Mormons and the Smallpox Epidemic of 1853 (4)

Mormons and the Smallpox Epidemic of 1853 (4)

Aftermath of the epidemic: natives lose interest, high-level defections, Utah elders more critical of their converts, mission abandoned, Walter Murray Gibson arrives. He is excommunicated and Saints gather at Laie. Native resiliance.

Isaaka returns to Protestant church Widows leave Mormonism	The summer of 1853 was faith shattering. Those who had joined the church believing the priesthood would protect them and their loved ones were devastated. Shortly before he died, Isaaka Kahoouluwa asked to be restored to his position in Reverend Smith's congregation if he survived. His wife declared she would leave Mormonism whether he lived or not. The widows of Opunui and Umu, and doubtless others, also refused to have anything to do with the church after their husbands died.	lived or not: Lowell Smith, Kaumakapili Station Report, 1854, husbands died: W. Farrer, September 5, 6, 1853.
Uaua	William Uaua had stopped proselyting in July when meetings were canceled to blunt the spread of the virus. He left the church a few months after the epidemic ended—though he later returned.	J. S. Woodbury diary, October 31, 1857. Uaua was "one of our leading native Elders" in 1878. H. P. Richards, January 18, 1878.
Conversions plummet	We have no native diaries or letters, so we cannot accurately assess the extent of disaffection, but we do know convert baptisms plummeted. From April through July there had been 750 baptisms—188 a month. From August to February, 1854 the rate dropped to 18 a month, then to 12 a month through July, 1854. From July, 1854 to July, 1855 the rate rose slightly to an average of 20 a month—barely a tenth of the number averaged by Uaua, Kauwahi, Paku, and Kahoouluwa in the summer of 1853.
Disillusionment with economic demands	But the epidemic was only one cause for the decline of Mormonism on Oahu. Many early converts had joined because the Mormons imposed no financial burden on members, as opposed to the Protestants who required substantial donations to support missionaries and their families, build and maintain schools and churches, and even sponsor other missions in the Pacific. When the Mormons introduced tithing in October, 1852, many were disillusioned.	See note.
Printing press burden	But that was just the beginning. In October, 1853, as the epidemic was beginning to abate, the elders decided to buy a printing press to publish the Book of Mormon in Hawaiian. They also decided to buy a ship to emigrate the Saints to San Bernardino. They borrowed $1,500, due in twelve months. Repayment of the debt, on top of tithing, and donations for the ship, and for the return passage of Elders Cannon, Farrer, Bigler, Karren, and others to the States placed extraordinary demands on the Saints who were in the midst of an economic depression brought on by the epidemic. Incessant pleas for money alienated many.	publish … in Hawaiian: Francis Hammond diary, February 13, 1854. to San Bernardino; See emigration note.
Funds for emigration ship lost	The emigration scheme failed when the ship bought by Nathan Tanner proved unseaworthy, and the funds were lost.	"Their confidence weakened ever since the Ship speckulation which proved to be a failure together with the printing press was taken away from them and sent to San Francisco after having so many prity things told them" H. Bigler, October 9, 1857.
Press sent to California	Then in October, 1854, the press arrived, but before it could be set up, it was returned to San Francisco, where George Q. Cannon would use it to publish the Western Standard. Cannon did print the Hawaiian Book of Mormon, which arrived in October, 1855. The Saints were dismayed to learn that after buying the press, they would also have to buy the books printed on it. Few were purchased.	press arrived: Simpson Molen diary, 5 October 1854; My Life's MS, October 6, 1854, 177. Western Standard: Francis Hammond diary, January 13, 1855. See note.
Lanai failure	The Utah elders believed if they could gather the Saints in an isolated location, they could make "real" Mormons out of them. A friendly non-Mormon chief granted them the use of land on Lanai, and a few dozen "pioneers" gathered to build the "city" of Joseph. Unfortunately, gathering stripped the branches of their most faithful Saints. In their absence, many lost interest in the church. When the crops failed on Lanai, the colony disbanded, many became disillusioned.
Kauwahi defection	Then Kauwahi, the highest-profile Saint on the islands, and one of Mormonism's most prolific missionaries, left the church. He dated his disenchantment from 1854—right after the epidemic, the decisions to buy a printing press and a ship, and about the same time Uaua dropped out. A version of his 1856 letter explaining his reasons for leaving was included in John Hyde's 1857 expose published in Honolulu. Kauwahi criticized the Utah elders for reversing themselves on tithing and the Word of Wisdom. He denounced the Book of Mormon, plural marriage, gathering to Utah, and obedience to Brigham Young. Kauwahi's defection, like the loss of Uaua, was a heavy blow to the Mormon cause, and many followed their example.	See note.
