William S. Godbe
Encyclopedia
William Samuel Godbe was a British
convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, also known as the "Mormon
s"). He is remembered for leading a faction of the LDS Church called the Church of Zion, better known as the "Godbeites
".
, England
, to Samuel Godbe, a music professor, and Sarah LaRiviere, a descendant of French
Huguenot
s. Godbe was one of at least five children, and his father died when he was eleven. Godbe's uncle Daniel Grant, an engineer, took him in and taught the boy elements of his trade. Godbe was attracted to classics
and travel literature, and by his early teens Godbe earned a living on the sea.
By 1850, Godbe was an experienced sailor who had traveled Western Europe
, visited Constantinople
, and the shores of Brazil
and Africa
. Godbe then became bound to a captain who, after retiring from the sea, worked the dock
at Kingston upon Hull
. In Hull, Godbe encountered Parley P. Pratt
, an LDS missionary. By June 1850, Godbe was baptized, against the counsel of his immediate family.
Like most converts, Godbe emigrated to the LDS Church's headquarters in territorial Utah
. As a seaman, he worked his way to New York City
, then purchased his way by ferry from Albany
to Chicago in 1851. From there Godbe walked to Kanesville, Iowa
(now Council Bluffs
). Too late to join an immigrant company, Godbe traveled with merchant Thomas S. Williams, who was bringing goods west. Godbe arrived in Salt Lake City
the final week of October 1851.
Godbe kept his ties with Williams and was offered employment by the successful merchant. In the early 1850s, Godbe was dispatched to San Francisco, California
, acting as Williams' agent and perhaps forming ties with John M. Horner
, a Mormon businessman in the city. In 1854, Godbe traveled east with Williams' express mail entrepreneur Ben Holladay
, returning with 22 wagons of merchandise to start his own sundry and drug store, supposedly the first between the Missouri River
and San Francisco. Godbe's business sense propelled him to be in the upper 5% of Utah Territory
income, with assets over $300,000 by 1870.
In 1868, Godbe and other Mormon merchants began criticizing the economic demands and policies of Brigham Young
in Utah Magazine, a periodical that would eventually become The Salt Lake Tribune
. Later known as the "Godbeites", Godbe and several other proponents were excommunicated October 25, 1869.
Godbe, who wanted to reform the LDS Church, believed that political reform—namely breaking Brigham Young's control over secular matters in the territory—could help spur religious reform. Thus, in February, Godbe helped found the Liberal Party of Utah
to oppose LDS candidates in political elections. The party, however, fell out of Godbeite control, and became increasingly anti-Mormon
instead of reform-minded.
The "Godbeite Church", the Church of Zion, was organized in 1870, and was aimed toward embracing all belief systems. Known for mysticism, the church died out by the 1880s.
Godbe, pressured in retail by LDS-backed businesses like Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution
, began running out of liquid assets by 1871 when he had to sell a mine claim near Ophir, Utah
to repay his debts. Other mining ventures failed to produce profits until he organized a high-volume silver mine in 1885. This investment turned to naught in 1892 when the worldwide silver crisis hit.
In 1899, he was the Populist Party
candidate for mayor of Salt Lake City. Although without illusions of winning the election, he enjoyed entering progressive politics again.
Godbe remained in Salt Lake City in spite of being a social outcast both from Latter-day Saints and from non-Mormons alarmed with his continued practice of polygamy
. After the death of Brigham Young in 1877 he wrote, "I think I will reside permanently in Salt Lake, it is pleasant for me there, now."
With failing health, in the summer of 1902 Godbe moved up into nearby Brighton to escape the heat in Salt Lake Valley
. He died there and was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, also known as the "Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
s"). He is remembered for leading a faction of the LDS Church called the Church of Zion, better known as the "Godbeites
Godbeites
The Godbeites were members of the Godbeite Church, officially called the Church of Zion, organized in 1870 by William S. Godbe. This dissident offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was aimed toward embracing all belief systems...
".
Biography
Godbe was born in MiddlesexMiddlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to Samuel Godbe, a music professor, and Sarah LaRiviere, a descendant of French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s. Godbe was one of at least five children, and his father died when he was eleven. Godbe's uncle Daniel Grant, an engineer, took him in and taught the boy elements of his trade. Godbe was attracted to classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
and travel literature, and by his early teens Godbe earned a living on the sea.
