why did emma smith leave the lds church why did emma smith leave the lds church

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). Some of them are still included in the current hymnbook that was published 150 years later in 1985. Whatever the situation, Emma eventually found herself unable to cope with polygamy. Exmormons are told to leave quietly with their tails between their legs. On two additional occasions she was driven from her home at the threat of her life.". Joseph Knight Jr., for one, claimed $200 for a mill burned down, $50 for a house burned, $50 for 3 acres of land and 50 peach trees, $25 for hay and corn, $475 for losses of land and town properties, and $150 for expenses for moving twice. 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. . Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Jeremy's response was an 84-page document that came to be known as the "CES Letter.". 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.. Learn about and browse the pages of the first hymnal of the Church. "[2], Furthermore, Brigham and Emma did not agree on the disposition of Joseph's estate. 8 What did Emma Emma do for the LDS Church? When the time came for Joseph Smith to retrieve the golden plates hidden in ancient times by an angela book today called the Book of Mormonshe went with him, praying at the wagon while he went to open the box. The next day, Richards wrote that Joseph was "busy with domestic concerns." 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. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Kent P. Jackson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 34790. [124] Berrett and Parkin, Sacred Places: Missouri, 329, 402, 411. Many nights the floors, upstairs and down, were covered with beds so closely it was impossible to set a foot anywhere without stepping on someone elses bed.[75], Emma Smith and the children arrived on February 15. Early Life and Marriage of Emma Smith. Newel prayed for help, for I knew not how to extricate myself but as I had never been forsaken by my Heavenly Father I commited myself and family into his care. For a week they were stranded, but finally a man asked his son to drive the Knights the rest of the way. They left Far West on February 14. He helped shepherd Saints across Missouri by advancing with one part of the camp as rapidly and as far as possible and then returning with the teams to move others out. 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. [54] The Saints Petition to Congress, November 1839, in Smith, History of the Church, 4:2438; the mention of bloody footsteps is on p. 36. . We were not permitted to leave Far West, Anson Call said, only to get our firewood. So, he said, Sold my cook stove and the only cow the mob had not killed. With that money he hired a man with a team to drive him, Lydia, and their three children east. [27] Gentry, Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri, 41419. 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. Linda requested and was granted a meeting with some general authorities, including Dallin Oaks, to discuss the ban and discover what aspects of the book had been found objectionable. Moroni first instructed Joseph to enlist his oldest brother, Alvin, to help him recover the plates. John and his son Orrice walked. [8] Lavina Fielding Anderson, ed., Lucys Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smiths Family Memoir (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2001), 69192. [79] Smith, History of the Church, 3:270. 4, Missouri (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004), 28889, 361, 402. The oxen they had left could not pull all the load, so Newel unloaded part of his and Brigham Youngs goods and left them in the care of a friendly resident. Learn how . It would be 2 months before she could be confirmed as a member of the Church. In mid-February, Anson Call headed east. At the time of the third printing, however, Vals bishop received a call from a higher-up in Salt Lake who said that two girls had written a book about Emma Smith and were not to be invited to speak about the topic in sacrament meetings. [57] Quoted in Lyman O. Littlefield, Reminiscences of Latter-day Saints (Logan, UT: Journal Company Printers, 1888), 7273. Another story about bleeding feet involves Nancy Hammer, whose husband Austin was murdered in the Hauns Mill Massacre a few months earlier. [28] Greene, Expulsion of the Saints from Missouri, 8. 343-362. When the boy, Charles, was 4 years old, Emma took him in and raised him as her own. . Though Joseph died at a young age, Julia was raised by Emma to adulthood. L. Hannah Stoddard is the lead author of Faith Crisis, Volume 1: We Were NOT Betrayed!, Seer Stone v. Urim & Thummim: Book of Mormon Translation on Trial, and Faith Crisis, Volume 2: New Mormon History Exiled from Church Headquarters.She is the executive director of the Joseph Smith Foundation, and producer or director of seven . Print. 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. Babbitt would make Brigham's requests to Emma sound abrupt and thoughtless, and her responses to him selfish and defensive.[5]. [93] Kenney, Wilford Woodruffs Journal, 1:325. Father said, Run, Mosiah, and I did run! Great questions! She also learned how to cook and be a good host when her parents ran a boarding house. . [55] Martha and the children reached the Quincy side and waited, sitting at night on their bed, wrapped in bed clothes and shivering in the cold wind until Daniel arrived. He never charged them rent. 40 Wives In intense cold, Lydia recalled, they sometimes scraped away snow beside the wagon so they could put down their beds at night. Terrie, you are a treasure. 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. rev. [70], Saints chose to go to Quincy for several reasons. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. 