ANECDOTES AND REMINISCENCES OF HEBER C. KIMBALL--THE MAN AS OTHERS
KNEW HIM--GOLDEN GRAINS FROM THE SANDS OF MEMORY.
At this point in our history we deem it proper to introduce a series
of anecdotes and reminiscences relating to President Kimball, nearly
all of which were contributed, at the author's invitation, especially
for this work. These flowers of incident culled from the gardens of
recollection, cannot fail to interest the reader, while they
illustrate, as nothing else could, the character and conduct of this
remarkable man.
The first is from Brother N. B. Baldwin, of Fillmore, who writes as
follows:
"My first acquaintance with Elder Kimball was in Zion's Camp, in the
Spring and Summer of 1834. The following winter the young and
middle-aged Elders, all who conveniently could, were called in to
attend school in Kirtland, Ohio. William E. McLellin was the teacher
of the grammar classes, grammar being then taught on the Kirkham plan,
by lecture and repetition. Our class consisted of Joseph Smith (who,
in the absence of the teacher at other duties, took charge of the
class), David W. Patten, Heber C. Kimball, Benjamin Winchester, Nathan
B. Baldwin and others that I do not now recollect.
"It seemed to be very hard for Brother Kimball to memorize sentences
by hearing them repeated. One time when he was thus at fault, Joseph,
in a jocular mood, said to him; 'Repeat that correctly, or I will take
a stick and whip you as I would a little child.'
"With his model meekness, Brother Kimball smilingly said; 'Well, you
may whip me.'
"'Yes,' said Joseph, 'it would be just about like whipping a little
child. YOU ARE JUST AS INNOCENT AS A LITTLE CHILD.'"
This simple anecdote furnishes not only a key to the character of
Heber C. Kimball, showing his native meekness and veneration, but also
an evidence of the estimation in which he was held by the Prophet,
even at that early day. Jesus said that "except ye become as little
children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
ELDER WILLIAM B. BARTON contributes the following:
"It was my happy privilege, while filling a mission to England in
1874-5-6 to receive my appointment to labor in the Liverpool
Conference. This conference included, among others, a few branches
that were left of the once flourishing conferences of Clithero and
Preston. I realized that I was traveling on historic ground. I found
some few Saints still in that land, who were personally acquainted
with the early Elders and Apostles who first preached and established
the gospel in Preston; and I found that while all were kindly
remembered, none had made as indelible and lasting an impression on
their minds as Brother Heber C. Kimball. They pointed out with
pleasure and reverence the places where he and others had stood forth
proclaiming the restored gospel. Among these were the Market-place,
the Cock Pit, and the Rev. James Fielding's Chapel. I was fortunate in
securing a photograph of this chapel, but had no idea at the time that
it would ever be used to illustrate a history of the founder of the
British mission.
"This Mr. Fielding and a Mr. Aitken were two of twelve men who had
united together and made a vow that they would neither eat nor drink
until the Lord revealed to them whether he would raise up His Church
in their day. The Lord did make known to them that he had already
established His Church on the earth, and in due time His servants
would be sent with authority to preach and baptize. Brother Kimball
visited Mr. Aitken and bore a powerful testimony of the truth, and
prophesied to him that if he rejected the message of salvation, he
would lose his influence, his flock would leave him, and he would go
down; all of which was fulfilled to the very letter, with regard to
him and Mr. Fielding also. Mr. Fielding had commenced to build a more
commodious church, but he never finished it, and he himself was for a
long time an inmate of Grosvenor hospital; a place where unfortunate
and aged clergymen spent their declining years."
"Among the early converts of Apostle Kimball in that land were the
sisters Mary Ann and Margaret Heaton Topping, whose parents were
opposed to and never joined the Church. Brother Kimball counseled them
to obey their parents, and told them that the time would come when
they would cease to object to their attending the meetings of the
Saints. Said he: 'When I say come, come, and all will be well,' which
promise was literally fulfilled. He warned one of these sisters not to
marry a young man she was engaged to, as he would apostatize and leave
the Church, and told her that her future husband was not then in the
Church, but would come in and remain faithful; and, said he, 'You
shall see the man you are going to marry at the conference that I will
notify you to attend.' These remarkable promises were all fulfilled,
and Sister Topping is alive to-day to bear witness of their truth."
