Many people have called Joseph Smith a gold digger, but who knew that Mormon gold would one day be so valuable? The early history of Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”) in the Utah Territory certainly wouldn’t have led anyone to believe it.

When members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which church is often inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon Church”) first entered the Salt Lake Valley in Utah in 1847, they had little or no money. They had all had to leave behind homes and many of their most prized possessions, including property. The church leader at the time himself, Brigham Young, only carried $50 with him. When you think about it, what was the use of money? There was no one there, nothing to buy.

However, as time went on, the lack of a standard currency (Utah was not an official part of the United States at the time), presented unique challenges for the Mormon population. They came up with some inventive ways to meet that challenge.

Myriad Currencies Used in Mormon History

Early on, Mormon settlers interacted with many different people. On the frontier, Spanish dollars, French francs, and other foreign coins were used right alongside U.S. coins. However, it was difficult for everyone to keep any kind of exchange rates straight.

Douglas Nyholm, a currency expert, has written a book on how Mormons have created the most diverse array of currency outside of the U.S. government. The first paper money printed in the valley was called white notes or valley notes. Other notes included those from the Salt Lake City Corporation, scrip from different cooperatives, and reissued currency from a failed bank in Kirtland, Ohio, where many of the Saints had lived previous to migrating to Utah. There was even a type of note, issued by Deseret Currency Association, which was backed by livestock—the only currency in U.S. history of which that can be said.

Due to the myriad of currencies, it was difficult for these people to do business outside of Utah, where none of these currencies were recognized. The Utah Mormons needed gold, but there was an obvious lack of it. That is, until members of the Mormon Battalion, which had marched West to serve in the war with Mexico, arrived in the Utah Valley from the end of their march in California with thousands of dollars worth of gold dust.

Mormon Gold Coins

Mormon Gold Piece

Finally, the Mormons had a source to mint their own gold coins, which they did—the first coins to be minted from California gold. However, few of these coins survive. Many were melted down outside of Utah and made into other things. This rarity makes them exceedingly valuable today. Bob Campbell, a coin dealer, stated that there are rarely more than a dozen Mormon gold coins on the market at any given time. They can be worth from $10,000 to perhaps $1,000,000. Campbell owns one of two-dozen-existing $20 Mormon gold pieces, which is worth about $350,000. The most coveted Mormon gold piece is the $10, which can be worth up to $1,000,000.

Eventually, the Utah Territory was admitted to the Union and standard U.S. currency has been standard for quite some time. Learn more about Mormon history and early pioneer settlers by exploring the rest of our website.

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Erastus Snow Becomes a Mormon

Erastus was anxious to join the church, however, so he began to pray for a way to make that happen. His mother convinced his father to let him visit his married brothers, and one of them baptized Erastus. He began studying the Bible even more, determined to become a missionary someday. In time, all but two of his siblings were baptized, as was his mother.

When he was sixteen, he was sent on a ten-day mission into Vermont. He traveled with a relative the same age. They hosted a variety of large meetings where they taught the gospel to both Mormons and those who were curious about Mormons. They were very excited about the results of this first mission trip. Later, he went on another trip that was less successful.

Between mission trips, Erastus continued to study the scriptures as he worked on his father’s farm, reading each time he gave his teams a rest. Just before his seventeenth birthday, he decided to move to Kirtland, Ohio, where the majority of Mormons lived. His father recognized his love of preaching and allowed him to go, even financing the journey. When Erastus arrived, he, like many other newly arrived converts, stayed in the home of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, for a few weeks until he was settled. Then he enrolled in school to continue his education, preaching on weekends. At the end of the school year, he headed to Pennsylvania on a mission, bringing only five cents to see him through. The 1,600-mile journey led to sixty baptisms. He continued taking mission trips at every opportunity, sometimes baptizing and sometimes meeting with challenges, including having rotten eggs thrown at him. When he was nineteen he moved to Missouri, where many Mormons had gathered. His parents had already moved there, so he was reunited with them. His father was still not a member and did not convert. During this time, Erastus began to have frequent bouts of ague, an illness that included fever, chills, and sweats and is often associated with malaria.

