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Show Another Try for a 103 Home and since under the circumstances they could not in good conscience vote for any of the candidates offered by the regular parties, they would put up their This own. for the calling of the large number of mis of 1844. spring They were sent on political missions for Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon. Church Chronol was the reason sionaries in the to campaign ogy, under date of April 21, 1844, says: Apostles Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Lyman Wight, and about a hundred other Elders, left Nauvoo, Illinois, on a political mission to the East. Apostles Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith and others left on the 9th.14 All told nearly 250 "political missionaries" went out that spring, including, in addition to John Tanner, two of his sons, Nathan and Martin Henry, and his son-in-law Amasa M. Lyman. It is in connection with the "political of the oft-told stories of John Tanner Encyclopedia gives the At the account as mission" of 1844 that came about. one Biographical follows: April Conference, 1844,' Father Tanner was called to take Before starting he went to Nauvoo tpe to see the Prophet, Joseph Smith, whom he met in the street. He held the Prophet's note for $2,000 loaned in 1835, to redeem the Kirtland Temple farm, and in the course of the conversation he handed the Prophet his note. The Prophet, not understanding what he meant by it, asked what he would have him do with it, and Father a mission to Tanner replied: Eastern States. "Brother Joseph you are right hand heavily welcome to it." The upon Father Tanner's shoulder and said: "God bless you, Father Tanner, your children shall never beg bread.'?" Prophet then laid his pretend to know the ways of a prophet or arrives at his prophetic forecasting, but if which he by in the forecast that John Tanner's used be wisdom were to worldly children would never beg bread, this would be about as near a sure The author does not the means thing as can likely to be be thought of. The Tanners were not the kind of found in breadlines or on welfare. people Perhaps a few more thoughts about this incident will be of interest. The note was already more than nine years old and if John had ever had any notion of collecting it, that was long since past. Be sides, $2,000 was such a small part of the total John Tanner had |