By 1850, Godbe was an experienced sailor who had traveled Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, visited Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, and the shores of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. Godbe then became bound to a captain who, after retiring from the sea, worked the dock
Dock (maritime)
A dock is a human-made structure or group of structures involved in the handling of boats or ships, usually on or close to a shore.However, the exact meaning varies among different variants of the English language...
at Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
. In Hull, Godbe encountered Parley P. Pratt
Parley P. Pratt
Parley Parker Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1835 until his murder in 1857. He served in the Quorum with his younger brother, Orson Pratt...
, an LDS missionary. By June 1850, Godbe was baptized, against the counsel of his immediate family.
Like most converts, Godbe emigrated to the LDS Church's headquarters in territorial Utah
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
. As a seaman, he worked his way to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, then purchased his way by ferry from Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
to Chicago in 1851. From there Godbe walked to Kanesville, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
(now Council Bluffs
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
). Too late to join an immigrant company, Godbe traveled with merchant Thomas S. Williams, who was bringing goods west. Godbe arrived in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
the final week of October 1851.
Godbe kept his ties with Williams and was offered employment by the successful merchant. In the early 1850s, Godbe was dispatched to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, acting as Williams' agent and perhaps forming ties with John M. Horner
John M. Horner
John M. Horner was a key figure in the early history of southern Alameda County, California especially what is now Fremont, California.Horner was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and first arrived in California on the ship Brooklyn in a group led by Sam Brannan in 1846...
, a Mormon businessman in the city. In 1854, Godbe traveled east with Williams' express mail entrepreneur Ben Holladay
Ben Holladay
Benjamin "Ben" Holladay was an American transportation businessman known as the "Stagecoach King" until his routes were taken over by Wells Fargo in 1866...
, returning with 22 wagons of merchandise to start his own sundry and drug store, supposedly the first between the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
and San Francisco. Godbe's business sense propelled him to be in the upper 5% of Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
income, with assets over $300,000 by 1870.
In 1868, Godbe and other Mormon merchants began criticizing the economic demands and policies of Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
in Utah Magazine, a periodical that would eventually become The Salt Lake Tribune
The Salt Lake Tribune
The Salt Lake Tribune is the largest-circulated daily newspaper in the U.S. city of Salt Lake City. It is distributed by Newspaper Agency Corporation, which also distributes the Deseret News. The Tribune — or "Trib," as it is locally known — is currently owned by the Denver-based MediaNews Group....
. Later known as the "Godbeites", Godbe and several other proponents were excommunicated October 25, 1869.
Godbe, who wanted to reform the LDS Church, believed that political reform—namely breaking Brigham Young's control over secular matters in the territory—could help spur religious reform. Thus, in February, Godbe helped found the Liberal Party of Utah
Liberal Party (Utah)
The Liberal Party, like the People's Party, flourished in Utah Territory as a local political party in the latter half of the 19th century—before Democrats and Republicans established themselves in Utah in the early 1890s....
to oppose LDS candidates in political elections. The party, however, fell out of Godbeite control, and became increasingly anti-Mormon
Anti-Mormon
Anti-Mormonism is discrimination, persecution, hostility or prejudice directed at members of the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
instead of reform-minded.
The "Godbeite Church", the Church of Zion, was organized in 1870, and was aimed toward embracing all belief systems. Known for mysticism, the church died out by the 1880s.
Godbe, pressured in retail by LDS-backed businesses like Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution
Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution
Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution was founded in 1868 by Brigham Young and was one of the earliest department stores in the United States...
, began running out of liquid assets by 1871 when he had to sell a mine claim near Ophir, Utah
Ophir, Utah
Ophir is a town in Tooele County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 23 at the 2000 census, a decrease of two from the 1990 figure of 25.-History:...
to repay his debts. Other mining ventures failed to produce profits until he organized a high-volume silver mine in 1885. This investment turned to naught in 1892 when the worldwide silver crisis hit.
In 1899, he was the Populist Party
Populist Party (United States)
The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...
candidate for mayor of Salt Lake City. Although without illusions of winning the election, he enjoyed entering progressive politics again.
Godbe remained in Salt Lake City in spite of being a social outcast both from Latter-day Saints and from non-Mormons alarmed with his continued practice of polygamy
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
. After the death of Brigham Young in 1877 he wrote, "I think I will reside permanently in Salt Lake, it is pleasant for me there, now."
With failing health, in the summer of 1902 Godbe moved up into nearby Brighton to escape the heat in Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...
. He died there and was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery
Salt Lake City Cemetery
thumb|The northern section of the cemetery at night, looking towards Salt Lake CityThe Salt Lake City Cemetery is in The Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah. Approximately 120,000 persons are buried in the cemetery. Many religious leaders and politicians, particularly many leaders of The...
.