BROTHER CHARLES HUBBARD, an old friend of Heber's, whom he mentions
repeatedly in his history, relates this incident:
"As is well known, President Brigham Young, when he crossed the
Mississippi River from Montrose, in September, 1839, and started on
his mission to England, was very sick. He was brought to the house of
Heber C. Kimball, in Nauvoo. Brother Kimball was also sick with the
same disease (ague) but after the fever went off he climbed upon his
house and was trying to finish the roof, when his brother missionary
(Brigham) came out to walk a little to try his strength. In the effort
he fainted and fell to the ground. Brother Kimball, not having
strength to lift him, called to me, just across the river, to come and
help assist Brother Brigham into the house, where, after placing him
upon the bed, we administered to him and he recovered consciousness.
When I left, Brother Heber followed me to the door and said:
"'Charley, I doubt very much if Brigham ever rises from that bed.'
"But he had no sooner uttered the words, than he spoke up, as with
another voice, and said, 'He _shall_ live, and shall start upon this
mission with me to-morrow morning.' And they did start the very next
morning, on their mission to England.'"
ELDER JACOB HAMBLIN leaves the following on record:
"At the April conference I, with others, was called on a mission to
the Indians in Southern Utah, in 1854. We commenced our labors at a
place we called Harmony.
"About the end of May of that year, President B. Young, Heber C.
Kimball, P. P. Pratt and others, to the number of twenty persons, came
to visit us. President Young gave much instruction, etc. Brother
Kimball prophesied that if the brethren were united they would be
prospered and blessed, but if they permitted the spirit of strife and
contention to come into their midst, the place would come to an end in
a scene of bloodshed.
"Previous to this meeting, President Young asked some brethren who had
been into the country south of Harmony, if they thought a wagon road
could be made down to the Rio Virgin. Their replies were very
discouraging, but in the face of this report Brother Kimball
prophesied in this meeting that a road would be made from Harmony over
the Black Ridge, and a Temple would be built on the Rio Virgin, and
the Lamanites would come from the east side of the Colorado River and
get their endowments in it. All these prophecies have been fulfilled."
One of the Elders laboring in the Manti Temple writes:
"In an early day when President Young and party were making the
location of a settlement here, President Heber C. Kimball prophesied
that the day would come when a temple would be built on this hill.
Some disbelieved and doubted the possibility of even making a
settlement here. Brother Kimball said, 'Well, it will be so, and more
than that, the rock will be quarried from that hill to build it with,
and some of the stone from that quarry will be taken to help complete
the Salt Lake Temple.' On July 28th, 1878, two large stones, weighing
respectively 5,600 and 5,020 pounds, were taken from the Manti stone
quarry, hauled by team to York, the U. C. R. R. terminus then, and
shipped to Salt Lake City to be used for the tablets in the east and
west ends of the Salt Lake City Temple.
"At a conference held in Ephraim, Sanpete County, June 25th, 1875,
nearly all the speakers expressed their feelings to have a temple
built in Sanpete County, and gave their views as to what point and
where to build it, and to show the union that existed, Elder Daniel H.
Wells said 'Manti,' George Q. Cannon, Brigham Young, Jr., John Taylor,
Orson Hyde, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Lorenzo Young, and A.
M. Musser said 'Manti stone quarry.' I have given the names in the
order in which they spoke. At 4 p. m. that day President Brigham Young
said: 'The Temple should be built on Manti stone quarry.' Early on the
morning of April 25th, 1877, President Brigham Young asked Brother
Warren S. Snow to go with him to the Temple hill. Brother Snow says;
'We two were alone: President Young took me to the spot where the
Temple was to stand; we went to the southeast corner, and President
Young said; 'Here is the spot where the prophet Moroni stood and
dedicated this piece of land for a Temple site, and that is the reason
why the location is made here, and we can't move it from this spot;
and if you and I are the only persons that come here at high noon
to-day, we will dedicate this ground."
The late George Nebeker said that President Kimball told him, many
years ago, that he would live to see the kings and great ones of the
earth pass by his door. Brother Nebeker resided in the nineteenth
ward. The railway at that time was not thought of in Utah. But the
iron horse now rushes along the street immediately in front of Brother
Nebeker's family residence, and he himself lived to see such
celebrities as President Grant, the Emperor of Brazil and other royal
and great ones literally pass by his door.
