Albert J. Jones and Elder Banks' divine protection in York
Published October 13, 2026 at 6:01 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
During an open-air meeting in York on September 4, 1904, Elders Albert J. Jones and Elder Banks were surrounded by a hostile crowd of approximately one thousand people after a man confronted them regarding the Church and polygamy. Despite being physically hemmed in and separated, they were protected by onlookers and eventually escorted to safety by two young men, with a local preacher also interceding on their behalf.
In Their Own Words
“On Sunday, September 4, Elder Banks and I held an open-air meeting in York. We had a very attentive audience for about an hour, when a man came up and began to ask questions about the Church and polygamy. He soon had a crowd of about a thousand people around us. They began to push and shove us, and we were separated. In the excitement we were pushed about for ten minutes, but our friends stood by us and would see no one harm us. We finally got out of the crowd, and two young men, belonging to the ‘hatless brigade,’ had hold of my arms, one on each side, to see that no one harmed us. A local preacher also came to our assistance and told the people they should be ashamed of themselves for treating us in such a manner. We were finally escorted to a place of safety by our friends, and we feel to thank the Lord for His protecting care over us.”
— Albert J. Jones, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 66, No. 38
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 22 September 1904 (Vol. 66, No. 38). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1904-09-22_66_38 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, 22 September 1904 (Vol. 66, No. 38), page 604 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1904-09-22_66_38
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