The Smith family. Her financial state was precarious because there had not been a clear line between the family money and the church money, with Joseph often going into debt to help support the church. She carried two children while two others hung on to her skirt. The way that current materials deal with the conflict with Brigham Young is . [90] Diaries of William Huntington, 8; Isaac Leany Petition in Johnson, ed., Mormon Redress Petitions, 485. The author analyzes such factors as social/political issues, gender, race . Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. It does not store any personal data. [23] Heber Quincy Hale, Bishop Jonathan H. Hale of Nauvoo: His Life and Ministry (Salt Lake City: the author, 1938), 64. The family filled the cart with corn. It does not store any personal data. Newel prayed for help, for I knew not how to extricate myself but as I had never been forsaken by my Heavenly Father I commited myself and family into his care. For a week they were stranded, but finally a man asked his son to drive the Knights the rest of the way. This made the poisoning accusation plausible for him. Also there were Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith, who were soon to be ordained as Apostles. [29] Smith, History of the Church, 3:249. This is why, according to Delewski, the movie "Emma Smith: My Story" shows her outriding Joseph Smith. At least one man escaped west to Fort Leavenworth. [108] According to calculations found in Samuel H. Williamson, Six Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1790 to Present, MeasuringWorth, 2008, a dollar in the year 2007 is 29.99 times what a dollar is 1839 was worth based on consumer price indexes. Why did Emma Smith leave the LDS Church? [70] John Taylor, Brigham Young, Isaac Higbee, Israel Barlow, John P. Greene to Dear Brethren, March 29, 1839, at Quincy, reprinted in Kate B. Carter, comp., Our Pioneer Heritage (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1960), 3:122. Emma did not learn about their deaths until 10:00 p.m. that same evening. Conflicts between church members and neighbors also continued to escalate, and eventually Young made the decision to relocate the church to the Salt Lake Valley. Those who hired him found him to be the best employee theyd ever hired. She joined in his efforts to protect them from thieves and acted on occasion as his scribe. Mormon leaders have acknowledged for the first time that the church's founder and prophet, Joseph Smith, portrayed in church materials as a loyal partner to his loving spouse Emma . And when people say she was wrong for remaining in Nauvoo, they are implying they know what she should have done," Richard Delewski said at the Sunstone Symposium on Aug. 13. [37] David Rogers Report, 1839, in William Rogers and Elizabeth Bessie Ritchie with Their Ancestors and Descendants (Salt Lake City: Leo R. Rogers, 1981), 230. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. When the family arrived opposite Quincy, they became ice bound for two weeks. While they waited, a Brother Brunson came from Quincy and asked campers to donate their outfits to go back and assist in removing the poor. "[2], Furthermore, Brigham and Emma did not agree on the disposition of Joseph's estate. [51] Elder Heber C. Kimball sent his family with the Youngs. [35], On February 11 the committee accepted applications for assistance, and the next day they appointed Theodore Turley to superintend the management of the teams provided for removing the poor. The plan was for some wagons to go east, unload passengers and belongings at the Mississippi, and then return empty to help others move out. Her first three died so quickly they were not even named. Latest from Mormon Land: Slowest church growth since 1857; 'surprise Green, a Quincy innkeeper and cousin by marriage to Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, encouraged the Apostles and other Saints to come there. He told here where she got the poison, and how she put it in a cup of coffee; said he 'You got that poison from so and so, and I drank it, but you could not kill me.' [122] James Galligher Petition in Johnson, Mormon Redress Petitions, 218. Not six months before the death of Joseph, he called his wife Emma into a secret council, and there he told her the truth, and called upon her to deny it if she could. Joseph Smith Foundation director, author, film producer, speaker. . But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Thats likely why its content was acceptable for the Ensign nearly a century after the Church had begun distancing itself from polygamy. I understand Long meter and Common meter, but what is PM? Josephs death occurred on 27 June 1844. The religion he founded continues to the present day, with millions of global adherents. Joseph Smith in Northern Missouri, 1838 - Religious Studies Center So she made a deal with Abraham O. Smoot and Martha, his bride of three months. Holbrook left behind his wife Nancy, who a week later gave birth to their fourth child, and three small children ages seven, five, and two. However, I discovered there was a different attitude about Emma. Some of Emmas friends, as well as many members of the Smith family, alienated themselves from Youngs followers. [120] Levi W. Hancock petition in Johnson, Mormon Redress Petitions, 225. The sight filled my eyes with tears, while my heart was made glad at the cheerfulness of the Saints in the midst of their affliction.