1 The Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith Family, A Family Process Analysis of a Nineteenth-Century Household; A doctoral thesis in the Philosophy, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, School of Family Life, Brigham Young University 12/2001; p 21
2 Ibid p 79
3 Ibid p 8
4 Ibid p 8
5 Ibid p 9
6 Ibid p 9
Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith Family Values – Page 4
RELIGIOSITY
Religiosity can be classified into public and private.5 Public religiosity includes going to church, praying in public, social gatherings, service and outward charity. While private religiosity includes personal prayer and scripture study, a sense of relationship with deity and devotion to personal discipleship. Though modern studies link lower economic status with higher rates of religiosity they also show that higher rates of private religiosity increase a person’s capacity to manage conflict, rebound from crisis, and unify relationships regardless of one’s economic status. From a “values paradigm†it is perhaps beneficial to ascribe this to something more vital than a simple compensation for greater socio-economic conflicts.
Seen this way, religiosity becomes more than a coping mechanism or a behavior stemming from another value. The Smith Family’s relationship with their God seemed to grow more intimate and devoted with the passage of the generations, culminating in the sacrifices required, as they followed the course of their united religious movement referred to as “The Restoration†(stemming from young Joseph’s vision experience). In almost all modern analytical studies,6 a sense of higher purpose gives power to cope with difficulty and conflict and the resiliency to rebound again and again. But Religiosity seems to go beyond this.
It is the one value that seems to failsafe one’s efforts and desires to balance difficulty and success. All temporal things from houses to families, from jobs to portfolios, from possessions to positions, from churches to clergy are temporary in that they are vulnerable to failure, crisis, and frailty. When religiosity becomes the central value, all other values not only spring from it as part of their triad, but also find endurance through it. In linking one’s relationship with God to His infinite capacitating wisdom and purposes He becomes the stabilizing, non-corruptible center sourcing one’s strength, wisdom, intelligence, judgment, etc.
Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith Family Values – Page 3
FAMILY WORK
As one can see, the family values of family work and recreation also become strategies for internalizing family cohesion. It is through meaningful time spent together, that bonds are formed. When family members engage in work that yields a mutual benefit, not only is communication time increased but also a sense of common purpose develops, as there is a sense of mutual help, synergy, and accomplishment. If on the other-hand the benefit is unilateral, resentment may develop. Youth may not be capable of appreciating the long-term or even near-term benefit of family work time without help. The value-triad can be of assistance; the parent works to make sense using language and examples that speak to the young person’s understanding and feeling levels. Then short term benefits can be provided for those with short attention spans, after short work periods, like points that can add up to purchasing power of something they already value such as items, food, time allowance, etc. will complete the triad and grow within the child the value of family work-time. A garden will benefit the family budget but if a child has nothing to do with paying the bills the benefit won’t seem mutual even with explanations. The Smith Family worked together for survival. When they struggled financially all family members felt the effects. The oldest, Alvin, eventually found that he had earning power through hiring-out that allowed him to return and contribute to a new family home, barn, etc. with the desire to help the family “live more comfortably, particularly his parents.â€2 All family members caught this value of laboring together for the common good of the family thus binding them together in common purpose.
FAMILY RECREATION
Just as family work increases the bonding time between family members so it is with recreation. So why should we separate them as values? In a work atmosphere the relationship between family members is generally hierarchical: teacher-student, boss-worker, oldest to youngest, biggest to smallest, etc. Though this time together is a valuable bonding and learning time, the natural relationship hierarchy can prove inhibitory as well. While work primarily bonds the minds, and yields a product, recreation bonds the hearts and strengthens relationships. Of course there is overlap and what one might call work another considers recreation or relaxation. For the hard-working survival-driven Smith family down-time included; reading, singing, wrestling, jumping at a mark, stick pulling, cooking, work bees, quilting, family gatherings, letter writing, going to town, hunting, shooting, mock battles, dances/balls, picnics, pie-suppers, husking bees, parties, community feasts, national and church celebrations, barn-raisings, sleigh-rides, etc. The unstructured, and inherently enjoyable nature of these activities served to bond the hearts, improve the minds, and physically strengthen the participants, thereby increasing family cohesion. Some activities were serendipitous while family participants carefully planned others.
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
The enemy of family cohesion will be conflict arising from both within and outside of the family. If a family member feels used, cheated, conned, injured or otherwise abused in any intra-family relationship, personal justice or fairness most likely will become the driving value. Inexperienced family members driven by reactive impulses will engage in fracturing behavior unless conflict resolution, as one of the behaviors of the cohesion triad, has also been caught as a value (including its accompanying skill-set). It becomes not only a value that has potential cohesive benefits but is also a means to the personal benefits of solution-thinking that satisfies the need for justice in the eyes of the offended.
Someone once noted, “Easy work is hard work, done lateâ€. If conflicts are managed at the onset with cohesion as the motivating family value, then injury is prevented, avoiding the need to seek for justice. Add in the value of service/sacrifice, and the drive for justice can be transformed into a process rather than an event. For example: One sibling breaks another sibling’s cell phone. If the offended sibling values the relationship more than the phone and is willing to sacrifice immediate replacement while the other sibling repentantly accepts the responsibility to replace the phone, mercy will satisfy justice. That maturity won’t come naturally, but with time and consistent modeling, teaching, and experience it will grow and flourish under these shared family values.
Are there other skills that enable conflict management? We have noted that the willingness to sacrifice, and be patient are necessary values that all have thinking, feeling, and behavioral components.
As such, understanding that personal sacrifice is an investment rather than a loss changes the negative feelings associated with loss. The purposeful strategy, in which one then skillfully engages, enables long-term solutions. Results include enhanced cohesive relationships that bind family members together.
Patience likewise becomes a deferred gratification skill yielding valuable potential long-term benefits.
Though conditional relationships can lead to disappointments in the short-term, if cohesion, patience, and personal sacrifice are combined under the driving value of building other’s self-reliance then disappointment simply becomes a signal, calling for continued and different skills and effort. Part of the understanding component of the “building self-reliance in others†value is to understand that building others is a means of personal growth. Since building others always builds self in the long run, the feeling becomes that of a “get-to†attitude that enhances the relationship, even in the face of inadequacy, stubbornness, error, hurt, and loss. All intelligent beings are capable of growth when an effective influence strategy is discovered. When working to change or improve others, one must be willing to start with self-improvement. It is a behavior skill linked to the value of conflict management, and driven by the value of cohesion.
