The John Whitmer. Historical Association

Transcription

1 The John Whitmer Historical Association JOURNAL

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3 The John Whitmer Historical Association JOURNAL V O L U M E

4 About This Journal The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal is published annually by the John Whitmer Historical Association. Neither the journal nor the association has official connection with any religious or educational institution. JWHA members receive the Journal as a benefit of membership at the association s annual conference or delivered postage paid. Membership is open to any interested person at $30.00 U.S. funds for one year. (Additional postage fees apply to members living outside of the United States.) Back issues of volumes 7 through 28, and reprints of vols. 1-3 and 4-6 are available for sale. For more information, visit the association website: JWHA s purposes are to create and encourage interest in Latter Day Saint history, especially the history of the Community of Christ, promote communication, research, and publication in the field of Latter Day Saint history, and provide vehicles for the dissemination of scholarly research to persons interested in Latter Day Saint history. Papers for consideration will be reviewed by the editorial committee on an annual basis and should be submitted in a digital file (preferably Microsoft Word) using the most current Chicago Manual of Style format. Send all submissions and queries to the editor via Vickie_Speek@Yahoo.com by the John Whitmer Historical Association Printed in the United States of America ISSN Copyright for articles and book reviews published in this issue of the John Whitmer Historical Association Journal is held jointly between the author and the association. The association reserves the right to publish an electronic version of the journal. Copies of articles in this journal may be made for teaching and research purposes free of charge and without securing permission, as permitted by sections 107 and 108 of the United States Copyright Law. For all other purposes, permission must be obtained from the author. COVER: Illustration from an 1883 issue of Harper s Weekly of RLDS members gathered for a general conference at the Kirtland Temple. Courtesy of Community of Christ Library-Archives.

5 The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 2009 John Whitmer (ca. 1870), courtesy Community of Christ Archives, D991.3 E D I T O R I A L S T A F F Vickie Cleverley Speek, Editor Newell G. Bringhurst, Associate Editor Erin B. Jennings, Associate Editor William D. Russell, Book Review Editor John Hamer, Production Director E D I T O R I A L B O A R D Barbara B. Walden David J. Howlett Craig L. Foster Steven L. Shields

6 vi THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL O F F I C E R S O F T H E A S S O C I A T I O N William Shepard, President Jeanne Murphey, President-Elect Barbara B. Walden, Immediate Past President John C. Hamer, Executive Director Michael A. Karpowicz, Executive Director Biloine W. Young, Endowment Fund Treasurer B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S O F T H E A S S O C I A T I O N David J. Howlett, Erin B. Jennings, William D. Russell, Steven L. Shields, Craig L. Foster, Vickie Cleverley Speek, P R O G R A M C O M M I T T E E Jeanne Murphey, Chair Newell G. Bringhurst Darius Gray John C. Hamer Barbara B. Walden Derrick J. Williams Margaret Young N O M I N A T I O N S C O M M I T T E E Alexander L. Baugh, Chair R. Jean Addams Robin Scott Jensen Barry Murphey Eric Paul Rogers A W A R D S C O M M I T T E E Bill Shepard, Chair Lavina Fielding Anderson Eric Paul Rogers William D. Russell Melvin T. Smith

7 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL vii P A S T P R E S I D E N T S Robert B. Flanders, Alma R. Blair, 1975 Kenneth E. Stobaugh, 1976 William D. Russell, 1977 Barbara J. Higdon, 1978 Paul M. Edwards, 1979 Clare D. Vlahos, 1980 W. Grant McMurray, 1981 Thomas J. Morain, 1982 Norma Derry Hiles, 1983 Paul M. Edwards, 1984 Richard P. Howard, 1985 Wayne Ham, 1986 Robert C. Mesle, 1987 Linda King Newell, 1988 Maurice L. Draper, Roger D. Launius, Isleta L. Pement, Jessie L. Embry, Danny L. Jorgensen, Ronald E. Romig, Barbara J. Bernauer, Edward A. Warner, Alma R. Blair, Michael S. Riggs, Biloine W. Young, Mark A. Scherer, Jan Shipps, Newell G. Bringhurst, Alexander L. Baugh, Barbara B. Walden,

8 viii THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Correction In volume 28 (2008) of this journal, the concluding words in Lawrence Foster s article Beyond Black Muslims and Reorganized Mormons: The Transformation of Two New Religious Movements in America were inadvertently omitted from page 64. The following is the complete paragraph of the article as it should have appeared: The chief problem this transition process poses, in my opinion, is that it could result in the Community of Christ throwing out the baby with the bathwater by failing to continue to take advantage of its traditional openness to exploring new insights into further truth that the larger Protestant denominations may have overlooked. I don t know what a revitalized Community of Christ paradigm and sense of mission might ultimately involve, but I do sincerely hope that the Community of Christ may eventually be able to develop a compelling and truly distinctive sense of its own identity and mission, rather than simply allow itself to gradually fade away as yet another small, struggling, mainstream Protestant denomination in decline.

9 Contents A R T I C L E S Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide: The Changing Message of Kirtland Temple Interpreters from Barbara Walden 1 Thou Wast Willing to Lay Down thy Life for thy Brethren : Zion s Blessings in the Early Church Benjamin E. Park 27 The Dependence of Abraham 1:1 3 on the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar Christopher C. Smith 38 Attracting no little attention : The RLDS Return to Kirtland, 1883 General Conference Kevin Bryant 55 The Church in the Days of Alpheus Cutler : New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology Christopher James Blythe 73 Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism D. Michael Quinn 94 Reviving the Millennial Kingdom: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre Seth L. Bryant 115 Revelation in the Latter Day Saint Movement: Prophets, Seers, and Revelators in the Modern Era Steven L. Shields 140 Mitt Romney, the 2008 Vice-presidential Selection Process, and the Continuing Impact of the Mormon Question Craig L. Foster 157

10 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL B O O K R E V I E W S Ronald E. Romig, ed., Emma s Nauvoo; Susan Easton Black, Emma Smith: An Elect Lady; Darcy Kennedy, Angeline Kennedy Washburn, comps., The Emma Smith We Know: A Collection of Memories and Recipes from Emma as Recalled by Her Posterity; Angela Eschlar, Love Letters of Joseph and Emma; and Lori E. Woodland, Beloved Emma: The Illustrated Life Story of Emma Smith Reviewed by Linda King Newell 171 George D. Smith, Nauvoo Polygamy: but we called it celestial marriage Reviewed by William D. Morain 179 B. Carmon Hardy, Doing The Works of Abraham: Mormon Polygamy: Its Origin, Practice, and Demise Reviewed by Todd Compton 182 Susan Easton Black, Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet Reviewed by Paul M. Edwards 184 Jack R. Christianson, The Book of Mormon Reviewed by John Glaser 185 H. Michael Marquardt, The Four Gospels According to Joseph Smith Reviewed by William D. Russell 187 Ron Romig, ed., Martin Harris s Kirtland Reviewed by Kevin Bryant 190 Linda Wilcox DeSimone, ed. Fanny Stenhouse, Expose of Polygamy: A Lady s Life among the Mormons Reviewed by Melvin T. Smith 191 William Thomas Allison and Susan J. Matt, eds., Dreams, Myths, & Reality: Utah and the American West Reviewed by Melvin C. Johnson 195

11 CONTENTS xi Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr. and Glen M. Leonard, Massacre at Mountain Meadows Reviewed by Newell G. Bringhurst 198 Michael Harold Paulos, ed., The Mormon Church on Trial: Transcripts of the Reed Smoot Hearings Reviewed by Matthew C. Godfrey 201 Gilbert W. Scharffs, Mormons and Masons Reviewed by M. Guy Bishop 203 Eric A. Eliason, The J. Golden Kimball Stories Reviewed by Tom Morain 204 Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer, Escape Reviewed by Brian Hales 206 John P. Hatch, ed., Danish Apostle: The Diaries of Anthon H. Lund, Reviewed Richard L. Jensen 209 Craig L. Foster, A Different God? Mitt Romney, the Religious Right and the Mormon Question Reviewed by Biloine W. Young 213 Matthew J. Grow, Liberty to the Downtrodden: Thomas L. Kane, Romantic Reformer Reviewed Lewis Weigand 215 Book Notes 218

12 Barbara Walden, JWHA President

13 Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide: The Changing Message of Kirtland Temple Interpreters from Presidential Address The John Whitmer Historical Association Barbara Walden In the fall of 2001, I had the privilege of interviewing Todd Burdick, director of education at Hancock Shaker Village in Amherst, Massachusetts. 1 The purpose of the interview was to take a look at the interpretation of Shaker history given to the thousands of visitors who experience the nineteenth-century village. As we explored the more socially sensitive topics of Shaker history, Todd shared that his mission in leading the interpretation at the historic site was to tell the Shaker story openly and honestly, for they are no longer here [in Amherst] to tell it themselves. As the Shakers were no longer leading the interpretation and tours of the village, it was his job to reproduce the experience for twentyfirst-century visitors to tell both the glories and tragedies of the community, reflecting the documented tours of the village from decades before. When I arrived at Kirtland in November 2002 as the Kirtland Temple site coordinator, I began a quest to discover how the early Latter Day Saints interpreted the temple and communicated their religious experience to the public. My end goal was to learn how the staff at today s historic sites might replicate such interpretive approaches. For instance, as visitors traveled through the early communities of Kirtland and Nauvoo, how were they welcomed? Who led the tours, and what sides of the Latter Day Saint story and culture were the guides willing to expose to their curious guests? After the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, how did the interpretation of such sites evolve under new 1 Acknowledgements: Ronald E. Romig, David Howlett, and Lachlan Mackay generously provided significant research and editorial assistance throughout this paper. I am especially indebted to these three men for the many hours given to sharing their knowledge of the historic temple with me. Author s interview with Todd Burdick, director of education and interpretation, Hancock Shaker Village. The interview was used in the author s MA thesis Rampant Religion and Scandalous Sects: Interpretation of Socially Sensitive Topics at Nineteenth Century Utopian Communities (State University of New York, 2002).

14 2 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL management? What I discovered was a continuing evolution in the role and mission of public interpretation by the variety of individuals who hosted thousands of visitors at the Kirtland Temple over a 170-year period. 2 From the moment the early Saints extracted sandstone from the local quarries and raised the walls of the Kirtland Temple, their neighbors were fascinated with the large three-storied House of the Lord which towered over surrounding homes and businesses. Members and nonmembers alike traveled from miles around to explore the first Mormon temple. Hosting the curious in temple tours allowed the 1830s Mormon community to exhibit the fine craftsmanship found in the 13,000 square-foot house of worship. It also gave them the unique opportunity to present a carefully crafted public image of the infant movement, and to explain the origins of the Latter Day Saint Church and its collective theological views. In January 1836, three months prior to the temple dedication, church leaders gathered to discuss the rules and regulations for their new House of the Lord. Joseph Smith Jr., Sidney Rigdon, W. W. Phelps, David Whitmer, and Hyrum Smith were nominated by the Kirtland High Council to draft the document titled rules and regulations to govern the house of the Lord. Perhaps the committee was anticipating a large number of visitors to the temple upon completion, as the fourth rule emphasized the importance of the temple guide, in that no one was permitted to explore the temple without being waited upon by one designated to lead tours. 3 In early July 1835, Michael H. Chandler traveled to Kirtland to exhibit a collection of Egyptian artifacts, which included four mummies, together with two or more rolls of papyrus. 4 Kirtland residents were immediately captivated with the ancient discoveries, in so much that members of the church purchased 2 The Kirtland Temple was constructed by the followers of Joseph Smith Jr. Dedicated March 27, 1836, the temple served as the center of community life for the early church. The first floor hosted weekly worship services and testimony meetings, the second floor was designated as learning space for missionary training, while the attic floor housed a private office for Joseph Smith Jr. and classroom space for the Kirtland High School and Kirtland, Ohio Theological Institution. 3 Entry for January 12, 1836, the rule regarding a temple guide reads: 4 th All persons are prohibited from exploring the house except [when] waited uppon by a person appointed for that purpose (Kirtland High Council Minutes, p. 231, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Archives, Salt Lake City, [hereafter cited as LDS Church Archives], available on Selected Collections from the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2002], DVD 19; see also Fred C. Collier and William S. Harwell, eds., Kirtland Council Minute Book [Salt Lake City: Collier s Publishing Co., 1996], ; hereafter cited as KHCM). 4 For more information about Michael Chandler and the Egyptian mummies, see Stanley B. Kimball, New Light on Old Egyptiana: Mormon Mummies, , Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 16, no. 4 (Winter 1983): and James R. Clark, Joseph Smith and the Lebolo Egyptian Papyri, BYU Studies 8, no. 2 (Winter 1968):

15 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 3 the four mummies for continuing exhibit. 5 It appears that the Chandler mummies and papyrus were exhibited in a variety of venues throughout Kirtland, including a room at the Johnson Inn, and at the homes of Joseph and Emma Smith and Frederick G. Williams. 6 A July 1835 letter written by W. W. Phelps captured the excitement of the Chandler collection: The last of June four Egyptian mummies were brought here; there were two papyrus rolls, besides some other ancient Egyptian writings with them. As no one could translate these writings, they were presented to President Smith. He soon knew what they were and said they, the rolls of papyrus, contained the sacred record kept of Joseph in Pharaoh s court in Egypt, and the teachings of Father Abraham. These records of old times, when we translate and print them in a book, will make a good witness for the Book of Mormon. 7 By 1836, the Chandler collection found exhibit space in one of the five rooms located on the third floor of the temple. The mummies enhanced the temple as a tourist attraction for members and nonmembers alike. 8 It appears that a number of early church leaders acted as temple guides during their sojourn in Kirtland. Edwin Holden recalled, At the Temple in Kirtland I was also present after it had been dedicated. Patriarch Smith, Joseph s father, was my guide. He took me through the rooms, and also took me up into a room at the top of the house, where I saw the Egyptian mummies, and the papyrus from which Joseph translated the Book of Abraham. Like modern-day tourists who complete their historic site experience with a visit to the museum store, Holden followed up his temple tour with the purchase of a first edition Book of 5 Oliver Cowdery to Wm. Frye, December 22, 1835, Latter Day Saints Messenger and Advocate 2, no. 3 (December 1835): Cowdery includes in a postscript, You will have understood from the foregoing, that eleven Mummies were taken from the catacomb, at the time of which I have been speaking, and nothing definite having been said of their disposal, I may, with propriety add a few words. Seven of the said eleven were purchased by gentlemen for private museums, previous to Mr. Chandler s visit to this place, with a small quantity of papyrus, similar, (as he says,) to the astronomical representation, contained with the present two rolls, of which I previously spoke, and the remaining four by gentlemen resident here. 6 This evening Elder [Joseph] Coe called to make some ar[r]angements about the Egyptian records and the mummies. He proposes to hire a room at J[ohn] Johnson s Inn and ex[h]ibit them there from day to day at certain hours, that some benefit may be derived from them. I complied with his request and only observed that they must be managed with prudence and care, especially the manuscripts (Scott H. Faulring, An American Prophet s Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith [Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1987], 40, 42, 65, ). 7 William Phelps to Sally Phelps, July 19 20, 1835, as cited in Improvement Era 45, no. 8 (August 1942): Joseph Smith Jr. recorded in his journal on February 16, 1836: Many called to day [sic] to see the House of the Lord and to visit me and see the Egy[p]tian manuscripts (Faulring, American Prophet s Record, 133).

16 4 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Mormon. He boasted, I also made there a purchase of a Book of Mormon, one of the first that had been translated and printed. 9 Apparently, Joseph Smith Sr. was a frequent temple guide who hosted both locals and traveling tourists. Warren Foote recalled an afternoon temple tour led by the patriarch that included a viewing of the mummies and papyrus. He recorded, Joseph Smith Sen. explained them [the papyrus] to us, and said the records were the writings of Abraham & Joseph, Jacob s son. Some of the writing was in black, and some in red. He said that the writing in red, was pertaining to the Priesthood. We were also shown through the Temple. 10 Sarah Leavitt remembered that her group not only saw the Egyptian mummies and ancient writings, but also witnessed Joseph Smith Jr. deliver a sermon from the lower court pulpits. She recalled her tour: We stayed at Kirtland about a week and had the privilege of hearing Joseph preach in that thing the Baptist said they called a meetinghouse [temple], which proved to be a very good house. We went in to the upper rooms, saw the Egyptian mummies, the writing that was said to be written in Abraham s day, Jacob s ladder being pictured on it, and lots more wonders that I cannot write here, and that were explained to us. 11 In November of the same year, Wilford Woodruff and Abraham Smoot returned to Kirtland from a mission and immediately explored every room of the temple accompanied by Warren Parrish. Highlights of the missionary s experience included viewing the mummies, pulpits, veils, and bell tower. The temple tour with Parrish included time to visit the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company, located a few yards south of the temple. 12 However, not all temple tours were pleasant experiences for the visitor and guides alike. A few weeks prior to the temple dedication, an Elder Morey had a confrontational encounter with a visitor when he requested that the guest 9 Edwin Holden, Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Juvenile Instructor 27, no. 5 (March 1, 1892): Warren Foote, Autobiography ( ), Writings of Early Latter-Day Saints and Their Contemporaries, comp. Milton V. Backman Jr., (accessed June 3, 2009). Also, Saints Herald 27, no. 6 (March 15, 1880): 85. In February 1880, Edmund L. Kelley of the RLDS Church interviewed I. P. Axtell, Esq., son of a Baptist minister who moved to the Kirtland area in When Axtell was asked if he knew Joseph Smith, he answered, Yes, sir, I have seen him many a time; he was often at my father s house; and I with many young people, often went to Kirtland to see him and his people. I knew his father also, who at the time I knew him had charge of the Kirtland Temple. He took me with others through the Temple at one time. He appeared to be a fine old man (J. W. Peterson, Joseph Smith Defended and his Divine Mission Vindicated [Lamoni, IA: Herald Publishing House, 1904], 77). 11 History of Sarah Studevant Leavitt, Autobiography [ ], ed. Juanita L. Pulsipher (n.p.: n. pub., [1919]), 7. Also available at html (accessed June 3, 2009). 12 Dean C. Jessee, The Kirtland Diary of Wilford Woodruff [ ], BYU Studies 12, no. 4 (Summer 1972): Also, (accessed June 3, 2009).

17 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 5 remove his hat while inside the temple. Joseph Smith described the tour in his journal on April 29, 1836: A man called to see the House of the Lord in company with another gentleman. On entering the door they were politely invited by the gent[l]eman who has charge of the House to take off their hats. One of them complyed with the request unhesitatingly while the other observed that he would not take of[f] his hat, nor bow to Jo[e] Smith, but that he had made Jo[e] bow to him at a certain time. He was immediately informed by Eld[e]r Morey, the keeper of the House, that his first business was to leave for when a man imposed upon me [Joseph Smith] he was imposed upon himself [Elder Morey]. The man manifested much anger but left the house. 13 In 1837, William West traveled to Kirtland for the sole purpose of observing the Mormon village, exploring the temple, and asking questions about the new denomination. His interests were twofold: to learn from the Mormons themselves and to conclude his observations with the publication of an informational pamphlet on the growing religion. During West s trip to Kirtland, he learned of various revelations, code names for church leaders, and construction details of the temple. West described his experience in the temple: Upon entering the first story the keeper took off his hat, I did the same and asked him if that was the rule, he said it was. Indeed, the sublime appearance of that apartment, when the vails are unfurled, seem to enjoin sacred reverence. 14 West paid twenty-five cents for touring the temple, stating that he enjoyed the experience so much he returned the following day. 15 Visitors to the temple and curious neighbors learned the unique relationship of Independence, Missouri and Kirtland in the larger physical and theological design of the religious community. Truman Coe, a local Presbyterian minister, explored the temple just prior to the March dedication and observed that the Saints were sharing the unique role of Kirtland as a gateway to Zion, or Independence, Missouri. Truman Coe explained: The Mormons came in Kirtland about six years ago; being taught by their leaders that this was one of the stakes of Zion, the eastern borders of the promised land. There they have been gathering their converts from various parts of the United States, until their present number probably amounts to upwards of one thousand: 13 Faulring, American Prophet s Record, 136. Smith later notes, For this independence and resolution of Eld[e]r Morey, I respect him and for the love he manifests toward me may Israel s God bless him and give him an ascendency over all his enemies (Ibid., 137). 14 William S. West, A Few Interesting Facts Respecting the Rise and Progress and Pretensions of the Mormons ([Braceville, OH?]: privately printed, 1837), Ibid.

18 6 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL besides the transient companies of pilgrims who come here from the east to inquire the way to Zion, and then pass on to Missouri. 16 Coe left Kirtland with the understanding that the Latter Day Saints valued education and greatly emphasized to the members the importance of obtaining an education, both religious ideals as well as basic reading, writing, and math. He observed that the temple served a number of roles as a house of worship, and a place of education for church ministers, as well as the community. He learned that the faithful believed the design of the temple was given, according to the pattern shown to Joseph in vision. Coe concluded that the temple was a monument of unconquerable zeal [and] a strange compound of Jewish antiquity and Roman Catholic mummery. 17 Truman Coe was not the only minister curious about the Mormons and their temple. It appears that the 1830s Saints extended an open invitation to ministers and members of other Christian denominations. The rules of the temple also stated that members of any faith would be welcomed and respected by the authorities of the church. This respect not only extended to opening the doors of the temple but also the opportunity to speak from the temple pulpits. 18 S. A. Davis, a Unitarian minister traveled to Kirtland and experienced the hospitality of the Kirtland community that included a tour of the temple with Elder Pratt in During his visit, S. A. Davis learned of the Mormon emphasis on the millennium, with Independence, Missouri as the designated Zion or Holy City. He also heard the Kirtland Saints express implicit confidence in the prophesies of Joseph Smith. 19 Following the tour, Pratt extended an invitation to the Unitarian minister to use the temple pulpits for an evening discourse, of which Davis agreed. Pratt and others quickly spread word throughout Kirtland of the evening meeting; despite the rain and muddy roads, a crowd of four to five hundred gathered to hear Davis speak. Davis experience proved the benefits of open hospitality, as Davis later published his encounter with the Kirtland Saints: The people [Mormons] would undoubtedly be considered superstitious, and, in some respects, I think they are so; yet I have seldom, if ever, been treated with greater kindness by any denomination of Christians, or seen manifested more 16 Milton V. Backman, Truman Coe s 1836 Description of Mormonism, BYU Studies 17, no. 3 (Spring 1977): Ibid., The entry for January 12, 1836 reads: 8 th [rule] All persons whether believer or unbelievers shall be treated with due respect by the authorities of the Church (KHCM, 231). 19 S. A. D. to the editor, March 14, 1837, Latter Day Saints Messenger and Advocate 3, no. 7 (April 1837): 490. Davis summarized his experience: We were hospitably entertaind [sic] and kindly treated by Elder Pratt and others, who spent most of their time while we were there, in showing us the buildings of the temple. and giving us instruction of their new religion and I assure you, dear reader, we so far imitated the Athenians of old, as to spend most of the time in nothing else, but to hear some new thing (Ibid., 491).

19 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 7 liberality of sentiment and Christian charity, than by the Latter Day Saints, during my visit among them. On the whole, our visit to Kirtland, was a pleasant one, and notwithstanding I am as far from believing their doctrine as any person can be, yet I must say that they manifested a spirit of liberality, and Christianity, which many of their bitterest persecutors would do well to imitate. 20 It was the intention of Mormons to open the temple to all denominations, hoping that their hospitality would be returned. Missionaries who traveled outside of Kirtland struggled to find welcoming ministers who would allow the missionaries to use their meetinghouses as possible venues for sharing the Latter Day Saint message. However, not all ministers were impressed by the religious group s hospitality and message. A few years after S. A. Davis tour, Reverend James L. Scott of the Seventh Day Baptists passed through Kirtland while on a missionary tour. Scott was perhaps one of the more cynical visitors during the first decade of the temple s history. He recalled that the temple was kept locked and would not be opened free of cost, or without a guide. Scott s unnamed guide, or conductor, led a tour from the basement to the bell tower, explaining the meaning of the pulpit letters, purpose of the rooms, and the intricacies of the inner court curtain system. It was the curtain system above the pulpits that most intrigued Scott. As the guide explained the lettering on the Melchisedec pulpits, he said, Sometimes these men of God shine with dazzling splendor. Scott recalled: I looked on him with pity. Each of the seats of these pulpits could be shut in entire by pasteboard curtains, suspended from the upper ceiling, thus completely secluding each seat with its occupant from every other object in the Temple. Here (my skepticism suggested) they can dress their Angels at will. This is but one of the deceptive machines invented by the adversary of souls to their everlasting destruction. 21 Reverend Scott continued his tour of the temple describing, with theological significance, the poorly lit third floor rooms so destitute of light that they appeared fitted for deeds of darkness. While viewing the grandeur of the hills from the temple bell tower, he pondered the house of worship below: Sorrowful reflections, as beneath our feet were those rooms which, to us appeared fitted for deceptive purposes, and where it is feared, almost all manner of sinful gratifications were indulged. Scott topped off his temple tour with the statement, I have noticed The Temple, not because its merits demand it, but to show how far delusion may go, even in this our enlightened 20 Ibid., James L. Scott, A Journal of a Missionary Tour through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wiskonsin [sic] and Michigan; Comprising a Concise Description of Different Sections of Country; Health of Climate; Inducements for Emigration with the Embarrassments; the Religious Condition of the People; Meetings Connected with the Mission; and of the Great Western Prairies (Providence: privately printed, 1843),

20 8 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL land. 22 Sadly, we do not have an equally descriptive account of Scott and/or the tour from Scott s Mormon guide. For most of the guests in the 1830s, the highlight of the temple tour was the opportunity to view the Chandler mummies and papyrus. Reverend Scott did not have the opportunity to view the ancient wonders, as the mummies were no longer housed in Kirtland, but were on exhibit in Nauvoo. In Nauvoo, the Mormon community quickly took advantage of the economic and public relations benefits of tourism in their river town. In January 1841, Joseph Smith Jr. received a revelation that commanded the Saints to build a boarding house for weary travelers visiting Nauvoo. The purpose of the Nauvoo House was to provide lodging for the city s guests, while the temple would act as the main attraction. 23 One of the earliest tours in Nauvoo appeared in 1840, when, in the pages of the Quincy Whig, an anonymous writer related his group s experience with Joseph Smith Jr. as Joseph led a tour of his dwelling, the grounds surrounding the house, and an upper room where the visitors found four mummies housed in a case. 24 One of the more fascinating accounts of Joseph Smith Jr. s guiding abilities comes from Josiah Quincy in April The need for an adequate lodging facility was never more evident than when Josiah Quincy described his night stay in the river town as the good bed our friend had promised us was in an old mill, which had been converted into an Irish shanty. However, we made the best of it, and, having dispossessed a cat and a small army of cockroaches of their quarters on the coverlet, we lay down in our dressing-gowns and were soon asleep. 25 After a rough night s sleep in the mill, Quincy and his traveling companion, Adams, were soon met by Joseph Smith s personal carriage which transported the travelers to the Mansion House where they met the Mormon leader. Smith went from one Mansion House bedroom to another looking for suitable meeting space to converse with his visitors. On his third attempt, Smith found 22 Ibid., Doctrine and Covenants (LDS), section 124: 23, 60 and (Community of Christ) appendix A, section 107, 9b, 18d-e. The section reads, And it shall be for a house for boarding, a house that strangers may come from afar to lodge therein; therefore let it be a good house, worthy of all acceptation, that the weary traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord; and the cornerstone I have appointed for Zion And let the name of that house be called Nauvoo House; and let it be a delightful habitation for man, and a resting-place for the weary traveler, that he may contemplate the glory of Zion, and the glory of this, the corner-stone thereof. 24 Clark, Joseph Smith, John E. Hallwas and Roger D. Launius, Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1995), 45. The original account was published by Josiah Quincy in Figures of the Past; From the Leaves of Old Journals (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883),

21 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 9 a bedroom with a single bed and single occupant. Quincy recalled that his host immediately proceeded to the bed, and drew the clothes well over the head of its occupant. He then invited the traveling guests to take a seat on the bed wherein Smith then began to talk about himself and his people. Whether by subtle tact or happy accident, he introduced us to Mormonism as a secular institution before stating its monstrous claims as a religious system. Smith related the accomplishments and persecutions of the religious community, the need for a military organization to protect the city, and the powers of the Nauvoo charter. Following breakfast, the party returned to the bedroom wherein Smith proceeded to give a discourse on the theology of the Saints. Highlights of Smith s theological explanation or wild talk as Quincy described it, included an argument against the Trinity, Smith s claims to special inspiration or revelation, and his miraculous gift of understanding all languages. 26 Following his discourse in the Mansion House bedroom, Quincy recorded that Joseph showed the men a cabinet of curiosities. He led the way to a lower room, where sat a venerable and respectable-looking lady. Like any good guide, Joseph Smith used emotion to both educate and entertain his guests. This is my mother, gentlemen. The curiosities we shall see belong to her. They were purchased with her own money, at a cost of six thousand dollars, he said. Then, with deep feeling, he added, And that woman was turned out upon the prairie in the dead of night by a mob. After the New England guests saw the four mummies and heard the interpretation of the papyrus, Quincy described the memorable minutes that followed, as their host surprised them with an admission fee for viewing the cabinet of curiosities. Quincy recalled: The exhibition of these august relics concluded with a similar descent into the hard modern world of fact. Monarchs, patriarchs, and parchments were very well in their way; but this was clearly the nineteenth century, when prophets must get a living and provide for their relations. Gentlemen, said this bourgeois Mohammed, as he closed the cabinets, those who see these curiosities generally pay my mother a quarter of a dollar. 27 Smith then arranged for a spacious carriage to transport his guests and himself to the temple lot where they observed the construction of the Nauvoo Temple and the carving of a sunstone. Quincy noted: In a tone half-way between jest and earnest, and which might have been taken for either at the option of the hearer, the prophet put this inquiry: Is not here one greater than Solomon, who built a Temple with the treasures of his father David and with the assistance of Huram, King of Tyre? Joseph Smith has built his Temple with no one to aid him in the work Ibid., Ibid. 28 Ibid., 49.

22 10 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL The Nauvoo tour ended in time for dinner followed by an evening sermon delivered by Smith from the front steps of the Mansion House. Quincy concluded his account of his Nauvoo experience with Joseph Smith, noting: If the reader does not know just what to make of Joseph Smith, I cannot help him out of the difficulty. I myself stand helpless before the puzzle. 29 Following the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in 1844, there is evidence that Emma Hale Smith s second husband, Lewis C. Bidamon, and her eldest son, Joseph Smith III, collaborated on a small business profiting from the growing tourism of Nauvoo. According to Joseph Smith III s biographer, Roger Launius, Bidamon and his stepsons took advantage of the increasing tourism business and established an informal guide service that began at the Mansion House, where many of the guests were staying. The guests were led by wagon around the river town as Joseph Smith III pointed out various sites of interest. The highlight of the tour included the splendorous Nauvoo Temple, located at the top of the bluff towering over the bend in the Mississippi river. 30 Years later, Joseph Smith III recounted one of the more memorable tours of Nauvoo which included Owen Lovejoy, brother of the abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy. 31 Sadly, the Smith brothers ceased their Nauvoo tourism business shortly after the Nauvoo Temple was destroyed by arson in While Joseph Smith III was leading visitors throughout the Nauvoo ghost town, James Strang and his followers had possession of the Kirtland Temple and, in 1846, held a general conference there. In August, Strang reorganized the Kirtland stake and ordained many former Mormon leaders to prominent positions in the local Strangite church. Ordinations included Lester Brooks and Moses Smith as apostles, Martin Harris and Hazen Aldrich as high priests, and Jacob Bump as bishop. The stake presidency included Leonard Rich, Amos Babcock, and Sylvester B. Stoddard. The Voree Herald boasted: The Saints in Kirtland are in full legal and peaceable possession of the Temple of God in that place. Moreover the organization includes nearly every person in Kirtland who held a standing in any of the parties into which the Church has 29 Ibid., Roger D. Launius, Joseph Smith III: Pragmatic Prophet (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 60, 72. Launius cites Valeen Tippetts Avery and Linda King Newell, Lewis C. Bidamon, Stepchild of Mormondom, BYU Studies 19, no. 3 (Spring 1979): 382. Avery and Newell cite Marcia Vogel s private collection. 31 Mary Audentia Smith Anderson, The Memoirs of President Joseph Smith [ ], Saints Herald 82, no. 7 (February 12, 1935): 207. Joseph Smith III said: In recalling, as I have been doing in this recital, the many visits I made to the Temple after the exodus of the Saints and my familiarity with its condition and unfinished state, there comes to mind a time I went over it as guide to a Mr. Owen Lovejoy and his party. He was traveling through the West with his daughter and her husband, and put up at our hotel. Mr. Bidamon asked me to show them about the city, which trip included a visit to the Temple.

23 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 11 been divided. 32 Perhaps for those in attendance, the more memorable event of the conference was President Strang s eight-hour sermon from the pulpits of the lower court a record that has yet to be broken, even now over 160 years later. Shortly after Strang traveled to Kirtland to preside over the 1846 general conference, Henry Howe, one of Ohio s first historians, visited the northeast Ohio community. He later published one of the more descriptive accounts of the historic temple and accompanied his writing with the first known image of the temple. During his temple tour, Howe learned about the origins of the Latter Day Saint movement, the structure of the priesthood, and the 1837 bank failure that led to the departure of most of the 1830s Saints. Howe also learned from his host that the Mormon church later divided into three factions: the Rigdonites, the Twelveites (LDS), and the Strangites. Howe s host provided him a less-than-biased definition of the three groups: The Rigdonites are the followers of Sidney Rigdon, and are but a few in number. The Twelveites so named after their twelve apostles are very fanatical, and hold to the spiritual wife system and the plurality of Gods. The Strangites maintain the original doctrines of Mormonism, and are located at this place and Voree. 33 Howe s host revealed an underlying tension between the religious groups, a friction that continued to surface on temple tours throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By 1850, James Strang had lost his Kirtland stronghold to James Colin Brewster, Francis Gladden Bishop, and eventually Zadoc Brooks Church of Christ. In April 1850, James Ryder arrived on the shores of Fairport Harbor with his daguerreotype materials in hand. Ryder traveled to Kirtland and was captivated by the temple. He lodged across the street at the Kirtland Hotel, once managed by Sidney Rigdon s son-in-law George Robinson, but under the management of Gus Bump. Following his evening meal, Ryder did what the general visitor to Kirtland usually does climbed the long stairs leading to the outlook from the steeple of the Mormon temple, and viewed the country around. 34 Ryder soon found himself enjoying the evening air on the porch of Bump Tavern with Mr. Bump who enjoyed a good pipe. Once Ryder drew the conclusion that Gus Bump was relaxed and willing to talk, Ryder inquired about the temple and the Mormons. Mr. Bump explained that the temple was 32 Kirtland, Voree Herald 1, no. 9 (September 1846): 1. Also, Ron Romig, Martin Harris s Kirtland (Independence, MO: John Whitmer Books, 2007), Henry Howe, Historical Collections of Ohio; Containing a Collection Of the Most Interesting Facts, Traditions, Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes, etc. Relating to Its General and Local History: With Descriptions of Its Counties, Principal Towns and Villages (Cincinnati: Bradley & Anthony, 1849), 284. Also available at (accessed June 4, 2009). 34 James F. Ryder, Voigtlander and I: In Pursuit of Shadow Catching: A Story of Fifty-Two Years Companionship with a Camera (Cleveland: Cleveland Printing & Publishing Co., Imperial Press, 1902), 64.

24 12 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL as free as the common surrounding it. No one pretends to exercise any right or inclination to manage it. The people of the village and strangers who visit it go and come without question. It is free to all. 35 The following morning, upon Bump s encouragement, Ryder walked across the street and led his own self-guided tour of the temple. He found that there were a number of Saints still living in Kirtland, but not one who would talk of the rites or ceremonies practiced in the temple. Despite his inability to find a guide, Ryder soon turned the upper court of the temple into a temporary studio and hung a framed daguerreotype on the large temple doors with his card that advertised his services as a daguerreotypist. Ryder spent several weeks in Kirtland creating likenesses for local residents and temple tourists through the summer of He wrote, Visitors from a distance sometimes sat to me as an event of interest to be added to their visit to the temple, of which the daguerreotypes were souvenirs, as having likenesses taken in a Mormon temple was something to be remembered. 36 Ten years later, while Zadoc Brooks and his followers held possession, an effort was made to repair the temple. Members from a variety of Latter Day Saint factions continued to travel to Kirtland through the 1860s and missionaries were invited to speak from the temple pulpits in an attempt to return to the 1830s style of cooperation. 37 Perhaps one of the more memorable events took place in 1860, as members of three different sects, all holding a shared Mormon heritage, occupied the lower court pulpits and participated in a combined service. 38 Two RLDS missionaries, W. W. Blair and James Blakeslee, were given the opportunity to speak. Blair recounted the experience in both his journal and the Saints Herald 39. He recalled, twenty-three years later, how 35 Ibid., Ibid., March 15 [1864] I came to Kirtland by rail R to Willoughby I tarried through the night with James Twist. 16 Snowy I continued to stay with Br Twist he is united with Joseph Smith the youngers organization. 18 th The Brooks party I learned have possession of the temple. It has been newly roofed a lightening rod put on it the old inscription on its east front chisseled out and a new one substituted reading thus The house of the Lord built by the Church of Christ The former inscription being The House of the Lord built by the Church of Jesus Christ [sic] of Latter Day Saints A.D (Stephen Post, Journal, 1864, LDS Church Archives, cited in Romig, Martin Harris s Kirtland, 83). 38 The representatives of the various denominations included: W. W. Blair and James Blakeslee, two elders from the RLDS Church; Leonard Rich, Zadoc Brooks, and Martin Harris from the Church of Christ; and Simeon Atwood from the LDS Church (Christin Craft Mackay and Lachlan Mackay, A Time of Transition: Kirtland Temple , John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 18 [1998]: 141). 39 W. W. Blair gives at least four accounts of the event: W. W. Blair, Journal, August 19, 1860, Community of Christ Library-Archives, Independence, MO; Sermon by Elder W. W. Blair, at the Old Meeting House, Lamoni, April 22nd, 1883, Saints Herald 30, no. 42 (October 20, 1883): ; Simeon Atwood, Saints Herald 36, no. 10 (March 9, 1889): 145; The Memoirs of President W. W. Blair, comp., Frederick B. Blair (Lamoni, IA: Herald Publishing House, 1908):

25 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 13 an attendee by the name of Increase Van Deusen, leaped from his pew like a Jack in the box, and with a wild expression in his eye, shook his fists. Blair remarked to his partner, The devil is in that man. The two watched as Van Deusen walked across the pew boxes and leaped on to each level of the pulpits. Once he reached the top of the pulpits, Van Deusen removed his broad cloth coat, tore it into shreds, and proceeded to swing the coat around his head. Those in attendance, including Blair and Blakeslee, fled the frightful scene in fear. Blair related what happened next, bearing his own testimony of the power of the RLDS missionaries: There was a young woman there who, when the man sprang upon one of the pulpits and made a terrible hiss, fell down prone upon the floor... Bro. Blakeslee and myself, started up to that no personal violence should occur, and when we got on the outside of the crowd, this poor creature was looking up, caught sight of the man [Increase Van Deusen], and immediately went into spasms. By the time they got her to the threshold of the Temple, my heart was touched, and Bro. Blakeslee coming up, we laid our hands on her, and she came to herself, the devil rebuked. 40 Just as the service included ministers from a variety of Latter Day Saint factions, it appears that temple visitors were also greeted by a dizzying array of representatives from various [Mormon] tradition churches. 41 James Twist acted as a representative for the RLDS Church, Samuel Parsons held allegiance to Mr. Miners [sic] organization, and Zadoc Brooks Church of Christ, located in the Kirtland area, was represented by a number of members. 42 It was not uncommon for guides at this time to use the temple tour as a platform for their own opinions, especially their views of the LDS Church based in Salt Lake City, Utah. None of the tour guides was as memorable or as colorful as Martin Harris, witness to the Book of Mormon and a longtime Kirtland resident. The earliest temple tour led by Martin Harris appears in Francis M. Lyman traveled through Kirtland during this time and recalled that Harris took much pain to show his guests through the temple and shared with them all the information about the building that he could. 43 William Harrison Homer, on his return trip to Utah from a mission to England, traveled to Kirtland with his cousin James A. Crockett, who was not a member of any Latter Day Saint church. Homer and Crockett stayed in Kirtland overnight and 40 Blair, Sermon by Elder W. W. Blair, at the Old Meeting House, Lamoni, April 22d, 1883, Mackay, A Time of Transition, Ibid. Mackay and Mackay cite Stephen Post s journal, March 15, Francis M. Lyman, My Mission, Contributor 17, no. 6 (April 1896): 352. As recorded in Michael Marquardt s Martin Harris: the Kirtland Years, , Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 35, no. 3 (Fall 2002): Account also cited in Romig, Martin Harris s Kirtland, 76.

