Roy D. Thatcher Journal, November 1902-January 1903

File — Box: 2, Folder: 25-26

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: The Thatcher family papers (1881-1904) consist of the missionary journals and letters of Roy Davis Thatcher and Diana Bean Thatcher.

The Diana Bean missionary journals consist of five books, dating from October 1901 to January 1904. In these books, Bean records her daily activities as a missionary in Bradford and London, England. She writes of her feelings of excitement and satisfaction as well as her feelings of loneliness and despair. Additionally, Bean's journals provide a great deal of information regarding her mission companion, Margaret Thurman, and other individuals serving missions in the Bradford and London areas from 1900-1904. Other materials in the collection relating to Diana Bean Thatcher include a copy of a blessing she received from her grandfather, Abraham O. Smoot, at her birth; brief biographical sketches of prominent Bean family members; a biographical sketch of Margaret T. Smoot, Diana's step mother; and a small record book in which Bean made a daily account of meetings attended, tracts handed out, and gospel conversations held while on her mission.

Roy D. Thatcher's account of his mission is contained in three journals, dating from October 1900 to January 1903. Thatcher spent the first year of his mission (October 1900-1901) in Neuchatel, Switzerland. Journal entries during this period tell of his struggle in learning to speak French and describe his day to day activities as a missionary. In October 1901, part of the Swiss mission was closed and Thatcher was transferred to London where he remained until January 1903, when he was released from his mission. In addition to his missionary journals, the collection contains a 1887 journal Thatcher kept prior to serving his mission. In this journal Thatcher writes of the weather, attending Utah State Agricultural College, church activities, and his family.

Box three of the collection contains a series of fifty-one letters Roy Thatcher wrote to his mother while on his mission. The letters are at times an interesting contrast to his diaries, in that Thatcher is often more open in expressing his feelings about his faith and his mission.

Also included in the Thatcher Family Papers is an 1856 edition of The Mormon, a newspaper published by the LDS Church in New York to counter the increasing amount of anti-Mormon literature being circulated on the East Coast. The paper, signed by the editor and church official John Taylor, has been removed to the Rare Books Division of Special Collections.

Dates

November 1902-January 1903

Conditions Governing Access

Access to originals restricted except with permission of the head of the Manuscripts Division.

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.