Mormon Passage of George D. Watt: First British Convert, Scribe for Zion

by Ronald G. Watt

Nineteenth-century Mormonism was a frontier religion with roots so entangled with the American experience as to be seen by some scholars as the most American of religions and by others as a direct critique of that experience. Yet it also was a missionary religion that through proselytizing quickly gained an international, if initially mostly Northern European, makeup. This mix brought it a roster of interesting characters: frontiersmen and hardscrabble farmers; preachers and theologians; dreamers and idealists; craftsmen and social engineers. Althoughthe Mormon elite soon took on, as elites do, a rather fixed, dynastic character, the social origins of its first-generation members were quite diverse. The Mormon Church at its beginning provided a good study in upward mobility. George D. Watt, for instance, was a self-educated convert with both unusual, for the time and place of frontier Utah, clerical skills and ambitions to improve his status. A man with intellectual pretensions, he had little formal training but a strong will, avid curiosity, and appetite for knowledge. Those traits made up for what he lacked in schooling and drew him into what served as intellectual circles among the Mormon elite and, later, on the church’s disenchanted fringe. They also made him for a time essential to Brigham Young as a clerk and reporter but sent him into religious and social exile, due to a contest of wills with his employer that Watt had no chance of winning,. 
Reputed to have been the first of the many English converts to the LDS church, Watt’s repeatedly demonstrated ability to learn quickly made him an early master of Pitman shorthand, just then coming into use. Employing this skill, he made two important contributions to Mormon literature: First, he more than anyone created, based on that shorthand, the Deseret Alphabet, which now is a curiosity but then was an innovation that, intended to create a unique Mormon orthography and pedagogy, stands well for the broad attempt to build in Utah the wholly self-sufficient culture of the Kingdom of God. Second, his efficient note taking allowed him to take down the sermons of Young and other church leaders and publish them in the Journal of Discourses, an indispensible historical record. In addition Watt learned, thought, and wrote about a variety of subjects, from horticulture to spiritualism, which helped define him as a resident Utah intellectual. He eventually left the Mormon Church, but the records of his domestic life before and after that decision provide a rich portrait of the working of polygamous households, particularly complicated ones in his case. Despite his accomplishments, because of his potential, George Watt’s story is at heart a tragedy. His breach with Young resulted in social isolation, poverty, and rejection by friends and associates. He never, though, lost his sense of independence or his avid mind. Whether facing an economic affront or pressing, in writing, his own conclusions about life and God, he engaged the challenge where he found it.

Genres: Religion

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Teri]

I really enjoyed this biography of George D. Watt, written by one of his descendants. What first drew me to the book was that Watt was a scribe to Brigham Young for 30 years. He recorded the sermons of the early church using Pitman shorthand; as such, we now have the Journal of Discourses thanks to his shorthand captures. Watt had also taught Pitman shorthand to some of the early general authorities in the church, including Young.

That would have been an impressive achievement in and of itself, but I was amazed to learn that Brigham Young had an interest in reforming the English language and creating a new and more simplified alphabet. To quote from the book, "Young's quest to reform the English alphabet sprang from his desire to convert the entire world to a new gospel. Essentially he believed the Mormon people would be the catalyst to reform all aspects of life. Altering the means of communication could, as few other practical elements, effect a transformation in society." A Board of Regents was formed for the University of Deseret to create this new alphabet. Watt's expertise in Pitman came into play. The Board didn't always agree and there was much discussion in how to go about creating a brand new alphabet. Watt wrote, "As all organized things, from a grain of sand to a world, is composed of a congregation of isolated atoms, so language is composed of an assemblage of simple, pure sounds. It has therefore occurred to me, very forcably, that an alphabet should contain just as many letters as there are simple-pure atoms of sound." A couple different alphabets were developed but the board had a hard time agreeing. One was based on Pitman. But then they decided to create an entirely new alphabet, which was Watt's Deseret Alphabet. They felt it could be used for not only English, but any language on earth (they even tried it out in Cherokee while members were on missions in Cherokee territory). They developed spelling books, first- and second-grade readers, and the Book of Mormon in the new alphabet. A dictionary was begun but later abandoned for various reasons. Young wrote of the new alphabet, "It is believed it would represent every sound used and, in fact, is a step and partial return to a pure language which has been promised unto us in the latterday." For awhile, the new alphabet spread across Utah and classes were taught; there is even a gravestone in Cedar City printed almost entirely in Deseret Alphabet. The local newspapers printed scripture excerpts in Deseret every week. Young didn't like the type, however, and thought it too wide, so this ended in 1860. Young sent Watt to England to try to secure fonts for phonotype, but they were unsuccessful in obtaining it. By 1869 they succeeded in publishing 4 volumes but they were never distributed. Young died in 1877 and the general authorities after him had no interest in pursuing it further. Watt continued to try to keep it alive and was still working on it as late as 1868, but without published materials, it was difficult to keep interest.