26 14 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL learned that Martin Harris was the custodian of the temple. The two men went to the Harris home and inquired about a tour of the historic house of worship. Homer introduced himself as Martin s brother in-law and an elder from the Utah church. Despite the familial connections, Harris reacted abrasively to Homer s connections with the Brighamite movement. 44 Homer described the tour: From that moment, Martin Harris, in spite of occasional outbursts, radiated with interest. He led us through the rooms of the Temple and explained how they were used. He related thrilling experiences in connection with the history of the sacred building. In the basement, as elsewhere, there were many signs of dilapidation Whether it was the influence of these conditions or not, it is difficult to tell, but here again, Martin Harris was moved to speak against the Utah Mormons. An injustice, a gross injustice had been done to him. He should have been chosen President of the Church. 45 The patient elder from Utah attempted to distract his temple guide with less divisive questions, such as Martin s role in the early church, etc.; but Martin turned the temple tour into a presentation of himself. Homer s account stated that as the winter sun beamed through the broken windows of the lower court of the temple, Martin gave a passionate testimony of the Book of Mormon and the divine calling of Joseph Smith: The shabby, emaciated little man before us was transformed as he stood with hand outstretched toward the sun of heaven. A halo seemed to encircle him. A divine fire glowed in his eyes. His voice throbbed with the sincerity and the conviction of his message. It was the real Martin Harris whose burning testimony no power on earth could quench. It was the most thrilling moment of my life. I asked Martin Harris how he could bear so wonderful a testimony after having left the Church. He said, Young man, I never did leave the Church, the Church left me. 46 Despite his occasional outbursts, railings, and wild rants against the Mormon church, Martin Harris sunlit testimony made a believer out of Homer s cousin James A. Crockett. After departing the temple, Crockett testified to Homer of his new found belief in Martin Harris and the Book of Mormon William Harrison Homer, The Passing of Martin Harris, Improvement Era 29, no. 5 (March 1926): and Romig, Martin Harris s Kirtland, Homer describes Martin Harris reaction to Homer s Utah citizenship: The old man bristled with vindictiveness. One of those Brighamite Mormons, are you? he snapped. Then he railed impatiently against Utah and the founder of the Mormon commonwealth. It was in vain that I tried to turn the old man s attention to his family. Martin Harris seemed to be obsessed. He would not understand that there stood before him a man who knew his wife and children, who had followed the Church to Utah. 45 Ibid. 46 Ibid. 47 Ibid. Homer writes, After we had bidden Martin Harris goodbye, and had taken a few steps from the Temple, my cousin placed his hands on my shoulders and said, Wait a minute. Looking

27 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 15 The following year, Edward Stevenson traveled to Kirtland and found Martin Harris leaving the Kirtland Temple with a first edition Book of Mormon tucked under his arm. Harris told Stevenson that he was bearing testimony daily to the many who visited the temple. Harris used his opportunity as temple guide to continue to lift up his voice as he had been commanded to do in defence [defense] of the Book that he held in his hand, and offered to prove from the Bible that just such a book was to come forth out of the ground, and that, too, in a day when there were no prophets on the earth. 48 Stevenson also met a Mr. Bond on the temple steps as he conversed with Martin Harris. Ira Bond was the RLDS caretaker of the temple. Bond extended an invitation to Stevenson to speak from the pulpits, and Stevenson agreed to do so. 49 Stevenson returned to Kirtland six months later to provide transport for Martin Harris to join Harris family in Utah. Stevenson also used this return trip to follow up on his promise to Bond. According to the register book signed by visitors touring the temple from , Stevenson preached on Sunday, August 7, 1870 at 11 a.m. and again in the evening at 5 p.m. Despite the RLDS generosity of opening the pulpits to Stevenson, the LDS elder chose to deliver a less-than-diplomatic sermon on the topic of Brigham Young the True Successor of Joseph the Prophet. RLDS guides later inserted in the register book that Stevenson s sermon was emphatically denied by the Elders of the Reorganized Church of J C of LDS. 50 The contention between LDS visitors and RLDS guides continued through the next hundred years. In 1879, Frederic G. Mather was led through a twohour-long tour of the temple by Electra Stratton, a longtime resident of Kirtland and member of the RLDS church. After paying a small fee for entrance into the temple, Mather learned that the keys to the temple often changed hands from one Kirtland family to another. Inside the building, he discovered one room was designated as the Temple Register Room, where visitors, like Stevenson, were invited to record their names. Like Martin Harris, tour guide Stratton proceeded to relate stories about the glory days of 1830s Kirtland. me squarely in the eyes he said, I can testify that the Book of Mormon is true. There is something within me that tells me that the old man told the truth. I know the Book of Mormon is true. 48 Edward Stevenson to the editor, Deseret Evening News (November 30, 1881) and Deseret Evening News (December 13, 1881). Reprinted in Deseret News 30 (December 28, 1881): 763; Millenial Star 44 (January 30, 1882): 78-9; 44 (February 6, 1882) 86-7, as cited in Dan Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, Volume 2 (Salt Lake City: Signature Books,): Edward Stevenson, letter to the editor, One of the Three Witnesses, Deseret News 30, no. 40 (December 28, 1881): 762, as cited in Romig, Martin Harris s Kirtland, The Mr. Bond Stevenson refers to was most likely Ira Bond, president of the deacons at the time of the Kirtland Temple dedication. Stevenson describes his interaction with Bond as, Mr. Bond, who held the keys of the temple, and who had been present at the dedication, and [was] then a faithful Latter-day Saint, said to me he felt as though he would have been far better off if he had kept with the Latter-day Saints, and that if I would preach in the Temple, he would open the doors to me, I promised to do so at some future time. 50 Kirtland Temple Visitor Register, , 51. Community of Christ Library-Archives.

28 16 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL As she spoke of the early worship services, Stratton recalled the elevated choir lofts where an insane woman was in the habit of rising and tooting on a horn whenever the sentiments of the officiating minister did not meet with her approval. 51 Stratton also related a comical story of Joseph Smith s habit of announcing from his lofty pulpit, The truth is good enough without dressing up, but Brother Rigdon will now proceed to dress it up. 52 F. G. Mather discovered written RLDS sentiment toward their rocky mountain cousins nailed to a wall in the upper temple court. The posted statement deviated from the message of openness and ecumenical ministry shown by Ira Bond during the previous decade. According to Mather, the announcement read: THE SALT LAKE MORMONS. When Joseph Smith was killed on June 27, 1844, Brigham Young assumed the leadership of the Church, telling the people in the winter of 1846 that all the God they wanted was him, and all the Bible they wanted was in his heart. He led or drove about two thousand people to Utah in 1847, starting for Upper California and landing at Salt Lake, where, in 1852, Brigham Young presented the Polygamic Revelation [?] to the people. The True Church remained disorganized till 1860, when Joseph Smith took the leadership or Presidency of the Church at Amboy, Illinois. We (thirty thousand) have no affiliation with the Mormons whatever. They are to us an apostate people, working all manner of abomination before God and man. We are no part or parcel of them in any sense whatever. Let this be distinctly understood: we are not Mormons. Truth is truth, wherever it is found. 53 With this statement, it was clear that the RLDS understanding of the temple had distinctly divided from the contemporary Mormon tradition churches. The interpretation became defensive and abrasive. Perhaps the statement was posted for the few visitors who, despite not having a guide to lead them, would not leave the temple without knowing the distinctions between the two denominations. Shortly after Mather s visit to the temple, the RLDS Church began investing heavily into the restoration and preservation of the Kirtland Temple, which included managing temple tours. 54 Bishop E. L. Kelley and his brother, Apostle William Kelley relocated to Kirtland to oversee the maintenance and preservation efforts. Often times the touring responsibility rested on the shoulders of the 51 Frederic G. Mather, The Early Days of Mormonism, Lippincott s Magazine 26 (August 1880): Ibid. 53 Ibid. 54 The April 1880 General Conference approved a plan to place an appointee minister in charge at Kirtland to preach in the Temple and in the country about, and to answer the questions of the visitors who daily come there from all parts, to see the famous building, and inquire concerning the faith and doctrine of the Saints (Israel Rogers, Presiding Bishop Report, Saints Herald 27, no. 10 [May 15, 1880]: 147).

29 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 17 Kelley brothers. E. L. Kelley s wife, Cassie, recorded in letters to her husband the many visitors she hosted, amount of donations received, books sold, etc., while her husband was traveling for the church. In September 1885, Cassie wrote of selling a Book of Mormon to a Methodist Episcopal minister and of her rather busy tour schedule, with most visitors paying admission to see the temple. 55 RLDS leaders soon discovered the missionary benefits of having hundreds of visitors come to the historic building. William Kelley expressed an interest in using the temple to convert the masses in his report to the 1882 RLDS General Conference: The Temple is really doing the loudest preaching and giving the greatest prestige to the cause just now of anything else. It reaches the thousands everywhere Again, one Elder at the Temple is doing the work of ten, now, in the ordinary way; by preaching to the people on Sundays, and to visitors as they come during the week. It is necessary to keep one of the best men in the mission at the Temple, to reason with men and women of every name and faith that come to view it. In the last week the [temple building] committee has seen as high as twenty-five or thirty at once in the building, and Bro. E. L. Kelley standing with text-books in hand, disputing and explaining with ministers and people. Every day the committee must stop work, some one of them, in order to conduct parties through the building. 56 Kelley shared that as the building committee worked to restore the temple s previous splendor, a number of high profile visitors had added their names to the new temple register. During the summer of 1882, 246 visitors explored the historic structure. He noted that during the first week of August, seventytwo visitors registered their names in the new book, many of whom purchased books and accepted missionary tracts. Visitors included the following, Mrs. Lucretia R. Garfield, the wife of U.S. President James A. Garfield, and two descendants of the original temple builders: Belle M. Sears, daughter of Bishop N. K. Whitney, and Mrs. John Outhwaite, niece of Frederick G. Williams. Notable social reformers like Henry Blackwell, Lucy Stone, and Reverent [sic] Antoinette Brown Blackwell also visited the temple. 57 Four years later, E. L. Kelley reiterated the missionary opportunities the RLDS Church could have at the temple. Visitors continued to hear defensive language from RLDS ministers during large portions of their tour. None could 55 Cassie Kelley wrote a witty letter to her husband on September 7, 1886: Have had some temple visitors the past two days. Yesterday a gentleman, J. W. Summerhays, Salt Lake City, wanted and seemed very much interested. Well you know he felt interested for he paid 50c for the trouble and bought a Bible. So you see I am doing a little towards the spread of the Gospel in Utah (Cassie Kelley to Edmund L. Kelley, September 7, 1886, Community of Christ Library- Archives). 56 William H. Kelley, Report of Committee on Kirtland Temple, Saints Herald 30, no. 35 (September 1, 1883): Ibid.

30 18 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL be more revealing of the new RLDS interpretive plan for the temple, than the description that E. L. Kelley gave in the 1887 Saints Herald: Hundreds and thousands from year to year visit this place to see the temple because of its historic prominence. Of these the great majority are those who know nothing of the faith but the misrepresentations made by our enemies. Coming here in this way they are in a frame of mind to listen to a statement of our faith and positions Take away this building and you can reach the minds of these people in no practical manner I could do more by remaining in the place where the people would come to me, than by trying to go to them. The opportunities afforded by reason of this, for teaching the faith, placing the church fairly before the world and disarming the prejudice and perverted minds of the people toward us is not to be equaled by those of any twelve men we have in the ministerial field. 58 Throughout the 1880s and until the turn of the twentieth century, RLDS ministers found a platform for their doctrine in temple tours. Apostles Gomer Griffiths and John H. Lake relocated to Kirtland to act as caretakers and hosts. As the number of visitors and the size of the congregation continued to increase, RLDS leaders began to assign ministers to the temple to act as presiding elders as well as temple hosts. The RLDS Church was not alone during this period in using a historic site as a tool to emphasize a political and social, or in this case, theological agenda, especially when it strengthened institutional identity. During the 1850s, for example, the Mount Vernon Ladies Association pushed to preserve George Washington s home at Mount Vernon not as forerunners in the field of historic preservation, but rather because the Union was on the verge of disintegration. Patricia West, author of Domesticating History: The Political Origins of America s House Museums, argues that the history of the founding of Mount Vernon as a museum reveals that the preservation of historic shrines was appealing to conservative as well as activist women because it was consistent with women s private, domestic role and because it was part of a wider pattern of nineteenth-century social reform. 59 Louisa May Alcott s Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, for example, was founded as a house museum to address the issue of women s suffrage. By the 1890s, house museums were being established at the rate of about two per year. 60 The new museums were accompanied by a strong public emphasis on love of home and love of country, 58 Edmund L. Kelley, The Kirtland Temple, Saints Herald, 34, no. 12 (March 19, 1887): Patricia West, Domesticating History: The Political Origins of America s House Museums (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1999), 2. As one Mount Vernon founder stated, it was woman s mission to do something to regenerate the corrupted politics of the country by reviving, by the green shades and flowing streams of Mount Vernon, those great principles of Christian polity (Ibid., 3). West cites Elizabeth Willard Barry, Woman s Mission, Mount Vernon Record 2 (July 1859): Ibid., 43. West cites Laurence Vail Coleman, Historic House Museums, (Washington, DC: American Association of Museums, 1933), 18.

31 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 19 patriotism, popular historical pageantry, and antique collecting. West argues that the invention of a shared vision of America, set in an immutable past, was a potent middle-class response to the conflicts and heterogeneity of the late nineteenth century. 61 This sense of loyalty and increased mission to strengthen the pride and identity of the RLDS Church through the story of its past continued to be shared with visitors through the turn of the twentieth century. Henry C. Smith and his wife Pheobe served as caretakers for a brief period of time, and in the August 6, 1913 Saints Herald Henry C. Smith published an account of his temple tour. The report emphasized use of the temple and the details involved in the temple s construction. Smith also noted that the room once designated as a registry room served as a salesroom. 62 In December 1905, Joseph F. Smith and an entourage of twenty-nine guests, including a variety of church leaders and family members, visited the temple upon their return trip home to Utah from Sharon, Vermont where they had celebrated the centennial of Joseph Smith s birth with the dedication of a monument. 63 Edith Ann Smith recorded in her journal the surprise of the RLDS guides with the size of the party, as they were not notified ahead of time to prepare for such a large entourage. Despite the surprise, the party was warmly greeted by Ulysses W. Green, an RLDS apostle and the group was escorted inside the temple by A. E. Stone. Once inside the temple doors, the warm greeting was soon followed by a less-than-comfortable experience. Although Stone focused on the architectural elements and purpose of the temple, Edith Smith described the experience as, The building [temple] not being heated it soon became evident that there was two kinds of coldness present. One the result of the temperature and the other a lack of Spirit. 64 Two years after Joseph F. Smith s family visited the temple, George Edward Anderson recorded a 1907 visit wherein RLDS branch president and temple attendant, A. E. Stone led him through a tour of the temple. 65 Stone emphasized the importance of education to the early church and the current need to care for the elderly. He also related the traditional story of the temple being used as a stable or place to store animals. A. E. Stone later wrote in his autobiography 61 Ibid. 62 Henry C. Smith, Kirtland Temple, Saints Herald 60, no. 32 (August 6, 1913): The Smith group included LDS church president Joseph F. Smith, Hyrum M. Smith, A. H. Lund, F. M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, George Albert Smith, Patriarch John Smith, Edith A. Smith, L. W. Shurtliff, George Romney, Lorin Farr, B. F. Grant, Ashby Snow, Elias A. Smith, Angus M. Cannon, Frank Y. Taylor, George F. Richard, Ina C. Smith, John McDonald, Seymour B. Young, C. W. Penrose, Arthur Winter, B. Goddard, Susa Young Gates, Alice Richards, Rulon S. Wells, Besse M. Smith, and Joseph F. Smith Jr. Edith Ann Smith, Journal (December 1905), MS 1317, fd 1, LDS Church Archives. 64 Ibid. I appreciate David Howlett for making me aware of the Edith Ann Smith account. 65 George Edward Anderson [Diaries ], MS 8795, Daughters of Utah Pioneers Collection, , reel 9, item 6.

32 20 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL that the temple was, one of the best places in the world to prosecute missionary work. There can be hundreds reached then, that are too busy at any other time or place to even stop to hear the message of the Lord. 66 Stone related a number of accounts where he came into contact with temple visitors, encountered the Divine on temple grounds, and converted the curious to the message of the RLDS Church. It was also common during this period for RLDS guides to not only share the contemporary message of the church with their visitors, but to also defend the legacy and character of the early Saints, especially that of Joseph Smith Jr., the founding prophet. Serenus Gardner traveled through Kirtland in 1912 and recalled that a member of the RLDS Church offered Gardner and his party a place to stay for the night. Gardner noted that We argued until midnight and to close up he stated that if Jesus Christ himself came down and told him polygamy was right he would believe it. 67 Gardner toured the Kirtland Temple in the morning and despite his rough night, was grateful for the opportunity to share his testimony with the RLDS Saints during the Sunday morning service. 68 The RLDS defensive message was not limited just to LDS visitors. A. E. Stone, for example, encountered a Kirtland local who took great pride in her family s contribution toward publicly proving that Joseph Smith Jr. was a false prophet. The woman shared with her guide a story about Smith devising a scheme to miraculously walk across water by building a plank just below the surface of the Chagrin River. She related that her brother removed a few pieces of wood from the planks the night before the demonstration, thus causing Smith to fall into the water the following day before his crowd of spectators. Stone recorded his response to the visitor s story in his autobiography: I told her that I had never heard of it and then to make sure of my position, I asked her if I understood her to say that this occurred on the north side of the bridge that at present spans the river and she informed me that I was correct now it must be understood that the bed of the river on the north side is a solid ledge of rock which would not permit any man to drive stakes second that during ordinary seasons the water is not deep enough there to allow a 2 plank being placed below the surface of the water. The third, and most ridiculous [sic] part of the old fable is that in the year 1906, when this story was told, the lady was 60 years old, her brother who took such an active part in the drama was two years her junior, making him 58 years old in 1906, he having been born in the year 1848 or FOUR years after the prophet was killed Just think of it, I told this lady a boy, 11 years before he was born, taking part in such a thing as you have just stated here today now 66 A. E. Stone, Autobiography of A. E. Stone [ ], unpublished manuscript, p. 18, Community of Christ Library-Archives. 67 Serenus H. Gardner, Journal ( ), MS 7328, item 2, LDS Church Archives. My sincerest appreciation to David Howlett for sharing with me this fascinating account. 68 Ibid.

33 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 21 before you tell this story again you adjust your dates. It is needless to say that the lady was not further [sic] interested and took her leave at once. 69 Guides like A. E. Stone, Gomer Griffiths, and Henry and Pheobe Smith often defended the RLDS position that Joseph Smith Jr. was not a polygamist, and attempted to prove his legitimacy as a prophet. Temple guides hosted thousands of people during the 1920s and continued to share the RLDS evangelical message. John F. Martin, temple caretaker, reported that over seven thousand visitors traveled through Kirtland in 1921, and attendance numbers increased to nine thousand visitors the following year. Martin reported, Thousands of tracts were distributed. Many friends were made for the cause and much prejudice was removed I know of no better place to advertise our work than in the Kirtland Temple. The architectural beauty of the building immediately challenges the admiration of the visitors and, invariably, questions are asked regarding its history, which, if carefully answered, lead to the gospel story. 70 As visitors inquired about the differences between the RLDS and LDS faiths, tour guides relied on the 1880 Lake County court case (which determined legal ownership of the temple), to clarify the legitimacy of the RLDS Church. John Martin declared, I would estimate that about nine-tenths of the visitors came to the Temple with the belief that we were affiliated with the Utah Church, but [we] endeavored to see that none went away with that opinion. Judge Sherman s decision came in very handily in this connection. 71 Unfortunately, not all of the temple guests appreciated the missionary zeal and strong opinions of the RLDS toward the LDS Church. In 1925, Frederick James Peck visited the temple and encountered an especially memorable RLDS guide. Years later Peck recalled his temple experience: [The guide] said some very uncomplimentary things to a group of tourists concerning the Utah Mormon people. Indeed, several of the statements that he made were totally unfounded. I discovered, through inquiries, that the temple is now largely used as a means of attracting tourists, with the hope of receiving donations from them We left Kirtland with a two-fold feeling one of joy and gratitude to the Lord for his many blessings which the Saints received at this place, and one of sorrow that the temple is now being used for such pecuniary purposes. 72 As the Kirtland congregation entered the 1930s, they began a decade of centennial celebrations. The interpretation of the temple during the centennial decade took a dramatic shift toward historic celebrations, temple symbolism, 69 Stone, Autobiography, John F. Martin, Many Visitors to Kirtland Temple, Saints Herald 70, no. 5 (January 31, 1923): Ibid. 72 Frederick James Peck, Autobiography [ ], MS 8901, LDS Church Archives. My gratitude for David Howlett in making me aware of the Peck account.

34 22 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL and a renewed sense of faith for the RLDS Church. Stories of 1830s women smashing their fine china for the sparkling effect of the temple stucco begin to surface during this period, along with extravagant interpretations behind the symbolism of temple construction and decoration. Brochures and tracts handed out during this period detailed the symbolism of the decorative carvings and applied woodwork. C. Ed Miller, temple caretaker, drew visitors attention to the two entrances of the temple and noted they were symbolic of the two priesthoods of the church. He said the twelve gothic windows located on the north and south exterior walls were symbolic of the twelve apostles, while the three windows located near the Melchisedec pulpits of the lower court symbolized the First Presidency. Miller extended symbolic meaning to the arches above the Melchisedec pulpits of the lower court: the upper keystone in the arch is supposed to represent Christ, with outstretched arms over the arch underneath. The keystone in this arch is supposed to represent the First Presidency, with the arms of the arch over the pulpits of the Melchisedec priesthood. 73 However, not all interpretations matched during this period. Elbert A. Smith defined the symbolical meaning of the lower court arches differently from C. Ed. Miller in a Saints Herald article titled The Why of Kirtland Temple : One of the larger windows in the upper [lower] court, has two arches, one above the other, the lower conforming to the upper in general line but naturally of inferior position, and it is said the upper arch was intended to be symbolical of Christ, the lower of the priesthood. The superior arch, always dominant, determined the position and outline of the inferior arch. So may it always be in the church: Christ exalted, the priesthood humble and conforming to his pattern and character. 74 It must be noted that although the temple guides and RLDS leaders were sharing powerful meanings behind the decorative woodwork and design of the temple, there was only limited documentation to support the symbolism shared by the guides. As the local Saints began preparation for the one hundredth anniversary of the Kirtland Temple dedication, RLDS President Frederick M. Smith encouraged members to look at the historic celebrations as a time to rededicate themselves to renewing the church s social mission of building Zion. He explained, In 73 C. Ed. Miller, The House of the Lord, Saints Herald 83, no. 8 (February 25, 1936): 241. I am uncertain as to when exactly C. Ed. Miller was caretaker of the temple but it was sometime during the first three decades of the twentieth century. He writes in the above mentioned article, At one time when I had charge of the building, the mayor of Cleveland with a distinguished looking party of men and women visited the temple (242). The Community of Christ Library-Archives includes photographs of the temple interior taken by C. Ed. Miller that date to 1912 and One may conclude with confidence that he was caretaker sometime during the first three decades of the twentieth century. 74 Elbert A. Smith, The Why of Kirtland Temple, Saints Herald 82, no. 39 (September 24, 1935): 1223.

35 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 23 celebrating the anniversary we will at once rejoice in the achievements of the Saints while struggling at Kirtland and rededicate ourselves, talents, zeal, possessions, and powers to the great and glorious task of making Zion real, and thus demonstrate to the world that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a power in social betterment and salvation. 75 A number of church leaders reaching their senior years, like A. E. Stone, reminisced in a variety of RLDS publications about the temple and the powerful contemporary moments shared within its walls. Gomer T. Griffiths, RLDS apostle, had given tours of the temple since the 1880s. He shared stories of the 1830s Saints, as well as Pentecostal experiences of the RLDS Church in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. 76 Griffiths reflected of his time in Kirtland as: There is no spot on earth so dear to the writer as the Kirtland Temple; this due to the rich experiences I have had within its sacred walls. Here it was that I was called to the office of an apostle; here I was ordained to this office under the hands of the late Joseph Smith. I rejoice in the fact that when my pilgrimage is at an end that my mortal remains will rest within the shadow of the Kirtland Temple in the graveyard just across the way. 77 Earnest A. Webbe reminisced about meaningful occasions with visitors. These experiences included the blessing of an infant, conversing with a Baptist minister touring the temple, allowing visitors a quiet moment of prayer, and hosting the D. A. R. of Hiram, Ohio, and the American Legion. 78 Webbe also noted the continuing tension between the RLDS and LDS denominations that sometimes surfaced in guide interpretation. He recalled a tour with a writer from the Cleveland Plain Dealer who continued to pester Webbe about the role 75 Frederick M. Smith, The Meaning of the Kirtland Centennial, Saints Herald 83, no. 8 (February 25, 1936): Gomer T. Griffith, Reminiscences of Kirtland Temple during a Period of Acquaintance and Experience Covering Fifty-Two Years, Saints Herald 82, no. 23 (June 4, 1935): , , and 734. Griffiths states, Altogether I have lived in Kirtland about twenty-six years, and still have a home there. During this time I have conducted countless hundreds of visitors through the Temple, of all classes and stations in life In conclusion the writer wished to call attention to some demonstrations of God s power as made manifest within the Temple in our day. At a General Conference held in the Temple in 1887, the late Joseph Smith had a meeting of the priesthood in the upper auditorium. Angels were present in our midst; visions were had, and under the power of the Spirit present strong men broke down and wept like children. About 1920, during reunion, there was also a never-to-be-forgotten day; a prayer meeting lasting from eight o clock in the morning until twelve o clock noon, during which angels were seen visions were had, seventeen prophecies, four or five gifts of tongues, and many testimonies of God s goodness given under the power of the Spirit. This meeting was only intended to last two hours and then there was to be a preaching service, but the power of God was so great those in charge deemed it wise to let the meeting continue. At the close of this meeting a collection of offering was taken which netted between four and five hundred dollars which is proof conclusive that there is nothing like the touch of the Spirit of the Lord to loosen up the purse strings. 77 Ibid. 78 Earnest A. Webbe, Experiences at Kirtland Temple, Saints Herald 84, no. 30 (July 24, 1937):

36 24 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL of Brigham Young in the early church. Webbe describes his response, Finally I myself cut in on his reiterated question with Brigham Young was only a minor character hereabouts in fact the importance of his coming in is vastly overshadowed by the fact of his going out, and explained why, without any further interruptions. 79 RLDS temple guides would spend the next six decades improving their hospitality toward their LDS cousins. Historical interpretation of the Kirtland Temple has come a long way since the first guided tours of the 1830s.Temple tours began as an opportunity for the infant church to inform the curious seekers about the fundamental beliefs and doctrines of the burgeoning Latter Day Saint Church, along with the pleasure of exploring a remarkable house of worship that towered over neighboring homes and businesses. Following the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the message given by would-be Mormon leaders varied as widely as the theological interpretations of the Mormons themselves. Martin Harris used the tour as an opportunity to defend his position in the movement and to rebuke competing denominations within the Restoration movement. As the RLDS Church began investing heavily in the restoration of the temple, guides welcomed travelers and encouraged store sales, all the while projecting a defensive interpretation of both church doctrine and history that both strengthened RLDS identity and created a most unwelcome environment for the occasional Mormon missionary traveling through Kirtland. As the temple entered the twentieth century, public tours led by tour guides increased with the purpose of depicting stories of the early Saints as mythical pioneers worthy of praise and adoration. Without direct evidence or documentation, guides emphasized the deep symbolism of architecture and decorative woodwork as proof of the divine origins of both the Restoration movement and the contemporary mission of the RLDS Church. Today, historical interpreters at the Kirtland Temple continue to evolve the message of the temple, adding a stronger emphasis on honest and accurate history in order to give the 40 45,000 annual visitors a glimpse into both the lives of the 1830s Saints, and the later people who sacrificed to preserve and restore this historic landmark. According to the American Association for State and Local History, our historic properties are on the verge of a golden age. Over the next two decades, Americans will turn to historic houses and sites as a source of learning, enjoyment and fulfillment. 80 Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, Americans turned to historic sites for a change from uncertainty and the harsh reality of the tragic day. According to the AASLH, visitors were finding in the historic properties, a place to reflect on things of deep meaning, the good in humanity, despite the evil; the good in our country, despite its enemies; and the good in our families, despite the danger. The historic site experiences were 79 Ibid. 80 John Durel and Anita Nowery Durel, A Golden Age for Historic Properties, History News 62, no. 3 (Summer 2007): 7.

37 WALDEN: Prophet, Seer, and Tour Guide 25 spiritual, not intellectual. The quest was not so much an emphasis on learning about the particular place, but simply to be there. 81 It has taken over a century for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now known as the Community of Christ) to learn that the stories of our treasured sites are less about the theological divisions of Mormon denominations, but rather more about a shared and special past. We have learned to use historic sites and historic preservation to establish common ground with other Latter Day Saint denominations. Our site directors and historic site staff are beginning to design their interpretive messages to embrace the power of place and to use the historic sites as engaging venues of insight and inspiration for people who are seeking an experience that transcends the mundane. At our historic sites, Community of Christ interpreters are beginning to recognize that the story of place is just as much about the future recognizing that there is a significant power, both intellectually and spiritually, at historic places that offers the visitor a connection between the past and the implications for the present. As historian Arthur Bestor stated, Deprive me of my [historical] consciousness, and in the most literal sense, I do not know who I am. 82 More specifically stated by Archbishop Olivier de Berranger, Conscience is formed by memory, and no society [and I would emphasize church] can live in peace with itself on the basis of a false or repressed past, any more than an individual can. 83 Our church s historic landscapes, whether on the banks of the Mississippi River or the rolling hills of Lamoni, Iowa, are becoming significant places of engagement where visitors and history seekers are encouraged to ask the difficult questions and experience the depth and meaning of history. Our continuing challenge and mission as historians, curators, and Mormon history enthusiasts is to harness the powerful potential of history to improve the world in which we live in. As authors and critics, we continue to form public conscience as storytellers, memory activists, lesson teachers, and keepers of the fire. As Ruth J. Abram, founder and president of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York City so eloquently summarized to her colleagues from the Museums of Conscience, We hope to make explicit what has been merely implicit: our sites are important, not because of the stories they tell, but rather because they hold lessons so powerful that they could improve our lives if we would just listen. Such is the power of history. 84 Barbara Walden (bwalden@kirtlandtemple.org), was born and raised in southern California. She received a BA in history from Graceland University 81 Ibid., Ruth J. Abram, Harnessing the Power of History, Museums, Society, Inequality, ed. Richard Sandell (n.p.: Taylor & Francis, Inc., 2002), Ibid. 84 Ruth J. Abram, Using the Past to Shape the Future: New Concepts for a Historic Site, Museum International [UNESCO, Paris] 53, no. 1 (January March 2001): 9.

38 26 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL and a MA in history museum studies from the State University of New York at Oneonta. Her museum experience includes work at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Women s Rights National Historical Park, and Liberty Hall (the Joseph Smith III home from 1881 to 1905), in Lamoni, IA. Barbara currently holds the position of historic site director at the Kirtland Temple.

39 Thou Wast Willing to Lay Down thy Life for thy Brethren : Zion s Blessings in the Early Church Benjamin E. Park The march of Zion s Camp in 1834 was a trying experience for everyone. Promised the opportunity to redeem Zion by restoring expelled Saints to their Jackson County, Missouri, property, the result was less than triumphant: an anticlimactic disbanding at Fishing River as a result of what camp members considered a failed promise made by the Missouri governor to provide backup. The disappointing halt of the march was followed by a debilitating illness that spread throughout the camp and turned fatal for a number of participants. For a young religious movement perceivably placed on the shoulders of an inexperienced prophet, this failure could also have easily been fatal for the Mormon church. However, this did not happen. Though some, like Sylvester Smith, did grow disenchanted with Joseph Smith, 1 many others came away invigorated and even more dedicated. Rather than using this experience as an excuse to leave the religion, men like Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff perceived it as an important step in their developing discipleship in the Restored church. 2 One possible explanation for this positive interpretation is the classic hegemonic equation that any event when experienced within a powerful ideology will often result in reciprocal confirmation of previously held beliefs. 3 They felt the failed 1 The original research for this paper was done as a research assistant for the Joseph Smith Papers Project, and I appreciate the team s willingness to allow me to present it in this format. I would especially like to thank Joseph F. Darowski for originally introducing me to this topic and for sharing with me his notes and thoughts on these blessings, as well as Michael Marquardt, Jonathan Stapley, and Samuel Brown who offered substantive critiques to earlier portions. George A. Smith, Memoirs [ ], p. 38, George A. Smith Papers, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Archives, Salt Lake City [hereafter cited as LDS Church Archives]. George A. Smith remembered several of the brethren apostatized because they were not going to have the privilege of fighting. 2 See Thomas G. Alexander, Wilford Woodruff and Zion s Camp: Baptism by Fire and the Spiritual Confirmation of a Future Prophet, BYU Studies 39, no. 1 (2000): See Jonathon Joseph, Hegemony: A Realist Analysis (New York: Routledge Press, 2002).

40 28 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL quest to redeem Zion was both initiated and concluded by divine revelation so therefore, whatever happened had to be the will of God. However this reasoning, though it most likely played some part, is too simplistic in and of itself. Specifically, it overlooks the capabilities that Joseph Smith Jr., and early Mormonism for that matter, possessed in mentally turning perceived failures into positive triumphs. Esteemed philosopher and intellectual historian Louis Dupre wrote that the primary function of [a] culture is to provide a society with the norms, values, and means needed for coping with tragic ordeals that may occur. 4 So, when faced with the inability to achieve immediate success in redeeming Zion, the Saints were able to take advantage of an ideological structure that emphasized personal worthiness and future blessings. Such an outlook was necessary in order to reassure Zion s Camp marchers that Joseph Smith was still a divinely appointed prophet and to recommit them to the movement. Part of the reassuring and recommitting process included a reinterpretation of how Zion was to be redeemed. Rather than being achieved by force, it was now to be done by sanctification. This was first accomplished by the revelation Joseph Smith received at Fishing River that disbanded the camp: it placed the failure not on bad intentions or mismanagement, but rather on the transgressions of my people. The revelation claimed that in order for the army to become very great, it first needed to be sanctified. 5 This shift in focus was intended to make the Saints look inward rather than outward a move that would in part turn their attention to the upcoming blessings they would receive in the Kirtland Temple. 6 Several marchers later remembered how this revelation helped ease the disappointment of Zion s Camp. Nathan Baldwin wrote, This intelligence was the most acceptable to me of anything I had ever heard before, the gospel being the exception. 7 Similarly, Joseph Noble later remembered that his heart rejoiced when President Joseph Smith received the word of the Lord saying our offerings were accepted and compared it to that of Abraham. 8 Indeed, the reception of a revelation promising blessings served to dispel dissention among many who may have felt disappointment. These blessings needed to be fulfilled, however, in order to have a lasting impact upon the Saints. One part of the fulfillment was the completion of the Kirtland Temple a couple years later that included a plethora of spiritual manifestations, many of which were recorded by Zion s Camp participants. A series of meetings held from January 1836 up to the dedication of the temple 4 Louis Dupre, The Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations of Modern Culture (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2004), 6. 5 The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God (Nauvoo, IL: Printed by John Taylor, 1844), 102:2, 9. 6 See Richard Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), Nathan Baldwin, [An Account of Zion s Camp] 1882, pp , typescript in LDS Archives. 8 Joseph B. Noble, Journal, p. 3, transcript in LDS Archives.

