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7 Are Joseph and Emma Smiths descendants Latter-day Saints? She was baptized on 28 June 1830, shortly after the Church was organized. One is that Emma had lived her adult life moving from place to place and house to house, crossing frozen rivers and walking in lots of mud and snow. To his military leaders, it decreed, The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state, if necessary for the public good.[2] Four days later, that order reached Church leaders and members in northwest Missouri. In an essay published on its website quoting "careful estimates", the church said the wives. Reaching the river, they joined Saints waiting to cross who had no shelter. According to historian Richard Bushman, Joseph saw polygamy simply as a way to join families together for eternity. During that period, the place was a hive of activity; Joseph Smith and his wife, Emma, and Oliver Cowdery were boarding with the Whitmers, and other people (including curiosity-seekers) were constantly coming and going. Emma Smith had so much on her plate, so its inspiring to learn how she was willing to contribute to the growth of the Church while she was dealing with everything else. Some church members inappropriately rejected her because of her rejection of polygamy and her outspokenness on the subject. The Smith family. Carolines third task was to find some way to move the family and belongings from Missouri before spring. 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. Shortly after her baptism in July 1830, Emma Smithwas called by God to compile a hymnbook to edify the Church. Abraham O. Smoot became mayor of Salt Lake City and then Provo, president of the Utah Stake, and a promoter of Brigham Young Academy. [27] That left the Saints no choice but to leave Missouri as soon as possible. That is a great question! [103] Kenney, Wilford Woodruffs Journal, 1:330, entry for May 4, 1839. [122] James Galligher Petition in Johnson, Mormon Redress Petitions, 218. He instructed them to have the women pray about the request. Her heartaches were very real and would have been a challenge to any woman, particularly without the lens of understanding time brings. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 - April 30, 1879) was an American homesteader, the first wife of Joseph Smith, and a prominent leader in the early days of the Latter Day Saint movement, both during Smith's lifetime and afterward as a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church). Alpheus Cutler placed it in position. . Quincy, he said, was full of memberseven though Saints were scattering out from there almost constantly. 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. 1 She had been promised in her 1830 revelation: "Thy time shall be given to writing, and to learning much." 2 She probably gathered hymns from her hometown newspaper as well as other papers and denominational hymnals. 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]. A woman living in a nearby house ran to find out what was wrong. How many wives did Joseph Smith have LDS? What experience do you need to become a teacher? "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. The Thomas family stayed strong in the faith and emigrated to Utah in 1849. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. [Isaac] Streator, Feb. 22, 1839, in Eliza R. Snow Letter from Missouri, BYU Studies 13 (Summer 1973): 549. Although their marriage was often troubled following the introduction of polygamy, Emma continued to care for Joseph. They reached Quincy on January 29 and found ourselves in a land of Freedom once more by the help of God and his blessings. Holbrook observed that brethren were continually coming to Quincy from the Missouri as I had done.[43] In late January, Ebenezer Robinson and three other men walked from Far West to Quincy through the snow.[44]. It's not. She endured the jeering and insults of mobs. Not for Daniel Stillwell and Martha Payne Jones Thomas and their family. February 11, 1843, is promoted as another date when Emma may have become aware of Joseph's plurality. John later filed claim for the loss of 240 acres of land, three yoke of oxen, a corn crop, and hogs. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. [123], Ghost towns and farms. Three days later they reached De Witt, where they sold a property deed and bought a yoke of steers for $25 and a wagon for $30. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". [25] William F. Cahoon Petition in Johnson, Mormon Redress Petitions, 15253. [38] Larry C. Porter, Brigham Young and the Twelve in Quincy: A Return to the Eye of the Missouri Storm, 26 April 1839, in A City of Refuge: Quincy, Illinois, ed. Were most of her songs from her Methodist tradition, or did she draw more broadly? We are sensible, brethren, that you have done all that you could do in removing the poor Saints, they said, adding that nor have we, brethren, been backward in exerting our energies for that purpose. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". President Sidney Rigdon, Bishop Edward Partridge, and a few others felt the Saints could avoid problems like the ones they had in Missouri by spreading out rather than gathering together into Latter-day Saint communities. [61] That same day, Eliza R. Snow and relatives, who had wintered seven miles from Far West, started for Illinois. He never charged them rent. She was not perfect and made choices that seem hard for us to understand today. (Later, on April 6, 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would be officially organized there.) We all use history to suit our purposes, and Emma simply did not suit the purposes of the LDS Church in the years following her husbands death. His wife joined the Reorganized LDS Church (now Community of Christ) and the family moved to Independence in 1870. Far West had a population by then of about five thousand Saints, and another five thousand lived in at least nineteen other Latter-day Saint communities in Caldwell County. Emma was the seventh of nine children. On February 7 and 8, both men visited Liberty Jail, then returned to Far West. Brigham Young, remembering the covenant he asked the Saints in Far West to make to help move those in need, had members similarly covenant when preparing to leave Nauvoo for the West. All Rights Reserved. "[2], Furthermore, Brigham and Emma did not agree on the disposition of Joseph's estate. He also owned and rented out ten or twelve small houses he had built. In mid-February, Anson Call headed east. [111] Starting with this poem, Eliza R. Snow published a total of eighteen poems in the Quincy Whig during the 183941 period. Louis. [89] Leo R. Rogers, Willis Rogers and Elizabeth Bessie Ritchie with Their Ancestors and Descendants (Bountiful, UT: L. R. Rogers, ca. For example, in the support materials for the Joseph Smith manual, polygamy is once again nowhere mentioned. That party came to include Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, and John Taylor. Are Joseph and Emma Smiths descendants Latter-day Saints? Such souls will have to suffer for the ill treatment of the Saints, he wrote, adding that they need not think that they will escape, for the Lord is just and He will punish those that have ill treated His children (Hartley, My Best for the Kingdom, 89). 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]. When those families reached Illinois early in 1839, they were poor, worn out, and ragged looking. At other times, she found she could not handle the choices she had made, much as Sarah in the Old Testament first encouraged her husband to marry her handmaiden and then discovered it was more than she was prepared to handle. Holbrook left behind his wife Nancy, who a week later gave birth to their fourth child, and three small children ages seven, five, and two. Question: Why did Emma Smith and Brigham Young dislike one another? He told her that the judgments of God would come upon her forthwith if she did not repent. [26] Hartley, My Best for the Kingdom, 8586. Brigham Young, in danger from anti-Mormons, joined the exodus on February 14. During Sunday dinner on November 5, Joseph became ill, rushed to the door, and vomited so violently that he dislocated his jaw. Emma Hale Smith Bidamon passed away in Nauvoo on April 30, 1879 , and is buried next to Joseph. Far West Saints met in a public meeting on January 26 to consider measures to expedite the move out of state, given the seeming impossibility of moving in consequence of the extreme poverty of many.[29] A seven-man committee was appointed to find out how many needed help and how much help members could give to those in need. Donate to us by shopping at Amazon at no extra cost to you. [77], On February 23, the Quincy Whig reported that Saints were coming in from all quarters and that for several days they have been crossing at this place, bringing with them the wreck of what they could save from their ruthless oppressors. John, tall and strong, had fought off Missourians trying to block Mormons from voting. He had even dislocated his jaw while vomiting once before; and five weeks after the 1843 dinner episode, he was sick again, vomiting more violently than ever. The next morning our beds were covered with snow, Lucy said, and they were unable to light a fire. Brigham interpreted Emma's refusal to answer as an admission of guilt.. A few days later, the horses ran away. [74] Greene, Expulsion of the Saints from Missouri, 40. Caroline said that at one point that winter, Joseph Smith got word to Emma to send him quilts or bed clothes. [18], Far West was ill equipped to become a refugee center for Saints displaced by Missouri militia. He sealed that witness with his life. We were not permitted to leave Far West, Anson Call said, only to get our firewood. She compiled the first hymnbook. Why did Emma Smith opt to stay in Nauvoo? Yet I knew little of these things, for our branch of the family was far removed from our Smith heritage. [125] Photocopy of order, filed June 25, 1976, copy in authors file; also see transcript in LDS Church News, July 3, 1976, 4. [90] Diaries of William Huntington, 8; Isaac Leany Petition in Johnson, ed., Mormon Redress