Delewski also explored the effect the practice of plural marriage had on Emma and Joseph Smith's relationship. He told the Butlers to go to his butcher shop and take meat when they wanted some. Its almost as if youre holding the hymnbook in your own hands. 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]. The five Apostles who were presentBrigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, John E. Page, and John Taylorordained Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith as Apostles and two men who had just been liberated from the Richmond prison, Darwin Chase and Norman Shearer, as Seventies. 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. "There's an image for you: a dark-haired 23-year-old woman racing down a country road, her hair probably flying in the wind, in order to notify her husband of an impending emergency," Delewski said. Though there probably was an argument, the poisoning accusation was unfounded. On February 19 the committee sent Charles Bird to visit Caldwell County and William Huntington Far West to determine how many families still needed assistance to move and to solicit means to help them. In order to understand this, we need to look at her personality and what she experienced prior to the death of Joseph.". Emma was a significant part of the church while her husband was alive. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Grant Building 5 How old was Emma Smith when Joseph Smith died? Emma Hale Smith - Biography - Joseph Smith Papers Her family was fairly well-off financially, and so Emma was well-educated for a woman of her time. "Every symptom of poison," Richards noted in Joseph's diary. When the Mormons left for Utah, she elected to remain behind. B. H. Roberts, 2nd ed. Mormon women have the specific responsibility to be righteous daughters of God; good, faithful wives; and loving mothers. [86], As soon as John Butlers family arrived, they had no place to go and it was bitter cold, John said. [22] William Huntington Diary, 7; Lyndon W. Cook, Joseph C. Kingsbury: A Biography (Provo, UT: Grandin Book, 1985), 61. We invite you to give back. Thomass version is in E. Kay Kirkham, Daniel Stillwell Thomas, Utah Pioneer of 1849, bound typescript, 26; wife Martha Pane Jones Thomass version in Kate Woodhouse Kirkham, ed., Daniel Stillwell Thomas Family History, bound typescript, n.d., n.p., 25; copies in authors possession. Mormon regard for Quincy. Has anyone seen the gold plates of mormon? - burungbeo.churchrez.org Caroline Butler, whose husband had fled Missouri in November, couldnt care for her four young children, ages seven years to two months, and drive her wagon at the same time. [11] Charles C. Rich, A Sketch that I was an eye witness to in the state of Missouri, holograph, Charles C. Rich Papers, Church History Library, Salt Lake City. A woman living in a nearby house ran to find out what was wrong. [36] With Joseph Smiths approval, leaders in Far West decided to sell Church properties in Jackson County to help raise money for the exodus. The leather binding, the marbled inside cover, and the worn pages are beautiful and unforgettable. He looked at Emma Smith's decision to remain in Nauvoo through the eyes of a therapist. "Women felt comfortable leaving their children in the church nursery across the hall," she writes, "because the caregivers passed background checks, earned a fair wage, and had a well-managed. We all just made it on the opposite bank when the ice started to snap and pile up in great heaps, and the water broke thru! Later, when Brigham Young was the prophet, the practice would be refined so that the first wife had to approve each subsequent wife, but as we also see in the Bible, refinements of new practices often come over time as prophets continue to pray for guidance. [125] Photocopy of order, filed June 25, 1976, copy in authors file; also see transcript in LDS Church News, July 3, 1976, 4. Some of Emma's friends, as well as many members of the Smith family, alienated themselves from Young's followers. On March 5, Bishop Edward Partridge reported in Quincy that ice had been running for three days so that no one could cross the Mississippi. . Why did Sidney Rigdon fall away from the Church? - TimesMojo Louis. He told her of the time she undertook to poison him, and he told her that she was a child of hell, and literally the most wicked woman on this earth, that there was not one more wicked than she. He crossed the river and found some hundred of the brethren waiting for the new ferry boat to be completed, which was done the next day. [106] Fortunately, 678 petitions survive. Joseph. When her son became an adult and headed up the Reorganized Church, as it was then known, she joined. Source: The Joseph Smith Paper Given these losses, it appears to me that Emma managed quite well.". Sister Emma cried and said that they [thieves] had taken all of her bed clothes, except one quilt and blanket, and what could she do? So Caroline and other sisters told Emma to send hers to Joseph, which she did, and they gave her replacement bedding for her family. Some church members inappropriately rejected her because of her rejection of polygamy and her outspokenness on the subject. 