114 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.
An endowment meeting, or solemn assembly, held in 183G in the temple at Kirtland, is thus described by William Harris: "It was given out that those who were in attendance at that meeting should receive an endowment, or blessing, similar to that experienced by the disciples of Christ on the day of pentecost.
flourishing 3 or 4 weeks.' Kidder's Mormonism, 128. The building is now occupied by a private family. Salt Lake S. W. Herald, June G, 1877. •In order to pay the debt on the temple, they concluded to try mercantile business, and ran in debt in New York and elsewhere some $30,000 for goods, and shortly after, $50,000 or $60,000 more. In consequence of their ignorance of business and extravagance, the scheme proved a failure. ' Kid- der'A Mormonism, 12G, 128; Srmieker's Hist. Mor., 76. 'Gilbert and Whit- ney's store is still used for original purposes. ' Salt Lake Herald, June 6, 1877. 'A poorly furnished country store, where commerce looks starvation in the face.' Id., Nov. 17, 1877. 'Smith's store was seized and goods sold in Nov. 1839.' Hijde's Mormonism, 203; Bennett's Mormonism, 135. They also spent some thousands of dollars in building a steam-mill, which never profited them anything. Kidder's Mormonism, 126. 'The skeleton of a superannu- ated engine and its contrivances half buried in a heap of ashes — the shed that covered it having recently burned to the ground — marks the spot where stood the ashery and its successor, the Mormon saw-mill, at the foot of Temple hill.' Salt Lake Herald, Nov. 17, 1877. Heber C. Kimball, who went to Nauvoo in 1839, built a pottery at Kirtland, the ruins of which were to be seen in 1877. Ihid. 'After the temple was dedicated, the Kirtland high school was taught in the attic story by H. M. Hawes, prof, of Greek and Latin. There were from 130 to 140 students, divided into three depart- ments — the classic, where only languages were taught; the English, where matliematics, common arithmetic, geography, English grammar, and read- ing and writing were taught; and the juvenile department. The last two departments were under assistant instructors. The school was begun in Nov. 1830.' Tidlldge's Women, 99. 'On the 3d floor are a succession of small rooms containing crippled benches, blackboards, ruined walls, and other paraphernalia, which indicated that at some period of the temple's history this part had been used as a primary school.' Salt Lake S. W. Herald, June 6, 1877. A Hebrew professorship is also mentioned. Uemy's Journey, i. 504. 'Immediately after the closing of the bank, and before the news of its fail- ure had time to spread. Smith with some 4 or 5 terriers (understrappers in the priesthood) went to Toronto, Canada, where he preached, whilst his fol- lowers circulated the worthless notes of the defunct bank. Brigham Young also succeeded in spreading about $10,000 of the paper through several states.' Hall's Mormonism, 19-20. 'In January 1838 Smith and Rigdon, being at Kirtland together, were both arrested on charges of swindling in connec- tion vvith their worthless paper bank,' etc. 'The prisoners, however, es- caped from the sheriff in the night and made their way on horseback to Mis- souri. ' Tucker's Mormonism, 155-6. Smith and Rigdon I'an away on the night of Jan. 12, 1838. Hyde's Mormonism, 20^. 'A new year dawned upon the church at Kirtland,' writes Smith, 'in all the bitterness of the spirit of apostate mobocracy, which continued to rage and grow hotter and hotter, until Elder Rigdon and myself were obliged to flee from its deadly influence, as did the apostles and prophets of old, and as Jesus said, "When they per- secute you in one city, flee ye to another;" and on the evening of the 12th of January, about ten o'clock, we left Kirtland on horseback to escape mob violence, which was about to burst upon us, under the color of legal process to cover their hellish designs and save themselves from the just judgment of the law.'
