Phrenology and the Latter Day Saint movement
[7] The seriousness with which Latter Day Saints treated phrenology varied greatly, either considering them heretical, frivolous, amusing, or highly significant.
[1] By the beginning of the 20th century, the respectability of phrenology began to decline, the appeal to Latter Day Saints subsequently faded away, and is currently generally frowned upon.
"[18] In contrast to his private stance, publicly Smith still permitted phrenologists to take readings, and allowed followers to publish them in friendly newspapers.
[6] One occurred in Boston from famed phrenologist Orson Squire Fowler in 1843 along with Heber C. Kimball, Willford Woodruff and George Albert Smith.
[28][29] Joseph and Hyrum's bodies were exhumed and moved several times to avoid vandalism and rising Mississippi River waters.
[30] James H. Monroe, the Latter Day Saint school teacher of the children of Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, made phrenological charts for his pupils so that he could better understand their personalities and improve his teaching of them.
"[31] James Strang, leader of the Strangite branch of the Latter Day Saint movement, paid for a phrenological reading in the fall of 1846 in New York City, and published it in the first edition of his church's newspaper, the Northern Islander.
Kane carefully wrapped up the bones and skull to take with him to Philadelphia "for the inspection of some professional friend of his who is versed in the science of Craniology.
"[35][36] In February 1850 after the Battle at Fort Utah, between 40 or 50 heads were severed from the corpses of the Native Americans, collected, and boxed up so they could be shipped "to Washington to a medical institution" for craniological examination.
[6] On his return from presiding over the British Mission, Apostle Orson Pratt visited the Fowler studio in New York City on 13 May 1867: The Office was quite in commotion at the presence of a Mormon Apostle, and as a privilege both the principal phrenologist and the proprietor, Mr. Wells, had to lay hands on brother Orson's head, one after the other, not hearing each other, and then brother Pratt to their amusement and friendly feeling expressed a desire to do the same for them at some future time.
[40] The friendship may have been a contributing factor in the Phrenological Journal taking a moderate position on Latter Day Saints physiology, a rarity in the scientific community in the 19th century when many were beginning to classify Mormons as degraded, and even a different race.
In his opening lecture, he publicly gave a reading to Bishop Edwin D. Woolley, and editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, Elias L. T. Harrison.
[43] The official history of the LDS Church included phrenology charts for Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, but were removed by B. H. Roberts in 1902.
For example, the highly influential[45] 1907 Deseret News five-volume book series The Seventy's Course in Theology by church seventy and prominent Mormon theologian B. H. Roberts quoted a passage from The Color Line by William Benjamin Smith, who used phrenology to argue against interracial marriage and social mingling with African Americans: "That the Negro is markedly inferior to the Caucasian is proved both craniologically and by six thousand years of planet-wide experimentation; and that the commingling of inferior with superior must lower the higher is just as certain as that the half-sum of two and six is only four.
"[46][47][48][49] Nephi Schofield and John T. Miller, were both returned missionaries of the LDS Church who graduated from different phrenological postsecondary schools in the late 1890s.
In November 1903 they created the Human Culture Company, with Miller as president and Schofield as vice-president, with the intent purpose of promoting phrenology.
Miller continued on with the Character Builder, publishing phrenograms of several prominent Latter Day Saints from direct observation, including Orson F. Whitney and Evan Stephens.
Miller attempted to revive the movement by writing a letter to the Twelve Apostles, encouraging that phrenology be taught in LDS Church schools including Brigham Young University.
Some Latter Day Saints believed that since Jesus was a perfect individual, he would have phrenological and physiognomical attributes that should be reflected in the preferred artwork of the church.
Historians Davis Bitton and Gary Bunker postulate that this might be due to the appeal of a phrenological reading already being filled by a patriarchal blessing.
"[6] An 1864 article in the Millennial Star titled "Remarks on Phrenology", while not discrediting phrenology, urged readers to approach it with caution, citing the difficulty of reading bumps, and that blood had as much to do with personality as brain size: The Book of Mormon furnishes abundant proofs to show that the tribe of Manasseh had many men eminent for their love of God and devotedness to the Gospel.
By this comparison we may conclude that blood, as well as an organization and position of bumps gives intellect to perceive truth and piety to serve the Lord.
[60]George Q. Cannon added an editorial after the article endorsing it and encouraged using the "Spirit of God" as a guide, but also noted, "We do believe there is some truth in phrenology.
"[6][60] When Fowler visited Utah Territory in 1872, Cannon discouraged elders of the church from patronizing him, insinuating that phrenological readings were part of what led Amasa Lyman and others into apostasy.
[6] Schofield argued that the "prominence of the lower portion of the forehead" showed that Smith was "physically incapable of conceiving a plan of redemption that even approaches the magnitude of ...
[64] Furthermore, he pointed to phrenological evidence that Smith did not possess the character qualities of "excessive imagination" or "willful deception" that would have been necessary to invent his visions.
This especially became true as influxes of undesirable converts from perceived inferior white ethnic groups and social classes immigrated to Utah.
This outward appearance of Smith demonstrated characteristics of "a sneaking, under-ground miner, descending lower than the hog, delving for sordid gain, pandering to the strongest.
[20] "The Phrenological Journal has taught me how to govern and instruct my children, how to know a good person from a bad one, and is a never ending source of reflection, knowledge, and happiness.