41 PARK: Zion s Blessings in the Early Church 29 in late March focused on sanctifying the Saints in order to prepare them for the reception of the promised endowment and to enable them to come into the presence of their God. Many who took part in the rituals would later fondly remember these experiences, and a large number of Zion s Camp participants felt the events more than compensated them for their regret in not fulfilling their 1834 mission. 9 However, while this ensuing endowment usually gets the most attention, it was not the only promised reward for those who marched to Missouri. The Fishing River revelation also included the statement, inasmuch as there are those who have hearkened unto my words, I have prepared a blessing and an endowment for them, implying that there would be both a blessing and an endowment two distinct rituals that historians have often combined together. 10 The promised blessing would come to fruition over the next few years, as many received what came to be termed Zion s blessings. These blessings helped serve the purpose of making positive an event that might otherwise be interpreted as negative. It appears that Zion s blessings were accomplished in two different ways. The first implementation of the blessings is the most commonly analyzed: a call for many Zion s Camp marchers to fill new ecclesiastical positions. In the important organizational year 1835, Joseph Smith made a point to put a large number of the camp members into newly created positions of authority. On the day Smith organized the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he explained that those who went to Zion, with a determination to lay down their lives, if necessary, it was the will of God, that they should be ordained to the ministry. 11 Heber C. Kimball classified this call to authority as a distinct type of blessing when he wrote of this event later on: a meeting was called for the camp of Zion to be assembled, to receive what was called a Zion s blessing. 12 Luke Johnson corroborated this sentiment by later writing in his autobiography that he returned to Kirtland in February 1835 and received my blessing in common with the members of Zion s Camp. 13 Harrison Burgess, after quoting the Fishing River revelation, wrote, 9 See Steven C. Harper, A Pentecost and Endowment Indeed : Six Eyewitness Accounts of the Kirtland Temple Experience, in John W. Welch, ed., Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2005), Doctrine and Covenants (1844 edition), 102:5. 11 Fred C. Collier and William S. Harwell, eds., Kirtland Council Minute Book (Salt Lake City: Collier s Publishing Co., 1996), entry for February 14, Hereafter cited as KHCM. 12 Quoted in History of Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons 5, no. 7 (April 15, 1845): 868. It should be remembered that Kimball s journal was not so much a contemporary account as it was a later memoir. 13 Luke Johnson, Autobiography, Latter-day Saints Millennial Star 26, no. 53 (December 31, 1864):

42 30 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL During the winter and spring [of 1835] the members of Zion s Camp were called together, to receive an especial blessing, according to a promise which had been made in the before-mentioned revelation. Out of this number most of the Twelve were selected, and also the first Seventy, of whom I was one. 14 William Cahoon also seemed to view this call to authority as directly linked to Zion s Camp participants, particularly the calling of the First Quorum of Seventy, whose members were only chosen from amongst those brethren that had volunteered to go with the Prophet to assist in redeeming our brethren that had been driven from their homes in Jackson County by a ruthless mob. 15 For many, Zion s march came to be understood as a needed preparation and test of obedience for their later call to important positions, thereby making their sacrifices meaningful and not in vain. However, while a call to leadership was one way of sanctifying Zion s Camp participants and fulfilling the promised blessing, there were still many marchers who were not called to ecclesiastical positions. They may have wondered what their purpose was in participating with the camp if they were not being prepared for authority. Indeed, while they were still promised an endowment in the upcoming temple, they were not granted immediate rewards like their fellow camp brethren. As it turned out, these brethren would not be left completely without reward. Instead of being called to a position of authority, they received a special and unique ritual titled Zion s blessings blessings that can be easily confused with patriarchal blessings, yet which are quite distinct. 16 These particular blessings served as a source of strength for recipients: they gave reason for marchers to look fondly on the 1834 experience and assured that the sacrifice made by the participant was accepted and acknowledged by God. Zion s blessings also served as the blessing which would accompany the endowment as promised in the Fishing River revelation. Unfortunately, because these Zion s blessings have been confused with the related patriarchal blessings over the years, historians have been unable to determine the significant insights they provide of early Mormon thought. Several of these blessings were recorded in the Patriarchal Blessing Book one of them, Charles C. Rich s, was even specifically labeled as a Zion s blessing 17 but many more were merely recorded in the recipient s journal or kept in private possession. For instance, Lorenzo Barnes s diary includes his patriarchal blessing received on May 3, 1835, and later includes a separate Zion 14 Harrison Burgess, Autobiography, LDS Church Archives. 15 William Farrington Cahoon, Autobiography and Family Records [1891], pp , LDS Church Archives. Every member of the First Quorum of Seventy marched with Zion s Camp. 16 Also called Zion blessings in some manuscripts. 17 Zion blessing of Charles Coulson Rich, in H. Michael Marquardt, comp., Early Patriarchal Blessings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2007), 68. Hereafter cited as Early Patriarchal Blessings.

43 PARK: Zion s Blessings in the Early Church 31 blessing received on January 3, Alvin Winegar, in his later reminiscence, specifically separates his patriarchal blessing received under the hands of Joseph Smith Sr. from his Zion blessing received under the hands of the First Presidency. 19 Many of the members of Zion s Camp who were not called to leadership positions have two blessings recorded in either the Patriarchal Blessing Book or their personal papers: one their patriarchal blessing, and the other their Zion blessing, though they are often categorized in varying ways. While at a quick glance these blessings may appear to be a typical patriarchal blessing a ritual that began to be practiced during the same period 20 several expressions within the text itself make them unique. Specific wording found in all Zion s blessings distinguish them from other types of blessings. Most contain phrases like, Thou art a son of Zion, Thou art willing to lay down thy life for thy brethren, Thou hast been up to the land of Zion, or the blessing may just specifically mention that the individual was part of Zion s Camp. A representative example of this type of blessing was given to David Elliott in It emphasizes the trials he went through as part of the camp and the blessings and responsibilities he will receive as a result: Thou art blessed of God, because thou didst take thy life in thy hands and go up to assist thy brethren, and had to contend against many foes in getting away. God hath accepted thy offering. Thou didst see thy brethren fall on the right hand and on the left, because of the displeasure of God whom they had offended, and the transgressions of the camp. But thy life was sealed so that thou didst not love it[.] Thou hast witnessed the love for thy brethren in being willing to suffer for them. The Lord shall bless thee and thou shalt have means to go and proclaim the gospel. 21 Additional evidence for these blessings is easily found when specific clues and phrases are kept in mind. For instance, Joseph Smith s Kirtland journal includes two obvious references. An entry for November 29, 1835 recorded that after [the day s] services closed, three of the Zion brethren came forward and received their blessing. 22 On February 7, 1836, Joseph merely wrote that he blessed one of the Zion brethren. 23 Hyrum Smith s journal mentioned a meeting called for the purpose of Blessing those that [went] to Zion for the help 18 Lorenzo Dow Barnes, Diary, pp , LDS Church Archives. 19 Transcripts of both blessings are found in the Alvin Winegar Papers, LDS Church Archives. 20 For the development of patriarchal blessings, see Irene M. Bates, Patriarchal Blessings and the Routinization of Charisma, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26, no. 3 (Fall 1993): Blessing given to David Elliot, transcribed in Marquardt, Early Patriarchal Blessings, Dean C. Jessee, Mark Ashurst-McGee, Richard L. Jensen, eds., Journals, Volume 1: , vol. 1 of the Journals series of the Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian s Press, 2008), Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Journals, Volume 1, 182.

44 32 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL of their Brethren. 24 The Manuscript History of the Church recorded that at a general assembly on August 17, 1835, among several ordinations to priesthood offices, five men all members of Zion s Camp were called forward to receive a blessing. Several of these blessings were recorded, and all of them contained language that match the criteria of a Zion s blessing. Even more provocative, on a list of Zion s Camp members, these five men follow each other in alphabetical order implying a possible systematic order in bestowing these blessings on the Zion brethren. 25 Common themes are found in all of these blessings. One of the most important is an emphasis on the participant s willingness to sacrifice everything they had, including their own life, for the kingdom. This seemed to be an important idea during this time period in Kirtland while the Saints were trying to sanctify themselves for the upcoming temple experience. The Lectures on Faith, delivered that winter in the organized school of the prophets, spoke on the very theme of complete sacrifice: Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for from the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things. The lecture goes on to say that it is only through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things, that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. 26 Thus, in early Mormon thought, before the Nauvoo implementation of temple sealing ordinances, the acknowledgement of a willingness to sacrifice all things was one way members could deal with the theological problem of assurance. A Zion s blessing helped this ideal: it specifically stated that the individual was willing to sacrifice all things, and in return was promised eternal blessings upon himself and his posterity. The blessing to Elijah Fordham provides an informative example: Thou art a son of Zion and art entitled to the high priest-hood [sic] Thy name is written in heaven among the sanctified ones... Thou hast offered thy life for Zion and the Lord has given thee thy life Hyrum Smith Journal, February 21, 1835, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. 25 KHCM, entry for August 17, 1835; Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 7 vols., 2nd ed. rev. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971), 2: Lecture Sixth. On Faith, Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter-day Saints: From the Revelations of God (Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams and Co., 1835), Blessing given to Elijah Fordham, transcribed in Marquardt, Early Patriarchal Blessings,

45 PARK: Zion s Blessings in the Early Church 33 Also, John Murdock recorded that in 1836, in what is most likely his Zion s blessing, he was blessed and sealed up by the Presidency, as a result of his faithful service. 28 Related to the promise of a reward in the hereafter, was the accompanying need to release the participants from what they understood to be the destroying angel of cholera an epidemic predominantly found in many Zion s Camp narratives. 29 Shortly before the disbandment of the camp, Smith warned the militia members, this camp will suffer for giving way to their unruly temper 30 a warning that would play out over the next few weeks when many brethren became deathly ill with cholera. Heber C. Kimball recalled that fourteen people died while sixty-eight were inflicted. 31 When asked if he could stop the devastation, Smith replied that he could not prevent what had been divinely implemented. 32 However, with the bestowal of Zion s blessings, camp members were now blessed free of the curse and promised a longer life to labor in the church. Alvin Winegar, for example was promised that he would overcome the destroyer and the pestilence shall not harm thee, enabling him to preach the gospel throughout the world. 33 Burr Riggs was assured that thou shalt be kept from the hand of the destroying angel. 34 Even temporally, these blessings were seen as crucial to help save those who were inflicted by the consequences of the march. A call to the ministry was often included in the Zion s blessing again showing the close connection to those who were called to official ministerial positions. Lorenzo Barnes was told that because thou hast been faithful and hast not withheld thy life from laying it down for thy brethren, he was a chosen vessel unto the Lord and was called to preach the Fullness of the gospel unto people & nations a far off. 35 Lewis Robbins was also given similar counsel: Thou art of the camp of Zion, yea one of those who did go up to redeem the land and did lay down thy life for thy brethren and the Lord did receive thy 28 John Murdock, Autobiography, 39, LDS Church Archives. 29 I appreciate Samuel Brown for pointing me to this idea. 30 Extracts from the Journal of Heber Kimball, Times and Seasons 6, no. 2 (February 4, 1845): Extracts from H.C. Kimball s Journal, Times and Seasons 6, no. 5 (March 15, 1845): Various accounts have given differing numbers for how many died as a result of illness. 32 Extracts from H.C. Kimball s Journal, Times and Seasons 6, no. 3 (February 15, 1845): Alvin Winegar, A blessing Pronounced by the First Presidency upon the head of Alvin Winegar Feb , transcript, LDS Church Archives. 34 Blessing given to Elijah Fordham, transcribed in Marquardt, Early Patriarchal Blessings, Lorenzo Dow Barnes, Diary, 47.

46 34 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL sacrafice [sacrifice] & has given thy life unto thee to do a work for him, even that which he hath called thee unto. 36 Of the two dozen or so of these specific blessings that have been compiled thus far, it is important to note that only one blessing has been found that was given to someone who was called to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve or the First Council of Seventy. Thus, the fact that, besides one exception, no one called to leadership positions received a Zion s blessing therefore implying that the leadership call itself was the blessing also gives us an insight on how the Saints during this period viewed these ministerial calls. If they are to be equated with the blessings their fellow Zion brethren received, then these calls to authority also meant a willingness to sacrifice, an assurance of eternal life, and an expectancy to preach the gospel to the nations. While these Zion s blessings were short lived and soon forgotten by those not involved, they offer an important glimpse into early Mormon thought during this period. First, the blessings provide a better understanding of how Joseph Smith and other leaders were able to help Zion s Camp members cope with what might have been termed a failed military initiative. Second, they offer a possible explanation of how early Saints dealt with the problem of theological assurance a tension that is also readily apparent in the Lectures on Faith given during the same year. And third, they help interpret the context in which the important organizational developments of 1835 took place; if the new ecclesiastical callings were somehow related to these Zion s blessings, then the blessings could be seen as an extended commentary on leadership positions. Perhaps the most important lesson that can be learned from these blessings, however, is the example they give of the collapse of the sacred in early Mormon thought when an abstract principle desiring the blessings from offering their lives in order to save their brethren was made into a concrete ritual. While verbally pronounced blessings were powerful in and of themselves, to have those blessings sealed on the recipient by the hands of a patriarch reminiscent of the Old Testament solidified the principles in their biblically oriented minds. Seen in this way, early Mormon blessings, including patriarchal and Zion s blessings, served as a more concrete linkage between the modern Saints and their counterparts in antiquity. While they were in principle striving to become a Zionic people, these blessings confirmed that they were a Son of Zion. This was one of the central focuses for early patriarchal blessings in general: to make tangible ideals that were otherwise superficial. The inability to redeem Zion in 1834 was a major moment for the young Mormon church. Up until this point, much thought was devoted to an immediate literal gathering in Jackson County, Missouri, in preparation for the Second Coming of the Son of Man. After the Saints were forced out of the state in 1833, 36 Blessing given to Lewis Robbins, transcribed in Marquardt, Early Patriarchal Blessings, 139.

47 PARK: Zion s Blessings in the Early Church 35 the general consensus was that this would only be a temporary displacement and that Zion s Camp would succeed in restoring the Saints to their lands. When this did not happen, it left some marchers feeling disillusioned with the movement because of its unfulfilled expectations. Thus, the call of many Zion s Camp participants to positions of authority and the bestowal of special blessings on others made it so the march was not a complete failure in their minds; it allowed them to take something tangible away from the experience. While Zion s Camp participants did not restore their brethren to their lands, they did receive what they believed were eternal blessings and rewards for their attempts. Rather than a physical return to the Promised Land, they received a physical blessing confirming that their sacrifices were accepted of God and a spiritual promise that God would eventually give them their reward. Such ideological reasoning is often necessary in the development of religious movements. Benjamin E. Park (ben25unc@gmail.com) graduated from Brigham Young University with BA degrees in English and history. He worked as a research assistant for two and one-half years with the Joseph Smith Papers Project, and twice as a research intern for the LDS Historic Sites Committee. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Journal of Mormon History, Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia and various BYU peer-reviewed journals. He is currently a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh, where he studies theology and history. He and his wife, Catherine, are the proud parents of a daughter.

48 36 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Examples of Zion s blessings L. [Lorenzo] Barnes Zion blessing January 3, Brother Barnes we lay our hands upon thy head in the name of the Lord & in his name we say unto thee thou art excepted [sic] before him. The eyes of the Lord Thy God have been upon thee & thou has done that which was most pleasing in his sight for thou has in thy youth set out in his serves. Thy prayers & supplications have been herd & thy name is written in Heaven for Angels to gaze upon and thou shalt be a swift messenger to the Nations. Thou art a descendent of Joseph & of the tribe of Ephraim & the blessings of Jacob & Joseph are thine even the choise blessings of Heaven above & the earth beneath & the fullness there of Because thou hast been faithful and hast not withheld thy life from laying it down for thy brethren thou art a chosen vessel unto the Lord to [carry] the Fullness of the gospel unto people & nations a far off. Be faithful & thou shalt be endowed with power from on high for the spirit of the highest shall rest upon thee & thou shalt go forth from land to land from Nation to Nation & from Kingdom to Kingdom. Thou shalt stand before Kings & princes. The rich and the great & they shall be astonished at thy wisdom & tremble at thy words for the Lord thy God will unloos thy tongue hither to thou hast been week but thou shalt be made strong Thou shalt be mighty. Zion s blessing of Alvin Winegar February 7, We lay our hands upon thy head in the name of Jesus and ask our Heavenly Father to bestow many blessings upon thee, both in this life and in that which is to come we seal many blessings upon thee, and in Eternity an exceeding rich reward. Thou wast willing to lay down thy life for thy brethren and the Lord shall chose thee for his own Even as a vessel in the House of God The Lord shall seal blessings for thee in Heaven and look upon them and none shall fail thy mind shall be strengthened faith increased receive much wisdom power and understanding must offer all that thou hast a sacrifice to thy God, even all thy mind and strength and give thy self up to him without reserve. Body and spirit go at his command and he will loose thy tongue and make thee a swift Messenger an instrument of much good on the Earth. 37 Lorenzo Barnes Diary, January 3, 1836, LDS Archives, In his journal, Barnes mentioned that he received his Zion blessing under the hands of Presidents Joseph Smith Jr. O. Cowdery & Sidney Rigdon, and then included, separately, his patriarchal blessing and his Zion s blessing. 38 Zion s blessing of Alvin Winegar, transcript, Alvin Winegar Papers, LDS Archives. Winegar s papers included two typescript blessings: this Zion s blessing and his patriarchal blessing.

49 PARK: Zion s Blessings in the Early Church 37 Zion s blessing of James Foster August 17, Because thou didst leave thy family in thy old age and go up to Zion to redeem thy brethren, blessing after blessing shall roll upon thee until thou art satisfied, and thou shalt know the truth of the religion that thou dost profess, by the administration of angels, and wisdom from on high shalt rest upon thee. The Lord Himself shalt be upon thy right hand to uphold thee. And if thou desirest thou shalt go forth to proclaim the fullness of my gospel, with all the qualifications necessary to accomplish a good work, and if thou art faithful, thou shalt come down to thy grave in peace, having overcome all things, even so, Amen. Patriarchal/Zion s blessing of Lewis Robbins 40 Brother Robbins, In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I lay my hands upon thy head, for thou shalt have the blessings of a father sealed upon thee, even in the name of Jesus all the blessings of earth and heaven and also of the holy priesthood. Thou art of the camp of Zion, yea one of those who did go up to redeem the land and did lay down thy life for thy brethren and the Lord did receive thy sacrafice [sacrifice] & has given thy life unto thee to do a work for him, even that which he hath called thee unto. Thou knowest or ought to know, that thy name is written in heaven. Thou shalt go forth and no power shall be able to stay thee in thy ministration, for the Lord will send his spirit to guide thee in wisdom and give unto thee power Thou shalt want for nothing if thou art faithful. Thou shalt stand upon the earth even until the Savior shall come and shall retain thy full strength and vigor. 39 KHCM, August 17, Patriarchal/Zion s blessing of Lewis Robbins, Patriarchal Blessing Book 1:74, transcribed in Marquardt, Early Patriarchal Blessings, 139.

50 The Dependence of Abraham 1:1 3 on the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar Christopher C. Smith Introduction The collection of documents known as the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar consists mostly of lists of Egyptian characters with their sounds and interpretations. Some of the characters are identical to those that appear in the margins of the Book of Abraham translation manuscripts. The interpretations of the characters in the two groups of documents are similar enough to leave little doubt that one collection is dependent on the other. 1 The direction of that dependence, however, has been at issue since the 1966 publication of the Alphabet and Grammar by Jerald and Sandra Tanner. 2 In 1968, Jay Todd suggested that the Grammar was reverse-engineered from the Book of Abraham. 3 Richard P. Howard, however, drew the opposite conclusion, writing in 1970 that the Alphabet and Grammar was the modus operandi in the translation of the Book of Abraham. 4 A year later, Hugh Nibley rejected Howard s proposal, preferring the view that the Grammar merely quoted fragmentary phrases from the Book of Abraham. 5 Decades later, the debate remains more or less polarized between these positions, and little progress has been made toward a satisfactory resolution. The present essay will argue, contra Todd and Nibley, that the Book of Abraham translation manuscripts are dependent on the bound Grammar and 1 Special thanks to Brent Metcalfe, Don Bradley, Jim Liddle, and Samuel Brown for their thoughts and comments on this manuscript. I am particularly indebted to Brent Metcalfe for providing me scans of some of his high-quality photographs of the Alphabet and Grammar, and Book of Abraham manuscript pages. 2 Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith s Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar (Salt Lake City: Modern Microfilm Company, 1966). 3 Jay M. Todd, The Saga of the Book of Abraham (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1969), 253. Compare (cf.) John Gee, A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2000), Richard P. Howard, The Book of Abraham in the Light of History and Egyptology, Courage: A Journal of History, Thought, and Action (1970): Hugh W. Nibley, The Meaning of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, BYU Studies 11, no. 4 (Summer 1971): 369.

51 SMITH: The Dependence of Abraham 1: Alphabet manuscript rather than the other way around. The recognition of the Grammar as the modus operandi for part of the Book of Abraham translation provides a window into the creation of a scriptural text. In the Grammar, Smith emerges as an intuitive prophet-poet guiding his closest friends and followers on a journey into the depths of ancient truth. The Alphabet and Grammar Manuscripts In an 1832 revelation transcribed in the Book of Commandments and Revelations, Joseph Smith provided several words said to be Adamic, or from the pure language of Adam, along with their interpretations. 6 Much of this material was later incorporated into a specimen of some of the Pure Language, the only extant copy of which was appended by W. W. Phelps to a May 26, 1835 letter to his wife. 7 The brief specimen is arranged in a table with four columns. The left-most column contains six Adamic characters. A second column contains what may be the characters names or alphabetic sounds, such as ah, aine, and oh. The third provides longer transliterations: ahman, eng-lo, and olaah. The fourth offers English interpretations: God, angels, and the Earth. 8 Phelps did not relate the circumstances under which the specimen was created, but it was likely at the direction of Joseph Smith Jr., the Mormon prophet. Just over a month after Phelps mailed his letter, a man named Michael Chandler arrived in Kirtland with some Egyptian mummies and papyri for sale. 9 The timing was fortuitous. The papyri provided an opportunity to extend the effort begun with the 1832 revelation and the brief specimen. The papyri s ancient hieroglyphics promised to unlock for Smith and his scribes more of the mysteries of primordium. 10 The papyri and mummies were purchased for the prophet in early July, and that same month he initiated one of the most fascinating projects of his career. An entry in the Documentary History of the Church reports: 6 The revelation, soon to be published as part of the Joseph Smith Papers project, has never before appeared in print and until recently was known only from the report in Orson Pratt, The Holy Spirit and the Godhead, in Journal of Discourses, vol. 2 (Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855), W. W. Phelps to Sally Phelps, May 26, 1835, vault Mss 810, box 2, folder 1 in the W. W. Phelps Papers, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. Thanks are due Don Bradley for finding and transcribing this document for me. 8 A variant of the word olaah appears in Abr. 3:13, where it is said to refer to the moon. Cf. also D&C 117:8. 9 H. Donl Peterson, The Story of the Book of Abraham: Mummies, Manuscripts, and Mormonism (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1995), For more on the Alphabet and Grammar project as an attempt to recover the pure Adamic language, cf. Samuel Brown, Joseph (Smith) in Egypt: Babel, Hieroglyphs, and the Pure Language of Eden, Church History 78, no. 1 (March 2009):

52 40 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL [July, 1835.] The remainder of this month, I was continually engaged in translating an alphabet to the Book of Abraham, and arranging a grammar of the Egyptian language as practiced by the ancients. 11 The documents produced in the course of this project are known collectively as the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar. They include a large bound notebook in Phelps handwriting known as the GAEL, and three short Egyptian Alphabet (EA) manuscripts in the handwriting of W. W. Phelps (EA WWP), Joseph Smith (EA JS), and Oliver Cowdery (EA JS and EA OC). 12 The three EA manuscripts appear to be products of simultaneous dictation. Although they are closely parallel, they employ different phonetic spellings of the Egyptian characters sounds. As Nibley observed in 1971, the different spellings are almost certainly the result of orally dictated words being written differently by different scribes. 13 The larger, bound Grammar and A[l]phabet manuscript (GAEL) incorporates most of the material from the EA manuscripts, but expands on it, clarifies it, and experiments with it at considerable length. 14 In each of the three EA manuscripts, the Egyptian characters were apparently drawn by different scribal hands (as evidenced by their different drawing styles). 15 The copying of the characters was likely a collaborative effort overseen by Smith, especially since some of the characters were being broken down into component parts and others were apparently invented or restored by revelation. Most or all of the Egyptian characters were drawn in the left-hand margins of the manuscripts before their English transliterations 11 Documentary History of the Church MS B-1, p This entry is dated July 1835 but was written in 1843 by Willard Richards. According to Dan Vogel, the manuscript page number can be correlated with Richards diary to determine the exact date when the entry was written: September Vogel suggests that Phelps was Richards source for the entry: This entry mentions [Phelps] specifically, which is the usual method [Richards] used for sources behind his compositions or summaries. From other entries, we know the two men are working together during this period (DHC 5:253; 6:66). Dan Vogel, message to author, July 14, Another short manuscript in Phelps handwriting, titled Egyptian Counting, falls outside the scope of this paper. 13 Nibley, The Meaning of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, For evidence of the GAEL s dependency on the EA manuscripts, cf. Edward H. Ashment, Abraham in the Breathing Permit of Hôr, Mormon Scripture Studies: An E-Journal of Critical Thought (2001): 1n, brackets added, asp (accessed May 29, 2009); Edward H. Ashment, Reducing Dissonance: The Book of Abraham as a Case Study, in The Word of God, ed. Dan Vogel (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1990), 232n Cowdery, for example, preferred to fill in parts of the characters that Phelps and Smith merely drew in outline. Phelps drawings, meanwhile, are generally crisper and cleaner than Smith s. Certain characters appear quite distinct in all three manuscripts, as for example the bird-shaped symbol on page 3.

53 SMITH: The Dependence of Abraham 1: and interpretations were added, as evidenced by messy attempts to cram the interpretations into the space allowed for each character. 16 The manuscripts employ a grammatical system in which a character may appear in any of five degrees, such that with each increase of degree the character takes on a deeper or slightly different meaning. 17 The EA manuscripts mostly provide interpretations for only the first degree, whereas the GAEL interprets the characters in all five degrees. Although the GAEL notebook places the fifth degree first and the first degree last, the textual evidence suggests that Smith and his scribes began by producing the first degree and worked their way through the volume from right to left. 18 The EA manuscripts divide the first degree into five parts. The part divisions evidently indicate from which portion of the papyri the characters in each section of the manuscripts are copied (see sidebar on the following page). Interestingly, the concept of an Egyptian Alphabet seems to have evolved as the project proceeded. In the first part, EA OC and EA WWP include a column between the characters and their interpretations; this was apparently intended to give the equivalent English letter for each character. Phelps, however, gave a letter only for the first character and then crossed it out; Cowdery provided letters for the first two but erased one of them. EA JS never included the column at all. Perhaps the scribes expectations were influenced by the fourcolumn format of the Adamic specimen, or perhaps they simply imported their presuppositions about the phonetic nature of alphabets. Whatever the case, this aspect of their effort was quickly abandoned. More peculiarities occur in the second part. Here the EA manuscripts transliterate the characters in more or less alphabetical order and experiment with creating compound characters and breaking down characters from the papyrus into their component parts. The effort, again, is somewhat abortive. 16 On page 2, Cowdery and Smith wrote across the full spread of their notebooks in order to alleviate the need for this sort of cramming. That the right-hand page in their notebooks was empty suggests that the characters for page 3 (and probably the uninterpreted lower portion of page 2) had not yet been drawn when the characters on page 1 and the upper portion of page 2 were transliterated and interpreted. 17 John Tvedtnes has misguidedly criticized Charles Larson for treating degree as a grammatical term. Tvedtnes proposes instead that the Alphabet s degrees are map coordinates for locating the symbols on the papyri. While this may describe the function of the five parts (as discussed below), the manuscripts consistently attribute grammatical significance to their degrees. John Tvetdnes to John Gee, as quoted in John Gee, A Tragedy of Errors, FARMS Review of Books 4, no. 1 (1992): 114n59. Tvedtnes comments have also been critiqued in Brown, Joseph (Smith) in Egypt, 28n For example, the Ki element in Ki Ah broam is inserted secondarily in the EA manuscripts and the first degree of the GAEL, but is part of the original text of the GAEL s other four degrees. And the first through fourth degrees employ the short title Egyptian Alphabet, whereas the fifth degree expands the title to Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language. The significance of these loci was brought to my attention by Brent Metcalfe.

54 42 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Five Parts of the First Degree in the EA First Part A series of characters interpreted with reference to the Egyptian pharaohs and their claim to priesthood, with particular attention to a princess named Katumin. The characters are probably copied from Joseph Smith s (now lost) fragment of the Amenhotep Book of the Dead.* Second Part Begins with a series of characters not found on the papyrus, transliterated in something like English alphabetical order, with interpretations given. Several of these characters and interpretations appear to be copied or adapted from the specimen of some of the Pure Language, then follow the characters from Register 3 of Joseph Smith Papers I (JSP I), with sounds given but not interpretations. A few characters in this series appear to be breakdowns of larger characters into their component parts. There is also a series of astronomy-related characters that don t appear on the papyrus but appear to be inserted inexplicably into the middle of the register s characters. Third Part Characters from Register 2 of PJS I, with only a few sounds given. Fourth Part Characters from Register 1 of PJS I, with no sounds or interpretations. Fifth Part Characters from Register 4 of PJS I, with no sounds or interpretations, followed by two characters from the beginning of Column 1 of the Hor Book of Breathings (PJS XI), interpreted with sounds given. * The characters and interpretations in this section may be compared with the characters copied from the Amenhotep fragment and interpreted with reference to Katumin in Egyptian Manuscripts 6 and 7, small notebooks apparently belonging to Joseph Smith and Frederick G. Williams. These notebooks are mostly outside the purview of the present paper, but are reproduced in Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, PJS I is the initial fragment of the Hor Book of Breathings, containing the vignette known among Latter-day Saints as Facsimile 1. The vignette is accompanied by four vertical registers, numbered for the purposes of this paper from right to left as Registers 1 4. Of several publications of the various papyrus fragments, the most useful is probably the color foldout in Charles Larson, By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri (Grand Rapids, MI: Institute for Religious Research, 1992).

55 SMITH: The Dependence of Abraham 1: In the fifth part of the EA manuscripts, the final character is partially interpreted, crossed out, interpreted in each of the five degrees, and then written down on the back of the last page of EA JS. At this point, Smith and his scribes began work on the GAEL notebook, where they sought to interpret more of the characters in all five degrees, and to describe more fully the principles of Egyptian grammar (including the compound nature of the characters and their sounds). By the time the interpretations for the fifth degree were completed, the GAEL outlined a fairly elaborate (if impractical) grammatical system. Joseph Smith s Authorship of the Alphabet and Grammar The most common objection to the hypothesis that the Alphabet and Grammar served as a modus operandi for parts of the Book of Abraham translation, seems to be that the authorship of the Alphabet and Grammar cannot definitively be pinned on Joseph Smith. Hugh Nibley, for example, argued that the Alphabet and Grammar was a purely speculative and uninspired effort on the part of Smith s scribes. 19 More recently, Samuel Brown attributed to Phelps a major role in the authorship of the Alphabet and Grammar and declared it unlikely, though not impossible, that the Grammar was actively used in producing the Book of Abraham. 20 Against these views, mention may be made again of the entry in the Documentary History of the Church that says Joseph Smith spent the latter part of July, 1835 translating an alphabet to the Book of Abraham. The phrasing implies that Smith worked on the manuscripts in his capacity as inspired translator. On October 1, that same year, the astronomical material in the GAEL was unfolded (presumably by revelation): October 1, This after noon labored on the Egyptian alphabet, in company with brsr O[liver] Cowdery and W[illiam] W. Phelps: The system of astronomy was unfolded. 21 Smith was certainly proud enough of the Alphabet and Grammar manuscripts to exhibit them to visitors. A November 17, 1835 diary entry 19 Nibley, The Meaning of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ; cf. also the response to Nibley in Ashment, Reducing Dissonance, Samuel Brown, The Translator and the Ghostwriter: Joseph Smith and W. W. Phelps, Journal of Mormon History 34, no. 1 (Spring 2008): Dean C. Jessee, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Richard L. Jensen, eds., Journals, Volume 1: , vol. 1 of the Journals series of The Joseph Smith Papers, ed. Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian s Press, 2008), 67. This entry is in the handwriting of Oliver Cowdery. Although Phelps served as the sole scribe on this occasion, Cowdery added abbreviated versions of a few of the astronomical interpretations to his EA manuscript (where they are enclosed in parentheses and have no parallels in EA JS or EA WWP). Of the material in the GAEL (with the exception of a few addenda by Warren Parrish), the astronomical material appears to have been produced last. Thus October 1, 1835 likely represents the date of the Grammar s completion.

56 44 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL says that on that day he exhibited the Alphabet to Mr. [Erastus] Holmes and some others. 22 In Nauvoo, Smith allowed W. W. Phelps to quote the GAEL in ghostwritten publications as evidence of the prophet s linguistic prowess. Smith in fact was so pleased with these demonstrations that he contemplated the Grammar s publication. 23 It is actually Phelps pattern of putting his linguistic interests and abilities to work for the prophet as ghostwriter that leads historian Samuel Brown to infer for him a major role in the authorship of the Alphabet and Grammar; but all the examples Brown cites of Phelps ghostwriting are from the Nauvoo period. And although Phelps had a longstanding interest in ancient and primal language, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery shared this interest. 24 Brown thus offers no compelling evidence for Phelps authorial role and no evidence at all that suffices to render the modus operandi hypothesis unlikely. The Alphabet and Grammar materials find their closest parallels, not in Phelps much later ghostwriting, but in some of the prophet s own early efforts. In addition to the 1832 Adamic revelation and the May 1835 specimen of the Adamic tongue, Smith revealed the Adamic word for Zion as early as He revealed several more Adamic names in the April 1835 manuscript of the Doctrine and Covenants (section 107). 25 Also relevant are two closely parallel documents in the handwriting of F. G. Williams and Oliver Cowdery that list and interpret four Reformed Egyptian characters from the Book of Mormon. On the back of the Williams document is a large number of similar, uninterpreted characters. 26 Surely, it is not unfair to say, on the basis of the documentary evidence, that the prophet had a demonstrated interest in revealing portions of the forgotten languages with which he worked. The idea of creating an Egyptian Alphabet and using it as a modus operandi in translation, in fact appears to predate Phelps first meeting with the prophet. Citing Lucy Mack Smith s account of the Charles Anthon incident, Richard L. Bushman comments: 22 Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Journals, 105. This entry is written in the hand of Warren Parrish. 23 Scott Faulring, An American Prophet s Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1987), 427; Brown, The Translator and the Ghostwriter, Brown himself establishes this in a later essay, in which he seems to soften his view of Phelps authorship, attributing to Smith a more primary role. This essay unfortunately still mostly ignores Cowdery s contributions. Brown, Joseph (Smith) in Egypt, 32 35, 40 42, Ezra Booth, Mormonism No. VI., Ohio Star, November 17, 1831; H. Michael Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text & Commentary (Salt Lake City: Signature, 1999), These two documents appear to be quite early productions, at least predating the publication of the 1833 Book of Commandments. The Williams document has been published in John W. Welch, ed., Reexploring the Book of Mormon: A Decade of New Research (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1992), The Cowdery document is reproduced in H. Michael Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, (Cullman, AL: Printing Service, 1981), 124. For the dating of the manuscripts I am indebted to Brent Metcalfe.

57 SMITH: The Dependence of Abraham 1: Joseph was instructed to take off a facsimile of the [Book of Mormon] characters composing the alphabet which were called reformed egyptian Alphabetically and send them to all the learned men that he could find and ask them for the translation of the same. Lucy implied that once Joseph had a translation of all the basic characters, he could carry on by himself thus the need to copy a great number of characters. 27 In other words, the idea of composing an Egyptian Alphabet to be used as a modus operandi in translation was one originally formulated for use with the Book of Mormon. This idea presumably was later adapted for use with the Book of Abraham. Text-critical evidence from the Alphabet and Grammar manuscripts themselves appears to confirm that Smith was the project s primary innovator. At the top of the second page of EA JS, for example, the prophet indicated a continuation of the previous section by the redundant title Egyptian alphabet first degree Second part. In EA OC, Cowdery clarified and abbreviated this confusing label to read Second order continued. Phelps evidently considered the label unnecessary, and omitted it from EA WWP altogether. According to the text-critical rule lectio difficilior potior ( the more difficult reading is the stronger ), Joseph s title is the original. On the same page, the character Beth is repeatedly augmented, and with each augmentation the character s signification is increased fivefold. The prophet s interpretation for the unaugmented character includes the phrase 1 times, and each successive entry includes the phrase 5 times. Phelps and Cowdery both omitted 1 times and Cowdery also omitted the first instance of 5 times. Cowdery s entries are very verbose, apparently not initially grasping the mathematical method of multiplying signification, and trying instead to explain the increase of signification in English prose. That Smith was able to anticipate what Phelps and Cowdery could not suggests that Smith was the primary author of these documents. 28 Similarly, addenda relating to Kolob are added secondarily to EA WWP and to the various degrees of the GAEL by the hand of Warren Parrish, whereas in EA JS the addendum (which is still clearly a secondary addition) is actually in Smith s own handwriting. 29 This suggests that the entry originated with Smith and was duplicated by Parrish in the other documents. Although Brown overstates Phelps contribution to the Alphabet and Grammar project, he may not be incorrect in seeing Phelps as a contributor. Several characters in the manuscripts that are similar to Greek and Hebrew 27 Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984), 86. It should be noted that the Egyptian Alphabet documents are transliterated at least partly in (English) alphabetical order. 28 Compare (cf.) page 2 of Egyptian MSS 3, 4, and 5 in Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, 83, 92, Thanks to Brent Metcalfe for bringing this to my attention.

58 46 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL letters are named accordingly, and many characters are assigned interpretations suggested by their shapes. Phelps might easily have made suggestions along these lines. Furthermore, in his fixation on Phelps, Brown overlooks the likely contributions of Oliver Cowdery. In his letter to William Frye, Cowdery interpreted one vignette from the Ta-shere-min papyrus by appeal to Josephus Antiquities of the Jews. 30 Cowdery was likely reading Josephus as the project proceeded and offered insights into the ancient histories of Egypt and Israel. Josephus, for example, refers to Egypt as Mestre (apparently a Greek rendering of the Hebrew name for Egypt, Mizraim) and the Egyptians as Mestreans. 31 The GAEL calls Egypt Ah=meh=strah and the Egyptians the Ah meh strahans, apparently Egyptianizations of the names from Josephus. 32 Thus Smith likely absorbed this suggestion from Cowdery, then, added his own prophetic touch. 33 But whatever suggestions they may have made, the scribes emerge in the documentary record not primarily as creators, but as recorders and receivers. In fact, portions of the Alphabet and Grammar may actually be addressed directly to the scribes themselves, to prepare them to fulfill their roles in the Restoration. 34 It has been observed that the structure of the cosmos in the GAEL s system of astronomy mirrors the priesthood structure of the church. 35 It may be no accident that one of the grand central powers is named Oliblish, suggestive of Oliver, and one of the fifteen fixed stars is called Waine, recalling William Wines Phelps middle name. 36 In short, the Alphabet and Grammar manuscripts represent a creative journey into primordium in which Smith was the guide and his scribes were participant-observers. This, in fact, was probably the very reason for the potency of the exercise. It was an opportunity for the scribes to participate in 30 Cf. Oliver Cowdery to Wm Frye, December 22, 1835, Latter Day Saints Messenger and Advocate 2 no. 3 (December 1835): Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 1:6:2, in The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus, trans. William Whiston (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1981), Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language (Egyptian MS 1), p. 6; Cf. Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, Joseph Smith seems to have considered ah a characteristic Egyptian phoneme, so that for Hades in the Alphabet and Grammar is rendered Hahdees, and Abraham is rendered Ah brahoam. Cf. Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language (Egyptian MS 1), pp. 2, 29; Cf. Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, 7 8, Don Bradley has argued that the Book of Mormon addresses its scribes in this manner. Don Bradley, Open Your Ears that Ye May Hear: The Book of Mormon in Rhetorical Relationship with its First Audience, paper presented at the Restoration Studies Symposium, Independence, Mo., April 18, Dan Vogel and Brent Lee Metcalfe, Joseph Smith s Scriptural Cosmology, in The Word of God, ed. Dan Vogel (Salt Lake City: Signature, 1990), This possibility was first brought to my attention by Don Bradley.

59 SMITH: The Dependence of Abraham 1: Smith s powerful prophetic consciousness as it engaged and reflected on an ancient script. They could not have undertaken the journey on their own. The GAEL as Modus Operandi for the Translation of Abraham 1:1 3 The bound GAEL notebook begins with a lengthy discourse on the mechanics of Egyptian grammar as understood by Joseph Smith and his scribes. The idea, essentially, is that any single Egyptian character can be broken down into several component parts, each of which is an ideographic lexeme with a distinct sound and meaning. (Actually, most of the lexemes in the GAEL are translated in each of the five degrees, each time with a different shade of meaning.) In the translation, one must identify these lexemes and then supply parts of speech between the lexemes in order to connect them together and create a coherent narrative. 37 This is actually quite similar to the method by which Joseph Smith produced some of his other revelations, like D&C 93 he took phrases and motifs from a variety of biblical passages and pieced them together like a jigsaw puzzle in order to craft his own unique narrative or exposition. The best evidence for considering the GAEL a modus operandi for translation of part of the Book of Abraham is that this method of composition left its mark on the text itself. In Abraham 1:1 3 we find the prophet s most explicit and thoroughgoing attempt to derive the Book of Abraham translation from the GAEL. Very few connecting parts of speech are supplied between the lexemes (unit of vocabulary) here; almost every phrase has a correspondent in the Grammar. Material is drawn from all five degrees. This undoubtedly accounts for the choppiness and redundancy of these three verses, which stylistically are very different from the remainder of the Book of Abraham. Verse 3, for example, reads as though it has been cobbled together from a series of dictionary entries. Note the abundance of appositives introduced by the words even and or: It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through the fathers unto me. The stylistic difference from the rest of the book is a sure sign that these three verses are dependent on the GAEL, rather than the other way around. Parts of 37 One of Nibley s objections to the modus operandi hypothesis was that he considered it impossible that clever men like Joseph Smith and his scribes could have thought to translate whole paragraphs of English text from just a few Egyptian characters. But we see here that that was, in fact, precisely their expectation. Cowdery elsewhere commented that the ancient Egyptian language was very comprehensive and that as a result the translations of the prophet s papyri might fill large volumes. Cf. Nibley, The Meaning of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, ; Cowdery to Frye, December 22, 1835.

60 48 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL the remainder of the Book of Abraham text are similarly, albeit more loosely and less explicitly, derived from the GAEL. Abraham 1:23 24, for example, is derived partly from a character identified in the GAEL as Iota toues Zip Zi, there translated as The land of Egypt which was first discovered by a woman (^whle underwater) and afterwards settled by her sons she being a daughter of Ham. 38 Abraham 1:26 is translated largely from a character the Grammar calls Zub Zool eh, there translated with reference to the days of the first patriarchs In the reign of Adam and the blessings of Noah. 39 But perhaps because of the laboriousness of the process, the initial concerted effort to use the GAEL as a translation key seems quickly to have petered out. Abraham 1:1 3 appears in Book of Abraham translation manuscript 1 as follows: 1 In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my fathers, I, 2 Abraham, 1 saw, that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence, and see= ing there was greater happiness and peace and rest, for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right where unto I should be ordained to admin= ister the same: Having been a follower of righteousness; desiring to be one who possessed great Knowledge; a greater follower of righteous= ness; a possessor of greater knowledge; a father of many nations; a prince of peace; one who keeps the commandments of God; a righful heir; a high priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers, from the be= beginning of time; even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time; even the right of the first born, or the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through the fathers, unto me Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language (Egyptian MS 1), p. 5. Cf. Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language (Egyptian MS 1), p. 6. Cf. Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, These examples refute Nibley s assertion that, with the exception of Abr. 1:1 3, the signs treated in the grammatical texts are not the signs that turn up in the margins of the translation manuscripts. Similarly, they invalidate his claim that after the first three verses there is no discernable relationship between the symbols and the contents of the various sections of text (Nibley, The Meaning of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, 368, 379). 40 Book of Abraham translation Manuscript 1, p. 1. Cf. Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, Angle brackets indicate interlinear insertions. Brent Metcalfe informs me that

61 SMITH: The Dependence of Abraham 1: I have added highlights to the text here in order to show which words correspond to which character. The san serif text with gray background corresponds to the first character, the black serif text corresponds to the second, and the gray san serif text corresponds to the third. The superscripts 1 and 2 are from the original, found in the first and second texts as indicated. The upper-left character, identified by Nibley as the reed symbol 41 but by the GAEL as Za Ki-oan hiash or chalsidonhiash (and later as ZaKi on hish), 42 is dissected as the GAEL s first order of business: No. 8 shows the character dissected Beth means first residence, a fruitful place, &c Beth place of happiness, purity, holiness, and rest Iota see, saw, seeing, or having seen Zub zool oan The first born, or the first man or father or fathers Ki the compound of iota see saw seeing or having seen Hi The same as Beth Ash The same as Zub zool-oan Bethka the greatest place of happiness exceeding extending beyond any thing This should be inserted between iota and zub zool oan 43 Notice that not only the character itself but also its name (Za Ki-oan hiash) is created by combining the various lexemes. Notice also that the above accounts for most of the san serif text with gray background, and that the second superscripted 1 may actually not be a 1, but an Egyptian character. The argument here remains valid regardless of how the superscript is read. 41 Nibley, The Meaning of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language (Egyptian MS 1), p. 1. Cf. Marquardt, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language (Egyptian MS 1), p. 2. Cf. Marquardt, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, 7 8. Angle brackets indicate an interlinear insertion.

62 50 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL the various elements appear in the Book of Abraham in almost exactly the same order: 1 In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence [Beth] of my fathers [Zub zool-oan], I [ ] 1 saw [Iota], that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence [Hi], and see= ing [Ki] there was greater happiness and peace and rest [Bethka], [ ] the fathers [Ash], An additional entry from EA WWP and EA OC accounts for the introductory phrase: Za ki on hish Kalsidon hish The land of the Chaldees 44 Immediately following the GAEL s dissection of Za Ki-oan hiash there appears the following entry, which evidently interprets the second character in the margin of Book of Abraham translation manuscript 1: Ah brah oam a father of many nations a prince of peace, one who keeps the commandments of God. A patriarch a rightful heir, a highpriest 45 Another entry later in the Grammar is also significant: Ahbroam a follower of righteousness a possessor of greater knowledge 46 These two entries clearly account for the major ideas in our black serif text, namely that Abraham is a follower of righteousness and the rightful heir to his fathers priesthood: 2 Abraham, [ ] I sought for the blessings of the fathers and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same: Having been a follower of righteousness; 44 Egyptian Alphabet WWP (Egyptian MS 3), p. 4. Cf. Marquardt, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, See also Egyptian Alphabet OC (Egyptian MS 5), p. 4 in Marquardt, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language (Egyptian MS 1), p. 2. Cf. Marquardt, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language (Egyptian MS 1), p. 9. Cf. Marquardt, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers,

63 SMITH: The Dependence of Abraham 1: The Ah brah - oam and Ahbroam entries cited above also overlap substantially with the Book of Abraham manuscript s third character, dissected on the next page of the GAEL: Kiah broam-kiah brah oam-zub Zool oan This character shown dissected Kiah brah oam Coming down from the beginning right by birth and also by blessing, and by promise promises made: a father of many nations; a prince of peace; one who keeps the commandment of God; a patriarch; a rightful heir; a highpriest. 47 While it is not explicitly translated, it is important to note the Zub Zool oan element in the character s name. Earlier we learned that Zub Zool oan means The first born, or the first man or father or fathers. Another important element is located in the entry for the third degree: Ah-broam. one who possesses great knowledge Kiah broam. First reckoned in chronololy Coming down from the begining First born right or blessings 48 The mention of blessings here may also be compared with our black serif text above. A final piece of the puzzle is the entry for Phah-eh which, though it doesn t form a part of the character being dissected, seems nevertheless to be the source for part of the last two lines in our gray san serif text. Phah-eh The first man Adam, first father Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language (Egyptian MS 1), p. 3. Cf. Marquardt, The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language (Egyptian MS 1), p. 13. Cf. Marquardt, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, Grammar and A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language (Egyptian MS 1), p. 21. Cf. Marquardt, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers, The first character in Book of Abraham translation manu-

64 52 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL The above-cited entries account for the majority of our gray san serif text: desiring to be one who possessed great Knowledge; a greater follower of righteous= ness; (^a possessor of greater knowledge;) a father of many nations; a prince of peace; one who keeps the commandments of God; a rightful heir; a high priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers, from the be= beginning of time; even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time; even the right of the first born, or the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through (^the) fathers, unto me. It bears repeating that these three verses are choppy and redundant, and flow much more poorly than the remainder of the Book of Abraham. Our conclusion must be that they are so because they were derived from a number of lengthy, nonnarrative Alphabet and Grammar entries that have been spliced together with relatively little connecting material. The remainder of the Book of Abraham is much more loosely derived from the GAEL (the last few chapters are derived from it not at all) and pays more attention to the aesthetic appeal of the translation. The Patriarchal Blessing Book and Implications for a Translation Timeline In September 1835, Oliver Cowdery penned an introduction to some patriarchal blessings that included the following reminiscence: before baptism, our souls were drawn out in mighty prayer to know how we might obtain the blessings of baptism and of the Holy Spirit, according to the order of God, and we diligently sought for the right of the fathers and the authority of the holy priesthood, and the power to admin[ister] in the same: for we desired to be followers of righteousness and the possessors of greater knowledge, even the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God. 50 scripts 2 and 3 (there untranslated) may have been intended to provide the source for these last two lines. That character has no exact analog in the Grammar, but could be Phah-eh or some variant thereof. 50 Patriarchal Blessing Book 1:8 9, in Early Mormon Documents, vol. 2, ed. Dan Vogel (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998), , emphasis added.

65 SMITH: The Dependence of Abraham 1: The italicized portion of this passage bears a strong affinity to Abraham 1:2. In light of the above analysis, this affinity cannot be the result of a mutual dependence on the Alphabet and Grammar. The blessing book and Abr. 1:2 assemble in basically the same order phrases from a few different degrees of the GAEL, as well as some parallel language not found in the GAEL at all. Nor can our conclusion be that Abr. 1:2 takes its inspiration from the blessing book, since the phrases so carefully assembled in this passage though drawn from different degrees of the Grammar all interpret a single character. There is simply no reason for such deliberate construction in the blessing book, whereas there is every reason for it in the Book of Abraham translation manuscript. The only viable explanation for the similarity here is that the patriarchal blessing book is dependent on Abr. 1:1-3. The implication of this observation is that the first three verses of the Book of Abraham must have been translated sometime prior to September 1835, and the corresponding portions of the Grammar must have been completed even earlier than that. In Book of Abraham translation manuscript 1, the first three verses are written in the handwriting of W. W. Phelps, whereas immediately thereafter the coloration of the ink on the manuscript changes, and the handwriting is that of Warren Parrish. Translation manuscripts 2 and 3 actually omit the first three verses entirely, probably because they had already been translated. An early date for these verses thus does not necessarily imply an early date for the remainder of the Book of Abraham, the translation of which was evidently commenced on some other occasion. Conclusion The textual evidence strongly suggests that Joseph Smith was the primary author of the Alphabet and Grammar documents and that he used them as a translation key for portions of the Book of Abraham. The implication is that he conceived of the Alphabet and Grammar documents as products of revelation. It may be time to rescue these manuscripts from the neglect and ignominy to which they have long been consigned, and to allow them to illuminate Joseph Smith s theology and prophetic consciousness. For a few months in the summer of 1835, the prophet imaginatively immersed himself and his scribes in a world of ancient symbol and mystery. This foray into sacred language and history allowed Smith s scribes to take part as participant-observers in the intuitive production of a scriptural text, an undertaking that helped for a time to define their roles and cement their loyalties to him. Thanks to the rich documentary evidence, the historian, too, can glimpse the inner workings of Joseph Smith s prophetic consciousness as it brought forth primordial truths. Christopher C. Smith (chriscarrollsmith@gmail.com) is a longtime Mormon history hobbyist from Sacramento, CA. He has a BA from Fresno Pacific

66 54 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL University in Biblical Studies and an MA from Wheaton College in Christian History, and will begin a PhD program at Claremont Graduate University in the Fall.

67 Attracting no little attention : The RLDS Return to Kirtland, 1883 General Conference Kevin Bryant Bro. Joseph: I have often thought I would write a few lines, and express the pleasure I experienced while attending our general Conference at Independence, Missouri, last Spring; the general good feeling and spirit which prevailed; also at Lamoni this Fall, as I do verily believe they were both held at the right time in the right places. And although I had known for years that we would, at some future day, hold a meeting in the Temple, at Kirtland, Ohio, at which you would preside, yet when Bro. Lake made the motion at the Lamoni Conference, that our next General Conference be held on the 6 th of next April, in the Temple in Kirtland, I asked myself, Is it possible the time is thus near for that meeting, but I voted cheerfully for the motion and ever since, whenever I think of it, my heart burns within me, and I look forward with a great deal of pleasure to that meeting. 1 Ebenezer Robinson s words to Joseph Smith III reflect an extraordinary feeling of joy at the idea of holding the 1883 RLDS General Conference in the Kirtland Temple. Only three years prior, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was heavily engaged in the Kirtland Temple suit, seeking legal title to the first Latter Day Saint temple. Now, believing they did indeed legally own the House of the Lord, the RLDS made plans to bring the 1883 spring conference back to the rolling hills of Ohio and to once again worship in the same building as the Saints of the 1830s. There were heightened expectations as to what could await those who returned to the temple. Recent issues with polygamy had brought Mormonism into mainstream attention. Perhaps a public return to Kirtland could prove a mistake in light of anti-mormon hostilities, some still present in that village from the 1830s. 2 On the other hand, the conference could also bring about the 1 Saints Herald 30, no. 4 (January 20, 1883): 36. This article will draw heavily from the official conference minutes found in the Saints Herald, 30, no. 16 (April 21, 1883): ; no. 17 (April 28, 1882): ; no. 18 (May 5, 1883): ; no. 20 (May 19, 1883): 306; no. 22 (June 2, 1883) ; no. 23 (June 9, 1883): ; no. 24 (June 16, 1883): ; no. 25 (June 23, 1883): 404 5; 83, no. 1 (January 14, 1936): Hereafter cited as SH. 2 Harper s Weekly Magazine reported: There is considerable agitation among the people of the Western Reserve lest it may prove that they propose staying, ( A Mormon Reunion, Harper s

68 56 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL forum by which the returning Kirtland Mormons, as they were often called at this time, could distinguish themselves from the Utah Mormons. Much was at stake as the general conference approached. Friday, April 6 The 1883 General Conference opened on April 6. The night before saw worship featuring a sermon from elder G. E. Deuel, in which he had a merry twinkle in his eye there was considerable fun as well as gospel in him (SH 30.22:355 57, 30.16:243 44). On the morning of the sixth, a gathering was held in the village house. 3 Church members poured into Kirtland all day; many arriving on the historic temple grounds for the first time. The Kirtland conference began on the fifty-third anniversary of the Restoration (twenty-third for the Reorganization). The eager audience promptly filled the Kirtland Temple to capacity, awaiting the start. 4 To open, the congregation sang We hear thy voice, our Father. After the opening hymn, President Joseph Smith III offered the prayer, at which point attention shifted to setting in order the foundation for the coming conference s work (SH 30.17:257). The first focus was to set up a temporary organization for governing its actions. The formation included Zenas H. Gurley Jr. as chairman, Edmund L. Kelley as secretary, Robert M. Elvin as assistant secretary, and John T. Kinnaman as chorister. 5 Next, the credentials committee was formed and approved. Committee members appointed were: Heman C. Smith, Hyrum Bronson, Charles Derry, Frederick G. Pitt, and Ebenezer Robinson. A committee was then assigned to establish a permanent organization for the conference. This committee consisted of Alexander H. Smith, Elijah Banta, and Edmund C. Brand. Additionally, Weekly Magazine, April 7, 1883, 215). 3 The village house was also known as the Methodist meeting house. The building does not exist today, but it was located on part of the Kirtland Mills burying ground north of the temple (SH 30.16:243 44). 4 The Saints Herald described the audience: Modern church-goers could learn a lesson that would be at once beneficial to them and gratifying to their pastor from the Latter Day Saints. There are no late comers. Neither is there a bell. When the hour arrives for service the congregation are found in their pews. The latter are none of the easiest. High and straight, with very low uncushioned benches that are suggestive of anything but comfort. Yet look where you may about the church you will find every face turned towards the pulpit and every ear intent on catching every word. There is a certain conscientiousness and earnestness about their devotion that makes one forget the peculiarities of their belief. Nothing can exceed the looks of pleasure that beam in the eyes of the resident Mormons (Ibid., ). 5 Respectively, these gentlemen resided in Pleasanton, IA, Cold Water, MI, Nebraska City, NE, and Stewartsville, MO. Additionally, F. G. Pitt assisted Kinnaman, sharing charge of the music. Lucy L. Lyons occupied the place at the organ, and it was wonderful how completely the spirit of music found expression through her faculties and talents (SH 83.1:48 49); SH 30.17:257.

69 BRYANT: The RLDS Return to Kirtland 57 presiding bishop George A. Blakeslee nominated Samuel Brown and William M. Rumel as ushers, and Emery Vickers as janitor. 6 Following the appointment of committees, Zenas Gurley invited President Joseph Smith III to offer an opening address. Smith shared many of his views on the importance of this conference and reiterated his joy at the convening of the gathering. He reminded the audience that their meeting was a fulfillment of earlier spoken events. Smith continued: But to-day it is not in fact peculiar that we should be able to worship here; for that which is intended to be permanent pleases God And one of the great evidences of the truth of the principles which actuated the people then is, that so many are here to-day who inhabited here then and partook of that spirit and still rejoice in the truth (SH 30.17:257). Smith believed that locations where the church, in the past, had been driven out, members were now welcome. These waste places, as Smith called them, were now being built up courtesy of the calling together of the scattered Saints. He proudly proclaimed, Where our banners once trailed in the dust, the voice of our preachers will again be heard (SH 30.16:243 44). Smith also recognized the significance of this gathering and the attention it was garnering from those outside the church. In fact, the return to Kirtland had intrigued many people, and journalists from throughout the country were attending. If we respect the work of which we have charge they cannot fail to respect us, Smith noted. The conference, being delegate oriented, had the opportunity to make a tremendous impact on the future of the church. Regardless of the actions of the conference, President Smith reminded, the attendees must allow a gentle spirit to dwell around them (SH 30.17:257). Many were watching this event closely, and it must be delicately handled lest it bring disaster upon the Reorganization, he added. After Joseph Smith III finished speaking, William W. Blair, Smith s counselor in the First Presidency, addressed the audience. President Blair shared a brief talk concerning the history of the church. The beginning of the Reorganization came, Blair believed, in 1851 and 1852; at that time, persecution was frequent for many reasons, and in the midst of that, members of a small scattered group came together. They multiplied and grew over time, and saw their influence increase. This led, Blair asserted, to worshipping in one of the 6 The following ministers who were present reported: W. W. Blair, Z. H. Gurley, J. H. Lake, J. R. Lambert, A. H. Smith, T. W. Smith, Charles Derry, C. G. Lanphear, J. S. Petterson, G. T. Griffiths, Heman C. Smith, J. F. McDowell, Columbus Scott, E. C. Brand, B. V. Springer, F. P. Scarcliff, R. M. Elvin, J. H. Merriam, H. Robinson, G. E. Deuel, W. H. Kelley, E. C. Briggs, D. S. Mills, W. T. Bozarth, M. T. Short, George Hicklin, J. P. Knox, Josiah Ells, and W. B. Smith. The following ministers not present reported: R. J. Anthony, Glaud Rodger, J. C. Foss, J. T. Danies, J. F. Mintun, G. S. Hyde, Joseph Luff, H. N. Hansen, J. D. Bennett, A. J. Cato, James A. McIntosh, J. F. Burton, C. H. Caton, James Caffall, F. C. Warnky and Thomas Taylor of England (Ibid.); also, History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [ ], 4 vols. (Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1952), 4:414. Hereafter cited as RLDS.

70 58 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL waste places of Zion. He reminded the gathering of the importance of their mission to reestablish the church from the New Testament. Talking of Joseph Smith Jr. and the original Mormon church, Blair said, From that nucleus a great church has arisen, that has attracted the attention of the civilized world... We praise him and the work he performed (SH 30.17:257). Blair s brief address reiterated the importance of the history of the Reorganization, but altogether omitted mention of other denominations which had emerged from the birth of the church in Manchester Township, New York. The next speaker, however, spent a great deal of time focusing on another denomination the LDS Church which also traced its origins from New York and Kirtland, where this conference now met. Zenas Gurley, whom the Chicago Tribune referred to as a very pleasant speaker and... probably the most intelligent man in the body, next addressed the audience. 7 Gurley spoke about the importance of the Kirtland Temple. The building, he asserted, had not yet fulfilled its intentions and as members met in the building, they would be upheld if their intentions were the same as those who had labored to construct the temple. Gurley then shifted his focus to establishing the differences between the LDS and RLDS churches. Each attendee at the conference was well aware of the presence of several national journalists who were covering the activities, and Gurley had to know that what he said when he hit upon this emotionally charged issue would be published. But the chance to distance the church from that in Utah was present and irresistible, and Gurley opened fire. Gurley believed the LDS were dissenters of the original church and they practiced the meanest things that ever disgraced the world, and polygamy is a curse as black as Egyptian darkness (SH 30.16:243 44). Gurley continued his speech, asking the current United States government to enforce antipolygamy laws. Then, seeking to further distance the two churches, Gurley asserted the Reorganized Church s loyalty to the American government. No man or woman is a Saint who violates the law of the land, or the community. When men claiming to be Latter Day Saints go around doing evil things they are not Latter Day Saints but latter day devils. In closing, Gurley spoke passionately of his opposition to LDS teachings: We are waiting for them and will go into the fight without gloves. 8 7 It is interesting to notice that given the nature of the speeches, Gurley s was covered by the Tribune in great detail, while the other speakers were covered only with a passing reference ( Latter Day Saints: Proceedings of the Mormon Conference at Kirtland, O. A Denouncing of Polygamy, Chicago Daily Tribune, April 7, 1883). 8 Ibid. Zenas Gurley also spoke: But we are here with the bright and blessed assurance that the Spirit of God witnesses a blessing to the race, and if we labor faithfully to remove the foul stain from the work, and wipe out the blackness of apostasy, God will own and accept us. All those who give countenance to the doctrines of Utah, are giving aid to the foulest system that ever cursed the race; so I say, and wish to be understood and go upon the record, for I do not propose to

71 BRYANT: The RLDS Return to Kirtland 59 Recording the events of the day, the Saints Herald noted the behavior of a longtime Kirtland resident during the opening session of the conference: During yesterday s devotions, old Mrs. [Electra] Stratton, the lady who has lived here since the breaking up of the Church, sat on the steps leading up to the pulpit that she might not miss a word. At the close of the services she in company with her neighbors in the faith, stood at the door grasping the hand of every brother and sister (SH 30.16:243 44, 30.17:258). The Saints Herald added: To say that the opening was a magnificent success is not putting it too strong. The most sanguine expected scarcely more than a handful at the organization. Instead, there were enough to fill the Temple. Yet there s more. Kirtland increases in size in proportion to its importance. 9 Saturday, April 7 The second day of general conference opened with a quiet little morning prayer service (SH 30.16:242 44). George S. Yerrington and William B. Smith, brother of Joseph Smith Jr., oversaw the meeting. William Smith spoke of his family and their early religious questions, especially those of Joseph Jr. William shared his memories of Joseph his account of his experience in the grove and the subsequent messages he received. William heard the stories of the golden plates and of the ancient church and believed. He recalled the significance of his baptism by Oliver Cowdery, and the following confirmation, where he witnessed the truth. The temple was constructed out of sacrifice and dedication, and was a location where Jesus could lay his head and bless his people, Smith recalled. The House of the Lord was constructed to receive the endowment; this endowment was not signs, grips, and pass words, and covenants but rather an outpouring of the Spirit. In closing, William said, The spirit of God rested on them. When he finished speaking, others spoke of messages, dreams, visions, and prophecies they had experienced foretelling the coming Kirtland conference (SH 30.24:388, 30.16:242 43). After the meeting, William B. Smith spoke briefly to a reporter from the Cleveland Herald. Asked how he was enjoying the conference, William replied, Just as well as it is possible for anyone to do. I shouldn t want to enjoy it any better for fear I might evaporate. This is not your first appearance in the Temple? the reporter asked. handle that thing any longer with gloves, it must and shall be stamped out, and if we so labor, the people of this State, and these United States, will deal it with a loud Amen (SH 30.17:258). 9 SH 30.22: To-morrow is to be the great day. Perhaps the most important feature will be the discourse by President Joseph Smith (SH 30.16:242 43). For its apparent importance, virtually no sources of the actual speech itself were found.

72 60 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Oh, no. It was here I received my first inspiration in the Church. I helped carry the stone and mortar that put these walls together. It is a great pleasure for me to again enter the blessed old building, William noted. 10 The business session of the conference began at ten in the morning, following the prayer meeting. The session opened with the hymn Sweet the time, exceeding sweet, after which Josiah Ells offered the prayer. Business then proceeded as the committee on credentials read its report, which dominated the focus of the business session. The committee endured hearty discussion and dialogue regarding the specifics of branches, districts, and conference credentials. There was a disagreement concerning the voting rights of the branches in Utah. A vote was held and all with proper credentials were allowed to participate. According to the Cleveland Herald, the discussion over representation lasted about one hour and was discussed at great length (SH 30.17:258 29, 30.16: Once this issue was settled, the committee on permanent organization made its suggestions concerning the governing of the conference. The committee made the following recommendations: Joseph Smith as presiding officer of the conference; W. W. Blair as Smith s assistant; E. L. Kelley as secretary; R. M. Elvin and Heman C. Smith as Kelley s assistants; J. T. Kinnaman as chorister; W. E. Rumel and S. Brown as ushers; and E. Vickers as janitor. The session closed with the singing of the hymn, Praise God from whom all blessings flow, and E. L. Kelley offered the benediction. The morning business session adjourned to meet again at one thirty that same afternoon (SH 30.17:259). Conference reconvened as appointed at one thirty with its permanent organization now governing the conference. The hymn, All hail the power of Jesus name, opened the session, after which a short, fervid prayer was offered by J. H. Lake. During this session, many of the ministers in the field reported their activities since the last general conference met in Lamoni. During these ministry reports, the priesthood sat immediately before the stand by quorums (SH 30.16:242 43, 30.17:259). Joseph Smith III began his statements with an introduction: In taking charge this afternoon I do so with a peculiar feeling of reverence and a sense of responsibility. This occasion carries us back to what we believe was the establishment of the Kingdom of God. We have drifted away somewhat from our fathers. The present presiding officer has been charged with sectarianism. A great many of the present members do not understand the full meaning of the church as it was established fifty years ago. Since arriving here I have been thinking what was to be done. This is the first time the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ever met in this house as a representative body. It does not follow that the 10 In a concluding thought on William, the paper reported: Mr. Smith will remain during the entire exercises. He has continued a steadfast advocate of the doctrine of the Latter Day Saints ever since the building of the Temple in this place (SH 30.16:242 43).

73 BRYANT: The RLDS Return to Kirtland 61 organization of the church contemplated any such gathering as this. We have decided that the Twelve shall assemble in front, the Seventies just behind them, and the High Priests just behind them (SH 30.16:242 43). First Presidency member W. W. Blair began the first ministry reports by telling of his work in Utah Territory. He spoke on the number of Reorganized members present in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. His focus, Blair said, was on the Utah district where he met considerable opposition to his efforts. The church there had seen decent growth in that area and had completed work on a solid, commodious brick chapel in the center of Salt Lake City (SH 30.17:259). Finances had been taken care of by the mission itself, to the point where it appeared that the mission could completely supply its financial needs and have a small leftover. This field, Blair believed, was unlike any other missionary area. They needed to be given ministerial abilities which were adapted to its peculiarities. 11 Curiously, the Cleveland Herald chose to print only Blair s report from this session. 12 Zenas H. Gurley spoke next of his travels. Traveling from preaching in Chicago, Gurley had visited with many different Saints 13 en route to Kirtland. Passing through Kirtland, he had stopped long enough to see the temple and its surroundings, so [he] could speak advisedly in relation to it (SH 30.17:259 60). He then traveled through Pittsburgh, where he had met many of the leaders of that area and found a good church community, before he continued on to Washington DC. After two weeks in Washington, Gurley said he met with Secretary of State Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen. Gurley said his intentions were to correct a letter that the prior secretary of state, William M. Evarts, had issued which linked the RLDS and the LDS churches as one in the same. During his meeting with Frelinghuysen, Gurley submitted a formal letter on behalf of the RLDS Church, pointing out the differences. Following Gurley s report, Joseph R. Lambert of the Quorum of the Twelve reported from Chicago. The status of the Chicago branch was a hotly contested subject as the conference grew near, he said, and was an open wound waiting to be discussed in later business. Lambert reported that his health limited some of his activities and that he was struggling while doing most of the work for that branch. Lambert said there had been some clashes between the Chicago branch and the Northern Illinois district, to the point where several members refused to come to preaching meetings. The branch was beginning to fall apart, 11 Blair s peculiarities undoubtedly is a reference to the LDS Church s strong presence in that region (SH 30.17:259). 12 For the full text of all the conference s ministry reports, see Saints Herald 30, no. 17 (April 28, 1883). 13 Gurley reported staying at the residence of our worthy Bishop, George A. Blakeslee, where I found a very pleasant and properly governed family; the best of all was I found the spirit of peace there (SH 30.17:259 60).

74 62 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL with many leaving the church, and there were those who were beginning to hold meetings in their own homes without church approval, he added. The manner in which this one is disposed of will affect the work for good or for evil, not only in Chicago, but elsewhere, he said (SH 30.17:260). The outlook for the Chicago branch, Lambert asserted, was not very good, but there was hope. The Chicago Saints were very strong willed and opinionated, which must be remembered for any future missionaries who traveled there, but attendance had been slowly increasing, in spite of other things. Lambert made it clear, though, that there was great promise in the future for the Chicago branch (SH 30.17:260). Seventy J. S. Patterson spoke next. Patterson said he had labored continuously throughout the Northern Illinois district, though limited by the severe winter. He managed to hold meetings in numerous branches and had seen small results. The district, he pointed out, was not pleased that the Chicago branch had been removed from the district without district consent, stating they believed their rights had been infringed. In spite of that, the district was pleased to see the Saints Herald issued on a weekly basis, and, overall, continued to move forward with unshaken faith in the ultimate triumph of truth (SH 30.17:262). Most of the reports during this session resembled that of seventy Edmund C. Brand. Brand s report is representative of the dozens of other ministers who took the opportunity to list their accomplishments since the last gathering. Brand reported solid advances in the work, with three new missions opened. He traveled 2,286 miles, preached eighty-two times, conducted four baptisms, confirmed one person, ordained one elder, married one couple and blessed eight children (SH 30.17:263). At the conclusion of the ministry reports, business committee members continued to hear about church dealings with Secretary of State Frelinghuysen. As a member of the committee, Zenas H. Gurley had visited Washington DC in December to meet with the secretary. With the help of some congressmen, 14 Gurley gave Frelinghuysen a letter, and copies of the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. The letter Gurley delivered was very lengthy and detailed (SH 30.25:414 19). It emphasized the differences between the LDS and RLDS churches and gave a brief history of the organizations, including their present stances on government. The document then related the main tenets of RLDS belief and gave a seething attack on the practice of polygamy They were Representative William Peters Hepburn, R-Iowa and Senator James W. McDill, R- Iowa. Michigan politicians Allison, Burrows, and Willets also assisted. 15 SH 30.17: For further detail of the interview with Zenas Gurley, see Opponents of Polygamy, New York Times, April 8, 1883.

75 BRYANT: The RLDS Return to Kirtland 63 After the presentation of the document, the committee submitted an expense bill for the trip to Washington. The motion passed that the bishopric pay the committee s expenses concerning this matter (SH 30.17:264, 266). In the final business action, a motion was made to adjourn until Monday at ten o clock, and an amendment was passed to allow the presidency to convene the conference for the remainder of the gathering. In closing, the congregation sang O how sweet is the soul cheering thought, with the benediction offered by Joseph Smith III (SH 30.17: 266). That evening, many of the conference attendees gathered back at the temple for worship. The sermon was given by D. S. Mills (SH 30.17:266). He recounted the role of Israel s leaders and how, with God s help, they overcame many of their troubles. Mills proceeded to relate the role of prophecy from ancient times through the time of this conference. Many of these prophecies, Mills asserted, led to the necessity of the Restoration movement, which began through a young boy (Joseph Smith Jr.), rather than a learned man. Just as prophets prophesied in old, Mills stated, they continue today, and the purposes of God are being accomplished and the way for his kingdom being prepared. 16 During the sermon, two young children caused a small commotion in the front pews. These two left and headed out the door, followed by Joseph Smith III, who rose and followed them outside to ensure the sound would not bother the remaining church goers. The boys walked through the doors, unaware that Joseph III was following. One of them stretched his arms above his head, saying, Whew! I hope they won t wind that preacher up again! At that Joseph chuckled, which startled the children as they were unaware anyone had followed them. President Smith reassured the boys, commenting, Don t be afraid; they won t wind him up again after he runs down this time. Smith relayed this experience to D. S. Mills after the service, noting they both enjoyed a good laugh. The sermon had lasted approximately two hours and fifteen minutes and, there were others there besides those escaping lads, who would have regretted it had the officers indeed wound him up again (SH 83.1:49). At some point in the day, a journalist from the Cleveland Herald spoke to President Joseph Smith III. The question was asked, Has this conference and celebration any significance beyond that apparent from the exercises? No, Smith replied. We shall probably leave someone in charge here to look after the interests of our people here, and in the surrounding country. It is not, however, our purpose to rebuild here or to attempt an exodus from our present headquarters. The brief exchange continued: 16 The article stated: Brother Mills was noted as a preacher on Israel, dealing with both its past and its prophetic future. Some present at the conference had heard him, and others had heard of him, and, responding to a rather popular request, he was appointed to preach one evening. He was an enthusiast on his subject and did not notice the passing of time (SH 30.23:371 72).

76 64 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL In what essential particular do you differ from the Utah Mormons otherwise than on the question of polygamy? On several points. Outside people are continually classing me as a man of the Utah Mormons when I have done all that was in my power against them. Among the points on which we are widely separated I might mention that whereas their bishops have spiritual control over the people our bishop has financial control. The people under the bishops and the bishops under the president of Salt Lake, must obey their superiors. Our people are told to think for themselves. Then, too, they have marked out the small territory comprised in Salt Lake City as Zion, while we have a much larger area of the United States as our Zion. Then there are those things that are the natural outgrowth of polygamy and that inhere to it that of course are different. What, in your opinion, is the outlook for your church? the reporter asked. Very promising, Smith replied. We have increased very rapidly within the last few years and the doctrines of the Latter Day Saints are now preached from Maine to New Mexico and from Oregon to the Gulf. The heresies that existed against us have been effectually ostracized. Only a little time ago one of our elders was peremptorily ordered out of a place, but stayed even after he was threatened, and baptized fifteen or twenty into the church. We are gaining numbers and strength rapidly. He continued, There is another point on which we Latter Day Saints differ from the Utah Mormons, and that is that they allow their church government to supercede [sic] their civil government. We place civil law first and believe that the church and state should be separated. 17 Sunday, April 8 The following day was a Sunday and subsequently devoted to worship, rather than business and legislation. Three worship services occurred on this day. The morning service featured Joseph III; the afternoon service, Joseph Lambert; and the evening service, W. W. Blair SH 30.16:242 43; also see Latter-Day Saints: Second Day s Conference of Monogamous Mormons at Kirtland, O. Delegations Present from a Large Number of States, Chicago Daily Tribune, April 8, 1883, for a report on the second day of the conference. 18 SH 30.22:357. One very unusual note was noticed by the New York Times and printed in the April 9, 1883 issue: The Latter Day Saints were thrown into a terrible state of confusion tonight, owing to a rumor that a secret agent of the Utah Polygamous Church had been here since the opening day of the reunion. The supposed spy has not yet been found, which is a fortunate thing for him, as the hatred of Reorganized church for the Utah Mormons is of the utmost deadly character.

77 BRYANT: The RLDS Return to Kirtland 65 Monday, April 9 Again, the general conference shifted its focus toward ministry reports. A large portion of this business session was spent in hearing from the ministers scattered across the districts and fields of the church. The first to speak was apostle W. H. Kelley. The work, Kelley said, was slow but steady. He then shifted his direction to talk about Kirtland where he had spent recent time repairing the Temple and getting it ready for the conference. The only payment needed, he asserted, was that it be viewed as satisfactory to those who gathered there. He requested the thanks of the conference toward Jesse White, J. Shook, and J. Lameraeux, who assisted him in the temple preparations (SH 30.17:266). A consistent theme through the ministry reports was that of calls for assistance. A number of ministers laid before the conference a petition for additional help in their fields of labor. M. T. Short was among them. He reported baptizing a few people in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Kansas, and reviving the spirits of several churches. Short called for help, saying, I am the only traveling appointee within a hundred miles of the Mississippi above St. Louis, while the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin are entirely destitute. I cry for help, and beg for an associate in travel (SH 30.17:267). By contrast, C. H. Caton relayed an update from Birmingham, England. The work was advancing steadily with a few baptisms and consistent preaching opportunities, he said. In his field, Caton reported having many members willing to assist in the work. Caton asked for help if money was available for more missionaries; otherwise, he was sure the local laborers could accomplish their goals. The branch in Birmingham had begun an offering for the bishop. Every week members were raising a little money which they will be sending to the bishop at the end of the year to help fund church needs, he added. We hope other branches will do the same. In closing, Caton extended an invitation to President Smith to visit England, offering even to bear the expense of such a visit (SH 30.17:267 68). Tuesday, April 10 The business session started with majority and minority reports from the committee on credentials. The majority report recommended several people to function as delegates, including: Warren Turner, Eastern Iowa district; W. W. Blair, Utah district; Alexander Smith and Roderick May, Independence district; and Luther R. Devore, South Eastern Ohio and Western Virginia district. This report was signed by H. C. Bronson, Charles Derry, Frederick Pitt, and Ebenezer Robinson (SH 30.17:268). The committee also presented a minority report, submitted by Heman C. Smith. In this report, Smith stated that he agreed with decisions on A. H. Smith, F. C. Warnky, R. May, Warren Turner, and J. C. Foss as delegates. However, Smith differed on the status of W. W. Blair and L. R. Devore citing, they were

78 66 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL not appointed by action of organized districts. The conference has agreed that this form of decision is illegal and declared these improper so, Smith continued, he must therefore protest against the majority report (SH 30.17:268). Following Heman Smith s report, a motion was made by George H. Hilliard and John Chisnell to adopt the majority report. E. L. Kelley, Charles Derry, and A. W. Glover spoke in support. E. C. Briggs and E. L. Kelley then offered a substitute in which the minority report, rather than the majority report, would be accepted. F. G. Pitt, C. Scott, and W. W. Blair spoke for the minority report. On vote, this was defeated, William H. Kelley next rose to speak on the majority report. The majority report was voted upon in separate motions for each individual delegate in question. The report was objected to as a whole but ultimately carried (SH 30.17:268). Appeals came forward from several parties for various reasons, including A. B. Kuykendall, Thomas Tyler, Elmwood branch, and Chicago branch. Rather than bringing each of these before the conference, a committee was formed consisting of D. S. Mills, H. Robinson, and John Hawley. This committee was appointed to examine these appeals and return with a report (SH 30.17:270). The bishopric then submitted its report. It was read to the conference and referred to a committee of Phineas Cadwell, J. T. Kinnaman, and C. A. Beebe. 19 The committee found the report correct and approved its publication in the May 26, 1883 Saint s Herald supplement. The monetary condition of the church showed a net balance of $4, (SH 30.17:270; RLDS 4:420). The report of the church recorder was read. 20 A motion was made to refer the report to a committee. Instead, a substitute was offered to the motion to accept the report and place it in the minutes. This substitute was accepted by the conference. The report updated the church on the changes in membership in the various fields. No reports had come to the recorder from Australia, England, or Wales. All other regions submitted their reports (SH 30.17:270, 30.18:280 81). In total, the Reorganized Church announced 378 organized branches, numbering 14,043 members. The recorder then listed 77 branches, in disorganized condition, totaling 1,018 members. This included the branch at Kirtland with 20 Saints (SH 30.18:280). The total membership of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, including both organized and disorganized branches, was 15,061. One year prior, the membership was 14,641. Between the spring 1882 Independence conference and this gathering in Kirtland, the church had a net 19 The committee was selected on individual motions for each member. 20 Church recorder H. A. Stebbins of Lamoni.

