What does the L.M., C.M. What happened to Emma Smith? The Saints exodus from Missouri took place mostly during winter and involved four main arenas: Far West, Missouri; Quincy, Illinois; a road network between the two cities; and the west shore mudflats across the Mississippi River from Quincy. Their first twenty miles was through snow six inches deep. Joseph Smith and the Latter Day Saints leadership had always asked for help from the US government. 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. Newel said, Bro. Governor Boggs infamous extermination order remained a stain on Missouris character for 137 years until June 25, 1976, when Missouri governor Christopher S. Bond signed an executive order rescinding it. Emma Smith was born in 1804 in Pennsylvania and had unusual opportunities for a girl in her time. God commanded and Joseph obeyed. They got some better, Caroline said. . Jeremy made the Letter available online. This article examines the results of the Religious Landscape Study conducted in 2014 by the Pew organization, looking specifically at information related to the questions of who is leaving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, why they leave, where they go, and what factors seem to contribute to their exodus. Also, three men were sent to locate possible settlement sites up the Mississippi River in Illinois. She became the first woman to receive the temple endowment involving the making of sacred covenants with the Savior. . Then, because it was planting season, they moved about ten miles out and rented a farm. Snow was six inches deep. In response, when Saints reached safety they began filling out petitions for redress and having them notarized by justices of the peace and court clerks in two counties in Iowa and ten in Illinois. Her family was religious, devoutly Christian. The Thomas family. See http://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/uscompare. [99] At that point the Saints exodus from Missouri was finished, and Governor Boggss extermination order had basically succeeded in removing Saints from northwest Missouri. [84] William Cahoon noted that a family named Travis offered him employment;[85] Mr. Travis also hired refugee Truman Angell to frame a barn. Food was scarce, and housing inadequate. In fear of threats that the bodies would be stolen or desecrated, coffins filled with sandbags were used in the public funeral of the two martyrs. [6], In the exodus, Mormon militiamen were the first to leaveor rather escape. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Learn about and browse the pages of the first hymnal of the Church. Each comment will be reviewed by a staff member before it will appear on the site. Despite her parents disapproval, she eventually eloped. What a cold night that was! Mosiah recalled: The next morning the river was frozen over with icegreat blocks of frozen ice all over the river, and it was slick and clear. Moroni first instructed Joseph to enlist his oldest brother, Alvin, to help him recover the plates. Anson Call. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. At least one man escaped west to Fort Leavenworth. I fitted up a small wagon, procured a span of ponies, and sent my Wife and three children, in company with Bro. The authors were alarmed, though Linda was comforted by her stake president, who told her, You are my parishioner, and I will see you through this no matter how long it takes.. [84] Aroet Hale, Autobiography, typescript, 6, Perry Special Collections. Latter-day Saint widow Elizabeth Kendall and her family first became acquainted with Emma at the Mansion House in Nauvoo. [61] That same day, Eliza R. Snow and relatives, who had wintered seven miles from Far West, started for Illinois. In addition to grieving the loss of her husband, she was expecting their final child. Her first three died so quickly they were not even named. [125] Photocopy of order, filed June 25, 1976, copy in authors file; also see transcript in LDS Church News, July 3, 1976, 4. "Some people might say that something about her changed, and that is why she did not come to Salt Lake Valley," Delewski said. Later, while reading the book History of the Prophet Joseph Smith by His Mother, I found Lucy Mack Smiths tribute to Emma: 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 . Minute Book 1, 14 Sept. 1835; Joseph Smith III, "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," Saints' Herald, 1 Oct. 1879, 289; "Hale, Emma," in Black, Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848, 19:846; Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma, 57; Cook, Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 37. She would smile with her lips, but to me, as small as I was, I never saw the brown eyes smile. [102] See Missouri Republican (St. Louis), May 3, 1839. While in Liberty Jail, Joseph Smith had instructed them to compile statements and affidavits about their losses and sufferings with the design of securing redress from the federal government for the losses they suffered in Missouri (Doctrine and Covenants 123:113). Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Kent P. Jackson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 34790. Emma contributed "in creating a distinct identity for the church" because this hymnbook's lyrics "emphasize key tenets of the religion." Understanding how early Saints worked earnestly to build up the Church helps us better appreciate the value of their work. LDS Church History documents that their mormon founder, Joseph Smith, lied to a large group of people about his having multiple wives. Smith's wives were believed to be between the ages of 20 and 40 at the time they were "sealed" or married to him. [36] With Joseph Smiths approval, leaders in Far West decided to sell Church properties in Jackson County to help raise money for the exodus. Who was the oldest president of the LDS Church? [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. Years later, in the anti-Emma atmosphere of Utah, Brigham Young spoke of a meeting where Joseph accused his wife of slipping poison into his coffee. Later witnesses would be permitted to view the plates, but God asked Emma to accept them on faith, a testimony that God recognized her as a woman of great faith. In jail in Richmond were Parley P. Pratt, Norman Shearer, Darwin Chase, Luman Gibbs, Morris Phelps, and King Follett. Emma died in Nauvoo on April 30, 1879, at age 75. They reached Quincy on January 29 and found ourselves in a land of Freedom once more by the help of God and his blessings. Holbrook observed that brethren were continually coming to Quincy from the Missouri as I had done.[43] In late January, Ebenezer Robinson and three other men walked from Far West to Quincy through the snow.[44]. John and his son Orrice walked. 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. Their chief settlement was Far West in Caldwell County. [58] Hartley, My Best for the Kingdom, 8790. . I could have commanded some two thousand dollars but now I had only 1 yoke of old oxen and 2 cows left.[20], Two families moved in with Newel Knights family. She moved from Pennsylvania to New York to Ohio to Missouri and then Illinois. [27] That left the Saints no choice but to leave Missouri as soon as possible. In the middle of the 19th century it was common, according to Delewski, for a mother to lose more than one child to the birthing process or disease. Joseph quickly shut the door when he heard Emma coming, but Emma kept knocking and called out Eliza's . [96] Manuscript History of Brigham Young, Church History Library, 28. That is a great question! During this time, their relationship improved and Joseph may have agreed to stop taking on additional wives. Also there were Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith, who were soon to be ordained as Apostles. [67] Scott G. Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff Journal, 18331898, Typescript, Vol. The family filled the cart with corn. Soon after starting, her eyes became infected, so Martha Smoot walked beside her and led her along for five or six days. Your email address will not be published. [100] Stanley B. Kimball, The Saints and St. Louis, 18311857: An Oasis of Tolerance and Security, BYU Studies 13 (Summer 1973): 489519. She also learned how to cook and be a good host when her parents ran a boarding house. [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. I understand Long meter and Common meter, but what is PM? She said, The teams were puffing and the wagons dragging so heavily that we were all on foot, tugging along as best we could.[63], During Zera Pulsiphers exodus that March, he and his son-in-law lost horses. She admitted that she had been reluctant to give her children any formal religious lifejust personal reading of the Bible and Book of Mormonbecause she was afraid of a return to the many trials she had faced. No one could have recognized them as the prosperous Yankees they had once been in New York before embracing Mormonism. Bidamon was support for Emma in raising her five children. [25] William F. Cahoon Petition in Johnson, Mormon Redress Petitions, 15253. 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. Martha, about eight months pregnant, said, To hear them [children] crying at night with their feet cracked and bleeding was hardly bearable. Below Ill list the link that I found talking about it, although I cant guarantee their accuracy! A few ancient metal plates that were described as being similar to the Mormon origin were discovered by archaeologists in recent years but the golden plates havent been found yet. She taught school before she met Joseph Smith. 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. Emma's brothers and sisters were all named after family members, either on her mother's side or her father's. Mormon regard for Quincy. He was not, however, a member of her familys faith and in fact, had received a vision at age fourteen telling him not to join any existing church because none were completely right. [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. This tendency toward privacy continued even after Joseph Smith's death. One of the other items was a photograph of a family member that was mislabeled as being Emma. First, Emma had intense anxiety over the protection of Joseph's and Hyrum's bodies. The river froze over & we were obliged to camp close to the river 3 days and nights before we could cross in the boat, 6 waggons were with us at the time.[41], By mid-January, Saints were leaving Far West daily. Unfortunately, Apple's iOS doesn't support home screen shortcuts in the Chrome browser. Her financial state was precarious because there had not been a clear line between the family money and the church money, with Joseph often going into debt to help support the church. 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. One of her grandchildren, Emma Belle Smith Kennedy, wrote: "Her eyes were brown and sad. At Adam-ondi-Ahman they obtained provisions from fellow Saints. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. She was often anxious and sad, but she coped. 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. When the boy, Charles, was 4 years old, Emma took him in and raised him as her own. [23] Heber Quincy Hale, Bishop Jonathan H. Hale of Nauvoo: His Life and Ministry (Salt Lake City: the author, 1938), 64. . Terrie, you are a treasure. Emma was baptized in Colesville, New York, on June 28, 1830. 