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. Today, you can find her happily organizing and reorganizing her house, scrap booking, reading books to her sons, or still writing an occasional freelance article. Her husband Joseph Smith had been killed in 1844, and after his death Emma Smith decided to remain in Nauvoo. From there, refugees had to cross the South and North Fabius rivers and mudflats to reach the Mississippi opposite Quincy. . [55] The shoes belonged to the oldest boy, Morgan. I being barefooted and the ice so rough, I staggered all over. The following article was originally publishedin December 2015. The mormon church is excellent with marketing, so many assume it's just a slightly strange but happy family filled religion. In the meantime, Emma assumed that because these men represented the Twelve they acted on direct orders from Brigham. Quincy was the closest Illinois city to Far West. The animosity toward Emma Smith after the death of Joseph Smith quickly became evident. Succeeded Smith as leader of the LDS Church. In Daviess County on Caldwell Countys north side, Saints had begun building about 150 log houses at Adam-ondi-Ahman, and as many as 1,500 Saints in total lived in Daviess County. 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 . She was often anxious and sad, but she coped. Emma Smith would make tremendous sacrifices for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for her husband, and for the church. The exodus had no large, organized wagon trains. Triggered by Missouri governor Lilburn Boggss October 1838 extermination order against them, some ten thousand Saints engaged in a mass exodus, many going to Quincy, Illinois. [52] Heber C. Kimball Journals, 18381839, in Porter, Brigham Young and the Twelve, 134. The comfortable and peaceful life she had led as a girl had done little to prepare her for this new life, but she faced it with faith. Delewski also explored the effect the practice of plural marriage had on Emma and Joseph Smith's relationship. All the same, she continued to have a testimony of his role as a prophet and she carried out her duties faithfully. There was scarcely a day while we were on the road that it did not either snow or rain, son John said. 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. [44] Ebenezer Robinson, Items of Personal History of the Editor, Including Some items of Church History Not Generally Known. [90] Diaries of William Huntington, 8; Isaac Leany Petition in Johnson, ed., Mormon Redress Petitions, 485. Five of her children survived to adulthood: Julia, Joseph III, Freddie, Alexander and David Hyrum. June 1831 Those who hired him found him to be the best employee theyd ever hired. Are Joseph and Emma Smiths descendants Latter-day Saints? 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. They had fulfilled the commandment. [69] Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruffs Journal, 1:322. It wasnt just that she was the mother of, It wasnt just that she clashed with Young so severely that he once claimed that more hell was never wrapped up in any human being than there is in her., And it wasnt just that she later helped her son found. One is that Emma had lived her adult life moving from place to place and house to house, crossing frozen rivers and walking in lots of mud and snow. God commanded and Joseph obeyed. Baggage filled the wagon, so Martha and Caroline sometimes took turns riding next to Abraham, the driver, while the other walked with and carried children. This tendency toward privacy continued even after Joseph Smith's death. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Carolines third task was to find some way to move the family and belongings from Missouri before spring. Heres what they have planned, Why the Christian flag can fly on this government flagpole, Breaking the fast: Eid ul-Fitr is an occasion of peace, The unique stories and struggles of Latino Muslims, The Black church, religious freedom and gay rights. In July 1830 the Lord outlined her mission, in a revelation: Thou art an elect lady, whom I have called. Speaking of Smith's "eternity-only" marriages to already married women, the church writes, " These sealings may also be explained by Joseph's reluctance to enter plural marriage because of the. 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. That night at the prayer meeting, Richards, wrote in code that Joseph and Emma did not dress in the usual special clothing, a sign they were too much at odds to participate. "On three of these moves she had to leave behind most or all of her furniture. When Elizabeth died in childbirth, young Elizabeth Agnes was leftwith her stepfather and, soon after, a new stepmother. [70] John Taylor, Brigham Young, Isaac Higbee, Israel Barlow, John P. Greene to Dear Brethren, March 29, 1839, at Quincy, reprinted in Kate B. Carter, comp., Our Pioneer Heritage (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1960), 3:122. Learning that Missouri militia were looking for them, they set out for Iowa thrugh the wilderness, enduring snow and cold with little to eat. Among the twenty-eight men in this group were Samuel Smith and Phineas and Lorenzo Young. 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. [27] That left the Saints no choice but to leave Missouri as soon as possible. the support materials for the Joseph Smith manual. . She wore it in a locket the rest of her life, even after she remarried. 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. [82] Lucy Smith said ladies in Quincy sent them every delicacy which the city afforded.