Lorenzo Snow, His Pre-Mormon Thoughts at Oberlin

So another review post. I’ve become fascinated by Lorenzo Snow. His thinking was deep, interesting and rather unique among Mormons. An intellectual among New England farmers, his success as a Mormon leader was due in part to remarkable inspiration and considerable hard-headedness.(grin) These two posts relate a letter from Lorenzo to his sister Eliza while Snow was studying at Oberlin College. His frankness and self-confidence show themselves, while ideas that would mark his later religious thought peak through. Moreover, it seems clear that he regards his sister as a worthy sounding board.

Part I

Part II

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Lorenzo Snow and Oberlin College, part II

The second part of Lorenzo Snow’s letter (March 1836) to his sister Eliza Roxcy Snow shows a thoughtful disposition and some interesting assumptions about human behavior. It also suggests his respect for Eliza’s thinking.

Lorenzo Snow – Mormonism and Oberlin College, part I.

The brilliant Lyman Beecher who held anti-slavery views (and whose children exceeded his own fame) was head of Lane Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1833. Beecher admitted a former slave to the school, which scandalized many residents of the city.

The following year, while Beecher was away from the school, rumors circulated that black and white students at the seminary were socializing on an equal footing. Mobs attacking the school became a real possiblity and the board of trustees immediately imposed what were essentially segregational rules. A large number of students decided to leave the school and eventually took up residence at Oberlin, Ohio and became part of the college there.

In the agreement that made the Lane students Oberlin students, color integration became a founding principle of Oberlin. It was in this environment that Lorenzo Snow (1814-1901) came to the school.