He had no steady occupation and was involved intensely with religion. Their chief settlement was Far West in Caldwell County. The last words out of Emmas mouth when she died were Joseph. He instructed them to have the women pray about the request. Emma: People say all kinds of things, but Julia I know better. How come Joseph Smith's wife, Emma, joined the RLDS church instead of [102] See Missouri Republican (St. Louis), May 3, 1839. Emma and her family were forced to leave the state with the majority of Latter Day Saints. See discussion in Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery. In January some Missourians gave Levi Hancock, one of the seven presidents of the Seventy, three days to leave. in getting one single wagon to convey beds, clothing, and provisions for our family, and luggage. (Emma's schism church.) Her judgment lies in God's hands, not in ours or Brigham Young's. Many people have focused almost entirely on the decisions she made in the last years of Joseph Smiths life and after his death, and sometimes those events trouble Mormons and please non-Mormons. Also there were Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith, who were soon to be ordained as Apostles. Time and again, she was uprooted, often without warning and frequently without time to pack her belongings. [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. "My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticityI have not the slightest doubt of it," she testified in an interview she gave late in life. For more coverage of Sunstone sessions, visit MormonTimes.com and go to the "Studies & Doctrine tab," then click on "doctrine discussions." 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. Emma Smith - Wikipedia A Comfort unto My Servant, Joseph. Women of faith in the latter days. [45] The Mosiah Hancock Journal (Salt Lake City: reprint by Pioneer Press, n.d.), 11. She had sufficient faith to avoid looking at the plates even when they were in her bedroom or kitchen, although she frequently felt them and moved them out of her way as she worked. The streets and city square became corn fields. [80] The Mormons, Quincy Whig, March 2, 1839. Thank you for your insight about and compassion for Emma, and for taking the time to write about and share it with us. 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. Snow was six inches deep. Sister Emma cried and said that they [thieves] had taken all of her bed clothes, except one quilt and blanket, and what could she do? So Caroline and other sisters told Emma to send hers to Joseph, which she did, and they gave her replacement bedding for her family. [103] Kenney, Wilford Woodruffs Journal, 1:330, entry for May 4, 1839. She was not perfect, but what is amazing is that she was as perfect as she was given the powerful trials and persecutions she experienced. Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery, https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Question:_Why_did_Emma_Smith_and_Brigham_Young_dislike_one_another%3F&oldid=194300. Emma Smith's Hymnbook - Latter-day Saint Insights They were enough to wear out any woman and if she, in the end, was tired of fighting her way through life, that can be understood. [95] At that point, Brigham Young felt that the covenant to move the poor Saints had been fulfilled: We had entered into a covenant to see the poor Saints all moved out of Missouri to Illinois, that they might be delivered out of the hands of such vile persecutors, and we spared no pains to accomplish this object until the Lord gave us the desires of our heart. [20] We have to look at her entire life, not just one portion of it. Tears roll down Emily Rennie's face as she recalls a church counsellor telling her she needed to give up her child for adoption because he was conceived out of wedlock one of the most . B. H. Roberts, 2nd ed. [104] Donna Toland Smart, Exemplary Elder: The Life and Missionary Diaries of Perrigrine Sessions, 18141893 (Provo, UT: BYU Studies and Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History, 2002), 43. His wife joined the Reorganized LDS Church (now Community of Christ) and the family moved to Independence in 1870. However, President Young advised the Saints to gather in order to help each other better. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 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. 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.. [20] The Life of Joseph Holbrook, 18061871, typescript, 46, Perry Special Collections. That larger move was led by Brigham Young and other Apostles whose first tutorial about moving a mass of people came during the Missouri exodus. Required fields are marked *. The refinement, the charity of our age, will not brook it. She said she was sorry to see the Mormons suffer so much and be driven from their homes. Elder Kimball said he stayed behind to assist members of the Committee of Removal and to wait upon those in prison. In Far West he had to hide out in the woods during daytime. Historians Share What You Should Know about Emma Smith [29] Smith, History of the Church, 3:249. That did not stop Emma, a visionary woman in her own sense of the word. Learn how . 