This Day In Gay Utah History October 28

October 28th

Camp Douglas, Utah circa 1864

 1864 It is rare to see the word “Sodomite” used in 19th Century journalism and rarer yet to find it in the headlines of the Deseret News.  The broadsheet was founded as the official organ of the Latter Day Saints Church shortly after the arrival of Mormon refugees to the Wasatch Front.  The weekly paper printed pontifications from the Tabernacle pulpit as well as more secular news. However, whatever was printed was carefully reviewed and approved by the Mormon hierarchy, in particular Brigham Young. Therefore an article on the murder of a Camp Douglas soldier for sexual assaulting  a Mormon youth  printed in October 1864 was more as a warning to the Gentile population of their precarious situation among the Saints, than as an accounting of salacious facts. Nevertheless it is the first public use of the word Sodomite in Utah. 

Camp Douglas

At the outbreak of the Civil War, California regiments were organized to protect the gold and silver fields of the west and to protect the overland mail routes between Salt Lake City and Sacramento. Utah had questionable loyalties and with Brigham Young refusal to let Mormon men enlist in the war, it was up to California to provide the men power. Two regiments from California would eventually be stationed in Salt Lake City on the east bench overlooking the area above where the University of Utah is located today.  These two regiments were the 2nd Regiment of California Volunteer Cavalry and the 3rd Regiment of California Volunteer infantry.  Camp Douglas was established in July 1862 to house the California Union volunteers. Their presence was also to deter the Mormon Saints from acting on any  notions of secession of their own while the American Civil War raged on.  After all Utah was a slave territory and Brigham Young made it clear that Mormons were not going to fight to preserve the Union.  Tensions between the local populace and the federal troops stationed in Utah were, to say the least, unpleasant for the next four years.  The soldier who was assassinated for his crime on the Mormon boy was a 25 year old man named Frederick Jones. Not much is known about him although he is listed as a farm laborer born in Illinois in the 1860 United States Census of California. He was a 21 year old single man working for Charles Minter Taylor who was a young prosperous farmer in the community of Lee in Sacramento County. 1860 Census Sacramento, California When the American Civil War began in 1861 both Taylor and Jones joined as volunteers for the Union Army as both men were natives of the Northern States.  

Charles Taylor

Charles Taylor joined the 2nd Regiment of the California Volunteer Cavalry serving in companies C and D and stayed primarily in northern California. Frederick Jones also joined the 2nd Regiment of California Volunteer Cavalry but he joined when the regiment was stationed at Fort Churchill in Nevada. Jones joined Jan.11, 1862 and was assigned to Company A which was stationed in central Nevada to protect the Pony Express Route and the California Emigrant Trail from Indian depredations. The adobe built  Fort Churchill was established in 1861 on the Carson River just south of present day Silver Springs, Nevada.  While at Fort Churchill Jones must have encountered soldiers from the 3rd Infantry which was also stationed there at the same time before being ordered off to Salt Lake City to build a camp there and establish a federal presence.

Fort Churchill, Nevada

Fort Churchill was very primitive and must have been incredibly hot and desolated and by September 1862 Frederick Jones is listed as having deserted on Sept. 7 at Cold Springs, Nevada near present day Reno. His motives for desertion is unclear and his whereabouts uncertain until the summer of 1864 when Jones appears in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The day after the Mormon Saints celebrated their Pioneer Holiday, Jones enlisted at Camp Douglas as a Private in Company G of the 3rd California Infantry in the Union Army on 25 July 1864. Three months later he was murdered.  On the afternoon of October 19th, while in City Creek Canyon, Jones encountered a 9 year old Mormon boy who he sexually assaulted and sodomized.  Jones told the boy he would cut his throat if he told anyone but he immediately went home and told his father Charles Monk Sr., who was the school trustee of the Eleventh District of Salt Lake City.  The enraged father took his boy  to Camp Douglas where in the Quarters of Company G, the boy  

General Patrick Connor

saw Jones. Monk Sr. then went to General Patrick Connor’s Head Quarters where the General’s assistance was solicited. An orderly was immediately instructed to bring the accused  soldier before the General, but on returning to the Quarters of Company G, Jones could not be found. After much searching Frederick Jones was eventually found, sitting in the extreme corner of the building “turning the leaves of a book.” Private Jones was said to have turned “pale” when he saw the boy and his father, but he denied the crime. He voluntarily accompanied Charles Monk Sr.  to the General’s Headquarters where he again he denied the charge. The General ordered Jones to be taken to the guardhouse and instructed the father to secure a warrant and let the civil law take its course .