79 BRYANT: The RLDS Return to Kirtland 67 growth of This was the smallest net growth in a one-year span in nearly a decade. In the evening, an appreciative audience filled the temple. The focus for the night was Joseph Smith III who was lecturing on temperance. Music opened the session and John H. Lake offered the opening prayer. President Smith then began his remarks on temperance and discussed how it related to religion and politics. Smith proposed discouraging the manufacture of alcohol to decrease demands. He appealed to individuals to use their personal liberties to make the choice to improve themselves. The lecture was full, complete, and able, and was warmly received by the audience, by frequent interruptions of applause (SH 30.18:281) Wednesday, April 11 The committee on the rules of representation attempted to share their report with the conference. However, in the hurry of leaving home, the chairman had forgotten to bring the report to Kirtland. He had requested that it be sent, but cautioned that the report may not arrive in time; just in case, the committee requested a little more time to submit its report. 22 The conference next moved to consider W. H. Curwen s resignation from the board of publication, received on April 9. As reasons for his resignation, Curwen cited inability to attend the meetings, and needing to put his attention in other places. 23 After a brief discussion, it was recommended the entire matter be referred to a committee consisting of Alvin Patterson, C. A. Beebe, and John Gilbert to determine the proper action. This motion was approved. Pottawattamie district delegate C. A. Beebe brought forth a resolution for Joseph Smith to resign his position as editor of the Saints Herald. 24 E. C. Brand and John Chisnall made a motion that the subject be laid upon the table because there were no signatures. This was countered by E. L. Kelley and H. Kemp 21 This was down from the last annual report from which was a growth of 946. In total, 997 members joined the church, but this was offset by the loss of 577 by death and expulsion. Church membership changes: 752 ( ); 775 ( ); 1,116 ( ); 1,235 ( ); 713 ( ); 946 ( ); 420 ( ) (SH 30.18:280). 22 The report was complete and later approved (Ibid., 281). 23 Curwen cited his inability due to his move from Plano, IL (Ibid.). 24 The district s resolution read as follows: Whereas, At the conference of this district, held last May, a resolution was adopted, asking Bro. Joseph Smith to resign the Editorship of the Herald, that he might devote more of his time to preaching. And, whereas, our delegates to the Fall Conference were instructed not to present the same, in consequence of the Herald having refused to publish the notice of the resotution [sic], at the request of the district. And, whereas, it has since been brought to the notice of the church in various ways; therefore be it, Resolved, That our delegates to the Annual Conference be and are hereby instructed to present to the Annual Conference the resolution passed last May, asking the Editor of the Herald to resign, and if possible obtain a favorable vote thereon. And they are especially instructed to oppose its being referred to the Board of Publication, as that is the body which has hired him (Ibid).

80 68 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL who made a motion, which was approved, to consider the proposal. A motion was made to adopt the resolution, after which there was much discussion and eventually a substitute. The substitute allowed Joseph Smith III to continue as editor, but that his duties be reduced in that regard so that he may have more time to devote to his duties as president of the church (SH 30.18:281). After considerable discussion, a vote was taken and the substitute was approved. M. T. Short and C. A. Beebe requested their votes against be recorded (SH 30.18:282). Continuing on the subject of publications, Zenas Gurley and Charles Derry made a motion that the board appoint Elijah Banta as business manager for the Herald office. This motion was postponed to a later time. In closing, the hymn Praise God from whom all blessing flow was sung, and President Blair offered a prayer (SH 30.18:282). Thursday, April 12 Of the entire general conference, the events of this day likely had the most direct impact on future generations of RLDS, due to a proposal from Charles Derry and John Hawley. However, before Derry and Hawley s resolution, another resolution was presented to the conference regarding the length a conference delegate could speak on business. Those who speak... [shall] be limited to five minutes each. The resolution also stated that no one could speak twice on an issue until everyone else who desired to speak had already taken the opportunity. There was a motion from E. L. Kelley and W. H. Kelley to reconsider this, but ultimately the motion was defeated (SH 30.18:282). The committee considering the resignation of W. H. Curwen then issued its response. The recommendation, after reviewing the situation, was to accept Curwen s resignation from the board of publication. This suggestion was adopted by the assembly and the committee released (SH 30.18:283). A resolution was brought forward by John S. Patterson and Frederick Pitt asking the board of publication to pay careful attention to its finished products, as many of the books were very poorly bound, and request that in future they endeavor to put better bound books on sale (SH 30.18:283) This was adopted and referred. 25 Derry and Hawley brought forth a resolution that would, years later, come to define much of the RLDS. The church had previously decided to change from two general conferences per year to one. This was the first occasion in which there would not be a fall conference and some members of the church felt a great void. The resolution called for the holding of yearly meetings called 25 The Conference at Kirtland adopted a resolution passed at the Northern Illinois District conference, and presented by delegates from said district action, asking the Board of Publication to have the books offered to sale by the Herald Office better bound. It must not be taken amiss if the Board presumes to ask of those who read the resolution in the Conference Minutes, to consider the [book quality is fine, but that they must be treated with care] (SH 30.20:306).

81 BRYANT: The RLDS Return to Kirtland 69 Annual Reunion Meetings of Latter Day Saints. These reunions were not to be limited to one location. The resolution called for these to occur wherever desired to make it as convenient as possible for every member of the church to attend (SH 30.18:283). This was sent to a committee of W. W. Blair, Charles Derry, and John Hawley. The committee recommended that this proposal be approved and allow for mission and district authorities to help bring this about (RLDS 4:420). This saw a fair bit of discussion, coming to the point where the delegates suggested the first meeting to be held in the coming autumn of 1883 in western Iowa. An amendment was added to this by W. W. Blair and E. C. Briggs to enable district or mission authorities to arrange reunion meetings for their areas. 26 The conference next listened to the reading of a letter from Secretary of State Frelinghuysen. 27 This letter written in response to a previous visit and letter from the church, did not contain the type of information that church leaders were likely anticipating. The church had asked for a distinction to be made between the RLDS and the LDS, specifically regarding polygamy. Previous letters from the government had condemned polygamy, but the hope for governmental support for the RLDS was not to be. It is contrary to the laws of this Government, the secretary wrote, to give by circular, as is proposed, any sanction or endorsement of a specific form of belief. In closing, Frelinghuysen wrote, Law-abiding immigrants are secure against interference (SH 30.18:284). Friday, April 13 Friday s session opened with George H. Hilliard and Rudolph Etzenhouser leading a prayer service. In the late morning, Joseph Smith offered a sermon during worship that focused on the issue of marriage and its meanings for the RLDS (SH 30.18:284). President Smith stated he believed there was a misunderstanding as to the importance of marriage. He indicated that it was important for the church to take a strong stance on the issue of marriage. For guidance, Smith cited 26 The idea of reunions has grown significantly within the RLDS/Community of Christ tradition. Each year dozens of reunions occur throughout the world and are generally a week-long event. Typically, reunions occur in the summer months to maximize attendance, but many areas within the Community of Christ hold winter reunions, and similar gatherings through the year. Reunion grounds are considered sacred space for RLDS/Community of Christ, often more so than local congregational buildings or heritage sites. The importance of these grounds is so vital to many that in the transition from stakes and districts to mission centers, some mission centers could not bear to get rid of a campground and now have two. Cedar Valley-Nauvoo U.S.A. mission center is one such example maintaining and using both camps as of The emergence of reunions stems from the 1883 conference, and a much deeper study of their history and role in shaping the Reorganization is needed (SH 30.18:283). 27 This report was copied by the secretary of the conference and given to the press reporter (Ibid., 284).

82 70 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL the Catholic Church s stance in not accepting divorce. The president stated the RLDS Church must work to keep from believing that marriage is only a civil contract. He added that when the issue of marriage was brought up by Moses in the Old Testament, Christ stated that divorce was not so in the beginning. Homes must be blessed, Smith believed, with love, and through love, and improvements could occur in relationships. In closing, President Smith noted, If we let the gospel have its effect upon us it will make us better men and women and we can live in harmony with each other (SH 30.18:284; 30.25:404 5). The Northern Illinois district brought forth a resolution for the conference s consideration. The district met at Mission, Illinois on October 21 22, 1882 where a resolution was adopted concerning the Chicago branch. The branch was given to the district by Mark Forscutt in the fall of 1880 at a conference in Streator, Illinois; however, the district noted, the general conference later removed Chicago from the Northern Illinois district without allowing the district any say in the matter. The district entered a formal protest against the conference s action and asked the 1883 conference to reconsider this issue and return the Chicago branch to the Northern Illinois district (SH 30.18:285). Frederick G. Pitt and John Hawley offered a substitute to the resolution that recommended that the Chicago mission be discontinued. After discussion, the substitute was voted upon, but it failed. The original resolution was then proposed and approved (SH 30.18:285). Saturday, April 14 Activities began to wind down as the end of the conference approached. John Lake preached at the worship service on April 14. Lake spoke of the gospel, saying that the doctrine the church teaches is not bad and that it does not negatively affect those who listen to it. Seeking to distance the church from the LDS, Lake continued, As for the doctrines of the Salt Land, we have done more to expose those errors than any other people, and we expect to continue (SH 30.18:285, 30.24:387 88). The conference discussed possible locations for the 1884 conference, including: Stewartsville, Kirtland, Independence, Philadelphia, Galland s Grove, Plano, London, San Francisco, San Antonio, Mobile, Boston, Coldwater, St. Louis, and Chicago. The final decision was to hold the 1884 RLDS General Conference in Stewartsville, Missouri (SH 30.18:286). In some last unresolved business, Elijah Banta was nominated to the board of publication, to fill the vacancy left by W. H. Curwen (SH 30.18:286). This was approved after some discussion. After Banta s approval, the other members of the board were sustained: George A. Blakeslee, Joseph Smith, Phineas Cadwell, and W. W. Blair. A vote of thanks was asked for the commissary committee and for the residents of Kirtland for their kindness to the brethren during the sitting of

83 BRYANT: The RLDS Return to Kirtland 71 the conference. Also, the conference voted to continue the committee that was appointed to repair the Kirtland Temple (SH 30.18:287). The temple, henceforth, was to receive regular attention, including physical and financial care for its continued existence. It would no longer be A Deserted Temple... likely to rot down as recorded in the Chicago Daily Tribune on December 6, Sunday, April 15 The final day of the 1883 RLDS General Conference opened at eight a.m. with Phineas Cadwell and C. A. Beebe leading a prayer service. One hour later, the Lord s Supper was served to the congregation by George A. Blakeslee, E. L. Kelley, Elijah Banta, Rudolph Etzenhouser, A. W. Glover, and C. D. Seeley. During the service, a child was blessed by John H. Lake and Alex H. Smith. This service also saw the ordination of Rudolph Etzenhouser to the office of elder, by Joseph R. Lambert and Zenas H. Gurley (SH 30.18:287). The day s first regular service opened to a full sanctuary with the singing of The morning breaks, the shadows flee. G. H. Hilliard then offered the prayer, after which the choir sang, We come with joy the truth to teach you. W. H. Kelley then offered an able defense of the faith. He centered his sermon on Acts 16: Let Zion in her beauty rise was sung by the congregation and G. H. Hilliard offered the benediction (SH 30.18:287). At two thirty p.m., another worship service began with the singing of Once more we come before our God. William B. Smith followed with prayer. President Joseph Smith III then spoke from the pulpit to a house packed full. From the circumstances of our gathering here, Smith said, it is natural to expect that what will be said will be definitive of our faith. He compared the ancient church to the present RLDS, then asserted his belief that God still speaks today and that there must be prophets in the present day, just as in the old. The church must examine its beliefs to know whether they are in harmony with God or not. Through that examination, Smith said, we will know the truth. It is this truth that members must share, and the church will be held by the bar of Christ to spread the truth. In closing, the congregation sang There is a land immortal, and President Smith closed the service with prayer (SH 30.18:287, 30.24:386 87, 30.25:405). A third service was held in the evening. The temple was nearly full in spite of rain pouring across Ohio s rolling hills. This service opened with the singing of Praise ye the Lord! tis good to raise. Josiah Ells then offered an invocation. The choir next sang A calm and gentle quiet reigns to-night. Z. H. Gurley offered the spoken word for the service (SH 30.18:287). Following the sermon, a vote of thanks was offered to the ushers, S. Brown and William Rumel, with assistance from Rudolph Etzenhouser, John Morgan, and A. W. Glover. The congregation then agreed to reassemble for the next general conference, in Stewartsville, Missouri, on April 6, 1884 at ten thirty

84 72 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL a.m. Home! Home shineth before us was sung and Z. H. Gurley closed with prayer. One person decided to be baptized at the end of this service (SH 30.18:287). The conference was now officially over and gradually the crowd of eager Saints traveled back to their homes and newly assigned mission fields. As evidence of the success of the 1883 gathering, general conference returned to Kirtland in 1887, 1891, 1897, and The 1883 General Conference marked the first return to Kirtland by a large band of believers since its evacuation. This return was long sought for its reality was a delight to RLDS members scattered across the country. Before this conference, the Kirtland Temple, a symbol of authority and power for early church members, had stood desolate and unclaimed, for nearly fifty years. 28 As the Saints returned to Kirtland, the building remained a suitable location for such a conference. Joseph Smith III noted the construction of the temple: The lower auditorium has most wonderful acoustic properties, for there is no seat in the room where a person is unable to hear clearly and distinctly all that is said by a speaker occupying in the usual stand at the east end of the building (SH 83.1:48 49). Through the course of the conference, the return to Kirtland was watched by LDS and RLDS alike, along with journalists and curious viewers. Many fervently believed that those departed laborers who had constructed the House of the Lord kept a constant watch from above on the events taking place once again inside the temple, nearly fifty years from the laying of the first cornerstone. The Kirtland Temple would survive the present generation to await the next. It was, in the words of Joseph III, a happy, home-coming of beloved and loving brethren and sisters (SH 83.1:48 49). Kevin Bryant (kevinwbryant@hotmail.com) is employed at the Joseph Smith Historic Site in Nauvoo while finishing his MA in American history at Western Illinois University. He has a BA in history from Central Missouri in Warrensburg Missouri. 28 Harper s, April 7, 1883, 215.

85 The Church in the Days of Alpheus Cutler : New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology Christopher James Blythe Today, with less than twenty active members, the Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) survives. The small church has likely never had more than two hundred living members, yet its size does not determine the importance of its story. As a community, the Church of Jesus Christ has a powerful and unique heritage. Members have interpreted the visions of Joseph Smith in their own way; thus, the Restoration story is incomplete without an understanding of Alpheus Cutler and the devout group of Saints who followed him. 1 In recent years, a number of scholars have focused their attention on the smaller churches of the Restoration, particularly those that originated as a result of the Nauvoo succession crisis. 2 The Church of Jesus Christ, as reorganized by Alpheus Cutler, has been studied extensively in the writings of Danny Jorgensen, Biloine Whiting Young, Steven Shields, Ian Barber, and Michael S. Riggs. In 2002, a new era for Cutlerite research was marked with the donation of a sizeable quantity of primary source materials to the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at Brigham Young University. This donation of materials which has, until recently, been inaccessible to researchers, will allow future scholars the 1 The author would like to express gratitude for his mentor, Phillip Barlow, Arrington chair of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University. As well as Timothy Wolters, Tom Evans, Danny Jorgensen, and my fellow graduate students at Utah State who have helped revise drafts of this paper. I am also grateful for the encouragement that Vickie Speek, Biloine Whiting Young, Newell Bringhurst, and others at the John Whitmer Historical Association have provided me. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the many fine scholars who have written on the Cutlerites Richard E. Bennett, Danny Jorgensen, D. Michael Quinn, Michael S. Riggs, and Biloine Whiting Young. Each of these authors has impacted my foundational understanding of this movement. 2 See D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Succession Crisis of 1844, BYU Studies 16, no. 2 (Winter 1976),

86 74 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL opportunity to shed further light and much-needed detail on the sect s history. 3 This article is based primarily on these new sources typescripts of early Cutlerite church records. The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerites) Collection, 1853 ca. 1970, consists of twenty-one spiral-bound volumes, containing roughly one hundred pages each. Like other Mormon sects, the Cutlerites kept meticulous minutes of their weekly church services, conferences, and council meetings. Cutlerite church historian Edna Fletcher produced this collection by transcribing the minutes previously recorded by a series of church recorders from 1853 to 1970, in addition to her own compilation of historical records. Through these lists of ordinances, testimonies, and memoirs we are able to see the inner workings of the Cutlerite church in a manner that was previously impossible. Of particular interest to this article are the papers associated with the structural development of the Cutlerite church, recorded during the presidency of Alpheus Cutler ( ). The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite), though largely based on a Nauvoo precedent, developed a singular ecclesiastical structure once isolated from other Mormon influences. Developments included the incorporation of two new additions to the church hierarchy namely the church interpreter, a charismatic officer in charge of interpreting spiritual gifts, and a president of the church as a separate and distinct position from the president of the priesthood. There were also important omissions in Cutler s hierarchy (as compared to that of his predecessor, Joseph Smith Jr.) in that the new organization had no quorum of twelve apostles, no seventies, and no bishops. Through the process of analyzing these deviations from the model of the church as it existed during the lifetime of Joseph Smith, and coupling this new insight with Cutlerite theology, this paper suggests that Alpheus Cutler s theological emphases guided the evolution of his community s ecclesiastical structure. This essay is divided into three parts: first, a general history of Alpheus Cutler and his followers between the martyrdom of Joseph Smith in 1844 and Cutler s reorganization of the church in 1853; second, a discussion of Cutlerite theology; and finally, an examination of the development of the Cutlerite religious organization. Alpheus Cutler and the Creation of the Cutlerites Alpheus Cutler was one of several men to develop his own interpretation of Joseph Smith s doctrinal legacy following the Nauvoo succession crisis. Before his split from the main body of the Saints and his subsequent excommunication, Cutler was highly regarded. Having served as a member of the Nauvoo 3 Mss 2394, Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerites) Collection, 19 th Century Western and Mormon Americana, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT (hereafter cited as MSS 2394, LTPSC). The originals are not currently available for scholarly research; therefore, these typescripts cannot be compared for accuracy or completeness. It is likely that Edna Fletcher censored a portion of the typescripts to avoid the mention of sacred rituals.

87 BLYTHE: New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology 75 High Council and the temple committee, his credentials were exceptional. In addition, Cutler was among the few trusted followers of Joseph Smith to receive their endowments during the Mormon prophet s lifetime. And when Smith revealed the pinnacle ordinance of Mormonism, the second anointing, Cutler was the sixth person to receive it on November 15, 1843, a week before the president of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, Brigham Young, received his second anointing. In this ceremony, Joseph Smith ordained Cutler to the office of king and priest, a position that contained the fullness of the Melchezidek Priesthood. 4 In Nauvoo, this inner circle of endowed Saints was known as the Holy Order or Quorum of the Anointed. On March 11, 1844, Alpheus Cutler was introduced to the final phase of Joseph Smith s evolving understanding of theocracy, when he became a member of the Council of the Kingdom of God, frequently referred to as the Council of Fifty. 5 Joseph envisioned this council as a divinely established shadow government, the nucleus of a worldwide parliament, and in the secret meetings of the Council of Fifty, Joseph Smith was sustained as a king. 6 During the spring of 1844, the council s initial agenda revolved around Joseph Smith s presidential candidacy. If the people of the United States elected the Mormon prophet-king as president, Joseph s divine reign would be established throughout the nation. If these plans failed, the Council of Fifty would take the lead in seeking out other locations where the Saints could colonize and God would reign via the recently ordained king and priests. 7 As it relates to this essay, members of the fifty began to receive more specific individual responsibilities in connection with the grand council. Members were selected to colonize individual kingdoms in such places as Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Missionaries accepted diplomatic-like assignments to journey to Russia, France, and the Republic of Texas. 8 Joseph Smith specifically appointed Alpheus Cutler to reestablish missionary work among the Native Americans, whom the Mormons called Lamanites. This assignment would become Cutler s focus for the remainder of his life. Nevertheless, Cutler understood there were other things that would have to be accomplished before a successful missionary effort could take place. For this reason, Cutler sided with Brigham Young and the twelve apostles following the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and continued to serve on the 4 Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, ed. Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1976), William Clayton, An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton, ed. George D. Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1991), Ibid., Andy F. Ehat, It Seems Like Heaven Began on Earth : Joseph Smith and the Constitution of the Kingdom of God, BYU Studies 20, no. 3 (Spring 1980): Klaus Hansen, Quest for Empire: The Political Kingdom of God and the Council of Fifty in Mormon History (Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1967),

88 76 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Nauvoo High Council. In this capacity, he participated in the excommunication trials of those Saints who opposed the Quorum of Twelve, including Sidney Rigdon, James Strang, William Smith, and their followers. During a heated high council discussion concerning succession claims, Cutler declared he felt bound to sustain the Twelve, and all the Quorums of the Church with its present organization, for on that his salvation depended. 9 Alpheus Cutler s loyalty to the twelve can be documented for the next several years. In the winter of , Cutler with other members of the Holy Order administered the temple ordinances to those Saints striving to maintain Joseph s measures. 10 Alpheus crossed Iowa during the summer of 1846 on his way west with the Saints, and at Winter Quarters, he became the president of the municipal high council. 11 In 1847, no one considered him a rogue member of the church, but that would soon change. A major turning point occurred when Brigham Young appointed Alpheus Cutler to take a company and begin missionary work among a group of Delaware Indians living in Kansas Territory. 12 Cutler led the expedition and established a small colony, the Silver Creek branch, over which he served as president. 13 Though the branch had official sanction from Brigham Young, who was functioning as the president of the church, difficulties and suspicion on the part of the apostles would later result in the branch being investigated by the church s high council. During these trials, which took place in 1849, members of Cutler s group stated their leader had been ordained to lead this people and bring about the redemption of Zion. 14 The high council disfellowshipped several Cutlerites and suspended the colony s Lamanite mission; and in 1851, Cutler was excommunicated. 15 Members of the Silver Creek branch continued to pursue their missionary efforts among the Native Americans. Later, the Cutlerites, themselves, 9 Fred Collier, The Nauvoo High Council Minute Books (Hanna, UT: Collier s Publishing, 2005), October Conference Minutes, Times and Seasons 5, no. 20 (November 1, 1844): Danny L. Jorgensen, The Old Fox: Alpheus Cutler in Differing Visions: Dissenters in Mormon History, ed. Roger D. Launius and Linda Thatcher (Urbana: University of Illinois, 1994), See Danny L. Jorgensen, Building the Kingdom of God: Alpheus Cutler and the Second Mormon Mission to the Indians, , Kansas History 15 (1992): Silver Creek Branch was located in Mills County, near present-day Silver City, Iowa. 14 Orson Hyde, George A. Smith, and Ezra T. Benson, Report to Brigham Young and Council of Twelve, p. 16, Brigham Young Correspondence, Historical Department Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (hereafter cited as LDS Church Archives). 15 For a more complete discussion of these trials, see Richard E. Bennett, Lamanism, Lymanism, and Cornfields, Journal of Mormon History 13 ( ): 44 59; Danny L. Jorgensen, Conflicts in the Camps of Israel: The 1853 Cutlerite Schism, Journal of Mormon History 21, no. 1 (Spring 1995):

89 BLYTHE: New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology 77 disappointed by their lack of success, suspended the Lamanite mission. 16 In 1852, Cutler gathered his followers and moved. They founded the town of Manti near present-day Shenandoah, Iowa, where on September 19, 1853, Alpheus Cutler reorganized the Church of Jesus Christ with himself as the head. Cutlerite Theology A unique doctrinal emphasis defined the Cutlerite people at least from the time of their initial struggle with the high council in Iowa. Ultimately, the severed ties arising from this conflict allowed Cutler to further establish his own theology without regard to loyalties to the twelve apostles. Three doctrinal keys form the focus of Cutlerite theology: first, the church is dependent on the kingdom the latter being a separate and higher organization; second, the death of Joseph Smith signaled the change of an era and a major shift in the work of God; and third, the redemption of Zion was impending and would be accomplished through the principles of unity and consecration. Each of these premises was based on early Mormon teachings already established by the Nauvoo period, whether publicly or privately. In the Silver Creek period, the Cutlerites developed their own identity as a people with a mission, drawing upon this theology to rationalize their agenda. In the Manti period, in which we are particularly interested, Cutler utilized these same foundational doctrines to form a church organization. In the summer of 1843, Joseph Smith made a surprising and controversial announcement. He would resign as prophet of the church in favor of his brother Hyrum, who would then serve in that office. When a group of panicked Saints protested his decision, Joseph stated that his comment was only designed to try them. He responded with surprise that his followers did not have a proper understanding of the priesthood, declaring he had only intended to advance from Prophet to Priest and then to King. 17 This scenario implies that in Joseph Smith s mind, the position of president of the church and even the role of prophet, seer, and revelator, was inferior to other offices. Joseph saw his own advancement through the ranks of greater organizations, specifically as a priest over the Holy Order and as a king over the Council of Fifty The Cutlerite endeavor to convert the Native Americans was reestablished only after the death of Alpheus Cutler and the colony had moved to Minnesota. 17 Joseph Smith, An American Prophet s Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith, ed. Scott H. Faulring (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), Lyndon Cook and Andrew F. Ehat, eds., Words of Joseph Smith (Provo, UT: Grandin Book Co., 1991), 233. According to a letter from Willard Richards to Brigham Young in reference to this sermon, Joseph Smith did not tell them [the church as a whole] he was going to be a priest now, nor a King by and by. In other words, Joseph did not fully explain the situation. He was already operating as priest over the Holy Order and would soon become king within the Council of Fifty.

90 78 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Alpheus Cutler did not cite Joseph Smith s proposed reorganization of the church hierarchy as evidence for his theological statements. Yet, his theology emerged from this period in Nauvoo, when private ordinations provided a tier of authority above that recognized by the church. In the only extant literature written by Cutler himself a letter explaining his views to an opposing sect he wrote: Can a stream rise above its fountain, or can a stream rise without a fountain above it to supply it?... Surely God must have a principle of greater and lesser in all things revealed that none can deny; now if the Church is the greater, or greatest, what is the lesser? If the Church is the lesser, what is the greater? Herein is the stream and fountain illustrated. I boldly answer this short question; the Kingdom of God on the earth is the greater and by this authority were all revelations given in 1828 and 1829, as well as since, and by this authority was the church organized on the 6 th of April, The Kingdom of God held authority or priesthood above the church. Cutler believed that the church could rebel and although it would no longer be a legitimate organization, the kingdom would continue to possess God s blessing. When the church rejected the priesthood, God would reject the church. A new organization could be formed by those in possession of the appropriate authority, when commanded by God. Cutler s letter also speaks specifically of a quorum of seven men, a regular but secret quorum of the priesthood, which had governed the church since before its official organization. Following Alpheus death, the Cutlerites would begin to consolidate their founder s claims. Cutler rarely discussed the Council of Fifty, yet his comments, quoted above, indicate that he recognized a kingdom of God over the church. In retrospect, Cutler s followers would place these two components of Cutler s ideology together. All references to the Kingdom of God were seen as references exclusively to the seven and vice-versa. Cutler was likely not the author of this equation. However, Cutler based his claim to succession, as being the last surviving, faithful member of this council of seven men, ordained as prophets. Cutler revealed that during the lifetime of Joseph Smith, he ranked number seven in this quorum with the number six position being held by John Smith. 20 Cutlerites as far back as the 1850s suggested scriptural and historical precedence for such a quorum. Nevertheless, today there is a scholarly consensus that Cutler s succession claims grew out of his reception of the second anointing and his membership in the Council of Fifty, though specific explanations vary. D. Michael Quinn has suggested that the Quorum of Seven existed as an executive 19 Alpheus Cutler to Zenos H. Gurley, January 29, 1856, quoted in Rupert J. Fletcher and Daisy Fletcher, Alpheus Cutler and the Church of Jesus Christ (Independence, MO: the Church of Jesus Christ, 1974), Ibid., 54.

91 BLYTHE: New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology 79 committee in the Council of Fifty. 21 Whether Quinn is correct, and I suspect he is, there is no smoking gun so to speak in the Cutlerite church records. It is worthwhile to determine what information Cutler left concerning the membership of the Quorum of Seven. Who were the seven members of the order as it existed in 1844? First, we must determine whether the Cutlerites considered Joseph Smith in the quorum or over the quorum. This mystery is simply solved. Cutler s January 29, 1856, letter states clearly that the pre-1830 quorum consisted of Joseph and six elders, making seven in all. 22 Joseph Smith Jr. was recognized as the first member of the group, John Smith the sixth, and Alpheus Cutler the seventh but, what of the other four yet unknown? At the present time, we can add two other names to this list. Another Cutlerite document places the second member as Hyrum Smith, the prophet s brother, though there is not a direct statement by Cutler confirming his membership. Hyrum s inclusion would make sense for a number of reasons in Cutlerite thought. First, a pre-church quorum would have naturally included Oliver Cowdery, who was ordained to the priesthood with Joseph Smith, previous to the organization of the church. Cowdery left the church in Three years later, Joseph Smith received a revelation which declared that Hyrum would be crowned with the same blessing, and glory, and honor, and priesthood, and gifts of the priesthood, that once were put upon him that was my servant Oliver Cowdery. 23 Second, the apostles and others in Nauvoo would contend that Hyrum Smith had been appointed as Joseph s successor and would have held this position, had he survived his brother. 24 Third, Alpheus Cutler held Hyrum Smith in extremely high regard and claimed that he had been visited by the martyr in a vision. 25 While discussing the matter with an RLDS missionary, Cutler may have provided a fourth name William Marks. 26 The inclusion of Marks presents further circumstantial evidence for the existence of a quorum of seven. Marks was the third man to receive his second anointing, just days before Alpheus Cutler became the sixth. Like Alpheus Cutler, William Marks was a charter member of the Council of Fifty. Keeping in mind, D. Michael Quinn s assertion that the Quorum of Seven was an executive committee within the Council of Fifty and the Fifty s own relationship with the Holy Order, it would be only 21 D. Michael Quinn, The Council of Fifty and Its Members, 1844 to 1945, BYU Studies 20, no. 2 (Winter 1980), Alpheus Cutler to Zenos H. Gurley,quoted in Fletcher and Fletcher, Alpheus Cutler and the Church of Jesus Christ, Doctrine and Covenants 124: Clayton, An Intimate Chronicle, Minutes of church service, February 20, 1860, box 1, folder 2, p. 54; Minutes of church service, January 6, 1861, box 1, folder 3, p. 87 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 26 W. W. Blair, The Memoirs of President W.W. Blair, comp. Frederick B. Blair (Lamoni, IA: Herald Publishing House, 1908), 80.

92 80 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL fitting that Marks would be a member of this group. It was Hyrum Smith and William Marks who personally administered the second anointing to Joseph Smith. Had Marks been a member of the quorum, it would follow that Alpheus Cutler would view him out of the quorum in In fact, while serving as a member of the high council, Cutler had participated in William Marks excommunication trial in the fall of Originally, a supporter of Sidney Rigdon, Marks would later become affiliated with James J. Strang and then Charles Thompson. It is in this context that Marks provides us with circumstantial evidence for the existence of a quorum of seven. Thompson s newspaper, Zion s Harbinger and Baneemy s Organ, published references to the Council of Fifty along with other sensitive information learned through Marks. Perhaps not coincidentally, a booklet published by Thompson refers to Seven Princes leading the Kingdom of God. 27 Thus, early Cutlerite sources identify five men as members of the Quorum of Seven: Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, William Marks, John Smith, and Alpheus Cutler. Regardless of the details, Alpheus Cutler saw the hope of the Saints in the Kingdom of God, a quorum of priesthood above and separate from the church. Through his position in the kingdom, he had the authority to reorganize the church. Latter-day Saints ascribed to the notion of dispensationalism. Theologians commonly divided the history of time into seven acts, in each of which God dispensed his work anew, often differently than before. According to the Book of Mormon, the last period would be subdivided into two parts: the times of the gentiles and the times of Israel. During the times of the gentiles, people of European descent would receive the Mormon gospel and, through missionary efforts, have the opportunity to become numbered among the House of Israel. Yet eventually, when the Gentiles shall sin against [the] Gospel, a new period would begin in which the Lamanites would be the central focus of God s work. These prophecies included apocalyptic allusions to war and disaster for the unbelieving gentiles (i.e. the whites ) at the hands of the House of Israel. The House of Israel shall go through among them, and shall tread them down. 28 Cutlerites believed that the last days of Nauvoo signaled the shift to this new era. They based this on two major events: the martyrdom of their prophet, Joseph Smith and the delayed completion of the Nauvoo Temple. The former represented the rejection of the gentile people as a whole, while the latter represented the rejection of the church. The rejection of the church was based on a divinely appointed deadline for the construction of the Nauvoo Temple. In 1841, Joseph Smith received a revelation commanding the Saints to build a temple and boarding house in 27 Charles B. Thompson, [Preface and Errata of the] Great Divine Charter and Sacred Constitution of IABBA s Universal and Everlasting Kingdom (1870, repr., Philadelphia, 1873) Nephi 16:9 15.

93 BLYTHE: New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology 81 the vicinity of Nauvoo. The revelation also announced that the newly revealed ordinance of baptism for the dead was to be performed exclusively within the temple walls. However, the revelation allowed the Saints to continue the performance of vicarious baptisms outside of the temple until they have had sufficient time to build a house unto me. Deity warned the Saints if they did not complete the temple before the the end of the appointment [they would] be rejected as a church, with [their] dead. 29 Later, Smith announced that the Saints could no longer perform baptisms until the temple had been completed. In retrospect, the Cutlerites and others interpreted this announcement as a divine rejection of the original Mormon church. Although there is no evidence that Alpheus Cutler held this view before the Silver Creek period, by 1853, the Cutlerites had already come to believe that the church had been rejected. This concept may have stemmed from the teachings of Lyman Wight, who had interaction with the movement in the late 1840s. 30 Wight had concluded as early as February 1844 that the church would not live up to its responsibility to construct the temple in a reasonable time. 31 Regardless of whether Lyman Wight and Alpheus Cutler had come to this conclusion independently or in response to the other, Cutler had accepted the concept of the rejected church by the 1840s. In 1849, LDS apostle Orson Hyde suggested that the Silver Creek branch was teaching that there is no organization, nor in the [Salt Lake] Valley; that the church is disorganized at present. 32 The second aspect of the times of Israel was the rejection of the gentiles as a whole. Following the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints halted missionary work among those of European descent in the United States. For example, Brighamite missionaries did not proselytize in the U.S. again until The Cutlerites also subscribed to this view, but emphasized the new missionary endeavor that would occur among the House of Israel, specifically the Native Americans (Lamanites). As one Cutlerite, Marcus Shaw, explained in an 1863 conference address: there was a work that was to be carried out after the death of the Prophet [Joseph Smith] and of the work going to the house of Israel and of Alpheus Cutler carrying the same to them. 34 In another sermon, Shaw preached, show me the man that has carried the gospel to the house of Israel for that individual 29 Doctrine and Covenants 124: Jorgensen, Conflict in the Camps of Israel, Lyman Wight to First Presidency, February 15, 1844, in History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols., ed. B. H. Roberts (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1912), 6: Frontier Guardian, May 2, 1849, 1:7. 33 St. Louis Missouri, Conference Minutes, From Bill Hartley Notes, series IX, box 33, folder 13, item 17, Leonard Arrington Papers, Special Collections and Archives, Merrill- Cazier Library, Utah State University, Logan, UT (originals at LDS Archives). 34 Minutes of conference, April 6, 1863, box 1, folder 2, p. 42 (MSS 2394, LTPSC).

94 82 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL holds authority above all other authorities that may come. 35 For the Cutlerites, this man was Alpheus Cutler. As explained by Luman Calkins during the high council investigations of 1849, the Cutlerites believed that Cutler held full directional control of Mormon-Indian affairs. 36 Certainly from the beginning of his mission up to 1851, Cutler s full attention was turned to the Native American people or as they were often called by Cutlerites: Lamanites, Israel, or the red men of the forest. 37 The Lamanites would be a key in fulfilling Last Days prophecy, particularly the establishment of the rule of the Kingdom of God. Even after the suspension of the Kansas mission, the responsibility to convert the Lamanites remained a crucial part of the Cutlerite psyche. In the 1860s, following the death of Alpheus Cutler, the Cutlerites traveled to Minnesota with renewed hopes of bringing the Mormon gospel to the local Native Americans. 38 The third theological focus was the continuation of the overarching emphasis of Joseph Smith s ministry the creation of Zion. 39 According to an 1831 revelation, the Lord had appointed a spot for the establishment of a future utopia in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri. 40 The Saints envisioned a temple in the frontier town to fulfill the biblical prophecy of Isaiah: And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord s house shall be established... and all nations shall flow unto it... for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the world of the Lord from Jerusalem. 41 In 1833, the Latter-day Saints were driven from Jackson County and later from Missouri altogether. Yet the redemption of Zion remained a prominent theme throughout nineteenth-century Mormonism. An 1834 revelation informed the Saints of the reasons for their exile from the designated city of Zion. Specifically they were not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom; And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom. 42 They were not united as a people, nor had they implemented the law of consecration. 35 Minutes of church meeting, February 22, 1863, box 1, folder 5, 38 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 36 Orson Hyde, George A. Smith, and Ezra T. Benson, Report to Brigham Young and Council of Twelve, Jorgensen, Building the Kingdom of God, For a full discussion of the Cutlerites efforts among the Native Americans of Minnesota, see Biloine Whiting Young, Obscure Believers: The Mormon Schism of Alpheus Cutler (St. Paul, MN: Pogo Press, 2002), For a full comparative study on Zion (specifically Jackson County) in Restoration thought see Craig S. Campbell, Images of the New Jerusalem: Latter Day Saint Faction Interpretations of Independence, Missouri (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2004). 40 Doctrine and Covenants Isaiah 2: Doctrine and Covenants 105:3 4.

