TODAY IN CHURCH HISTORY: 09 May

[Hemidakota]

1834 - Zion's Camp continued on their journey towards Missouri and camped near Wooster, Ohio. The Prophet also completed the organization of the companies within Zion's Camp.

1836 - John Taylor, later the third President of the Church, is baptized in a stream near Toronto, Canada.

1838 - The Prophet Joseph attends and speaks at the funeral of James G. Marsh, son of Elder Thomas B. Marsh of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.

1839 - The Prophet Joseph and his family left Quincy, Illinois, for their new home at Commerce.

1843 - The Prophet Joseph, with his wife, mother and about 100 other guests, spent the day on the Maid of Iowa cruising the Mississippi River. The boat left Nauvoo about 8:00 am and traveled up the river to Burlington, Iowa, and returned to Nauvoo, stopping at Fort Madison, Iowa, on their way up river, and Shokoquon on the way back. Elder Parley P. Pratt spoke and a band played. "Much good humor and hilarity prevailed. The captain and officers on board did all they could to make us comfortable, and we had a very agreeable and pleasant trip" (History of the Church, 5:385). They arrived home in Nauvoo about 8:00 p.m.

1844 - A court-martial was held by the leadership of the Nauvoo Legion in the case of Major-General Wilson Law who was charged of ungentlemanly and unofficer-like conduct. The charge was sustained and Wilson Law was removed from his position. In the evening the Prophet attended the theatre and saw "Damon and Pythias" and "The Idiot Witness." Elders Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith visited with the Prophet Joseph, who "blessed them in the name of the Lord" as they left to serve a mission to the north of Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Elders Jedediah M. Grant and Ezra Thayer accompanied them.

1891 - United States President Benjamin Harrison arrives in the Utah Territory on a visit. The Saints cordially receive him despite the long years of persecution by the federal government over the issue of plural marriage.

1903 - The Book of Mormon is published in Samoan.

1992 - President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicates historic Cove Fort in Central Utah. His grandfather, Ira N. Hinckley, had built the fort under the direction of Brigham Young in 1867.

1999 - The first Church building in Madagascar is dedicated. The facilities included an office for the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission and a meetinghouse for the Antananarivo 2nd and 3rd branches.