E94: Good Boy, Thomas Kane

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:32)
You know what's strange when it comes to Brigham Young? I'm saltier than Joseph F. Smith in a bathing suit. Sometimes I wonder, does it alienate our fundamentalist friends to listen? Because come on, who doesn't love anyone from the Peterson group? Those adorable little bumblebees. I love that we have such a wide scope of listeners from all over the faith spectrum.
Y'all are rad and that you hang out with us without too much pearl clutching is awesome.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:59)
Just the right amount of pearl clutching.
Which is good. Too much clutching and then you have to go talk to your bishop.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:05)
Okay, but seriously, I'm rough on the guy, but the other day, one listener complained to me that I'm still too loyal to Brighamite Mormonism, that I defend Brigham's choices too much sometimes.
Okay, okay, true, true, true. Yes. Listen, here's the gosh honest truth. I'm a Brighamite, but with daddy issues, okay? I'm loyal to my people as our father Moses Brigham Young, deeply ingrained into every fiber of our beings, and I'm also really pissed at him for making the women of southern Utah retrench their fine clothing while Eliza Snow wore silk everywhere she went, okay? Both can be true.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:42)
Black silk, like a good widow of Joseph Smith.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:46)
Seriously, how extra was she? That's just so extra. When she's wearing black silk in the 1860s, I'm like, girl, it's time to give it up. Joseph Smith has been gone for 20 years and you've been remarried to the Moses of Salt Lake City who is certainly not unaware that you're mourning your former husband while married to your current husband. We get it. You were pushed down the stairs. No matter what that lying B-word Emma Smith says, sorry, Community of Christ.
Anyway, enough of Brigham.
This episode isn't even about him.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:17)
That's right. It's about his BFF.
No, we're not talking about Jettie Grant. He comes later. We're talking about a best friend for Brigham that is, shockingly, a Gentile. He's a non-Mormon and a United States bureaucrat. Basically, everything Brigham Young doesn't like.
Still though, a man by the name of Thomas Kane, whose sympathies toward the Mormons are so ardent and strong, he might even convince Lindsay to give Brother Brigham a break. To say that perhaps he had a modicum of game.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:47)
No, no, no. Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:05)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:07)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the everlasting hills, straight out of Zion. This isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:34)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:39)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:48)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:11)
Now, a word from our friends at Signature Books.
You know who else had daddy issues with Brigham Young? His daughter, Susie Young Gates. Brigham Young had over 50 wives and 56 children, but none has better name recognition than daughter Susie Young Gates. Yet she, like so many women of Mormonism's past, has remained a mystery to most church members. In Susie Young Gates, Romney Burke paints a portrait of a strong woman who rose to prominence within the church, fought for the rights of women throughout the country, yet dealt with personal trials and her share of heartbreak. The divorce of Susie from her first husband was so traumatic that she never again mentioned the union or his name in public.
Eight of her 13 children died before adulthood. She was unable to reconcile her older sister's departure from the LDS church and conversion to Catholicism. Yet, despite her trials, Susie found fulfillment in her faith through service as a prolific writer, co-authoring with her daughter Leah Dunford-Widstow the biography of her father, Life Story of Brigham Young, founding the Young Women's Journal and the Relief Society Magazine, and in her associations with such prominent women's advocates as Susan B. Anthony. Susie Young Gates, Daughter of Mormonism by Romney Burke, published by Signature Books. Get it at Benchmark Books, or face Daddy Brigham's wrath.
Okay, Thomas Kane is at the root of my confusing Brigham Young issues. He really is. I'll read stuff Brigham Young does throughout his presidency, and on the base spectrum, roll my eyes, and at the other end, I'll be fuming with anger. But when you read Thomas Kane's perspective about Brigham and the Mormons, your heart breaks. And I don't like it. Don't make me feel sorry for my ancestors, Mr. Kane. And I've had enough of that in Sunday school, thank you very much.