RESILIANCY
Even with the best conflict management skills, families can be overwhelmed when crisis occurs. Resiliency is a value that says, “We may be down but we are not done.†It includes the understanding that “failure is only an opportunity to start over with greater intelligence†(Henry Ford). Whether faced with “significant experiences or major life adjustments, such as emotional disturbances, unexpected changes, or major disruptive events (i.e., death, divorce, disabilities),â€3 the question of resiliency is one of why some families recover while others “break down or disintegrate under the same circumstances.†What “characteristics, types, patterns, supports, strategies, and interaction with the community lead to family recuperation?â€4 In our Smith family this process of financial failure, followed by starting over, was repeated with each move and each farm, from Vermont to New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois until there developed an “us against them†mentality that bonded them together even across the generations and long distances. Cousins continued, even in the face of religious disagreements, to visit each other, send money when needed, and communicate through letters. All of the values thus far discussed contribute to this deeply seated resilient nature of enduring families. That said, one additional value historically and statistically seemed to drive or at least enhance them all.
Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith Family Values – Page 2
I may understand the benefits of being honest to my self and the community but if I loved immediate profit more, and thought that I could get away with cheating or stealing, I would behave according to the profit value rather than the honesty value. Later when the thrill of acquisition was past and the need for trust became pressing, then being honest could eventually change the feeling component of my triangle sufficiently enough to generate honesty as a consistent personal value. This has been called “Values Clarificationâ€. We often gain understanding, and thus learn to love a principle, in the study or practice of behavior consistent with the value. In the effort to impart values, it has been shown that values are better caught than taught.
This planting “family values†into young hearts becomes ever more challenging as the world gains direct access to budding appetites through media and technology. That so many would directly seek profits using methodologies that appeal to appetite stimulation, regardless of the moral side effects, creates significant opposition. Research has repeatedly shown that adopting key family values, as exemplified by our ancestral Smiths, can dramatically assist families in this vital contest for the minds and hearts of the rising generations and protect our children from the critical generational consequences. Modern family science research has identified several key common values in successful, cohesive families that, like good trees, have been judged by their fruits.
In an effort to appeal to a large extended family with diverse belief structures this report will rely on secular sources with well-studied findings. Since a modern family counselor cannot diagnose the cause and effect condition of a historical family through the interview process, this report will center on findings from historical research mostly using that of Dr. Kyle R. Walker. He specifically targets numerous historical accounts of an effective nineteen-century family. Fortunately for us, this family is ours – the Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith family. His doctoral thesis is published in “A Family Process Analysis of a Nineteenth-Century Householdâ€. Quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from this thesis.
Families differ on so many levels that determining the success of one family as compared to another can seem like comparing mangoes to kiwis. But even diverse fruits can be judged by their nutritional value rather than their appearance. Though parental failure and success might be difficult to measure, there are well-studied characteristics and values, common to happy productive (measures of success) parents, children, and ensuing posterity. However, rendering a “failure judgment†also assumes that all efforts to assist family members towards becoming productive in society have ended, and that progress, or any hope of it, has ceased. Parents have not failed until they have given up, so a historical study can give valuable insights since the effects over several succeeding generations may be available.
From a well-established list of examined processes, characteristics and values, Dr. Walker identified six inter-related categories that were easily identifiable within historical records and don’t require an interview with the family to evaluate. These include cohesion (unity), conflict management (problem solving towards harmony), resiliency (ability to bounce back), religiosity (faith and works), family work, and family recreation (play, family together time, singing, discussion, etc.). On closer examination some of these could be defined as values while others seem to be strategies/behaviors used to implement the values. Perhaps that is because these values are so intertwined in creating successful families in that the behavioral aspect of one value becomes a strategy for implementing another.
It can be said for example, that a cohesive family is one that manages conflict effectively and is resilient after crises, and thereby successful. Though cohesion is itself a value, one can ask what values fuel cohesion and provide reproducible results in other families? Likewise, just as managing conflict and bouncing back are to be valued, they are also strategies towards cohesion. It can then be asked which management strategies are more measurably effective in both meeting stress and bouncing back from its culminating crises? For example, Dr. Walker noted that those families that valued religion (internally and externally) managed conflict and were resilient to life’s crises more effectively than those who were not religious. So though religious belief is a value it is also perhaps the “understanding-MIND†component that persuades family members to sacrifice personal benefits towards resolving conflict because they are motivated by a link to higher causes (More on this later.) Likewise family unity (a value) was enhanced as the family worked and played together – both values that served as cohesive strategies that enabled unity.
Though not strategically incorporated by our early Smith family as a result of any schooling, these specific strategies can be seen today as applicable for parents seeking direction in the ongoing battle for family effectiveness. For our purposes, we will call them Smith Family Values – though they were hardly exclusive to them.
COHESION:
Dr. Walker defines this value as an emotional bond between family members. In another study discussed by Dr. Randal A. Wright, this bond is amplified and strengthened when the parent is outwardly and verbally expressive.
This value produces a unified family where parents and siblings develop interpersonal communication, loyalty, service, and love. Today’s struggles with the realities of two-spouse employment, demanding children’s sports and lesson schedules, rising divorce rates, a variable economy, etc., family cohesion has been replaced with family survival. Which often degenerates into individual survival making family cohesion seem like a myth.
In the face of these realities one might ask if family cohesion is just old fashioned or if there are advantages that would help the parenting process, and secure the children into valued productivity. We note that many studies abound that show, for example, a young woman’s sense of security, modesty, self-esteem, etc. are all tied to her relationship with her father. Or, that a young man’s respect for girls and women, sufficient to over-ride his budding hormonal saturation, is aided by the respect manifest in the relationship between his mother and father. Children’s willingness to listen to others or share personal property develops through being listened to by non-judgmental parents who they see making personal sacrifices to provide for them. Their first lessons on charity, sacrifice, community service, and other cultural strengthening behaviors, which in the future will make them valued citizens, are learned in a cohesive family. If parents value family togetherness and unity (heart, mind, and strength) then children catch that value, for values are better caught through experience than taught with words!
Father and Mother Smith caught cohesion as a value from their parents. Asael Smith not only exemplified this value in his parenting but also spoke and wrote about it as he could see his life ending. He wrote:
…know one another. Visit as you may each other, comfort, counsel, relieve, succor, help and admonish one another… Join together to help one another. 1
The Mack family story includes successive sisters tending each other’s sick-bed over extended periods, brothers sharing large sums of money with sisters, etc.
The Joseph and Lucy Smith family history is rich with stories where this cohesive relationship was extremely self-sacrificing and binding. When one person struggled, all struggled with them. They were a very unified family, which allowed them to accomplish all that continues to influence millions for good today.
Perhaps a modern parent struggling with the common teenage desires to be with friends rather than family might ask, “What behaviors might encourage cohesiveness or unity?†Dr. Walker includes four different models used to measure family status. To augment a family’s cohesion-value parents might add the following connected behaviors: goal sharing; expressiveness; intra-family service/sacrifice; “work, play, and worshipping together-timeâ€; building others; listening; self-reliance; solution-thinking; justice; mercy; patience; etc.
To summarize this value, one might visualize again a possible component triad:
With consistency over time the value of family cohesion will be caught and lived as a natural consequence of the resulting lifestyle.
Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith Family Values
by Craig Frogley
What is a value? The Webster’s on-line dictionary includes:
Middle English, worth, high quality, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *valuta, from feminine of *valutus, past participle of Latin valēre to be of worth, be strong. First Known Use: 14th century
7: something (as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable…
What causes one thing to be valued or valuable, and other, seemingly desirable things, unvalued? Some things are so valued that we are willing to change behavior or forego opportunities to adhere to them. Things that may seem of value to some are passed over by others as worthless, either by decision or ignorance. For example the principle of honesty would motivate one person to forego opportunities to personally profit, while another would gladly cheat, steal, etc. in order to gain. Is it perspective or training, tradition or understanding that gives things or principles their value? The cheater, for example, might happily get paid more than something is worth, only later to find that he has lost a customer. He may find that he is always suspicious of others and consequently has created a culture of non-trust amongst his relations and contacts. Perhaps you want some benefits enjoyed by an acquaintance, but if you don’t see or understand the connection between the benefit and their beliefs and actions, you may be unwilling to discipline your own behavior (sacrifice other valued habits), and thus lose the desired benefit. If only you knew how to change a principle into a personal value, then it would become natural to you and the benefits would be yours for the long term.
One suggestion is to see the idea of “values†as a triangle:
Asael Smith Headstone Report
Dear Family,
A report on the Asael Smith Headstone has been posted to:
Headstone Report
Because of the many donations from the Smith family this work was accomplished. We thank you. Many thanks to James Long for donating his skills and time. In addition to the financial donations for this project all time and travel expenses were donated by those who participated. There are many more projects where our family will make a difference. We want to continue sending a printed newsletter each year. All of these projects need additional support. If you would still like to donate to the work being done by the family you can by going to:
http://josephsmithsr.org/products-page/.
Thanks for all your help.
Frances Orton
Asael Smith Headstone Report
Dear Family,
A report on the Asael Smith Headstone has been posted to:
http://www.josephsmithsr.org/sites/default/files/Asael%20Smith%20Headstone%20Event.pdf.
Because of the many donations from the Smith family this work was accomplished. We thank you. Many thanks to James Long for donating his skills and time. In addition to the financial donations for this project all time and travel expenses were donated by those who participated. There are many more projects where our family will make a difference. We want to continue sending a printed newsletter each year. All of these projects need additional support. If you would still like to donate to the work being done by the family you can by going to:
http://www.josephsmithsr.org/node/34.
Thanks for all your help.
Frances Orton
History – Appendix 3
Brief Chronology of the Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith Family
(Emphasis on Joseph Smith Jr.’s Life)
1771-1856
New England
1771 July 12 Joseph Smith Sr. born in Topsfield, Mass.
1775 July 8 Lucy Mack born in Gilsum, N.H.
1796 Jan 24 Joseph Smith and Lucy Mack married at Tunbridge, Vt.
1797 Loss of firstborn son of the Smiths.
1798 Feb 11 Birth of Alvin.
1800 Feb 9 Birth of Hyrum.
1802 Spring Move to Randolph, Vt.
1803 Winter Move back to the Tunbridge farm (early in the year).
1803 May 17 Birth of Sophronia.
1803 Spring Loss of the Tunbridge farm.
1803 Summer Move to Royalton, Vt.
1803 Fall Move to Sharon, Vt. Rent farm from Solomon Mack.
1804 July 10 Birth of Emma Hale at Harmony, Pa.
1805 Dec 23 Birth of Joseph Jr.
1806/7 Move to Tunbridge.
1808 Mar 13 Birth of Samuel Harrison.
1808/9 Move to Royalton, Vt.
1810 Mar 13 Birth of Ephraim.
1810 Mar 24 Death of Ephraim.
1811 Mar 13 Birth of William.
1811 Apr First in series of seven visions received by Joseph Smith Sr. (1811-19).
1811 Summer Move to Lebanon, N.H.
1812 July 28 Birth of Catharine.
1812/13 Typhoid fever epidemic. All Smith children contract the disease.
1813 Joseph Jr.’s leg operation.
1814 Move from Lebanon, N.H., to Norwich, Vt.
1814 Fall Complete crop failures for the Smiths in Norwich.
1815 Complete crop failures for the Smiths in Norwich.
1815 Newspaper reports of good land available in western N.Y.
1816 Mar 25 Birth of Don Carlos.
1816 June Crops are killed by series of untimely ice storms. “Year without a summer.â€
1816 Fall Move from New England to Palmyra, N.Y. (could be Jan. 1817).
New York/Pennsylvania
1817 Smiths purchase 100 acres of virgin forest land two miles south of Palmyra.
1818 Fall Smiths move into small cabin at north end of their Manchester property.
1819 Dec 23 Joseph Jr. turns fourteen years old.
1819/20 Attempted assassination of Joseph Jr.