95 BLYTHE: New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology 83 The Cutlerites, although participants in the trek from Nauvoo through Iowa, believed the greater exodus west would only delay the true task of redeeming Zion. 43 In Cutlerite prophecy, the Lord s people would be brought into the Promised Land through the efforts of a modern-day Joshua. Their leader, Alpheus Cutler, would perform this messianic role. This was in part because, back in 1838, Cutler had been appointed to be the master workman or chief architect of the temple at Far West, Missouri. 44 A prophecy soon spread among the people, stating Father Cutler s trowel is going to ring in the Temple walls of Jackson County. 45 During a January 6, 1861 church service, Cutler specifically prophesied that he would be standing in Zion, if he lived to be 80 years old. 46 That gave the Saints about four years until Cutler s eightieth birthday on February 29, The memoirs of Joseph Smith III provide us with an outsider commentary on what the young prophet perceived as fanaticism in response to this prophecy: They had become imbued with the idea that God would soon command them to gather to Zion. So strong was this belief among them that they had made ready wagons, tents and other appurtenances of nomadic life and were ready, at a moment s notice, to throw their household goods into the vehicles and start for Independence Among these people who held to Elder Cutler, there was so strong a belief that such a call would soon come, that they would not furnish their houses enough to even make themselves comfortable, nor make proper improvements upon their lands, notwithstanding the fact that they were located in one of the very best and most fertile parts of Southern Iowa. 47 In the 1860s, Cutlerites came to consider it their responsibility to remain always prepared to begin the great trek back to Jackson County, Missouri, that would begin the fulfillment of God s promises to his people. This theme was recalled often during the first several decades of Cutlerite history, until a group of Cutlerites in the 1920s constructed a church in Jackson County, near the temple site. 48 The Cutlerites made several attempts throughout their history to implement the communal teachings of Joseph Smith. However, they interpreted consecration differently at different times. The first communal efforts at Silver Creek ended with a scandal referred to cryptically as the tight jacket. Although 43 Richard E. Bennett, Lamanism, Lymanism, and Cornfields, Fletcher and Fletcher, Alpheus Cutler and the Church of Jesus Christ, Hyde, Smith, and Benson, Report to Brigham Young and Council of Twelve, p Box 1, folder 3, pp (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 47 Joseph Smith III, Memoirs of Joseph Smith III, ed. Mary Audentia Smith Anderson and Richard P. Howard (Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1979), Biloine Whiting Young, Obscure Believers, 186. See also Danny L. Jorgensen, Back to Zion: The Emergence of the Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) and Its Return to Independence, Missouri in Scattering of the Saints: Schism within Mormonism, ed. Newell G. Bringhurst and John C. Hamer (Independence, MO: John Whitmer Books, 2007),

96 84 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL church records do not provide the details of this communal attempt, some of the Cutlerites were apparently deceived into believing that Cutler had approved of something they did when he actually had not. 49 After their arrival in Manti, Alpheus encouraged his followers to consecrate informally, by meeting the needs of their neighbors. Chauncey Whiting later described this teaching as come down with all but not put it in his hand. 50 Cutler also became trusteein-trust over the organization and sometimes requested specific properties and funds for the church. An organized united order was not formed during Cutler s lifetime; nevertheless, Cutlerite sermons promised that when members of the Church of Jesus Christ would truly live the law of consecration, the earth will begin to quake before us, then you will begin to see the Lamanites receive [the gospel], and that Zion can be redeemed. 51 For Cutlerites, this meant the communal order was essential. The Saints would have to come to a point, by which they were worthy to participate in the assignments God had in store for them, then they could effectively teach the Lamanites the restored gospel and finally they could return to Jackson County. The Organization On the basis of the above theology, the Cutlerites founded a new Mormon church to replace the previously rejected organization. Realizing their proselytizing efforts were rendering little to no results, the Cutlerites left Silver Creek. They arrived in Fremont County, Iowa, in Alpheus Cutler, always mindful of sacred space, had seen the area in a vision before their arrival. 52 They later named their new town Manti, after a city in the Book of Mormon. Manti was designed to be a way station where the people could begin to work toward the threefold process of the Last Days, as discussed above. The Cutlerites frequently spoke of preparation. They prepared by becoming worthy to bring the gospel to the Lamanites and to redeem Zion. In Manti, Cutler s theology began to take on an organizational form. On September 8, 1853, Alpheus baptized several individuals into the kingdom of God. He had determined that without a divinely recognized church, the Saints could claim membership in the kingdom of God via baptismal rites. Ultimately, 49 Minutes of council meeting, July 14, 1868, box 1, folder 7, pp (MSS 2394, LTPSC). Cutlerites discussed the tight jacket during a July 14, 1868 meeting, in which members covenanted to once again dedicate all they possessed to be governed by the voice of the council of High Priests. During this meeting, certain individuals objected to the new covenant based on their previous experience at Silver Creek. 50 Box 2, folder 6, p. 2 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 51 Statement from Joseph E. Fletcher, 1884, box 1, folder 4, p. 59 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 52 Minutes of council meeting, December 26, 1859, box 1, folder 2, p. 51 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). For further reading, see Michael S. Riggs, The Cutlerite Migration to Minnesota: An Epic Perilous Journey into Diaspora, in Bringhurst and Hamer, Scattering of the Saints,

97 BLYTHE: New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology 85 this situation was temporary, awaiting a commandment to reestablish the church organization. According to a twentieth-century history, Cutler witnessed a divinely appointed manifestation two back-to-back half moons in the sky. The sign confirmed his revelation to reorganize the church. 53 On September 19, 1853, Cutler conducted the first baptisms into the newly reorganized Church of Jesus Christ. The rejection of the original church had subsequently rendered all previous ordinances void; thus, over a period of time each of Cutler s followers was rebaptized. 54 In contrast, Father Cutler did not suffer himself to be rebaptized, stating that he would not sever the tie between himself and Joseph Smith. 55 A similar pattern followed in regard to priesthood ordinations and other ordinances. Just as previous baptisms needed to be performed anew, priesthood ordinations, with the exception of Cutler s own, were considered invalid. Even those men Cutler ordained between 1846 and 1853 were reordained under the new organization. The recording of the first reordinations refers to this process as a reconfirmation of the priesthood, suggesting that the men would have considered themselves previously possessed of ecclesiastical authority. 56 Nevertheless, reordinations, like rebaptisms were more than a formality. This was the design of a new people. Cutlerites frequently proclaimed that their movement received the priesthood entirely through Alpheus Cutler. 57 These reordinations were a crucial step in forming an independent body of the Restoration, no longer linked to any other group. The process of reordination provides insight into Cutler s methods of leadership. Whereas, he could have promptly organized the church hierarchy with all of its quorums as they existed in Nauvoo (the resources were available), he opted to begin a slow process, lasting several years, of reordaining individuals as they proved themselves faithful. Cutler was less concerned with organization than with the development of his followers. When Cutlerites were eventually chosen by church leaders to receive reordination, those who had served as elders and high priests were ordained to the office they previously possessed. However, Cutler ordained those men who had been seventies, the most popular priesthood office in Nauvoo, to the office of high priest. In Manti, religious life revolved around advancement. The Cutlerites, as a community, strived to advance to greater righteousness to eventually be worthy 53 Fletcher and Fletcher, Alpheus Cutler and the Church of Jesus Christ, An Extract from Some of Chauncey Whiting s Writings, box 1, folder 4, p. 63 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). According to Chauncey Whiting: In view of rejecting the Church... he required baptism of all old or new members who united with him. This move entirely separated him and his followers from all the present factions of the Church. 55 Fletcher and Fletcher, Alpheus Cutler and the Church of Jesus Christ, List of ordinations, box 1, folder 1, p. 36 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 57 Minutes of church meeting, January 8, 1860, box 1, folder 1, p. 78 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). Cutler himself stated that the Priesthood the people of Manti had got, had come from him, and if they did not use it right he would take it from them, and take it home.

98 86 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL of Zion. As individuals, they sought self-mastery in order to be considered for advancement in the priesthood. 58 Males were first ordained as priests in the Aaronic Priesthood, then elders in the Melchezidek Priesthood, and finally high priests. Cutlerite sermons from this period stressed the essential nature of the office of high priest. Yet during an 1860 church service, Cutler warned his followers not to think that even the high priest ordination was sufficient, for there were two keys remaining, an allusion to ordination as a king and priest through the second anointing ceremony associated with the Holy Order and later with the temple in Nauvoo. 59 This was the same ritual that had provided Alpheus Cutler with the fullness of the Melchezidek Priesthood and was thought to guarantee exaltation for its recipients. 60 These final keys, along with the preliminary endowment ceremony, pertained to entrance in the kingdom of God. In 1868, Cutlerite leader Calvin G. Fletcher declared that this Church stands in a different situation [than the Church in 1844] and of the most belonging to the Kingdom. 61 Cutlerites distinguished between the kingdom order, which according to their understanding, came to mean a governing quorum of seven men, and the kingdom in a broader sense consisting of all those who had advanced. When a man or woman, received the temple ordinances, they became a part of the kingdom. According to many Cutlerite sermons of the period, Alpheus Cutler was building a kingdom of priests. One was first a member of the church and then advanced to the kingdom. Cutler s reorganization stemmed from his theology: namely, the concept that the church was subordinate to the Kingdom of God. The times of Israel, with its corresponding rejection of the earlier church, demanded the creation of a new organization; and thus, in 1853, Cutler acted under the authority of the kingdom to reorganize the Church of Jesus Christ. Church Government While the basic framework for the church followed the 1844 church organization, there were several innovations, reflecting Cutler s views of changing times. Most noticeably within Cutler s 1853 reorganization, is the absence of three major priesthood offices: apostle, seventy, and bishop; and the additions of two unique positions in the hierarchy: church president and church interpreter. 58 See for example, conference minutes, October 6, 1863, box 1, folder 2, p. 46 (MSS 2394, LTP- SC). 59 Minutes of church meeting, January 29, 1860, box 1, folder 1, p. 81 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 60 See David John Buerger, The Mysteries of Godliness (San Francisco: Signature Books, 1994), Conference minutes, April 6, 1868, box 1, folder 7, p. 28 (MSS 2394, LTPSC).

99 BLYTHE: New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology 87 Nevertheless, at the founding meeting of the Church of Jesus Christ, only three positions were recognized. According to the minutes, firstly Br. Alpheus Cutler [was] chosen our head or chief councilor and sustained by a unanimous vote. Secondly Br. Edmund Fisher [was] chosen and sustained as President of the Church of Jesus Christ by clear vote. Thirdly Chauncey Whiting [was] chosen and sustained as Clerk of the Church of Jesus Christ by clear vote. 62 Later, both Alpheus Cutler as the president of the Melchezidek Priesthood and Edmund Fisher as president of the church had two counselors to assist them in their responsibilities. 63 The division between Cutler s role as head or chief councilor and Fisher s role as president of the church was based on a precedence left by Joseph Smith. As Joseph Smith had desired to make Hyrum Smith the prophet in Joseph s place, Alpheus Cutler had instituted a position below his own to deal with the business affairs of the church organization. However, the comparison between Cutler s organization and Joseph s proposal to have Hyrum take over the office of prophet is limited. The Church of Jesus Christ did not consider Edmund Fisher to be a prophet. Alpheus Cutler was clearly the prophet in his position of chief councilor. Rather Fisher s position consisted of day-to-day affairs. Cutler s position of chief counselor was a not-so-veiled reference to his position in the Council of Fifty. In the Kingdom of God meetings in Nauvoo, the council was ranked according to age. In 1853, seventy-three-year-old, John Smith was the only surviving Council of Fifty member ranked ahead of Alpheus Cutler. Considering John Smith out of the quorum, Cutler was thus the eldest member of the Council of Fifty. If in 1853, Joseph Smith were alive and still meeting with his council, Cutler would have been the first voice in the meeting Smith s right-hand man or chief councilor. The addition of a church presidency does not suggest that Cutler was forming a more-complicated church hierarchy than the original. Rather, Cutler separated the operational side of the church from the charismatic. The existence of a church president allowed Cutler to focus on receiving revelation acting in the role of a traditional prophet. Of course, dividing the two positions may have appealed to Cutler for another reason; in 1853, he was nearly seventy years old and it had become important for others to assist him with the day-to-day direction of his people. Cutler did eventually establish a more-practical church government, including priesthood quorums: first, an elder s quorum in 1856; a priest s quorum in 1857; and finally, a high priest s quorum in On April 6, 1858, Alpheus was sustained in a second role as president of the high priests quorum. 65 These quorums seem to have largely followed their Nauvoo precursors. Yet 62 Organization of the church, September 19, 1853, box 1, folder 1, p. 1 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 63 Conference minutes, April 6, 1856, box 1, folder 1, p. 90 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 64 Box 1, folder 1, p. 51 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 65 Conference minutes, April 6, 1858, box 1, folder 2, p. 2 (MSS 2394, LTPSC).

100 88 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL unlike Nauvoo, the Church of Jesus Christ had neither a quorum of apostles nor a quorum of seventies. As I have suggested, such variants can only be understood by considering Cutler s theology in this case, as it relates to the times of Israel. Between 1835 and 1844, the specific responsibilities of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, under Joseph Smith, gradually developed. 66 The initial concept of the apostleship was a traveling council providing leadership over evangelistic efforts and church government outside the organized stakes. Those in the position of seventy acted as assistants to this missionary and leadership effort. Eventually, under the apostolic administration of postmartyrdom Nauvoo, the offices of apostle and seventy evolved into a new level of prominence throughout the church. 67 The exclusion of a quorum of twelve apostles in the Cutlerite church has caused many scholars familiar with typical Mormon ecclesiastical structure to wonder at the cause. 68 For example, D. Michael Quinn has suggested that Alpheus Cutler secretly accepted the original twelve apostles as the legitimate head of the Restoration. In this theory, because there could be only one Quorum of Twelve Apostles, Cutler did not establish their rivals in his organization. 69 Quinn cites as evidence, the report of a private statement by Cutler to his grandson Abraham Alonzo Kimball: I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and I know that Brigham Young is his legal successor, and I always did know it! 70 However, the absence of the seventy, as seen in the church records, must be seen as a complementary anomaly. Both quorums were in charge of missionary efforts outside of the central gathering of the Saints. Joseph Smith s revelations had not placed a limit to the number of seventies who could be appointed in the church; thus, even if Quinn s suggestion is correct concerning the twelve, this could not also be true of the seventy. Cutler could have ordained members of the seventy without rivaling the twelve, but did not. Of course, the serious flaw in this theory is that it privileges the private account of a single and likely biased memoir to Cutler s own well-documented views and actions. Quinn s idea requires a belief that Alpheus, though bold in his statements concerning a rejection of the church, was hesitant in doing anything that would officially sever the two organizations. 66 Robert Esplin, Joseph, Brigham, and the Twelve: A Succession of Continuity, BYU Studies 21, no. 3 (Summer 1981): See William G. Hartley, Nauvoo Stake, Priesthood Quorums, and the Church s First Wards, BYU Studies 32, no. 1 2 (Winter Spring 1991): See, for example, Danny L. Jorgensen, Fiery Darts of the Adversary: An Interpretation of Early Cutlerism, John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 10 (1990): D. Michael Quinn, Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994), Cited in Quinn, Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, 209.

101 BLYTHE: New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology 89 The reorganization of the twelve apostles would have been meaningless in Manti. Missionary work had not been a focus since the establishment of Cutler s church. Specifically, the absence of a quorum of twelve was an outgrowth of Cutler s views regarding proselytizing during the times of Israel. Alpheus Cutler believed that the authority to perform missionary work among the Native Americans had been re-invested in the Council of Fifty, which included him, rather than the twelve apostles. The missing office of bishop is somewhat more unusual in a community that emphasized the law of consecration as a means to redeem Zion. Bishops had traditionally directed the church s communal efforts, as Luman Calkins did as a bishop in the Silver Creek branch. Like other colonies, the bishop worked alongside the branch president, as one of the two essential community officers. Yet, once Cutler reorganized the church, Calkins ceased to function in his temporal capacity. On December 9, 1877, over a decade after Cutler s death, a Cutlerite council debated the propriety of having a bishop in the church. 71 Two suggestions were offered to explain why Cutler had been reluctant to utilize the position. First, it was suggested that the position of bishop belonged to Luman Calkins by right and because Alpheus knew what kind of man he was, did not want him to for one. 72 In the Silver Creek branch, Calkins had considered himself Cutler s right-hand man. 73 On January 22, 1858, however, Calkins had been excommunicated for unlawful acts with his daughter and his reputation in the church had been greatly diminished. 74 Why was it Calkins right to be the community bishop? According to an 1831 revelation, a man had a legal right to the office of bishop if he was a firstborn son of Aaron. 75 Calkins patriarchal blessing declares his lineage was not Levi through Aaron, but through Ephraim. 76 Though frequently referred to as the royal bloodline, lineage through Ephraim did not provide Calkins any right to the office of bishop. So, then, why were some under the impression that Calkins would have been the obvious choice for bishop of the colony? The answer is that Luman Calkins had previously served as the community bishop before the 1853 reorganization. At some point before 1853, this ordination, as all others, had ceased to be recognized. Yet, in the December 9, 1877, meeting, one Cutlerite reasoned that just as all priesthood offices were reordained in their exact same position as previous to the Cutlerite reorganization, Cutler would have felt the necessity 71 Conference minutes, December 9, 1877, box 1, folder 11, p. 4 7 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 72 Ibid., Jorgensen, Conflict in the Camps of Israel, Minutes of high council, April 22, 1858, box 1, folder 1, p. 58 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 75 Doctrine and Covenants 68: I am indebted to Danny Jorgensen for providing me with a typescript of this portion of the Pliny Fisher Patriarchal Blessing Book (originals at Community of Christ Library-Archives).

102 90 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL to appoint Calkins to his old calling. For early Cutlerites, with few exceptions such as priesthood advancement, callings were permanent throughout a man s association with the church. Being released from a position, without attaining to a higher rank, seems to have been reserved strictly as a method of rebuke. On the other hand, another Cutlerite provided a counter argument for the lack of a bishop, arguing that the true cause was the unique situation of the Cutlerite people: they had a prophet who could act as the mediator over consecration, rather than provide a tier of middle management to the church hierarchy. The responsibility of consecration was too essential for the redemption of Zion to be delegated to another. According to this argument, the people would take a step down to have a bishop. 77 Though this is a reasonable suggestion, it would appear that the financial concerns of the church were decided by the Council of High Priests, rather than invested to one man, whether it was a bishop or Alpheus Cutler. I would suggest that the reason Cutler failed to add the position of bishop was the anticipation of the church s return to Zion. A bishop who established inheritances for the Saints seemed advantageous for a permanent structure, but not so much for a church that saw itself on the verge of an exodus. There is one position in the Cutlerite church hierarchy that has never been duplicated in other expressions of the Restoration the church interpreter. In 1860, Alpheus Cutler ordained Squire Eggleston to the calling of an interpreter. With that ordination, Eggleston became responsible for interpreting the spiritual gift of tongues, a practice that was quite prevalent among the early Cutlerites. Like other church leaders, Eggleston was sustained (that is publically recognized and symbolically ratified) annually in his position during general conference. He frequently spoke in church meetings concerning the spiritual gifts and was more often called upon to use his power of interpretation. On at least one occasion, Squire Eggleston provided the interpretation for a patriarchal blessing that had been revealed through the gift of tongues. 78 Cutler s institution of this office cannot be explained by the earlier theological discussion. Rather this position seems to be practical. The gift of tongues, if interpreted by fringe members, could have disastrous results. Thus, Cutler chose a trusted follower to define the gift. Ultimately, the calling of interpreter became established in the Cutlerite psyche and would be seen as an integral part of the church organization. With Eggleston s excommunication in the 1860s, another interpreter was appointed to fill his place. With the loss of a major portion of church membership at this time, there was a shift in the practice of spiritual gifts during public meetings. A discussion of seemingly spiritual dreams replaced the manifestations of tongues. Again, the calling of interpreter was re-envisioned to 77 Conference minutes, December 9, 1877, box 1, folder 11, p. 7 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 78 Patriarchal blessing given to Chauncey Whiting, February 1, 1856, box 1, folder 4, p. 41 (MSS 2394, LTPSC).

103 BLYTHE: New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology 91 meet the need to explain and define spiritual dreams. 79 The office of interpreter existed through the turn of the century, but disappeared from the records by the 1920s. Conclusion Individuals have often wondered why the Cutlerite ecclesiastical organization looks so different from that of other Restoration churches. This includes the major absence of a quorum of twelve apostles and the separation of the church president from the president of the priesthood. In this paper, I have argued that Alpheus Cutler developed the distinct Cutlerite church structure as he was guided by the theology of early Mormonism, yet determined by his own specific doctrinal emphasis. Specifically, the theological seeds of the Nauvoo period were already sown in the group s thought, from at least the Silver Creek period. This thought process included primarily three doctrinal focuses: first, the Cutlerites asserted that there was a kingdom order in authority above the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; second, a new era was ushered in following the assassination of Joseph Smith and the delayed completion of the Nauvoo Temple; and, third, the redemption of Zion and the return of the Saints to Jackson County, were imminent events, yet could only be brought about through the advancement of the Saints individually and collectively, by living the necessary laws of consecration. This theological formula was based on a Nauvoo precedent and established in the Cutlerite psyche in Silver Creek. It later formed the ecclesiastical organization of the newly organized Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite). Their understanding of the priesthood above the church, justified the reorganization, allowed the Cutlerites to bring the prophet position out of the everyday mundane responsibility of leading a religious group, and instituted an understanding of advancement. The Cutlerite understanding of the times of Israel rendered unnecessary the offices of apostle and seventy. A zeal for the redemption of Zion overshadowed more organized efforts of consecration; thus, the community had no functioning bishop. It is worthwhile to consider a counter argument to my thesis; namely, that Alpheus Cutler had a limited number of resources from which to draw his leadership. Therefore, he organized his ecclesiastical structure based on constraints namely lack of manpower. His theology then developed in response to this restriction. This paradigm is useful for explaining the structural changes that have occurred within the church in the twentieth century. A lack of resources demanded that the Cutlerites begin to utilize women in church callings that would have otherwise been reserved solely for men. For example, during a 1956 conference, president Clyde Fletcher stated: I think we are short 79 See for example, minutes of council meeting, February 8, 1885, box 2, folder 2, p. 28 (MSS 2394, LTPSC).

104 92 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL on officers. The only way I can see how to work is to put Amy Whiting in as acting secretary until other arrangements can be made. 80 Another example is Edna Fletcher, from whom we are indebted for access to the Cutlerite church records. In 1960, she was called as custodian of the church records, and in 1963, as church historian. 81 Likewise, a limited number of males explains the late-twentieth-century practice of one man serving both as a member of the presidency of the church and the presidency of the Melchezidek Priesthood. Yet this paradigm does not sufficiently explain the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ. Despite having limited numbers, Cutler certainly had enough members to form a quorum of twelve apostles. This was the first step undertaken in other organizations, including the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Cutler s first step was to divide the office of church president from the president of the kingdom. This peculiar decision and others have been explained within the context of Cutlerite theology. In addition, because these doctrines predated the Cutlerite church we can be sure they did not develop in response to constraints brought about by structure. Since the death of Alpheus Cutler, the Cutlerites have gone through changes, such as their use of female adherents to perform tasks previously done only by males. The community no longer believes in the ease of revelation and the gifts of prophecy, tongues, and dreams have gradually diminished. Even the president of the priesthood the prophet, seer, and revelator, Stan Whiting waits with his church, for the coming Moses man who will redeem Zion and unite the Restoration. 82 Following the 1920s, the Cutlerites found themselves enmeshed in interdenominational discussions in Jackson County, Missouri. Their participation in this theological dialogue helped them redefine themselves as a church. Cutlerites today do not stress their identity through Alpheus Cutler rather, they look back to Joseph Smith. They have taken the view that Joseph Smith instituted the only teachings of Mormonism that should be considered canonical. Thus, Cutlerites defend the Lectures on Faith and the 1844 version of the Doctrine and Covenants, as Joseph Smith, not Alpheus Cutler, was the lawgiver to this dispensation. The Cutlerites, however, have not forgotten Joseph Smith s vision of an esoteric gospel. According to an important Cutlerite president and theologian, Rupert J. Fletcher: Few people grasp the greatness of the plan of salvation as held forth in the scriptures, because of the unwritten part which they never see and never know, unless they advance far enough to be taken through the higher order of the priesthood, as 80 Minutes of conference, October 6, 1956, box 2, folder 8, p. 40 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 81 Ibid.; Minutes of conference, April 6, 1963, box 2, folder 8, p. 42 (MSS 2394, LTPSC). 82 Author s interview with Stan Whiting, February 4, 2002.

105 BLYTHE: New Insights into Nineteenth-century Cutlerite Ecclesiology 93 these things are handed down from one generation to another and this is the only way they are obtained. 83 The Church of Jesus Christ has preserved this higher order in the upper room of their chapel through the perpetuation of endowment ceremonies associated with the Nauvoo Temple. Structurally, the movement seems to have followed a similar pattern under Cutler s successors. A bishop was eventually appointed and after relocating to Minnesota, the church instituted a more-enduring form of the united order. The separation of church president and president of the Melchezidek Priesthood remains a crucial component of the Cutlerite worldview even when the lack of priesthood holders forces some men to serve in both presidencies. Christopher James Blythe (christopher.blythe@aggi .usu.edu) is a graduate student in the history department at Utah State University. He received a BA in anthropology from Texas A&M in 2004 and a BA in religious studies from Utah State University in He is currently serving as the editor of the Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies and is the codirector of Mormonisms: An Oral History Project. 83 Rupert J. Fletcher, The Scattered Children of Zion (Independence, MO: Rupert J. Fletcher, 1959), 43.

106 Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism* D. Michael Quinn Everyone in this audience is acquainted with the concept of Us-versus- Them, or more fundamentally with the feeling of Us-Them. As an existential experience, it s not a warm, fuzzy feeling but instead is visceral, gut level. Paradoxically, because it s so familiar, there s benefit in considering what various people have written about the concept and experience. Drawing on the ideas of German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte, American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson considered it from the even more isolating position of what s me and not me. The same year that Joseph Smith Jr. dedicated the Kirtland Temple 1 Emerson popularized the unnamed Fichte s viewpoint by publishing an essay about nature, emphasizing all that is separate from us, all which Philosophy distinguishes as the NOT ME. 2 In 1906, Yale sociologist William Graham Sumner coined the terms ingroup and out-group to describe the social dynamics of those philosophical categories. Thus a differentiation arises between ourselves the we-group or in-group and everybody else or the others-groups or out-groups. He concluded that the in-group internally manifested comradeship, peace, law, * This is an expanded and retitled version of a talk presented September 26, 2008 at the annual meeting of the John Whitmer Historical Association in Burlington, Wisconsin. 1 Roger D. Launius, The Kirtland Temple: A Historical Narrative (Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1986). 2 Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature (1836), in The Complete Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (New York: Wm. H. Wise, 1929), 1; also discussed in Giles Gunn, The Interpretation of Otherness: Literature, Religion, and the American Imagination (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979), 182; Alfred I. Tauber, The Philosopher as Prophet: The Case of Emerson and Thoreau, Philosophy in the Contemporary World 10 (Fall-Winter 2003): 90 ( Emerson was not the originator of these ideas, but he was their chief American expositor ), 91 (for his use of Fichte s radical assertion of the knowing I ). With typical American informality, Emerson translated the German Nicht-Ich (Not-I) of Fichte s Science of Knowledge ( ) into the colloquial NOT ME. See Donald M. Borchert, ed., Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd ed., 10 vols. (Detroit: Macmillan References USA/Thomson/Gale, 2006), 3:615.

107 QUINN: Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism 95 and order, while the relation to all out-groups was one of suspicion, hostility, plunder, and subjugation if possible. 3 Forty-one years later, French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas wrote: The Other as Other is not only an alter ego: the Other is what I myself am not. He added: The relationship with the other is not an idyllic and harmonious relationship of communion, or a sympathy through which we put ourselves in the other s place; we recognize the other as resembling us, but exterior to us; the relationship with the other is a relationship with a Mystery. 4 In 1950, American psychologist Daniel J. Levinson described the generality of out-group rejection. It is as if the ethnocentric individual feels threatened by most of the groups to which he does not have a sense of belonging; if he cannot identify, he must oppose; if a group is not acceptable, it is alien. The ingroupoutgroup distinction thus becomes the basis for most of his social thinking. 5 Sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson observed in 1978, Our brains do appear to be programmed to the following extent: we are inclined to partition other people into friends and aliens... We tend to fear deeply the actions of strangers and to solve conflict by aggression. 6 More recently, in his book Fear of Strangers, sociobiologist David Allen expanded that view: There is practically no such thing in nature as an easy and relaxed acceptance of a stranger, without turmoil, tension, and stress. 7 And that s characteristic of the animal kingdom from mammals to insects. If this isn t overstating what I ve observed in films of the microscopic world found in lakes, Allen s observation is even true for one-celled organisms like a paramecium. 3 William Graham Sumner, Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1906), 12, 496. Sumner provided an elegant formulation (with many ethnographic examples) of the idea previously suggested by English philosopher Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Ethics, 2 vols. (New York: D. Appleton, ), 1: ( it holds, both of rude tribes and of civilized societies, that they have had continually to carry on an external self-defence and internal co-operation external antagonism and internal friendship. Hence their members have required two different sets of sentiments and ideas, adjusted to these two kinds of activity ). 4 Emmanuel Levinas, Time and the Other (1947), in The Levinas Reader, ed. Sean Hand (Oxford: Blackwell, 1989), 48, Daniel J. Levinson, The Study of Ethnocentric Ideology, in The Authoritarian Personality, ed. Theodor W. Adorno, et al. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950), 147, emphasis in original. 6 Edward O. Wilson, On Human Nature (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978), David Allen, Fear of Strangers and Its Consequences ([Garnerville, NY]: Bennington Books, 1993), 83. Two generations earlier, British sociobiologist Sir Arthur Keith used the term I will shortly introduce to describe this biological Otherness: Tribalism was Nature s method of bringing about the evolution of man... Hence the duality of man s nature the good, social, or virtuous traits serving intratribal [i.e., Us] economy; the evil, vicious, or antisocial qualities serving the intertribal [i.e., Us-versus-Them] economy and the policy of keeping its genes apart (Evolution and Ethics [New York: G. P. Putnam s Sons, 1947], 25, emphasis added).

108 96 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL In 1984, religious studies professor Richard Eugene Wentz noted that human consciousness finds it exceedingly difficult to deal with its encounters with otherness. 8 Twenty years later, U.S. ambassador Carl Coon expanded the idea: This sense of group identity is central to the way humans organize into social units. The us versus them syndrome is a foundational element of human nature; it assumes that you treat other members of the in-group differently from outsiders. The difference between being a murderer or a wartime hero depends on whether the person you kill is part of your group or not. 9 That s a grim assessment, but generally true. As the pop-culture singing group Pink Floyd described such wars: Us, and them [ ] And after all we re only men [,] Me, and you [.] God only knows [,] it s not what we would choose to do Richard Eugene Wentz, The Contemplation of Otherness: The Critical Vision of Religion (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1984), Carl Coon, One Planet, One People: Beyond Us vs. Them (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2004), Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon, program notes, Capitol Records 1994 CDP , as re-issue of Pink Floyd Music Publishers, Ltd., Following my presentation of this essay as a talk on September 26, 2008, Alma Blair asked me privately: As a member of the Community of Christ, which is one of the Peace Churches, what hope can I have for pacifism? You present Us-versus-Them as hard-wired in humans. My answer might be inadequate, but I find both existential and religious hope in the fact that each of us can choose to resist our genetic predispositions for aggressiveness toward the Other. We have significant examples in our heritage and culture. Aside from whipping money changers during a few moments of seething anger, Jesus chose pacifism. Having once drenched themselves in blood during warfare, the Book of Mormon s Ammonites lived pacifism through solemn covenant. Mennonites did likewise in response to the bloodbath by fellow Anabaptists during the Kingdom of Muenster. Quakers and Jehovah s Witnesses have chosen strict pacifism, despite persecutions by church and state. Gandhi did it in the face of British imperial power and Hindu-Muslim strife. Martin Luther King Jr. chose pacifism in the face of hate-filled American cops with truncheons and attack dogs. Buddhist monks recently maintained their pacifism while being beaten and killed by cops and soldiers in Myanmar (Burma). It can be done. Without giving examples, English evolutionary biologist Robin I. M. Dunbar also expressed this optimistic view in his Sociobiological Explanations and the Evolution of Ethnocentrism, in The Sociobiology of Ethnocentrism: Evolutionary Dimensions of Xenophobia, Discrimination, Racism and Nationalism, ed. Vernon Reynolds, Vincent Falger, and Ian Vine (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1987), 56: Such in-built tendencies are, however, open to considerable cultural manipulation... This can push the underlying tendency in either direction: it can whip it up into rampant xenophobia and racism, or it can all but suppress it, which cited Dunbar s less available essay, The Sociobiology of War, Medicine and War 1, no. 3 (1985):

109 QUINN: Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism 97 Moreover, the differences between Us and Them can be slight. In 1906, Sumner noted that in-groups exaggerate and intensify everything in their own folkways which is peculiar and which differentiates them from others. 11 In his Civilization and Its Discontents, psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud observed: It is always possible to unite considerable numbers of men in love towards one another, so long as there are still some remaining as objects for aggressive manifestations... I gave it the name of narcissism in respect of minor differences... through which cohesion amongst the members of a group is made easier. Although Freud first used that phrase in 1914 about individual relationships, not until this 1930 book did he apply the concept to group dynamics and international relations. 12 Half a century after Civilization and Its Discontents, psychiatrist Vamik D. Volkan published a more elegant explanation of Freud s theory. As long as the enemy group is kept at least at a psychological distance, it gives us aid and comfort, enhancing our cohesion and making comparisons with ourselves gratifying. Furthermore, it is interesting to contemplate the subtle fact that the enemy often resembles us in obvious ways, while what we perceive to be his offense constitutes only a narrow area of disagreement [citing Freud]... We focus, obsessively, when stressed, on our differences in order to cling to the illusion that the enemy is quite unlike us... This process strengthens our sense of self and our sense of solidarity with our side. Volkan added that maintaining this illusion of dramatically significant differences between groups is necessary because the main point of drawing lines between them and us, however specious the justification for those lines may be, is to clarify and affirm the sense of us in a way that strengthens positive self-representation. 13 In the matter of religion, a person s choice to convert is existentially transgressive, socially transgressive, and (most important) tribally transgressive. 14 Religious conversion transforms what is me and not-me /what 11 Sumner, Folkways, Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents, trans. Joan Riviere (1930; London: Hogarth Press/Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1955), Vamik D. Volkan, The Need to Have Enemies and Allies: A Developmental Approach, Political Psychology 6 (June 1985): , which was only partially stated in his more available The Need To Have Enemies and Allies: From Clinical Practice to International Relationships (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1988), Whereas existential transgression had forty-three hits on and tribal transgression had forty-six hits during a Google keyword search on September 12, 2008, I take minor credit for coining the terms existentially transgressive and tribally transgressive, which had no hits. By contrast, socially transgressive had 1,660 hits. Although my essay is the first analysis of Mormon tribalism that I m aware of, various authors have mentioned it for decades. Wallace Stegner, The Gathering of Zion: The Story of the

110 98 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL is us-versus-them, when the convert abandons her or his religion for something new. In the process, the convert becomes the Other while her/his previously allied religionists become the Other to this convert. And there begins the REAL trouble in religious conversion. Having already introduced the concept, let me cite a definition by political science writers Matthew Horsman and Andrew Marshall: By tribalism, we mean the retreat by individuals into communities defined not by political association or by the state borders that enclose a political nation, but by similarities of religion, culture, ethnicity, or some other shared experience. The retreat is driven by fear and confusion, and fed by the reassuring sameness of others in the group. 15 Mormon Trail (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964), 44 ( But the surest image they had of themselves was that of an Old Testament tribe ), 298 ( tribal suspicion ), 314 ( I make no attempt to white wash the Mormon tribal crimes ); Robert Flanders, Some Reflections on the New Mormon History, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 9, no. 1 (1974): 41 ( The New Mormon History... will help dissolve arcane enmities and offer their children a tradition which is less parochial, less tribal, more humane, more universal ); Sterling M. McMurrin, Problems in Universalizing Mormonism, Sunstone 4, no. 17 (December 1979): 11 ( this intense tribalism, the theoretical base of Mormon parochialism to the present time ); Lawrence Foster, Between Heaven and Earth: Mormon Theology of the Family in Comparative Perspective, Sunstone 7, no. 34 (July- August 1982): 11 (on Mormonism s tribal sense of being a chosen people, a New Israel ); Susan Staker Oman, Are Mormons Christian?, Sunstone Review 2 (August 1982): 10 (for Jan Shipps saying in a talk that Mormonism was first of all tribal ); Jan Shipps, Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985), 104 ( a Mormonism that is familial, even tribal ); John D. Nielson, Christ s World Government: An End of Nationalism and War, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 20, no. 3 (Fall 1987): 104 ( Many of us [Mormons] are, in fact, tribal in our orientation ), 105 (the Mormon bondage of tribalism ); Mary Ellen MacArthur, A Member of the Tribe, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 23, no. 1 (Spring 1990): , including ( It s ironic that I have since found in the concept of tribe a way to come to terms with my feelings about the [LDS] Church... it is not only my religion, but also my tribal culture ); Mario S. De Pillis, The Persistence of Mormon Community Into the 1990s, Sunstone 15, no. 84 (October 1991): 30 ( all the Mormons in Utah before 1890 as an example of tribal identity ); Joel Kotkin, Tribes: How Race, Religion, and Identity Determine Success in the New Global Economy (New York: Random House, 1993), (esp. 247 for Mormonism as an emergent global tribe ); Jan Shipps, Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty Years Among the Mormons (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000), 36 ( The most notable attribute of the Mormon culture I first observed was that it was tribal, emphasis in original); Philip L. Barlow, Jan Shipps and the Mainstreaming of Mormon Studies, Church History 73 (June 2004): 413 ( a tribal culture became a new world religion ). Most remarkably, as counselor in the world presidency of the LDS Church s Relief Society organization, Chieko N. Okazaki, Disciples (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998), 149, commented at length on the tribalism of religious exclusivity based on our membership in the [LDS] Church, and concluded: I want to warn us all against this new tribalism, a way of seeing the world that still divides people into us and them. Despite that introductory discussion of tribalism s negative dimensions, she enthused on page 150 that LDS converts now belong to a Mormon tribe. Of the four sources Okazaki cited on page 155, one was Geoffrey Spencer, Put Out into the Deep!, Saints Herald 139, no. 6 (June 1992): Matthew Horsman and Andrew Marshall, After the Nation-State: Citizens, Tribalism and the New World Disorder (London: HarperCollins, 1994), x.

111 QUINN: Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism 99 Because tribalism is characteristic of small groups, writers have condemned its appearance in the larger society. For example, discriminated against first as a Jew and then [as] a German during World War I, [Christian-convert Ludwig] Lewisohn [publicly] denounced Christian-capitalistic civilization as a tribal tyranny loyal only to base-ball and the prohibition of wine, love, speculation and art. 16 And, of course, the smallest tribe is the nuclear family. 17 This is the fact of the matter because (as French sociologist Michel Maffesoli has written) the emotional community is the source of tribalism. 18 Thus, psychologist Raymond B. Cattell wrote decades ago that the evolution of group qualities traditionally occurred in the small familial tribes. 19 If the rest of the convert s familial tribe doesn t join this religious conversion, their reaction is like what you see in the Hollywood movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers: This looks like my mother [or father, or sister, or brother, or daughter, or son], BUT... the previously beloved observer says with a look of bewildered fear: Who are you? And what have you done with my real lovedone? 20 With a much deeper reality than portrayed by this science-fiction movie, the family member becomes not-family through a religious conversion which leaves the convert looking the same, but being perceived as strangely different by the loved ones who remain unconverted. The convert suddenly becomes notkin to her/his family. Ultimately not-human. And the process is repeated with 16 Commentary and quotes in Anne C. Rose, Beloved Strangers: Interfaith Families in Nineteenth-Century America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001), 140, concerning Ludwig Lewisohn, Up Stream: An American Chronicle (New York: Modern Library, 1926). 17 I thought I was inventing the phrase (the smallest tribe is the nuclear family) when I wrote this essay, but discovered that a high school student named Leo ( Location: UK/Australia ) had published those exact words on the Internet more than a year before me. See his message no. 88 on at Thus, I add quotation marks in my text. I ve found references to the family-tribe since the early 1800s. For example, see Ethan Smith, View of the Hebrews: nd Edition Complete Text, ed. Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1996), , for Reverend Smith s additions to a quote from Jeremiah 3:14, and I will take you one of a city (village) and two of a family, (tribe) and will bring you to Zion. One from an Indian village, and two from a tribe, would indeed be a small remnant. 18 Michel Maffesoli, The Time of the Tribes: The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society, trans. Don Smith (London: Sage Publications, 1996), 7, with discussion of the emotional community on pages Raymond B. Cattell, Beyondism: Religion from Science (New York: Praeger, 1987), This is my riff on various lines of dialogue from three Hollywood versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (black and white in 1956, Technicolor in 1978, and a 2007 version titled The Invasion), which I ve applied to a nearly wordless scene in the original movie. In it, a woman and child are in conflict at a medical office because the son fears what appears to be his own mother whose form, voice, memory, and entire identity have been duplicated by an alien who disposed of her while she was sleeping. When next shown, the two are harmonious because the child has also been duplicated and replaced.

