History of the Prophet Joseph

IMPROVEMENT ERA. Vol. V. AUGUST, 1902. No. 10.

HISTORY OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH. BY HIS MOTHER, LUCY SMITH.

CHAPTER XLII.

AN EXTRACT FROM THE HISTORY OP JOSEPH THE PROPHET —SIDNEY RIGDON'S TRANSGRESSION —TROUBLE IN JACKSON COUNTY. I shall now return to the month of September, 1831. Joseph, at this time, was engaged in translating the Bible, and Sidney Rig- don was writing for him. About the first of this month, Joseph came to the conclusion to remove- himself and clerk, as well as their families, to the before-mentioned town of Hiram, in order to expedite the work. They moved to the house of Father John Johnson, and lived with him in peace until the following March, when a circumstance occurred, which I shall relate in his own words:

On the twenty-fifth of March, (1832,) the twins before mentioned, which had been sick of the measles for some time, caused us to be broke of our rest in taking care of them, especially my wife. In the evening, I told her she had better retire to rest with one of the chil- dren, and I would watch with the sickest child. In the night, she told

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me I had better lie down on the trundle bed, and I did so, and was soon after awakened by her screaming murder! When I found myself going out of the door in the hands of about a dozen men; some of whose hands were in my hair, and some hold of my shirt, drawers, and limbs. The foot of the trundle bed was towards the door, leaving only room enough for the door to swing. My wife heard a gentle tapping on the windows, which she then took no particular notice of (but which was unquestion- ably designed for ascertaining whether we were all asleep), and, soon after, the mob burst open the door and surrounded the bed in an instant, and, as I said, the first I knew, I was going out of the door, in the hands of an infuriated mob. made a desperate struggle, as I was forced out, I

to extricate myself, but only cleared one leg, withwhich I made a pass at one man, and he fell on the door steps. I was immediately confined

again, and they swore by God they would kill me if I did not be still, which quieted me. As they passed around the house with me, the fel- low that I kicked, came to me and thrust his hand into my face all covered with blood, (for I hit him on the nose,) and with an exultant horse laugh, muttered "ge, gee, God d —mn ye, I'll fix ye. They then seized me by the throat, and held on till I lost my breath. After I came to, as they passed along with me, about thirty rods from the house, I saw Elder Rigdon stretched out on the ground, whither they had dragged him by the heels. I supposed he was dead. began to plead with them, saying, you will have mercy and spare I

— my life, I hope. To which they replied, "God d mn ye, call on yer God for help, we'll show ye no mercy;" and the people began to show them- selves in every direction; one coming from the orchard had a plank, and I expected they would kill me, and carry me oif on a plank. They then turned to the right, and went on about thirty rods further —about sixty rods from the house, and about thirty from where I saw Elder Rigdon into the meadow, where they stopped, and one said, "Simonds, Simonds," (meaning, I suppose, Simonds Rider,) "pull up his drawers, pull up his drawers, he will take cold." Another replied, "A'nt ye going to kill 'im? A'nt ye going to kill 'im?" when a group of mobbers collected a little way off, and said, "Simonds, Simonds, come here;" and Simonds charged those who had hold of me to keep me from touching the ground (as they had done all the time), lest I should get a spring upon them. They went and held a council, and as I could occasionally overhear a word, I supposed it was to know whether it was best to kill me. They returned, after a while, when I learned that they had concluded not to kill me, but pound and scratch me well, tear off my shirt and drawers, and leave me naked: one cried, "Simonds, Simonds, where is the tar

HISTORY OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH. 739

bucket?" "I don't know," answered one, "where 'tis, Eli's left it." They ran back and fetched the bucket of tar, when one exclaimed, "God d —mn it, let us tar up his mouth;" and they tried to force the tar paddle into my mouth; I twisted my head around, so that they could not; and they cried out, — "God d mn ye, hold up ^our head and let us give ye some tar." They then tried to force a vial into my mouth, and broke it in my teeth. All my clothes were torn oif me, except my shirt collar; and one man fell on me and scratched my body with his nails like a mad cat, — and then muttered out, "God d mn ye, that's the way the Holy Ghost falls on folks."

They then left me, and I attempted to rise, but fell again; I pulled the tar away from my lips, etc., so that I could breathe more freely, and after a while I began to recover, and raised myself up, when I saw two lights. I made my way towards one of them, and found it was Father Johnson's. When I had come to the door I was naked, and the tar made me look as though I was covered with blood; and when my wife saw me she thought I was all mashed to pieces, and fainted. During the affray abroad, the sisters of the neighborhood had collected at my room. I

called for a blanket, they threw me one and shut the door; I wrapped it around me, and went in. * * * *

My friends spent the night in scraping and removing the tar, and washing and cleansing my body; so that by morning I was ready to be clothed again. This being Sabbath morning, the people assembled for meeting at the usual hour of worship, and among those came also the mobbers, viz., Sirnonds Rider, a Campbellite preacher, and leader of the mob; one M'Clentic, son of a Campbellite minister, and Pelatiah Allen, Esq., who gave the mob a barrel of whisky to raise their spirits; and many others. With my flesh all scarified and defaced, I preached to the congregation, as usual, and in the afternoon of the same day baptized three individuals. — Tiines and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 611. Millennial Star, vol. 14, p. 148.

