SALT LAKE CITY — The first white settler in Utah can surprisingly credit his presence, at least indirectly, to the Presbyterians.
That's one of the historical treasures outlined in a new Utah church history book chronicling the largest Presbyterian faith in the Beehive State.
"Presbyterians in Zion: History of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Utah" was written by Frederick G. Burton and published by Vantage Press.
In a vast 765 pages, Burton outlines the history of what is one of Utah's biggest churches.
While most historical accounts only state that Miles Goodyear was part of a "wagon train" or a "missionary group" headed west in the mid-1830s, this new book makes it clear that Goodyear, a 19-year-old orphan, went west in 1836 with a group of Presbyterians under the protection of the American Fur Company caravan.
Goodyear chose to remain in the Rocky Mountains and trap on its streams, while the rest of the company went to Oregon. He would later work at Fort Bridger, Wyo., and finally settle in Ogden — before the Mormon pioneers arrived — with his American Indian wife and children — creating the first permanent Anglo settlement in the Great Basin in 1846.
Burton believes Presbyterian U.S.A. church history in Utah, with its 25 total congregations and approximately 4,000 members, is mostly unwritten.
He said the last history book of Presbyterians in Utah was written in 1903, and so there was a lot of new history to recite.
"I found more than 400 pieces of source material," Burton said, noting that he did the book over a nine-year span. His book pulls all the sources together under one cover.
The new book gathers all the relevant information about the faith together and tells it from the perspective of a Presbyterian. However, Burton said he believes the book is also valuable to non-Presbyterians since it clearly outlines aspects of religious history in Utah.
"It's a thorough and accurate look at the history of Presbyterians in Utah," the Rev. Laura Stellmon, the executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Utah, said in an e-mail to the Deseret News.
The new book outlines some fascinating historical tidbits. For example:
1. Brigham Young invited the second-known Presbyterian minister to visit Utah, Dr. Henry Kendall, secretary to the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, to speak in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on his faith to a Mormon audience in 1864.
2. After the railroad town of Corinne and capital of Salt Lake, central Utah — Mount Pleasant, Manti and Ephraim — as well as Utah County were the next footholds for Presbyterians in Utah.
3. Presbyterians moved about Utah each summer and held services in tents from the late 19th century until the Great Depression. Tent services, for example, were held in Parowan in June 1899.
Burton's book begins by providing a brief overview of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its beginnings, since it is the predominant faith in Utah. It also includes brief snapshots of Utah's other main religions, as well as outlining the divisions within the Presbyterian faith itself, with Presbyterian Church U.S.A. being the largest Presbyterian segment in America.
Burton states that much of the early Presbyterian message in Utah, both education and preaching, was directed at releasing the Mormon people in Utah from what many Presbyterians viewed as supervision and oppression by their leaders.
After all, "Protestants had left Rome over this very controversy about authority," he wrote.
"Protestants and Mormons each believed that the other's religion was 'so different from true Christianity that only conversion would assure the other's salvation,' " the book states.
The first official Presbyterian leader in Utah, the Rev. John Anderson, arrived in Salt Lake in 1862 as a chaplain for the U.S. Army. He brought a tent, which was used to house the first non-Mormon church services in Utah, held at Camp Douglas.
Despite their strong doctrinal differences, Brigham Young's invitation to let Kendall speak in the Salt Lake Tabernacle proved early on the two faiths could respect each other.
As with other non-Mormon faiths, it was the coming of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 that opened the door in Utah to Presbyterians. It was a desire for eastern states Presbyterian Church members to have a presence in the West, including Utah.
The Rev. Sheldon Jackson recognized early the effect of the railroad in the West, and in May 1869 he send out three Presbyterian missionary pastors to the west — including the Rev. Melanchton Hughes to Ogden and Corinne. He preached the first service in Corinne on June 13, 1869.
The Rev. Edward E. Bayliss, assisted by the Rev. Jackson, officially organized the Presbyterian Church at Corinne in July 1870. By 1874, the church extended its missionary work to Brigham City.
It was on Oct. 1, 1871, when the Rev. Josiah Welch preached at the Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City, and the First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake was organized on Oct. 12, 1871.
Burton states in his book that from 1975-1883, Presbyterians in Utah launched their strongest missionary efforts. However, since the Mormon population had no interest in their message, they began to focus on the non-Mormon population of the state.
In a reversal of the usual Presbyterian way of building a church first and then a school, Mount Pleasant had a Presbyterian school by 1875 but didn't have a church building until 1880.
By 1877, Springville, Payson, Ephraim, Manti and Monroe also had Presbyterian schools before churches came along.
Church work in Payson, American Fork and Pleasant Grove were next.
By 1884, Presbyterians in Utah had 13 ministers and churches, 383 members and 1,914 students. By 1890, that grew to 15 churches and 661 members; by 1900 there were 25 churches and 1,336 members.
Utah's most notable Presbyterian Church, First Presbyterian of Salt Lake, C Street and South Temple, was dedicated on Oct. 11, 1874. It was refurbished twice, in 1906 and 2003.
The book also highlights each of the other Presbyterian churches in Utah and their individual histories. Even some other cities that never warranted having churches there also have their Presbyterian missionary efforts recited.
An appendix has more than a dozen charts that show Presbyterian growth in the state.
The author, 70, is a lifelong Presbyterian, born in Pennsylvania and educated in Ohio. He has lived in Utah the past 20 years. He is a former research scientist and lab manager, now retired, living in Stansbury Park.
Burton said what surprised him most in his book research was how much of an effort the Presbyterian Church made on education in Utah. He said he was surprised to learn that some Presbyterians traveled tens of thousands of miles on horseback in a single year in Utah, getting Bibles distributed and the church's message out.
"I also gained a greater appreciation of the Mormon church," he said.
The book's official launch date is Sept. 30, but it is now available on Amazon.com and from Vantage's website.
e-mail: lynn@desnews.com