The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1896-11-27
Defendant Not Present at the
Meeting.
In n Brier session at which nil Living
Members OF the Council OF Twelve
Were Present. IN offending
Brother was Reduced Ia the low.
est itnnk IN the Churah.

Mormon church. nor the holder OF any
other Office In the Prlesthood. lie was
yesterday summarily deprived OF all his
official authority by the Council of
Twelve Apostles. and retired to the
ranks Of the small number Of men In
the church who mr.. not elders.
The Apostles net at 10 O'Clock In the
Historians Office. President Snow and
nine others were present. the full mem.
bershlp Of the Council. excepting Mr..
Thatcher, there being one vacancy, that
of Abraham II. Cannon. The accused
Apostle did not appear. lie had been
notified that his trial would occur, but
the notice did not invite him to be
present. So he did not attend. 1t is
probable that he would not have ap.
peared, even n he had been Invited, as
his request for a public hearing was de.
MED,
The Apostles sitting M an ecelesias.
teal court, proceeded to consider the
case before them. But little time was
required 10 reach a conclusion. No
evidence was presented. The official
announcement of the proceedings
Mates that eaeh Apostle expressed him.
self. What was said does not appear,
but II was undoubtedly In line With
the remarks made BY memhcrs Of the
Council at the October conference.
when Mr.. Thatcher was stated TO be
out OF fellowship with his quorum. The
opinion was unanimous that az he was
out Of harmony with his fellow Apps.
ties. and had refused TO act In accord
with them, he mus, be deposed. The
order was accordingly made that the
offending Apostle be stripped Of all his
clerical functions.
President Snow and other Apostles,
after the action vas taken, went across
the street TO the church offices and
informed the First Presidency that the
expected had happened. The following
brief statement OF the proceedings was
drawn up and signed by President
Snow and A. a notice TO all Mormons
was printed last evening In the Deseret
News, the official organ OF the church;
To the Officers and Members OF the
Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day
Salnts'-"Thls Is to Il form you that at a
meeting OF the Council Of Apostles held
this day Thursday, November 10, 1900
there being present Lorenzo Snow,
Franklin ID. Richards, Brigham Young,
Francis NJ. Lyman, John Henry Smith,
George Tcpsdale, Heber j. Grant, John
w. Taylor, Mariner W. Merrill and An.
thon II. Lund. which meeting was called
for the purpose considering and taking
action on the case OF Elder Moses
Thateher-and Of which meeting and
It's object he has been duly notified
after a full consideration Of all the cir.
cumstances of the case and after each
Apostle present had expressed hlmse'
upon the subject, II was unanlmousi
decided that Moses Thatcher be serv.
cred from the council Of the Twelve
Apostles, and that he be deprived of his
Apostleshlp and other offices In the
Priesthood"
LORENZO SNOW.
President Council Of Twelve Apostles.
The offices OF which Mr.. Thatcher Is
deprived are those Of apostle, president
Of the Cache stake, nigh priest, seventy
and elder. He was made an elder In
1887, when he was but IS wears OF age.
lie became a seventy In 1859, to which
office he was ordained by Brigham
Young. In 1871 he was made president
OF the Cache stake, and was ordained
high priest. lie became m apostle dur.
ing the session Of the April conference
n 1879, and has therefore been a mem.
Der of the council that deposed him
yesterday, for nearly eighteen years,
While Mr.. Thateeer l. still a member of
the church, he Is disqualified from doing
any church work. lie could not even
be a missionary without being again
ordained.
The apostles who passed sentence on
Mr.. Thatcher decided not to give out
any statement on the subject In addition
to the notice given above, and those
seen last evening were uneommunica-
tive. ave have nothing to add to the
notice that appeared In the News" said
Johh Henry Smith. "Matters simply
came to a head and we decided whether
Moses Thatcher or the majority was to
control"
Mr.. Thatcher bears up bravely under
the blow he has received. lie deeply
egrets the severance OF his official re.
lations with the church he has served In
r%arious capacities for nearly forty years
but he feels that he could not have hon
orably conceded what was demanded Of
him.
An HONORABLE CAREER.