Wilford Woodruff

Actions as Church President

Wilford Woodruff became President of the LDS church in 1889 with the death of John Taylor. He was eighty-two. Woodruff had never expected to become president, as Taylor was the younger man.

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During his tenure the church faced a number of legal battles with the United States, primarily over the practice of plural marriage. The church faced a real possibility of being destroyed as a viable legal entity. President Woodruff issued the 1890 Manifesto which ended polygamy or plural marriage in the Territory of Utah and directed Latter-day Saints only to enter into marriages that are recognized by the laws in the areas in which they reside. He wrote in his diary, I have arrived at the point in the history of my life as the president of the Church...where I am under the necessity of acting for the temporal salvation of the Church.... (Wilford Woodruff-Diary, Sept. 25, 1890). Some historians consider this policy statement his most important contribution to the stability of the church.

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The church under Woodruff also faced severe financial difficulties, some of which were related to the legal problems over polygamy. Although he instituted a number of sound financial practices, he was unable to completely solve these difficulties during his time as president. Woodruff was the LDS president who organized the Genealogical Society of Utah and dedicated the Salt Lake Temple. He died in San Francisco, California in 1898, and was succeeded in office by Lorenzo Snow.

Related Topics:
Genealogical Society of Utah - Salt Lake Temple - San Francisco - California - Lorenzo Snow

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