Shorthand aside, I was also delighted to learn that Watt was a weaver, spinner and into sericulture. He believed sericulture was the key that would lift Utah out of poverty. At his and Young's urging, many mulberry trees were planted in Utah towards this effort (silkworms eat mulberry leaves). Many raised silkworms and produced beautiful silk, but ultimately it was too labor intensive and eventually fizzled out.

Watt was the first convert in England. His life spans the early years of the Mormon church, and because he was a scribe to Young, he had a front row seat to many of those early historical events. He crossed the plains to gather to Zion in Utah. He went from poverty to wealth to poverty again. He was a polygamist, and by the end struggled to support all his wives and children. He was a self-educated and accomplished man. Sadly, after so much service in the church, he was excommunicated. The trouble began when, while he was struggling with debt, he asked Young for a raise. Watt was offended by Young's reply and he immediately quit as his scribe, after 30+ years of service. To make matters worse, he invested in a business that directly opposed and undercut the prices of Young's ZCMI. Watt openly preached against Young's policies for ZCMI, feeling it was a monopoly and that the free market should be allowed to prevail. When Young told the members to not buy goods from "Gentile merchants," they stopped buying goods from Watt and he quickly went bankrupt. From there, Watt began dabbling in spiritualism, so it's not surprising he was excommunicated. He went from being a man of high standing in the community to an apostate and was treated as such. Interestingly enough, his wives remained true to the church. One of them asked President Woodruff to reinstate Watt's temple blessings after his death. Eventually they were, which is something I have never heard of before and didn't even think was possible.

Watt's life is a cautionary tale; he thrived within the protective arms of the church, but when he began to publicly oppose the prophet, he failed. Overall, this was a fascinating book that I couldn't put down! A print copy of this book is available, but you can also read the .pdf free on the University of Utah website here. If you want to get a good look at Deseret Alphabet, just go to Google Image and type in Deseret Alphabet. Also, Archive.org has many of the Deseret Alphabet publications scanned in, including the Book of Mormon. Also, try typing "Deseret alphabet" into Amazon's search engine... you will find many classics recently converted into this alphabet!

[Jean]

Lindsey called while I was reading this book and asked me what I was doing. I said, "I am reading the biography of my great-great grandfather." "Oh, that sounds boring," was the response. :)
Actually, this well-documented account of George D. Watt was fascinating to me. I had heard family lore of George Darling Watt all my life--the enthusiastic young man who won a footrace to become the first Mormon baptized in England. I had also heard how he had a disagreement with Brigham Young, which lead to his excommunication. This biography lays before me the amazing life of a talented man who I must have inherited my gray-blue eyes from as well as that exasperating curly hair. He must have smiled from the other side of the veil when his great-great granddaughter won the short-hand award her senior year in high school. His ability at shorthand made it possible for the church to have many of the early general authority's words transcribed in the Journal of Discourses. Sadly, I think I may have also inherited a stubborn pride that lead to a great man losing his way in his later years. I hope I can use this as a precautionary tale. How thankful I am for his faithful wives that persevered in their Mormon faith after George's excommunication and death!

[Blair Hodges]

This short biography of George D. Watt was interesting enough.