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. When asked if he had read the biography, Elder Oaks said he had seen several excerpts from it, and found that the authors views of Joseph Smith were nontraditional.. The CES Director asked Jeremy to send him a list of issues that had caused him to lose his faith, with the intention of helping him out. Events of the 1838 Mormon War soon escalated, resulting in Joseph's surrender and imprisonment by Missouri officials. Saints gathered for a general conference on May 46 held in a Presbyterian campground two miles north of Quincy. This weekend at the Midwest Pilgrims retreat in Nauvoo, Illinois, I had the opportunity to listen to a fascinating talk by Linda King Newell, co-biographer of Emma Smith, first wife of LDS founding prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. Emma raised her as her own daughter, and Elizabeth Agnes eventually married Emma's biological son, Alexander Hale Smith. [18] Diaries of William Huntington, typescript, in Miscellaneous Mormon Diaries, vol. John marked time until his family and his mother and brothers could join him in Quincy. Then on November 5 and 6, 1999, a Quincy History Symposium honored the citys humanitarian efforts for Saints who fled Missouri. Many of the Saints were converts who had sung hymns before. About sunset we landed in Quincy, Lucy said. 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. [30] John Taylor, Alanson Ripley, Brigham Young, Theodore Turley, Heber C. Kimball, John Smith (the Prophets uncle), and Don C. Smith (the Prophets brother). . After they left, the mob plundered thousands of dollars worth of property donated to help the poor move. If they choose to remain, we must be content. To do so, would be to act with extreme cruelty. Given these losses, it appears to me that Emma managed quite well.". Both routes merged southwest of the town of Palymra, twenty miles south of Quincy. Mormon leaders have acknowledged for the first time that the church's founder and prophet, Joseph Smith, portrayed in church materials as a loyal partner to his loving spouse Emma . After the church dispersed in 1844, those folks who did not head west with Brigham Young kind of scattered until April 6, 1860 when Joseph's son, Joseph Smith III, was ordained prophet-president (Hence the name Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of LDS) The church did not bring into our beliefs doctrines dealing with the practice of secret . Its an improvement that shes discussed at all. See discussion in Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery. John Murdock's wife also dies after delivering twins the same day. [37], Elders Young and Kimball kept in constant contact with the imprisoned First Presidency by correspondence, messenger, and visits. Because Joseph Smith was in prison during the exodus, attention focuses here on Joseph Smith's parents, his wife Emma, Elders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, and four selected families: the John and Caroline Butler family, the Newel and Lydia Knight family, the Daniel and Martha Thomas family, and the Levi and Clarissa Hancock family. Grant Building I asked my mother one day, why don't Grandma laugh with her eyes like you do, and my mother said because she has a deep sorrow in her heart. Time and again, she was uprooted, often without warning and frequently without time to pack her belongings. While living in Pennsylvania, she rode a horse to warn Joseph Smith of people coming after the gold plates. [76] They moved in with Judge John Cleveland and his Latter-day Saint wife, Sarah, four miles east of Quincy. In the past three decades, there has been more published about Emma Smith in official church channels, including the new Daughters in My Kingdom manual, which mentions her very positively as the founder of the Relief Society, and the Gospel Doctrine manual for church history, which holds her up as an examplesomewhat reproachfullyof how to support ones spouse. Their difficult trip to Mississippi River took twelve days: We had snow and rain every day but 2. Much business of consequence was accomplished during the day, Elder Woodruff noted, adding, It truly gave us great Joy to once more sit in conference with Br. 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. Emma knew better, but she also knew that a polygamous history would not serve her needs. Babbitt would make Brigham's requests to Emma sound abrupt and thoughtless, and her responses to him selfish and defensive.[5]. According to Emma's great-great-granddaughter, Gracia N. Jones, Governor ThomasFord and 60 of his men were dining in the Nauvoo Mansion House at 5:00 p.m. on June 27, 1844the approximate hour of Joseph and Hyrum's martyrdom. Saddleback Church doubles down on support for female pastors, Mormonisms slow shift away from demonizing working mothers, Faith leaders urge Biden to sign executive order for reparations study by Juneteenth, For many congregations, wiping out medical debt has become a popular calling, More Jesus, less touching: 14 changes to the Mormon temple endowment ceremony, Real Housewife Heather Gay pens a juicy ex-Mormon memoir, How to stay Mormon after a faith crisis (if staying is what you want), Copyright 2020, Religion News Service. She, in turn, was instructed by Joseph to officiate in these ordinances for the women, which she did until shortly before his martyrdom. [34] Saints used existing roads as much as possible, although some took detours to avoid problems with local residents or to avoid being recognized.