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"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne,even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in histhrone."—Rev. 3:21.
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PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION BY
MATTHIAS F. COWLEY
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Salt Lake City, Utah 1909
TO HIS NUMEROUS AND EVER INCREASING FAMILY, AND TO ALL WHO LOVE THENAME AND MEMORY OF
PRES. WILFORD WOODRUFF
THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
That which is perhaps best known about Wilford Woodruff is the factthat he kept throughout his long and eventful life a careful record,not only of his own life, but of the important affairs in the historyof the Church. In bringing that journal within the compass of onevolume, it has not always been easy to determine what was the mostimportant for the pages of this biography. All his journals, coveringthousands of pages, I have read with such discriminating judgment as Icould bring to the task. The reader, therefore, need not be remindedthat this biography contains only a small part, the most important partit is hoped, of the things he wrote.
He was so careful and painstaking, and so completely devoted to thetask of keeping a journal, that his writings have been sought incompiling much of the important data in Church history which hasalready been given to the world. His work, therefore, is not unknown tothose familiar with Church history. Some of his life has been publishedin the Deseret News, and "Leaves from My Journal" containsimportant chapters. Magazines and Church publications have in themreminiscences which he has given to the readers of those periodicals atdifferent times.
All missionaries will be interested in the marvelous experiences whichhe had while working in the spread of the gospel message. Others willread with peculiar interest the recital of events in the travels ofthe pioneers from the Missouri River to Salt Lake Valley, and otherswill read with satisfaction the words that fell from the lips of thoseprophets with whom he was immediately associated—Joseph Smith, BrighamYoung, and John Taylor.
The life of Wilford Woodruff was full of marvels. It was a simple lifein which he revealed his heart and his purposes freely. The franknessof his expressions, his care for details, and his conscientious regardfor the truth made him, perhaps, the best chronicler of events in allthe history of the Church. His journal reveals not so much what hehimself was thinking about the events concerning which he wrote as whatothers thought about them. In that respect they reveal wonderfully thespirit of the times in which he lived.
At the close of the year 1895 in writing of his life, he says: "Fortwenty-one years I was a member of the legislative assembly of theTerritory of Utah.
"In 1875 I was appointed historian and general recorder of the Churchand held that position until 1889.
"On the completion of the Temple at St. George in 1877, I was appointedits President by Brigham Young.
"Upon the accession of President Taylor, I became President of theTwelve Apostles; and in April 1889, I was sustained at the generalconference as President of the Church.
"By my direction the General Church Board of Education was foundedin 1888 to direct the