112 100 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL neighbors, with village residents, and with town residents in the larger tribes which suddenly discover that a familiar face has become a vexing stranger in their midst. Religious studies professor Anne C. Rose calls the result: beloved strangers. 21 Yet even that is a relatively benign view of the process. Religious studies professor Sylvester A. Johnson has observed that the tribalism of the conversion ritual vilifies and violates the outsider. 22 Because of that feeling of being actually violated (when people suddenly find themselves turned into outsiders by the convert s new worldview), the excluded family and community often react with hostility. English social anthropologist John Jervis has noted that part of this hostility is a defensive reaction against the possible spread of the new and strange as a contagion (again like Invasion of the Body Snatchers). The other, then, retains the capacity not just to inspire fear, but to tempt and fascinate. Disgust and desire can be very close. 23 To the angrily unconverted, the seductive danger of a new religion is similar to Alexander Pope s essay about vice itself: We first endure, then pity, then embrace. 24 That fear of spiritual contagion is why it took centuries of religious wars, murders, and martyrdoms before an exhausted Western Civilization finally adopted the spiritually uncomfortable live-and-letlive policy of religious toleration However, Rose s Beloved Strangers emphasized the variety of ways in which many nineteenthcentury American families negotiated their religious differences. 22 Sylvester Johnson, Tribalism and Religious Identity in the Work of Richard Wright, Literature and Theology: An International Journal of Religion, Theory and Culture 20, no. 2 (June 2006): John Jervis, Transgressing the Modern: Explorations in the Western Experience of Otherness (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1999), Alexander Pope, Essay on Man, epistle 2:1, 217, in John Bartlett, Bartlett s Familiar Quotations, ed. Justin Kaplan, 17th ed. (Boston: Little Brown, 2002), My one-sentence summary of the Protestant Reformation is simplistic, but indebted to historian Herbert Butterfield s memorable aphorisms about weariness/exhaustion leading to religious toleration. His Christianity In European History (New York: Macmillan, 1953), 36 ( After long wars of religion and generations of fierce intolerance[,] the world seems to have become weary, turning to toleration in a certain mood of indifference ). For Europe s finally accepting religious toleration through exhaustion, spiritual as well as material, see Butterfield, Toleration in Religion and Politics, ed. Adam Watson (New York: Council on Religion and International Affairs, 1980), 4 8. For a more complex view, see Henry Kamen, The Rise of Toleration (London: World University Library/Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1967), for his extremely useful survey of multiple factors favoring and opposing toleration during centuries of religious strife, for secular and theological arguments in favor of religious toleration and against it, and for its uneven adoption and reversals within various countries of Europe and colonies of America. When Kamen referred to examples of civil authorities protesting against pointless persecution (153), this seemed to be a slight echo of Butterfield s perspective. Perez Zagorin, How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003) provided a detailed intellectual history of the concept from the late-medieval period throughout the Reformation. However, by not even mentioning the concept of blasphemy in the pre-christian world, Zagorin invented a mystery of why the idea

113 QUINN: Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism 101 You may bemoan the negative consequences of us-them tribalism, but think of this. There would have been no origin of Judaism, nor of Christianity, nor of Islam, nor of Protestantism, nor of Mormonism without transgressive tribalism 26 without becoming a stranger to one s own family, neighbors, village, town, city, and society through religious conversion. Every convert recognizes this at a gut level because she/he has experienced it, but a person born within the religious belief of converted parents has difficulty understanding that fact, a difficulty which grows with each new birth, each new generation. And that s how participants in transgressive tribalism become a new tribe, in this case a new religious community, a new religious movement, perhaps a new world religion if given enough time and transgressive conversions. 27 Which brings us to the Restoration movement of Mormonism. Even though I remain a believer in its essential claims, I have written and spoken of it with a critical eye. 28 Therefore, I was taken aback when I read this observation by one of the authors I consulted in preparation for this presentation. Wentz remarked: Often the scholar of religion fears the otherness he investigates because it represents a power he does not have. 29 I found myself asking: Does that apply to me? To my colleagues in the New Mormon History? Does it apply to you in this audience of scholars, history buffs, and fellow travelers? of heresy as false and prohibited religious belief even took root in the first place, especially since no precedent for this idea [of heresy] existed in either contemporary Judaism or Greco-Roman religion (17 18). Consequently, Zagorin failed to provide an overview of what preceded the Christian concept of heresy that eventually required the modern idea of religious toleration. By contrast, Leonard W. Levy, Treason Against God: A History of the Offense of Blasphemy (New York: Schocken Books, 1981) had already provided a pre-christian context for heresy. He began with an emphatic statement (6) of what Zagorin later denied: monotheistic systems hold no monopoly on the concept of blasphemy. Levy gave (8 11) ancient examples of discussions of blasphemy and its punishments in Athens from 450 BCE to 415 BCE, plus a long summary (16 23) of ancient Hebrew condemnations and punishments for blasphemy. 26 I take credit for coining the phrase transgressive tribalism, which had no hits during a Google keyword search on September 12, Shipps, Mormonism, analyzed the Restoration movement as a world religion. A year before her book, non-lds sociologist Rodney Stark published a statistical analysis which projected that Mormonism would have a world population of 265 million by the year Ten years later, he found LDS membership growth actually ahead of his projection. See Stark, The Rise of a New World Faith, Review of Religious Research 26, no. 1 (Sept. 1984): 22; Stark, Modernization and Mormon Growth: The Secularization Thesis Revisited, in Contemporary Mormonism: Social Science Perspectives, ed. Marie Cornwall, Tim B. Heaton, and Lawrence A. Young (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994), D. Michael Quinn, On Being a Mormon Historian (And Its Aftermath), in Faithful History: Essays on Writing Mormon History, ed. George D. Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1992), ; Lavina Fielding Anderson, DNA Mormon: D. Michael Quinn, in Mormon Mavericks: Essays on Dissenters, ed. John Sillito and Susan Staker (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002), Wentz, The Contemplation of Otherness: The Critical Vision of Religion, 32.

114 102 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Fear may not be the right description for many of us who have looked at Mormonism s past, but fear and loathing have been central to anti- Mormon writers from the 1830s to the present. 30 I think Wentz s observation applies perfectly to those polemicists, even though most of them have been nonscholars. By contrast, empathetic nonbelievers like Wallace Stegner and Harold Bloom have openly expressed a sense of awe for early Mormonism. 31 I resonate 30 David Brion Davis, Some Themes of Counter-Subversion: An Analysis of Anti-Masonic, Anti- Catholic and Anti-Mormon Literature, Mississippi Valley Historical Review 47, no. 2 (September 1960): ; Leonard J. Arrington and Jon Haupt, Intolerable Zion: The Image of Mormonism in Nineteenth-Century American Literature, Western Humanities Review 22, no. 3 (Summer 1968): ; Richard Alan Nelson, A History of Latter-day Saint Screen Portrayal in the Anti-Mormon Film Era, , MA thesis, Brigham Young University, 1975; Gary L. Bunker and Davis Bitton, The Mormon Graphic Image, : Cartoons, Caricatures, and Illustrations (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1983); Sharon Lee Swenson, Does the Camera Lie?: A Structural Analysis of the Godmakers, and Allen D. Roberts, The Godmakers: Shadow or Reality?: A Content Analysis, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18, no. 2 (Summer 1985): 16 23, 24 33; Craig L. Foster, Anti-Mormon Pamphleteering in Great Britain, , MA thesis, Brigham Young University, 1989; William O. Nelson, Anti-Mormon Publications, in Encyclopedia of Mormonism: The History, Scripture, Doctrine, and Procedure of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5 vols., ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 1: ; Craig L. Foster, Victorian Pornographic Imagery in Anti-Mormon Literature, Journal of Mormon History 19, no. 1 (Spring 1993): ; Terryl L. Givens, The Viper on the Hearth: Mormon Myths and the Construction of Heresy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997); any sample one might choose on the Internet of Evangelical diatribes against Mormonism. 31 Stanford University professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Wallace Stegner stated many criticisms of Mormon theology and culture. For example, his Gathering of Zion, 24, expressed a view directly applicable to this essay: A chosen people is probably inspiring for the chosen to live among; it is not so comfortable for outsiders to live with. However, that same book of western history made other statements consistent with my assessment of Stegner in this essay s narrative: That I do not accept the faith that possessed them [the Mormons] does not mean that I doubt their frequent devotion and heroism in its service, especially their women. Their women were incredible (13), Brigham Young is an extraordinary leader (49), some of the noble moments in Mormon history have been those in which the safe risked their safety to help the endangered (97), though there were some pretty hard cases among the 1847 pioneers, there were no incidents that discredit anyone (112), Mary Phelps Rich was one type, a rather common type, of Mormon woman, capable, indefatigable, unquestioning. She gives the myth of the Pioneer Wife a footing in reality (177), only their faith, the authority of the priesthood, and the peculiarly coherent social system that their faith encouraged made them different from the adventurous, independent, and violent men who made the trip under other auspices (184), and his summation that early Mormons lived and acted, and sometimes died, for what they believed, and their intractable humanity ennobled them about as often as the excesses of their faith led them into tribal suspicion or their misfortunes into demoralization (298). Recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship ( genius prize ) and author of studies in Jewish texts, Yale University s professor of humanities Harold Bloom was even more enthusiastic in his The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992), 79 ( nothing else in all of American history strikes me as materia poetica equal to the early Mormons ), 94 ( no other American religious movement is so ambitious, and no rival even remotely approaches the spiritual audacity that drives endlessly towards accomplishing a titanic

115 QUINN: Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism 103 with this positive reaction by outside scholars because I ve always approached nineteenth-century Mormonism with a kind of awe as an inside scholar. For a current believer, the struggling Mormonism of the nineteenth century is a powerful Other. It seems more powerful in the distant past than the highly influential LDS Church of today. 32 That s the first ambiguity I point out. Despite being an insider, I have an awe-struck feeling of us-them (but not us-versus-them in its usual meaning of conflict) when I think of my Mormon ancestors 33 converting in Tennessee in the mid-1830s, abandoning their comfortable home in 1843 to settle farmland a few miles from Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, 34 only to be burned out of their farmhouse two years later. After this persecution-caused death of my ancestral Mormon mother of twenty children, 35 her surviving husband and their adult children shepherded design ), 95 ( I also do not find it possible to doubt that Joseph Smith was an authentic prophet. Where in all of American history can we find his match? ), 127 ( To one who does not believe in him, but who has studied him intensely, Smith becomes almost a mythology in himself ). 32 For perspectives on the national significance of the LDS Church, see It s Do or Die for the ERA: Mormon Power Is the Key, Boston Globe, June 30, 1981, 2; Mormon Inc.: Finances & Faith: A Series About the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that Appeared in THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, June 30 July 3, 1991 (Phoenix: Series Reprint, Arizona Republic, 1991); David Van Biema, Kingdom Come: Salt Lake City was Just for Starters the Mormons Great Trek Has Been to Social Acceptance and a $30 Billion Church Empire, Time, August 4, 1997, 50 57; Richard Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999); D. Michael Quinn, Exporting Utah s Theocracy Since 1975: Mormon Organizational Behavior and America s Culture Wars, in God and Country: Politics in Utah, ed. Jeff Sells (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2005), ; Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage, New York Times, November 15, 2008, available at www. nytimes.com/2008/11/15/us/politics/15marriage.html. 33 I was born to an ancestral line of religious dissenters. This included Puritan English refugees settling in the Netherlands, Protestant Huguenots fleeing Catholic France after the St. Bartholomew s Day Massacre (my note 25), Dutch-English Pilgrims arriving in the New World, Mormon converts abandoning Evangelical Protestant Tennessee (my note 35), a Mormon woman divorcing her polygamist husband in Utah to become the wife of a Canadian Anglican, a different polygamist wife (my ancestral aunt Polly Workman) abandoning John D. Lee after his locally authorized participation in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, LDS converts emigrating from a Swiss Catholic canton, and anticlerical Catholic refugees during the Mexican Revolution. 34 Robert Bruce Flanders, Nauvoo: Kingdom on the Mississippi (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1965). 35 The Ancestral File at shows that Lydia Bilyeu ( ) and John Workman ( ) had twenty children (no twins). Giving birth to her first child when she was sixteen years old and to her twentieth a month before her forty-sixth birthday, for two decades Lydia s household always had at least four children under the age of eight. In 1834, she was taking care of her seven children who were under the age of eight. According to Mary Workman Travis, Workman Family History, ed. Travis Elder ( On the 22 of July 1840 [sic], John and his wife Lydia and several children were baptized [in Tennessee] by Abram Owen Smoot, the dating of which is in error for several reasons. First, they converted before naming a newborn son Hyrum Smith Workman on July 12, 1839 (see Ancestral File). Second, Smoot moved to Far West, Missouri, early in 1838, remained there until the expulsion of all its Mormon residents in

116 104 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL five minor siblings from their temporary recovery at Nauvoo to cross the frozen Mississippi River in Within months, two of the older sons joined the Mormon Battalion in Iowa to fight (as they assumed) for the otherwise indifferent USA during the Mexican War. Ultimately, this ancestral family crossed the plains and mountains to reach a theocratic refuge in America s Far West, where they reunited with the veteran sons to eke out a hard-scrabble existence in high-desert country. 36 Their pioneering Zion 37 had none of the lushness they had known in distant Tennessee, nor that the volunteering sons had seen briefly in California where their military service ended. 1839, when Smoot moved his family to Illinois. Third, 1836 and 1837 were the only years Smoot was a missionary in Tennessee. See Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret News and Andrew Jenson History, ), 1:485. On June 7, 1843, John Workman and a company of 30 Saints, mostly his own family arrived from Tennessee, in Joseph Smith Jr., et al., History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Period I: History of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and... Period II: From the Manuscript History of Brigham Young and Other Original Documents, ed. B. H. Roberts, 7 vols. ( ; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978), 5:420. Travis states that John and Lydia Workman settled in Illinois on a farm four miles west [sic] of Nauvoo. Because only the Mississippi River and Iowa were immediately west of Nauvoo, Travis intended to refer to the Mormon settlement known as Stringtown, three miles east of Nauvoo (emphasis added), as described in Donald Q. Cannon, Spokes on the Wheel: Early Latter-day Saint Settlements in Hancock County, Illinois, Ensign 16 (February 1986): 62. The Daily Missouri Republican, September 20, 1845, published a letter from an eyewitness who described the attack on September 17 by Illinois anti-mormons at a place called Stringtown a number of Mormon residences being along the road, each having attached to it a small farm... One man who was burnt out had twelve in his family, apparently referring to the remaining children living with John and Lydia Workman, out of their twenty total. Travis continues: In the early evening he [John] saw some of the farm homes of other of the Saints in Flames... and drove to Nauvoo for protection. The severe persecutions that the saints suffered at this time proved too much for John s wife Lydia. She succumbed to the trials and died 30 Sept. 1845, and was buried in the Nauvoo cemetery. Various sources show that Stringtown was the original name for isolated farm houses owned by Mormons at sites in Illinois, Iowa, Utah, and Arizona, each Stringtown eventually merging with a differently named town. An explanation for these oddly designated settlements was in L. Brent Goates, Harold B. Lee: Prophet and Seer (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1985), 37 ( There was a string of houses running from between the meeting house and our place which gave the name Stringtown to the string of houses where we lived ). 36 Travis, Workman Family History; also Andrew Jenson, Church Chronology: A Record of Important Events Pertaining to the History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1914), for obituaries of my ancestral uncles, Oliver G. Workman (July 28, 1902) and Andrew Jackson Workman (June 15, 1909), emphasizing their service in the Mormon Battalion; John F. Yurtinus, Here is One Man Who Will not Go, Dam um : Recruiting the Mormon Battalion in Iowa Territory, BYU Studies 21, no. 4 (Fall 1981): ; Yurtinus, Mormon Battalion, in Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 2: Surely Zion is the city of our God... for this is Zion THE PURE IN HEART, in The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (published at Salt Lake City in various editions), Section 97:19, 21 (hereafter Utah D&C, with section number and verse); also (with slight variations) in The Doctrine and Covenants of The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (published at Independence in various editions), 94:5b 5c (hereafter Missouri D&C, with section number and verse). The RLDS church was subsequently renamed the Community of Christ.

117 QUINN: Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism 105 Such experiences of early Mormonism seem exceptionally heroic and larger than life. At least, larger than my life. Many of you likewise have ancestral stories of conversion, persecution, struggle, and continued dedication within the Restoration Movement s diverse manifestations throughout North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Thus, the second ambiguity I mention is the fact that I have felt this believer s awe for the Other as I ve written with scholarly detachment, critical analysis, frequent disappointment, and quotable zingers about the metaphorical hills and valleys, lights and shadows of the Mormon experience. The hierarchy and the rank and file of early Mormonism were not only more human than we would like them to be, they also had more power than most of us have experienced in our own lives. Do we respond to this Otherness with the fear that Wentz described? Or with the loathing that is obvious in anti-mormon diatribes by Protestant Evangelicals? Or with the awe that Stegner and Bloom expressed as non- Mormon scholars? Or in some other way? Each of us must answer for herself or himself. Us-versus-them began early in the Restoration movement. As a solitary mystic in the 1820s, Joseph Smith Jr. was at odds with his disbelieving father, who divided his attentions between the rationalism of Thomas Paine, the unprofitability of farming, the sloppiness of his own alcoholism, and the folk magic of the treasure quest. Trying to be supportive of a visionary son with a seer stone, his mother was initially uncomprehending because Lucy saw religious truth through a narrowly Evangelical Protestant lens. 38 Joseph was alone in a large family as long as his religious life was Just You and Me Lord. I think biographer Dan Vogel is persuasive in demonstrating that a primary goal in his religious endeavors was his father s conversion. 39 However, nearly a year before the paternal baptism, a transformative event occurred when three men had their own visionary experiences that made them witnesses of the divinity in Joseph Jr. s efforts to translate and publish the Book of Mormon as God s newly revealed scripture. He said: I feel as if I was relieved of a burden which was almost too heavy for me to bear, and it rejoices my soul, that I am not any longer to be entirely alone in the world. 40 Think of those last words! Despite his loving family of origin and his recently married wife, 41 Joseph Smith Jr. felt utterly alone in the world until he was 38 Dan Vogel, Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2004), 4, 7, 19 20, 28, 32, 35 36, 77 79, 177; Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 23 25, 37, 42, 50 51, 55, The best analysis of this three-way conflict is Vogel, Making of a Prophet, 27, 58 62, , 228, 373, 409, and 491 (for quote). 40 Quoted at conclusion of discussing the Three Witnesses (Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris), in Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, He married Emma Hale on January 18, 1827, eighteen months before the epiphany of the Three Witnesses. See Vogel, Making of a Prophet, 90 92; Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, 53

118 106 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL nearly twenty-four. The reason was the solitude of his religious experiences and conversion. By contrast, in the space of a few hours on a summer s day in 1829, Mormonism changed from me-versus-them to us-versus-them. Yet that was not the origin of early Mormon tribalism. In fact, this charismatic event occurred as fulfillment of an us-versus-them reference he had dictated for the Book of Mormon just weeks earlier. Its Book of Ether stated: And in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established; and the testimony of three, and this work, in the which shall be shown forth the power of God and also his word, of which the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost bear record and all this shall stand as a testimony against the world at the last day. 42 (emphasis added) Nearly at the end of Smith s first voluminous addition to the latter-day canon, this passage didn t prophesy that its special witnesses would be testifying for Jesus, or for the modern-day translator s benefit, or even to the world. Instead, the passage of new scripture emphasized the negative: it was the Three Witnesses versus the people of the world. As a First Presidency message later stated it, the word of the Lord has been proclaimed against the Gentiles. 43 This nascent tribalism meant that Joseph would never again be isolated religiously, even after each of the three special witnesses abandoned him. 44 By the time those dark days arrived, he already had a fast-growing tribe of believers. Three months after formally organizing a church structure for his early followers, Smith announced a revelation in which God invited his modern Saints to think of themselves from the perspective of us-versus-them (regarding nonbelievers). This July 1830 document instructed Smith and Oliver Cowdery 54; Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, 2nd ed. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994), Ether 5:4 in the edition of the Book of Mormon published at Salt Lake City, Utah; Ether 2:3 in the edition published at Independence, Missouri; also John W. Welch and Tim Rathbone, Book of Mormon Translation by Joseph Smith, in Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism 1: James R. Clark, ed., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, ), 3:95. Jan Shipps, Is Mormonism Christian?: Reflections on a Complicated Question, in Mormons and Mormonism: An Introduction to an American World Religion, ed. Eric A. Eliason (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001), 86, called this use of Gentile a sturdy rhetorical fence between themselves and those who were not part of the group. 44 For their religious associations with Joseph Smith and departures from him, see Richard Lloyd Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981); Phillip R. Legg, Oliver Cowdery: The Elusive Second Elder of the Restoration (Independence, MO: Herald House, 1989); Ronald E. Romig, David Whitmer: Faithful Dissenter, Witness Apart, in Differing Visions: Dissenters in Mormon History, ed. Roger D. Launius and Linda Thatcher (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994), 23 44; Ronald E. Romig, Martin Harris s Kirtland (Independence, MO: John Whitmer Books, 2007).

119 QUINN: Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism 107 (one of the Three Witnesses) about casting off the dust of your feet against them. This instruction was repeated (with different wording) three more times within Mormonism s sacred canon: first, in a revelation to the elders of his church in August 1831; second, to all the church s missionaries in January 1832; and finally, to a single missionary the following August. 45 In November 1835, Joseph Smith published a letter to the elders of the church of the Latter Day Saints, which included these instructions for proselytizing: But if the man forbid his wife, or his children before they are of age, to receive the gospel, then it should be the duty of the elder to go his way and use no influence against him: and let the responsibility be upon his head [ ] shake off the dust of thy feet as a testimony against him [the husband-father], and thy skirts shall then be clear of their souls... until the destroying angel will commence to waste the inhabitants of the earth. 46 Those words encouraged the early Mormon missionaries to regard latter-day proselytizing as an existential confrontation with an unbelieving Other: They had better convert or we shall curse them! 47 Whether one regards the Hebrew Bible s Book of Jonah as a historical narrative of a real person or as a cautionary tale of fiction, its literary devices (including sardonic humor in the last verse) give a message about human psychology that s crystal clear. Some people who preach hellfire and brimstone will be disappointed if their initially unbelieving listeners actually do convert. 48 Such preachers have become so emotionally invested in the possibility of being rejected, that it s more than an outcome they expect: it s a painful experience they paradoxically desire. After a necessary continuation of chronological developments, I ll return to this perspective with regard to persecution of the Us by the Other. In September 1832, just a month after the last revelatory expression about us-versus-them cursing by missionaries, another revelation indicated that tribalism was literally becoming part of Mormonism. Yea, the word of the Lord concerning his church, established in the last days for the restoration of his people Utah D&C 24:1, 15; 60:1, 15, 75:18, 20, 99:1, 4; Missouri D&C 23:6b, 60:4b, 75:3f, 96:1c. 46 Joseph Smith Jr., To the elders of the church of the Latter Day Saints, Latter Day Saints Messenger and Advocate 2, no. 2 (November 1835): The quote is my putting words in the mouths of such missionaries. This little-used variation on us-them appeared in political science professor Harold R. Isaacs, Power and Identity: Tribalism and World Politics, Headline Series 246 of the Foreign Policy Association (October 1979): 34 ( the we-they confrontation in human experience ). 48 Jack M. Sasson, The Anchor Bible: JONAH, A New Translation with Introduction, Commentary, and Interpretation (New York: Doubleday, 1990), esp , ,

120 108 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining of these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying [of] their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham. 49 (emphasis added) Although not made explicit here, this restoration of his people was to be a restoration of ancient Israel s tribalism. This appeared again during December 1834, within the text of blessings that the recently ordained patriarch, Joseph Smith Sr., privately gave to his sons. In the blessing to Joseph Jr., the patriarch used the phrase as the tribes of Israel are restored, 50 which briefly made explicit what had been implied in the 1832 revelation. More directly, Patriarch Smith told his son Hyrum in December 1834 that thy posterity shall be numbered with the house of Ephraim, 51 one of the oldest sons in the Hebrew Bible s Tribe of Joseph (Numbers 1:4 5, 10; Joshua 14:4). The first public celebration of this latter-day tribalism was in Emma Smith s 1835 Collection of Sacred Hymns. Selection 35 proclaimed: Go gather the willing, and push them together, Yea, push them to Zion (the saints rest forever,)... Go welcome his people, let nothing preclude you Come Joseph, and Simeon, and Reuben, and Judah, Naphthali, Issachar, Levi and Dan, Gad, Zebulon, Asher, and come Benjamin Utah D&C 84:2, 33 34; Missouri D&C 83:1b, 6c 6d. 50 Joseph Fielding McConkie, And His Name Shall Be Joseph (Salt Lake City: Hawkes Publishing, 1980), 103; also in Irene M. Bates and E. Gary Smith, Lost Legacy: The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996), 37; H. Michael Marquardt, comp., Early Patriarchal Blessings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2007), 14. For my nontraditional dating of Joseph Smith Sr. s ordination as December 1834 (rather than 1833) before these blessings, see D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power (Salt Lake City: Signature Books/Smith Research Associates, 1994), Hyrum M. Smith and Janne M. Sjodahl, Doctrine and Covenants Commentary (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978), 23; also in Irene M. Bates, Patriarchal Blessings and the Routinization of Charisma, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26, no. 3 (Fall 1993): 3, and in Bates and Smith, Lost Legacy, 38; Marquardt, Early Patriarchal Blessings, 12. For 1834 as my nontraditional dating, see Quinn, Origins of Power, Emma Smith, A Collection of Sacred Hymns, For the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835), hymn 35, stanzas

121 QUINN: Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism 109 The tribes of Israel were not lost to the Mormons, 53 who were being identified specifically as members of a particular tribe in patriarchal blessings by Joseph Smith Sr. in the mid-1830s and by his successors from the 1840s onward. 54 Those were exuberant expressions of early Mormonism s us-them tribalism. The cohesive community that resulted therefrom was openly manifested in countless examples of positive experience. For example, published in February 1844 to inspire the Saints of Nauvoo, Joseph Smith s History recounted the joyous tribalism of mid-1831: On the 19th June, in company with Sidney Rigdon, Martin Harris, Edward Partridge, W. W. Phelps, Joseph Coe, A. S. Gilbert and his wife, I started from Kirtland, Ohio, for the land of Missouri, agreeable to the commandment before received... The meeting of our brethren, who had long waited our arrival, was a glorious one, and moistened with many tears. It seemed good and pleasant for brethren to meet together in unity. 55 And not just for the men. Mary Fielding Smith wrote of a meeting at the Kirtland Temple in mid Some of the Sisters[,] while engaged in conversing in tounges[,] their countenences beaming with joy, clasped each others hands & kissed in the most affectionate manner. They were describing in this way the love and felicity of the Celestial World. Altho the House of the Lord was more than half fill[e]d during this time[,] their were few dry faces. The Bretheren as well as the Sisters were all melted down and we wept and praised God together. 56 Her narrative is one of the best perhaps the finest description of the loving cohesiveness that tribalism gave to the Us of early Mormonism. This not only inspired those who experienced it directly, but such stories were reshared in 53 Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, ), 1:170 ( It ought also to be observed that the lost tribes are not lost in the sense that we do not know where they are. The scriptures plainly tell us they have been scattered among every nation, kindred, tongue, and people... They are so intermingled with the Gentiles of the world that they can only be identified by revelation this revelation must come through ordained patriarchs, declaring to them their lineage and promised blessings as the chosen seed ). 54 Bates, Patriarchal Blessings and the Routinization of Charisma, 3 4; Marquardt, Early Patriarchal Blessings, passim; also Mark E. Petersen, Joseph of Egypt (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981), 16, referred to LDS patriarchs who identified individual Mormons during as members of the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Judah, Asher, Benjamin, and Levi. For the RLDS/Community of Christ context, see Reed M. Holmes, ed., The Patriarchs (Independence, MO: Herald House, 1978). 55 History of Joseph Smith (continued.), Times and Seasons 5, no. 4 (February 15, 1844): Mary Fielding Smith to Mercy Fielding Thompson, July 8, 1837, with misspellings preserved, in Women s Voices: An Untold History of the Latter-day Saints, , ed. Kenneth W. Godfrey, Audrey M. Godfrey, and Jill Mulvay Derr (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1982), 61.

122 110 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL correspondence and conversation, retold around dinner tables or campfires, and (most important) published again and again for long-distant members of the church to read. However, there were also negative expressions toward the Them of early Mormonism. Unfortunately, those were more publicly emphasized by the Latter-day Saints. Correspondingly, negative dimensions of Mormon tribalism became far better known to outsiders than any of its positive aspects. The phrase your enemies first appeared in a revelation Smith announced in April Variations ( thine enemies or your enemy or thine enemy ) subsequently appeared in revelations of July 1830, August 1830, February 1831, March 1831, June 1831, August 1831, September 1831, October 1831, December 1831, August 1833, and March It seems significant that not until 1833 did this use of the terms enemies / enemy refer to incidents of actual violence against the Mormons. During the previous four years, the terms referred generally to nonbelievers, to the expectation of rejection, to the anticipation of active opposition, and to the fear of violence by the church s opponents. In fact, those earlier revelations seemed to involve a conceptual conflation: indifferent listeners and passive nonbelievers merged with active opponents and the prospect of violence-filled mobs. In other words, after being temporarily regarded as individuals for the purpose of proselytizing and conversion, Utah D&C 8:4, 24:1, 27:3, 44:5, 45:18, 54:7, 63:31, 64:27, 65:6, 71:7, 98:14, 25, 27, 29, 31, 39, 40, 122:4, 60 67; Missouri D&C 8:2b, 23:1b, 26:1d, 44:2c, 45:15a, 54:2a, 63:8e, 64:6a, 65:1f, 71:2e, 95:3c. 58 Decades ago, a student at Utah State University told me about his transition from being an interested observer of the previously unknown Mormon culture into his becoming an angry antagonist. Having moved from the East Coast to Logan, Utah, where he knew no one, the eighteenyear-old was impressed by the friendliness of the Mormon students he met and began socializing with them. Accepting their offers of car-rides to attend LDS Church services, he began receiving invitations from various families for dinner at their homes, where he also participated in their Family Home Evenings on Mondays. Intrigued by the Mormon teachings he was hearing, he began meeting weekly for discussions with LDS missionaries. Midway through his second semester as a freshman at USU, he told the missionaries that he had decided against being baptized even though he enjoyed LDS services and fellowship. After he walked to the LDS chapel on his own the next Sunday, people spoke with him there only if he initiated the conversation. No one invited him for a home-cooked meal again, he no longer heard from the dozen people who used to chat with him by phone and found himself sitting alone his next (and last) Sunday in the ward chapel. After six months of what I thought were genuine friendships, the Mormons dropped me like a rock after they learned I wasn t going to convert, he said. Feeling deeply hurt for the remainder of spring semester, this nineteenyear-old began his sophomore year at USU as an anti-mormon, but I outgrew it, he told me. By the time we spoke, he was philosophical about the experience, which he described without animosity: They re busy people and can t give that kind of attention to everyone especially to someone who s not going to convert. He shrugged, but the melancholy of his narrative struck me so deeply that I m sure I now quote his words accurately even after all these years. In this essay s terms, the lonely teenager thought he had become part of the Mormon-Us through congenial associations, but he had never been anything but the Other to his LDS friends.

123 QUINN: Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism 111 non-mormons became a unified Them a dangerous, monolithic Other ( the Gentiles ) against which Joseph Smith, his family, his followers, and the institutional church of the latter-days must be constantly on guard. Even a politically liberal Mormon apostle wrote that we must be on guard against the passive as well as the active enemies of religion. 59 In his study of early LDS hymns, Douglas Campbell noted that generations of Mormons sang about our church history in terms of wrongs, fate, God-hating foes, and being despised. 60 As Sylvester Johnson noted: The believers are tribal because they encode outsiders as a threat ipso facto. 61 Now consider this from another perspective. When members of the human tribe feel fear of being attacked by the canine tribe, the latter can often sense this fear. These dogs then respond with aggressiveness they might not otherwise have exhibited fur rising on the neck, growling, snarling, biting, or a sudden lunge to viciously rip through flesh and blood. Because a few largeand medium-sized dogs attack with little or no provocation does not rationally justify a person in fearing every dog, but such is often the case especially if that person has had even one encounter with an aggressive dog. This reaction of fear is understandable, perhaps inevitable, but can also become self-fulfilling. Likewise, when those (who seem to have no fear) taunt a barking dog and then seem surprised when it bites them. Joseph Smith and his followers had their share of encounters with belligerent individuals, and this predisposed the early Mormons to expect belligerence from nonbelievers, whom Mormons regarded as a monolithic Other. In February 1833, the church s periodical at Independence, Jackson County, Missouri (known simply as Zion to the believers), published an essay titled The Last Days. Among its quotes was this one from the Apocrypha: the seal of Zion hath now lost her honor; for she is delivered into the hands of them that hate us (emphasis added). 62 No twentieth-century scholar needed to apply Us-Them to the early Mormons. They applied it to themselves, and five months later their non-mormon neighbors became an anti-mormon mob in Zion Hugh B. Brown, The Eternal Quest (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1956), 262. For his frequent isolation within the LDS Church s conservative hierarchy (some of whom twitted him with the label of liberal ), see Edwin B. Firmage, ed., An Abundant Life: The Memoirs of Hugh B. Brown (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1988); D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power (Salt Lake City: Signature Books/Smith Research Associates, 1997), 13 14, 66, 69 70, 76, 97, 101, Douglas Campbell, Changes in LDS Hymns: Implications and Opportunities, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 28, no. 3 (Fall 1995): Johnson, Tribalism and Religious Identity, The Last Days, The Evening and the Morning Star (Independence, MO) 1, no. 9 (February 1833): Warren A. Jennings, The City in the Garden: Social Conflict in Jackson County, Missouri, in Restoration Movement: Essays on the Mormon Past, ed. F. Mark McKiernan, Alma R. Blair,

124 112 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL As the climax of the Fourth of July celebration by Mormons in 1838 at their new headquarters of Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri, 64 First Presidency counselor Sidney Rigdon virtually dared their non-lds neighbors to try to prevent them from exercising their civil liberties. Again invoking the us-versusthem phrasing that preceded the 1833 mobbings, he proclaimed five years later: It shall be between us and them a war of extermination (emphasis added). Within weeks, Joseph Smith published and publicly endorsed Rigdon s talk, which continued: for we will follow them, till the last drop of their blood is spilled, or else they will have to exterminate us. 65 On August 6, the Missourians obliged, and a religious civil war began. 66 Despite the terrible suffering anti-mormons brought to the Mormon community, Utah historian Brigham H. Roberts saw one enduring lesson: persecution for conscience sake only unites its adherents, and will intensify their zeal. 67 Mob violence made the Mormon tribe more cohesive. Thus, Dan Jones (who shared Joseph s last night in Carthage Jail) wrote three years following the martyrdom: Welcome persecution! 68 After June 1844, Mormonism experienced a prolonged and painful transition that more than fulfilled Sylvester Johnson s comment that the tribalism of the conversion ritual vilifies the Other. The Tribe of Joseph fragmented into the Tribe of Sidney, the Tribe of Brigham, the Tribe of William, the Tribe of Lyman, the Tribe of James, the Tribe of David, the Tribe of Charles, the Tribe of Jacob, the Tribe of another James, the Tribe of Gladden, the Tribe of Alpheus, and the Tribe of Granville many of whom later coalesced into the Tribe of Young Joseph. 69 Each tribe vilified the others, while also having those cohesive and Paul M. Edwards (Lawrence, KS: Coronado Press, 1973), F. Mark McKiernan, Mormonism on the Defensive: Far West, in McKiernan, Blair, and Edwards, Restoration Movement, Sidney Rigdon, Oration Delivered by Mr. S. Rigdon on the 4th of July 1838 (Far West, MO: Elder s Journal Office, 1838), 12, with a photographic reprint in Peter Crawley, Two Rare Missouri Documents, BYU Studies 14, no. 4 (Summer 1974): ; Joseph Smith s statement in Elder s Journal (Far West, MO) 1, no. 4 (August 1838): Stephen C. LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987). 67 Brigham H. Roberts, Celestial Marriage and Acts of Congress, Contributor 6, no. 5 (February 1885): Ronald D. Dennis, Welsh Mormon Writings from 1844 to 1862: A Historical Bibliography (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1988), 61; also Dan Jones to Thomas Bullock, January 20, 1855, in Ronald D. Dennis, ed., The Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, BYU Studies 24, no. 1 (Winter 1984): My references are to Sidney Rigdon, Brigham Young, William Smith, Lyman Wight, James J. Strang, David Whitmer, Charles B. Thompson, Jacob Syfritt, James Colin Brewster, [Francis] Gladden Bishop, Alpheus Cutler, Granville Hedrick, and Joseph Smith III. Although there are important articles and books about each claimant, very useful, nonpolemical overviews have been published in Dale L. Morgan, A Bibliography of the Churches of the Dispersion, Western Humanities Review 7, no. 3 (Summer 1953): (reprinted as a booklet); in The Latter Day

125 QUINN: Us-Them Tribalism and Early Mormonism 113 experiences of love, charisma, ecstasy, sacrifice, and unity that are religious tribalism s great strengths. So, like Marc Antony at Julius Caesar s funeral, you may have thought I came here to bury us-them tribalism, not to praise it. But like the man Caesar himself, the persistent reality of tribalism has manifested both evil and good. 70 It is the bane of our existence, but seems necessary for living the good life in all groups, 71 starting with the nuclear family and including early Mormonism. That is its final ambiguity. D. Michael Quinn (mike.quinn@finefriends.net) is an independent scholar living in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Recipient of various awards from the John Whitmer Historical Association and Mormon History Association since 1974, he received a best book award from the American Historical Association in His last academic appointment was as postdoctoral associate in Yale University s department of history, A previous examination of Otherness was D. Michael Quinn s, Same- Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996), esp. 4 (concerning sexual orientation s Otherness: homosexuality is simply left-handed sexuality, and bisexuality is simply ambidextrous sexuality ), 5 ( I nevertheless believe there is a gulf between those who have experienced erotic desire for a person of their same sex and those who have never experienced erotic desire for a person of their same sex. That gulf is as real, as gut-wrenching, and as potentially antagonistic as any other gulf that divides humanity into us-them camps Saint Churches: An Annotated Bibliography, ed. Steven L. Shields (New York: Garland Publishing, 1987); and in Scattering of the Saints: Schism within Mormonism, ed. Newell G. Bringhurst and John C. Hamer (Independence, MO: John Whitmer Books, 2007). 70 My riff on William Shakespeare s Julius Caesar, act 3, scene 2, lines Theosophist author Ken Wilber s Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World (Boston: Integral Books, 2006), , enthused: There is rather a shared communication and resonance among members of the group a predominant mode of resonance that allows them to tightly coordinate, but never fully control, their behavior. This is the wonder of social holons. The way you become a member of the group or social holon is, among other things, by mastering this mutual resonance. Those not willing or able to do so are indeed often marginalized. But for the most part, this is not the oppression pictured by the postmodernists, who have understood only the smallest part of why mutual modes of resonance must occur in groups in order to survive... a dominant mode of resonance is simply how groups operate. It is not merely or even usually a bad thing. It is usually either a necessity as we saw, survival often depends on it or sometimes [is] a choice of preference. Despite having already affirmed that us-them is not an idyllic and harmonious relationship (my note 4), philosopher Levinas subsequently emphasized the positive religiosity of Otherness from his perspective on Jewish existentialism: The traumatic experience of my slavery in Egypt constitutes my very humanity, a fact that immediately allies me [as a Jew] to the workers, the wretched, and the persecuted peoples of the world. My uniqueness lies in the responsibility I display for the other. I cannot fail in my duty towards any man (from his 1968 Judaism, in Hand, Levinas Reader, 252).