1820 Spring Joseph Jr.’s first vision
1821 July 18 Birth of Lucy.
1822 Alvin begins construction on frame house at Manchester farm.
1823 Sept 21 Moroni’s first visit to Joseph Jr.
1823 Sept 22 Joseph Jr. views the plates for the first time.
1823 Nov 19 Death of Alvin.
1824 Sept 22 Moroni meets with and teaches Joseph Jr. at Hill Cumorah.
1825 Sept 22 Moroni meets with and teaches Joseph Jr. at Hill Cumorah.
1825 Oct Joseph Jr. hires with Josiah Stowell and works in Harmony, Pa.
1825 Dec Smith family loses farm by fraud and become tenants on their own land.
1826 Joseph Jr. works most of the year for Josiah Stowell and Joseph Knight Sr.
1826 Sept 22 Moroni meets with and teaches Joseph Jr. at Hill Cumorah.
1827 Jan 18 Marriage of Joseph Jr. to Emma Hale at S. Bainbridge, N.Y.
1827 Jan Joseph and Emma move in with the Smiths at the Manchester farm.
1827 Sept 22 Joseph Jr. obtains the plates from the angel Moroni.
1827 Dec Joseph and Emma move to Harmony. Martin Harris gives them $50.
1828 Feb 27 Martin Harris takes facsimile transcript to New York City.
1828 Apr 12 Martin Harris begins work as scribe for Joseph in translation of plates.
1828 June 14 Martin Harris takes 116 manuscript pages from Harmony to Palmyra.
1828 June 15 Birth and death of Joseph and Emma’s first son, Alvin.
1828 June/July Loss of 116 manuscript pages. Joseph loses privileges of translation.
1828 Sept 22 Joseph receives plates again from angel Moroni. A scribe is promised.
1829 Apr 5 Oliver Cowdery arrives in Harmony, Pa.
1829 Apr 7 Oliver Cowdery begins services as scribe to Joseph in translation process.
1829 May 15 John the Baptist confers Aaronic Priesthood upon Joseph and Oliver.
1829 Late May Restoration of Melchizedek Priesthood by Peter, James, and John.
1829 June Joseph and Oliver move to Fayette, N.Y., to Peter Whitmer Sr. home.
1829 June 11 Copyright of Book of Mormon obtained.
1829 June Three Witnesses see angel, plates, and hear the voice of God.
1829 June Eight Witnesses view and handle the ancient plates.
1829 Aug 25 Martin Harris signs agreement of mortgage to printer E. B. Grandin.
1829 Sept Printing process begins for Book of Mormon.
1830 Jan 2 Abner Cole begins illegally publishing parts of the Book of Mormon.
1830 Jan Cole’s illegal activities are put to a stop.
1830 Jan Palmyra citizens agree not to purchase copies of Book of Mormon.
1830 Mar 26 Book of Mormon goes on sale at Palmyra Bookstore.
1830 Apr 6 Legal organization of the Church at the home of Peter Whitmer Sr.
1830 June Revelations of Moses given-translation of the Bible begun.
1830 June 30 Samuel Harrison Smith leaves as first official missionary of the Church.
1830 Summer Joseph Sr. and Don Carlos go on mission to extended Smith family.
1830 Fall Joseph Sr. goes to debtor’s prison for a month.
1830 Fall Oliver Cowdery, Parley Pratt, and companions leave for Lamanite mission.
1830 Fall Great numbers join the Church in northern Ohio, including Sidney Rigdon.
1830 Fall Smith family moves from Manchester cabin to Waterloo, N.Y.
1830 Dec 10 Sidney Rigdon and Edward Partridge arrive in Waterloo.
1830 Dec Commandment given (D&C 37) to gather to Ohio.
Ohio/Missouri
1831 Feb 1 Joseph and Emma arrive at Kirtland, Ohio. Stay with Whitneys.
1831 Feb 9 Law of the Church given (D&C 42).
1831 Mar Joseph and Emma move to Isaac Morley farm.
1831 Apr Lucy Mack Smith and group of eighty Saints depart N.Y. for Ohio.
1831 Apr 30 Joseph and Emma’s twins, Thaddeus and Louisa, are born and die.
1831 Apr 30 Julia Murdock passes away in childbirth with twins.
1831 May 9 Joseph and Emma adopt Murdock twins (Joseph Murdock and Julia)
1831 May Lucy Mack Smith and group arrive in Kirtland.
1831 June Joseph Jr. and company start for Jackson County, Mo.
1831 Aug 2 Foundation of Zion laid in Kaw Township, Jackson County, Mo.
1831 Aug 3 Place for the temple dedicated by Joseph Jr.
1831 Sept 12 Joseph and Emma move to John Johnson farm in Hiram, Ohio.
1832 Feb 16 Vision of the three degrees of glory given.
1832 Mar 24/25 Joseph and Sidney are mobbed, beaten, tarred, and feathered.
1832 Mar 30 Joseph Murdock Smith, eleven months old, dies from exposure.
1832 Apr 1 Joseph Jr. leaves for Mo.
1832 June Joseph Jr. arrives back from trip to Mo.
1832 Sept 12 Joseph and Emma and Julia move to Newel K. Whitney store in Kirtland.
1832 Oct Joseph and Newel Whitney travel to Albany, New York City, and Boston.
1832 Nov 6 Joseph Smith III born at Kirtland.
1832 Dec 25 Revelation on war given (D&C 87).
1832 Dec 27 Beginning of the “Olive Leaf†given (D&C 88). Balance given Jan 1833.
1833 Jan 23 School of the Prophets begins in Kirtland.
1833 Feb 27 Revelation known as the Word of Wisdom given at Kirtland (D&C 89).
1833 Mar 18 First Presidency organized.
1833 July 2 Translation of the Bible “completed.â€
1833 July 23 Cornerstone for Kirtland Temple laid.
1833 Oct 5 Joseph Jr. leaves on proselyting mission to Canada.
1833 Nov 4 Joseph Jr. returns to Kirtland.
1833 Nov 25 News received in Kirtland of expulsion of the Saints from Jackson County.
1834 Feb 17 High council is organized at Kirtland (D&C 102).
1834 May 5 Joseph Jr. leaves as leader of Zion’s Camp.
1834 June 19 Arrival of Zion’s Camp in Clay County, Mo.
1834 Aug 1 Joseph Jr. returns to Kirtland.
1835 Feb 14 Organization of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
1835 Feb 28 Organization of the Quorum of the Seventy.
1835 Mar 28 Revelation on priesthood given (D&C 107).
1835 July Egyptian mummies purchased from Michael Chandler.
1836 Mar 27 Kirtland Temple dedication (D&C 109).
1836 Apr 3 The Savior, Moses, Elias, and Elijah come to the temple (D&C 110).
1836 May 17 Mary Duty Smith, grandmother of the Prophet, arrives in Kirtland.
1836 May 27 Grandmother Mary Duty Smith dies; Sidney Rigdon gives funeral address.
1836 June 20 Joseph and Emma’s Frederick G. W. born at Kirtland.
1837 Fall Apostasy in Kirtland grows rapidly.
1838 Jan 12 Joseph Jr. and Sidney Rigdon ride at midnight to escape danger in Kirtland.
1838 Mar 14 Joseph and Emma arrive in Far West, Mo.
1838 June 2 Joseph and Emma’s Alexander Hale born at Far West, Mo.
1838 Aug 6 Election held at Gallatin, Mo.-riot ensues.
1838 Oct 25 David Patten, President of the Twelve, shot and killed at Crooked River.
1838 Oct 27 Extermination order issued by Governor Lilburn W. Boggs.
1838 Oct 30 Haun’s Mill massacre.
1838 Oct 31 Joseph, Hyrum, and others surrender to Missouri militia at Far West.
1838 Nov 1 Joseph, Hyrum, and others sentenced to be shot. Doniphan intervenes.
1838 Nov 13 Birth of Joseph Fielding Smith, son of Hyrum and Mary Fielding Smith.
1838 Dec 1 Joseph, Hyrum, and others imprisoned at Liberty Jail.
1839 Feb 7 Emma and the children leave Far West for Ill.
1839 Feb Joseph Sr., Lucy Mack Smith, and extended family begin trek for Ill.
1839 Mar Revelations received in Liberty Jail (D&C 121, 122, and 123).
1839 Apr 6 Joseph and other prisoners taken from Liberty Jail to go to Daviess County.
1839 Apr 15 On way to Boone County on change of venue, Joseph and others allowed to escape.
1839 Apr 22 Joseph and Hyrum are reunited with their families at Quincy, Ill.
Nauvoo
1839 May 1 Joseph purchases the first lands for the Church in Ill.
1839 May 10 Move to Commerce, Ill., later called Nauvoo (Hancock County).
1839 July 22 Joseph arises from bed of sickness and gives blessings to the sick.