Petitions, 485. Exmormons are told to leave quietly with their tails between their legs. That did not stop Emma, a visionary woman in her own sense of the word. On this same day, there was a skirmish between the mob and the Saints west of Big Blue River. Jeremy made the Letter available online. [73] Bennett, Quincythe Home of Our Adoption, 86. June 1831 Print. Her financial state was precarious because there had not been a clear line between the family money and the church money, with Joseph often going into debt to help support the church. She later married Major Lewis Bidamon, who had supported the Mormons during the trials, but was not a member. [10] They crossed the icy Mississippi River, some at Quincy, where Charles C. Rich said, We found friends and was kindly received.[11], Another half dozen Mormon militiamen led by Dimick Huntington left separately. Training experience for 1846 exodus. [87] Hartley, My Best for the Kingdom, 9192. [36] Brigham H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Century I (reprint, Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1965), 1:510511, and Smith, History of the Church, 3:26163. Enter your email to receive updates on our LDS Living content, 2022 LDS Living A Division of Deseret Book Company, The Joseph Smith and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society, There is room for my brown paper-doll family: 2 gospel truths I learned as a young girl that carry my faith, Special Church Historians Press symposium to highlight women, religion, and records, See the stunning winners of the Churchs International Art Competition. She would smile with her lips, but to me, as small as I was, I never saw the brown eyes smile. 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. It's dangerous and it ruins lives, even if the members don't understand that that's what's happening to them. in getting one single wagon to convey beds, clothing, and provisions for our family, and luggage. Is there a list anywhere of all the composers who had songs in Emmas 1835 hymnal? To fulfill their instruction, some members of the Twelve left Quincy on April 18, 1839, to travel secretly to Far West. 4, Missouri (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004), 28889, 361, 402. [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. No one could have recognized them as the prosperous Yankees they had once been in New York before embracing Mormonism. They ran out of provisions and became so weak they couldnt continue, so they held a council and prayed to know where to hunt. After one severe storm, Daniel said, Our corn bread was frosen so hard I had to take the ax and break it and give it to the children to gnaw at, the bread looking like chunks of ice. As many as one hundred families were camped along the banks, he said. Give us employment, the Saints pleaded, rent us farms, and allow us the protection and privileges of other citizens., The Quincy citizens committee passed a resolution which said that the Saints are entitled to our sympathy and kindest regard. Any Saints who because of sickness or destitution found themselves homeless, the committee decided, should appeal directly for assistance. [117] Benjamin F. Johnson observed that during the rest of 1839 in the Nauvoo area, the people had flocked in from the terible exposures of the past and Nearly every one was Sick with intemitant or other fevers of which many diedIn this time of great Sickness poverty & death.[118] Henry Jackson claimed the Marchs Stormy blasts of Snow & rain so affected his Sight that he was not able to work.[119] The exodus caused considrable sickness for the Levi Hancock family.[120] Mosiah Hancock, the boy who had crossed the Mississippi ice barefoot, was an emaciated lad for many months. the support materials for the Joseph Smith manual. [64] History of Zera Pulsipher As Written by Himself, typescript, 1516, Perry Special Collections. The Smoots lacked a team, so their wagon was useless. [99] At that point the Saints exodus from Missouri was finished, and Governor Boggss extermination order had basically succeeded in removing Saints from northwest Missouri. William E. McLellin, apostle and apostate, died in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, April 24, 1883, and is buried in Woodlawn Municipal Cemetery of the same city. She was able to utilize the properties she owned to support her family, but with difficulty, particularly since she was left to cover Josephs many debts. Emmas role in Mormon history is as enigmatic as ever. [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. "Of these 13 locations, only four of them could be called her own," Delewski said. She carried two children while two others hung on to her skirt. L. Hannah Stoddard is the lead author of Faith Crisis, Volume 1: We Were NOT Betrayed!, Seer Stone v. Urim & Thummim: Book of Mormon Translation on Trial, and Faith Crisis, Volume 2: New Mormon History Exiled from Church Headquarters.She is the executive director of the Joseph Smith Foundation, and producer or director of seven . You might notice something a bit surprisingtheres no musical notation! You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. She also learned how to cook and be a good host when her parents ran a boarding house. Caroline suffered from dropsy, or painful swellings, and the cold intensified her pain. 