Church of the Firstborn (Morrisite)
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The Church of the Firstborn was a sect of the Latter Day Saint movement that formed as an offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1861 and was involved in the Morrisite War. Its adherents were known as Morrisites, and schismatic sects that emerged from it were extant until 1969.
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[edit] History
[edit] Origins
In 1857, Joseph Morris, an English convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reported receiving revelations naming him the Seventh Angel from the Book of Revelation. He wrote Brigham Young, seeking recognition of his calling from the church.[1] Young did not respond to Morris's request.
In 1860, Morris began to collect followers to a group that became known as the Morrisites. In February 1861, John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff excommunicated Morris from the LDS Church.[2] On April 6, 1861, Morris and his followers organized the Church of the Firstborn and called all of his followers to gather at Kingston (Kington) Fort, a three-acre fort on the Weber River which had been abandoned in 1858.[3] By Fall 1861, the group contained several hundred followers.
Morris told his followers that the Second Coming was imminent and not to bother with planting crops. They may have trampled some of their crops into the ground as evidence of their faith.[2] The group pooled available supplies and waited at Kingston Fort.
[edit] Morrisite War
By spring 1862, food was scarce and some members were becoming discontented. Morris repeatedly designated certain days for the Second Coming, only to have those days pass uneventfully.[4] Each time this happened, a handful of members would recover their possessions from the community pool and leave the congregation.
With the steady outflux of members the question of property entitlement became contentious. Those who stayed behind felt those who left were taking better stock and other items than they had initially contributed to the community pool. Soon after three departing members — William Jones, one of Morris's first converts, John Jensen, and Louis C. Gurston — vowed revenge after what they perceived as an unfair reckoning, they seized a load of wheat enroute from Kingston to Kaysville for milling. The Morrisites sent a group of men after them, and the group soon captured the three and the wheat. The church held the men prisoner in a small cabin, to be "tried by the Lord when he came."[1]
Eventually, the Utah territorial militia was ordered to arrest Morris and the other leaders of the church. On June 15, 1862, Morris was killed in a skirmish and other Morrisite leaders were taken prisoner.
[edit] Scattering and regathering
Although seven Morrisites were convicted of murder and 66 others were convicted of resisting arrest, territorial governor Stephen S. Harding pardoned them all three days after being convicted, and the Morrisites scattered across the western United States. Ultimately, many of the members of the church began to regather in Deer Lodge County, Montana, under the leadership of George Williams, who declared himself to the "Prophet Cainan" and Morris's rightful successor.[1]
Williams was frequently away from Montana, living mostly in Salt Lake City, Utah and England. Williams recorded wrote many revelations that he said he received from God and also St. Ann's Hill Record, which he claimed was a record of ancient origin.[1]
[edit] Schism and extinction
After Williams died in 1882, the church divided into a number of schisms, each claiming to be lead by Williams's rightful successor. The largest group, based in Montana, were led by John R. Eardley, who renamed the church the Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Most High. By the 1950s, most of the members of the church had died and it was officially disbanded in 1969.[1]
[edit] Teachings
Like most Latter Day Saint denominations, the Church of the Firstborn taught that Joseph Smith, Jr. was a prophet of God. The church taught that Smith's rightful successor after his death was James J. Strang, and that Strang was succeeded by Joseph Morris.
What set the Church of the Firstborn apart from the majority of Latter Day Saint sects was its belief in reincarnation. Called "baby resurrection" by the church, Morris and Williams taught that reincarnation was taught by Joseph Smith, Jr. and that the majority of other Latter Day Saint sects are in apostasy for rejecting these teachings. Each of the successive leaders of the church were believed to be the reincarnation of a significant prophet of old: Joseph Smith was the reincarnation of Mormon and the Apostle Paul; Joseph Morris was the reincarnation of Moses; and George Williams was the reincarnation of Cainan. Morris prophesied that Jesus would be reincarnated and born to an Arab in Jerusalem in 1909; some have identified Dr. Dahesh as the fulfilment of this prophecy.[5]
The Church of the Firstborn rejected other teachings of Brigham Young and the LDS Church, including plural marriage, restrictions on the priesthood being given to black people, temple ordinances, and blood atonement.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e C. LeRoy Anderson Morrisite Collection. Marie Eccles-Caine Archive of Intermountain Americana. Utah State University Libraries: Special Collections and Archives.
- ^ a b Kenneth Godfrey, "The Morrisites" in Utah History Encyclopedia.
- ^ Ruth Malan, "Three-day war focus of new monument", Standard-Examiner (Ogden, UT), 2006-11-02. Pluses section.
- ^ G.M. Howard, "Men, Motives, and Misunderstandings: A New Look at the Morrisite War of 1862".
- ^ See, e.g., Darrick Evenson, "An (sic) Brief History of THE CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN (The Morrisites): Founded by the Prophets Joseph Morris and George Williams.
