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Mormon Convert, Mormon Defector: A Scottish Immigrant in the American West, 1848–1861
Peter McAuslan heeded Mormon missionaries spreading the faith in his native Scotland in the mid-1840s. The uncertainty his family faced in a rapidly industrializing economy, the political turmoil erupting across Europe, the welter of competing religions—all were signs of the imminent end of time, the missionaries warned. For those who would journey to a new Zion in the American West, opportunity and spiritual redemption awaited. When McAuslan converted in 1848, he believed he had a found a faith that would give his life meaning.
A few years later, McAuslan and his family left Scotland for Utah, but soon after he arrived, his doubts grew about the religious community he had joined so wholeheartedly. Historian Polly Aird tells the story of how McAuslan first embraced, then came to question, and ultimately renounced the Mormon faith and left Utah. It would be the most courageous act of his life.
In Mormon Convert, Mormon Defector, Aird tells of Scottish emigrants who endured a harrowing transatlantic and transcontinental journey to join their brethren in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. But to McAuslan and others like him, the Promised Land of Salt Lake City turned out to be quite different from what was promised: droughts and plagues of locusts destroyed crops and brought on famine, and U.S. Army troops threatened on the borders. Mormon leaders responded with fiery sermons attributing their trials to divine retribution for backsliding and sin. When the leaders countenanced violence and demanded absolute obedience, Peter McAuslan decided to abandon his adopted faith. With his family, and escorted by a U.S. Army detachment for protection, he fled to California.
Mormon Convert, Mormon Defector reveals the tumultuous 1850s in Utah and the West in vivid detail. Drawing on McAuslan’s writings and other archival sources, Aird offers a rare interior portrait of a man in whom religious fervor warred with indignation at absolutist religious authorities and fear for the consequences of dissension. In so doing, she brings to life a dramatic but little-known period of American history.
A few years later, McAuslan and his family left Scotland for Utah, but soon after he arrived, his doubts grew about the religious community he had joined so wholeheartedly. Historian Polly Aird tells the story of how McAuslan first embraced, then came to question, and ultimately renounced the Mormon faith and left Utah. It would be the most courageous act of his life.
In Mormon Convert, Mormon Defector, Aird tells of Scottish emigrants who endured a harrowing transatlantic and transcontinental journey to join their brethren in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. But to McAuslan and others like him, the Promised Land of Salt Lake City turned out to be quite different from what was promised: droughts and plagues of locusts destroyed crops and brought on famine, and U.S. Army troops threatened on the borders. Mormon leaders responded with fiery sermons attributing their trials to divine retribution for backsliding and sin. When the leaders countenanced violence and demanded absolute obedience, Peter McAuslan decided to abandon his adopted faith. With his family, and escorted by a U.S. Army detachment for protection, he fled to California.
Mormon Convert, Mormon Defector reveals the tumultuous 1850s in Utah and the West in vivid detail. Drawing on McAuslan’s writings and other archival sources, Aird offers a rare interior portrait of a man in whom religious fervor warred with indignation at absolutist religious authorities and fear for the consequences of dissension. In so doing, she brings to life a dramatic but little-known period of American history.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 6, 2016
I found this after coming across a book review for it and enjoying the review.
Aird, a great-great-niece (I think) of Peter McAuslan, spent apparently 18 years researching and writing the book. McAuslan was just your average European immigrant who came over with help from the Perpetual Emigration Fund. I found his story absolutely riveting. He joined the Church, and then within about five years after his conversion, escaped to California with an army escort protecting him and his family. The author gives terrific historical context and really creates a wonderful picture of what was going on in Europe at the time, making the LDS message especially appealing to McAuslan, and then what happens as Brigham Young tries to figure out how to run things.
In a nutshell, "Young abandons spirituality in favor of priesthood control and the practicalities of running the Mormon kingdom." McAuslan, over a period of years, reaches the point where he feels Young is an imposter who is abusing his priesthood power.
The violent and fanatical rhetoric of Young, as incorporated very effectively, by Aird from Journal of Discourses, personal journals, meeting minutes, etc, was super interesting although repulsive and awful as well.
The untempered sermons by Young and other apostles created an absolute train wreck in parts of Utah, resulting in a number of murders of those who either left the faith or wanted to leave, and even a number of people who just ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Southern Utah County (Springville/Spanish Fork/Provo) which was where McAuslan had been settling, was especially bad. I enjoyed learning about the history of this region, where I have lived now for many years. Peter observed and experienced that he could not even hold a different opinion from other members of the local church or its leaders without having his life threatened. Eventually he was excommunicated from the Church.
At the best opportunity he could, he leaves Utah for Camp Floyd with his family and a military escort for protection, settling in the Sacramento Valley and remaining there for the rest of his life. I think this is a wonderful book for anyone interested in learning about Utah history during about 1854-1861. I learned so much and also appreciated a personal history of a lay Mormon who ended up realizing that the Church wasn't right for him. Aird is not a member of the Church herself, and I felt like she was truly an outsider looking in---neither she or McAuslan harbor(ed) anti-LDS feelings towards the Church. Great read.
Aird, a great-great-niece (I think) of Peter McAuslan, spent apparently 18 years researching and writing the book. McAuslan was just your average European immigrant who came over with help from the Perpetual Emigration Fund. I found his story absolutely riveting. He joined the Church, and then within about five years after his conversion, escaped to California with an army escort protecting him and his family. The author gives terrific historical context and really creates a wonderful picture of what was going on in Europe at the time, making the LDS message especially appealing to McAuslan, and then what happens as Brigham Young tries to figure out how to run things.
In a nutshell, "Young abandons spirituality in favor of priesthood control and the practicalities of running the Mormon kingdom." McAuslan, over a period of years, reaches the point where he feels Young is an imposter who is abusing his priesthood power.
The violent and fanatical rhetoric of Young, as incorporated very effectively, by Aird from Journal of Discourses, personal journals, meeting minutes, etc, was super interesting although repulsive and awful as well.
The untempered sermons by Young and other apostles created an absolute train wreck in parts of Utah, resulting in a number of murders of those who either left the faith or wanted to leave, and even a number of people who just ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Southern Utah County (Springville/Spanish Fork/Provo) which was where McAuslan had been settling, was especially bad. I enjoyed learning about the history of this region, where I have lived now for many years. Peter observed and experienced that he could not even hold a different opinion from other members of the local church or its leaders without having his life threatened. Eventually he was excommunicated from the Church.
At the best opportunity he could, he leaves Utah for Camp Floyd with his family and a military escort for protection, settling in the Sacramento Valley and remaining there for the rest of his life. I think this is a wonderful book for anyone interested in learning about Utah history during about 1854-1861. I learned so much and also appreciated a personal history of a lay Mormon who ended up realizing that the Church wasn't right for him. Aird is not a member of the Church herself, and I felt like she was truly an outsider looking in---neither she or McAuslan harbor(ed) anti-LDS feelings towards the Church. Great read.
November 25, 2022
This book started out slowly for me. However, once the setting shifted to the United States, it became a page-turner.
I realized I didn't know much about the time period of the Utah War. I know a lot more know.
It was good to get the perspective in this book of average Utahns of the day, not just the Mormon leadership.
I realized I didn't know much about the time period of the Utah War. I know a lot more know.
It was good to get the perspective in this book of average Utahns of the day, not just the Mormon leadership.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews