HEBER EMBRACES MORMONISM--A BAPTISM OF FIRE--DEATH OF MIRIAM
YOUNG--VILATE KIMBALL A MOTHER TO THE ORPHANS--HEBER ORDAINED AN
ELDER--RESOLVES TO VISIT KIRTLAND.
Heber, be it remembered, was a potter, and, though fairly well-to-do
in the world, continued to labor at his trade for a livelihood.
One day in April, of the spring following his visit to Pennsylvania,
as he was working in his shop, in the act of forming a vessel on the
wheel, Alpheus Gifford entered. This Elder was then on his second
mission to those parts, in company with others of his brethren. The
conversation turning on the subject of the gospel, Heber said:
"Brother Alpheus, I am ready to go forward and be baptized."
What followed is thus graphically told. Says Heber: "I arose, pulled
off my apron, washed my hands and started with him, with my sleeves
rolled up to my shoulders, and went a distance of one mile, where he
baptized me in a small stream in the woods. After I was baptized I
kneeled down and he laid his hands upon my head and confirmed me a
member of the Church of Jesus Christ, and said unto me, 'In the name
of Jesus Christ, and by the authority of the holy Priesthood, receive
ye the Holy Ghost;' and before I got up off my knees he wanted to
ordain me an Elder; but I plead with him not to do it, for I felt
myself unworthy of such a calling, and such an office."
This event, so important to Heber C. Kimball and his posterity, took
place on Monday, the fifteenth of April, 1832. Brigham Young had been
baptized the day before, by Elder Eleazer Miller. Two weeks later,
Heber's wife, Vilate, was baptized by Joseph Young.
A branch was raised up in Mendon numbering over thirty souls; its
members were as follows:
John Young, sen., and Mary his wife,
Brigham Young and Miriam his wife,
Phineas H. Young and Clarissa his wife,
Joseph Young,
Lorenzo D. Young and Persis his wife,
John P. Greene and Rhoda his wife and their children,
Joel Sanford and Louisa his wife,
William Stillson and Susan his wife,
Fanny Young,
Isaac Flummerfelt, wife and children,
Ira Bond and his wife Charlotte,
Heber C. Kimball and Vilate his wife,
Rufus Parks,
John Morton and Betsey his wife,
Nathan Tomlinson and his wife,
Israel Barlow with his mother, brothers and sisters.
The reception of the Holy Ghost was to Heber a veritable "baptism of
fire." He thus describes his remarkable experience:
"Under the ordinances of baptism and the laying on of hands, I
received the Holy Ghost, as the disciples did in ancient days, which
was like a consuming fire. I felt as though I sat at the feet of
Jesus, and was clothed in my right mind, although the people called me
crazy.
"I continued in this way for many months, and it seemed as though my
body would consume away; at the same time the scriptures were unfolded
to my mind in such a wonderful manner that it appeared to me, at
times, as if I had formerly been familiar with them."
Thus did the Comforter, the spirit of truth, bringing things past to
remembrance and showing things to come, move upon the heart of this
"mighty man of valor," whom the Lord was raising up for a marvelous
future work. One of the weak things of earth, through whom the
Omnipotent would yet thresh the nations by the power of His Spirit.
The branch in Mendon began to nourish, and the gifts of the spirit
were poured out upon its members. This branch is reputed to have been
the second in the Church to receive the gift of tongues; one of the
branches in Pennsylvania being the first in which that gift was
manifested.
Such a pentecostal renewal could scarcely take place without a
corresponding movement of opposition on the part of the powers of
darkness. The inevitable was at hand. Satan commenced to rage, and the
Saints were annoyed and persecuted. Heber's former friends turned
against him. His creditors combined to push him to the wall. During
one week five or six executions were taken out against him. His
brother Solomon was the only one outside the Church, willing to lend
him a helping hand in his financial troubles, resulting from the
inimical actions of his neighbors and old-time associates. His brother
Charles, who had formerly befriended him, was dead. But the Lord
opened his way, much to the chagrin of his persecutors, and he
obtained money to meet his liabilities, so that none of his property
was sold at auction.
In September following the organization of the branch in Mendon,
Brigham Young's wife, Miriam, died. She had been feeble for months,
but in her expiring moments, filled with a supernatural vitality, she
clapped her hands and praised God, calling upon all around to join her
in so doing. She continued in this happy state until she breathed her
last, moving her lips in prayer when her voice could no longer be
heard. Heber remarks that the death-bed scene of this zealous and
devoted Saint was to him another testimony of the truth and power of
the everlasting gospel. Vilate Kimball took charge of Miriam's two
little daughters, and, thenceforth, until after they removed from
Mendon, the families of Brigham and Heber were as one.
In the meantime, the latter had been ordained an Elder, under the
hands of Joseph Young, and labored with him and Brigham in the
ministry. They visited Genesee, Avon and Lyonstown, baptizing many and
building up branches of the Church. The following incident, related by
Heber, shows how powerfully the Holy Ghost wrought through him in his
ministrations:
"Brother Ezra Landon preached in Avon and Genesee, baptized eighteen
or twenty, and being afraid to confirm them and promise the Holy
Ghost, he requested me to confirm them, which I did according to the
best of my knowledge, pronouncing but a few words on the head of each
one, and invariably saying, 'receive ye the Holy Ghost in the name of
Jesus Christ.' Immediately the Holy Ghost fell upon them, and several
commenced speaking in tongues before they arose from their knees, and
we had a joyful time. Some ten or twelve spoke in tongues, neither of
whom had ever heard any person speak in tongues before, they being the
first baptized in that place."
The region in which he was laboring is thus interestingly described:
"From the time Father Bosley located near Avon, he found and plowed up
axes and irons, and had sufficient to make his mill irons, and had
always abundance of iron on hand without purchasing.
"In the towns of Bloomfield, Victor, Manchester, and in the regions
round about, there were hills upon the tops of which were
entrenchments and fortifications, and in them were human bones, axes,
tomahawks, points of arrows, beads and pipes, which were frequently
found; and it was a common occurrence in the country to plow up axes,
which I have done many times myself.
"I have visited the fortifications on the tops of those hills
frequently, and the one near Bloomfield I have crossed hundreds of
times, which is on the bluff of Honeyoye River, at the outlet of
Honeyoye Lake.
"In that region there are many small deep lakes, and in some of them
the bottom has never been found. Fish abound in them.
"The hill Cumorah is a high hill for that country, and had the
appearance of a fortification or entrenchment around it. In the State
of New York, probably there are hundreds of these fortifications which
are now visible, and I have seen them in many other parts of the
United States."
Readers of the Book of Mormon will remember that in this very region,
according to that sacred record, the final battles were fought between
the Nephites and Lamanites. At the hill Cumorah, the Nephites made
their last stand prior to their utter extermination, A. D., 385.
Thus was Heber preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, above the graves
of the ancients of Israel, whose records with the fullness of that
Gospel, and the relics of their prowess and civilization, were now
"whispering from the dust."
But another scene was about to shift in his life's drama. He had
planned to visit Kirtland, the bosom of the Church, and home of Joseph
the Prophet.