Membership figures	Hawaiian membership peaked at 4,200 in July, 1855, just before Kauwahi's defection. (At that point Hawaiians constituted 6 percent of church membership worldwide.) The figure is somewhat misleading, for Hawaiians moved about freely, and were hard to track down. Many were kept on the rolls though no one knew where they were—or even if they were alive. From mid-1855 through 1857, despite increased numbers of missionaries, membership declined.	See note.
Blame the "race"	But instead of revising their own program and methods, the Utah elders blamed the Protestant clergy and the perceived traits of the Hawaiian people—indolence, backwardness, and licentiousness.	Francis Hammond diary, February 8, 23; March 12; April 7, 1854.
	"I never even dreamed of seeing so lifeless a race of people as are those with whom my lot is at present cast," wrote one elder on Hawai‘i.	John R. Young to Lorenzo D. Young, December 23, 1855, in Deseret News, June 4, 1856. See also note.
	Wrote another,
	Many, I believe, embraced the work at the commencement because it was something strange and new—a thing which this people are very fond of; others … calculated [this] was a Church without money and without price; … when they came to find the Elders do actually have to eat, drink, and wear clothing … it caused some to "return to the pit from whence they were dug."… Others … sigh for the days of Kamehameha I, when they were permitted to act out their heathenish rites, bow down to wood and stone—idols made by their own hands.	Henry P. Richards to Franklin S. Richards, March 18, 1856, Millennial Star 18:458.
	In January 1857, Joseph F. Smith wrote, "Whoredoms and abominations of the darkest hue are mere by-words among them. Yet the unlimited practise of such wickedness is inevitable, owing to the nature of their laws and hereditary habits and customs."	Joseph F. Smith to Heber C. Kimball in Honolulu Hawaii Mission, January 1, 1857.
	By March it was reported that "but few of the saints are liveing their religion, many have apostatized not being able to forsake their filthy, and abomnible ways."	J. R. Young, March 22, 1857.
Brigham Young gives up	By September Brigham Young had all but given up on the mission "The reports from the Sandwich Islands have for a number of years agreed in one thing," he wrote newly appointed mission president Henry Bigler,
	and that is that the majority of the Saints on these islands have either been dead or are dying spiritually. It would appear that they occasionally, spasmodically resusicate for a moment, only to sink lower than they were before. … You had better wind up the whole business and return with most of the Elders as soon as possible.	Brigham Young to Henry Bigler, September 4, 1857 in Honolulu Hawaii Mission, October 16, 1857.
	Later Young amended his directive to include all Utah elders. The mission was to be abandoned.
Failure	Everyone agreed it had been a failure. From April to October of 1857, only 3 new members were baptized on Oahu, while 24 were excommunicated and 9 died. There were still 371 members of record, "but few of them alive to their religion many of them dead, the officers as well as members."	J. S. Woodbury, September 23, 1857.
Dead limbs	"It is like preaching to the walls," Henry Bigler concluded. "There is not ten good members. All have dwindled away and withered up. … And they are now as dead limbs not having been severed from the tree."	H. Bigler, October 9, 1857.
Mission abandonded	So on October 6, 1857 most of the Mormon missionaries sailed away, the last four following a few months later.
Walter Murray Gibson	The Hawaiian Saints were ignored by Mormon officials until the flambouyant Walter Murray Gibson arrived in July 1861. Gibson had been given broad authority by Brigham Young to represent the church in the Far East, but when he discovered so many believing Mormons on Oahu and Maui, Gibson decided to remain in the islands to build up a Polynesian "empire." With funds donated by the Saints, Gibson purchased the land on Lanai and re-established the Mormon colony there.	Gibson: "Walter Murray Gibson" and "Life and Intrigues."
Gibson informs Young of developments	Though Mormon doctrine provided for only one First Presidency and council of Twelve Apostles, Gibson ordained the leading men apostles and organized his own First Presidency. He kept Brigham Young informed of these innovations, but the prophet inexplicably overlooked them or gave tacit approval.	See note.
Complaints about Gibson Excommunication Laie	Finally, after several Saints wrote in July 1863 that Gibson was selling priesthood offices, Young dispatched apostles Ezra T. Benson and Lorenzo Snow with three former missionaries as translators to investigate. They excommunicated Gibson in April 1864. The Saints were initially hesitant to abandon Gibson, but within days nearly all of Gibson's supporters deserted him establish a new Mormon colony at Laie.
Resiliant Hawaiians	We have virtually no writings of Hawaiian Saints during these times. Nothing to give us their perspective. We have only the diaries and letters of the missionaries from Utah. Nevertheless, it is apparent that despite the smallpox epidemic, loss of the printing press, abandonment of the mission, and Walter Murray Gibson; despite horrific diseases and haole prejudices, many clung to their faith—and to the belief that they had a destiny to fulfill as part of God's chosen people. On June 1, 1915 Church President Joseph F. Smith dedicated a temple site at Laie—the first functioning Mormon temple outside of Utah, a tribute to the resilient Hawaiian Saints.
		Previous Reprints Home