MRS. MAMIE HOOPER JENNINGS, daughter of the late Captain Hooper,
relates:
"Brother Kimball gave my father a half dollar, telling him that as
long as he kept it he should never want for money. Father placed faith
in the promise, and testified often that he had realized its truth; he
had never wanted for money, in any sum, from that time."
A FRIEND:
"He said to me one day, taking up a small stick from the ground, 'You
see this stick. If it had remained down there you never would have
noticed that there was any dirt clinging to it. But now that I hold it
up you observe it is covered with dirt. It is just so when a man is
put into office. He may be just as clean before he gets there as those
around him, but his being lifted up above them makes his faults more
manifest, and he is far more apt to be criticised than before.'"
The veteran Bishop, A. H. RALEIGH, speaks thus from his exile:
"Having fortunately been privileged with a personal acquaintance with
the late Heber C. Kimball, from the early days of Nauvoo to the time
of his decease, a period of about twenty-five years, I venture
confidently to submit that no stronger or more forcible illustration
of the peculiarity of his character can be presented than the notable
eccentricity manifested in the subdivisions of plat E. Salt Lake City,
which he fashioned by personally directing city surveyor J. W. Fox,
Sen., in laying out and platting, and myself in naming the streets,
while drafting the resolution which, when passed by the City Council,
made it a legal survey. Though it has undergone some slight changes in
the remodeling of a few lots, as also a few streets, and changing a
few of these names, with a small addition to the plat, far the most of
the original remains to be a lasting monument to his memory. The great
variety of form and size of lots, involving corners, angles, widths
and lengths of streets, together with their peculiar names, almost
exhausting the names of the fruit and vegetable kingdom, are all
characteristic of the man, familiarly called 'Brother Heber,' ever
evincing a strong desire to imitate nature in its eternal variety and
beauty; the same in his plain, easy, natural demeanor in his daily
intercourse with his fellows, either in public or private life, giving
evidence of the presence of one of nature's noblemen, one of the
noblest works of God,--an honest man."
FATHER J. L. HEYWOOD writes from Panguitch:
"Brother Kimball was naturally of a jovial turn of mind. When working
at the pottery business he would sometimes use a chip to turn his
crocks, remarking that he 'did not care who stole his trade, as long
as they did not steal his tools.'
"In relation to some protuberances on his forehead he remarked that
they were the 'horns of Joseph' with which to push the people
together, referring to his labors as an Apostle.
"President B. Young once said that Brother Kimball could go to the
city of Washington, D.C., and build up a church, and the way he would
do it was by beginning so small."
ELDER JUNIUS F. WELLS:
"One day he entered the Union Academy, taught by Dr. Doremus, and
taking off his high-crowned straw hat that he used so much to wear,
made a profound bow to the school, without saying a word. Then, while
the students were gazing at him with fixed eyes and open mouths, he
said solemnly: 'Boys; never call your father _the old man_.' With
another polite bow, and without saying another word, he turned and
left the hall. The impression made by his presence and laconic speech
was most profound."
ELDER CHARLES W. STAYNER:
"President Kimball's hat blew off on Main Street, one day, and as he
was pursuing it, one of a party of men with whom he had been
conversing on the corner, laughed at him. Stopping in his chase, he
turned around and addressing that person said: 'Never mind; your hat
will blow off some day, but your head will be in it.' The man to whom
he spoke afterwards apostatized."
SOLOMON F. KIMBALL:
"I heard father prophecy that a certain Elder would lose all his means
and die a poor man, because he neglected his spiritual duties to
attend to his temporal affairs. I have seen that prophecy fulfilled."
