1877 07 22 Brooklyn Eagle-Followers of the Prophet
Followers of the Prophet
- 22 July 1877, page 3
The followers of the Prophet who reside in Brooklyn and vicinity, it was reported, contemplated building a new church. Such is no the case, they don't want a new church, in fact they wouldn't take a church if it was given to them. The Prophet don't wish any churches built outside of Utah and the Mormons follow his orders most religiously. One reason for not building a church is that the Mormons do not expect to remain long enough away from Utah to make the building of a church repay them and they are not at all anxious to erect a structure where those who come after them can adore Brigham Young, Lee, the murderer, and a few saints who have taken their departure from this sphere, notably a couple who were lifted out of a existence by a rope. It is a principle of their creed to go to Utah as soon after conversion as possible. It matters not whether the person who applies for admission in the Utah church is a Mormon or unbeliever, they have to be baptised before they are made saints. Thus to a certain degree the Salt Lake cherubs don't recognize those East as being quite so high in the scale of godliness as themselves.
It was formerly a rule that a Mormon could not marry a person that didn't belong to the church. That rule is done away with as well as the marrying of persons in the local Mormon church, for the reason that the couple
when they get to Utah. It is a good plan for a Mormon who hasn't been admitted into their earthly paradise, and who has a wife that he would rid himself of, to go there, and then refuse to remarry the woman. As stated before, young Mormons are not married here, but wait until they go to Utah. The fare to Utah in an emigration party is generally about $50 per head, and the Mormons last Summer sent four emigration trains from New York to Salt Lake. A Mormon courtship this side of the Mississippi is conducted something after this style:
- He—Do you love me?
- She (eyes rolling)—Yes.
- He—Will you marry me?
- She—Hast though money to pay our way to the home of the Prophet?
- He—Verily, I have, dearest.
- She—Then I will marry you, and though your wives be many, I will ever be faithful to you. Verily, the laws of the Prophet are great.
[Tableau.]
The marriage performed here does not hold good in Utah; thus it can be said that those Mormons here are not legally married according to the laws of their creed. Heree the Mormons never fast as they do in Salt Lake, and there are several other laws of the creed which they have done away with.
Salt Lake is the Mormon Mecca; he looks forward to the time when he can reach it as persons of other religions do heaven. By the Mormons, especially those in the East and in Europe, Brigham Young is believed to be infallible, and were he to bid them end their existence, it is probable that seventy-five per cent of the Mormons would hasten to obey his command. Utah is thought of first, and then a hereafter. In their views they are not liberal, but believe that one day every person on earth will be destroyed, with the exception of those who belong to their church. Again, they believe that a person expelled from their church is ten times worse off than a person who never belonged to it.
In the Brooklyn church, which is situated on Grand street, there are one hundred members, living in Newark, Jersey City, New York, this city, and on Long Island. The majority of the members are English and American, and there is a fair sprinkling of Germans. Irish seldom if ever join the church, and when they do they rarely remain long in its folds. Young, unmarried females form a large percentage of the church, and they are of all nationalities but Irish. A female member of the congregation, speaking about the nationality of members said: "The Irish do not stop with us long. They are too full of their former religion, and they go right back to it." The church is presided over by a President, who is elected by the members. The President performs marriages and blesses the children; the Mormons do not believe in baptismal sprinkling.
The church is very poor, the members being in the lowest walks of life. The reason that the church is always poor is, as soon as a member can get money enough together to pay his fare he goes to Utah. Three years ago the Brooklyn church had three hundred members, and was in
It meets every Sunday afternoon in a hall on Grand street, and is presided over by a Mr. Byewater, a pressman on tin, residing in Greenpoint.
Beside the regular congregation there is a Mormonish sect called the "Josephites," who also meet every Sunday in the Eastern District. Many of them, so said a Mormon, were turned out of the regular church, and more left of their own accord when Brigham Young was elected President. The "Josephites" live up to the Mormon creed, with the exception that they do not recognize Prophet Young. The regular church is visited nearly every Sunday by embassies from Utah. There are already some members in the Brooklyn church, who have lived in Utah. Elders who are sent from Salt Lake to England often stop in New York and work for a few months to raise means to carry them to the other side, and vice versa, coming from Europe they work here to raise their fare to Utah. The church in Brooklyn has been established fifteen years and is known to Mormons all over the world. There are some Mormons who die without ever going to Utah, but they are few and far between.
An EAGLE reporter in search of information regarding the local congregation, was directed to No. 160 Grand strt, Eastern District. The house, a large tenement, is occupied by a dozen families. After traversing about a half mile of stairways, the reporter found himself on the top floor, where, after a serious encounter with a spitz dog, said encounter ending in favor of the visitor, who sent his assistant on a gymnastic tour downstairs, the apartments, of Mr. Henry Worthington, an elder of the church, were found. Mr. Worthington, a thin, lantern jawed man, with sunken eyes and gray mustache, was seated in the middle of the room, dancing a baby on his knee. His wife, a stout woman with a mobile face, was engaged in hanging clothing on lines which ran longitudinally across the room.
In answer to the reporter's query the man said, "No, we are not going to build a church. We don't want any church. When we want to worship in a stately edifice we will go to Utah."
"Do the Mormons in this part of the country practice polygamy?"
"No, that is allowed only in Utah."
"Do you expect to go to Utah?" inquired the reporter.
Mr. Worthington looked up, and catching a threatening look from his wife said meekly, "All Mormons expect to reach Utah at some time."
"Do you know, Mr. Worthington, in what book of the Bible the Mormons get their authority to practice polygamy?"
"Oh," said Mrs. Worthington, "the Bible says nothing about it. It is an innovation made in the Bible by our saints."
Regarding the church Elder Worthington would have nothing to say, but told the reporter that if he called at the chapel on Sunday, President Byewater would give the desired information.
"You have been a Mormon quite a long time," said the reporter, arising to leave.
"Twenty-eight years, I've been in this country eight years, and during that time have been a member of the Brooklyn congregation."
"Have the Mormons a church in New York?"
"No," replied Worthington, "but there is a society in Hoboken; it has not a very large membership, however."
"My husband," said Mrs. Worthington, as she closed the door on the reporter, "is
so I have got to run the house by taking in washing."
Worthington is a day laborer, as are a great many others of his congregation, and if the present depression continues, it will be a long time before they can save money enough to take them to their long wished for destination.