Sidney Rigdon went immediately to Kirtland, but Joseph re- mained at Father Johnson's to finish his preparations for a journey, which he contemplated making to Missouri. Immediately after Sidney's arrival at Kirtland, we met for the purpose of holding a prayer meeting, and, as Sidney had not been with us for some time, we hoped to hear from him upon this occasion. We waited a long time before he made his appearance; at last he came in, seemingly much agitated. He did not go to the stand, but began to pace back and forth through the house. My husband said,

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"Brother Sidney, we would like to h3ar a discourse from you to- day." Brother Rigdon replied, in a tone of excitement, "The keys of the kingdom are rent from the Church, and there shall not be a prayer put up in this house this day." "Oh! no," said Mr. Smith, "I hope not." "I tell you they are," rejoined Elder Rigdon,

"and no man or woman shall put up a prayer in this place today." This greatly disturbed the minds of many sisters, and some brethren. The brethren stared and turned pale, and the sisters cried. Sister Howe, in particular, was very much terrified: "Oh dear me!" said she, "what shall we do? what shall we do? The keys of the kingdom are taken from us, and what shall we do?" "I tell you again," said Sidney, with much feeling, "the keys of the kingdom are taken from you, and you never will have them again until you build me a new house." Hyrum was vexed at this frivolous nonsense, and, taking his hat, he went out of the house, saying, "I'll put a stop to this fuss, pretty quick; I'm going for Joseph." "Oh don't," said Sister Howe, "for pity's sake, don't go for him. Brother Sidney says the keys of the kingdom are taken from us, and where is the use of bringing Joseph here?" Hyrum took a horse, and went immediately to Father John- son's, for Joseph. He arrived there in the afterpart of the night. Joseph being informed of the precise situation of affairs, he got a horse from Father Johnsom, and started without delay, with Hy- rum, for Kirtland. On his arrival there, the brethren were col- lected for meeting. Joseph went upon the stand, and informed the brethren that they were under a great mistake, that the Church had not transgressed; "and, as for the keys of the king- dom," said he, "I, myself, hold the keys of this Last Dispensation, and will for ever hold them, both in time and eternity; so set your hearts at rest upon that point, all is right." He then went on and preached a comforting discourse, after which he appointed a council to sit the next day, by which Sidney

was tried, for having lied in the name of the Lord. In this coun- cil Joseph told him, he must suffer for what he had done, that he

should be delivered over to the buffetings of Satan, who would handle him as one man handleth another, that the less Priesthood

HISTORY OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH. 741

he had, the better it would be for him, and that it would be well for him to give up his license. This counsel Sidney complied with, yet he had to suffer for his folly, for, according to his own account, he was dragged out of bed by the devil, three times in one night, by his heels. Whether this be true or not, one thing is certain, his contrition of soul was as great as a man could well live through. After he had sufficiently humbled himself, he received another license; but the old one was retained, and is now in the hands of Bishop Whitney. On the second of April, 1832, Joseph set off for Missouri, accompanied by Newel K. Whitnej'-, Peter Whitmer, and Jesse Gauze. They were taken by Brother Pitkin to the town of War- ren, where they were joined by Brother Rigdon, and they all pur- •

sued their journey together. During her husband's absence, Emma Smith lived with Rey- nolds Gaboon, Father Smith, and Dr. F. G. Williams, occasionaUy spending a short time with us. On the twenty-fourth of April, Joseph arrived at Independ- ence. He made haste to attend to the business that lay before him, and on the sixth of May following, he, with Brothers Whit- ney and Rigdon, left Independe.nce for Kirtland. When they ar- rived at New Albany, Brother Whitney had the misfortune to get his leg broken. This detained Joseph, who remained, in order to take care of him, four weeks at Mr. Porter's public house in Green- ville. While they were at this place, Joseph had poison adminis- tered to him in his food, which operated very violently upon his system, but he soon recovered, and the next morning they pur- sued their journey again, and arriv^ed in Kirtland some time in the month of June. When Joseph got home, he immediately procured a house for his wife; and, after making his family comfortable, he went on a mission to the east, leaving his family in the care of Hyrum. Shortly after he left, Joseph Smith the third was born. After Joseph returned from his mission to the east, he estab- lished a school for the elders, and called them all home from the different parts of the country where they had been laboring. This was called the School of the Prophets; and was kept in an upper room of the house in which Joseph resided.

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At this time my sons were all called home, and shortly after they arrived, Joseph took all the male portion of our family into the before-named school room, and administered to them the ordi- nance of washing of feet; after which the Spirit fell upon them, and they spake in tongues, and prophesied. The brethren gathered together to witness the minifestations of the power of God. At that time I was on the farm a short distance from the place where the meeting was held, and my children being anxious that I should enjoy the meeting, sent a messenger in great haste for me. I went without delay, and shared with the rest, the most glorious out- pouring of the Spirit of God, that had ever before taken place in the Church. We felt that we had gained a decided victory over the adversary, and,

We could not believe. That we ever should grieve, Or ever should sorrow again.