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]. [88] Richard E. Bennett, Quincythe Home of Our Adoption, 101. The Knight family. On March 21 Wilford Woodruff said the apostolic company passed through Huntsville and found the roads were full of Saints that were fleeing Missouri.[93] On April 24 they met three members of the Committee of Removal who had just been driven from Far West, who also joined them. Brigham Young/Polygamy - FAIR A Collection of Sacred Hymns for the Church of the Latter Day Saints was published in 1835. She would smile with her lips, but to me, as small as I was, I never saw the brown eyes smile. That party came to include Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, and John Taylor. . 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.' Some of Emma's friends, as well as many members of the Smith family, alienated themselves from Young's followers. William Clayton: Joseph's BFF, Nauvoo insider, early plural marriage Bidamon married Nancy Sebree in 1827, with whom he had four children. What did Emma Emma do for the LDS Church? 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. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Mormons had a divorce rate of about 1 percent. On February 19 the committee sent Charles Bird to visit Caldwell County and William Huntington Far West to determine how many families still needed assistance to move and to solicit means to help them. [73], Church members living in Quincy and nearby tried to help the refugees when they crossed the river. [11] Charles C. Rich, A Sketch that I was an eye witness to in the state of Missouri, holograph, Charles C. Rich Papers, Church History Library, Salt Lake City. [Deseret News Weekly 15:364, 10/10/66, p 4-5 and 15:372, 10/17/66, p 4-5; MS 28:764, 774]) off-site. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The Thomas family. She seems, among other things, to have been worried about providing for her children, as well as protecting them from the violence which had claimed Joseph. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". For more on Emma Smith, check out the new acclaimed film Jane and Emma. Levi Ward Hancock continued as a President of the Seventy, marched to California in the Mormon Battalion, was a pioneer in Manti and southern Utah, and served as a patriarch. She is known in Church history for being well educated and was able to act as a scribe for Joseph when he was translating the plates because of it. 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). Emma saw in him what her family missed. When her stepparents determined they could no longer care for her, the 8-year-old orphan found her way back to Emma. Browse the pages of the original 1835 hymnbook. At Adam-ondi-Ahman they obtained provisions from fellow Saints. In the future Brigham would have his own falling out with Babbitt and the rift would become so widely known that, when Indians killed Babbitt on the Western plains in 1856, Eastern newspapers erroneously reported that Brigham had ordered him killed. Im guessing something to do with the meter, but I cant figure it out! So Levi rigged up a foot lathe and soon had two hubs turned out and built a cart. 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. [89] Leo R. Rogers, Willis Rogers and Elizabeth Bessie Ritchie with Their Ancestors and Descendants (Bountiful, UT: L. R. Rogers, ca. Joseph Smith Family and the Year without a summer - Mormon History They lived with his family and then with hers for a time. | April 1, 2022, 6:08 a.m. "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" often addresses Latter-day Saint issues, even though there are no fully active members of the faith in . [50], The Young and Kimball families. The Saints exodus from Nauvoo took place a year and a half later, leaving Emma, a 41-year-old widow, with her aged mother-in-law, Lucy Mack Smith, and five children, ranging in age from fourteen years to fifteen months old, to care for. 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. The Apostles group arrived at Far West soon after midnight on April 26. Newel Knight had a wagon but no team. We had not the privilege of hunting our cattle and horses.[14] Newel Knight noted that because the Saints were unarmed, they became prey for small parties of armed men insulting our women, driving off our stock, and plundering. To him it seemed as though all hell was aroused to do us injury.[15] Newels cousin Reed Peck said that some horses, wagons and much other property were stolen from the Mormons by some of the militia who were villains enough to plunder.[16] By late November, most crops around Far West were unharvested, and potatoes still in the ground were frose solid. Soldiers rifled through homes, Albert Rockwood said, and our sheep & hogs, & horses [are] drove off before our eyes by the Missourians who come in small companies well armed.