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Wayward Saints: The Godbeites and Brigham Young
A story that includes spiritualistic séances, hidden conspiracy, and
an important church trial, Wayward Saints chronicles the challenge,
during the 1870's, of a group of British Mormon intellectuals to Brigham
Young's leadership and authority. William S. Godbe and his associates
revolted because they disliked Young's authoritarian community and resented
what they perceived as the church's intrusion into matters of personal
choice. Expelled from the church, they established the "New Movement,"
which eventually faltered. Both a study in intellectual history and an
investigation of religious dissent, Wayward Saints explores nineteenth-century
American spiritualism as well as the ideas and institutional structure
of first- and second-generation Mormonism.
an important church trial, Wayward Saints chronicles the challenge,
during the 1870's, of a group of British Mormon intellectuals to Brigham
Young's leadership and authority. William S. Godbe and his associates
revolted because they disliked Young's authoritarian community and resented
what they perceived as the church's intrusion into matters of personal
choice. Expelled from the church, they established the "New Movement,"
which eventually faltered. Both a study in intellectual history and an
investigation of religious dissent, Wayward Saints explores nineteenth-century
American spiritualism as well as the ideas and institutional structure
of first- and second-generation Mormonism.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 24, 2016
I really learned a lot from this book and found it fascinating. The Godbeite movement was so much more complex than just a revolt or declaration against BY's heavy-handed frontier theocracy. A study in religious dissent from the era of 19th century Mormon history ends up opening up so many interesting questions for thought.
I thought Walker did a great job of synthesizing a history of the Godbeites with the timeless and classic questions put front and center by the dissenters, who, interestingly, weren't the stereotypical anti-Mormons. They wanted to reform and refine Mormonism, they weren't trying to destroy it. (With the exception of Fanny Stenhouse) What are the limits of religious authority? What is the relationship between personal conscience and priesthood authority? What are the costs of dissent for both a religious community and the dissenter?
I enjoyed learning about the special variety of "British Mormonism" that left the many British Saints unprepared for the Great Basin Kingdom. They had been accustomed to free debate and thought, for one thing, and did not anticipate the conflict that their jobs (merchants and entrepreneurs) would bring once they arrived in Salt Lake City. They were attracted to ideas and art; they savored public debate. In England they were used to challenging the status quo. Whereas the pioneers who had been with the Church from the beginning, understood what they were giving up by following Young to Utah. The ones that didn't want to conform to the future of Young's Zion, stayed behind.
Many of the things the Godbeites fought for with their New Movement, sadly, were too far ahead of the current time. For example, civil rights and personal liberties came after/with the dissolution of the movement.
There was so much interesting information in the book--the excommunication trial of Harrison and Godbe in Salt Lake City Hall was given a lot of air time in the book. You have to read the book just for that. And the short-lived Liberal Institute that I did not know existed, was fascinating to learn about. Also I learned quite a bit about spiritualism and dissenters incorporation of that into their evolving philosophy.
I thought Walker did a great job of synthesizing a history of the Godbeites with the timeless and classic questions put front and center by the dissenters, who, interestingly, weren't the stereotypical anti-Mormons. They wanted to reform and refine Mormonism, they weren't trying to destroy it. (With the exception of Fanny Stenhouse) What are the limits of religious authority? What is the relationship between personal conscience and priesthood authority? What are the costs of dissent for both a religious community and the dissenter?
I enjoyed learning about the special variety of "British Mormonism" that left the many British Saints unprepared for the Great Basin Kingdom. They had been accustomed to free debate and thought, for one thing, and did not anticipate the conflict that their jobs (merchants and entrepreneurs) would bring once they arrived in Salt Lake City. They were attracted to ideas and art; they savored public debate. In England they were used to challenging the status quo. Whereas the pioneers who had been with the Church from the beginning, understood what they were giving up by following Young to Utah. The ones that didn't want to conform to the future of Young's Zion, stayed behind.
Many of the things the Godbeites fought for with their New Movement, sadly, were too far ahead of the current time. For example, civil rights and personal liberties came after/with the dissolution of the movement.
There was so much interesting information in the book--the excommunication trial of Harrison and Godbe in Salt Lake City Hall was given a lot of air time in the book. You have to read the book just for that. And the short-lived Liberal Institute that I did not know existed, was fascinating to learn about. Also I learned quite a bit about spiritualism and dissenters incorporation of that into their evolving philosophy.
October 21, 2015
From what I can see, I am the first to write a review of this book. That is a crying shame. This is one of the best LDS scholarly Church history books that I have ever read if not THE best. I loved every page of this book.