But, alas! our joy was soon mingled with woe. It was but a few months, before a messenger arrived from Missouri, with tidings of the difficulty in .Jackson county; that Brothers Partridge and Allen had been tarred and feathered, and put into prison; that some had been killed, and others shot; and among the latter, was Brother Dibble, who had been dangerously wounded. Upon hearing this, Joseph was overwhelmed with grief. He burst into tears, and sobbed aloud, "Oh my brethren! my brethren;" he exclaimed, "would that I had been with you, to have shared your fate. Oh my God, what shall I do in such a trial as this!" After his grief had a little subsided, he called a council, and it was resolved, th^.t the brethren from the surrounding country, as well as those in Kirtland, should go immediately to Missouri, and take with them money and clothing to relieve the brethren in their distress.*

• A revelation was received (see Doctrine and Covenants, section 101), requiring the brethren from Kirtland and other places in the state, to proceed to Missouri and relieve the persecuted Saints, and importune the civil authorities in their behalf. (See also Doctrine and Covenants, section 103).

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CHAPTER XLIII. BUILDING OF A HOUSE — JOSEPH AND HYRUM RETURN FROM MIS- SOURI — THEY REHEARSE THE HISTORY OF THEIR TROUBLE. Previous to taking leave for Missouri, the brethren commenced building a house, which was designed for both a meetinghouse and a school. This was left in the hands of Brother Reynolds Gaboon for completion; and was to be in readiness for use by the com- mencement of the ensuing winter. It is true we held meetings in

it during the summer, but then it only served as a shelter from the sun. We were now unusually anxious to meet together as often as possible, in order to unite our faith and prayers in behalf of our brethren; but, for a length of time after they left, almost every meeting was broken up by a storm. In consequence of this, to- gether with* the near approach of winter, we began to urge upon Brother Gaboon the necessity of hurrying the building, but he said that he could do nothing about the matter, as he had neither time nor means. This made me very sorrowful. I studied upon it a long time. Finally, I told my husband, I believed that I could raise the means myself to finish the building, and, if he would give his consent, I would try and see what I could do. He said he would be glad if I could do anything towards forwarding the work, and that I might take any course I saw fit, in order to accomplish it. I

then wrote a subscription paper, in which I agreed to refund all the money that should be given, in case it could not be appropriated to the purpose for which it should be subscribed. This article I first took to each member of my family who were at home, as also my boarders, then proceeded with it Here I re- to Father Bosley's. ceived considerable assistance, and, as was leaving the house, I I

met Brother Gaboon, and informed him of what I was doing. He seemed pleased, and told me to go on and prosper. And it was even so, I did prosper; so that in two weeks I had everything in fine order for commencing the work.

On the first of August, Joseph and Hyrum returned. They were overjoyed to meet us again in health, more especially on ac- count of the perils which they had passed through during their absence. Joseph and Hyrum sat down beside me, each holding one of my hands in his, while they related the following story

744 IMPROVEMENT ERA. When we started on our journey, we made arrangements to have every one made as comfortable as possible; but the sufferings which are incident to such an excursion made some of the brethren discontented, and they began to murmur against us, saying, "The Lord never required them to take such a tiresome journey," and that it was folly for them to suffer such fatigue and inconvenience just to gratify us. We warned them, in the name of the Lord, to stop their murmuring; for, if they did not, the displeasure of the Almighty would be manifested in judgments in their midst. But many of them paid no attention to what we said, until one morning when they went out to harness up their horses, and found them all so lame as to be unable to travel. We then told them that this was a curse which had come upon them because of transgres- sion; but, if they would repent, it might be removed — not, a greater if

curse would come upon them. They believed what we said, and repented of their folly. The consequence was, we were soon on our journey again. Itwas not long, however, till the spirit of dissension arose again, and was not quelled, so as to produce any degree of good feeling, until we arrived at Missouri. Soon after arriving at the point of destination, the cholera broke out in our midst; the brethren were so violently attacked that it seemed impossible to render them any assistance. They immediately sent for us to lay hands on them, but we soon discovered that this, also, was a judg- ment from the Almighty; for, when we laid our hands upon them, in the name of the Lord, the disease immediately fastened itself upon us, and in a few minutes we were in awful agony. We made signals to each other and left the house, in order to join in prayer to God that he would de- liver us from this dreadful influence; but, before we could get to a sufficient distance from the house to be secure from interruption, we were

hardly able to stand upon our feet, and we feared that we should die in that western wilderness without the privilege of blessing our children, or giving them one word of parting counsel. We succeeded in getting a few steps further, and then fell upon our knees and cried unto the Lord that he would deliver us from this awful calamity, but we arose worse than before. We kneeled down the second time, and when we commenced praying the cramp seized us, gathering the cords in our arms and legs in bunches, and operating equally severe throughout our system. We still besought the Lord, with all our strength, to have mercy upon us, but all in vain. It seemed as though the heavens were sealed against us, and that every power that could render us any assistance was shut within its gates. We then kneeled down the third time, concluding never to rise to our feet again, until one or the other should get a testimony that we

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should be healed; and that the one who should get the first intimation of the same from the Spirit, should make it known to the other.