[66] He visited Saints on his side of the river who were camped in a sufering Condition with Cold, rain & mud & some want of food.[67], Fugitive Joseph Holbrook, two months after leaving his expectant wife and three children back on January 20, learned of their arrival at the Mississippi River late in March. Much business of consequence was accomplished during the day, Elder Woodruff noted, adding, It truly gave us great Joy to once more sit in conference with Br. Then he had to be very careful for days to avoid capture. One mobber shot a cow and, while it was still alive, skinned off a strip of hide from its nose to its tail, and tied his horse to a stump with it. After deliberating on the best means to finish the job, we have thought that considering the bad state of the roads, the expense of ferrage in consequence of high water, that the teams are all nearly worn out, and the brethren here very poor and very much scattered that the best solution was to forward the remainder of the poor brethren by water. By contracting with a steam boat, the poor brethren might all be removed at once and the Far West committee would be free to get out of the state. Babbitt would make Brigham's requests to Emma sound abrupt and thoughtless, and her responses to him selfish and defensive.[5]. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. When Saints pulled out of Far West, their houses, barns, fences, stores, schools, farms, farm equipment, household goods, livestock, and stored grain fell into non-Mormons hands. It's dangerous and it ruins lives, even if the members don't understand that that's what's happening to them. Emmas disappearance from LDS history was so total that Linda says when she and Valeen co-authored an article about her for the Ensign in 1979, it was the first writing about her to appear in any official church publication in 113 years. [121] James Galligher claimed he was exposed to the weather in which sickness followed & the loss of one of my Children.[122] Innumerable such examples can be cited. Mormons believe family life continues after death. They averaged ten miles per day. Your email address will not be published. . There are several reasons Emma stayed in Nauvoo after Joseph Smith's death, but a few in particular stand out. . My 11 year old granddaughter who is not baptized into the LDS Church wanted a poster after which we obtained and she visited with the actors and actresses. 1981), 23031. Her husband Joseph Smith had been killed in 1844, and after his death Emma Smith decided to remain in Nauvoo. rev. She comforted other women, instructed them, and helped them to build their own faith. the management of the affairs of the Church devolves on you, that is the Twelve . How many wives did Joseph Smith have LDS? The Thomases complied. [4] William G. Hartley, Stand by My Servant Joseph: The Story of the Joseph Knight Family and the Restoration (Salt Lake City: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History at Brigham Young University and Deseret Book, 2003); and William G. Hartley, Newel and Lydia Bailey Knights Kirtland Love Story and Historic Wedding, BYU Studies 39, no. After they left, the mob plundered thousands of dollars worth of property donated to help the poor move. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". LDS Church History documents that their mormon founder, Joseph Smith, lied to a large group of people about his having multiple wives. [6], In the exodus, Mormon militiamen were the first to leaveor rather escape. John, tall and strong, had fought off Missourians trying to block Mormons from voting. He had no steady occupation and was involved intensely with religion. So adamant was Emma on this point that the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held it as an article of faith, and Emma's children never accepted the idea that Joseph had instituted plural marriage. "Some people might say that something about her changed, and that is why she did not come to Salt Lake Valley," Delewski said. [94] Porter, Brigham Young and the Twelve, 14149. 343-362. He looked at Emma Smith's decision to remain in Nauvoo through the eyes of a therapist. The religion rapidly gained converts, and Smith set up . They formed the first wave of the exodus. These souls, by and large, were poor, bedraggled, and sickly. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. It was difficult, dramatic, sometimes harrowing, and only partly organized. Find out how to attend either in person or virtually: The winners of the Church History Museums 12th International Art Competition have been announced, and the artwork is breathtaking. All rights reserved. Their tough experiences produced definite impactsboth short- and long-termon Missouri and Illinois, on the course of the Church, and on individual members.