The Beginnings of Black Priesthood Denial 1839-1852

. . .

By 1847 this had all changed. Lewis’ priesthood status was questioned by William L. Appleby, a Mormon official in charge of church activity in the eastern states. Appleby did not think that Lewis, or any other black man, had the right to the priesthood. In a terse letter to Brigham Young, Appleby asked if it was “the order of God or tolerated, to ordain negroes to the Priesthood If it is, I desire to know it as I have yet got to learn it.”

Unfortunately, Young was unable to reply in writing to Appleby’s ques-tion because by the time Appleby’s letter arrived at Winter Quarters, the Mormon leader was on his way to the Great Basin with the first group of Mormon settlers.’ 41 After Young returned to Winter Quarters from the Great Basin during the fall of 1847, he did affirm a subordinate status for blacks within Mormonism. This affirmation might have been a response to Appleby’s inquiry or a reaction to William McCary’s concurrent controver-sial behavior in and around Winter Quarters or a combination of the two.”

. . .

41. William L. Appleby, letter to Brigham Young, June 2, 1847, William L. Appleby Papers, LDS Church History Library. Also see Appleby’s journal, May 19, 1847. In his journal, Appleby acknowledged that the ordination of Lewis was “contrary though to the order of the Church on the Law of the Priesthood as the descendants of Ham are not entitled to that privilege.” There are indications, however, that this entry, along with most of his so-called journal, was not written until the mid-1850s, by which time black priesthood denial was well known by people both within and outside of Mormonism.