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). . When the boy, Charles, was 4 years old, Emma took him in and raised him as her own. I am already engaged on the other side.'[4]. They averaged ten miles per day. [42] Jesse and Whittaker, Albert Perry Rockwood Journal, 34. She move 18 times and lived in 13 houses. On two additional occasions she was driven from her home at the threat of her life.". [55] Martha and the children reached the Quincy side and waited, sitting at night on their bed, wrapped in bed clothes and shivering in the cold wind until Daniel arrived. 185 Heber J. Today, the world is divided into two, torn apart on whether or not to believe the story due to the lack of evidence. She was often anxious and sad, but she coped. [3] LaMar C. Berrett and Max H. Parkin, Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites, vol. This weekend at the Midwest Pilgrims retreat in Nauvoo, Illinois, I had the opportunity to listen to a fascinating talk by Linda King Newell, co-biographer of Emma Smith, first wife of LDS founding prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. 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 cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Brigham, after all, saw Emma as fighting against the man Brigham revered as the Prophet, and he knew that Emma knew that Joseph taught plural marriage. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Required fields are marked *. The Church was already in a period of great stress and grief as people struggled to decide who the next prophet would be and they faced the realization that they were again in great danger with an uncertain future. The temple site has been salvaged and given modern landscaping, but no houses remain. [95] Kenney, Wilford Woodruffs Journal, 1:329. The exodus had no large, organized wagon trains. To do so, would be to act with extreme cruelty. He told here where she got the poison, and how she put it in a cup of coffee; said he 'You got that poison from so and so, and I drank it, but you could not kill me.' At Quincy, where some Church members lived, John taught school for a short period. 3 The process, like so many other endeavors in her life, Green, a Quincy innkeeper and cousin by marriage to Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, encouraged the Apostles and other Saints to come there. [88] Richard E. Bennett, Quincythe Home of Our Adoption, 101. Its an outstanding and award-winning biography that was the product of countless hours of primary research. Leaders compiled these petitions and affidavits and presented them three times, possibly four, to U.S. president Martin Van Buren and to Congress, but the federal government refused to act on them.[109]. Emma crossed the ice carefully, walking apart from the wagon. I'll share specifics later, but I wanted to share some excellent resources for all of you to dive into to read and listen to church history from Clayton himself. A woman should give her greatest priority to her home: her husband, her family, and the opportunity to child-bearing. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. I being barefooted and the ice so rough, I staggered all over. We reserve the right to not approve any comments that do not meet our community standards. It is significant to note that the revelation instructed the entire presidency of the Church to leave Kirtland. [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. Many of the Saints were converts who had sung hymns before. They collected donations of furniture, farm implements, and money from farm sales. A later First Presidency report about the exodus noted that women and children marked their footsteps on the frozen ground with blood, it being the dead of winter.[54] Was this an exaggeration? I hope this helps too! By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Joseph.[103] Perrigrine Sessions said that Joseph being there gave us much joy to see his face among the Saints and here the voice of inspiration that flowed from his lips this caused our drooping spirits to revive as we were like sheap with out a shepherd that had been scatered in a cloudy and dark day.[104] After Joseph heard the congregation enthusiastically sing the hymn Zion, City of Our God, Wandle Mace observed that Joseph rose to speak but had difficulty controlling his emotions: To look upon the Saints who had been driven from their homes, and scattered as they were, among strangers, without homes, robbed of everything, and to see them under all these trying circumstances assemble to this General Conference from all the region around, and sing of Zion, the city of our God, with so much spirit, showing their love and confidence in the gospel, and the pleasure he felt in meeting with them. Her funeral was held May 2, 1879, in Nauvoo with RLDS Church minister Mark Hill Forscutt preaching the sermon.