JAMES LAWSON'S narrative:
"In 1855, Heber C. Kimball sent for me (I had just been married
thirteen days) and said, 'Brother James' I want you to give your wife
Betsy a divorce,' I said, 'Brother Kimball what is the matter? There
is nothing wrong with us, and we think everything of each other?' He
said, 'Nothing is the matter, but here is the divorce and I want you
to sign it.' I signed it and he told me to send her home to her mother
(Sarah Noon[A]) which I did. At the same time I asked her if she had
been making any complaints to Bro. Kimball against me. She said,
'Never, to anybody.' I did not sleep a wink that night, and no one
knows what I suffered in my feelings. I prayed frequently to the Lord
and enquired of Him what all this meant. Towards morning I received an
answer to my prayers. The Spirit said unto me, 'Be comforted, my
servant James, all will come out right.' Soon after this Brother
Kimball went to the Legislature, which was held at Fillmore, and was
absent from home about two months. When he returned he gave me a
mission to Carson Valley and told me to get Betsy and bring her to the
Endowment House with me. I did so and he sealed us for time and all
eternity.
[Footnote A: Heber's first plural wife.]
"After this took place I said, 'Brother Kimball what did you do that
for?' He said, 'Brother James, I did it to try you as I was tried. I
will tell you. After I had returned from my second mission to England
in 1841, the Prophet Joseph came to me one evening and said, 'Brother
Heber, I want you to give Vilate to me to be my wife,' saying that the
Lord desired this at my hands.' Heber said that in all his life before
he had never had anything take hold of him like that. He was
dumbfounded. He went home, and did not eat a mouthful of anything, nor
even touch a drop of water to his lips, nor sleep, for three days and
nights. He was almost continually offering up his prayers to God and
asking him for comfort. On the evening of the third day he said,
'Vilate, let's go down to the Prophet's' and they went down and met
him in a private room. Heber said, 'Brother Joseph, here is Vilate.'
The Prophet wept like a child, said Heber, and after he had cleared
the tears away, he took us and sealed us for time and all eternity,
and said, 'Brother Heber, take her, and the Lord will give you a
hundred fold."
COL. ROBERT SMITH, a veteran friend of President Kimball's, and for
many years almost like a member of his family, says:
"In 1857, I was working for Brother Heber and asked him for some
goods, which he refused to let me have. Feeling bad over it, I went
home and laid the matter before the Lord. The next morning when I came
to work, Brother Heber called me into his room and said, 'Robert, what
have you been complaining to the Lord for, about his servant Heber?
Here are the things you asked me for, and after this don't go to the
Lord about every little thing that happens."
"In the year 1855, he was moving a herd of sheep on to the Church
Island, with a flat boat; the water was very shallow in some places
and the boat got fastened on a sand-bar, and we could not get it off.
There were about six of us in all. After working for some time and
accomplishing nothing, Brother Heber returned to the shore, which was
but a short distance, and getting behind some grease-wood he bowed
down in prayer. Then coming back to the boat, he said, 'come boys,
let's give her another trial, she'll move now.' All took hold and
pushed and it went off the bar all right, and we arrived at the Island
that night."
"At one time, putting his hand on his heart, he remarked that unless a
man knew that Jesus was the Christ, he could not stand in this Church.
"He said that the Lord would allow all manner of abominations to come
to Zion, in order to purify His people. This was in 1856.
"He saw in vision a U. S. Marshal in pursuit of one of his daughters,
who had a small babe in her arms.[A]
[Footnote A: The heroine of this episode, which actually occurred, was
Mrs. Melvina Kimball Driggs, wife of Bishop Apollos Driggs, one of the
victims of the anti-polygamy crusade under the "Edmunds Law."]
"He said that this government would dissolve pretty much all the laws
passed by our legislature, and that the time would come when the
government would stop the Saints from holding meetings. When this was
done the Lord would pour out His judgments."
"At family prayers, just a little while before his death, he remarked
that the angel Moroni had visited him the night before and informed
him that his work on this earth was finished, and he would soon be
taken."
FATHER O. N. LLILJENQUIST once said to the author:
"My first impression of President Kimball was far from favorable. He
was preaching in the Tabernacle, and belaboring a certain man very
severely, and I did not like his harshness. The next time I met him
was in the Endowment House, and if ever I saw a man look like a God,
and act as humble as a little child, that man was Heber C. Kimball.
All my prejudice vanished in a moment."
BISHOP JAMES WATSON:
"In 1864, soon after my arrival in Utah, I went with my brother Joseph
to see President Kimball about a lot I desired to purchase. We found
him at his mill on City Creek, superintending some workmen. Being
introduced to him, I said: 'President Kimball, I wish to buy a lot
which I am informed belongs to you.'