[17], In neighboring Daviess County, Missouri militia ordered all the Saints out and gave William Huntington and eleven other Mormons four weeks to round up the Latter-day Saints livestock, wagons, and personal property. Is there a list anywhere of all the composers who had songs in Emmas 1835 hymnal? The large body of displaced Saints became an economic force and political presence in Illinois and Iowa Territory. As one said, those who moved during the winter traveled in colde weather thinly clad and porly furnished with provisions.[40] Women without their husbands had harder times of it than those with husbands. Emma Smith was the wife of the first Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith. When eternal marriage was first introduced, many families carried out sealings with friends and those they wanted to be eternally associated with, not entirely understanding what the revelation meant. When I reflect on how I found the gospel, I realize that my familys experiences informed two important pieces of my testimony. What is the LDS divorce rate? When morning came, he and Abraham Smoot crossed to Quincy, leaving their families with the wagon. Accordingly, our goods were taken out. They waited until another team came for them. Emma Smith, My Story Removes False Traditions They appear, so far as we have seen, to be a mild, inoffensive people, who could not have given cause for the persecution they have met with. City leaders and residents suddenly had to deal with a humanitarian crisis thrust upon them. These souls, by and large, were poor, bedraggled, and sickly. [30] John Taylor, Alanson Ripley, Brigham Young, Theodore Turley, Heber C. Kimball, John Smith (the Prophets uncle), and Don C. Smith (the Prophets brother). Why did Joseph Smith marry women who were already married - LDS answers 5 How old was Emma Smith when Joseph Smith died? [101] Cited in Baugh, We Took Our Change of Venue, 52. Abraham O. Smoot became mayor of Salt Lake City and then Provo, president of the Utah Stake, and a promoter of Brigham Young Academy. These were the top four reasons for leaving the LDS Church: "I studied church history and lost my belief" (39% primary factor, 81% moderate to strong factor); "I lost faith in Joseph Smith" (39% primary, 84% mod-strong); "I ceased to believe in the church's doctrine/theology" (38% primary, 87% mod-strong); Her family had a fair amount of money. Emma and her family were forced to leave the state with the majority of Latter Day Saints. Either Brigham Young was not aware of Babbitt's propensity for alienating those around him or, like Joseph before him, he overlooked his faults because he needed his legal knowledge. In conversation, he appears intelligent and candid, and divested of all malicious thought and feeling towards his relentless persecutors.[102], Joseph Smith quickly finalized plans for a new gathering place for the homeless Saints upriver at Commerce, soon to be renamed Nauvoo. After Alvin's untimely death, Joseph was told his replacement would be revealed by revelation. They belonged to a large, extended family headed by Joseph Knight Sr., who converted to Mormonism in New York state in 1830, the year the Church was organized. Whatever the situation, Emma eventually found herself unable to cope with polygamy. Joseph Smith's death on June 27, 1844, created tremendous upheaval for Emma. 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. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Jeremy's response was an 84-page document that came to be known as the "CES Letter.". [3] LaMar C. Berrett and Max H. Parkin, Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites, vol. 8 What did Emma Emma do for the LDS Church? The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". [120] Levi W. Hancock petition in Johnson, Mormon Redress Petitions, 225. Mormon Takeover of the West and Why - stolenhistory.net It was enough to make the heart ache to see the children, sick with colds, and crying around their mothers for food, whilst their parents were destitute of the means of making them comfortable.[21], Northwest Missouri winters can be harsh. When we came to within six miles of the Mississippi river, the weather grew colder, and, in the place of rain we had snow and hail. They walked six miles across low and swampy ground, sinking to their ankles in mud. After a long time, Mother Smith said, We succeeded . Which is another way of saying that a particular view of history does not suit institutional needs in the moment. [118] Dean R. Zimmerman, I Knew the Prophets: An Analysis of the Letters of Benjamin F. Johnson to George F. Gibbs Reporting Doctrinal Views of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (Bountiful, UT: Horizon, 1976), 1011. She endured the jeering and insults of mobs. On March 5, Bishop Edward Partridge reported in Quincy that ice had been running for three days so that no one could cross the Mississippi. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Your email address will not be published. Their hospitality stemmed more from pity than anything else. Smith's wives were believed to be between the ages of 20 and 40 at the time they were "sealed" or married to him. The first night, our wagon tipped over into the creek. The lack of a legal will placed both the Church and Emma's family in uncertain financial conditions. They ran out of provisions and became so weak they couldnt continue, so they held a council and prayed to know where to hunt. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Mormon Church Admits Founder Joseph Smith Had Up To 40 Wives Both the Church and Joseph Smith personally were heavily in debt at the time of the martyrdom. [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. Given that Brigham was blamed by Emma for being the inventor of plural marriage, he probably felt rather ill-used by her. . In July 1830, Joseph Smith received a revelation addressed specifically to Emma. 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. It struck Martha on the knees and little Keziah above the eyes. On October 27, 1838, three days after Missouri and Mormon militias engaged in the Battle of Crooked River, Governor Boggs issued his infamous extermination order. What happened to Emma Smith? The topic of this video has been pro. May 1831 New York branches arrive in Ohio. John later filed claim for the loss of 240 acres of land, three yoke of oxen, a corn crop, and hogs. To fulfill their instruction, some members of the Twelve left Quincy on April 18, 1839, to travel secretly to Far West. [15] Hartley, Stand by My Servant Joseph, 291; Reed Peck, Reed Peck Manuscript (Salt Lake City: Modern Microfilms reprint, n.d.), 29. 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. 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. Book Of Mormon Videos Why did Emma Smith leave the LDS Church?-----Our main goal is creating educational content. 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. ", Delewski said, "If someone with Emma's experience came to me, I would talk about these deaths and see what effects sorrow had had upon her. Under these conditions, one could reasonably conclude that she did not travel west in order to avoid losing any more of her children. Delewski thinks she may have been the most promising of the Hale children because she had a rare additional year of schooling. So adamant was Emma on this point that the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held it as an article of faith, and Emma's children never accepted the idea that Joseph had instituted plural marriage. Its seven members, soon expanded to eleven, agreed to move first the families of the Presidency and of the other prisoners. . Seeing the injuries, she rushed back to her house and brought back camphor, brown paper, and a pan of warm water. They developed communities, farms, roads, livestock herds, commerce, and trade in parts of Adam and Hancock counties, Illinois, and in Lee County, Iowa. I being barefooted and the ice so rough, I staggered all over. A Collection of Sacred Hymns for the Church of the Latter Day Saints, https://www.lds.org/music/index/hymns/title-tune-meter?lang=eng&_r=1, https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/HTML/what_is_meter.htm. 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. At times he hid in members homes as he headed east. They threatened to send the committee to hell jumping and put daylight through them. The men gathered up what they could and hastily fled from Far West within the hour. [112] A Proclamation to the Saints Scattered AbroadGreeting, Times and Seasons, January 15, 1841, 6. 1981), 23031. Taken from The Return, typescript, 243, Perry Special Collections. . They reached the bank of the Mississippi in eight days and found the river frozen over. "Remember, Emma was a woman of refinement and education. This book contains copies of the individual and group petitions and provides excellent explanations about each of the petition drives and how the petitions were used by the Church to seek redress for its members. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. They received them as they came, sent forward all who had means and strength into the interior, provided the poor and sick with lodgings, fuel, food and clothing.