[83] Residents proffered employment. Delewski is a licensed clinical social worker with 25 years of experience working in mental health. [97] During a change of venue from Daviess to Boone County, Joseph Smith and the four others who had been in Liberty Jail were allowed to escape on April 16, and they found their way to Illinois safely. My mother called my legs pipe stems, and my arms straws! he said. ", 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. At other times, she found she could not handle the choices she had made, much as Sarah in the Old Testament first encouraged her husband to marry her handmaiden and then discovered it was more than she was prepared to handle. Aroet Hale said a Mr. Stilson employed his father. At Huntsville, the driver said his horses could not go on, so the Knights unhitched the wagon and camped. It was difficult, dramatic, sometimes harrowing, and only partly organized. The old man for whom John taught school treated them generously. Is probably the most famous Latter Day Saint polygamist with 55 wives. Delewski thinks she may have been the most promising of the Hale children because she had a rare additional year of schooling. Mobbers shot cows while girls were milking them. We are sensible, brethren, that you have done all that you could do in removing the poor Saints, they said, adding that nor have we, brethren, been backward in exerting our energies for that purpose. The next day, Missouri troops brought Joseph and Hyrum Smith and five other prisoners into town in wagons to pick up personal effects and say good-bye. Winter exposure and food shortages in Caldwell County and during exodus caused health problems for many and a host of deaths during 1839. Their numbers exceed 5,000 peoplewithout any means and literally beggarsto be thrust upon the charities of Illinois, Iowa, or Wisconsin. Joseph Holbrook, thirty-two, said his wife Nancy had verry poor health that fall and winter because of being exposed to inclement weather by having to remove from place to place as our house had been burned and we were yet left to seek a home whenever our friends could accommodate us and for my safety. Saints in flourishing condition but a few months before, he said, were now destitute. Joseph Smith's death on June 27, 1844, created tremendous upheaval for Emma. Joseph and Emma adopt the Murdock twins nine days after birth. Bishop Partridge felt the poor could be better served if scattered in various communities and not gathered in one place. 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. William G. Hartley, The Saints Forced Exodus from Missouri, in Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer, ed. 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. Quincy, he said, was full of memberseven though Saints were scattering out from there almost constantly. Emma Smith would make tremendous sacrifices for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for her husband, and for the church. . Emma and her family were forced to leave the state with the majority of Latter Day Saints. He crossed the river and found some hundred of the brethren waiting for the new ferry boat to be completed, which was done the next day. 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. With other refugees, she and six children ages two through nine accompanied their small wagon, pulled by a blind horse. 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. Thomass version is in E. Kay Kirkham, Daniel Stillwell Thomas, Utah Pioneer of 1849, bound typescript, 26; wife Martha Pane Jones Thomass version in Kate Woodhouse Kirkham, ed., Daniel Stillwell Thomas Family History, bound typescript, n.d., n.p., 25; copies in authors possession. Enter your email to receive updates on our LDS Living content, 2022 LDS Living A Division of Deseret Book Company, The Joseph Smith and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society, There is room for my brown paper-doll family: 2 gospel truths I learned as a young girl that carry my faith, Special Church Historians Press symposium to highlight women, religion, and records, See the stunning winners of the Churchs International Art Competition. 1856Emma takes in orphaned Elizabeth Agnes Kendall, eight years old, and rears her as her own daughter . Emma Smith's personality and background, her almost nomadic search for a home, the loss of so many she loved and the stresses of plural marriage all played a part in her decision to remain in Nauvoo. By 1838 Quincy had a strong population base of sixteen hundred residents, mostly Germans and New Englanders, and several industries and businesses, including its share of coopers and cabinet-makers, saddlers and leather-makers, and a pork packing and meat processing center. Quincy was on its way to prosperity. In time, most of the houses were torn down for firewood or hauled away. . Huntington estimated that in Daviess County the Saints lost nearly thirty thousand bushels of corn because of the militia takeover. Many of them started from scratch and built up religious communities in Illinois and Iowa. I fitted up a small wagon, procured a span of ponies, and sent my Wife and three children, in company with Bro. Joseph Smith presided. It does not store any personal data. Saints had until late March to vacate Missouri, but they started leaving in earnest during January. After they left, the mob plundered thousands of dollars worth of property donated to help the poor move. Joseph had been translating the Bible before he was imprisoned, and Emma also carried these documents with her, hidden in bags under her skirts. What happened to Emma Smith? In May that year the Mormon History Association held their annual meetings there. 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. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Mary Audentia Smith Anderson. While locals let the suffering Saints crowd into farms, sheds, huts, and tents, they judged the refugees to be generally of the poorer and more illiterate classes.[78] On February 25, Quincy leaders met and adopted measures to provide relief. Why didnt Emma Smith go west with the Saints? Both the Church and Joseph Smith personally were heavily in debt at the time of the martyrdom. To add an RSC website shortcut to your home screen, open the website in the Safari browser. 3 Why didnt Emma Smith go west with the Saints? Extermination order not rescinded for 137 years. [56], The Hammer family. Emma knew better, but she also knew that a polygamous history would not serve her needs. [96] Manuscript History of Brigham Young, Church History Library, 28. While at LDS Living, she particularly enjoyed diving into the past and writing articles about little-known Church history stories or the Salt Lake Temple, though she wrote about a variety of topics. During Sunday dinner on November 5, Joseph became ill, rushed to the door, and vomited so violently that he dislocated his jaw.