1839 Oct 29 Joseph leaves for Washington, D.C., to present grievances to the president.
1839 Nov Times and Seasons is published at Nauvoo, Ill.
1839 Nov 28 Joseph arrives in Washington, D.C.
1839 Nov 29 Joseph visits President Martin Van Buren: “Your cause is just . . .â€
1839 Dec Joseph visits Saints in Philadelphia and N.J.
1840 Mar 4 Joseph arrives in Nauvoo from Washington, D.C., trip.
1840 June 13 Joseph and Emma’s Don Carlos born at Nauvoo.
1840 Sept 14 Death of Joseph Sr.
1840 Dec 16 Charter for city of Nauvoo, Nauvoo Legion, and university granted.
1841 Feb 4 Joseph commissioned as lieutenant-general of Nauvoo Legion.
1841 Apr 6 Cornerstone laid for the Nauvoo Temple.
1841 June 4 Arrested on old Missouri charges.
1841 June 9 Two-day trial begins at Monmouth, Ill., before Judge Stephen Douglas.
1841 Aug 7 Death of Don Carlos.
1841 Aug 15 Death of Joseph and Emma’s Don Carlos.
1841 Nov 8 Dedication of baptismal font in Nauvoo Temple.
1842 Jan 15 Joseph spends time correcting proof for new edition of the Book of Mormon.
1842 Feb 6 Stillborn son of Joseph and Emma.
1842 Mar 15 Joseph becomes editor of Times and Seasons.
1842 Mar 17 Female Relief Society of Nauvoo organized with Emma as president.
1842 May 4 Temple endowment is introduced in this dispensation.
1842 May 19 Joseph elected mayor of Nauvoo.
1842 Aug 8 Joseph arrested for alleged complicity in Boggs assassination attempt.
1842 Aug Joseph goes into hiding.
1842 Fall Emma and children ill. Emma nearly dies.
1842 Dec 26 Second arrest in Boggs case.
1843 Jan 5 Acquitted in Boggs case.
1843 Jan 18 Joseph and Emma celebrate sixteenth wedding anniversary with guests.
1843 May 28 Sealed to Emma for time and eternity.
1843 June 13 Joseph leaves Nauvoo to visit relatives at Dixon, Ill.
1843 June 23 Arrested by Missouri and Illinois officers disguised as missionaries.
1843 June 30 Arrives back in Nauvoo.
1843 July 1 Discharged by Nauvoo court.
1843 Aug 31 Joseph and Emma move into new residence, Nauvoo Mansion.
1843 Sept 28 Joseph introduces fulness of priesthood ordinances.
1844 Jan 29 Elected candidate for United States presidency.
1844 Feb 20 Instructions given to Twelve to investigate place of refuge for the Saints.
1844 Apr 7 Joseph delivers King Follett discourse.
1844 May 17 Nominated for U.S. presidential candidate at Nauvoo convention.
1844 June 7 Nauvoo Expositor published.
1844 June 10 Joseph, as mayor, orders destruction of Expositor press.
1844 June 18 Nauvoo placed under martial law.
1844 June 22 Joseph, Hyrum, Willard Richards, O. P. Rockwell cross Mississippi River.
1844 June 25 Joseph and Hyrum surrender at Carthage to face Expositor riot charge.
1844 June 27 Death of Hyrum and Joseph Jr. at Carthage Jail.
1844 July 30 Death of Samuel Harrison.
1844 Nov 17 Birth of David Hyrum Smith, son of Joseph and Emma.
1846 Feb 4 Saints begin exodus from Nauvoo to the West.
1847 Dec 23 Emma marries “Major†Lewis C. Bidamon at Nauvoo.
1856 May 14 Lucy Mack Smith dies, having spent her last three years with Emma.
Chapter 53
William Law identified as an enemy of the Church. Joseph Jackson wants Hyrum’s daughter for a wife, is refused, begins to plot the murders of all the Smith family. The Nauvoo Expositor affair. Governor Thomas Ford arrives in Carthage, Illinois. Joseph and Hyrum are arrested, taken to Carthage Jail, and murdered by a mob of between one and two hundred men. Samuel Smith chased by the mob, receives injury, dies thirty-three days after the Martyrdom. Tremendous scene of sorrow at the family viewing of their murdered sons, husbands, and fathers. Church leadership set in order after Joseph’s death. Mother Smith ends her history with a soliloquy and a testimony of warning to her persecutors.
May 17, 1842 to July 1845
About the time that John C. Bennett left Nauvoo, an election was held for the office of mayor, and Joseph, being one of the candidates, was elected to that office. I mention this fact in order to explain a circumstance that took place in the winter of 1843 and 1844, which was as follows. Joseph, in organizing the city police, remarked that “were it not for enemies within the city, there would be no danger from foes without,†adding, “If it were not for a Brutus, I might live as long as Caesar would have lived.â€
Someone who suspected that Joseph alluded to William Law went to the latter and informed him that Joseph regarded him as a Brutus; and that it was his own opinion that he (Law) was in imminent danger. Law, on hearing this tale, went immediately to Joseph, who straightway called a council and had all that knew anything concerning the matter brought together and thus succeeded in satisfying Law that he intended no evil in what he had said.
About this time a man by the name of Joseph Jackson, who had been in the city several months, asked Hyrum for his daughter Lovina, for he wished to make a wife of her. Hyrum, not choosing to have his daughter marry a man who did not belong to the Church, refused for this and other reasons. Jackson then asked Joseph to use his influence with Hyrum to get the girl for him. As Joseph refused to do that, he next applied to Law, who was our secret enemy, for assistance in stealing Lovina from her father. Hyrum heard of this and came to me several times for advice. He said he was alarmed about her, that he felt worse than he did when he was in prison. Jackson went from one to another, wherever he could learn that anyone had any feeling against our family, till finally he succeeded in getting a number to join in a conspiracy to murder the whole Smith family. They commenced holding secret meetings, one of which was attended by a man named Eaton, who was our friend, and he exposed the plot.
This man declared that the Higbees, Laws, and Fosters were all connected with Jackson in his operations. There was also another individual, named Augustine Spencer, a dissolute character who, I believe, was concerned in this conspiracy (although his brother Orson, formerly a Baptist minister, was one of Joseph’s warmest friends). About the time of Eaton’s disclosures, this man went to the house of his brother Orson, and abused my sons and the Church at such a rate that Orson finally told him that he must either stop or leave the house. Augustine refused and they grappled. In the contest Orson was considerably injured. He went immediately to Joseph and, stating the case, asked for a warrant. Joseph advised him to go to Dr. Foster, who was a justice of the peace. Accordingly, he went and demanded a warrant of Foster, but was refused. On account of this refusal, Foster was brought before Esquire Wells, and tried for non-performance of duty. At this trial Joseph met Charles Foster, the doctor’s brother, who attempted to shoot him as soon as they met, but Joseph caught his hands and prevented him, and he was compelled to hold the man in this way above an hour in order to preserve his own life. Jackson and the apostates continued to gather strength, till, finally, they established a printing press in our midst. Through this organ they belched forth the most intolerable and the blackest lies that were ever palmed upon a community. Being advised by men of influence and standing to have this scandalous press removed, the city council took the matter into consideration, and finding that the law would allow them to do so, they declared it a nuisance and had it treated accordingly.