Mormon Persecution

Erastus again lived with Joseph Smith, doing chores to earn his keep, but then Joseph Smith was arrested. Erastus married Artimesia Beman and became a teacher until the Saints were forced to flee to Illinois.

In 1839, he and other church members were asked to visit Joseph Smith and additional church leaders who were falsely imprisoned in Liberty Jail. He and the others were imprisoned during an attempt to help Joseph escape, since the purpose of these spurious arrests was to end the church and potentially allow Joseph Smith to be killed. He was eventually freed and returned home.

After moving to Illinois, Erastus departed on another mission, but had a dream that his family was very ill. He quickly returned home and saw how ill they were. He contracted the illness himself while caring for and administering to both is family and others in the city who were ill.

Although in poor health, Erastus was determined to continue the missionary work that God had revealed to be his life’s work. However, he became so ill he was forced to recuperate in the home of another Mormon. While he struggled to become well, he learned his wife was dying. He raced home, but she had recovered before he arrived. He next headed for Pennsylvania. Upon learning his wife’s mother had died, he returned home to take Artimesia with him as he traveled.

Erastus and his family moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, when the Mormons established a city there, but he continued to travel on missionary journeys. While preaching in Salem, he learned that Joseph Smith had been murdered while in prison. He hurried home to participate in the challenge of figuring out how God intended succession in the Church to work. He supported Brigham Young, who, as the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was next in line of authority.

Despite the death of the prophet and some power struggles among those who sought an opportunity to take control of the Church, the work of the Lord continued. Erastus Snow set out to serve a mission in portions of Illinois and Wisconsin, but returned home when his horse became ill. He attended the mock trial of Joseph Smith’s murderers while at home.

He took a second wife under the spiritual law of polygamy in 1846, and he and his family began moving west that year. He was sent ahead with Orson Pratt into the Salt Lake Valley, entering it on July 21, 1847. In 1849, he became a Mormon apostle, replacing Lyman Wight, who had been disfellowshipped. He helped to guide people into Salt Lake and served in the Utah legislature.

Erastus Snow founded Saint George, Utah, in 1861.

In 1873, he had the opportunity to serve a mission to Scandinavia that was extremely successful and was responsible for having the Book of Mormon translated into their language. He served as the mission president over that mission.

He died at home in 1888, when he was seventy years old.

Sources:

Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007

William G. Hartley, Snow on Fire, New Era, Jan-Feb, 1984

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

I, William Marsden, son of Abraham Marsden and Hannah Thornton…was born…on the 16^th of March 1814, in the town of Oldham, County of Lancashire, England. My father was by trade a cotton spinner. I was brought up in the cotton business, and followed the same until I was twenty-five, years of age. My parents were strictly Methodists, they belonged to what was called the New Connection Methodists.

Conversion and Mormon Missionary Service

At the age of twenty four I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I was baptized on the 7^th of October 1839 in the river Irnvel, Manchester County of Lancashire, by James Mahon, Priest. I was also ordained a Priest January 5, 1840, by Parley Peter Pratt and Brigham Young, two of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The next day being Sunday, President Brigham Young requested me to go to Oldham to preach to the people as they did not have any Latter-day Saint preacher there. I did go having to make the journey on foot, a distance of seven miles. I invited Thomas Yates and James Mahon, Priests, to accompany me which they did. Thomas Yates and myself continued to labor there. In six weeks there were six persons baptized, each one belonging to a different denomination. I continued to labor there until a branch of the Church was organized. The branch was organized on Sunday February 17^th, 1840. I then went to labor in new places, wherever I could get an opportunity to preach to the people.