Camp Douglas soldiers quarters

Private Jones remained in the camp's guardhouse until October 25th when he was brought to the city jail. The next day he was brought into court and questioned by Justice Jeter Clinton.  Jones again pled not guilty. He was returned to jail for the next three days until finally brought to trial on October 28th. Judge Clinton while believing Jones to be guilty released him due to the fact that Utah had no Sodomy Law to criminalize anal sex.   After Jones was released from jail he left to return to Camp Douglas. When he was at the southeast corner of 1st South and 2nd East he was shot in the back around 7 p.m. in the evening. Four shot had been fired but the ones to the back of the head and shoulder killed him. Mormon Bishop Edwin Woolley, grandfather of Spencer W. Kimball, was the first to find  

Edwin Woolley

Jones after hearing the shots and fleeing footsteps. Woolley found Jones dead and "weltering in his blood." Jones' body was lying in front of the residence of Horace Eldredge, Brigadier General of the Nauvoo Legion, from where two boys and a young man testified to having seen the flash of the pistol that killed Jones. The Salt lake Coroner recorded his death as an assassination.  Charles Hempstead, editor of the Union Vedette, called the soldier's death "A Horrid Assassination".
In contrast on October 31, 1864, Thomas Stenhouse, soon to be Mormon apostate, and editor of the Salt Lake Telegraph printed an account of the murder calling it "Death of a Sodomite".  His bias towards Jones was clearly evident when he wrote, “we have no crocodile tears to shed over him (Jones), he is dead, and we have not the slightest disposition to call him back again to change the manner of retribution. To give the details of his crime would be to besmear our sheet with facts so loathsome enough to crimson the face of the most barbarous of the human race.  We confine ourselves to narrative, our readers who want more information the we are disposed to publish can seek it elsewhere.”  

Charles Hempstead

 Hours after Private Jones was found, the Mormon police arrested Charles Monk  Sr.  for his murder.  Captain Charles Hempstead, provost marshal of Salt Lake City, acted as prosecutor in the murder case. The Captain repudiated any sympathy with the perpetrator of the "most heinous of heinous crimes,” while at the same time denouncing at the same time the assassination of Jones. Charles Monk’s defendant counsel, however, addressed the Mormon court and stated that Monk had an alibi at the time of the murder and “everybody being of the one opinion the court”  the defendant was discharged.  Private Frederick Jones was buried in an unmarked grave at Fort Douglas as per California Volunteer Records.

   

A few months after the assault on his son, records show that Brigham Young called Charles Monk in December 1864 to settle in Spanish Fork. One can not think but there was a reason to remove Charles Monk Sr. from Salt Lake City. Monk Sr., a Mormon polygamist, died 31 March 1920 in Spanish Fork at the age of 88 years.  Charles Monk Jr. died 16 February 1952 in Big Horn County, Wyoming at the age of 96.Charles Monk Sr.

Charles Monk Jr 1855-1952

1864 A Salt Lake City trial court dismissed sodomy charges against Frederick Jones, a soldier at Camp Douglas, because Utah had no sodomy law. Later that day, unknown assailants murdered the man for having molested an LDS youth  TBH Stenhouse Editor "There are persons in all communities who see no wrong in private vengeance-the mass may think otherwise, and deplore its execution, however culpable may be the victim. For our own past we should have preferred to have seen Frederick Jones gibbeted on the bench near the spot honored with the memory of Ferguson [Thomas Ferguson first white man hanged in Utah 1858] with all the paraphernalia of civil law around him, then to see him picked up off the side walk of a public street, with a ball in his body, but we have no crocodile tears to shed over him, he is dead, and we have not the slightest disposition to call him back again to change the manner of retribution. To give the details of his crime would be to besmear our sheet with facts so loathsome enough to crimson the face of the most barbarous of the human race. We confine ourselves to narrative, our readers who want more information the we are disposed to publish can seek it elsewhere. The crime charged on Jones was committed on the afternoon of Wednesday the 19th in a ravine between the city and Camp Douglas, after which he informed the boy that he would cut his throat if he informed on him. That evening the father, on learning of the boy's statement, immediately sought legal advice, and on the following day took the boy to camp and searched for the offender unsuccessfully.  The verdict accordance with the facts; came to death by pistol shots fired by someone unknown. An hour after the body of Jones was found, the police apprehended Mr. Monk, and up to Saturday evening he was held in custody. We got to the court room in time to hear Captain Hempstead, who was acting as prosecutor in the case examine the boy as to the where abouts of his  father at the time and if he ever had a pistol etc. Captain Hempstead  made a clear and succinct statement summing up the examination exhibiting that he had in concert with civil officers of the city made diligent efforts to track up the perpetrators of the deed that had closed the career of Frederick Jones; but there was no evidence before him against anyone. It was natural in seeking a motive, to let suspicion fall upon the father of the boy, or upon any friend who might feel an interest in the case-but there was nothing to show that Monk had anyway contributed thereto. The Captain made a very rational manly address, repudiating sympathy with the perpetrator of "the most heinous of heinous crimes," and as eloquently denounced the assassins of Jones. Defendant counsel addressed the court and everybody being of the one opinion the court discharged the defendant Monk. The case caused considerable excitement but very little if any diversity of opinion. Jones committed a monstrous crime, and no one has in any way sought to shelter him. Not knowing why Monk was seeking Jones at Camp, some of the Volunteers were rather ugly in speech, but on learning the facts, after his arrest, they were unmeasured in their denunciations. General Conner readily assisted the officers of the civil law and Captain Hempstead's manhood was greater than the lawyer. How Jones came to his death may remain a mystery at the present writing there is no clue to it, but there will be plenty of conjecture, no doubt, as is usual under such circumstances. There was some tall swearing and drawing of pistols on Friday evening and a great deal of bad language used which we would advise folks of that class to refrain from. A bad tongue inspired by whiskey is a dangerous thing out here." 

• The Monk Family-Charles Monk was born 25 January 1832 in Hampshire, England who settled in Salt Lake City and married in 1854. His eldest son was Charles Andrew Monk born 10 March 1855 and would have been 9 ½ years old at the time of the crime. Records show that Monk was living in Salt Lake City in 1863 but by 1866 had moved to Spanish Fork. Both father and son lived to a ripe old age. Charles Monk Sr. died 31 March 1920 in Spanish Fork at the age of 88 years as a polygamist.  Charles Monk Jr. died 16 February 1952 in Big Horn County, Wyoming at  the age of 96 years. [Ben, Clark Monk of the UGRA is a former resident of Spanish Fork (Palmyra) and he or his family might have more background information on this case. Thanks for posting this. I used to date another person of this clan long  ago, but I have lost track of him and have reason to believe (from other friends of his) that he could be deceased of AIDS-related causes. The Monk  family also gives its name to the "Monk's Hollow" area of Diamond Fork  Canyon where they once (and might still) own land. The aborted reservoir and dam in that area were to be the Monk's Hollow Dam and Reservoir. Monk's Hollow is the first canyon down-stream of the parking area for the  Diamond Fork Hot Springs to the south-southeast. Mostly useless information, I know, but interesting the historic connections . . .! Best Regards, Ruadhan]

1897 The boy Frank Smith found guilty of committing a crime against nature will be sentenced November 3^rd. Provo Daily Enquirer

1935 New York Day by Day by O.O. McIntyre [Oscar Odd McIntyre] The most auspicious up from the sidewalk hero of the night club is Eddie Gaar, the impersonator, now wrangling fat pay as a polished floor entertainer in evening gown and silk hat. Not many years ago he was a night club employee, but one of the most inconspicuous posts. He opened and closed auto doors for arriving and departing guests. Ogden Standard Examiner O.O. McIntyre 1884-1938 was a famed New York newspaper columnist of the 1920s and 1930s who cleverly combined a small town point of view with urban sophistication. For a quarter of a century, his daily column, “New York Day by Day,” was published in more than 500 newspapers

1977 Utah Supreme Court Justice Albert H. Ellett stated that pornographers were “depraved, mentally deficient, mind warped queers”. (The Rocky Mountain Open Door November 1977 Volume 1 No. 11)

1979 Salt Lake City’s Gay club Studio 8 has benefit show for The Boise Seven.  “Some of the womyn involved in the lawsuit against the city of Boise will be present” stated the advertisement for the event. The Boise Seven were women employed in the Boise Police Department who were fired for being suspected of being Lesbians.

1980- Salt Lake Chapter of Affirmations’ 3rd annual Halloween Party was held at Affirmation’s new home at 4th South and 2nd West.

1985 The Gay/Lesbian Alliance, a support group for homosexuals, was formed at Utah State University in Logan.

Mathilde Krim

1986 Nine different speakers came to Utah to participate in a lecture series on AIDS sponsored by APU. Dr. Mathilde Krim suggested that AIDS spread in the gay men’s community from tainted gamma goblin during the Hepatitis B experiments on gay men in the late 1970s.

