Minutes of the April 1865 General Conference

Minutes of the Thirty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, convened in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Thursday, April 6, 1865, at 10 a.m., President Brigham Young presiding. ¶

On the Stand: Of the First Presidency, Presidents Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball; of the Twelve Apostles, Orson Hyde, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Amasa M. Lyman, Ezra T. Benson, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Franklin D. Richards, George Q. Cannon; Patriarch John Smith; of the First Presidency of the Seventies, Levi W. Hancock, Albert P. Rockwood, Horace S. Eldredge, John Van Cott; of the Presidency of the High Priests' Quorum, Edwin D. Woolley, Samuel W. Richards; of the Presidency of the Stake, Daniel Spencer, David Fullmer, George B. Wallace; of the Presidency of the Bishopric, Edward Hunter, Leonard W. Hardy, Jesse C. Little. Reporters: George D. Watt and John V. Long. ¶

Thursday, April 6: President Heber C. Kimball spoke on living as true Saints and Church discipline. Elder George A. Smith spoke on providing winter forage for livestock and the danger of riches until the Saints are properly schooled in their use. In the afternoon, Elder Ezra T. Benson spoke on the blessings of the Saints, President Orson Hyde on continual elevation through living oracles, and Elder Charles C. Rich reported on conditions in Bear Lake Valley. An evening priesthood meeting heard from Bishop Hunter, Levi W. Hancock, John Taylor, and George A. Smith on priesthood duties. ¶

Friday, April 7: Elder W. W. Phelps spoke of his early association with Joseph Smith. Elder Lorenzo Snow spoke on eternal life and the purpose of trials. President Brigham Young addressed speculators and merchants who refused to bring needed machinery into the Territory. In the afternoon, Elder George A. Smith gave a historical review of the Church's founding and the advantages of home manufacturing, and Elder John Taylor spoke on self-sufficiency and the history of mechanical arts. ¶

Saturday, April 8: President Brigham Young counseled against alarm over the late spring and warned of possible flooding, advising families on low ground to prepare to relocate. President Heber C. Kimball spoke on accountability and instructed on individual sanctification. In the afternoon, Elder George Q. Cannon 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 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 High Council (with new member George W. Thatcher); John Young as President of the High Priests' Quorum; Joseph Young and the first seven Presidents of the Seventies; the Elders', Priests' (vacant from prior conference, not re-filled here), Teachers', and Deacons' Quorum presidencies; Edward Hunter as Presiding Bishop; William H. Folsom as Architect; Daniel H. Wells as Superintendent of Public Works with John Sharp as assistant; and George A. Smith as Historian. Elder Charles C. Rich spoke on obedience to the living priesthood, and President Brigham Young gave counsel on home manufacturing and merchants. ¶

Sunday, April 9: Elder Amasa M. Lyman addressed the conference on the slow but steady development of understanding among the Saints (this address, per the minutes summary, is distinct from a separately dated full-text Lyman discourse appearing later in the Weebly source that belongs to the October 1865 conference). ¶