the Latter-day Saints and federal officials (Furniss, Mormon Conflict, 10–32; Poll, “Mormon Question,” 14–20; Arrington, Brigham Young, 223–33; Turner, Brigham Young, 201–4).

  6. [6]Hammond reported that he and Rice “overtook Br. Cannon on the way, he having been disappointed in getting a horse so we took turns in riding” (Hammond journal, Mar. 11, 1852).

  7. [7]Prior to the 1848 Great Mahele, or great division, in which King Kamehameha III relinquished claims to significant portions of the Hawaiian Islands, no individual, including the highest chief, could be assured of keeping the land on which he lived because all land was owned by the crown. With the possibility that they could lose their homes, many individuals made little effort to improve their property or their situations (see Chinen, Great Mahele; Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 1:269–98). According to Lewis, Gaston hoped to obtain two hundred acres from the king “for the purpose of raising grain and with a view to employ the natives to teach them the arts of husbandry, and at the same time learn them habits of industry. considering this an effectual means of benefitting the natives and of breaking them of their idle habits I favored the project” (Lewis journal, Mar. 17, 1852). The ultimate outcome of Gaston’s efforts are not known, but subsequent events suggest he was unsuccessful in his attempt to obtain land.

  8. [8]Hammond and Cannon spent the day “in study & conversation” (Hammond journal, Mar. 13, 1852).

  9. [9]During the morning meeting held at Wailuku, Cannon “preached first rate on their temporal well fare,” following which he and Hammond returned to Waiehu for the afternoon meeting (Hammond journal, Mar. 14, 1852).

  10. [10]Hammond noted that it “commenced to rain and blow hard from the South, the Natives call it the Kona” (Hammond journal, Mar. 20, 1852).

  11. [11]Confined to their quarters, the missionaries “spent the day in conversation upon differant subjects” (Hammond journal, Mar. 21, 1852).

  12. [12]Hammond wrote that Cannon “is still with us all well but a little homesick” (Hammond journal, Mar. 22, 1852).

  13. [13]Most likely Hawkins was returning from Kula by way of Kealia.

  14. [14]Bigler and Farrer were also invited and would have attended “had circumstances been favorable” (Farrer diary, Apr. 2, 1852).

  15. [15]Cannon traveled to Wailuku during the day (Hammond journal, Mar. 30, 1852).