They stated further, that after praying some time the cramp began to release its hold; and, in a short time, Hymra sprang to his feet and exclaimed, "Joseph, we shall return to our families. I

have had an open vision, in which I saw mother kneeling under an apple tree; and she is even now asking God, in tears, to spare our lives, that she may again behold us in the flesh. The Spirit testi- fies, that her prayers, united with ours, will be answered." "Oh, my mother!" said Joseph, "how often have your prayers been the means of assisting us when the shadows of death encom- " passed us William was also taken sick of the same disease; but one of the sisters took him to her house, and nursed him so faithfully that he soon recovered. Jesse Smith, my nephew, was seized so vio- lently that nothing could be done for him, and he died immediately. Brother Thayre was also taken with the cholera; he went to the river and commenced dipping himself, and finding that it helped him, he continued until he was quite restored. His example was followed by several others, and with the same effect. After hearing this recital, I took Joseph and Hyrum with me, and showed them the new meetinghouse, with which they were highly pleased, and they approved of all that I had done relative to the matter.*

CHAPTER XLIV. THE lord's house AT KIRTLAND COMMENCED A LETTER FROM— THE PROPHET TO HIS UNCLE SILAS.

Preceding Joseph's return from Missouri, the brethren called a council with the view of investigating the subject of building a meetinghouse, to accommodate the increased congregation. In this council, Joseph requested that each of the brethren should give his views with regard to the house; and when they

*The house referred to was not completed for some time after Joseph's return. Most of the carpenter work was done by Brigham Young. — Note by Geo. A. Smith.

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had all got through, he would then give his opinion concerning the matter. They all complied with his request. Some were in favor of building a frame house, but others were of a mind to put up a log house. Joseph reminded them that they were not building a house for man, but for God; "and shall we, brethren," said he, "build a house for our God, of logs? No, I have a better plan than that. I have a plan of the house of the Lord, given by him- self; and you will soon see by this, the difference between our cal- culations and his idea of things." He then gave them a full pattern of the house of the Lord at Kirtland, with which the brethren were highly delighted, parti- cularly Hyrum, who was much more animated than if it were designed for himself. After the close of the meeting, Joseph took the brethren with him, for the purpose of selecting a spot for the building to stand upon. The place which they made choice of was situated in the north-west corner of a field of wheat, which was sown by my sons the fall previous, on the farm upon which we were then living. In a few minutes the fence was removed, and the standing grain was levelled, in order to prepare a place for the building and Hyrum commenced digging a trench for the wall, he having declared that he would strike the first blow upon the house. On the following Monday, the brethren went to work at the house with great ambition; and although not thirty families of Saints now remained in Kirtland, they never suffered the work to stop until it was accomplished. They had to endure great fatigue and privation, in consequence of the opposition they met with from their enemies, and which was so great, that they were com- pelled to keep a guard around the walls much of the time until they were completed. They "gave no sleep to their eyes, nor slumber to their eyelids, until they found a place for the Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." Mary Bailey and Agnes Coolbrith were then boarding with me; they devoted their time to making and mending clothes for the men who were employed on the house. There was but one mainspring to all our thoughts and actions, and that was, the building of the Lord's house. 1 often wonder, when I hear brethren and sisters complain at

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the trifling inconveniences which they have to suffer in these days, and I think to myself that salvation is worth as much now as it was in the commencement of the work. But "all like the pur- chase, few the price would pay." How often I have parted every bed in the house for the accommodation of the brethren, and then laid a single blanket on the floor for my husband and myself, while

Joseph and Emma slept upon the same floor, with nothing but their cloaks for both bed and bedding. In January, 1832, John Smith, my husband's brother, was lying very low with the consumption, and, although he was hardly able to stand upon his feet without assistance, he resolved upon being baptized, which was accordingly done on the 10th, and he was immediately healed. In May, 1833, he moved his family to Kirtland. Not long after Brother John arrived, my oldest daugh- ter, Sophronia Stoddard, was taken sick. Her symptoms soon became so alarming, that her husband sent for a physician, who, after attending upon her for some time, pronounced her beyond the reach of medicine, and therefore discontinued his visits. As she did not speak, nor turn herself in bed, many supposed that she was dying. When she was in this -situation, Jared Carter, to- gether with my husband and our sons, administered to her in the name of the Lord, and in half an hour she spoke to me, saying, "Mother, I shall get well —not suddenly, but the Lord will heal me gradually." The same day she sat up half an hour, and in three days she walked across the street. After Brother John moved to Kirtland, Joseph wrote a letter to his uncle Silas, which I think would be interesting to my read- ers, and shall therefore give it insertion in this place:

Kirtland Mills, Ohio, September 26, 183B. — Respected Uncle Silas: It is with feelings of deep interest for the welfare of mankind, which fill my mind on the reflection that all

were formed by the hand of Him who will call the same to give an im- partial account of all their works on that great day to which you and myself, in common with them, are bound, that I take up my pen and seat myself in an attitude to address a few, though imperfect, lines to you for your perusal. I have no doubt but that you will agree with me, that men will be held accountable for the things they have done, and not for the things