1987- I was home by 7:30 and called John Reeves to say I was

Don Penrose

available to go shopping with him and then I called back this kid named Don Penrose who called me and asked for me to call him. He wanted to talk to someone because the Gay Hot line is not working. We talked for a little while before John came over and then I said that I would like to call him back when I finish with John. He said fine. I invited him to the Halloween Party. Anyways John needed to talk as well as be with me. He’s going through some difficult introspection about how committed he is to living a Gay Lifestyle.  His wife is telling him that he’s not really Gay. That he’s just lecherous and for him to repent and come back into the marriage.  It’s difficult having your world topsy turvy. You have to rediscover all your reference points. Anyway John dropped me off about 9:30 and I called Don Penrose back and we talked for two hours. He was interesting, articulate, and I think pretty together. He just needs someone to talk to about his emerging identity. [Journal of Ben Williams]

Jesse Helms

1987-The Human Rights Campaign Fund began running ads in response to an amendment introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) and passed by the house and senate to restrict funding to AIDS organizations which distributed gay-related prevention literature.

1987 Dr. Paul Volberding spoke at the University of Utah

Paul Volberding

about the pandemic nature of AIDS. Dr. Volberding is widely considered one of the world's leading AIDS experts. He cofounded one of the first AIDS-designated clinics in the early 1980s at San Francisco General Hospital. This clinic has evolved into the top-rated medical care facility for AIDS in the country. Dr. Volberding has served on numerous key national committees over the course of the epidemic, including the National Academy of Sciences (Institute of Medicine) AIDS Policy Review Steering Committee, National Institutes of Health (NIH) AIDS Drug Selection Committee, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases AIDS Clinical Trials Group Executive Committee, Institute of Medicine Round Table, and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group Executive Committee.

1990-During a campaign speech, US Congressman Jesse Helms referred to gays and lesbians as "disgusting people marching in the streets demanding all sorts of things, including the right to marry each other."

Mason Rankin

1992 The Salt Lake Tribune featured an article on AIDS activist Mason Rankin and his Kindly Gifts Organization that held meetings called Stitch and Bitch.
NY Times Obituary  Tribute

1997- The National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum condemned gospel singers Angie and Debbie Winans for their anti-gay song "It's Not Natural" and BET-TV for providing them with a one-sided forum to promote their homophobic views. Earlier in the year, BET-TV refused to air MeShell NdegeOcello's video "Leviticus Faggot," about a black gay teenager's struggle to come to terms with his sexuality.

Willy Marshall

2004  Willy Marshall Utah's Only Gay Mayor  Mayor of Big Water, awash in criticism, intending to stay put By Mark Havnes The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Tribune  BIG WATER - Willy Marshall is not going anywhere. The Big Water mayor vows that he will not resign the post despite a deluge of criticism he has been receiving from a group of residents who want him to quit. They say he is self-serving, unfit to run Big Water and makes many ashamed to say they are from the 416-person, south-central Utah town nine miles north of Glen Canyon Dam on the Arizona state line. The tongue-lashing for Marshall, elected mayor in 2001, was delivered by about 60 residents who crowded into the Town Hall on Tuesday night. Their complaints ranged from his recent firing of the town marshal, letting packs of domestic dogs run free and portraying the town in a recent The Salt Lake Tribune article as nothing more than a refuge for polygamists and pot-smoking political mavericks who disregard the law. "You should quit, resign, just go away," said one man, who identified himself as Rocky. "You represent only yourself, and I made a mistake of voting for you." Clarence Trent said government under the Constitution is of, for and by the people, and that laws should be administered equally – not by the double and triple standards he accused Marshall of practicing. "You are an embarrassment and disgrace to the town," said Trent. Former Mayor Tonya Roseberrie also accused Marshall, who is openly gay, of giving the town a bad image. "You have embarrassed the town by who and what you are," said Roseberrie. "You make me embarrassed to be from Big Water." Deputy City Clerk Jennie Lassen read from a prepared statement, saying that while Marshall has made mistakes, those calling for his resignation were misinformed and are trying to circumvent the democratic process by forcing him out - instead of voting him out at the election next year. Resident Sandy Blair read a letter - she claimed it represents a majority view of residents - asking Marshall to resign. No signatures were attached to the document. The letter says things he said in the newspaper have sullied the town's reputation. "We do not want to be the laughingstock in the national media," the letter stated. It then listed several state codes the residents believe Marshall has violated and concluded with a call for his resignation Marshall, who does not plan to seek re-election, defended his record as mayor and listed his accomplishments. His biggest, he said, is getting the tiny town's streets paved "I was elected to a four-year term and I am not going to resign," Marshall told the audience. "You can try and impeach me, and maybe that's the noble way to go out. I'll also accept the publicity that would go with it."