It was filled with memorable scenes like Godbe's and Harrison's excommunication trial in Salt Lake's city hall, which was virtually open to the public and featured testimony from George Q. Cannon, George A. Smith, and of course Brigham Young; or Susan B. Anthony's and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's lecture to the Godbe-ite liberal institute about how the religion of the future was "science" and "progress;" not to mention the endless bizarre seances and Ouija board spiritualism including Godbe's and Harrison's revelation from Heber C. Kimball beyond the grave.
This book captures a time, a place and a people, better than most books. It shines a bright light into economic, intellectual, and familial life in 1870s Utah and in America more broadly. But it also understands the universal nature of this story and the eternal questions that it provokes. Questions about religion, the nature of religious dissent, and institutional versus individual authority among others. Also, as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I felt that this book captures a significant piece of the Mormon experience.
Finally, this book is a very timely commentary on current trends. Seeing current dissent in the LDS Church through the prism of the Godbeites and Brigham Young is instructive and revealing.
If you are interested in LDS church history, Post-Civil War America, or you just want an interesting piece of American history, read this book!
It was filled with memorable scenes like Godbe's and Harrison's excommunication trial in Salt Lake's city hall, which was virtually open to the public and featured testimony from George Q. Cannon, George A. Smith, and of course Brigham Young; or Susan B. Anthony's and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's lecture to the Godbe-ite liberal institute about how the religion of the future was "science" and "progress;" not to mention the endless bizarre seances and Ouija board spiritualism including Godbe's and Harrison's revelation from Heber C. Kimball beyond the grave.
This book captures a time, a place and a people, better than most books. It shines a bright light into economic, intellectual, and familial life in 1870s Utah and in America more broadly. But it also understands the universal nature of this story and the eternal questions that it provokes. Questions about religion, the nature of religious dissent, and institutional versus individual authority among others. Also, as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I felt that this book captures a significant piece of the Mormon experience.
Finally, this book is a very timely commentary on current trends. Seeing current dissent in the LDS Church through the prism of the Godbeites and Brigham Young is instructive and revealing.
If you are interested in LDS church history, Post-Civil War America, or you just want an interesting piece of American history, read this book!
August 20, 2022
Walker paints the story of the Godbeite intellectual movement with clarity and context, discussing leaders of both the mainstream church and Godbeite off shoot with even-handedness. He captures nuance and complexity in organization, belief, and personality. All of this is done in a readable way where neither accuracy or narrative are sacrificed.
The book asks big questions around the limit of dissent and authority in religious movements without leading readers to simplistic answers or tired tropes. From a personal perspective, I loved this book because of its timeliness and relevance to today’s LDS culture. I did my graduate research on LGBTQ+ Latter-Day Saints and have struggled for several years with understanding by my personal limits of dissent and the limits of dissent that organizationally would be tolerated. To that end, this is the BEST book I have read on the topic of religious dissent. It provided a long-form analogy I could sink my mind in. It also helped me better understand the multi-generational story of dissent in LDS culture and organization, in which the Godbeites are just one movement and ideology. And I couldn’t help but wonder about the author’s experience on the limits of dissent as an academic and historian during the September 6 era.
This is one of the most relevant and timeless books on church history I have read. Walker’s research on Mountain Meadows is up next in my bookshelf.
The book asks big questions around the limit of dissent and authority in religious movements without leading readers to simplistic answers or tired tropes. From a personal perspective, I loved this book because of its timeliness and relevance to today’s LDS culture. I did my graduate research on LGBTQ+ Latter-Day Saints and have struggled for several years with understanding by my personal limits of dissent and the limits of dissent that organizationally would be tolerated. To that end, this is the BEST book I have read on the topic of religious dissent. It provided a long-form analogy I could sink my mind in. It also helped me better understand the multi-generational story of dissent in LDS culture and organization, in which the Godbeites are just one movement and ideology. And I couldn’t help but wonder about the author’s experience on the limits of dissent as an academic and historian during the September 6 era.
This is one of the most relevant and timeless books on church history I have read. Walker’s research on Mountain Meadows is up next in my bookshelf.
February 17, 2020
Wow. What a feat of diplomacy and subterfuge. This book is ostensibly about the Godbeites defection from the Brighamite branch of Mormons, but the subtext insistently praises the Godbeites for their intellectual brilliance, their commitment to liberal progress, their feminism, and their integrity. It also critiques the Godbeites and spotlights organizational weaknesses that made the movement impossible to sustain (at least in its primary spiritilualist form). To keep this appropriate for the shelves of Deseret Book (where it is sold) Walker pulls out all the stops and resorts to all sorts of devices to mask, however thinly, his admiration for these dissenters.