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they have not done. Or that all the light and intelligence communicated to them from their beneficent Creator, whether it is much or little, by the same they, in justice, will be judged. And that they are re- quired to yield obedience, and improve upon that, and that only, which is given, for man is not to live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Seeing that the Lord has never given the world to understand, by anything heretofore revealed, that he had ceased for ever to speak to his creatures, when sought unto in a proper manner, why should it be thought a thing incredible, that he should be pleased to speak again in

these last days for their salvation? Perhaps you may be surprised at this assertion, that I should say for the salvation of his creatures in these last days, since we have already in our possession a vast volume of his word, which he has previously given. But you will admit that the word spoken to Noah was not sufficient for Abraham, or it was not required of Abraham to leave the land of his nativity, and seek an inheritance in a strange country upon the word spoken to Noah, but, for himself he obtained promises at the hand of the Lord, and walked in that perfection, that he was called the friend of God. Isaac, the promised seed, was not required to rest his hope alone upon the promises made to his father Abraham, but was privileged with the assurance of his approbation, in the sight of Heaven, by the direct voice of the Lord to him. If one man can live upon the revelations given to another, might I not with propriety ask, why the necessity, then, of the Lord's speaking to Isaac as he did, as is recorded in the twenty-sixth chapter of Genesis? For the Lord there repeats, or rather, promises again to per- form the oath which he had previously sworn to Abraham; and why this repetition to Isaac? Why was not the first promise as sure for Isaac as it was for Abraham? Was not Isaac Abraham's son? and could he not place implicit confidence in the veracity of his father as being a man of God? Perhaps you may say that he was a very peculiar man, and different from men in these last days, consequently, the Lord favored him with blessings, peculiar and different, as he was different from men in this age. I admit that he was a peculiar man, and was not only pecu-

liarly blessed, but greatly blessed. But all the peculiarity that I can discover in the man, or all the difference between him and men in this age, is, that he was more holy and more perfect before God, and came to him with a purer heart, and more faith than men in this day. The same might be said on the subject of Jacob's history. Why was it that the Lord spake to him concerning the same promise, after he had made it once to Abraham, and renewed it to Isaac? Why could not

HISTORY OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH. 749

Jacob rest contented upon the word spoken to his fathers? When the time of the promise drew nigh for the deliverance of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, why was it necessary that the Lord should begin to speak to them ? The promise or word to Abraham, was, that his seed should serve in bondage, and be afflicted, four hundred years, and after that they should come out with great substance. Why did they not rely upon this promise, and when they had remained in Egypt, in bondage, four hundred years, come out, without waiting for further revelations, but act entirely upon the promise given to Abraham, that they should come out? Paul said to his Hebrew brethren, that God being more abundantly willing to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his coun- sel, he confirmed it by an oath. He also exhorts them, who, through faith and patience inherit the promises. Notwithstanding, we (said Paul) have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast and which entereth into that within the vail, yet he was careful to press upon them the necessity of continuing

on until they, as well as those who then inherited the promises, might have the assurance of their salvation confirmed to them by an oath from the mouth of him who could not lie; for that seemed to be the example anciently, and Paul holds it out to his Hebrew brethren as an object

attainable in his day. And why not? I admit, that by reading the Scriptures of truth, the saints, in the days of Paul, could learn, beyond the power of contradiction, that Abraham,. Isaac, and Jacob, had the promise of eternal life confirmed to them by an oath of the Lord, but that promise or oath was no assurance to them of their salvation; but they could, by walking in the footsteps, continuing in the faith of their fathers, obtain, for themselves, an oath for confirmation that they were meet to be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in light. If the saints, in the days of the apostles, were privileged to take

the saints for example, and lay hold of the same promises, and attain to the same exalted privileges of knowing that their names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and that they were sealed there as a perpetual memorial before the face of the Most High, will not the same faithful- ness, the same purity of heart, and the same faith, bring the same as- surance of eternal life, and that in the same manner to the children of men now, in this age of the world? I have no doubt, but that the holy prophets, and apostles, and saints in ancient days were saved in the kingdom of God; neither do I doubt but that they held converse and communion with him while they were in the flesh, as Paul said to his

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Corinthian brethren, that the Lord Jesus showed himself to above five hundred saints at one time after his resurrection. Job said that he knew that his Redeemer lived, and that he should see him in the flesh in the latter days. I may believe that Enoch walked with God, and by

faith was translated. may believe that Noah was a perfect man in his I

generation, and also walked with God. I may believe that Abraham

communed with God, and conversed with angels. I may believe that

Isaac obtained a renewal of the covenant made to Abraham by the direct voice of the Lord. I may believe that Jacob conversed with

holy angels, and heard the word of his Maker, that he wrestled with the angel until he prevailed, and obtained a blessing. I may believe that Elijah was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire with fiery horses. I may believe that the saints saw the Lord, and conversed with him face to face after his resurrection. I may believe that the Hebrew church came to Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. I may believe that they looked into eternity, and saw the Judge of all, and Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant. But will all this purchase an assurance for me, and waft me to the regions of eternal day, with my garments spotless, pure and white? Or, must I not rather obtain for myself, by my own faith and diligence in keeping the commandments of the Lord, an assurance of salvation for myself? And have I not an equal privi- lege with the ancient saints? And will not the Lord hear my prayers, and listen to my cries as soon as he ever did theirs, if I come to him in the manner they did? Or, is he a respecter of persons? must now close this subject for the want of time; and, I may say, I

with propriety, at the beginning. We would be pleased to see you in Kirtland; and more pleased to have you embrace the New Covenant. I remain, yours affectionately, Joseph Smith, Jun.

