1866, English, Unpublished edition: Joseph Wilford Booth ( Booth, Joseph W. (Joseph Wilford), 1866-1928

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Joseph Wilford Booth (
 
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Physical Description
  • 18 vols.
  • Diaries, American poetry--20th century, American poetry--19th century
Published
  • L. Tom Perry Special Collections
  • 1866-1928
Language
  • English

Edition details

Title
  • Joseph Wilford Booth (
Creator
  • Booth, Joseph W. (Joseph Wilford), 1866-1928
Published
  • L. Tom Perry Special Collections
  • 1866-1928
Physical Description
  • 18 vols.
  • Diaries, American poetry--20th century, American poetry--19th century
Subjects
Notes
  • Resident of Alpine, Utah who served as president of the Turkish Mission from 1904 to 1909 and from 1921 to 1924 and as president of the Armenian Mission from 1924 to 1928 for the Mormon Church. Handwritten diaries and poems. These journals were kept from 1885 to 1928 when Booth was in Alpine, Utah, at the Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah, and in Turkey and Armenia as a missionary and as mission president. Joseph Wilford Booth was born 14 August 1866, in Alpine Utah, son of Richard Thorton Booth and Elsie Edge. His parents came to Alpine in 1858 at the time of "the move," meaning the move south during the Utah War when Johnston's Army threatened to enter the Salt Lake Valley. He was the ninth of ten children, the first five of whom were born in England before the family joined the church and moved to Utah. His parents were educated people, according to the standards of the time. His father owned the only set of encyclopedias and the only unabridged dictionary in Alpine for many years. His parents also taught at the first school in Alpine and his father was Alpine's only doctor for 30 years, although he had no formal training and no medical certificate.Wilford, as he was called, grew up in Utah Valley; his boyhood was one of church meetings, school, farming, and social activities. He was baptized a member of the LDS Church on 14 August 1874, his eighth birthday. Wilford spent most of his teenage and early adult years farming, attending the Alpine school, and going to socials. He also learned the trade of black smithing. He wrote humorous poems that he recorded in his journal. Among these are "The Alpine Rifle Club," "The Bachelor's Lamentations" and "Alpine Directory." Of the year 1886, his 20th year, he wrote, "This ends the scene of another year which has gone beyond recall. It has been a year of pleasure to me. I . . . indeed have been blessed to such an extent that I feel to thank God for all . . . "Wilford became a student at the Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah, in the fall of 1887. While there he was a student of Karl G. Maeser and James E. Talmage. Talmage would later figure prominently in Wilford's personal life as he would marry Wilford's younger sister, May. Wilford married Mary Rebecca "Reba" Moyle on 28 May 1890 in the Logan Temple. They lived in various places in Utah Valley during the early years of their marriage. Wilford taught school at these different places during this time. Money was scarce in the area, and at one point he was hired by school trustees to teach school a "few weeks," because it was not known how long funds would be available to keep the school open.In the fall of 1895, Wilford went back to the Academy to finish his "four year course." He received a Bachelor's degree in Pedagogy from the Brigham Young Academy in May 1896 despite his own feelings that he was not yet ready. He wrote a letter to the Academy that said in part, "I have become convinced of my inability to bear the high honor in a manner that would reflect the credit due the Academy . . . this most praiseworthy institution." However, before he could give the letter to the Academy, his classmates found it and were able to convince him that he should graduate.In 1898, Wilford Booth received a call to serve in the Turkish Mission. He was set apart by Brigham H. Roberts on 5 August 1898. Of his departure from his beloved family and friends he said, "Then came the hour of the sweetest sorrow I have experienced for many a day." The boy from the little town of Alpine, Utah, left his wife, family and home to live among a people completely different than any he had ever known.Wilford arrived in Liverpool, England on 24 August 1898. He stayed long enough to visit with his English relatives and do some missionary work. He also visited the homes where his parents had lived before immigrating to Utah. He wrote, "I broke off a piece of brick from the wall . . . and took some twigs from the hedge as mementos of the sacred spot . . . I was loathe to leave the dear old home." Elder Booth was also able to do some missionary work in England. "I have found out something of missionaries' life," he wrote, "in walking all this distance and bearing my testimony to the people." Upon leaving the land of his fathers, he wrote, "Just now it is 8:10 p.m. and 20 minutes more will see me off and away to tell my story of love to another people . . . countless throngs of people are passing but no face is familiar and no hand has a clasp for me."He reached Constantinople on 30 September 1898, and went to the residence of Ferdinand Hintze, the mission "pastor". Upon finding that Hintze had left for Syria, Wilford decided that all he could do was wait for his instructions. While waiting, he began to prepare himself by studying the language and scriptures. On the evening of October 8, still alone, he began a fast which lasted for eight days. On Sunday, October 16, he recorded, "At 2 p.m. I retired to my room and although alone so far as human beings were concerned I held divine services . . . I felt to glorify the name of the Lord who has been so merciful unto me and I felt that he had accepted of my fasting and prayers." After eight weeks of almost complete solitude, he was finally united with his fellow missionaries.Wilford was first assigned to labor in the city of Aintab where most of his efforts were used helping the branch instead of proselyting. In March 1899, a great contention arose among members of the branch. Levon A. Sarkis, a disillusioned Turkish member living in the United States, had written several letters to his father, the branch president, denouncing Mormonism. These feelings spread to his father and several other members. Wilford and mission president Phillip S. Maycock spent all of their time trying to bring peace and reconciliation. The trouble finally ended with the excommunication of several members and the sustaining of Wilford as the new branch president. However, this kind of trouble and contention would resurface throughout the mission's existence.From the fall of 1900 to Wilford's release in 1902, he spent most of his time traveling throughout Asia Minor. Wilford, along with two other missionaries, took a two month bicycle tour through Palestine. Aside from this tourist excursion, the purpose of their travels was to spread the gospel. They met with many difficulties, including persecution and legal troubles. The Church was not recognized by the Turkish government, and therefore was not protected or allowed the same privileges as other churches, such as printing religious literature. Government recognition and establishing a colony were two things that Wilford would fight for during his entire missionary experience.As a missionary, Wilford attempted to raise the status of women in the areas he was in. According to tradition, women were not to speak in the presence of men without permission, and one member told Wilford of a time when his wife stood in one place for six hours while they had company because no one told her she could sit down. Of these customs Wilford said, "I am denouncing such slavish customs with all the force of my Turkish tongue . . . The Saints are . . . gradually learning that women are God's children and are entitled to some respect." On 6 April 1902, after almost four years away from his home, Wilford was released. The following morning he started for Alpine.After being home for only a year, Wilford Booth was again called to go to Turkey. This time he was to take his wife, Reba, with him and act as mission president. They left Salt Lake on 5 August 1903, and they secured a building in Aintab to be used as a mission headquarters and meeting place for the Aintab Branch. With Reba there, the Booths were able to make friends with some of the leading men and women of Aintab. She also provided a contact for the sisters in the branch that had not been there before with only male missionaries.In 1904, Wilford went on an five month long proselyting tour of the area. While in Constantinople, he worked for recognition for the Church and preached to many Americans and Englishmen. While he was gone, Reba organized a primary in the branch. In May of 1905, he went on another tour, this time accompanied by his wife. On May 19, they arrived in the city of Marash, and were immediately told to leave. President Booth refused to do so. He wrote, "There was excitement around the government building for another hour or so, with officers bidding me to do this and that, and I doing what pleased me, and arguing with them on my rights as a foreigner etc."The Booths traveled extensively through Asia Minor, Egypt and Greece. On 6 October 1905, he knelt with his wife on Mars Hill in Athens and dedicated Greece for the preaching of the gospel. He wrote in his journal, " . . . we kneeled on the highest point of the elevation and offered a prayer (for 15 minutes) to the Lord. It was a prayer dedicating this land of Greece and all her people preparatory to the preaching of the gospel . . ." Wilford also baptized a few people in Greece and organized a branch of the Church in Athens.Wilford and Reba spent six years in the Near East before returning to Alpine in November 1909. At this time the mission was closed due to political unrest. Most of the missionaries were transferred to other missions, but the rest were released. Instructions from the Church were to put the branches in order, each with its own individual government, but no one was to preside over all of them. At this time, Wilford wrote, " . . . we are soon to vacate the field and leave the poor Saints to drudge along alone . . ."The next twelve years the mission remained closed and Wilford lived in Alpine. He leased a building a few months after returning and started a store in Alpine that was known as the Alpine Mercantile. He again taught school; and he gave many lectures on Palestine and the Near East. He also kept up with the Saints in Turkey through letters and did the little he could to help them.In August 1921, Wilford received a bundle of letters from the Saints in Turkey pleading for help and advice from the Church. He immediately went to Salt Lake and spoke with George Albert Smith about the call for help. Upon being asked who could go to Turkey and "take up the work," Wilford mentioned several former missionaries. However, Smith was not satisfied with any of the suggestions. Wilford finally said that he would be willing to go, but he was in debt and had other financial troubles. Smith then reported to President Heber J. Grant, who came back to Wilford and said, "Brother Booth, we want you to go to Turkey to carry help to the Saints there, and the Church will assist you some in your financial difficulties."Wilford was set apart as the President of the Armenian Mission on 14 September 1921. The name was changed from the Turkish Mission because nearly all of the members were Armenian and also "out of respect to the disrespect we had for tyranny." He was there for three years before his wife again joined him. This period of his life was filled with many dramatic highs and lows. There were periods of prosperity and good feelings in the Church, but there were also many times of contention. In 1928 the mission headquarters were moved to Haifa, Palestine. Although Wilford continued to visit the branches in Syria, many members fell away without him there. There were reports of child beating, quarreling and other unpleasant conditions.These conditions brought discouragement and disappointment to Wilford and he continued to work even harder at proselyting and other mission work trying to alleviate the problems. After this period of overwork and discouragement, Joseph Wilford Booth died on 5 December 1928 in Aleppo, Syria. The cause of death was determined to be angina pectoris, brought on by heart strain and overwork. He was buried in Syria upon request of the people there. The inscription on the headstone reads: Joseph Wilford Booth, President of the Armenian Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Born at Alpine, Utah, U.S.A. 14 August 1866, died at Aleppo, Syria, 5th December 1928. For eighteen years he served faithfully as a missionary Elder in Turkey, Greece, Syria and Palestine. Though dead he lives in the hearts of a host who love him. In honorable and loving remembrance. Whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.Historian Rao H. Lindsay wrote, "Of the missionaries who were regularly assigned to the Turkish and Armenian Missions, none devoted more effort nor sacrificed more than did Joseph Wilford Booth."; The Joseph Wilford Booth collection deals mostly with the LDS Turkish Mission. It consists of Five Series. The First Series contains eighteen journals covering 1 July 1885 to 2 December 1928. The journals include accounts of Booth living and working as a young man in Alpine, Utah; time spent as a student at the Brigham Young Academy; teaching school in Utah Valley (Provo, Pleasant Grove, and American Fork) and Montpelier, Idaho; and his three missions (seventeen years) to Turkey, Syria, Palestine, and Greece. Booth also served as mission president of the Turkish (later renamed Armenian) Mission from 1903-1909 and 1921-1928. There are gaps in the journals between 24 September 1902-31 July 1904 and April 1910-19 August 1921. Series Two consists of poetry written by Booth, while Series Three is the typescripts of the journals, and the photocopies of the poetry.Included in Series Four are photocopies of published articles authored by Booth, mostly dealing with the Turkish or Armenian mission. Also, there is a photocopy of a pamphlet written by Booth in this series. These have been artificially brought into the collection. The Fifth Series is made up of published articles that are not written by Booth but are about him. These articles have also been artificially brought in. These articles were written by Phillip S. Maycock, Wilford O. Woodruff, David O. McKay, James E. Talmage, Mary R. Booth, &​ Lucille Booth Bushnell.
  • MSS 155
Terms of Use
  • Series One and Two, which are originals, are restricted. Series Three, which is typescripts and photocopies of series one and two, and Series Four and Five, are open to patron use. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.Permission to publish material from the Joseph Wilford Booth (1866-1928) Papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/​or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.
Language
  • English
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