Saturday, December 2, 2023

Thomas L. Kane's Patriarchal Blessing and "the new and everlasting covenant" not being plural marriage

  

Col. Thomas L. Kane, having desired a Patriarchal blessing, Elder W. Woodruff accompanied him to Father John Smith’s tent, who administered to him the following:--

 

Blessing by John Smith, Patriarch, upon the head of  Thomas L. Kane, son of John K. and Jane, born Jan. 27, 1822, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

“Brother Thomas, by virtue of the priesthood vested in me I lay my hands upon thy head in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and seal upon thee all the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant, even all that a father would desire his own child to enjoy; inasmuch as thou hast had it in thy heart to promote the interest of the children of men the Lord, thy God, is well pleased with thine exertions, he hath given his angel’s charge over thee to guard thee in times of danger, to deliver thee out of all thy troubles and defend thee from all thine enemies, not a hair of thy head shall ever fall by the hand of an enemy, for thou art called to do a great work on the earth and thou shalt be blest in all thine undertakings, thy name shall be had in honorable remembrance among the saints to all generations.

 

Thou shalt have a companion to comfort thy heart to sustain thee in all thy trials, thou shalt raise up sons and daughters that shall be esteemed the excellent of the earth, they shall be very mighty in the house of Israel and shall have power to accomplish every purpose of their hearts, no power on earth shall stay thine hand, and thou shalt be clothed with all the power of the priesthood in its fullness, thou shalt be able to unfold all the hidden mysteries of the Redeemer’s kingdom to understand the laws by which the most High governs his vast dominions in due time through obedience in keeping the commandments of the Lord, thou shalt have power to rule and govern the work of thine hands as the most High governs His, for I seal upon thee all the blessing of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, thou shalt stand at the head of a numerous people, like Jacob, for thou art of the house of Joseph and of the blood of Ephraim, and I seal upon thee and thy posterity the same blessings that Jacob sealed upon the sons of Joseph, which is thy right through the lineage of thy fathers, which has been handed down to thee from generation to generation from the days of Ephraim, thy father, and shall continue in thy posterity until time shall be no more.

 

“This is thy blessing, brother Thomas, and inasmuch as thou shalt continue seeking the good of the Lord’s people, keeping His commandments, not a word of this blessing shall fail for I seal it upon thee in the name of thy Redeemer, even so, Amen.” (Brigham Young, September 6, 1846, in Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1846-1847, comp. Elden J. Watson [Salt Lake City: Elden J. Watson, 1971], 369-70, emphasis added)

 

Elden Watson, commenting on this blessing, noted that

 

This is an interesting precedent of a non-member of the Church receiving a Patriarchal Blessing. There is no record of Thomas L. Kane’s ever joining the Church, and at this time he was a Presbyterian . . . (Ibid., 596 n. 41)

 

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