This is a true (and sad) tale of a family from
Nebraska that settled among the Mormons of Sevier County, Utah, about the turn of
the century (1890). They were non-Mormons when they arrived, but eventually were
fellowshipped into the Mormon faith.
Due to the national controversy of the practice
of Polygamy in the Utah Territory, statehood was delayed until 1896 and only
after Polygamy was formally abandoned by the Mormon Church. Settlers in Utah
had no legally recognized ownership of land even though they had been living
upon it since 1847. In order to obtain legal ownership of lands, residents had
to file Homesteads and then “prove up” ownership by improving the lands. Ultimately,
ownership was perfected by filing and obtaining a Land Patent from the Federal
Government. This is exactly what Cora Birdsall did, and what led to her demise.
This is a summary of a very lengthy and detailed
account of how a land dispute brought by a non-Mormon against Cora Birdsall, a
29 year old single Mormon woman, led to her excommunication, insanity, and how
it all rose to the attention of the United States Congress.
It begins with Cora Birdsall filing and obtaining
legal ownership of 160 acres of land near Joseph, Sevier County, Utah. Many
residents of Joseph Town (Joe Town) grazed livestock upon the subject land for
decades before Cora became the legal owner. Interestingly, none found a reason
to file for legal ownership ahead of Cora. Cora’s family worked the land, planted
trees and kept livestock on it. There are written accounts of instances when
neighbor’s livestock strayed onto the Birdsall land and were driven back to
their proper grazing places. By testimonies and written accounts, Joe Town
residents were aware the Birdsalls were the legal owners of the 160 acres.
Prior to and after the Birdsalls acquired the land,
Mr. James E. Leavitt, a resident of Joseph, Utah, had used part of the 160
acres for grazing livestock. In written accounts, Mr. Leavitt approached Cora Birdsall
on several occasions offering to buy 40 acres. He did gain consent from her to construct
fencing and a small shed on the 40 acres; however, she expressed no desire to sell the 40 acres and eventually ordered Leavitt to remove his fencing and shed. Over time Leavitt became irritated
with Cora and filed a complaint with Cora’s ecclesiastical leader, (Mormon)
Bishop Orson Magleby https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/6394461, of Monroe, Utah. Leavitt, having been a former member of
the Mormon religion, apparently comprehended the system by which members of
Mormonism could seek relief from one another by obtaining a quasi-legal decree
from a “Bishops Court”. So on June 10, 1901, Leavitt brought a charge against Cora for “un-Christ-like
behavior”. Interesting that Leavitt, a man with nothing to lose and everything to gain, is aided by bringing the matter before the institution that can harm his opponent and not him.
Bishop Orson Magleby sent out notice and convened a hearing for Cora and her father, Isaac. Isaac did not appear but Cora, accompanied by her
mother, Mary, appeared as requested. Both ladies did their best to present the
truth as they had experienced it; but the outcome of the proceeding was an
order by Bishop Magleby that Cora execute a deed in favor of Leavitt, in
exchange for $100 dollars to be paid by Leavitt for the 40 acres. The order provided the right of appeal to the Stake Presidency in Richfield, Utah, by November 14, 1901. Instead, Cora sent a letter of appeal to the Office of the First Presidency in Salt Lake City, Utah, and received a response dated November 12, 1901 directing her back to the Richfield Stake Presidency, as proper protocol (without deferral to the civil law system).
This is as good a time as any to address why,
when the State of Utah had a well-functioning legal system, a “Church Court”
was convened to resolve a land dispute? Again, Latter Day Saints had settled in
what is now “Utah” in 1847; it became the “Utah Territory” in 1850; statehood
occurred in 1896. The United States Government commissioned a functioning
jurisprudence system from 1850 through 1896 https://archives.utah.gov/research/guides/courts-system.htm#territorial-period. Why then, did Bishop
Magleby claim jurisdiction? And why didn't the Office of The First Presidency defer to the civil law system? After all, a tenet of Mormonism since 1835 states: D&C 134: 10 We believe that all religious societies have a right to deal with their members for disorderly conduct, according to the rules and regulations of such societies; provided that such dealings be for fellowship and good standing; but we do not believe that any religious society has authority to try men on the right of property or life, to take from them this world’s goods, or to put them in jeopardy of either life or limb, or to inflict any physical punishment upon them. They can only excommunicate them from their society, and withdraw from them their fellowship.
