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Papers by Richard Bennett

The American Historical Review, 2013

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel, 2017

BYU Studies Quarterly, 2009

This article, originally a lecture given at Brigham Young University in 2009, was published as pa... more This article, originally a lecture given at Brigham Young University in 2009, was published as part of a special issue of BYU Studies featuring Thomas L. Kane. Although Kane was not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was an advocate for the Mormon cause and a trusted friend of Mormon leaders for almost forty years. Bennett shows how documents from the Kane collection at Brigham Young University enhance, correct, or confirm our knowledge of the following: first, the attitudes of President James K. Polk and his cabinet and others close to him toward the fleeing Latter-day Saints; second, the federal government's request for a five-hundred-man Mormon Battalion; BYU Studies Quarterly

Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture

This paper probes the theories of the origin of the American Indian up to the time of the transla... more This paper probes the theories of the origin of the American Indian up to the time of the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon. It covers some three hundred years of development, looking at many different theories, including the predominant theory of the lost tribes of Israel, which was in decline among most leading scientific observers in the early nineteenth century. The paper covers new ground in showing that Professor Samuel L. Mitchill, formerly of Columbia College, had concluded that two main groups of people once dominated the Americas-the Tartars of northern Asia and the Australasians of the Polynesian islands. Furthermore, they fought one another for many years, culminating in great battles of extermination in what later became upstate New York.

Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought

BYU Studies Quarterly, 1984

Those focusing only on Nauvoo difficulties and deliberations for the Mormon exodus to "Zion" have... more Those focusing only on Nauvoo difficulties and deliberations for the Mormon exodus to "Zion" have overlooked the intense planning sessions at Winter Quarters on the west side of the Missouri River during the winter of 1846-47. Nauvoo was left in haste long before the final details of the westward march had solidified. Due to the weather, disorganization, lack of preparation, and recurring arguments over leadership, the Mormon vanguard took more than four months to cross Iowa, only to be again delayed by the call for the Mormon Battalion. With the inevitable decision to winter at the Missouri in the Council Bluffs region, Church leaders found the time to catch their collective breath and more thoroughly prepare for the mountain trek. This article details the plans, arguments, and decisions of that winter of 1846-47. At stake was far more than mere route plans; rather, basic questions of leadership and authority were being tested.

Well known in both Canadian and Latter-day Saint history is the arrival of Charles Ora Card and h... more Well known in both Canadian and Latter-day Saint history is the arrival of Charles Ora Card and his faithful band of followers in southern Alberta in 1887. Less explored is the much earlier venture into Upper Canada (Ontario) of such prominent Mormon leaders as Joseph Smith,

The Western Historical Quarterly, 2011

The American Historical Review, 1990

BYU Studies Quarterly, 2013

St. George Utah Temple (c. 1876). As temples were completed and temple work was fully underway, t... more St. George Utah Temple (c. 1876). As temples were completed and temple work was fully underway, the fledgling Church in Utah territory was being compelled by the federal government to abandon polygamy. With mounting pressure, two choices became clear: either abandon the practice of plural marriage or abandon temple work for the dead. Courtesy LDS Church Archives.

Byu Studies, 2005

T he first endowments for the dead in Latter-day Saint history were performed on January 11, 1877... more T he first endowments for the dead in Latter-day Saint history were performed on January 11, 1877 in the St. George Temple (fig. 1). Seasoned Nauvoo Temple ordinance and Salt Lake City endowment worker, Alonzo H. Raleigh, wrote of the occasion: Endowments commenced in the [St. George] Temple and for the first time Endowments for the Dead in this Dispensation. 72 persons received their Endowments. I took the lead in the washing and anointing and instructions in the same. Washed, anointed and clothed the first person and took the general lead of the same, all through by promptings by the direction of President Brigham Young through Elder Woodruff. We were late getting through. It was the most responsible and complicated day's work I [have] ever done, as most of the workmen were new in the labor and the prompting devolved almost entirely on me for nearly all the parts. 1 Surprisingly, in the modern temple-building and temple-conscious era, little, if anything, has been said or written about the beginnings of the endowment for the dead, either by way of quiet celebration or academic explanation. More attention has centered on the companion temple ordinance of baptism for the dead, which commenced in Nauvoo. While it is certainly not the purpose of this article to trespass upon the sacred precincts of temple covenants and worship, the purpose is, however, to explore those several impulses that led to the beginnings of endowments for the dead that winter day in St. George, Utah, in 1877. Considering the fact that this ordinance rewrote the nature of temple worship and vastly multiplied reasons for temple attendance, it is a topic worthy of reverent consideration and appreciation. As much an invitation for increased work "Line upon Line, Precept upon Precept"