Emma Smith was the wife of the first Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith. John Lowe Butler, for one, wanted his written record to stand as a witness against Missourians who were cruel to his suffering family during the exodus and earlier. Emmas role in Mormon history is as enigmatic as ever. When he was murdered, she bent over him and expressed her sorrow that they had taken him from her. After Joseph Smith died, Emma Smith moved away from Nauvoo for about six months before returning. Newel Knight had a wagon but no team. 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. 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. Soon after starting, her eyes became infected, so Martha Smoot walked beside her and led her along for five or six days. From there, refugees had to cross the South and North Fabius rivers and mudflats to reach the Mississippi opposite Quincy. Joseph Smith's death on June 27, 1844, created tremendous upheaval for Emma. With other refugees, she and six children ages two through nine accompanied their small wagon, pulled by a blind horse. He was a lieutenant colonel of the 32nd Regiment of the Illinois militia, and he helped control the violence being perpetuated against the Latter Day Saints. Tied to her waist were heavy bags containing Josephs papers. On February 19 or 20, Joseph Smiths parents, Joseph Sr. and Lucy, finally joined the exodus. When Elizabeth died in childbirth, young Elizabeth Agnes was leftwith her stepfather and, soon after, a new stepmother. Many found refuge not only in Quincy but throughout Adams County and all over western Illinois. 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. [86] Truman O. Angell Journal, reprinted in Kate B. Carter, comp., Our Pioneer Heritage (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1967), 10:199. 1) Formal Dress. [47] Dated entries in An Abridged Record of the Life of John Murdock, Taken from His Journal by Himself, typescript, n.p., n.d., Perry Special Collections. Nontraditional. Copyright 1997-2023 by The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved. These include the petitions for redress, prison letters, other correspondence, diaries, autobiographies and memoirs, pamphlets, newspaper articles, and a mass of official Missouri government records. The leather binding, the marbled inside cover, and the worn pages are beautiful and unforgettable. She led the Relief Society, an auxiliary for the women of the church that was organized to educate the women and to allow them to serve others. She stood by her husband even when they faced strains in their marriage. The Thomases complied. [97] Liberty Jail prisoners were Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, and Caleb Baldwin. Moroni first instructed Joseph to enlist his oldest brother, Alvin, to help him recover the plates. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. . The group then included one man, two women, and children ages seven, four, three, and one. [67] Scott G. Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff Journal, 18331898, Typescript, Vol. A test passed by the faithful. Emma knew better, but she also knew that a polygamous history would not serve her needs. At Far West on February 22, Eliza R. Snow reported that a man had just arrived from Illinois who had counted 220 wagons between Far West and the Mississippi.[60] If that figure is accurate, and if wagons helped transport an average of four people each, then the man had passed about a thousand Saints on the road. According to the official narrative, Emma stayed behind in Nauvoo rather than joining the majority of the Saints in Utah because she was a widow caring for five young children and Josephs aging mother, not because she believed that, as she expressed it at the time, the Twelve have made bogus of it.. The streets and city square became corn fields. Extermination order not rescinded for 137 years. Caroline went ahead and brought back some elders from a camp ahead to give Martha and Keziah blessings. She was not perfect and made choices that seem hard for us to understand today. He helped shepherd Saints across Missouri by advancing with one part of the camp as rapidly and as far as possible and then returning with the teams to move others out. . For him, it appears the marriages were fairly impersonal and meant to fulfill the requirement given him by an angel and to join certain families together in the eternities. Its an outstanding and award-winning biography that was the product of countless hours of primary research. It struck Martha on the knees and little Keziah above the eyes. 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. Speaking of Smith's "eternity-only" marriages to already married women, the church writes, " These sealings may also be explained by Joseph's reluctance to enter plural marriage because of the. Since he did father many children with Emma, parenthood was possible, but there is, at this time, no biological proof of traditional marriage relationships and the only accounts came from others, not the women or Joseph. Heres what they have planned, Why the Christian flag can fly on this government flagpole, Breaking the fast: Eid ul-Fitr is an occasion of peace, The unique stories and struggles of Latino Muslims, The Black church, religious freedom and gay rights. 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. Why did Emma Smith leave the LDS Church? 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. The topic of this video has been pro. Emma and Josephs descendants grew up separated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [87], It is not known how many Saints temporarily took refuge in Quincy. Bidamon married Nancy Sebree in 1827, with whom he had four children. At night they would build fires if they could find firewood. He told the Butlers to go to his butcher shop and take meat when they wanted some. appoint the oldest of those of the Twelve, who were first appointed, to be the president of your quorum., Brigham Young was the senior Apostle, hence the presiding Church officer on the ground. They ran out of provisions and became so weak they couldnt continue, so they held a council and prayed to know where to hunt. Then three hundred militiamen escorted them away to face trial and prison. [87] Hartley, My Best for the Kingdom, 9192. Refugees moved as individuals, by families, or in small clusters of wagons whenever they were ready. Another died young at age 26. [123], Ghost towns and farms. The old man for whom John taught school treated them generously. to ignore it entirely. [114] Close Friends as Witnesses: Joseph Smith and the Joseph Knight Families, in Joseph Smith: The Prophet, the Man, ed. . [126] Hartley, How Shall I Gather? Ensign, October 1997, 517. Another story about bleeding feet involves Nancy Hammer, whose husband Austin was murdered in the Hauns Mill Massacre a few months earlier. Quincy was the closest Illinois city to Far West. How old was Emma Smith when Joseph Smith died? [70], Saints chose to go to Quincy for several reasons. 