Minutes of the October 1863 General Conference

Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, convened in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, October 6-8, 1863, President Brigham Young presiding. Elder Orson Hyde offered prayer at the opening, invoking blessings upon the congregations and upon all Israel at home and abroad. ¶

President Brigham Young delivered his "Necessity for Watchfulness" discourse (filed separately), addressing the proper treatment of strangers passing through the Territory amid the Civil War, the pricing of flour and grain, and the war's effects on slavery. He followed with "Tithing—Building Temples—Gold, Its Production and Uses—Governmental Policy Towards Utah—Providing Bread for the Poor" (JD 10:251-256; filed separately), addressing the Salt Lake Temple, gold discoveries in the mountains, and government hostility toward the Territory. President Young also delivered a further discourse, "Our Relationship and Duty to God and His Kingdom—the True Source of the Prosperity and Wealth of Individuals and Nations, and How to Obtain Them—Counsel to the Saints" (JD 10:265-274; filed separately), an extensive treatment of tithing, the danger of gold-seeking, and the emptiness of the Tithing Office storehouse that year. ¶

On Thursday, October 8, Elder Amasa M. Lyman presented the General Authorities for the sustaining vote, all unanimously sustained: Brigham Young as President with Heber C. Kimball and Daniel H. Wells as counselors; Orson Hyde as President of the Quorum of the Twelve, with Orson Pratt Sr., John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Amasa M. Lyman, Ezra T. Benson, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, and George Q. Cannon as members; John Smith as Patriarch; the Stake presidency and a newly constituted High Council; John Young as President of the High Priests' Quorum; Joseph Young and the first seven Presidents of the Seventies (including new member John Van Cott); the Elders', Priests', Teachers' (Adam Spiers replacing the deceased McGee Harris), and Deacons' Quorum presidencies; Edward Hunter as Presiding Bishop; William H. Folsom as Architect; and George A. Smith as Historian and General Church Recorder. ¶

Elder Orson Hyde then delivered "The Wisdom of God Through His Servants—Missionaries' Families to Be Sustained—How to Be Prospered" (October 8; filed separately), reflecting on returning missionaries' testimonies and urging the Saints to honor their subscriptions to the Missionary Fund. Elder John Taylor also addressed the conference (Deseret News, October 28, 1863, p. 110; October 10 per the Journal of Discourses witness transcript; not yet transcribed into this vault). ¶