Let's review the timeline: Leavitt's complaint was filed to Bishop Magleby on June 10, 1901; the Bishop's Court was convened on October 29, 1901; the Bishop's Court order was issued on November 1, 1901, with a deadline of November 14, 1901, for Cora to appeal to the Stake Presidency in Richfield. Even though Cora mailed a letter of appeal to the Office of the First Presidency of the LDS Church (rather than the local Stake Presidency) within the deadline of November 14, 1901, she obviously realized she had missed the deadline with the Stake Presidency when the letter arrived from Salt Lake City redirecting her. This appears to be when Cora's mind breaks into pieces like a dropped china cup. Bishop Magleby's order couldn't compel Cora to sell her property against her will, but it (perhaps as she understood it) could terminate her salvation in the Kingdom of God. Coincidentally, on the eve of the deadline, November 14, 1901, a very destructive earthquake hit Monroe severely damaging Bishop Magleby's house and business https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/8656876 .
Anyone who knows Mormonism is aware that
“excommunication” from the faith is tantamount to dissolution of ones salvation
in the Kingdom of God. Cora becomes a helpless wreck, not only incapable of any
degree of rational thought but attempting suicide several times. Her family documents she has hardly eaten a meal or slept for
weeks since the deadline of the Bishop's order. A year later, Cora’s mother, Mary, writes a
desperate letter to (Stake) President Seegmiller, describing how Cora’s mind and body are broken and unless she is helped, her
destruction is certain. President Seegmiller writes a fantastic rebuke telling Mary that Cora is in this condition because she refused to obey the “mouthpiece of
God” (Joseph F. Smith - contemporary Prophet of the LDS Church), and that Cora is possessed with evil spirits. Do Church leaders help Cora or at least leave her
alone? No, she is excommunicated (in absentia) from the LDS Church, although
local church leaders continue to “minister” to her in hopes she will repent
(which requires her to sign the deed in favor of Leavitt).
Cora's sister, Elsie, takes her into her home in Elsinore, Utah. Elsie has witnessed Cora’s decline, including her stay in the State Mental Hospital in Provo, Utah. It is Elsie who eventually persuades Cora to sign the deed, with apparent hopes it will reverse the terrible sickness Cora and the entire Birdsall family have suffered since this matter began. Cora’s father, Isaac, upon finding out the deed was executed, pursues undoing the deed through the local district court on the basis of Cora’s incompetence. The district court Judge (Chidister) in Richfield, Utah, however, upholds the decision of Bishop Magleby, and orders Cora to comply with it (not addressing the issue of Cora’s incompetence and if that renders the deed null and void). Isaac Birdsall appeals the District Court decision to the Utah State Appellate Court in Salt Lake City, Utah. No relief from the Appellate Court is obtained, and again, the simple issue of whether or not an incompetent person can execute a valid deed is not addressed. Isaac finally takes the matter before the Supreme Court of the State of Utah, whose three judges address the simple question of whether or not the deed is valid, having been signed by a person deemed “incompetent” by a medical doctor. The Supreme Court decision overturns the lower courts, restoring the lands to Isaac Birdsall as Guardian of Cora Birdsall, an incompetent person.
By now, the damage is done. Mrs. Mary Birdsall dies prematurely at age 61, Isaac Birdsall sells everything, settles his affairs in Utah and moves to California with a Son. He dies shortly thereafter. The other Son, William, disappears eventually after suffering terribly at the hands of ruthless local men http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2011/08/01/an-act-of-mormon-on-mormon-violence-the-whitecapping-of-william-birdsall/ .