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. Emma and her family were forced to leave the state with the majority of Latter Day Saints. [62] After a night of rain, which changed to snow and covered the ground in the morning, she said, we thawed our tent which was stiffly frozen, by holding and turning it alternately before a blazing fire, until it could be folded for packing, and, while we all shivered and shook with cold, we started. Sun melted the snow, increasing the depth of the mud and rendering travel almost impossible. Learn how . . . (Emma's schism church.) When it entered his stomach he went to the door and threw it off. 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]. That night at the prayer meeting, Richards, wrote in code that Joseph and Emma did not dress in the usual special clothing, a sign they were too much at odds to participate. [123] Butler denounced the hard-heartedness that Missourians had shown his wife and children and Church authorities. 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]. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. 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. Young put on board some of his goods into the wagon carrying the Knights, and both families resumed their journeys. However, she had to wait for two months before she was confirmed, as Joseph was arrested the next day for his preaching about the Book of Mormon. In fact, he generally took another man with him or even asked a father or brother to approach the woman. At the same time, much of the Church's debt was held by Joseph as a private citizenthus, Emma was liable for Joseph/the Church's debts, but had a less clear claim on the Church's lands that Joseph held as Trustee-in-Trust.[3]. Thats likely why its content was acceptable for the Ensign nearly a century after the Church had begun distancing itself from polygamy. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. John, tall and strong, had fought off Missourians trying to block Mormons from voting. What did Emma Emma do for the LDS Church? I am already engaged on the other side.'[4]. 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. They averaged ten miles per day. 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. When morning came, he and Abraham Smoot crossed to Quincy, leaving their families with the wagon. Only his mother and sisters had shoes, but these wore out and became almost useless before they reached Illinois. Saints gathered for a general conference on May 46 held in a Presbyterian campground two miles north of Quincy. His wife joined the Reorganized LDS Church (now Community of Christ) and the family moved to Independence in 1870. They got some better, Caroline said. Brigham had very little patience for those who demeaned or rejected Joseph; the difficulties that Joseph experienced with Emma can only have frustrated the loyal Brigham. At least one man escaped west to Fort Leavenworth. Their difficult trip to Mississippi River took twelve days: We had snow and rain every day but 2. Emma and Joseph eloped on January 18, 1827, in South Bainbridge, New York, and then went to live with the Smith family. On 23 December 1847, Emma Smith married Lewis Bidamon, who was not a member of the Church. A Collection of Sacred Hymns for the Church of the Latter Day Saints was published in 1835. [57] Quoted in Lyman O. Littlefield, Reminiscences of Latter-day Saints (Logan, UT: Journal Company Printers, 1888), 7273. A few days later, the horses ran away. [98] That summer the prisoners who had been at Richmond escaped confinement, except King Follett. The Saints of the Colesville Branch settle in Thompson. This difficult situation was complicated by the immense demands on Brigham Young's time. Samuel said they traveled the most secluded route they could find. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. She found them both bleeding badly. [85] William Cahoon, Autobiography, in Susan Easton Black, QuincyA City of Refuge, 73, n. 34. The first night, our wagon tipped over into the creek. Emma was baptized in Colesville, New York, on June 28, 1830. At times he hid in members homes as he headed east. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. First in Ohio and then three times in Missouri, they had practiced starting over. According to historian Richard Bushman, Joseph saw polygamy simply as a way to join families together for eternity. [125] Photocopy of order, filed June 25, 1976, copy in authors file; also see transcript in LDS Church News, July 3, 1976, 4. [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. He looked at Emma Smith's decision to remain in Nauvoo through the eyes of a therapist. What a cold night that was! Mosiah recalled: The next morning the river was frozen over with icegreat blocks of frozen ice all over the river, and it was slick and clear. Those coming from outside Far West suffered because as John Greene wrote, we have been robbed of our corn, wheat, horses, cattle, cows, hogs, wearing apparel, houses and homes, and indeed, of all that renders life tolerable.[19] On November 9 the Missouri Republican Daily reported that the Saints situation was a case of great difficulty because they are generally poor and facing starvation. Because Joseph Smith was in prison during the exodus, attention focuses here on Joseph Smiths parents, his wife Emma, Elders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, and four selected families: the John and Caroline Butler family, the Newel and Lydia Knight family, the Daniel and Martha Thomas family, and the Levi and Clarissa Hancock family. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Joseph Smiths parents. Smith came and consecrated the Temple Lot in June 1831. 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. We loaded up our little efects into a wagon and with one small pair of stears we started out with five children [ages twelve, nine, seven, four, and two] in our family and only one pair of shoes amongst them, Daniel wrote. She carried two children while two others hung on to her skirt. What did Lucy Mack Smith say about Emma Smith? The biography Linda and Valeen published with Doubleday several years later was not so guarded, detailing Josephs many polygamous alliances, his repeated lies to Emma about those marriages, and her conflicts with his plural wivesincluding a much-debated stair-pushing catfight with Eliza R. Snow. She was left alone with her five children, including her adopted daughter and four sons. 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. Her mother-in-law, Lucy Mack Smith, said of her: I have never seen a woman in my life, who would endure every species of fatigue and hardship, from month to month, and from year to year, with that unflinching courage, zeal, and patience, which she has ever done; for I know that which she has had to endure she has breasted the storms of persecution, and buffeted the rage of men and devils, which would have borne down almost any other woman.. We have to look at her entire life, not just one portion of it. 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. They organized into a company with Rich as captain. The city cemeterys tombstones marking where some two hundred Saints are buried are long gone, and the site has become farmland.
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