Faced with a folk legend, with genuine documents that tell no tales, and dubious ones that contradict themselves and the contemporary accounts, perhaps it is best for us to respond as we must to many paradoxes of our history: consider thoughtfully and then place all the evidence carefully on the shelf, awaiting further documentation, or the Millennium, whichever should come first.[9]. Emma never denied Joseph's prophetic calling; she did, however, teach her children that Joseph had never taught the doctrine of plural marriage, and blamed its introduction on Brigham Young. . It is also interesting that another anti-Mormon writer (and former wife of Brigham Young) Ann Eliza Webb Young wrote: One particular passage [of D&C 132] is said to refer to a matrimonial scene in which a threat was held out that the life of the Elect Lady should be terminated [84] by poison. Polygamy, marrying 14 year olds, polyandry, lying to Emma, scrying/treasure hunting/money-digging, scamming people, claiming he could see buried treasure underground, the dishonesty, immorality, the Kirtland banking fraud/scam, rendering hundreds of his followers destitute because of it and then running from a $1,000 fine and imprisonment . 7 Only five men were brought to trial: Thomas C. Sharp, publisher of the Warsaw Signal, an anti-Mormon newspaper; Levi Williams, colonel and commanding officer of the . The Hales helped Emma and Joseph obtain a house and a small farm. While she says her excommunication in 2008 did not trouble her, she wrote in her autobiography, "My family have isolated me and think I have been either deluded, deceived, or have lost my mind." Why did she never offer her pregnancy and miscarriage as evidence? Emma Smith wants us to focus on the materiality of those packages of ink squiggles that inform, amuse, annoy, and inspire us While she revels in the dazzling variety of physical objects we can call books, Smith also cautions against 'a curious overinvestment in the book as a sacred object.' Her own breezy book is meant not to be . Such an ad blitz wouldnt fly today, of course, now that church President Russell M. Nelson has grounded use of the Mormon moniker. Yes, Emma answered, but I wish to God I did not know it.[2]. Was Emma Smith ever excommunicated? The Syracuse Utah Temple. Aug 09, 2017 at 11:38 am. Many Latter Day Saints believed that her eldest son, Joseph Smith III, would one day be called to hold the same position that his father had held. William Law himself denied that Joseph ever attempted such a swap: Joseph Smith never proposed anything of the kind to me or to my wife; both he and Emma knew our sentiments in relation to spiritual wives and polygamy; knew that we were immoveably opposed to polygamy in any and every form[but Law did believe] that Joseph offered to furnish his wife, Emma, with a substitute, for him, by way of compensation for his neglect of her, on condition that she would stop her opposition to polygamy and permit him to enjoy his young wives in peace and keep some of them in the house.[18]:176. And until now, it has never officially acknowledged Smith's multiple marriages, only discussing his first marriage to Emma Hale Smith. [2] The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of FAIR, its officers, directors or supporters. QUOTE I have read that she never formally associated herself with any of the branches of the Restoration after the death of her husband. Upon Joseph's death, Emma was left a pregnant widow. "Remember, Emma was a woman of refinement and education. Question: How did Emma Hale Smith react to Joseph's practice of plural marriage? While her Victorian reticence probably would have precluded mention of her own pregnancy, if she were indeed carrying Josephs child, other evidence in the journal indicates that she may not have been pregnant. Latter-day Saint Charities has supported global immunization initiatives led by UNICEF and the World Health Organization. Over the years, many RLDS Church historians have continued to state that the practice had originated with Brigham Young.[28]. (The Saints' Herald V.80 Jan 1935:110, c. in: Tanner 1987:408). However, if this were the case, it was short-lived because Jane, who was expecting her sixth child, did remain with her husband, William Law. We invite you to give back. [She then cites D&C 132:5160][19]. (Trent Nelson | Salt Lake Tribune file photo) Sharon Eubank, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, shown here in 2017, will appear in a Face to Face event with single adult Latter-day Saints. Many of these changes and a large number of the original songs included in the hymnal are attributed to W. W. Phelps. [citation needed] Joseph had also been in debt when he died, leaving the responsibility to pay it on Emma Smith's shoulders. : Price Publishing Co., 2001), On Prices break from the RLDS (now Community of Christ) mainstream, see: William D. Russell, Richard Price: Leading Publicist of the Reorganized Churchs Schismatics, in, Compare Price and Price, Eliza Snow Was Not Pushed, with George D. Smiths opinion in. Donate to the newsroom now. While we as readers might wish to know the inner goings on of Emma with greater certainty, Reeders honesty in this regard is refreshing., (Rendering courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Emma saw in him what her family missed. A few other men and women were also invited to participate in the practice, although he . Eliza went to considerable lengths to defend plural marriage and to insist that Joseph Smith had practiced it, so why did she never offer her pregnancy and miscarriage as evidence? This Is Shakespeare by Emma Smith is published by Pelican (20). Hyrum was one of the cast of characters. My husband, my husband! [11] The texts borrowed from Protestant groups were often changed slightly to reinforce the theology of the early church. Emma was supportive of Smith's teachings throughout her life with the exception of plural marriage and remained loyal to her son Joseph Smith III in his leadership of the RLDS church.