Passage after passage reads completely sympathetic to the Godbeite cause—once the reader mentally edits out the quotation marks which keep the book kosher for the believing LDS reader. Walker even references in a footnote that one of his primary sources is filled with accusation by inference. You can barely read a sentence here without a similar inference. At times I thought that Walker must personally identify with Edward Tullidge, a Godbeite who aspired to document the history of Mormonism and identified culturally with Mormons—even while he disagreed in principle. Love and affection for Mormons and Mormon culture permeate the book. RIP, Ronald Walker. You fought a good, kind fight here.
Passage after passage reads completely sympathetic to the Godbeite cause—once the reader mentally edits out the quotation marks which keep the book kosher for the believing LDS reader. Walker even references in a footnote that one of his primary sources is filled with accusation by inference. You can barely read a sentence here without a similar inference. At times I thought that Walker must personally identify with Edward Tullidge, a Godbeite who aspired to document the history of Mormonism and identified culturally with Mormons—even while he disagreed in principle. Love and affection for Mormons and Mormon culture permeate the book. RIP, Ronald Walker. You fought a good, kind fight here.
October 10, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. It is detailed and well researched and it touches on not only the Godbeites dissent. But also the effects of the transcontinental railroad, as well as early mining history. It also has the beginnings of Utah's favorite department store ZCMI.
May 14, 2025
Interesting book about early Utah and the early LDS church under Brigham Young in the Great Basin.
July 21, 2025
A fascinating examination of a little-known (to modern readers) aspect of early Utah history.
November 10, 2016
A fascinating look at an early group within Mormonism, the Godbeites, who had a few criticisms of the LDS Church that ultimately caused them to leave. For me, some of the inside tensions within the Church (Ordain Women, opposition votes in conference, mass resignations, LGBT issues) seem troubling, but it’s almost reassuring to know that those tensions have always been there. The author casts them as not unique to the LDS Church—there will always be a certain amount of tension between religious authority and individual rights/revelation/opinions/differences.
Also interesting, the Godbeites saw themselves as very forward thinking, embracing humanity, science, progress, and new ideas. They thought Mormons had to get with the times. And to a large extent, some of their ideas quickly did come to pass within the Mormon Church. But the Godbeites themselves became dated even more quickly—séances and spirits, all a part of spiritualism, seems so out there in today’s world, it seems hard to imagine that being part of a progressive movement.
I liked the book because it told the story and the facts without trying to paint it in favor of the Mormons or the Godbeites. A very fair analysis, and the reader can determine what they make of it.
A few interesting things: apostles and pretty high church leaders participated in the Godbeite movement. It’s hard to imagine that happening today.
The Republican party was founded on a platform against slavery and polygamy. Yet today, Mormons have clearly come to terms with it.
The Salt Lake Tribune was founded by the Godbeites!
The talk by Elder M. Russell Ballard using the analogy of “The Old Ship Zion” was also used by Bishop Woolley in a talk aimed at the Godbeites.
Also interesting, the Godbeites saw themselves as very forward thinking, embracing humanity, science, progress, and new ideas. They thought Mormons had to get with the times. And to a large extent, some of their ideas quickly did come to pass within the Mormon Church. But the Godbeites themselves became dated even more quickly—séances and spirits, all a part of spiritualism, seems so out there in today’s world, it seems hard to imagine that being part of a progressive movement.
I liked the book because it told the story and the facts without trying to paint it in favor of the Mormons or the Godbeites. A very fair analysis, and the reader can determine what they make of it.
A few interesting things: apostles and pretty high church leaders participated in the Godbeite movement. It’s hard to imagine that happening today.
The Republican party was founded on a platform against slavery and polygamy. Yet today, Mormons have clearly come to terms with it.
The Salt Lake Tribune was founded by the Godbeites!
The talk by Elder M. Russell Ballard using the analogy of “The Old Ship Zion” was also used by Bishop Woolley in a talk aimed at the Godbeites.
September 6, 2016
This book serves to balance out the version of Church history for this period that we usually get from official LDS sources and from those who portray Church history through rose-colored glasses. However it balances it in a reasonable way. Ronald Walker is LDS and an associate professor of Church history at BYU, but he doesn't sugar-coat the issues raised by the Godbeites. I thought it interesting that some of the things the Godbeites were criticized for in their day are now Church policy or at least are not considered a big deal these days.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews