Musings and Reminiscences on the Life of Heber C. Kimball

Musings and Reminiscences on the Life of Heber C. Kimball By His Daughter ALICE K. SMITH "A prince and a great man has this day passed from among us; tike a babe falling into a gentle slumber, he passed away. It was a scene of victory and triumph. What a host of faithful ones have awaited his arrival in the spirit world. Will it not be home to him when he meets •those bright ones with whom he had labored so long and so familiarly, and who knew his guileless simplicity, his truthfulness, his unshrinking faith, his integrity and worth?" THUS was Heber C. Kimball eulogized in a Deseret News editorial on the day he pass- ed away, June 22nd, 1868, just sixty-seven years and eight days after the day of his birth. The editorial reflects the calm and true nature of Heber C. Kimball. .The existence of that other world" was just as actual to him as was this. The literalness with which he ac- cepted the words of the Master did not rob them of any depth nor spiritual meaning, but added to them the full force of fact. He was not only a philosopher, but a prophet and a seer. "He that be- lieveth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and he that liveth and believeth on me shall never die." HEBER C. KIMBALL stood next to Brigham Young in seniority in the original quorum of the twelve when it was reorganized according to the age of its members, he being just fourteen days young- er than President Young; and when the latter became president of the Church, Heber was chosen as his first counselor. His name is in- terlinked with the history of this organization almost from its in- ception, even as the Church's name is interlinked with the historv of the pioneering and development of Utah and the great west. There- fore, the history of his people. Heber C. Kimball their trials, journeyings and ac- complishments is a history of him, for he never forsook the Church nor his friends, nor did he once waiver in his integrity, whether in the midst of persecution or pros- perity. Brigham Young said of him, "His knees never trembled, his hands never shook." As a pio- neer and colonizer of the great west, he stood second only to President Brigham Young. The versatility of his nature suited him preeminently for that period in our history when the desert had to be subdued and the foundation of an empire laid. T WAS only a child when Heber * C. Kimball passed to the great beyond, my heart and soul went out to him in love and reverence. and I almost worshiped him. He seemed to me the biggest man I ever saw. I have watched him come down the hill on North Main Street and in my childish mind it seemed that he filled the whole sidewalk. In my mind's eye he has always appeared to me as he was so beautifully described many years after his death by his grandson, Apostle Orson F. Whit- ney: "He was a singular compound, in his nature, of courage and timidity, of weak- ness and strength, uniting a penchant for mirth with a proneness to melancholy, and a blending of the lion-like qualities of a leader among men with the bashful- ness and lamb-like simplicity of a child. "He was not a coward; a braver man probably never lived than Heber C. Kim- ball. His courage, however, was not of that questionable kind which 'knows no fear.' Rather was it of that superior order, that Ch'rist-like bravery, which feels danger yet dares to face it. He had all the sensitiveness of the poet — for he was both a poet and a prophet from his mother's womb — and inherited by birth- right the power to feel pleasure or suffer pain in all its 'exquisiteness and inten- sity.' " ]>ROTHER WHITNEY further describes him as being, "Tall and powerful of frame, with piercing black eyes that seemed to read one through, and before whose searching gaze the guilty could not choose but quail. He moved with a stateliness and majesty all his own. He was a humble man and in his humility, no less than his kingly stature, consisted his dignity, and no small share of his greatness. It was his intelligence, earnestness, simplicity, sublime faith and unwavering integrity to principle that made him great, not the apparel he wore, nor the mortal chy in which his spirit was clothed. Neverthe- less, nature had given him a noble presence in the flesh, worthy the godlike stature of his spirit. * * * "His temperament was religious and poetical. Sociable as he was and even bubbling over with mirth at times, his soul was essentially of a gloomy cast. * * * He was a diamond in the rough, but a diamond nevertheless. Unlettered and untaught, save in nature's school, the university of experience, where he was an apt and profound scholar, he was possessed of marvelous intuition, a genius God- given, which needed no kindling at a college shrine to prepare it for the work which providence had designed. Not but

The Improvement Era for June, 1930 559 education would have polished the gem, causing it to shine with what the natural eye would deem a brighter lustre; but the fact remains that Heber C. Kimball, as he was, not as he might have been, was best adapted for the divine purpose, the career marked out for him by the finger of Deity." "X/fANY lasting impressions were •• made upon my mind through little incidents which set my child- ish mind to working. When my father prayed to his Eternal Father, he told him of his plans, his wor- ries, his. joys, and his sorrows. He talked with him as a son to an earthly father in whom he had great love and confidence, not as some being far off on another planet. On one occasion at family prayers when it seemed to me he was unusually earnest and was supplicating his Father for some especial blessing or favor, I was so impressed that I peeked carefully around to see if his Father stood there before him. I was disap- pointed, for it seemed he must be there. This made a deep impres- sion upon my mind, for all through my childhood days, my youth, my mature life, my Father in Heaven has not been so far away from me. I could appeal to him as a father who was full of love and compassion for his children. TyfY sister Sarah was two years ■■ A younger than me and one day when we were very small, father took us to his store-house where he kept supplies of shoes, drygoods and whatnot for his family. He was going to give us each a pair of shoes. Like all little girls we went off delighted with the prospect of having some pretty new shoes. Father placed us on a table or counter, and took off our old shoes. He took down from a shelf two pairs of old ladies' shoes. I can see them now, low topped, wide soles, low heels. He put them on our feet, laced them up and tied them, then told us to walk. We were horrified. I kept a stiff up- per lip but I saw that Sarah was weakening. Father gave one of his characteristic laughs, sat us up on the table again and took them off. Then he put on our feet some shoes that were anything but pret- ty, but they came somewhere near fitting us, and we went home re- joicing. This puzzled me for a long time. Why should my father who seemed to know everything take the time to put such shoes on the feet of two little girls when anyone could see that they would not do at all? It finally dawned upon me that had he, in the first place, given us the shoes that final- ly pleased us we would have been greatly disappointed. But afte* our first shock we went away hap- py and contented. It was a won- derful lesson he taught us two lit- tle girls who were then too young to comprehend its meaning. He must have known that the day would come when we would un- derstand. He gave us the best he had and through his wonderful understanding made us happy. "COLLOWING an accident, the direct cause of his death which occurred a few weeks later, he sent for his children to meet him at his headquarters (the "Big House," as we used to call it) on North Main, for he wished to talk to them. I was too young to remember the language he used or exactly what he said, but this is the impression that was made upon my mind: He did not expect to be with us long, and was going to heaven, where he would build beautiful white homes for his family. That impression stayed with me and has always been so vivid that until this day, when I pass a beautiful white house, I can see my father as he looked on that day so long ago, and I recall the picture which I be- held in my imagination of the beautiful white homes which my father would build for us. Shortly after this my mother was taken seriously ill. I remem- ber one day, as father sat by her bedside, he seemed very much de- pressed. He bowed his head and the tears coursed down his cheeks. Perhaps he had a premonition that he was about to leave us and his heart ached for the widows and fatherless. I stood near, watching him and witnessing his grief, and my heart went out to him in such love and yearning that I could scarcely control myself, and I re- solved in my heart that I would always try to honor his name. When he got up to leave, he put his arms around me and with love and tenderness pressed me to his bosom. I wondered if he knew what I was thinking. Just a day or two after this he was stricken with paralysis, the final result of his accident, and from this he never recovered. XJ OW well I remember the day of the funeral! As the pro- cession was about to leave for the tabernacle, the rain was coming down in torrents. The draping in the building was all in black, the coffin was elevated in the aisle and was covered with a black pall. One beautiful scene connected with the event helped to assuage our grief and seemed to betoken to our lonely hearts that even though he were dead we would meet him again. Apostle Whitney describes this beautiful scene: "And now occurred a remark- able, though purely natural, phe- nomenon. As the first clods of earth fell upon the coffin, the set- ting sun burst forth from his cloudy covering, shedding a golden halo of glory upon the scene, while instantaneously in the eastern hori- zon appeared a rainbow, the bright and beauteous token of promise, directly spanning the grave. It was no illusion; and as the last parti- cles of mother earth were gathered above the still bosom that slept below, the rainbow dissolved." A ND now as I am nearing the 1 *• end of the way, the twilight of my life in this beautiful world, after varied experiences of three score years and ten, my heart is filled with praise and gratitude to my Father above for the many blessings that have been mine. I feel with all my soul that when the summons comes, "My child, this night I require thy soul, thy mortal life is at an end," and I have passed the portals, that I will meet my earthly father again with a tender and loving embrace, just as I hope eventually to meet my Heavenly Father at the end of the road. In my mind I hear them both say, "My daughter, you have passed through tribulations, and have been true and faithful. Wel- come home!" And now, as I await the final call, when the Lord wants me, the greatest desire of my heart, above health, wealth, posi- tion and all else besides, is that my children will be true and faithful to the Gospel, and that when they pass from this world of action they will merit the meeting with their earthly father agaim who is indeed a prince of the most High God, and he will welcome them home with joy and satisfaction.