Lincoln and Young

[_MCB]

Given that Abraham Lincoln was in Illinois during the Mormon troubles, what was his attitude? Question has been nagging at me for some time.

Later, as the president dealing with the national crisis of the Civil War, Lincoln would summarize his Mormon policy to a visiting Mormon newspaper editor: In effect, he would leave Brigham Young alone if Brigham Young would leave Lincoln alone.

http://www.mormontimes.com/article/9287 ... on-Problem

Does anyone have any more information on this?

[_DaniteDan]

http://lifeofthecivilwar.blogspot.com/2 ... arism.html

google search - twin relics of barbarism

[_MCB]

He quite appropriately believed that slavery was the greater evil.

The exact context of the remark about his policy towards Mormonism was:

In 1862 Lincoln told T.B.H. Stenhouse, a Mormon journalist, that he intended to leave the Mormons alone:

“Stenhouse, when I was a boy on the farm in Illinois there was a great deal of timber on the farms which we had to clear away. Occasionally we would come to a log which had fallen down. It was too hard to split, too wet to burn, and too heavy too move, so we plowed around it. That’s what I intend to do with the Mormons. You go back and tell Brigham Young that if he will let me alone I will let him alone.”

And let the course of nature continue, the log will eventually rot.

His perception seemed to be in tune with mine, that the murder of Joseph Smith was unfortunate, that the locals should have allowed the legal system to wipe up the mess. And remember that he was good friends with John Hay, who was witness to many of the events in the Nauvoo area.

This may be the most authoritative and objective article on the subject:
http://www.historycooperative.org/journ ... itale.html

It is interesting that he was working on the Emancipation Proclamation and the Morrill anti-Bigamy Act at the same time.

Apparently, UD does not have a copy of the Stenhouse article in his database.

[_moksha]

And let the course of nature continue, the log will eventually rot.

Not if you have a hive full of bees with a peculiar penchant for a curious number of queens with a single drone. The hive will donate their time and honey till there is an international franchise of self-sustaining logs.