On the 16^th day of October 1840, I was ordained an Elder under the hands of Brigham Young and Willard Richards. The blessings pronounced on me were that I should have power over unclean spirits, and cast them out, and to heal the sick. I labored in Oldham and nearby places until April and in May I was appointed by Parley P. Pratt on a mission of Leeds in Yorkshire. I was there two weeks and returned home to Manchester County, a distance of 30 miles, the journey I performed on foot, being without purse or script [sic], and found sickness in my family.

A few days after my arrival home, my son Abraham died. Previous to being sent to Leeds, I was in the employ of a Mr. Francis Parnell, who by reason of my religious faith, discharged me, he being a prominent officer in the Methodist Church, and thought it a disgrace to have in his employ any Latter-day Saint, in consequence of which I was I was very poor, yet the Saints came to my aid and assisted me so that I was able to bury my dead. Soon after I was counseled by Parley P. Pratt to emigrate to America and there earn means to send for my family.

Mormon Emigration to America

Consequently I sold my household furniture, and by small donations from my friends was able to emigrate. I left the shores of England, from the Liverpool docks, by the ship “Clifton” on the 23^rd day of September, and landed in New York the 12^th of November 1840. I searched a few days for employment, but could not obtain any.

Under the direction of the church leader in the area, William preached in New York City and New Jersey.

Labored in the town of Patterson, baptized quite a number of persons, then back to New York and then to Trenton, New Jersey on the 18^th of December 1840, and found my cousin Thomas Thornton.  He was a blacksmith by trade. I remained with him 16 days, which time I worked in a cotton factory for a Mr. Ives.

William journeyed, preaching the Gospel to Philadelphia and then again in New Jersey where he met Brother Mulford who said he would pay all expenses if William would accompany him to Nauvoo, Illinois.

I left Burlington on the 12^th of April 1841, traveling on the canal to Pittsburg, and arrived at Nauvoo about the last of April. On my arrival there President Brigham Young invited me to his house. He found me employment during my stay of 17 days, then my family arrived from England. My wife Jane Appleby Marsden, my son Samuel, my daughter Hannah Mariah, also my brother Samuel and his wife Sarah Wilkinson, they all sailed from Liverpool, England in the ship “Hanover” to the New Orleans, from there by steamboat up the Mississippi River to Nauvoo. They landed in New Orleans on the 1^st day of May 1841, and arrived in Nauvoo on the 15^th of May 1841.

Myself and family stayed with President Young for about 3 weeks, during which time my brother and myself made a house to live in. Brother Brigham let me have a city lot, and I being poor and destitute of tools of any kind, we borrowed an axe and got some hazel-brush and drove sticks in the ground and wove in brush like basket or wicker work. We then dobbed it with black mud inside and out, it had a board roof, the chimney and fireplace being made of sod, the size of the room was 10 by 12 feet. I then went to Oquawka, Henderson county, with Richard Hardman. We dug a well for Simon Owens, for which we received two cows with young calves. We worked there two weeks, and then I returned home to Nauvoo, bringing my cow and calf with me, which was very acceptable to my family, as they had been living on coarse corn meal and sour milk.  The milk was obtained through the charity of the neighbors. …

On the following November 11^th, my father and mother arrived in Nauvoo from England. I met them there and brought them to my house where they lived most of the time. My wife and I received our endowments in the Nauvoo Temple. Both my father and mother died on the 11^th day of November 1849 and were buried in the Oquawka, Illinois cemetery. They died of cholera. I also buried my wife Jane and three of our children.

On the 29^th day of April 1855, I left the state of Illinois for Utah, traveling by ox team with my family…arrived at the City of Salt Lake, September 3^rd, 1855, and on October 3^rd, I moved to Provo, Utah and I became acquainted with Lucius Nelson Scovil. On the 16^th day of September 1856, I married his daughter Sariah in the temple in the Salt Lake City.

