Morley wrote: Wow. I was at the NYPL for the first time a few years ago and was stupidly disappointed that everything seemed to be locked down in special collections. I wish I'd have known. Perhaps next time....
Holy Damn, the world is such a wonderful, delicious place.
Here's some Phelps on secret societies:
"There is an effort being made to get up a secret society among the soldiers and officers. One of the privates of my company is, I understand, an important member of a lodge into which officers belong. The soldier should have his head shaved and be drummed out of service and the officer cashiered. The Jewish law used to condemn such persons to death, just as the pope does! "Thou shall not suffer a witch (secret society man) to live." Such was the Mosaic law."
THOU SHALL NOT SUFFER A WITCH TO LIVE!!!
So sweet. I love Mormons and Masons and the Old West. What a wonderful, flavorful, oatmeal stout of a brew!
Blixa wrote:At the NYPL, I've often read through the diaries of John W. Phelps who served as an army captain at Camp Floyd. As vociferous a critic of Mormonism as Masonry (after the Civil War he ran for president on an Anti-Masonic platform), Phelps had no idea about the overlap between his two bêtes noires. Had he, well, what he wrote in his journals would have singed the page!
I know that W. W. Phelps was a vociferous critic of Masonry and that he ran for office on the Anti-Masonic ticket. I was unaware of the journal by John W. Phelps. Is there any chance you might put me in contact with this information?
Sincerely, George Miller
Is there a biography of WW Phelps? (I could probably Google around and find it if there is, but I;'m lazy.)
"I do not want you to think that I am very righteous, for I am not." Joseph Smith (History of the Church 5:401)
George Miller wrote: I know that W. W. Phelps was a vociferous critic of Masonry and that he ran for office on the Anti-Masonic ticket. I was unaware of the journal by John W. Phelps. Is there any chance you might put me in contact with this information?
Sincerely, George Miller
Is there a biography of WW Phelps? (I could probably Google around and find it if there is, but I;'m lazy.)
Whoa...I didn't catch it earlier but dear George mistyped W. W. Phelps for John W. Phelps!
If you are interested in the army captain from Camp Floyd/later civil war general and presidential candidate, John W. Phelps, I thought I had seen a bio of him somewhere, but quickly looking around online today I couldn't find one. I could however have missed it in my haste and I can't find a mention of it in my notes (Phelps is not of great importance for any of my work, but after I consulted his diaries, I kind of fell for him a bit. I think that happens when you read anyone's work in their own hand; you are forcibly made aware of the personality behind the ink and paper).
W. W. Phelps on the other hand, whole 'nuther kettle of fish.
From the Ernest L. Wilkinson Diaries: "ELW dreams he's spattered w/ grease. Hundreds steal his greasy pants."
George Miller wrote:I know that W. W. Phelps was a vociferous critic of Masonry and that he ran for office on the Anti-Masonic ticket. I was unaware of the journal by John W. Phelps. Is there any chance you might put me in contact with this information?
Whoa...I didn't catch it earlier but dear George mistyped W. W. Phelps for John W. Phelps!
If you are interested in the army captain from Camp Floyd/later civil war general and presidential candidate, John W. Phelps, I thought I had seen a bio of him somewhere, but quickly looking around online today I couldn't find one. I could however have missed it in my haste and I can't find a mention of it in my notes (Phelps is not of great importance for any of my work, but after I consulted his diaries, I kind of fell for him a bit. I think that happens when you read anyone's work in their own hand; you are forcibly made aware of the personality behind the ink and paper).
W. W. Phelps on the other hand, whole 'nuther kettle of fish.
Nope I didn't mistype W. W. Phelps, I was trying to make sure you were not conflating the stories of the two Phelps. When did John Phelps run for office on the Anti-Masonic ticket? I thought it was pretty much a dead party by the 1840s.
by the way - If you find a good full biography on W. W. Phelps I would love to get a copy.
George Miller wrote:Nope I didn't mistype W. W. Phelps, I was trying to make sure you were not conflating the stories of the two Phelps. When did John Phelps run for office on the Anti-Masonic ticket? I thought it was pretty much a dead party by the 1840s.
by the way - If you find a good full biography on W. W. Phelps I would love to get a copy.
My Bad! Phelps ran for president in 1880 on The American Party/Anti-Masonic Party ticket. via Wikipedia:
His running mate was Samuel C. Pomeroy of Kansas who four years later in 1884 would seek the White House as the presidential candidate of the American Prohibition National Party. In the 1880 race the Phelps/Pomeroy ticket garnered only 1,045 votes nationwide. They ran on an eleven-point platform calling for such things as the prohibition of alcoholic beverages, the prohibition of all secret lodges, justice for Indians, demanding the Bible be a required text in all educational institutions; and the abolition of the electoral college.
Last edited by Anonymous on Wed Nov 30, 2011 12:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
From the Ernest L. Wilkinson Diaries: "ELW dreams he's spattered w/ grease. Hundreds steal his greasy pants."
Blixa wrote: The originals of his Camp Floyd diaries are in the NYPL rare books collection. As far as I know they've not been transcribed and published. I thought there was a biography of Phelps, but after a quick look around the web I can't find it at the moment (if it exists). Phelps wrote a lot on many subjects; a great deal of his observations in the Camp Floyd journals are about meteorology for example. I have some transcribed bits and bobs in my notes from the diaries which might have some of his screeds against Masonry. If I recall correctly, these are mostly just asides in which he, fulminating over one thing, ends up fulminating over all things, including Masonry. I can look up what I have and if you are interested I can take a look at the diaries again.
Phelps is one of the sources about castrated young Mormon men, as well as Dr. Brewer and other's reactions to the bones and hair still strewn around Mountain Meadows two years after when the army first investigated the scene. I think Dale Morgan read these in the NYPL and made transcripts which Juanita Brooks and others used. If I recall correctly there may even be a copy of said transcripts in the Juanita Brooks papers at the Marriott Library at the University of Utah. (Either way, you can tell that those who source Phelps's diaries are using the same transcript because there is a minor transcription error I noted when first reading the journals. Also, as of two years ago, there were only two people who had checked out these diaries in the last decade or so. I'm one and you can probably guess the other.)
Phelps was an interesting man, not only does he have the distinction of being the candidate to historically garner the least amount of votes for President, he was also a keen abolitionist and one of the first in the military to argue for letting runaway slaves play an active role in the Union army (he even tried to resign his commission over this). He was a splendidly over-the-top prose stylist, so even if there is nothing "new" in his journal's anti-masonic tirades, such remarks will be pleasurably couched.
Blixa,
This is in reference to W. W. Phelps correct? Not John W. Phelps.
"Any over-ritualized religion since the dawn of time can make its priests say yes, we know, it is rotten, and hard luck, but just do as we say, keep at the ritual, stick it out, give us your money and you'll end up with the angels in heaven for evermore."