"Eyeing me in a very searching manner, he said: 'I have sold many lots
and never received the pay for them,' and then turned away and resumed
his directions to the workmen.
"I was very much hurt at his abrupt manner, especially as his words
seemed to intimate that I was one who would not pay my debts, a
reputation I had not earned. 'Have you any further business with me?'
he asked, turning towards me again, after the lapse of a few moments.
'No sir,' said I sternly, and walked away.
"Some time elapsed, and we did not meet, for I avoided him whenever I
saw him coming. One day, however, we met face to face, he on his way
to the Endowment House, and I near the Temple Block, where I was then
working. Smiling amiably and reminding me that I had avoided him
several times, he asked: 'Have you got a lot yet?' 'No sir,' I
answered, coolly, although my blood was warmed by the recollection
which his words called up. 'Well, you'll get one,' said he, 'and
you'll get it of me, too.' (I inwardly resolved that I never would.)
'Yes, you'll come and get it of me,' he repeated, and we separated.
"Being determined that his words should not come to pass, (for I was
not at all won over by his change of manner) I went and purchased a
lot from a sister in the Church, paid her for it, and put up a house
on the land. I then asked her for the deed, but she told me she did
not have one.
"'Well, who holds the title to the land, then?' I asked.
"'Heber C. Kimball,' she replied.
"I was dumb-founded. 'Well, I shall not buy it of him,' I said to
myself, but I resolved to go and get the deed for her. Brother Kimball
received me very kindly, and my feelings were somewhat softened
towards him. Almost the first question he asked was: 'Have you got a
lot yet?' 'Yes, sir,' I replied, and then told him I had come to get
sister ------'s deed. 'Why, I cannot give her a deed,' said he, 'for
she has never paid me for that lot.' I then told him what I had done,
and he said with a smile, 'I told you you would have to come to me for
a lot. Wait here a moment,' he added, and went into his office.
Returning presently, he handed me a deed for the land, made out in my
name, and said: 'There, I'll make you a present of that deed, and
you've already paid for the land; God bless you,' and we parted
friends.
"Another incident I will relate:
"On the morning of the 15th day of April, 1865, my wife and I were
going through the Temple block towards the Endowment House, as we had
been previously requested by our Bishop to go and get our endowments.
I was in a very thoughtful mood and prayed silently in my own mind
that the Lord would give me grace to always adhere to the truth and
have my mind quickened by the Holy Ghost, so that I might always be
able to decide between truth and error and to have courage to defend
the principles of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
"We overtook President H. C. Kimball and were walking leisurely along,
when Willard G. Smith overtook us and said to President Kimball, 'Have
you heard the news? President Lincoln was assassinated last night
while at the theatre in Washington. See the flags are at half mast.'
After some little conversation we entered the Endowment House. The
thought of the sad death of President Lincoln weighed heavily on my
mind, and made a deep impression on me. In going through the House
Brother Kimball gave us a very impressive lecture. Fixing his eyes on
me, he said:
"'Do you know that you will yet be called upon to stand in front of
the enemy?' Then he paused for a reply.
"After studying a few seconds, I answered, 'No, sir.'
"Giving me a piercing look, he said: 'Don't you believe it.' I
answered 'No, sir.'
"Gazing at me intently he said, 'Don't you believe what I say?' I
answered 'How can I believe, when I have no evidence or knowledge of
it?' 'You foolish man,' he said, 'If you had a knowledge you would not
require any belief.'
"Pointing to me again, he said: 'You will yet be called upon to stand
in front of the enemy, while bullets will fly around as thick as hail.
Yet not a hair of your head shall be hurt. Do you believe that?'
"After a little study I answered, '_No, sir_.' He seemed a little
perplexed at my obstinacy and asked, 'Why don't you believe it?' I
said, 'Because I have been in a hail-storm, and I know that it is
impossible to be in a hail-storm without being hit, and if the bullets
are to fly around me as thick as hail, I am sure I will be hit.' He
said 'Don't you think if you saw them coming you could _juke_ them?' I
said I thought I could. 'But,' said he, 'they come so quick you cannot
do it.'