At this the apostates left the city in a great rage, swearing vengeance upon Joseph, the council, and the city. They went forthwith to Carthage and got out writs for Joseph and all those who were in any wise concerned in the destruction of the press. But, having no hope of justice in that place, the brethren took out a writ of habeas corpus and were tried before Esquire Wells at Nauvoo. With this the apostates were not satisfied. They then called upon one Levi Williams, who was a bitter enemy to us, whenever he was sufficiently sober to know his own sentiments, for he was a drunken, ignorant, illiterate brute that never had a particle of character or influence until he began to call mob meetings and placed himself at the head of a rabble like unto himself, to drive the “Mormons,†at which time he was joined by certain unmentionable ones in Warsaw and Carthage; and for his zeal in promoting mobocracy he became the intimate acquaintance and confidential friend of some certain preachers, lawyers, and representatives, and, finally, of Joseph Jackson and the apostates.
He, as Colonel Levi Williams, commands the militia (alias mob) of Hancock County. On this man, I say, they called for assistance to drag Joseph and Hyrum, with the rest of the council, to Carthage. Williams swore it should be done and gathered his band together. Joseph, not wishing to fall into the hands of wolves or tigers, called upon the Legion to be in readiness to defend the city and its chartered rights. Just at this crisis, Governor Ford arrived in Carthage. The apostates then appealed from the mob to the governor. At this time he came into the midst of the mob and asked them if they would stand by him in executing and defending the law. They said they would, and so organized them into militia and then demanded the brethren for trial upon the warrant issued by Smith (as he did not choose to recognize the right of habeas corpus granted us in the city charter). At the same time he pledged the faith of the state that the brethren should be protected from mob violence. Those called for in the warrant made their appearance at Carthage, June 24, 1844. On the morning of the twenty-fifth, Joseph and Hyrum were arrested for treason, by a warrant found upon the oaths of A. O. Norton and Augustine Spencer. I will not dwell upon the awful scene which succeeded. My heart is filled with grief and indignation, and my blood curdles in my veins whenever I speak of it.
My sons were thrown into jail, where they remained three days in company with Brothers Richards, Taylor, and Markham. At the end of this time, the governor disbanded most of the men, but left a guard of eight of our bitterest enemies over the jail and sixty more of the same character about a hundred yards distant. He then came into Nauvoo with a guard of fifty or sixty men, made a short speech, and returned immediately.
During his absence from Carthage, the guard rushed Brother Markham out of the place at the point of the bayonet. Soon after this two hundred of those discharged in the morning rushed into Carthage, armed and painted black, red, and yellow, and in ten minutes fled again, leaving my sons murdered and mangled corpses!
In leaving the place, a few of them found Samuel coming into Carthage, alone, on horseback, and, finding that he was one of our family, they attempted to shoot him, but he escaped out of their hands, although they pursued him at the top of their speed for more than two hours. He succeeded the next day in getting to Nauvoo in season to go out and meet the procession with the bodies of Hyrum and Joseph, as the mob had the kindness to allow us the privilege of bringing them home and burying them in Nauvoo, notwithstanding the immense reward which was offered by the Missourians for Joseph’s head.
Their bodies were attended home by only two persons, save those that went from this place. These were Brother Willard Richards and a Mr. Hamilton; Brother John Taylor having been shot in prison, and nearly killed, he could not be moved until some time afterwards.
After the corpses were washed and dressed in their burial clothes, we were allowed to see them. I had for a long time braced every nerve, roused every energy of my soul, and called upon God to strengthen me, but when I entered the room and saw my murdered sons extended both at once before my eyes and heard the sobs and groans of my family and the cries of “Father! Husband! Brothers!†from the lips of their wives, children, brothers, and sisters, it was too much; I sank back, crying to the Lord in the agony of my soul, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken this family!†A voice replied, “I have taken them to myself, that they might have rest.†Emma was carried back to her room almost in a state of insensibility.
Her oldest son approached the corpse and dropped upon his knees and, laying his cheek against his father’s and kissing him, exclaimed, “Oh, my father! my father!†As for myself, I was swallowed up in the depths of my afflictions, and though my soul was filled with horror past imagination, yet I was dumb until I arose again to contemplate the spectacle before me. Oh! at the moment how my mind flew through every scene of sorrow and distress which we had passed, together, in which they had shown the innocence and sympathy which filled their guileless hearts. As I looked upon their peaceful, smiling countenances, I seemed almost to hear them say, “Mother, weep not for us, we have overcome the world by love; we carried to them the gospel, that their souls might be saved; they slew us for our testimony, and thus placed us beyond their power; their ascendancy is for a moment, ours is an eternal triumph.â€
I then thought upon the promise which I had received in Missouri, that in five years Joseph should have power over all his enemies. The time had elapsed and the promise was fulfilled.
I left the scene and returned to my room, to ponder upon the calamities of my family. Soon after this, Samuel said, “Mother, I have had a dreadful distress in my side ever since I was chased by the mob, and I think I have received some injury which is going to make me sick.†And indeed he was then not able to sit up, as he had been broken of his rest, besides being dreadfully fatigued in the chase, which, joined to the shock occasioned by the death of his brothers, brought on a disease that never was removed.
On the following day the funeral rites of the murdered ones were attended to, in the midst of terror and alarm, for the mob had made their arrangements to burn the city that night, but by the diligence of the brethren, they were kept at bay until they became discouraged and returned to their homes.
In a short time Samuel, who continued unwell, was confined to his bed, and lingering until the thirtieth of July, his spirit forsook its earthly tabernacle and went to join his brothers, and the ancient martyrs, in the Paradise of God.
At this time William was absent on a mission to the eastern states. And he had taken his family with him in consequence of his wife being afflicted with the dropsy, hoping that the journey might be a benefit to her. Thus was I left desolate in my distress. I had reared six sons to manhood, and of them all, one only remained, and he was far too distant to speak one consoling word to me in this trying hour. It would have been some satisfaction to me if I had expected his immediate return, but his wife was lying at the point of death, which compelled him to remain where he was. His case was, if it were possible, worse than mine, for he had to bear all his grief alone in a land of strangers, confined to the side of his dying wife, and absent from those who felt the deepest interest in his welfare; whilst I was surrounded with friends, being in the midst of the Church; my daughters, too, were with me, and from their society I derived great comfort.
