January 1876

Events in George Q. Cannon’s journal for 1876

29 January: Effort to dissuade Senator Isaac Christiancy regarding his bill to exclude “all who believe in or practice polygamy from juries where polygamy was being tried”
17 February: “Called upon the Attorney-General [Edwards Pierrepont] and had quite a free talk with him.”
20 February: Gratitude for “delightful seasons of communion with my Father”
25 February: “My contestant, [Robert N.] Baskin, . . . doubtless poisons every man’s mind that he can reach.”
7 March: “Procured maps at Engineer Corps to send to Pres. [Brigham] Young.”
16 April: Gave a “copy of my printed argument” to Peter D. Wigginton, one of the sub-committee “to whom bill for admission of Utah was referred. . . . I said it was a very serious thing to say to a people that they could not have their rights under the Constitution.”
4 May: “Made an argument before the sub. Com. on Territories against the Luttrell bill for regulating elections in Utah.”
4 July: Celebrated the Fourth of July on “the platform at Independence Square”
18 July: “The Lord in His Providence will bring them [our rights] around in his own time and way.”
6 November: Reflections on persecution of Bishop William H. Dame in respect to Mountain Meadows Massacre
9 November: “We were all eager to get a glimpse of the [St. George] temple.”
10 November: Description of the interior of the St. George temple
4 December: Samuel J. Randall, Speaker of the House, denounced “unauthorized and unconstitutional acts of executive officers.”
6 December: “We are on the eve of great events, and it will be most extraordinary to me if we do not have a conflict growing out of these difficulties.”

Source Note

Journal, 1876

George Q. Cannon, Journal, 29 Jan.–31 Dec. 1876; 262 inscribed journal pages and 9 inscribed pages of financial accounts; Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

Pocket-size journal, measuring 5⅞ × 3¼ × 1 inches (15 × 8 × 3 cm). The journal was published as an “Excelsior” journal for the year 1876. The front matter of the journal provides printed reference information, such as a calendar, postage rates, and state populations. Each page of the journal itself has a header containing the name of the month, the day of the week, and the year; three pink lines provide a border for the header, two lines above it and one below. Below the header, each page is lined with twenty-nine blue lines.

The journal has a dark brown leather cover, an overlapping flap, and a built-in dual pocket at the back of the volume for loose papers. The flap has a round strip of leather to hold a pen or pencil. An additional pocket is found at the front of the volume. The inside covers have light blue pastedowns. The first flyleaf bears the inscription “1876” in graphite. At a later point, a small red-bordered archival label was pasted to the upper left corner of the front cover. In black ink, the label reads: “No. 9 | G.Q.C. Journal | 1876 | Contest-Judge Bask[i]n | Washington & Utah”.

The journal begins on 29 January 1876, and entries were made fairly consistently thereafter through 23 August. Entries resume on 1 November. An unidentified scribe began writing in the journal on 6 August and apparently wrote for Cannon through the end of the year. Entries occasionally fill more than one page, in which case the preprinted date in the header was changed by hand. Nine pages of financial accounts appear at the back of the journal.

In 1932, Sylvester Q. Cannon, who was then acting as the Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, donated George Q. Cannon’s journals to the First Presidency. The First Presidency transferred the journals to the Church History Department in late 2008.

29 January 1876 • Saturday

I called upon Senator Christiancy to-day and had a long and interesting conversation with him upon his Bill upon the qualifications of jurors in Utah, that is excluding all who believe in or practice polygamy from juries where polygamy was being tried.

I wrote a letter to ~~the~~ President Young under to-morrow’s date and gave him a report of the interview.

30 January 1876 • Sunday

Did not feel well to-day. Attended to Sacrament as usual.

31 January 1876 • Monday

Page of Ca. introduced a most outrageous and malignant resolution ~~asking~~ <requiring> the Judiciary Com. to bring in a bill against Utah. The preamble was very lengthy and bristled with falsehoods from the beginning to the end. (See Cong. Record)

Cite This Page

January 1876, The Journal of George Q. Cannon, accessed February 13, 2025 https://chpress-web.churchhistorianspress.org/george-q-cannon/1870s/1876/01-1876