[74] Wandle Mace opened his house to the refugees. . Browse the pages of the original 1835 hymnbook. Emma's disappearance from LDS history was so total that Linda says when she and Valeen co-authored an article about her for the Ensign in 1979, it was the first writing about her to appear in. https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/HTML/what_is_meter.htm. Constant delays meant that the Knights did not reach the Mississippi River until early May. I now saw my little daughter, Nancy Jane, for the first time about two months old. Why did Emma Smith leave the LDS Church? - YouTube So, what materials that existed were unfair or inaccurate. They collected donations of furniture, farm implements, and money from farm sales. After losing twins, she adopted a set of twins, but one died after being exposed to the cold when a mob invaded their home while the children were ill. One child died at the age of fourteen months and another died less than a year later. She compiled the first hymnbook. They took what scanty provisions we could muster. They walked and slept under the sky. Who was the oldest president of the LDS Church? Sarah later became Emmas first counselor in the Nauvoo Relief Society. Then on November 5 and 6, 1999, a Quincy History Symposium honored the citys humanitarian efforts for Saints who fled Missouri. [18], Far West was ill equipped to become a refugee center for Saints displaced by Missouri militia. But only three of the two dozen adults in Knight family network faltered. She became the first woman to receive the temple endowment involving the making of sacred covenants with the Savior. Its almost as if youre holding the hymnbook in your own hands. She wrote to him that only God knew how hard it was for her to flee her home with her children, abandoning all her possessions and leaving her husband to endure whatever was to come. Emma Smith would make tremendous sacrifices for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for her husband, and for the church. The CES Director apparently never got around to responding. [52] Heber C. Kimball Journals, 18381839, in Porter, Brigham Young and the Twelve, 134. Each comment will be reviewed by a staff member before it will appear on the site. [106] Fortunately, 678 petitions survive. the Gospel Doctrine manual for church history. Further, the committee agreed to find employment for those able and willing to labor. He had been separated from the family for three months or more. Joseph Smith. When did Emma Smith leave the church? Emmas life was a complex one. Many of the Saints were converts who had sung hymns before. She was baptized for the dead on behalf of her mother and sister. You might also enjoy Emma Smith: My Storyor Emma and Lucy. [98] That summer the prisoners who had been at Richmond escaped confinement, except King Follett. 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. [16] Baugh, A Call to Arms, 395; Reed Peck Manuscript, 29. Brigham interpreted Emma's refusal to answer as an admission of guilt.. Was also Governor of Utah Territory from February 3, 1851 to April 12, 1858. [90], By mid-April, the mobs lost patience with the Saints still in Caldwell County. It would be 2 months before she could be confirmed as a member of the Church. [123], Ghost towns and farms. Emma and Joseph's descendants grew up separated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the time, the First Presidency consisted of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith, who had replaced Frederick G. Williams as second counselor in the First Presidency in November 1837. . However, the hymns Emma selected were particularly special. If Mormonism is not true, it is a fraudulent version of Christianity and an enormous sham. You've read 0 of 5 of todays most popular posts. Her health partially returned, but she has never been able to work much since, her husband wrote in 1845. When those families reached Illinois early in 1839, they were poor, worn out, and ragged looking. She had a home and her children and she just had to carry on the best she could. A woman living in a nearby house ran to find out what was wrong. Emma and Brigham also disagreed about which parts of Joseph's estate were personal property, and which belonged to the Church.[1]. Training experience for 1846 exodus. Fugitive John Butler, in Quincy, learned of their arrival, and he rowed across the river in a canoe, dodging ice. We all just made it on the opposite bank when the ice started to snap and pile up in great heaps, and the water broke thru! It took me a minute to find what you were looking at, but if I am correct, I see the PMs in Emma Smiths original hymnbook. 6, p. 408-412 it records an "Address of the Prophet" on Sunday, May 26, 1844 where Joseph Smith states: "What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only . 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. Those refer to the meter used in the hymn text. Because the Missouri militia wanted to arrest him, he fled from home on November 2, leaving Caroline and the children to fend as best they could. [73] Bennett, Quincythe Home of Our Adoption, 86. You may be able to get in touch with someone who can answer that question here: Joseph Smith PapersContact Us. . Newel and all men in the city had to surrender their arms. And when people say she was wrong for remaining in Nauvoo, they are implying they know what she should have done," Richard Delewski said at the Sunstone Symposium on Aug. 13. 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.. Until that time, Emma had been largely written out of official LDS history. Who is the Real Emma Smith? - Prophet Joseph Smith