"Then fixing his eyes upon me, he said: 'The day will come when you
will stand in the front rank in face of the enemy, while the bullets
will fly around you like a hail-storm, but if you will live pure and
keep your garments clean, not one hair of your head will be hurt. _Do
you believe that?_'
"I said: 'Brother Kimball, I believe what you say.'"
ELDER EDWARD STEVENSON:
"I cheerfully contribute the following, concerning one of the greatest
prophets of the nineteenth century--Heber C. Kimball: In 1856 a little
group of friends, convened in the House of the Lord, were engaged in
pleasant conversation on the isolated condition of the Latter-day
Saints.
"'Yes,' said Brother Heber (by which name he was so familiarly known),
'we think we are secure here in the chambers of the everlasting hills,
where we can close those few doors of the canyons against mobs and
persecutors, the wicked and the vile, who have always beset us with
violence and robbery, but I want to say to you, my brethren, the time
is coming when we will be mixed up in these now peaceful valleys to
that extent that it will be difficult to tell the face of a Saint from
the face of an enemy to the people of God. Then, brethren, look out
for the great sieve, for there will be a great sifting time, and many
will fall; for I say unto you there is a _test_, a TEST, a TEST
coming, and who will be able to stand?'
"The emphasis with which those words were spoken I shall never forget.
"I was with Brother Heber on the occasion of his last meeting at
Bountiful, Davis County, Utah, just previous to his death. He seemed
full to overflowing; for over two hours he held the audience; that
meeting and the deep instructions will endure in the hearts of true
Saints while eternities roll on.
"While working with him in the House of the Lord in 1856-7, how often
I have heard him speak against pride and covetousness and the fear of
riches, being fearful of the Lord's displeasure and consequent
judgments. Said he: 'If the Saints will repent, the Lord's wrath will
be turned away, but they will not repent until it is too late.'"
PRESIDENT A. O. SMOOT:
"A short time before Brother Heber was taken ill with his last
sickness, I drove through with him from Provo to Salt Lake. He was
unusually free in his conversation, it being almost a ceaseless flow
of prophecies in relation to individuals in and out of the Church. He
foretold, with what I have since realized to be the greatest accuracy,
what would befall certain men. Some of those of whom he prophesied are
still in good standing, but many who were in good standing then, have
fallen, as he said they would."
PRESIDENT A. F. MCDONALD:
"My first intimate acquaintance with President Kimball occurred in
1868, I being then in charge of the Tithing Office at Provo. He often
called into the office to do business. His public discourses about
this time were the most earnest and impressive that I had ever heard;
and on several occasions in the Provo meeting house, he clearly
foreshadowed the time of trial the Saints are now passing through, and
to a period still before us. He often used the language 'A test, a
test is coming.'
"On one occasion, when he was stopping with us during a two days'
conference, he came into the Tithing Yard where I was busy putting up
hay, and called me towards him and said: 'Do you want me at your
house, or would you rather not have us there?' I answered that it was
a pleasure and honor to have him there. Looking intently at me, he
said: 'I want to say to you that you have seen your worst days; you
have had some hard times and trials in the past, but from this time it
will be better for you. In whatever you are called to do, or whatever
you put your hands to accomplish, you will be prospered and prevail.'
This is true so far in my experience.
"On another occasion in 1863, during a two days' meeting in Provo, I
invited several brethren to dinner. Brother Kimball was present.
During the chat at the table, conversation turned on the number of
children I then had, being at that time six boys; hearing this reply
he said: 'Yes, and the next, the seventh, will be a boy also, and he
will be the noblest, the most talented, and the greatest you have
had.' Brother R. L. Campbell, who I remember was present, said in a
free and jocular way: 'If it should come a girl, what then?' Upon
which Brother Kimball observed; 'It will not come a girl, but a boy,
and you will see it.' One year and four days after, a boy was born,
and Brother Kimball, again attending a two days' meeting at Provo,
called to see him and directed that he be blessed and given the name
of 'Heber,' by which name he is known in our family and has grown to
manhood, as we believe to fulfill the words spoken of him.