[1]. According to historian Richard Bushman, Joseph saw polygamy simply as a way to join families together for eternity. Anti-Mormons had vowed to keep that ceremony from happening. Every thing my family took with them out of Missouri, could have been packed on the backs of two horses; the mob took all the rest.[52]. The oxen they had left could not pull all the load, so Newel unloaded part of his and Brigham Youngs goods and left them in the care of a friendly resident. Nearly three hundred made that covenant and signed pledges. Its seven members, soon expanded to eleven, agreed to move first the families of the Presidency and of the other prisoners. Then three hundred militiamen escorted them away to face trial and prison. Richard Bushman writes of the poisoning accusation: Through the late fall and winter of 1843 and 1844, Joseph and Emma's relationship broke down only once. Her love for Joseph was still quite deep, as was her love for her children.". [87], It is not known how many Saints temporarily took refuge in Quincy. In the past three decades, there has been more published about Emma Smith in official church channels, including the new Daughters in My Kingdom manual, which mentions her very positively as the founder of the Relief Society, and the Gospel Doctrine manual for church history, which holds her up as an examplesomewhat reproachfullyof how to support ones spouse. In that revelation she was designed the "Elect Lady" which Joseph later explained means one elected "to preside.". In order to do so, she crossed the frozen Mississippi river with two children clinging to her skirts and two in her arms. Food was scarce, and housing inadequate. The episode seems to have been a family quarrel between Joseph and Emmatwo mortals living in something of a fishbowl, under enormous pressures and strains. Illinois law at the time held that no church could hold more than ten acres of property, and so much of the church's properties were held in Joseph's name. [32] Committee of Removal members were William Huntington, Charles Bird, Alanson Ripley, Theodore Turley, Daniel Shearer, Shadrach Roundy, and Jonathan H. Hale. She was told that her calling was to be a support and comfort to . [123] Butler denounced the hard-heartedness that Missourians had shown his wife and children and Church authorities. When we came to within six miles of the Mississippi river, the weather grew colder, and, in the place of rain we had snow and hail. They walked six miles across low and swampy ground, sinking to their ankles in mud. Brigham Young and his family, with several others, Kimball said. Joseph quickly shut the door when he heard Emma coming, but Emma kept knocking and called out Eliza's . Emmas role in Mormon history is as enigmatic as ever. We had not the privilege of hunting our cattle and horses.[14] Newel Knight noted that because the Saints were unarmed, they became prey for small parties of armed men insulting our women, driving off our stock, and plundering. To him it seemed as though all hell was aroused to do us injury.[15] Newels cousin Reed Peck said that some horses, wagons and much other property were stolen from the Mormons by some of the militia who were villains enough to plunder.[16] By late November, most crops around Far West were unharvested, and potatoes still in the ground were frose solid. Soldiers rifled through homes, Albert Rockwood said, and our sheep & hogs, & horses [are] drove off before our eyes by the Missourians who come in small companies well armed.[17], In neighboring Daviess County, Missouri militia ordered all the Saints out and gave William Huntington and eleven other Mormons four weeks to round up the Latter-day Saints livestock, wagons, and personal property. FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A decision to continue to gather. About sunset we landed in Quincy, Lucy said. They reached Quincy on January 29 and found ourselves in a land of Freedom once more by the help of God and his blessings. Holbrook observed that brethren were continually coming to Quincy from the Missouri as I had done.[43] In late January, Ebenezer Robinson and three other men walked from Far West to Quincy through the snow.[44]. Bushman reports that Emma and Joseph had many intense discussions about his polygamy and their relationship was periodically strained. Emma Smith, My Story Removes False Traditions The CES Director asked Jeremy to send him a list of issues that had caused him to lose his faith, with the intention of helping him out. Are Joseph and Emma Smiths descendants Latter-day Saints? We finally got across, and we were so glad, for before we reached the other side, the river had started to swell and break up. I fitted up a small wagon, procured a span of ponies, and sent my Wife and three children, in company with Bro. Joseph was susceptible to vomiting anyway. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It was the anniversary of the death of the twins she lost in Kirtland. In order to understand this, we need to look at her personality and what she experienced prior to the death of Joseph.". In fact, he generally took another man with him or even asked a father or brother to approach the woman. Louis. Abraham O. Smoot became mayor of Salt Lake City and then Provo, president of the Utah Stake, and a promoter of Brigham Young Academy. A Quincy Heritage Celebration was held July 24, 1999. He told her that the judgments of God would come upon her forthwith if she did not repent. [63] Eliza R. Snow, an Immortal: Selected Works by Eliza R. Snow (Salt Lake City: Nicholas G. Morgan Sr., 1957), 1011. Among the stories are: Hidden Mormonism in Orson Scott Card's fiction, Anti-debt diva gives outlandish money-saving ideas, "Travails and triumphs" of Mormon mommies blogging, Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company. Mormon Church Admits Founder Joseph Smith Had Up To 40 Wives : The Two-Way : NPR. In conversation, he appears intelligent and candid, and divested of all malicious thought and feeling towards his relentless persecutors.[102], Joseph Smith quickly finalized plans for a new gathering place for the homeless Saints upriver at Commerce, soon to be renamed Nauvoo. 1 Why did Emma Smith leave the LDS Church? We were not permitted to leave Far West, Anson Call said, only to get our firewood. Joseph Smith. On Nov. 4th, astoundingly, Richard McCarty obtained a warrant for the arrest of the men who had caught him in the act of looting the Gilbert store, charging them with assault and false imprisonment. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. When a group of black Mormons arrived after a very difficult and painful journey fraught with danger and racial prejudice, their feet bleeding because they no longer had shoes, she sat them at her own dinner table and took them all into her home as guests until they could find work. [50], The Young and Kimball families. Along the way, he said he had to stop among strangers with my daughter who had given birth to a child on the prairie.[64] Elisha Whiting said his family was driven in the month of March through cold storms of snow and rain, having to make our beds on the cold wet ground which when we arose in the morning we often found drenched with water and then obliged to load our wet bedding into the waggon and move slowly forward.[65], About March 18, Wilford Woodruff, in Quincy and newly back from a mission, went to the river and looked across and saw a great many of the Saints, old and young, lying in the mud and water, in a rainstorm, without tent or covering. I being barefooted and the ice so rough, I staggered all over. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of FAIR, its officers, directors or supporters. After losing twins, she adopted a set of twins, but one died after being exposed to the cold when a mob invaded their home while the children were ill. One child died at the age of fourteen months and another died less than a year later. It notes, Many of them crossed into Illinois at Quincy and were made welcome by the people here. In recent years, several related commemoration events have taken place in Quincy.[113]. They say father was a fallen prophet. He finally broke with all organized religion. Emma did, from time to time, offer approval of specific marriages. She was not perfect, but what is amazing is that she was as perfect as she was given the powerful trials and persecutions she experienced. [72] Roberts, Comprehensive History, 2:3. In the meantime, Emma assumed that because these men represented the Twelve they acted on direct orders from Brigham. Not for Daniel Stillwell and Martha Payne Jones Thomas and their family. Many of them started from scratch and built up religious communities in Illinois and Iowa. On two additional occasions she was driven from her home at the threat of her life.". Five of her children survived to adulthood: Julia, Joseph III, Freddie, Alexander and David Hyrum. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 5 How old was Emma Smith when Joseph Smith died? The John Murdock family left on February 4 without any team or animal or carriage of any kind. They put Mrs. Murdock and the household furniture in a Brother Humphreys wagon. Susan Easton Black and Richard E. Bennett (Salt Lake City: Millennial Press, 2000), 134. 3 The process, like so many other endeavors in her life, As they moved on they found camp fires and tent poles already struck nearly all the way after this, apparently provided by the Committee of Removal. First, Emma had intense anxiety over the protection of Joseph's and Hyrum's bodies. The Saints' Forced Exodus from Missouri, 1839 - Religious Studies Center Joseph.[103] Perrigrine Sessions said that Joseph being there gave us much joy to see his face among the Saints and here the voice of inspiration that flowed from his lips this caused our drooping spirits to revive as we were like sheap with out a shepherd that had been scatered in a cloudy and dark day.[104] After Joseph heard the congregation enthusiastically sing the hymn Zion, City of Our God, Wandle Mace observed that Joseph rose to speak but had difficulty controlling his emotions: To look upon the Saints who had been driven from their homes, and scattered as they were, among strangers, without homes, robbed of everything, and to see them under all these trying circumstances assemble to this General Conference from all the region around, and sing of Zion, the city of our God, with so much spirit, showing their love and confidence in the gospel, and the pleasure he felt in meeting with them. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Delewski is a licensed clinical social worker with 25 years of experience working in mental health. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. [104] Donna Toland Smart, Exemplary Elder: The Life and Missionary Diaries of Perrigrine Sessions, 18141893 (Provo, UT: BYU Studies and Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History, 2002), 43. . However, the hymns Emma selected were particularly special. The second day we had to cross a long prairie, and were not able to reach the settlement. Many found refuge not only in Quincy but throughout Adams County and all over western Illinois. Mormon Takeover of the West and Why - stolenhistory.net [99] At that point the Saints exodus from Missouri was finished, and Governor Boggss extermination order had basically succeeded in removing Saints from northwest Missouri. Five reasons best explain why Saints moved during winter conditions: (1) by January, armed patrols were showing up and threatening the Saints, so in the January 26 public meeting the people agreed to begin moving immediately; (2) the Saints had been told that Joseph Smith would not be released from prison until they all had left Missouri, so the sooner that happened, the better;[39] (3) individuals were running out of food and supplies; (4) in February, Far West experienced some stretches of weather that seemed favorable for traveling; and (5) wagons going to Illinois and then returning to take others needed four to six weeks to make the two trips before the late March deadline. At other times, she found she could not handle the choices she had made, much as Sarah in the Old Testament first encouraged her husband to marry her handmaiden and then discovered it was more than she was prepared to handle. 1856Emma takes in orphaned Elizabeth Agnes Kendall, eight years old, and rears her as her own daughter . In 1888 a Lyman Wight cabin was the only building standing in Ahman, and by 1970 it was totally gone.[124]. An old man who was sympathetic to the needy Saints hired John to teach his children and grandchildren and neighbors children. With other refugees, she and six children ages two through nine accompanied their small wagon, pulled by a blind horse. he spoke to her in that council in a very severe manner, and she never said one word in reply. She taught school before she met Joseph Smith. When morning came, he and Abraham Smoot crossed to Quincy, leaving their families with the wagon. [22] Aroet Lucius Hale, age ten, recalled that while his father was helping others, My dear mother was lying sick in a wagon box in a tent.[23] James Carroll said that his family had to remain in an open frame in the Cold weather when the Snow fell in torrents and would Blow upon us in the Night and we with our Little ones would have to Crawl out of our Beds while the[y] were Coverd frequently with Snow that would blow in to the frame from the north and we had to endure it.[24] William F. Cahoon said, Both me and my family Suffred much on account of Could & hunger because we was not permitted to go out Side of the guard to obtain wood and provision.[25], After her husband John left, Caroline Butler faced three difficult tasks. Were most of her songs from her Methodist tradition, or did she draw more broadly? The leather binding, the marbled inside cover, and the worn pages are beautiful and unforgettable. [82] Bennett, Quincythe Home of Our Adoption, 92. In total, these petitioners losses totaled $2,275,789an average of $3,761 per petitioner. [37], Elders Young and Kimball kept in constant contact with the imprisoned First Presidency by correspondence, messenger, and visits. [55] The shoes belonged to the oldest boy, Morgan. Winter exposure and food shortages in Caldwell County and during exodus caused health problems for many and a host of deaths during 1839. [108] The extended Knight familys losses were at least $14,562, or about $320,000 in todays currency. Later witnesses would be permitted to view the plates, but God asked Emma to accept them on faith, a testimony that God recognized her as a woman of great faith. He told the Butlers to go to his butcher shop and take meat when they wanted some. When the man saw the Saints plight, he told his tenants to go elsewhere, for the Mormons were coming and they had no place to go and he was going to let his apartments to them. He invited John to bring his family up to one of his houses where they could live for a while. The river froze over & we were obliged to camp close to the river 3 days and nights before we could cross in the boat, 6 waggons were with us at the time.[41], By mid-January, Saints were leaving Far West daily. What is the Truth about Emma Smith? - Mormon History Only his mother and sisters had shoes, but these wore out and became almost useless before they reached Illinois. Why did Joseph Smith marry women who were already married - LDS answers Emma and Josephs descendants grew up separated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.