Late in 1948, the Deseret News carried this notice: Marysvale - Cora F. Birdsall, 78, died at the home of her sister, Elsie M. Taylor, October 31, following a long illness (emphasis mine). She was born in Iowa, March 24, 1869, a daughter of Isaac and Mary Margaret Troutman Birdsall. She had lived with her sister for the past 36 years in Marysvale. She is survived by her sister, Elsie M. Taylor, of Marysvale, and a brother, Leo R. Birdsall, of Washington. Graveside funeral services were held on Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Monroe Cemetery with Bishop Ted Hansen of Marysvale Ward in charge.
A
great-niece of Cora Birdsall completed and posted her exhaustive research at
the following site: http://www.keepapitchinin.org/2014/06/17/the-trials-of-cora-birdsall-part-1/ (NOTE: there are 15 parts in
total. After reading the above URL, open and read parts 2 through 8 at the
bottom. You’ll need to insert "part 9" in the Search Content box
along the left margin, and repeat the search for part 10 through 15).
This case, although only known among very few in
the Mormon community, garnered attention from the United States Senate during
the Senator Reed Smoot
Hearings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Smoot_hearings held in Washington D.C. Mr. Isaac Birdsall was summoned to
testify before a special commission of the senate, where the details of this
matter were given, under oath, and made part of the official records of the
United States Senate.
So why do I bring all this up? Do you think I’m a
bad or disgruntled Mormon because bringing this up might make the LDS Church
look bad? Wouldn't it be better to let sleeping dogs lie? I bring this up
because IT IS TRUE!!! And I believe hiding the
truth is making a lie, and we all know who the "Father of Lies" is. I ask you, if
you were there and had awareness of what was happening to Cora and her family, would
you have come to her aid or would you have rationalized why you must remain
silent (it’s none of my business or it’s a sin to question church leaders)? I
hope you and I would have come to Cora’s aid; otherwise, we are unfit for the
Kingdom of God. http://lecturesonfaith.com/6/ 7 Let us here observe, that a religion that does
not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce
the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for from the first existence of
man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could
be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things: it was through this
sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal
life; and it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things, that
men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in
the sight of God.
I bring this up because “fear” is what crushed Cora
Birdsall. While she had faith in God, she lacked knowledge of her standing with
God. Had Cora acquired knowledge from the Holy and Infallible Word of God
(a/k/a the Scriptures), she would have known that those who hold God’s
priesthood must use it righteously or they forfeit its power and become an
enemy of God.
D&C 121: 36 That the rights of the priesthood are
inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor
handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins,
or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or
compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of
unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit
of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the
authority of that man.
38 Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the
pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.
39 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of
almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose,
they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.
41 No power or
influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only
by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by
love unfeigned;
42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which
shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and
without guile—
I find no reason to fear priesthood leaders, as
long as they counsel us gently, meekly, lovingly, kindly, with long-suffering
and pure knowledge that agrees with God (ie. Scripture). If they violate these
conditions (in ANY degree of unrighteousness), they become God’s enemy and certainly are no one to take direction
from.
I also found it
astonishing that the District Judge in Richfield (Chidister) and the Appellate Judges in
Salt Lake City upheld Bishop Magleby’s decision and order. Why? I submit they were
following 70 years of tradition mingled with scripture rather than God’s law
and the law of the land (ref. LDS Articles of Faith 12).
And finally I say, God bless Cora Birdsall. Her tragic life was not lived in vain. It is a lesson that we must stand up for truth and make a difference in one another's lives and be
willing to bare one another’s burdens (ala Mosiah 18: 8); and, most importantly, to know the Holy One of Israel (Jesus Christ), and trust in Him for salvation and exultation, not fallible men. 2 Nephi 9: 40 O, my beloved brethren,
give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not
say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against
the truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the
words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear
them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.
41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the
Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for
man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the
keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no
servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he
cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.
If we put our trust in the "arm of flesh", we will suffer, as Cora did. (ref. Jeremiah 17: 5 and 2 Nephi 4: 34 and 2 Nephi 28: 31).