"On the night of Brother Kimball's accident at Provo, a short time
before his death, I was with him. I took a silk handkerchief from my
pocket and tied it over his head, and then suggested that I go and
call on President B. Young, then at the house of Bishop Wm. Miller, to
come and administer to him; but he said: 'I command _you_ to
administer to me and anoint me with oil in the name of the Lord; do
not be in the least afraid; you hold the same Priesthood and authority
from God as President Young or myself, and God hears and answers the
prayers of His humblest servants and people.' I administered to him
accordingly, and he soon revived, becoming quite free and jocular with
us, and about two o'clock in the morning at his suggestion I went
home. On the following day, myself and wife called to see him. He was
much improved and quite sociable, his conversation being original,
incisive, and a continual feast of inspiration. As we were leaving he
asked his wife (Lucy W.) to get my handkerchief that I had put on his
head the previous night, and addressing my wife he said: 'Here, Betty,
take this handkerchief, and be sure that you never wash it, but keep
it as it is, and when you have sickness in your family, exercise the
prayer of faith, and it will prove a blessing, and will be a bond
between you and me for ever!' My wife has sacredly kept that
handkerchief."
ELDER JOHN NICHOLSON gives a valued contribution in the following:
"In accordance with your request I furnish you with a brief outline of
a discourse delivered by your grandfather, the late Heber C. Kimball,
in 1867. The occasion was the usual afternoon service. Whether it was
held in the Bowery or the old Tabernacle, I do not distinctly
recollect, but think it was the latter. My memory is, however, quite
distinct in relation to the subject of the discourse; especially the
prophetic part of it, with which I was specially impressed.
"President Kimball opened by stating that there were many within
hearing who had often wished that they had been associated with the
Prophet Joseph. 'You imagine,' said he, 'that you would have stood by
him when persecution raged and he was assailed by foes within and
without. You would have defended him and been true to him in the midst
of every trial. You think you would have been delighted to have shown
your integrity in the days of mobs and traitors.
"'Let me say to you, that many of you will see the time when you will
have all the trouble, trial and persecution that you can stand, and
plenty of opportunities to show that you are true to God and his work.
This Church has before it many close places through which it will have
to pass before the work of God is crowned with victory. To meet the
difficulties that are coming, it will be necessary for you to have a
knowledge of the truth of this work for yourselves. The difficulties
will be of such a character that the man or woman who does not possess
this personal knowledge or witness will fall. If you have not got the
testimony, live right and call upon the Lord and cease not till you
obtain it. If you do not you will not stand.
"'Remember these sayings, for many of you will live to see them
fulfilled. The time will come when no man nor woman will be able to
endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided by the light
within himself. If you do not have it, how can you stand? Do you
believe it?
"'How is it now? You have the First Presidency, from whom you can get
counsel to guide you, and you rely on them. The time will come when
they will not be with you. Why? Because they will have to flee and
hide up to keep out of the hands of their enemies. You have the Twelve
now. You will not always have them, for they too will be hunted and
will have to keep out of the way of their enemies. You have other men
to whom you look for counsel and advice. Many of them will not be
amongst you, for the same reason. You will be left to the light within
yourselves. If you don't have it you will not stand; therefore seek
for the testimony of Jesus and cleave to it, that when the trying time
comes you may not stumble and fall.'
"The main object of the discourse was to impress the people with the
importance of having light and knowledge direct from God within
themselves. The prophetic part was given as the leading reason why
they should be in possession of an individual testimony, as it defined
to some extent the character of the trials to which the Saints would
be subjected. That Brother Kimball's predictions have been, in part,
at least, already fulfilled, must be clear to all who are familiar
with the events of the last few years. In the course of his remarks on
the occasion in point he several times said: 'You will have all the
persecution you want and more too, and all the opportunity to show
your integrity to God and truth that you could desire.'
"The foregoing statement is probably not as absolutely correct as
could have been given immediately after the delivery of the discourse,
but it is so in substance. Probably there are many others who heard it
who will remember it when it is brought to their recollection."
ELDER HENRY W. NAISBITT adds this endorsement:
"I was present on the occasion when President Heber C. Kimball
delivered the discourse described in the foregoing communication, and
the statement as therein given is correct, as I remember it."