Wheat Molasses

October 8, 1857, all the Militia was ordered out to Echo Canyon to confront the U.S. Troops sent out to Utah unlawfully by President James Buchanan. I was appointed Colonel of the Southern division. May 7, 1858, I guarded President Young and family on account of the US Troops. Next day I presented President Young a gallon of molasses I had made from wheat. President Young made a note of this on the Church record as I was the first man in Utah to make molasses from wheat.

Cotton Machinery

June 24, 1858, I went to Salt Lake City with Ebeneazer Hanks and visited with Brigham Young. He told me to manage and assist Hanks to get machinery to manufacture cotton. I commenced to make drawings for the cotton machine. I went to the machine house in Sugar House Ward, remained there and superintended the making of machinery until it was completed. Part of the iron we used was scrap iron left from Johnston’s Army at Camp Floyd.

October 15, 1861, I left Provo City for Parowan, Iron County, with my family and I superintended the cotton factory until October same year. Later January 1864, I spent superintending the factory until May 1869. I made the first cotton ever made in Utah by machinery.

I supervised and established a cotton factory in Parowan and was superintendent over the cotton factory for many years.

Delisa Hargrove

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have moved 64 times and have not tired of experiencing this beautiful earth! I love the people, languages, histories/anthropologies, & especially religious cultures of the world. My life long passion is the study & searching out of religious symbolism, specifically related to ancient & modern temples. My husband Anthony and I love our bulldog Stig, adventures, traveling, movies, motorcycling, and time with friends and family.

Mormon Planting Seed

This charge was felt keenly, and the Saints drew together in a spirit of cooperation. The goal of economic unity and independence was paramount and selfishness was abhorred. The Saints built on every facet of economy they could find, but first and foremost on agriculture. Conquering ignorance of farming in a desert environment, and overcoming plagues of drought, frost, and pests, the Saints began to thrive with their crops. They had enough to live off of, more for seed, and excess for the Saints still gathering to the valley. They mastered irrigation and even dry farming.

Others eventually recognized the potential for using the natural land for grazing animals, which, when put into practice, was also profitable and practical. Learning from mistakes was a part of this process as well. The first winter of large livestock operations, from 1855–56, incurred heavy losses for the Saints due to their lack of foresight into the necessities of winter feeding. Overcoming this obstacle, however, the introduction of alfalfa became the foundation of the livestock industry, the value of which totalled $1,516,707 in 1860 (Outline History of Utah and the Mormons, p162).

In efforts to try and eliminate any economic dependence the Saints had on anyone outside their fold, President Brigham Young encouraged the development of home industry. “Produce what you consume; draw from the native element the necessities of life; permit no vitiated taste to lead you into the indulgence of expensive luxuries, which can only be obtained by involving yourself in debt; let home industry produce every article of home consumption” (Outline History of Utah and the Mormons, p163). Intent on independence as well as self-sustainment and self-worth, Church leaders encouraged each settlement to establish mills, factories, tanneries and to manufacture all necessities, such as flour, lumber, paper, leather, cloth, hats, gunpowder, salt, and anything and everything else they might need. In 1852 the Mormons manufactured the first iron west of the Mississippi and then made tireless efforts to produce and manufacture sugar. Though this endeavor took a great deal of time, dedication, and money, it was eventually successful. Though in the beginning it may have been cheaper to import and purchase these items, George Q. Cannon pointed out that in the long run it would be cheaper to manufacture these things at home because such actions would bring economic independence sooner.

Since church and state were, at this time, so thoroughly intertwined, another large factor in the building of the economy was the principle of tithing practiced by the Saints. The law of tithing commands each individual to give back 10 percent of his annual income to the Lord; in this case the General Tithing Office. Whether paid in cash or in kind, the proceeds of tithing were used to help those who could not as yet help themselves and to build up the kingdom of God. Many paid tithing in labor as well, and the money and labor was used to help build up the community, i.e., the kingdom, by constructing public buildings, such as forts, school buildings, social halls, and the temple; roads; and bridges. The Department of Public Works worked in tandem with the tithing office to absorb and put to use the constant influx of both skilled and unskilled laborers coming into the valley. If some of the men had been trained in a particular trade that was not of use, then they would be taught a new one to enable them to support themselves and their families. As soon as immigrants arrived in the valley, they were welcomed, fed, and rested. When they were sorted according to skills, they were then assigned to whatever part of the kingdom in which they would be the most useful. This system kept everyone busy and industrious.