The Church at this time was in a state of gloomy suspense. Not knowing who was to take the place of Joseph, the people were greatly wrought upon with anxiety, lest an imposter should arise and deceive many. Suddenly, Sidney Rigdon made his appearance from Pittsburgh, and rather insinuated that the Church ought to make choice of him, not as President, but as guardian; for “Joseph,†said he, “is still President, and the Church must be built up unto him.†But before he could carry his measures into effect, the Twelve, who had also been absent, arrived and assuming their proper places, all was set to rights.
William, however, did not return till the spring of 1845, when, with great difficulty, he got his wife to Nauvoo. She survived but a short time after her arrival, for in about two weeks, to complete the sum of William’s afflictions, he followed her to the grave. Her disease was brought on by her exposures in Missouri, so that she was what might be termed an indirect martyr to the cause of Christ, which makes the sum of martyrs in our family no less than six in number.
Shortly after William’s return from the East, he was ordained Patriarch of the Church, in the place of Hyrum, who held the keys of that priesthood previous to his death.
I have now given a history of my life as far as I intended carrying it at this time. I leave the world at liberty to pass judgment upon what I have written as seemeth it good. But this much I will say, that all that I have written is true and will stand forever. Yes, it will stand before God at that hour when small and great shall appear to answer at his bar for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or evil, and there will I meet the persecutors of my family who are the enemies of the Church and declare with a voice that shall penetrate the ears of every intelligence which shall be present on that momentous occasion-when the spirits of the just and the unjust, the beggars and lords, the princes and potentates, the kings and emperors, the angels and seraphs, the cherubims and gods be called before him who is the God of gods and Lord of lords.
Yes, in the presence of all these will I declare concerning our persecutors, that for eighteen years they hunted us like wild beasts who were thirsting for the blood of their prey; that without any just cause they drove me and my family from our home in New York; that they maliciously cast my husband into prison and despitefully used him; that they, while he was there, plundered my house and sought my son Hyrum that they might slay him; that in consequence of their abuse, we fled again before them and went to the state of Ohio. Here they dragged my son Joseph out of his bed at midnight and beat him until life for a season departed from his body, and after he recovered, they still continued to persecute him and the rest of my family so sorely that we were compelled to flee to Missouri, where they again renewed their hostilities against my household, and tore my sons from their wives, from their little ones, and from me; that they were thrown into prison, bound in chains, and sentenced to be shot, and all this when my sons were guilty of no sin and had committed no crime or offense against the law.
I will testify to our Lord that after my sons had been in the hands of their adversaries for six months, they were compelled to fly from the state of Missouri into the state of Illinois in order to save their lives, for Governor Boggs had decreed that all Saints found within his jurisdiction after a certain time should be slain by the sword; that in Illinois, we were promised protection from murders and from mobs and we bought us homes and lived with them for a short time like brothers of one family. They were kind to us and we loved them, but the spoiler came, and certain who were not of our faith, joined themselves with the rabble of Warsaw, Carthage, and Green Plains, and they lied about us and scandalized us unto our friends, which caused our friends to become lukewarm and our enemies to increase, until at last they again seized my sons and cast them into prison and slew them.
Furthermore, I will testify before him who was slain in like manner that in consequence of all these wrongs, the gray hairs of my aged companion were brought down in sorrow to the grave, and he was caused to weep over his children when he was even dying because of the wickedness of their enemies; that the cries of widows and orphans have gone up to the councils of the great men of the land and the rulers of the nation, but they laughed at our calamities; and the hands of murderers were upon us, and we were threatened, oppressed, and despoiled by our enemies. We appealed to lawyers, judges, governors, and presidents, but they heeded not our cry, their pledges were broken, the laws were trampled upon, and the statutes and ordinances of the land were tarnished to gratify murderers, thieves, and robbers.
This shall be my testimony in the day of God Almighty, and if it be true, what will Lilburn W. Boggs, Thomas Carlin, Martin Van Buren, and Governor Ford answer me when I shall appear where the prayers of the Saints and the complaints of the widow and orphan come up before a just and righteous judge, who is not only our judge but the judge of the whole earth?
Say unto those who have suffered us to be thus abused, “Ye have not bound up that which was broken, neither brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost, but with force and cruelty have ye ruled my people; therefore, because ye ruled in unrighteousness, because you have robbers to devour my people, and murderers to steal and pierce the hearts of the defenseless in prison chambers and didst suffer fierce demons to rush upon them with fire and with sword to demolish their dwellings and destroy their substance; because ye had power to preserve the innocent and did not-you cannot answer because you did not take your future destiny to heart.â€
You suffered my husband and children to be robbed, imprisoned, and murdered until the cries of five widows and twenty-four orphan children were lifted to you in vain, and we are still chased before a lawless band from one kingdom to another.
Although I am now seventy years of age and a citizen of the United States, and although my father and my brothers fought hard and struggled to establish a government of liberty and equal rights upon this home of my birth, and although I violated no law, yet in common with many thousands equally innocent, we were commanded by a mob to leave a country or stay there at the peril of our lives.
Last of all and most to be deplored, those who are chosen to enforce and execute the law declare that the proceedings are outrageous but we must of necessity submit to them, for our countrymen have all become so corrupt that there are none to defend and maintain the sacredness of the law.
If this be so, well may I say with the poet: Oh, for a lodge in some vast wilderness, some boundless contiguity of shade, where rumor of oppression and deceit might never reach me more.
Let me leave the bones of my fathers and brothers, and the bones of the martyred children, and go to a land where never man dwelt.
Farewell, my country, thou that killest the prophets and hath exiled those that were sent unto thee. Once thou wert fair, once thou wert pure and lovely, when thy legislators were just men and the lawgivers sought the good of the people like unto themselves. But now thou art fallen.
The halls where wisdom and justice once dwelt, debauchery and despotism reign. Thy tables are filled with vomit and filthiness, and the hearts of the people with rottenness and deceit; but, oh, if there is left one in the midst of this sink of corruption in whose breast flows one feeling that warmed the heart of Washington, come forth, I pray you, declare yourself men, and spurn a spot which is so polluted that nothing can cleanse it but the judgments of him who is a consuming fire.
I bid farewell until I shall appear before him who is the judge of both quick and dead; to whom I solemnly appeal in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Chapter 52
City of Nauvoo established. Lucy’s severe illness. Death of a number of the Smith family, including Samuel’s wife, Mary; Don Carlos; Hyrum’s brother-in-law Robert Thompson; Joseph’s toddler son, Don Carlos; Hyrum’s son Hyrum; and Don Carlos’s daughter Sophronia. Joseph the Prophet put on trial in Monmouth, Illinois. Assassination attempt on ex-Governor Lilburn Boggs of Missouri. Joseph and Orrin Porter Rockwell are accused. To avoid false arrest, Joseph goes into hiding. Joseph is tried and acquitted in Springfield. Joseph is arrested in Dixon, Illinois. He is tried in Nauvoo, Hyrum gives sworn testimony, and Joseph is acquitted.