WM. H. BEARD ESQ. sends the following from his home in Spiceland,
Indiana:
"In the spring of 1884, I called at the home of your father, the late
lamented H. K. Whitney, and while there had the pleasure of viewing a
fairly executed portrait of the deceased President Kimball, and having
previously read something of him as viewed by Gentile historians, I
conceived the idea of learning from his own people, those who had
known him long and well, his religious and social standing, during
some of the most eventful periods of his life. I conversed with quite
a number of persons who claimed to have known him, and the universal
expression was 'he was a true, noble and worthy man.' In glancing over
the musty pages of a reporter's book used on that occasion I find an
account of the following interview with an old-time friend of the
deceased, written with an unsteady hand, but still legible, and marked
with conspicuous head lines. I give the report just as it appears,
thinking, perhaps, you may find in it a few facts worthy of
remembrance.
"The gentleman who favored me with this interview, was bending beneath
the weight of accumulated years, but he seemed to possess an
extraordinarily brilliant mind, coupled with a remarkable gift of
memory. After extending the usual courtesies due a stranger, I
ventured to ask: 'Will you please tell me what you know of the late
Heber C. Kimball?' A pleasant smile lit up his face, and in a calm,
steady voice he proceeded in substance as follows. 'I have known
President Kimball for more than half a century. I knew him in his
youth, through all the changing developments of his early manhood, and
when his hair was whitened, and his cheeks furrowed by the approach of
age. He was a brave, noble and dignified man, possessing more true
virtues than the world will ever know. He was an affectionate husband,
a devoted father and a kind and generous friend. He always had
consolation for the despondent, a helping hand for the needy, and a
tear for the sorrowing and afflicted. In oratory he was not eloquent,
but his thoughts were always expressed in such a calm, pleasing and
effective manner as to deeply impress his hearers. He was strong in
his religious convictions, thoroughly familiar with every tenet of the
Mormon faith, and a fervent advocate of the right. He admired true
manliness in every relation of life, and was always found on the side
of justice and truth. He firmly believed in the ultimate triumph of
the church, and often spoke of the wrongs endured by the Latter-day
Saints in their continuous struggles for religious freedom. He was a
leading light for his oppressed people, and no one ever knew him
unfaithful to his trust, or unduly exacting in his official life. He
loved to share our sorrows, and enjoy our happiness, for he had a warm
and generous heart. His mind was broad and searching, and had he
possessed a penchant for military renown, he could have succeeded
admirably as a commander of armies. As a statesman he could have been
an honor to the republic, and had it not been for his unpopular faith
he could have filled almost any position in life to which humanity
aspires. In the death of this great man the Church has lost one of its
most valued members; but our society through all the coming years,
will remember him in their prayers, and continue to contribute sacred
tears to his memory and great moral worth.'"
As an appropriate ending for this chapter, we append a truthful
tribute from the pen of PRESIDENT GEORGE Q. CANNON:
"Heber Chase Kimball was one of the greatest men of this age. There
was a certain nobility about his appearance as well as his disposition
that would have made him conspicuous in any community, and the Church
of Jesus Christ afforded ample scope for the exercise of his ability,
and the trying scenes through which he passed called into play his
best powers.
"He was a man of commanding presence, with eyes so keen as to almost
pierce one through, and before which the guilty involuntarily quailed.
He was fearless and powerful in rebuking the wrong-doer, but kind,
benevolent and fatherly to the deserving. He possessed such wonderful
control over the passions of men, combined with such wisdom and
diplomacy, that the Prophet Joseph Smith called him 'the peace-maker.'
His great faith, zeal, earnestness, devotion to principle,
cheerfulness under the most trying circumstances, energy, perseverance
and honest simplicity marked him as no ordinary man. He possessed
great natural force and strong will power, yet in his submission to
the Priesthood and obedience to the laws of God he set a pattern to
the whole Church. His example throughout life was one of which his
posterity may ever think with pride, and which the Saints generally
will do well to follow.
"No man, perhaps, Joseph Smith excepted, who has belonged to the
Church in this generation, ever possessed the gift of prophecy to a
greater degree than Brother Kimball. Although not at all pretentious,
he was somewhat celebrated among his acquaintances for his prophetic
inspiration. Scores of predictions were made by him and literally
fulfilled.
"Brother Kimball was the only one of his father's family who embraced
the gospel, but now his is one of the most numerous families in the
Church. At the time of his death, he was the father of sixty-five
children, of whom thirty males and eleven females were then living.
His direct descendants now number nearly two hundred souls."