Another key element to the development of economy was connecting the Mormon settlements to the outside world through highways and telegraph systems. As expansion and exploration of the wider United States increased and more people moved West, Salt Lake City found itself on the main route from East Coast to West Coast. Merchantiles sprung up quickly and began to capitalize on the surplus the Saints’ industry had produced. Thus, all the Saints had worked so hard for was slipping through their fingers, as the profits from their labors went straight to the merchants’ pockets and left the valley. Church leaders began to put pressure on the Saints to only do business with friends of the Church, not meaning only other members of the Church, but those merchants who were honest and who were willing to put back into the community the money which they had gained from it. The Church organized the B. Y. Express and Carrying Company which would enable the Saints to bring in their own products from the East without paying the middleman fees. These combined efforts, along with rising political tension, led anti-Mormons to give more false reports to the government about the Mormons, which led President Buchanan to order an army of 2,500 men to go to Utah and put down what he had been informed was a rebellion. The army had already departed before Buchanan was informed that the information he had acted so hastily upon was false and that the non-Mormon (or gentile, as they were often called by the Saints) merchants in Salt Lake City had been in large part the instigators of the misunderstanding.

Mormon Train

A transcontinental telegraph line, heavily assisted by the Church, was completed and contributed to the development of the area. The hasty withdrawal of U.S. troops  from the area at the dawning of the Civil War resulted in most of their supplies being sold at very low prices to the Mormons, and business boomed when different troops returned to remain in the territory during the whole of the Civil War. Brigham Young had advised the Saints against mining, encouraging them instead to focus on the other, longer-lasting areas of commerce. However, as more and more gentiles entered the valley, they could not ignore the opportunities that lay in mining. With the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, this business exploded and the Mormons felt threatened by the arrival of so many people opposed to what they held most dear. After having been driven for so far and for so long, an uneasiness on the Saints’ side was understandable.

More chaos ensued as the national depression of 1873 affected Utah’s prices and increased unemployment. Brigham Young saw fit to reintroduce some variations on the United Order which had been attempted before the Saints moved West. Though the length of practice this time was fairly short, it produced the desired result: lower unemployment. As things looked up, the Church prepared to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. In the spirit of the Year of Jubilee, an old Hebrew custom of forgiving debts every fifty years, the Church set the example for its members by cancelling half of the indebtedness to the Perpetual Emigrating Fund as well as certain tithing obligations. The Church also gave one thousand cows to be distributed among some of the poor to try and ease some of the suffering of drought.

Due to the persecutions which arose from differing views on the practice of polygamy, the economy the Saints had built up by church and state took quite a beating. Severe laws had been passed by Congress to outlaw and punish the practice of polygamy, which also weakened the character of the Church in public opinion. Though the Saints were not new to such treatment, they were relieved of much of their suffering after a revelation to the current prophet, Wilford Woodruff, withdrew the commandment to practice polygamy. In a continuous battle to obtain statehood for Utah, the Church took a different stance on building the economy. Individual initiative took over the main role, which brought in more influence and capital from the East. However, the Church still struggled with debt. Lorenzo Snow, the president succeeding Wilford Woodruff, cut expenditures and sold its holdings in business enterprises. By strongly encouraging the Saints to pay full tithes, spending decreased while donations increased, and the Church was soon relieved of its debt. Now Utah has accepted and become integrated into the national economy and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is free to pursue its own interests in continuing to build up the kingdom of God.