[6]. Benevolent was a popular word for women's. Starting next month, as COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease, the Utah-based faith will begin a phased reopening, welcoming back guests at 22 attractions stretching from the cradle of Mormonism in upstate New York, to Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, Utah and California. Within two months of the publication, over 40 people acknowledged Smith as an apostle of Jesus Christ and the elder of this new church. Of course, to fully follow the prophet as the churchs Primary children sing members and missionaries alike would roll up their sleeves and get the vaccine. Emma Hale was born on July 10, 1804, in Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania,[7] the seventh child of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis Hale. If . [11] It was titled A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints[13] and contained 90 hymn texts but no music. 3. 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. This scenario seems at least as plausible as the authors weak claim that silence equals agreement. A much more mild. Although at the. The historical and logistical problems with this story make it unlikely to be true, The statement that Eliza carried Josephs unborn child and lost it due to an attack by Emma is brought into question by Elizas own journal. All rights reserved. Most historians have thus not given much weight to this idea. In fact, she understood the mysterious verses quite differently. Emma wanted William Marks, president of the church's central stake, to assume the church presidency, but Marks favored Sidney Rigdon for the role. Her family was fairly well-off financially, and so Emma was well-educated for a woman of her time. he Said stand away & pushing her Gently aside giving her a denial & going out. [the blank at the end likely refers to a venereal disease contracted by Higbee from a prostitution ring run by John C. Bennett][21], Law, in his turn, claimed "[Joseph][ha[s] lately endeavored to seduce my wife, and[ha[s] found her a virtuous woman". [citation needed] As she had in Kirtland, Emma Smith lead "the work of boarding and clothing the men engaged in building [the Nauvoo temple]". Her family was religious, devoutly Christian. She was a schoolteacher and even owned items of value, including cows. See Todd Compton, Mary Audentia Smith Anderson (editor), "Memoirs of Joseph Smith III (18321914),", Allen J. Stout, "Allen J. Stout's Testimony,", Emma Smith to Maria Jane Johnston, cited in Wendy C. Top "'A Deep Sorrow in Her Heart' Emma Hale Smith," in. It doesnt come from the example of Jesus. she drawing her Arms around him if you wont seal me to my husband Seal myself unto you. Post by _Joseph Sat Oct 02, 2010 3:22 am. Under the 1917 Code, a person was kicked out of the Church. The author is not aware, of the many people that we know that have committed adultery, of anyone who has been killed by God or struck down by him via lightning after committing adultery and being sealed to their first wife. she said no one but Br Joseph, he then demanded what had[pass[ed] Mrs L then told Joseph wandet her to be Married to him." Joseph and the members of the church tried to rebut the rumors spread by the Hurlbut-Howe affidavits, yet the author treats them as valuable insights. [1]:12 They lived first with the Whitmers in Fayette, then with Newel K. Whitney and his family in Kirtland, Ohio, and then in a cabin on a farm owned by Isaac Morley. a biography of Joseph Smith that was the first modern biography of the prophet . 2. (Salt Lake Tribune archives) Social conversation and discretion were traits for which she was well-known. (D&C 132:51,54. If the wife of the person who holds the keys to plural marriage rejects plural marriage, her husband is to follow the commands of God to him without her permission. William Clayton, Joseph's scribe and secretary, wrote in his contemporaneous journal: This A.M. President Joseph took me and conversed considerable concerning some delicate matters. There were times, however, when Emma gave permission for Joseph's plural marriages, though she soon changed her mind. Question: Was Emma Smith promised "annihilation" if she didn't accept plural marriage? Gregory L. Smith, A review of Nauvoo Polygamy:but we called it celestial marriage by George D. Smith. The next verse is likely the one that refers to plural marriage though it's not entirely clear. That when sick, William Law confessed to him that he had been guilty of adultery, and was not fit to live, and had sinned against his own soul, &c., and inquired who was Judge Emmons? Joseph III called upon his mother to help prepare a hymnal for the reorganization, just as she had for the early church. Smith's first known sexual affair was with a teenager named Fannie Alger, who was living with Smith and his first wife Emma in their Kirtland, Ohio, home. [6], It is claimed that "In the revelation [D&C 132] Emma was promised annihilation if she failed to 'abide this commandment.'"