TENTH BOOK OF THE FAITH-PROMOTING SERIES.
Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day Saints
JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR OFFICE.
Salt Lake City.
1883
Copyright applied for at the Office of the Librarian of Congress, atWashington, D. C., by A. H. Cannon.
There is a gradually increasing interest among the young of this peoplefor reading and study. It is now the ambition of nearly every son anddaughter of the Saints to become well educated. Parents, also, are moredeeply interested in the intellectual growth of the youth. Thus we aregradually ascending to a higher plane, and our influence is being feltin a more extended sphere.
The desire, however, to place matter in the hands of the young forreading and study, should not cause parents to be less careful inthe selection of books. Truth expands the mind and quickens theunderstanding, while fiction dulls the perceptions and impairs thememory. The acquisition of the one is a source of joy to the possessor,while the constant perusal of the other unfits a person for the studyof that which endures.
That truth is the foundation of all righteousness, and thatrighteousness is what we desire, no person among this people willdeny. Hence our anxiety to teach the child from its earliest infancythe principle of the gospel. In order to assist in this great work ofteaching the gospel principles, we have been led to publish the SERIESof which this book forms a part. Whether or not our endeavors have metwith any success, we leave for others to say, but we can safely statethat all who have read these little works cannot but realize the factthat "Truth is stranger than fiction."
That these "SCRAPS OF BIOGRAPHY" may help to instil the great principleof faith in the minds of the rising generation is the earnest desire of
THE PUBLISHER.
Birth and Parentage of Elder John Tanner—Himself and Two Children areBitten by a Mad Dog—They are Healed—He Becomes Wealthy—AfflictedWith Unknown Disease—Physicians Fail to Cure Him—"Mormon" EldersVisit Him—He is Converted—Is Miraculously Healed—Goes toKirtland—Freely Gives Money for the Benefit of the Church—His Elder'sCertificate.
Receives Blessings in Temple—Assists With "Kirtland Bank"—Startsfor Missouri—His Daughter Dies—Is Attacked by Mob—NearlyMurdered—Retained as a Prisoner—Released—Removes to Iowa—Receivesthe Prophet's Blessing—Goes to the Rocky Mountains—Loses His Propertyby Fire—Thrilling Indian Adventure—At Death's Door—RemarkableEscape—His Death.
Account of My Ancestors—My Birth—Remarkable Vision—Its Effect UponThose Who Heard of It—My Father and Grand-Father Become Interestedin Reading the Scriptures—My Grand-Father's Prophecy—His DislocatedShoulder Replaced by the Power of God—My Grand-Father's Vision andDeath—"Mormon" Elders Visit the Neighborhood—I Go to Hear ThemPreach—Believe Their Doctrines—My Father Opposed to the Elders.
My Covenant With the Lord—My Sister Desires Baptism—My Brother'