Her husband was arrested, essentially for being Mormon, leaving her alone to care for her children. Bidamon was support for Emma in raising her five children. My 11 year old granddaughter who is not baptized into the LDS Church wanted a poster after which we obtained and she visited with the actors and actresses. Source: The Joseph Smith Paper H. Redmond, History of Quincy and Its Men of Mark (Quincy, IL: Heirs and Russell, 1863), 15; Richard E. Bennett, Quincythe Home of Our Adoption: A Study of the Mormons in Quincy, Illinois, 18381839, 8788, and Susan Easton Black, QuincyA City of Refuge, 69, in A City of Refuge. They developed communities, farms, roads, livestock herds, commerce, and trade in parts of Adam and Hancock counties, Illinois, and in Lee County, Iowa. "When people ask what caused a change in Emma Smith's behavior, what they really are asking is, 'Why didn't she go west with the Saints?' Why did God ask Emma Smith to accept the plates? The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. As was common in their day, the early Saints sang the printed lyrics to familiar tunes. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Many were stripped of clothing and bedding, John P. Greene reported, and many without cattle, horses, or waggons, had no means of conveyance.[28] To provide them help required leadership. [69] Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruffs Journal, 1:322. What did Lucy Mack Smith say about Emma Smith? Events of the 1838 Mormon War soon escalated, resulting in Joseph's surrender and imprisonment by Missouri officials. Emma had been disappeared. A woman living in a nearby house ran to find out what was wrong. Emma Smith was born in 1804 in Pennsylvania and had unusual opportunities for a girl in her time. She had a lock of his hair cut and given to her. [84] Aroet Hale, Autobiography, typescript, 6, Perry Special Collections. After Brigham Young assumed a leadership role, he and his supporters considered Joseph Smith's physical property as property of the church. Were most of her songs from her Methodist tradition, or did she draw more broadly? The Lord says in Doctrine and Covenants 25:12, My soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.. At the time of the third printing, however, Vals bishop received a call from a higher-up in Salt Lake who said that two girls had written a book about Emma Smith and were not to be invited to speak about the topic in sacrament meetings. and P.M. refer to at the beginning of each hymn? Emma Smith played an important part in the Restoration of the gospel, and today, more than two centuries after her birth on July 10, 1804, Church members can still learn from Emma's example. At Quincy, where some Church members lived, John taught school for a short period. The Saints persecution in several states and then expulsion by order of a state governor helps explain why they obtained a charter for a self-defensive city-state in Nauvoo with the Nauvoo Legion; why some Saints justified retaliation against persecutors; why many gladly exited the United States and headed toward Mexican territory in 1846; and why many Saints, if not the Church, expressed distaste for judges, courts, deputies, the federal army during the Utah War, and antipolygamy laws. Some participants in the Missouri exodus vented powerful feelings of anger, horror, outrage, and persecution. Further, the committee agreed to find employment for those able and willing to labor. Joseph Smiths parents tried to leave early in February, but Lucy said, Just as we got our goods into the waggon, a man came to us and said, that Sidney Rigdons family were ready to start, and must have the waggon immediately. After Alvin's untimely death, Joseph was told his replacement would be revealed by revelation. Nearly three hundred made that covenant and signed pledges. [18], Far West was ill equipped to become a refugee center for Saints displaced by Missouri militia. First in Ohio and then three times in Missouri, they had practiced starting over. Her refined childhood and girlhood was not designed to give her the skills she needed in adulthood, and yet she managed nearly everything thrown at her. 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. Shortly after Joseph's brother, William, was born in 1811, the Smiths moved to the small community of West Lebanon, New Hampshire. It is significant to note that the revelation instructed the entire presidency of the Church to leave Kirtland. Three or four Latter-day Saint families lived in his houses adjoining the Butlers, and the man treated them all with kindness, which seemed a new thing to us, John confessed. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. [123] Butler denounced the hard-heartedness that Missourians had shown his wife and children and Church authorities. Im interested in seeing which traditions she drew from. An upper route ran directly east from Far West; a lower route ran southeast from Far West and then east through the towns of Keytesville and Huntsville. Memoirs of Joseph Smith III (18321914), ed. We have to look at her entire life, not just one portion of it. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Their difficult trip to Mississippi River took twelve days: We had snow and rain every day but 2. Emma knew better, but she also knew that a polygamous history would not serve her needs. So Levi rigged up a foot lathe and soon had two hubs turned out and built a cart. In 1984, Linda wrote, with Valeen Tippetts Avery, Mormon Enigma:Emma Hale Smith, which has stood for nearly three decades as the definitive biography of Emma. When the Mormons left for Utah, she elected to remain behind. [124] Berrett and Parkin, Sacred Places: Missouri, 329, 402, 411. [4], November 1 brought heartbreak for all Saints in Far West. Terrie, you are a treasure. [64] History of Zera Pulsipher As Written by Himself, typescript, 1516, Perry Special Collections. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Learn about and browse the pages of the first hymnal of the Church. [39] Joseph Holbrook said that Saints understood that if the Church would make haste and move as fast as possible it would [do] much to the relieve our brethren who were now in jail as our enemies were determined to hold them as hostages until the church left the state so that every exertion was made in the dead of the winter to remove as fast as possible (Life of Joseph Holbrook, 46). After they left, the mob plundered thousands of dollars worth of property donated to help the poor move. [59] Hartley, My Best for the Kingdom, 90. Your email address will not be published. That is a great question! Richard Bushman writes of the poisoning accusation: Through the late fall and winter of 1843 and 1844, Joseph and Emma's relationship broke down only once. In September 1843, Emma was the first woman to receive the endowment. Both the Church and Joseph Smith personally were heavily in debt at the time of the martyrdom. 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. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. More than 1,400 descendants of 1839 exiled Mormons came to Quincy and, attired like pioneers, represented their ancestors and walked across the Memorial Bridge to reach Quincy from Missouri. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The Mormon Church distributes free copies of the King James Version of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. a boy whom many Saints felt to be Smiths rightful prophetic heir, The biography Linda and Valeen published with Doubleday several years later. [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. . It does not store any personal data. The Atonement of Christ Redeems Us from the Fall. He covered Joseph Smith's reluctance for years to keep this commandment of the Lord and how it was also very difficult for Emma Smith. Slipping through the guard, he had to cross a creek by taking off his clothes and wading across the bitter cold water. [7], The shortest way out of state was to go north sixty to eighty miles into unsettled regions of present-day Iowa. Their first twenty miles was through snow six inches deep. Her heartaches were very real and would have been a challenge to any woman, particularly without the lens of understanding time brings. 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. 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. The animosity between Brigham Young and Emma had multiple grounds: personal, religious, and financial, Brigham also doubtless considered Emma dishonest and a liar because she continued to insist that her husband had never taught the doctrine of plural marriage, Brigham and Emma did not agree on the disposition of Joseph's estate. . [100] Stanley B. Kimball, The Saints and St. Louis, 18311857: An Oasis of Tolerance and Security, BYU Studies 13 (Summer 1973): 489519. Sidney Rigdon had been released in January. How Orrin Hatch protected people of faith, KSL Newsradio is preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary. During this time, their relationship improved and Joseph may have agreed to stop taking on additional wives. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Why didnt Emma Smith go west with the Saints? 1981), 23031. 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.. There can be no question, though, that she made sacrifices far beyond what most Mormons would be asked to make, and that she experienced more than her fair share of suffering. But the youngest wife sealed to Smith was only 14 years old when she married him . 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. She was often anxious and sad, but she coped. At least one man escaped west to Fort Leavenworth. Quincys compassion, noted historian Richard E. Bennett, saved the saints as a people and may even have saved the Church as an institution.[88], Assigned by the Committee of Removal, David Rogers visited Jackson County on March 15, sold Church properties, raised some $2,700, and brought the funds to Far West by mid-April. 5 How old was Emma Smith when Joseph Smith died? I am already engaged on the other side.'[4]. . Turley, Richard E., and Brittany A. Chapman. [102] See Missouri Republican (St. Louis), May 3, 1839. . Bushman reports that Emma and Joseph had many intense discussions about his polygamy and their relationship was periodically strained. He told her of the time she undertook to poison him, and he told her that she was a child of hell, and literally the most wicked woman on this earth, that there was not one more wicked than she.