In 1835, we were still living on the farm, and laboring with our might to make the company which was constantly coming in, as com- fortable as possible. Joseph saw how we were situated, and that it would not answer for us to keep a public house, at free cost, any longer; and, by his request, we moved into an upper room of his own house, where we lived very comfortably for a season. Previous to the time of our going to live with Joseph, my atten- tion had been chiefly taken up with business; I now concluded to de vote the most of my time to the study of the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, but a circumstance occurred which de-

•              HISTORY OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH.                             751
  

prived me of the privilege. One day upon going down stairs to dinner, I incautiously set ray foot upon a round stick, that lay near the top of the stairs.This, rolling under my foot, pitched me forward down the steps; my head was severely bruised in fall- ing; however, I said but little about it, thinking I should be better soon. In the afternoon I went with my husband to a blessing meet- ing; I took cold, and an inflammation settled in my eyes, which in- creased until I became entirely blind. The distresswhich I suf- fered for a few days, surpasses all description. Every effort v;as made by my friends to relieve me, but all in vain. I called upon the elders, and requested them to pray to the Lord, that I might be able to see, so as to be able to read without even wearing spec- tacles. They did so, and when they took their hands off my head, I read two lines in the Book of Mormon; and although I am now seventy years old, I have never worn glasses since.

CHAPTER XLV.

THE HOUSE OF THE LORD COMPLETED —A DIVISION IN THE CHURCH.

The house of the Lord went steadily forward, until it was completed, notwithstanding the threats of the mob. When this work was accomplished, there was much rejoicing in the Church, and great blessings were poured out upon the elders; but as I was not present at the endowment, I shall say but little about it. Shortly after the completion of the house, Joseph and Martin Harris, took a short tour through the eastern country. When they arrived at Palmyra, on their return, Joseph had a vision, which lasted until he besought the Lord to take it from him; for it manifested to him things which were painful to contemplate.

It was taken from before his eyes for a short time, but soon re- turned again, and remained until the whole scene was portrayed before him. On his arrival at home, the brethren seemed greatly pleased to see him. The next day he preached a sermon, and the follow- ing is apart of his remarks:

752 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Brethren, I am rejoiced to see you, and I have no doubt, but that you are glad to see me.We are now nearly as happy as we can be on earth. We have accomplished more than we had any reason to expect when we began. Our beautiful house is finished, and the Lord has acknowledged it,by pouring out his Spirit upon us here, and revealing to us much of his will in regard to the work which he is about to perform. Further- more, we have everything that is necessary to our comfort and conveni- ence, and, judging from appearances, one would not suppose that anything could occur which would break up our friendship for each other, or dis- turb our tranquility. But, brethren, beware; for I tell you in the name of the Lord, that there is an evil in this very congregation, which, if not repented of, will result in setting many of you, who are here this day, so much at enmity against me, that you will have a desire to take my life; and you even would do it, if God should permit the deed. But, brethren, I now call upon you to repent, and cease all your hardness of heart, and

turn from those principles of death and dishonesty which you are har- boring in your bosoms, before it is eternally too late, for there is yet room for repentance.

He continued to labor with them in this way, appealing to them in the most solemn manner, until almost everyone in the house was in tears, and he was exhausted with speaking. The following week was spent in surmises and speculations, as to who would be the traitors, and why they should be so, etc., etc. In the fall of 1836, a bank was established in Kirtland. Soon after the sermon, above mentioned, Joseph discovered that a large amount of money had been taken away by fraud, from this bank. He immediately demanded a search warrant of Esquire F. G. Wil- liams, which was flatly refused. "I insist upon a warrant," said Joseph, "for if you will give me one, I can get the money, and if you do not, I will break you of your office." "Well, break it is, then," said Williams, "and we will strike hands upon it." "Very well," said Joseph, "from henceforth I drop you from my quorum, in the name of the Lord." Joseph then went to Cleveland, in order to transact some busi- ness pertaining to the bank; and as he was absent the ensuing Sunday, my husband preached to the people. In speaking of the bank affair, he reflected somewhat sharply upon Warren Parrish. Although the reflection was just, Parrish was highly incensed, and made an attempt to drag him out of the stand. My husband ap-