[7]. Newell and Averys biography of Emma places the story into doubt: The statement that Eliza carried Josephs unborn child and lost it [due to an attack by Emma] is brought into question by Elizas own journal. Natasha Helfer. The Amazing Night-Time Adventures of Chester and Jeff. (Photo courtesy of UNICEF and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) [citation needed] When he and the majority of the Latter Day Saints of Nauvoo abandoned the city in early 1846, Emma and her children remained behind in the emptied town.[21]. Emma encountered difficult challenges arising from the establishment of plural marriage. Brigham Young, president of the quorum, then became the de facto president of the church in Nauvoo. Emma's continuing public denial of the practice seemed to lend strength to their cause, and opposition to polygamy became a tenet of the RLDS Church. Emma Smith was born July 10, 1804. Clear rating. Question: Was a pregnant Eliza R. Snow pushed down the stairs by a furious Emma, resulting in a miscarriage? After offering him a ride, the man declined, saying that he was headed to Cumorah, and then disappeared suddenly. Both she and Joseph III traveled to a conference at Amboy, Illinois. On April 6, 1860, Joseph was sustained as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which prefaced "Reorganized" to its name in 1872 and in 2001 became known as the Community of Christ. Here, a woman receives a vaccination in Chad. Fosters wife had all been Sealed to Joseph, as their Husbands could not Save them" (John Hawley, Autobiography, January 1885, p. 97, RLDS Library-Archives). 20, Issue 2. Events of the 1838 Mormon War soon escalated, resulting in Joseph's surrender and imprisonment by Missouri officials. Dan was the first to be excommunicated when it was revealed that he wanted to marry his 14-year-old stepdaughter as a second wife. The family moved to a new Latter Day Saint settlement in Illinois which Joseph named "Nauvoo". FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The source of this charge seems to be a book by Joseph H. Jackson. 1 As John Taylor recalled, Bennett and others "got an inkling" of Joseph Smith's private teachings on plural marriage and "made use of some of those principles to corrupt to destroy not only himself but others." 2 [18] She saw upholding morality as the primary purpose of the Relief Society. It provided that "excommunication is a censure by which one is excluded from the communion of the faithful" (can. Of these times, she later wrote: No one but God knows the reflections of my mind and the feelings of my heart when I left our house and home, and almost all of everything that we possessed excepting our little children, and took my journey out of the State of Missouri, leaving [Joseph] shut up in that lonesome prison. [20], On November 6, 1832, Emma gave birth to Joseph Smith III in the upper room of Whitney's store in Kirtland. Joseph Smith reported that he was commanded to establish the practice of polygamy in the Church. What we can know is that following the commandment to practice plural marriage was a moral imperative for the Lord. Smith "came to know[her] in Kirtland during early 1833 when she, at the age of 16, stayed at his home as a housemaid. Now never tell anybody that you heard me find fault with that [principle;] we have got to humble ourselves and repent of it, Emma Smith: "I desire a fruitful, active mind, that I may be able to comprehend the designs of God, when revealed through his servants without doubting". (Detailed book review). Fire damaged, and possibly destroyed, a church meetinghouse Monday in Fruita, Colo., Grand Junctions Daily Sentinel reported. Joseph's revelation in D&C 132 explicitly states that if the wife of the person who holds the keys to plural marriage rejects plural marriage, her husband is to follow the commands of God to him without her permission. [She] is careful to separate her speculation (based on her expertise and the historical record) from what is actually documented. Developers, however, are eying the property for housing. Other hostile sources (including William Law) deny the tale. A second son, Frederick Granger Williams Smith (named after Frederick G. Williams, a counselor in the church's First Presidency), followed on June 29, 1836. "What I said I have got [to] repent of," lamented Emma. The argument from silence cuts both ways: Eliza went to considerable lengths to defend plural marriage and to insist that Joseph Smith had practiced it. Some have seen this as Emma claiming she would practice plural marriage (a strange idea, given how she felt about it), and these readers have then extended the reading to include a belief that she was threatening to marry William Law. 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