Dennis McCracken

2006 Michael Aaron: Hey there....Tonight's Salt Lake Men's Choir

Michael Aaron

concert went very well. My duet with Christian [Allred], well... I kinda messed up .. but the audience loved it when I mouthed the words "It's my fault." So, I was told afterwards that we couldn't have planned it better to get the audience endeared to us. We finished very strong. The whole energy of the choir during performance is much more vibrant and fun under our new artistic director, Dennis McCracken. So many people in the audience said that. We sold out and had to bring in more chairs - yaay. The Rhythm of Life  The rhythm of life is a powerful beat! It puts a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet. Salt Lake Men's Choir presents the first concert of our 24th season as "Utah's Other Choir" with our new artistic director, Dennis McCracken.  Saturday, October 28 Black Box Theatre Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center138 West Broadway, Salt Lake City

2008 Hate crime incidents reported in Utah

• Bountiful, 2 sexual orientation bias crimes.

• Centerville, 3 religious bias crimes.

• Clearfield, 1 racially motivated crime.

• Clinton, 1 racially oriented crime.

• Farmington, 1 race-related crime.

• Ivins, 1 crime involving ethnicity.

• Layton, 2 race-related crimes.

• Murray, 1, race-related crime, 1 sexual orientation-related crime.

• North Salt Lake, 1 crime involving sexual orientation, 2 ethnicity-related crimes.

• Provo, 2 religion-related crimes.

• Roosevelt, 1 religion-related crime.

• Roy, 1 race-related crime.

• Salt Lake City, 1 religion-related crime.

• Sandy, 1 religion-related crime.

• South Jordan, 1 religion, 1 race, 1 sexual orientation, and 1 ethnicity-related crime.

• Springville, 1 race-related crime.

• St. George, 1 race-related crime

• Taylorsville, 1 sexual orientation bias crime.

• Tooele, 1 race-related crime.

• Vernal, 1 religious bias crime.

• Washington, 1 religion, 1 sexual orientation, 1 ethnic bias crime.

• West Valley City, 6 race, 1 religion, 1 sexual orientation, 5 ethnic bias crimes.

• Brigham Young University, 2 religious bias crimes.

• Davis County, 1 ethnic bias crime.

• Salt Lake County, 1 race and 1 ethnic bias crime.

• Tooele County, 1 sexual orientation bias crime.

• Uintah County, 1 race bias crime.

• Weber County, 1 religious bias crime.

Hate Crimes on the Rise in Utah

2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, is an American Act of Congress, passed on October 22, 2009, and signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009, as a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010 (H.R. 2647).

2010 Cedar City Declines Anti-discrimination Ordinances by Joselle Vanderhooft The Cedar City Council declined to vote on two ordinances that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to its housing and employment anti-discrimination laws. So far, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Park City, Summit County, Logan City, Taylorsville and West Valley City have approved such ordinances. Salt Lake City and County were the first to do so in 2009. Cedar City’s ordinances, which are identical to those passed in other cities, would have fined landlords and employers who evict, fire or refuse to hire tenants and employees based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Businesses with 14 or fewer employees, landlords owning four or fewer units and religious-owned businesses would have been exempted from the law. Statewide gay and transgender rights group Equality Utah has been working to pass ordinances like Salt Lake City’s in at least 10 cities and counties by the end of the year. In Cedar City they have been helped by Southern Utah University’s Queer-Straight Alliance. Earlier this year, the student group held public meetings about the ordinances and had spoken to Mayor Joe Burgess and City Councilmembers about what the ordinances will do for their city. “We got on the radio, we got fliers out, we papered the town in an attempt to get as many people from as many backgrounds as possible to come and talk about the ordinances because no one wants to pass something they don’t understand,” QSA President Benjamin King Smith told QSaltLake

Ben Smith 

in September. “We’ve had a lot of people who have come to them wanting to know if they’ll be protected. It’s nice to have these conversations.” Throughout October, the Cedar City Council held meetings about the ordinances in which they allowed public comment. Smith said that these had gone over well. Councilperson Georgia Beth Thompson moved to approve the anti-discrimination ordinance on housing, but it failed without a second. Council members then discussed the possibility of a resolution that encouraged fairness in housing and employment and would study the city’s own practices in hiring and firing. That motion passed and will be on the agenda at the next council meeting. Thompson voted nay on the resolution, saying the council was “chicken” to pass the ordinances.