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. These may have been given as payment for teaching. [26], Some opinions downstate held that Mormons would not have to leave at all. Emma Smith would make tremendous sacrifices for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for her husband, and for the church. Carolines third task was to find some way to move the family and belongings from Missouri before spring. Im guessing something to do with the meter, but I cant figure it out! The author analyzes such factors as social/political issues, gender, race . Twice she undertook to kill him. [91] On April 18, when a group of anti-Mormons found him at the public square, they threatened to blow his brains out and tried to ride over him with their horses. Modern Mormons are beginning to come to terms with Emma as the elect lady God declared her to be in a revelation, but a very real and human one at the same time who fought for God as long as she had to before choosing the calmer life she longed for. What Do We Know About Mormon Leader Joseph Smith's Wives? Mercy should be the watchwordnot blood, not extermination, not misery.. John Lowe Butler, thirty, and wife Caroline, twenty-six, converts in Kentucky three years earlier, lived in Mirabile just south of Far West with their four children. The next day, Missouri troops brought Joseph and Hyrum Smith and five other prisoners into town in wagons to pick up personal effects and say good-bye. [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. Saddleback Church doubles down on support for female pastors, Mormonisms slow shift away from demonizing working mothers, Faith leaders urge Biden to sign executive order for reparations study by Juneteenth, For many congregations, wiping out medical debt has become a popular calling, More Jesus, less touching: 14 changes to the Mormon temple endowment ceremony, Real Housewife Heather Gay pens a juicy ex-Mormon memoir, How to stay Mormon after a faith crisis (if staying is what you want), Copyright 2020, Religion News Service. At the time, the First Presidency consisted of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith, who had replaced Frederick G. Williams as second counselor in the First Presidency in November 1837. . Brigham Young/Polygamy - FAIR [51] Ronald K. Esplin, The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve in Mormon Leadership, 18301841 (PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1981), 370; Times and Seasons, September 1840, 165. During this time, their relationship improved and Joseph may have agreed to stop taking on additional wives. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. William G. Hartley was a professor emeritus of history at Brigham Young University when this was published. "On three of these moves she had to leave behind most or all of her furniture. Finally, in some respects, the exodus from Missouri was a training exercise for the Saints exodus from Nauvoo seven years later. | April 1, 2022, 6:08 a.m. "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" often addresses Latter-day Saint issues, even though there are no fully active members of the faith in . [110] Smith, History of the Church, 3:349. View our community standards here. [107] Johnson, ed., Mormon Redress Petitions, xixxxvii. [56], The Hammer family. The additions were Elias Smith, Erastus Bingham, Stephen Markham, and James Newberry (History of the Church, 3:24954, includes 214 names of those who pledged). Her funeral was held May 2, 1879, in Nauvoo with RLDS Church minister Mark Hill Forscutt preaching the sermon. Her husband, on the other hand, had only a handful of years of formal education. She had sufficient faith to avoid looking at the plates even when they were in her bedroom or kitchen, although she frequently felt them and moved them out of her way as she worked. The Knight family. Emma, be patient, you shall have all of your children, he assured her gently. Six of 11 children had died: Alvin, twins Thadeus and Louisa, Joseph Murdock, Don Carlos and Thomas. [113] On February 10, 1989, Mayor Vern Hagstrom gave the key to city Elder Loren C. Dunn of the First Quorum of Seventy and declared February 15 the citys Latter-day Saints Day to honor Emma Smiths crossing for the frozen Mississippi River and entering Quincy. Why did Emma Smith leave the LDS Church? But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. In a remarkable twist of irony, her version of history is increasingly the LDS Churchs as well. The Joseph Smith Papers project explains that Emmas work laid a foundation for the continued role of music in Latter-day Saint worship. Emma contributed in creating a distinct identity for the church because this hymnbooks lyrics emphasize key tenets of the religion.. he spoke to her in that council in a very severe manner, and she never said one word in reply. Browse the pages of the original 1835 hymnbook. She is remembered for her unrelenting strength and ability to overcome hardships. More than 1,400 descendants of 1839 exiled Mormons came to Quincy and, attired like pioneers, represented their ancestors and walked across the Memorial Bridge to reach Quincy from Missouri. Emma and her family were forced to leave the state with the majority of Latter Day Saints. The refinement, the charity of our age, will not brook it. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". However, the LDS church cites Fanny as Smith's first plural wife, noting that the pair married in Kirtland, Ohio in the mid-1830s, when Smith would have been about 30 himself. [72] Roberts, Comprehensive History, 2:3. [Deseret News Weekly 15:364, 10/10/66, p 4-5 and 15:372, 10/17/66, p 4-5; MS 28:764, 774]) off-site. He was not sufficiently educated to write the translation of the plates, so while he translated through the Holy Ghost, she wrote his words. He also owned and rented out ten or twelve small houses he had built. Emma did not learn about their deaths until 10:00 p.m. that same evening. They reached the bank of the Mississippi in eight days and found the river frozen over. 1981), 23031. Social conversation and discretion were traits for which she was well-known. Her family stayed behind after the Saints went West, and Elizabeth eventually remarried, the same year that Emma remarried. LDS Church History in Ohio and Missouri Timeline | Historic Sites Emma: Because it was the price of faith. She was finally confirmed in August 1830. They started in February, but it was bitter cold, and they suffered fearfully, Caroline said. Brigham interpreted Emma's refusal to answer as an admission of guilt.. Delewski is a licensed clinical social worker with 25 years of experience working in mental health. 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. Taken from The Return, typescript, 243, Perry Special Collections. If they choose to remain, we must be content. Joseph Knights son Newel was Joseph Smiths close friendthe Prophet had performed his and Lydias wedding in Kirtland, and he had no followers more loyal than Newel and Lydia. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. In the future Brigham would have his own falling out with Babbitt and the rift would become so widely known that, when Indians killed Babbitt on the Western plains in 1856, Eastern newspapers erroneously reported that Brigham had ordered him killed. 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. She also learned how to cook and be a good host when her parents ran a boarding house. At least one man escaped west to Fort Leavenworth. Her heartaches were very real and would have been a challenge to any woman, particularly without the lens of understanding time brings. After his death she resisted encouragement to deny his role as a prophet. Fugitive John Butler, in Quincy, learned of their arrival, and he rowed across the river in a canoe, dodging ice. Many found refuge not only in Quincy but throughout Adams County and all over western Illinois. Her refined childhood and girlhood was not designed to give her the skills she needed in adulthood, and yet she managed nearly everything thrown at her. Religious founder Joseph Smith killed by mob - HISTORY [2] Leland H. Gentry, A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri, from 1836 to 1839 (PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1965), 27385; Stephen C. LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987), 15053. Following Josephs murder, Emma refused to go west with the Saints. 6, p. 408-412 it records an "Address of the Prophet" on Sunday, May 26, 1844 where Joseph Smith states: "What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only . Emma was the seventh of nine children. Emma Smith is one of the most fascinating characters of the Restoration. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Huntington estimated that in Daviess County the Saints lost nearly thirty thousand bushels of corn because of the militia takeover. [28] Greene, Expulsion of the Saints from Missouri, 8. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. In jail in Richmond were Parley P. Pratt, Norman Shearer, Darwin Chase, Luman Gibbs, Morris Phelps, and King Follett. Training experience for 1846 exodus. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Imagine, then, her familys concern when she developed a fondness for Joseph Smith, who was from a poor farm family and had almost no formal educationjust that which his father had given him at home with a small amount of traditional schooling. When eternal marriage was first introduced, many families carried out sealings with friends and those they wanted to be eternally associated with, not entirely understanding what the revelation meant.