December 1840 to October 1843
In the month of December, 1840, we received for Nauvoo a city charter with extensive privileges; and in February of the same winter, charters were also received for the Nauvoo Legion and for the University of the City of Nauvoo. Not long after this the office of lieutenant-general was conferred upon Joseph by the vote of the people and a commission from the governor of the state.
In the early part of the same winter, I made Brother Knowlton a visit on Bear Creek. When I arrived there it was dark and I was very cold, and in getting out of the wagon, I stepped upon some round substance which, rolling under my foot, brought me round so suddenly, that in trying to save myself from falling, I injured my right knee. The cold settled in the injured part and the rheumatism set in. I suffered considerable while there, but I only remained about one week. After I returned home, my sickness increased. This, with other sickness produced by the same cause, kept me very low all winter, and for six weeks I had watchers every night. Sophronia and Lucy took care of me and faithfully did they watch over me. Never was a disconsolate widow more blessed in her children than I was in them. By their faithful care I was enabled, after a long season of helplessness, to stand upon my feet again.
The same winter, on the twenty-fifth of January, 1841, Mary Smith, Samuel’s wife, was taken suddenly away to meet my husband where parting shall be no more. She had never been well since she was driven with her infant by the Missouri mob into Far West, and that was the cause of her death.
On the fifth of June the same year, Joseph went, in company with several others, on a visit to Quincy. As he was returning, Governor Carlin sent one of the Missouri writs after him and had him arrested for murder, treason, etc., etc. Joseph, choosing to be tried at Monmouth, Warren County, returned the next day with the officers to Nauvoo and, after procuring witnesses, proceeded to Monmouth. Esquire Browning spoke in Joseph’s defense, and was moved upon by the spirit that was given him, in answer to the prayers of the Saints; and, of course, he gained the case. The opposing attorney tried his utmost to convict Joseph of the crimes mentioned in the writ, but before he had spoken many minutes, he turned sick and vomited at the feet of the judge; which, joined to the circumstance of his advocating the case of the Missourians, who are called pukes by their countrymen, obtained for him the same appellation, and was a source of much amusement to the court.
The Church was much rejoiced when Joseph returned, and many besought him never again to leave the city.
About the first of August, Don Carlos came to me and told me that for a long time he had suffered such distress in his side, that he thought the same disease had fastened upon him as his father had, and he feared it would sooner or later take him away. He was taken bedfast the same day, and on the seventh day of August, he died, and on the eighth he was buried under the honors of war.
On the first day of September, Robert B. Thompson, who was Hyrum’s brother-in-law and associate editor with Don Carlos of the Times and Seasons, died of the same disease which carried Carlos out of the world-supposed to be quick consumption.
On the fifteenth of September, Joseph’s youngest son, who was named after Don Carlos, died after a long season of sickness and distress.
On the twenty-eighth of September, Hyrum’s second son, named Hyrum, died of a fever.
The succeeding winter we were left to mourn over the ravages which death had made in our family, without interruption; but sickness ceased from among us, and the mob retired to their homes.
On the sixth of May, 1842, some assassin attempted to shoot Lilburn W. Boggs, ex-governor of Missouri, and in a trice the cry went forth that “Joe Smith†had shot Governor Boggs. But, as Joseph was on that day at an officer’s drill in Nauvoo, several hundred miles from where Boggs resided, and was seen by hundreds, and, on the day following, at a public training, where thousands of witnesses beheld him, we supposed that the crime being charged upon him was such an outrage upon common sense that when his persecutors became apprised of these facts, they would cease to accuse him. But in this we were disappointed, for when they found it impossible to sustain the charge in this shape, they preferred it in another, in order to make it more probable. They now accused my son of sending O. P. Rockwell into Missouri with orders to shoot the ex-governor, and from this time they pursued both Joseph and Porter with all diligence, till they succeeded in getting the latter into jail in Missouri.
Joseph, not choosing to fall into their hands, fled from the city and secreted himself sometimes in one place, sometimes in another. He generally kept some friends with him, in whom he had confidence, who came frequently to the city. Thus communication was kept up between Joseph, his family, and the Church. At this time Brother John Taylor lay very sick of the fever and was so reduced that he was not able to stand upon his feet. Joseph visited him and, after telling him that he wished to start that night on a journey of fifty miles, requested Brother Taylor to accompany him, saying if he would do so he would be able to ride the whole way. Brother Taylor believing this, they set out together and performed the journey with ease.
This time Joseph remained away two weeks, then made his family and myself a short visit, after which he again left us. In this way he lived, hiding first in one place and then in another, until the sitting of the legislature when Governor Ford wrote Joseph a letter advising him to come to Springfield, with a guard sufficient to secure himself against molestation, and suffer himself to be tried for the crimes alleged against him, namely, that of being accessory to the attempted assassination of ex-Governor Boggs. Joseph went and was tried before Judge Pope and honorably acquitted. When he returned home, there was a jubilee held throughout the city. The remainder of the winter, and the next spring, we spent in peace.
About the middle of June, 1843, Joseph went with his wife to visit Mrs. Wasson, who was his wife’s sister. While he was there, an attempt was made to kidnap him and take him into Missouri, by J. H. Reynolds of that state and Harmon Wilson of Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois, who was a Missourian in principle. You have read Hyrum’s testimony and can judge of the treatment which Joseph received at their hands. Suffice to say he was shamefully abused. Wilson had authority from the governor of Illinois to take Joseph Smith Jr. and deliver him into the hands of the before-named Reynolds; but as neither of them showed any authority save a brace of pistols, Joseph took them for false imprisonment. He then obtained a writ of habeas corpus of the master in chancery of Lee County, returnable before the nearest court authorized to determine upon such writs; and the Municipal Court of Nauvoo being the nearest one invested with this power, an examination was had before said court, when it was made to appear that the writ was defective and void; furthermore, that he was innocent of the charges therein alleged against him. It was in this case that Hyrum’s testimony was given, which is rehearsed in a preceding chapter.
Not long after this I broke up housekeeping, and at Joseph’s request, I took up my residence at his house. Soon after which I was taken very sick and was brought nigh unto death. For five nights Emma never left me, but stood at my bedside all the night long, at the end of which time she was overcome with fatigue and taken sick herself. Joseph then took her place and watched with me the five succeeding nights, as faithfully as Emma had done. About this time I began to recover, and, in the course of a few weeks, I was able to walk about the house a little and sit up during the day. I have hardly been able to go on foot further than across the street since.
On the third day of October, 1843, Sophronia, second daughter of Don Carlos, died of the scarlet fever, leaving her widowed mother doubly desolate.