SettingDogStar Posted March 9, 2019 Posted March 9, 2019 As I've been reading threads in other LDS forums and I've been noticing that a lot of people keep bring up this "Mormon Reformation." I know it was sort of headed up by Brigham Young and that there seems to be a lot of different controversy around it. A lot of people cite events from that period that sound really negative and and intense, while others highlight and the good that came out of it! I love our history, even the weird stuff, so I was wondering if anyone knew of any good resources that spells out everything that happened during that time? I'd even love to hear about any stories you've heard from the period of history for me to start reading about?
Duncan Posted March 9, 2019 Posted March 9, 2019 3 minutes ago, SettingDogStar said: As I've been reading threads in other LDS forums and I've been noticing that a lot of people keep bring up this "Mormon Reformation." I know it was sort of headed up by Brigham Young and that there seems to be a lot of different controversy around it. A lot of people cite events from that period that sound really negative and and intense, while others highlight and the good that came out of it! I love our history, even the weird stuff, so I was wondering if anyone knew of any good resources that spells out everything that happened during that time? I'd even love to hear about any stories you've heard from the period of history for me to start reading about? You would want to read anything by the late Dr. Paul H. Peterson, he wrote a MA or Ph.D. on the subject-fantastic reading! I know Pres. Jedediah M. Grant was involved, I think there was a book written about him, he was in the 1st Presidency in the mid 1850's 2
JLHPROF Posted March 9, 2019 Posted March 9, 2019 6 hours ago, Duncan said: You would want to read anything by the late Dr. Paul H. Peterson, he wrote a MA or Ph.D. on the subject-fantastic reading! I know Pres. Jedediah M. Grant was involved, I think there was a book written about him, he was in the 1st Presidency in the mid 1850's Jedediah M. Grant - Brigham's sledgehammer... 1
RevTestament Posted March 10, 2019 Posted March 10, 2019 6 hours ago, Duncan said: You would want to read anything by the late Dr. Paul H. Peterson, he wrote a MA or Ph.D. on the subject-fantastic reading! I know Pres. Jedediah M. Grant was involved, I think there was a book written about him, he was in the 1st Presidency in the mid 1850's Is this what you are referring to? The Mormon Reformation of 1856-1857: The Rhetoric and the Reality Paul H. Peterson
SettingDogStar Posted March 10, 2019 Author Posted March 10, 2019 1 hour ago, JLHPROF said: Jedediah M. Grant - Brigham's sledgehammer... Brigham's Sledgehammer?
Duncan Posted March 10, 2019 Posted March 10, 2019 1 hour ago, RevTestament said: Is this what you are referring to? The Mormon Reformation of 1856-1857: The Rhetoric and the Reality Paul H. Peterson yeah, there was a Thesis he did which is longer and then an article, this may be the article which is obviously a condensed version
RevTestament Posted March 10, 2019 Posted March 10, 2019 6 minutes ago, Duncan said: yeah, there was a Thesis he did which is longer and then an article, this may be the article which is obviously a condensed version On JStor it is a 29 page document. It is obviously not in dissertation form. Do you have a link for the dissertation itself? I haven't found it yet.
Duncan Posted March 10, 2019 Posted March 10, 2019 19 minutes ago, RevTestament said: On JStor it is a 29 page document. It is obviously not in dissertation form. Do you have a link for the dissertation itself? I haven't found it yet. https://www.amazon.com/Mormon-Reformation-Paul-H-Peterson-ebook/dp/B01N9RC98W 2
Nevo Posted March 10, 2019 Posted March 10, 2019 (edited) On 3/9/2019 at 9:30 AM, SettingDogStar said: I love our history, even the weird stuff, so I was wondering if anyone knew of any good resources that spells out everything that happened during that time? Paul H. Peterson's dissertation and articles on the Mormon Reformation are essential reading. Some more recent treatments (which happen to all be from non-LDS historians) include the following: David L. Bigler and Will Bagley, ed., Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, vol. 12 of Kingdom in the West: The Mormons and the American Frontier (Norman, OK: Arthur H. Clark, 2008), chapter 2 Polly Aird, Mormon Convert, Mormon Defector: A Scottish Immigrant in the American West, 1848–1861 (Norman, OK: Arthur H. Clark, 2009), chapters 11 and 12 David L. Bigler and Will Bagley, The Mormon Rebellion: America's First Civil War, 1857–1858 (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2011), chapter 5 John G. Turner, Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet (Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard University Press, 2012), 254–264 You can read a firsthand account of it here: https://catalog.lds.org/assets/2ee39e17-e14d-4030-b5e4-5c7fa45cd0e4/0/145 Edited March 10, 2019 by Nevo 4
Navidad Posted March 10, 2019 Posted March 10, 2019 No question about it. Mormon Thunder by Gene Sessions. The best history of Jedediah Grant and the reformation time period (in my opinion of course). Gene Sessions is a great Mormon historian and an even better man! Buy it! 1
clarkgoble Posted March 11, 2019 Posted March 11, 2019 5 hours ago, Nevo said: Paul H. Peterson's dissertation and articles on the Mormon Reformation are essential reading. Some more recent treatments (which happen to all be from non-LDS historians) include the following: David L. Bigler and Will Bagley, ed., Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, vol. 12 of Kingdom in the West: The Mormons and the American Frontier (Norman, OK: Arthur H. Clark, 2008), chapter 2 Polly Aird, Mormon Convert, Mormon Defector: A Scottish Immigrant in the American West, 1848–1861 (Norman, OK: Arthur H. Clark, 2009), chapters 11 and 12 David L. Bigler and Will Bagley, The Mormon Rebellion: America's First Civil War, 1857–1858 (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2011), chapter 5 John G. Turner, Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet (Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard University Press, 2012), 254–264 You can read a firsthand account of it here: https://catalog.lds.org/assets/2ee39e17-e14d-4030-b5e4-5c7fa45cd0e4/0/145 Bigler and Bagley give a rather one sided view of it. One quickly recognizes that Bagley in particularly really doesn't like Brigham Young. I still liked their books, but they really are more than a little biased IMO. Turner is good and tries to balance things a bit more (IMO). But those are all large books. Thomas Alexander has a shorter article "Wilford Woodruf and the Mormon Reformation of 1855-57." BTW - Peterson's full dissertation is available on Amazon. 1
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