Forgotten Dartmouth Men

Vox Clamantis in Salt Lake City—

PERHAPS THERE WERE NO LOUNGERS in the class of 1810. But if there was one in that class, and he could perch on a tree stump where the College Hall chairs now rock to-and-fro in the springtime, he would have seen many families passing through Hanover on their way to the everexpanding frontier of those days. During the undergraduate days of this 1810 lounger a family of Smiths would have passed through Hanover. The family would appear typical—in its name, its large progeny, its hopes, and its possession of a musket which had seen service in the Revolutionary Army. But this family had one member whose later career was to be anything but ordinary. Joseph Smith, who had been born in 1805 in Vermont, was travelling with his parents from one suburb of Hanover to another—specifically from Lebanon to Norwich. This child later became prophet, seer, and revelator of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or more familiarly the Mormon Church. One writer states that his brother, Hyrum, was destined for Dartmouth, but after attending an academy at Hanover, he continued on the restless journey westward with the other members of his family.

EARLY COLLEGE CONNECTION

There is a possibility, however, that the connection of Dartmouth with early Mormonism goes back even earlier than Joseph Smith's birth. Delvers into the problematical have frequently asked whether or not Joseph Smith is the sole author of that sine qua non of Mormon belief, the Book of Mormon. This question involves Solomon S. Spaulding, who graduated from Dartmouth in 1785. After finishing college, this man followed well-fashioned grooves in his career. He studied divinity, moved westward to Ohio, and went into business. But, in one respect, his career was unusual. He had a vivid enthusiasm in finding out all he could about the ancestors of Samson Occom, the primitive Alcazar, and other aboriginal inhabitants of North America. His imagination lingered over the life of these people and he finally wrote a fictitious history of the early red men, calling his work, The Manuscript Found. This work connects the Indians with the lost ten tribes of Ancient Israel.

One of the mooted questions in Mormon historiography is whether or not Joseph Smith had access to the product of Solomon Spaulding's mind. If Joseph Smith did see Spaulding's work or know its thesis one might trace the chain of cause and effect back to the Indian surroundings of Hanover in 1785, or perhaps to some college instructor or preacher who had set Spaulding's imagination on fire. Ninetynine years after Spaulding's Commencement a manuscript was found in Hawaii which may be the Spaulding original of The Manuscript Found. This manuscript is now in the possession of the Oberlin College library at Oberlin, Ohio. It has been pointed out, particularly by the followers of Joseph Smith, that the story in this manuscript can have no connection with the Book of Mormon. But are the two stories the same? Several people who had heard Spaulding read his version of the lost ten tribes of Israel claim this Oberlin manuscript is a different story entirely. In other words there is the possibility that the original story of The Manuscript Found, is still lost. The weight of evidence is strong on both sides, but present opinion seems to be that the charge of plagiarism against Joseph Smith is not proved and the probability is that the question will never be settled definitely. Spaulding died in 1816, but the struggle over the authorship and the authenticity of the Book of Mormon still marches on.

The connection of Spaulding, 1785, with Mormonism may be debatable. But there can be no question concerning the connection of Albert E. Carrington of the class of 1833. He was born in Royalton, Vermont on January 8, 1813. After graduation from college, he also followed a familiar pattern —he taught school, studied law in Pennsylvania, and then went on West to Wisconsin where he engaged in mining lead. In 1841 he joined the Mormon Church and three years later moved on to Nauvoo, Illinois, at that time, a Mormon stronghold,

There were but few members of the early Mormon Church who possessed as good a training as Carrington did. Therefore from the start he was entrusted with positions of responsibility and of leadership. Upon arrival in Nauvoo he immediately became identified with missionary work. He was among the chosen few who accompanied Brigham Young on the reconnaissance trip to present-day Utah. Once the Mormons reached what is now Salt Lake City, Carrington's training was put to use in territorial affairs. He was a prominent member of a committee which drew up a proposed constitution for the territory. At the first general election he was chosen territorial assessor and collector. Until his departure for England in 1868 he was several times elected to the territorial council of Utah. During one period he edited the Desert News, the leading territorial paper. He was prominent in educational projects, his chief recognition in this field was his appointment as one of the regents of a proposed university for the territory.

HEADED CHURCH IN EUROPE

Within the Mormon Church, itself, Carrington held many posts of prominence. During the years, 1868-70, 1871-73, and 1880-82, he was president of the European branch of the church. In 1869 he became one of the twelve apostles of the Mormon Church. This group is outranked only by the first president of the Church and his two councillors. Perhaps A. E. Carrington's greatest responsibility was his position as private secretary for Brigham Young. Acting in this capacity, Carrington gained the sobriquet of "the Mormon Wolsey." He once fell from grace and was excommunicated from Mormonism, but later was reinstated in good standing. He died September 19, 1889.

He was in the first pioneer group to reach Salt Lake City and several days after the long journey to the Mormon promised land was reached, Carrington set out with a few companions to climb the highest peak in the Wasatch range—that range to the east which throws its long shadows over the great Salt Lake Valley. He was one of the first white men, it is thought, to ascend Twin Peaks—11,000 feet high. His achievements among his fellows were definite and tangible. His was the first and only Dartmouth voice of influence heard in those Mormon Councils which transformed a barren desert into a fertile region and made the territory of Utah an important state in the union.

The Dartmouth College Seal, bearing the inscription "Vox clamantis in deserto (The voice of one crying in the wilderness)," was presented to the college by George Jaffrey, a trustee, in 1773 and is still used as the official seal of the college.

MORMON LEADER: Albert Carrington, member of the Dartmouth class of 1833.