HISTORY OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH. 753

pealed to Oliver Cowdery, who was justice of the peace, to have him brought to order; but Oliver never moved from his seat. William, seeing the abuse which his father was receiving, sprang forward and caught Parrish, and carried him in his arms nearly out of the house. At this John Boynton stepped forward, and drawing a sword from his cane, presented it to William's breast, and said, "if you advance one step further, I will run you through." Before William had time to turn himself, several gathered around him, threatening to handle him severely, if he should lay the weight of his finger upon Parrish again. At this juncture of affairs, I left

the house, not only terrified at the scene, but likewise sick at heart, to see that the apostasy of which Joseph had prophesied, was so near at hand. At this time a certain young woman, who was living at David Whitmer's, uttered a prophecy, which she said was given her, by looking through a black stone that she had found. This prophecy gave some altogether a new idea of things. She said, the reason why one-third of the Church would turn away from Joseph, was because that he was in transgression himself; that he would fall from his office on account of the same; that David Whitmer or Martin Harris would fill Joseph's place; and that the one who dfd not succeed him, would be the counselor to the one that did. The girl soon became an object of great attention among those who were disaffected.Dr. Williams became her scribe, and wrote her revelations for her. Jared Carter, who lived in the same house with David Whitmer, soon imbibed the same spirit, and I was informed that he said in one of their meetings, that he had

power to raise Joseph Smith to the highest heavens, or sink him down to the lowest hell. Shortly after this, Jared came to our house, and I questioned him relative to what he had said concerning Joseph. Not having mentioned the matter to my husband, he did not understand what I meant at first; but after a little explanation, he warned Jared to repent of the injudicious course that he was taking, and speedily confess his sins to the Church, or the judgments of God would overtake him. Jared received this admonition, and acknowledging his fault, agreed to confess to the brethren the first opportunity. The next morning he was seized with a violent pain in his eyes, and

754 IMPROVEMENT ERA.

continued in great distress for two days. On the evening of the second day, he arose from his bed, and, kneeling down, besought the Lord to heal him, covenanting to make a full confession to the Church at meeting the next Sunday. Accordingly, the next Sabbath he arose and stated to the brethren, that he had done wrong; and, asking their forgiveness, begged to be received again into their confidence. He did not, however, state what he had done that was wrong; nevertheless his confession was received, and he was forgiven. But the rest of his party continued obstinate. They still held their secret meet- ings at David Whitmer's, and when the young woman, who was their instructress, was through giving what revelations she in- tended for the evening, she would jump out of her chair and dance over the floor, boasting of her power, until she was perfectly ex- hausted. Her proselytes would also, in the most vehement man- ner, proclaim their purity and holiness, and the mighty power which they were going to have. They made a standing appointment for meetings to be held every Thursday, by the pure church in the house of the Lord. They also circulated a paper in order to ascertain how many would follow them, and it was found, that a large number of the Church were disaffected. In this spirit some went to Missouri, and con- taminated the minds of many of the brethren against Joseph, in order to destroy his influence. This made it more necessary than ever, to keep a strict guard at the houses of those who were the chief objects of their vengeance.

CHAPTER XLVL

JOSEPH SMITH, SENIOR, AND HIS BROTHER JOHN, GO ON A MIS3SI0N — TO THE EAST THE DEATH OF JERUSHA SMITH.

In the year 1836, my husband and his brother John were sent on a short mission to New Portage. While there, they administered patriarchal blessings, and baptized sixteen persons. Soon after they left for New Portage, their aged mother ar- rived in Kirtland from New York, after traveling the distance of five hundred miles. We sent immediately for my husband and his

HISTORY OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH. 755

brother, who returned as speedily as possible, and found the old lady in good health and excellent spirits. She rejoiced to meet sa many of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, whom she expected never to see. In two days after her sons John and Joseph arrived, she was taken sick, and survived but one week; at the end of which she died, firm in the faith of the gospel, although she had never yield- ed obedience to any of its ordinances. Her age was ninety-three years. In a short time after her death, my husband and his brother John took a journey to visit branches of the Church in the East, and the following is a sketch from the journal of J ohn Smith, of this tour:

We traveled through New Hampshire, and on our way we visited Daniel Mack, who was Joseph's brother-in-law. He treated us very- kindly, but was unwilling to hear the gospel. We traveled thence up the Connecticut river to Grafton. Here we found our sister Mary, whom we had not seen for twenty years. The prejudice of her hus- band had become so strong against Mormonism, that she was unwilling to treat us even decently. From this place we went to Vermont, through Windsor and Orange counties, and found many of our relatives, who treated us kindly, but would not receive the gospel. We next crossed the Green Mountains to Middlebury. Here we found our oldest sister Precilla, who was very much pleased to see us, and received our testimony. We stayed with her over night, and the next day set out for St. Lawrence county. New York, where we had one brother and a sister. Having arrived at this brother's (who was Jesse Smith), we spent one day with him. He treated us very ill. Leaving him, we went to see our sister Susan. I had business about ten miles on one side, and during my absence, Jesse pursued Joseph to Potsdam, with a warrant, on a pretended debt of twelve dollars, and took him back to Stockholm. Not satisfied with this, he abused him most shamefully, in the presence of strangers; and he exacted fifty dollars of him, which Joseph bor- rowed of brother Silas, who happened to be there just at that time from Kirtland, and paid Jesse this sum, in order to save further trouble. The meekness manifested by brother Joseph upon this occasion, won upon the feelings of many, who said that Jesse had disgraced himself so much, that he would never be able to redeem his character. From Potsdam we went to Ogdensburg, when to our joy we found

766 IMPROVEMENT ERA.

Heber C. Kimball, who had raised up a small branch in that place. These were the first Latter-day Saints we had seen in traveling three hundred miles. On the tenth of October, we returned home.

About one year after my husband returned from this mission, a calamity happened to our family that wrung our hearts with more than common grief. Jerusha, Hyrum's wife, was taken sick, and, after an illness of, perhaps, two weeks, died, while her hus- band was absent on a mission to Missouri, She was a woman whom everybody loved that was acquainted with her, for she was every way worthy. The family were so warmly attached to her, that, had she been our own sister, they could not have been more :afflicted by her death.

CHAPTER XLVIl.

THE PERSECUTION REVIVES— DON CARLOS AND HIS FATHER FLY FROM THEIR ENEMIES— JOSEPH MOVES TO MISSOURI.

Soon after the apostasy that took place in Kirtland our enemies began again to trouble us. Having seen our prosperity in every- thing to which we had set our hands previous to this, they became discouraged, and ceased their operations; but, suddenly discover- ing that there was a division in our midst, their fruitful imagina- tions were aroused to the utmost, to invent new schemes to accomplish our destruction. Their first movement was to sue Joseph for debt, and, with this pretense, seize upon every piece of property belonging to any of the family. Joseph then had in his possession four Egyptian mummies, with some ancient records that accompanied them. These the mob swore they would take, and then burn every one of them. Accordingly, they obtained an execution upon them for an unjust debt of fifty dollars; but, by various stratagems, we suc- ceeded in keeping them out of their hands. The persecution finally became so violent, that Joseph re- garded it as unsafe to remain any longer in Kirtland, and began to make arrangements to move to Missouri. One evening, before finishing his preparations for the contemplated journey, he sat in

HISIORY OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH. 757

council with the brethren at our house. After giving them direc- tions as to what he desired them to do, while he was absent from them, and, as he was about leaving the room, he said, "Well, brethren, I do not recollect anything more, but one thing, brethren, is certain, I shall see you again, let what will happen, for I have a promise of life five years, and they cannot kill me until that time is expired."

That night he was warned by the Spirit to make his escape, with his family, as speedily as possible; he therefore arose from his bed, and took his family, with barely beds and clothing suffi-

cient for them, and left Kirtland in the dead hour of the night. The day following, the constable, Luke Johnson, an apostate, served a summons upon my husband, telling him that no harm was intended, and desired him to go immediately to the office. I begged Johnson not to drag my husband away among our enemies, for I knew, by sad experience, the direful consequences of these civil suits. Johnson paid no attention to what I said, but hurried my husband away to the office. He was taken for marry- ing a couple without being licensed. Luke Johnson bustled about, pretending to be very much engaged in drawing the bonds and in making arrangements, such as were required of him by the party to which he belonged. The first opportunity that offered itself, he went to Hyrum, and told him he would take his father into a room, which he pointed out and, said Johnson, "I will manage so that he can get out, which will set him at liberty to go where he pleases." In this way he escaped, by the help of Hyrum and John Boynton, from the window. My husband, after traveling about two miles, stopped with Brother Oliver Snow, who was father to Eliza Snow, the poetess. The old man told Mr. Smith that he would secrete him, and, calling his family together, he forbade them telling any one of his being there. Johnson came to me and inquired if Mr. Smith had returned home. me very much, and I exclaimed, "Luke, This frightened you have killed my husband." He denied it, but gave no further explanation. In a short time I found out where he was, and sent him both money and clothes to travel with, so that in a few days he started with Don Carlos and Brother Wilber. By this time

758 IMPROVEMENT ERA.

hand-bills were stuck up on every public as well as private road, offering a reward for him, and describing his person, in order, if

Runners were also sent through- possible, to prevent his escape. out the country to watch for him, with authority to bring him back, in case he should be found; but, in spite of all their dili-

gence, he succeeded in making his escape, and getting to New Portage, where he stopped with Brother Taylor. Don Carlos, hav- ing accompanied his father to the above-named place, returned home again to his family: but, immediately discovering that the mob contemplated taking him for the same offense, he moved with his family to New Portage, and was there with his father, until the rest of the family were ready to remove to Missouri. Hyrum had already moved there with his family. Shortly after they left, a man by the name of Edwin Woolley came to Kirtland to see Mr. Smith; not finding him there, he went to New Portage, and persuaded my husband to accompany him to Rochester, Columbia Co. After Mr. Smith had been at this gentleman's residence about two weeks, we became very uneasy about him; and, as we did not know at that time whither he had gone, William set out in pursuit of him, in order to learn, if possible, whether he had met with friends, and was well provided for, or had fallen into the hands of his enemies, and been murdered, for we had as much reason to apprehend the latter calamity, as to hope for the former good fortune. It was some time after William arrived at New Portage, be- fore he could ascertain where my husband had gone. But as soon as he did receive the desired information he proceeded to Mr. Wool- ley's, where he found his father in good health, but extremely anx- ious about the family. Immediately after this, William returned home, and his father went again to New Portage. Here he remained with^Don Carlos, until we were ready to start to Missouri.