126 114 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL gender, race, ethnicity, and a host of others that have estranged people... In the effort to gain an understanding of the humanity on the other side of the gulf, we better understand our own humanity. That is why I have written this study ). Likewise with this presentation.

127 Reviving the Millennial Kingdom: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre Seth L. Bryant Introduction The posse sent in their terms of surrender with a young boy who had been herding cows outside of the fort. Those inside the compound would have little time to respond before the posse fired a twelve-pound howitzer. Militia members would later claim that they meant it to be a warning shot, but instead it bounded across the ground and into the congregation that had gathered to discuss the terms of their surrender. The softball-sized warning shot killed two, and severely injured another a young girl, whose chin was left shattered and hanging by a flap of skin. Leaving those within the fort scrambling for their lives, this Morrisite War would end with the posse commander riding in after surrender and shooting the Morrisite prophet pointblank. In a ministry not all that unlike Joseph Smith Jr. s, the Morrisite movement began with Joseph Morris, an Englishman who converted to Mormonism and then immigrated to Utah in 1853, some nine years after Smith s death. During a period of revival in Utah known as the Mormon reformation ( ), Morris, as a ward teacher, responded zealously, calling on the Saints and the leadership of the Mormon church to repent of their pride. However, completely contrary to the focus of the Mormon reformation which was to stimulate strict obedience to the Mormon commandments, especially polygamy, and to build up the material kingdom of God Morris had lost three wives to divorce. 1 1 Wives in polygamous Mormon communities are a limited commodity, then and now, but especially in Deseret in the 1850s, the remote and difficult location exacerbated the problem. Apostle George A. Smith stated that women are scarce and hard to get (Brigham Young, October 7, 1853, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London and Liverpool: LDS Booksellers Depot, ], 1:197). It is likely, in the case of Morris, that other Mormons influenced his wives to leave him so that the women could marry more successful priesthood holders. A similar phenomenon occurs today in Fundamentalist LDS communities when teenage males, known as lost boys, are cast out of the community, supposedly for apostasy but more likely to decrease competition, the younger males being a threat to the older patriarchs. During the Mormon reformation, at least one young male was castrated by local priesthood leaders when he refused to surrender his sweetheart to the Mormon bishop who wanted her for his own plural wife; regarding the

128 116 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Never a polygamist, he could not maintain even one marriage because his fellow Saints, including his bishop, urged his wives to leave him for other, more successful Mormon males. In addition to being unable to hold a wife, let alone wives, he had economic difficulties and was not contributing to the vision of an economic, material Zion. Ridiculed by those around him and forbidden to continue preaching, Morris appealed to Brigham Young but the Mormon president did not answer. Unable to fit within the institutional vision of Mormonism, Morris began to have his own revelations which in time would renounce Brigham Young and the materialism of Zion, and call for an immanent Advent led by him. Similar to the earlier ministry of Joseph Smith, these revelations by a charismatic prophet against institutionalized religion appealed to some Mormons, leading to the creation of a Morrisite movement within Mormonism. Previous scholarship on the Morrisites includes the work of Gordon W. Howard, who in 1976 wrote Men, Motives, and Misunderstandings: A New Look at the Morrisite War of Howard s article provided a detailed history of Morris background, those who followed him, and the Morrisite War within the larger contexts of Utah and U.S. History. Five years after Howard s publication, sociologist C. LeRoy Anderson was unexpectedly given a trove of original Morrisite documents. Employing sociological perspectives, he further fleshed out Morrisite history (and Mormon history) from its beginnings in Utah to the sect s demise a century later in Montana. 3 In 2002, Eric Paul Rogers expanded the documentary history and made connections to larger Restoration studies with his article Mark Hill Forscutt: Mormon Missionary, Morrisite Apostle, RLDS Minister. 4 punishment, Young remarked, I feel to sustain [the bishop] : (D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power [Salt Lake City: Signature Books/Smith Research Associates, 1997], ). 2 Gordon M. Howard, Men, Motives, and Misunderstandings: A New Look at the Morrisite War of 1862, Utah Historical Quarterly 44 (1976): Howard s research materials are located at the Utah State Historical Archives, in the old Rio Grande Station in downtown Salt Lake City: Gordon M. Howard Collection, Mss B Anderson s book is entitled For Christ Will Come Tomorrow: The Saga of the Morrisites, reprinted as Joseph Morris And The Saga Of The Morrisites, (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1988). Anderson s research, which includes the largest collection of original Morrisite documents, is available at the Marie Eccles-Caine Archive of Intermountain Americana at Utah State University. 4 For which he won the 2002 JWHA Best Article Award. Rogers contributions to the documentary history of the Morrisites is limited to the journals of Mark Hill Forscutt that [he] acquired on behalf of the Brigham Young University Special Collections a transcription of which is available in the Community of Christ Library-Archives ; and a transcription of an inscription upon three wooden staffs belonging to Joseph Morris and two of his followers (Daniel Smith and Hugh Park) that are housed in the LDS Church Archives which [Rogers has] not found documented elsewhere. Eric P. Rogers, The Morrisites and the Sociology of Religious Schism, JWHA annual conference held in Independence, MO, September 29 31, This text is taken from slide 3 of his presentation, in author s possession.

129 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 117 Two years ago, Rogers presented The Morrisites and the Sociology of Religious Schism. Countering the common belief that ideological differences are the driving force behind schisms, he presented a long list of sociological factors that are at the root of sect formation including immigration, economic disparity, and institutional stratification. While not denying the power of ideological conflict in the schism, Rogers argued that the sociological influences on the whole outweighed the ideological in the formation and growth of the [Morrisites]. 5 I agree with Rogers sociological argument regarding growth and formation, although I believe that it is the realm of ideas that emboldened competing parties unto conflict to the Morrisite War. The Morrisite schism was more violent than that which sect formation theories attempt to explain. When the Morrisites broke away from the Mormon church, it was more than a classic schism among Christians where conflict rarely escalates above heated words. People died as two groups with competing evolutions of Mormon identity and thought battled over their mutually exclusive visions of Zion. After providing a theoretical underpinning to my argument, this paper will begin with Joseph Smith s institutionalization of Mormonism, followed by Joseph Morris experience. Next, I will review Morrisite efforts at creating a Zion, and the resulting internal tensions due to failed Eschaton(s) and external violence during the Morrisite War. I will then close with the role of thought and competing visions of Zion within the epic of greater Mormonism. 6 As a classical theory within sociological studies of religion, Max Weber s sect-to-church model is helpful in understanding the Morrisite schism and Mormonism altogether. Weber theorizes on shifting authority from a charismatic figure to institutional officers. He defines charismatic authority as devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him. Specifically in the case of the routinization of charisma at the death of a founding prophet, Weber was most intrigued by the way the Catholic Church addressed this issue by institutionalizing the personal charisma of Christ within a hierarchical system of sacred officers. 7 Someone or something has to replace 5 Rogers, 2006 JWHA presentation, slide This idea is indebted to Herbert Bolton s paper, The Epic of Greater America, The American Historical Review 38, no. 3 (April 1933): Seventy-five years ago, Bolton argued for a transnational approach to American history. Similar to an acceptance of coevalness, equal footing, and historical interdependence and exchange between America and other nations, I argue that Mormonism neither began nor exists in a cultural or ideological vacuum, and thus bounded or even comparative narratives are incomplete at best. Yet, as with a transnational narrative for American history, this approach can be threatening to exceptionalism (and thus institutional control). 7 Michele Dillon, ed., Handbook of the Sociology of Religion (Cambridge University Press, 2003), 124.

130 118 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL the original charismatic authority if the movement is to continue beyond the life of the founder. There can be only one founding, charismatic prophet. The term the Prophet in Mormon speech, especially in the past tense, almost always and solely refers to Joseph Smith Jr. In the present tense, it speaks to the institutional connection between the current president of the church and the personal charisma of the founding prophet, Joseph Smith. But current Mormon presidents do have the power to innovate; in this, Smith s successors come closer to his role than the Catholic officers that Weber studied can come to Christ, as Son of God. Thus, the Weberian, Catholic example has its limitations for Mormonism. Countering the classical model of sect-to-church, sociologist Armand Mauss posits that the Mormon church has vacillated between mainstreaming and entrenchment, resembling more an established sect than established church. 8 And Omri Elisha notes in his article Sustaining Charisma, that Mormonism has worn many different hats at once, positioning awkwardly along a spectrum of resistance and accommodation vis-à-vis the outside world, vacillating between sect and church. 9 Speaking generally, Elisha also questions the absolute progression from sect-to-church because expressions of charisma (revelation/innovation) and routinization (indoctrination/stasis) in the life of a religious community coexist in ways that defy the rigid dichotomization of those concepts. 10 Recognizing these limitations (generally and as applied to Mormonism), to represent all potential charismatic claims to authority by a Mormon hierarchy of legal-rational officers, I use the term prophetic institution. This is, of course, paradoxical in a Weberian framework as is much of Mormon authority. Instead of a classic prophet-to-priest shift in authority as charisma was routinized, Mormonism maintained a dualistic office of prophet-president that, while always institutional, can at times be charismatic and revolutionary (although, in the case of the LDS church, to the support of the institution in dealing with old principles in new environments). Contrary to the Catholic example where Christ is irreplaceable by a successor, Smith s mantle of authority has been institutionalized in the Mormon hierarchy. Mormon Church presidents are Smith s institutional successors, and may have brief flashes of charisma that revolutionize Mormonism (such as Wilford Woodruff discontinuing polygamy in 1890, or Spencer Kimball extending the priesthood to all worthy males regardless of race in 1978). Consider that Latterday Saint leaders, throughout the Restoration, are thought of as a prophet- 8 Armand L. Mauss, The Angel and the Beehive: The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation, (Champaign: University of Illinois Press,1994), 5. 9 Omri Elisha, Sustaining Charisma: Mormon Sectarian Culture and the Struggle for Plural Marriage, , Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 6, no. 1 (2002): Ibid.

131 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 119 president, a dichotomistic concept that, again, is paradoxical in Weber s model, with both institution and charisma fused together (but institution [president] often winning out over charisma [prophet]). In his early letters to Brigham Young, it seems that Morris grasped the incongruities between institutional and charismatic authority found within the office of prophet-president. To address this, he suggested an unusual arrangement: a co-leadership of the church, with Morris as prophet and Young as president, for, he wrote, it is not a prophets place to preside but to dick tate him that dus preside. 11 The proposition was unanswered, leaving the charismatic Morris further isolated from the institution. As with the charismatic elements of Joseph Smith s ministry, Morris followed a prophetic, charismatic, even revolutionary impulse that isolated him from the dominant culture because it re-imagined and reformulated that culture. Morris in Utah paralleled Smith in the United States an unwanted prophet who was recapitulating Mormonism and Zion just as Smith had recapitulated Israel and the Christian and American covenants. In both instances of unwanted prophets, alternative formulations were seen as alien and rejected by the dominant host society, resulting in persecution and martyrdom Morrisitism become a microcosm of and mirror to its oppressor. As others have often charged Mormons as being non-christian, so, too, were Morrisites charged by Mormons as being non-mormon. Ironically, as Smith s interpretation of Christ s message was a challenge to established Christian institutions, Mormon prophetic movements have to deal with an institutional Mormon church that has routinized Smith s revelations. The result within Mormon history has been a series of prophetic movements that, like the early career of Joseph Smith, are guided by revelation, yet, unlike the later Smith, are not willing to work within the narrower and more stable confines of the institutional church. One side sees prophecy as a threat to institutional authority and stability, yet the other demands that prophecy domesticated by institutional authority denies the primitive and greater meaning of Mormonism (both illustrating that the greater meaning is always relative). In this conflict, it is essential to understand that, for believers, the Mormon cosmos is integral to all aspects of their lives. More than a denomination, but having undergone a process of ethnogenesis, Mormonism is an ethnic identity as well as a religion, culture, and worldview. It is potentially troublesome for some believers when, through processes of prophetic institutionalization, certain doctrines have been deemphasized or retired to ensure institutional perpetuity. Using what I term moving-target orthodoxy, Mormon prophetpresidents potentially threaten the unified cosmos of believers who see the deemphasized or retired doctrines as central to their life and worldview. The resulting existential anguish drives some to rediscover themselves still within a Mormon cosmos but outside of institutional sanction. 11 David Bigler, Forgotten Kingdom, (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1998), 209.

132 120 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Within the story of the Morrisites is an epic of greater Mormonism, as believing but dissident Mormons have sought to make space beyond the pale of institutional boundaries in response to existential anguish produced by orthodoxy that is always a moving target due to the innovative powers of prophet-presidents. Much like Mormons were presenting an alternative American vision during the developmental years of the American experience, Morrisites were seeking alternative ways of reviving the millennial kingdom at the same time that Brigham Young was developing his Zion. Whether it was Mormons and Americans, or Morrisites and Mormons, these visions were mutually exclusive and too often led to violence. In ways that I find intriguing, it appears that the message of Mormonism requires this sort of dichotomy. It is quite possible that Mormonism is a religion best served oppressed, with a Babylon counterpoint to differentiate Zion or, in other words, Mormonism in its various forms requires opposition, perceived or actual, from the surrounding host society. 12 R. Laurence Moore, in his book Religious Outsiders and the Making of Americans, states that opposition gives value to struggle and inculcates self-confidence. 13 Consider the following statement from Joseph Smith, which perhaps best portrays the optimism of the oppressed: I should be like a fish out of water, if I were out of persecutions... The Lord has constituted me so curiously that I glory in persecution. 14 There is little point to a millenarian revolution if the fallen host society is alike enough to Edenic or Utopian reforms that it offers no serious resistance to its revolution. Moore continues that [i]t is difficult to imagine a successful Mormonism without suffering, without the encouragement of it, without the memory of it. Persecution arguably was the only possible force that would have allowed the infant church to prosper. 15 To this day, approximately four hundred expressions of Joseph Smith s Restored church have existed. The seemingly endless productions of new religious movements, and especially for this paper, of new Mormonisms, represents the integral nature of a Mormon cosmos to the identity of believers, even after they find themselves beyond the pale of the institution s sanctioned variety. It is the very nature of human experience during identity and existential crises to demand a solution, which for Mormons might involve partial reinvention of what the kingdom means to them. Part of the diversity in the expressions of the Latter-day Saint movement reflects that nineteenth-century Mormons were a diverse group, with converts coming from all over the world. But quite intentionally and actively, they built 12 Mauss, The Angel and the Beehive, R. Laurence Moore, Religious Outsiders and the Making of Americans, (Oxford University Press, 1987), Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1946), 1: Moore, Religious Outsiders and the Making of Americans, 35.

133 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 121 upon a common mythos of the Restoration. Their religion combined Christianity, esoteric Judaism, American folklore and occult practices, Freemasonry, democracy, and other elements, which were fused together as converts became owners of a new, hybridized system. But it was not only a synthesis of the elements: it was the difficult, unpredictable, exciting, disappointing, and spirit-filled journey that forged not just a new religious movement, but a new people. A new people, however, betrays the Mormon identity of the most primal people as well, encompassed in the Restoration s oxymoronic phrase of new and everlasting: they felt that they were the only true Christians, Americans; that the Constitution was inspired but the federal government fallen just as the Bible was inspired but Christianity fallen; that they were the new, restored, correct representation of inspired and/or timeless traditions that had gone into decay. As more than just a denomination, they were challenging the homogeneous American identity and renegotiating their own, this ethnogenesis setting them apart from the rest of the nation. The average Mormon did not think of him or herself as American, but Mormon: it was a religious category, sure but importantly, too, it also encompassed social and political categories as well. Once created, and replicated over generations, the new religious movement became at least an established sect and perhaps, time will tell, a new world religion. 16 Fully embracing a new worldview and identity, however, is a radical change for a convert, and current LDS retention rates of only half of new members reflect this. 17 More than coincidentally, large numbers of Saints refused to follow Brigham Young west once they learned that Mormonism meant moving beyond primitive Christian and American identities. Many Morrisites, being immigrants coming straight from England and Europe, had given up everything to fully embrace a new cosmos, and were disenchanted by the LDS church s institutionalized version of that cosmos of Zion in Utah. Thus, the Morrisites reasserted themselves against the institution through claiming to be the most primal, most true representation of God s message and salvation the true inheritors to the Restoration of Joseph Smith. They engaged in the same game of undermining identity through primitivist claims that Mormons were attempting on the rest of America and Christianity. They did this because, by the time of Brigham Young, Zion s full redemption had been conditioned on material, theocratic, and personal preparations. Misunderstanding the mixed signals of an institutional revival (note the 16 Contrary to predictions of Rodney Stark, it is premature to call Mormonism a world religion, or even an emerging world religion. For a detailed analysis on the inflation of self-reported membership statistics of the LDS church, see Rick Phillips, Rethinking the International Expansion of Mormonism, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 10, no. 1 (August 2006): Ibid., 54.

134 122 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL paradox), Morris saw these contingencies to Zion as distractions to its true realization. Forming his own movement, he was resisting Utah Mormonism s departure from mythical time for the sake of institutional perpetuity. For the Morrisites, the essential principle of Mormonism was an immediate millennium: they were liminal beings who longed for an intrepid visionary and charismatic prophet to lead their unconditional march toward Christ s literal kingdom. Unrealized Zions The basis for conflict over what is Mormonism and who are Mormons can be traced to Joseph Smith, the Mormon paradox and, as Eugene England has stated, the quintessentially tragic figure. 18 His life and teachings embody his statement that by proving contraries, truth is made manifest. Paradoxes within Mormon theology and culture have been examined by Terryl Givens in People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture (Oxford University Press, 2007) and by Margaret and Paul Toscano in Strangers in Paradox: Explorations in Mormon Theology (Signature Books, 1990). This is still, however, a most rich vein of inquiry, especially as applied to the experience of Latter Day Saints outside of the LDS church. To begin with the early ministry of Joseph Smith Jr., his vision of Zion began as a primitive Christian movement and fitting to the mindset of the original Christians his Saints were awaiting a Second Coming in their generation. Their New Jerusalem in America, however, was short lived: Mormon settlers in Independence, Missouri, then on the fringe of the American frontier, did not mix well with the old settlers who had different outlooks on government and community. Violence ensued. In 1834, with most of the church members in Kirtland, Ohio, Joseph Smith received a revelation from God calling on the Saints to form an army, later named Zion s Camp, to redeem Zion. 19 The Lord not only reminded the Mormons that they were modeled after ancient Israel, but literally called them the children of Israel and promised them a leader like Moses of old (i.e. Joseph Smith). Speaking through Smith, the Lord stated that the redemption of Zion must needs come by power; and ye must needs be led out as your fathers [the Israelites] were led at the first. 20 Still, the Lord gave an even greater promise than that delivered to their predecessors and model, ancient Israel: 18 Eugene England, Dialogues with Myself: Personal Essays on Mormon Experience (Murray, UT: Signature Books, 1984), For a detailed history of Zion s Camp, see Roger D. Launius Zion s Camp: Expedition to Missouri, 1834 (Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1984). 20 See Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) 103:1 18. The D&C is one of the four books of scripture in the Latter-day Saint canon, including the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Pearl of Great Price. As a collection of Joseph Smith s revelations, it also includes revelations by those who followed him as prophet and president. All references in this paper refer to the LDS D&C.

135 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 123 Therefore, let not your hearts faint, for I say not unto you as I said unto your fathers: Mine angel shall go up before you, but not my presence. But I say unto you: Mine angels shall go up before you, and also my presence, and in time ye shall possess the goodly land. 21 Zion s Camp left Ohio with this divine and unconditioned assurance that the redemption of Zion would be a military conquest of, and even greater than, Old Testament proportions, with the Lord himself at the head of the battle. Boldly marching with great difficulty and suffering sickness along the way, the men fully expected to see the divine redemption of their brethren in Missouri. Having just marched across the border into Missouri after almost eight hundred miles of travel, marching under extremely difficult conditions, Smith received another revelation concerning the redemption of mine [God s] afflicted people. 22 Zion s Camp was informed that, were it not for the transgressions of my people, the Saints in Zion might have been redeemed even now ; but, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands. 23 Explaining his delay, the Lord complained that the Saints in Zion are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them. 24 Thus, the ready-for-battle militia was told that it is expedient in me that mine elders should wait for a little season, for the redemption of Zion. For behold, I do not require at their hands to fight the battles of Zion; for, as I said in a former commandment, even so will I fulfil [sic] I will fight your battles. 25 Perhaps out of the impossibility of the situation, and pending danger of open engagement with the Missourians, Smith s vision of the imminent New Jerusalem came into direct conflict with reality. Were it a moment of cognitive dissonance, it would explain why the redemption of Zion went from unqualified to contingent. He was thinking less as prophet and more as president, showing the first signs of institutionalization within Mormonism. Fittingly, upon the return of Zion s camp to Ohio, Smith created the hierarchies of the church, organizing for the first time a quorum of twelve apostles and quorums of seventy. Soldiers of Zion s Camp made up the majority of those called to serve in these new, institutional sacred offices. In fact, in the sacred histories of Utah Mormonism, the failure of the military expedition is explained as necessary training for the new leaders to assist Joseph Smith the Lord knowing from the beginning the true purpose of the expedition and Brigham Young is often portrayed as leading the camp side by side with Smith. Starting at Zion s Camp, and increasingly until his 21 Ibid., 103: Ibid., 105:1. 23 Ibid., 105: Ibid., 105: Ibid., 105:13 14.

136 124 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL death, Smith s vision of the Second Coming was contingent on the Saints, either to prepare themselves or to lay the proper foundation first. When millennial prophesy and reality did not mesh, Smith then was able to identify a lack of purity among the Saints as the problem, not his own prophecy. Brigham Young would carry this institutionalization further. During a period of revival sweeping the nation, Young called on his second counselor in the First Presidency, and mayor of Salt Lake City, Jedediah M. Grant, to use the same methods of fiery preaching of American revivalism, but for the purposes of routinization of Smith s message, especially polygamy. Grant had been calling for a reformation of the Saints for years, involving everything from plural marriage to properly clearing the ditches and maintaining the fences of Zion; but, with the pressures of failed crops and external pressures from the government, the time was ripe for a revivalist fervor to sweep through the church. He was so serious in the need for reformation that rebaptism was demanded. Gene A. Sessions, in his book Mormon Thunder: A Documentary History of Jedediah Morgan Grant, states: Apparently, Grant had tired of preaching a reformation that never took hold; now he would require baptism and reconfirmation outward signs of fealty to the thunderings of the Almighty through His chosen vessel. In effect, he would cut off the entire membership of the church and require them to submit to reconversion and rededication to the principles he and his colleagues had been hurtling at them for years. There would be no passive Saints in the kingdom of Jedediah s stewardship. It would be all or nothing. 26 His attitude fit well within Young s vision, and helped shape it. Young felt that if the Saints would but prepare materially and spiritually, they could then build a sovereign kingdom for Christ to receive. In large part, it was an effort to demand conformity regarding polygamy. Many immigrants knew nothing regarding polygamy until their arrival in Utah Territory, which was a terrible surprise. Having been converted to a prophetic, premillennial Mormonism, European immigrants, after having risked everything and traveled great distances to build Zion, were easily disenchanted by Young s practical, routinized theocracy. So Young sent out Grant, whom the people dubbed Brigham s Sledgehammer, to call the Saints to repentance for not embracing polygamy. Strict orthodoxy was his specialty, plural marriage being not an option. Employing revival and circuit-style preaching he had learned as a Mormon missionary in the southern United States, Grant saw his mission as one of conquest; preaching within Zion to the Saints, he declared: In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I will never leave this land, until this people surrender. I will hang the flag of the Lord Jesus Christ on their doors, and there 26 Gene A. Sessions, Mormon Thunder: A Documentary History of Jedediah Morgan Grant (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993), 207.

137 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 125 shall be a siege of forty days. Then let every man storm the castle, and rule against the bulwarks of hell, and let every Elder throw the arrows of God Almighty through the sinner, and pierce their loins, and penetrate their vitals, until the banner of Christ shall wave triumphantly over Israel. 27 Two years before the reformation, likely referring to Orson Pratt s difficulties when Joseph Smith propositioned Sarah Pratt to be Smith s eternal wife, Grant taught that when the family organization was revealed from heaven the patriarchal order of God, and Joseph began, on the right and on the left, to add to his family, what a quaking there was in Israel. Grant then illustrated this lack of faith among the Saints through an imagined conversation taking place in Nauvoo before the exodus west: Says one brother to another, Joseph says all covenants [including marriages performed outside of Joseph s priesthood] are done away, and none are binding but the new covenants; now suppose Joseph should come and say he wanted your wife, what would you say to that? [The other brother replies,] I would tell him to go to hell. This was the spirit of many in the early days of this Church. 28 Grant s conclusion: The proper response for an orthodox, true-blooded Mormon, if Joseph came to them stating I want your wife, would be to say, O yes here she is, [for] there are plenty more. 29 Many, particularly newly arrived immigrants, would have difficulty embracing this sort of logic and faith especially because only Mormon elite males, such as Young and Grant, were favored with plural wives by the institution which controlled the practice, but all were supposed to willingly support it in word and deed, to include supplying daughters and accepting the challenge when one s wife moved on to a priesthood holder with more power in Zion. During this revival, Morris was called 30 as a ward teacher. Taking his priesthood very seriously, he magnified his duties well beyond the original commission. His charge had been to strengthen Brigham Young s reformation; instead, Morris felt that his calling was to criticize Mormonism on all levels. Not surprisingly, he was a dismal failure as ward teacher and his zealous, incorrect reaction to the revival was scoffed at by fellow Mormons. Howard notes: 27 Sessions, Mormon Thunder, 205; see also Jedediah M. Grant, November 2, 1856, in Journal of Discourses, 24 vols. (Liverpool and London: Latter day Saints Book Depot, ), 4: Jedediah M. Grant, The Power of God and the Power of Satan, February 19, 1854, in Journal of Discourses, 2: Ibid. 30 Callings within Mormonism are issued by priesthood leaders, often on the local level, but they are received as God s will. Morris was called to be a teacher, one of four offices in the Aaronic or lesser Priesthood which is charged with looking after the temporal concerns of local churches. Ward teachers during the Mormon reformation were sent into the homes of members to ensure that they were living up to reform measures of the revival. Given a long list of questions to ask the members, they became a means of extending the power and vision of the church hierarchy.

138 126 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Before very long, however, Joseph s preaching ran him afoul of local church authorities. Apparently, the issue was polygamy. Morris had received no inkling of the plural marriage practice until his arrival in Salt Lake City in 1853, and he had never been able to reconcile himself to it. To him it was nothing less than adultery, and his Reformation rhetoric probably reflected that conviction. 31 He was soon silenced. Fellow Mormons urged his wife to leave him for more worthy prospects. With wives being a limited commodity reserved only for the most faithful, Morris would lose three wives around the time of the reformation, one wife taking away his son. At possibly the lowest point in his life, Morris began receiving revelations. Over the next three years, he sent letters to Brigham Young regarding his own vision of the kingdom, but received no response. Angry at the Mormon leader s refusal to honor his prophetic calling, and for leaving him in a destitute state, Morris revelations eventually renounced Young and Utah Mormonism altogether. By 1860, as a wandering prophet unwelcome in Zion, Morris began to gain a following, especially among other immigrants who had traveled so very far, and were likely to follow a prophet rather than an institution. T. B. Stenhouse, the not always reliable but consistently colorful nineteenth-century Mormon dissenter, newspaperman, and Godbeite, wrote in his history of Mormonism that Three English and three Danish clerks were daily employed in writing the heavenly communication from the mouth of the new prophet. Brigham had been barren Morris was overflowing. 32 Noting that the ethnic background of Morris followers is significant, Howard states: most of them were Scandinavians, especially Danes, generally unschooled in the English language, unfamiliar with American customs and legal procedures, and disenchanted with Mormon orthodoxy. The source of disillusionment among these Danish converts was not with religious dogma though many of them seem to have been poorly prepared for the shock of polygamy as much as with the practical matter of how one wore the mantle of prophet. 33 While Young was the epitome of an institutional leader, Morris prophesied boldly in the name of the Lord. By 1861, hundreds had joined his movement and hundreds more were sympathetic, prompting LDS authorities to send apostles John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff the next two presidents of the 31 Gordon M. Howard, Men, Motives, and Misunderstandings: A New Look at the Morrisite War of 1862, Utah Historical Quarterly 44 (1976): Available online at (accessed October 17, 2008). 32 Thomas B. H. Stenhouse, The Rocky Mountain Saints: A Full and Complete History of the Mormons, from the First Vision of Joseph Smith to the Last Courtship of Brigham Young (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1878), Howard, Men, Motives, and Misunderstandings.

139 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 127 church after Brigham Young to investigate. In February 1861, Taylor and Woodruff excommunicated Morris and several others for apostasy. While this fate ended their membership in the LDS Church, it was a much better fate than that suggested by Brother Watts, a Mormon living near the Morrisites, who announced during the proceedings that he wanted to see their throats cut from ear to ear for violation of their temple oaths. 34 While Woodruff and Taylor rebuked Watts, it represented the sentiments of the average Mormon toward apostates justified by the doctrine of blood atonement for certain sins, including adultery and apostasy, the practice reaching a fever pitch during the Mormon reformation. The Morrisite Restoration On April 6, 1861, the thirty-first anniversary of Smith organizing the original Mormon church with six members, Joseph Morris organized his church with six members: the Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Most High, later named the Church of the Firstborn. In Mormon theology, members of the Church of the Firstborn are of an elite inner circle, 35 having received the highest ordinances of exaltation possible on earth. By linking his church with Christ s church in the celestial kingdom, Morris was elevating the Morrisites above the Brighamites, while tearing down the institutional stratification of Utah Mormonism and offering membership in the inner circle to everyone. As the Church of the Firstborn, Morris was revitalizing or reviving primitive Mormonism which was egalitarian and, unlike its then-present form, privileged no one in its communitas. He was creating a new Mormonism that honored his vision of the primitive spirit of Mormonism. This, he felt, was the 34 Part of the temple endowment up until the late twentieth century included penalties, in which those who were initiated into the endowment promised that terrible things should happen to them if they ever revealed the secrets of the temple. The first such oath of three was that they would be subject to having their throat [ ] cut from ear to ear, and [their] tongue torn out by its roots. This language was toned down in the early twentieth century, and then deleted altogether in In nineteenth-century Utah, especially during the Mormon reformation, some apostates had this penalty enacted and their necks unhinged. During the height of the reformation in 1857, Brigham Young taught that a Saint, if he commits a sin so great that it is beyond redemption through Christ s atonement, would gladly say shed my blood that I may be saved and exalted with the Gods. Stating that blood atonement is an act of love, Young then asked the congregation, Will you love your brothers and sisters likewise, when they have committed a sin that cannot be atoned for without the shedding of their blood? Will you love that man or woman well enough to shed their blood? (Brigham Young, To Know God is Eternal Life Atonement by the Shedding of Blood, February 8, 1857, in Journal of Discourses, 4:219). Teachings such as blood atonement, combined with the endowment s penalties and oath of vengeance for Joseph s martyrdom, contributed to and made church leaders of the period complicit to acts of violence in the territory, whether those leaders ordered them outright or not. 35 Having received their Second Anointing, these Mormon elites have been assured exaltation. Virtually unknown among the general membership of the LDS church, it is practiced today in the temples of the church.

140 128 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL correct approach to building a Zion and awaiting the Second Coming. Sure of an immediate Advent, as had been Smith in his early ministry, the Morrisites gathered in preparation for the Second Coming, in their communal center place at Kingston Fort in South Weber, Utah. Mirroring the exuberance of the first Saints to travel to Independence, Missouri, and with expectations and prophecies of an immediate Advent, the Morrisites made no preparations for the winter for the hundreds who had gathered. One Morrisite remembered that some of the Morrisites went so far as to tramp down their crops of wheat and corn, doubtless to prove that they were certain that Christ would come before the grain would have time to ripen. 36 So soon was the Advent that Morris felt that both his church would be organized and the Second Coming would occur in As winter set in, and the Morrisites became destitute, they looked forward to the end of the year, knowing that they only had to hold out until then. Several dates in December were promised as the day of the Lord s coming, but as the final and hungry days of a cold December set in, Morrisite hopes for an 1861 Advent were dashed. While perhaps dated, Festinger s cognitive dissonance theory is still helpful here in explaining the internal conflict faced during such a faith-crushing situation, and the seemingly contradictory responses of believers who choose to continue to believe. 37 When expanded with more contemporary research on religiously motivated violence, it is especially applicable to Morris prophecies beyond these series of disappointments in late December; it also explains the increasing institutionalization of Joseph Smith s millennium starting at the time of Zion s Camp. A psychological approach, cognitive dissonance occurs when two contradictory beliefs are simultaneously held. The resulting internal conflict from the paradox of realizing that reality does not match beliefs drives the person to justify or explain the contradiction through revision of past histories or motivations. Some cases of routinization or institutionalization can be attributed to resolving these conflicts on a corporate level, such as the delay of the New Jerusalem for the Latter-day Saints. While this dissonance might be crushing to religious conviction, often the reverse is true: Festinger reports that when a true believer is presented with evidence, unequivocal and undeniable evidence, that his belief is wrong the individual will frequently emerge, not only unshaken, but even more convinced of the truth of his beliefs than ever before. Indeed, he may even show a new fervor about convincing and converting other people to his view LeRoy Anderson, Joseph Morris And The Saga Of The Morrisites (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1988), Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, and Stanley Schachter, When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group That Predicted the Destruction of the World (New York City: Harper & Row, 1956). 38 Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter, When Prophecy Fails, 3.

141 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 129 Applicable to Mormons who find themselves in the menacing realm outside of institutional sanction, the resulting cognitive dissonance accounts for the old saying that Mormons can leave the church, but can t leave it alone. Responses to this dissonance manifest in many ways, for Mormonism is most often too integral to the believer s worldview and identity to simply walk away. The inability to walk away is especially apparent during a failed Eschaton, when mythical realities have failed to materialize within time or end it; Charles Selengut, in his book Sacred Fury, states that those who see their faith as ultimate truth, as obligatory rules to be followed by all, and believe their leaders and prophets to be God s messengers, face an enormous conflict. 39 He identifies three solutions to the experience of cognitive dissonance and chronic religious disappointment: (1) surrender, (2) reinterpretation, and (3) militant transformation 40 which has the greatest propensity for violence. 41 Throughout its history, Utah Mormonism has experienced all three responses to cognitive dissonance, the Morrisite War being but one of many militant conquests to transform Zion back to the realm of homogenous Saints. Surrender and reinterpretation were experienced when increasing pressures by the federal government led to the cessation of polygamy and the begrudging restructuring of families in Zion (but not doctrine, per se). Morris experience, however, did not involve surrender or militancy, his army unlike Brigham Young s being purely symbolic. But when his prophecies failed, like Smith before him, Morris began to reinterpret or make redemption contingent. This is best displayed in his revelations that explain why the Lord was delayed: the most prominent reason was that it was necessary that the Mormons come against the Morrisites, so that in their most dire moment the Lord could deliver his people. On December 16, 1861, the Lord stated through Morris: if mine enemies had come up against my people on that day which they had appointed, I should have come out of my hiding place and swept them off and cleared the way for my people, whether they had been prepared for me or not. But it was better for them that I did not come out in power on that day. They were not prepared for me. 42 The following day, the Lord (Jesus Christ) explained, through a revelation to Morris, that his delay in coming was caused by the failure of the Mormons 39 Charles Selengut, Sacred Fury: Understanding Religious Violence (Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2004), Ibid., Ibid., Similar to the Doctrine and Covenants which contains Joseph Smith s revelations, the collected revelations of Joseph Morris are found in The Spirit Prevails: Containing the Revelations, Articles, and Letters of Joseph Morris, published by George S. Dove, This extremely rare (and long) book of scripture is available within only a few historical archives, but most easily accessible in PDF form, originally digitized at the University of California libraries and available at the following site: September 18, 2008). This particular verse is 168:2, given December 16, 1861, p. 297.

142 130 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL to come against the Morrisites. Because the Mormons did not follow through on attacking, Christ had to travel back to heaven which Morrisite revelations indicate is a time-consuming task, even for the Lord (the later examination on theology elucidates this odd reality). Once there in heaven, Christ (through Morris) stated that he and his Father had to meet in council and make other arrangements; and we had to take time in order to do so. 43 But fear not, the Lord said, for We [God the Father and Son] shall soon prepare ourselves again; and when I come again, my people shall not be disappointed. I shall not have to trust to the failures of mine enemies any more. I am the Lord. 44 Disenchanted, some Morrisites began leaving the order, taking their goods with them. Because of this, already scarce food stores became critical. The situation looked bleak as April 6 loomed. This date is pregnant with meaning throughout the Restoration as it is universally recognized as the day of Jesus Christ s birth and the day that Joseph Smith Jr. organized the church. For the Morrisites, it was particularly important, as it was the one-year anniversary of their founding, leaving some room that Morris predictions of the Advent occurring in that year might have referred to an event within a year of their founding, and not the end of the calendar year. On April 3, the Lord through Morris, chided his people for not having finished their preparations for his almost immediat[e] return, which included preparing four horses: red, black, white, and pale in color to herald in the Apocalypse. 45 After completing his instructions on the horses, the Lord became angry with those who trifled with his property: You shall suffer no more apostates to take away property which they have consecrated unto me both by oath and deed; and if they attempt to do so, you must appoint men to stop them on the spot. If they wish to leave my people, they must leave empty-handed. 46 Apostates in general, however, rarely honor such revelations as valid. In the spring of 1862, growing internal tensions over apostasy and property came to a head, preparing the way for external conflict. Morrisites captured and imprisoned three disenchanted members who, while leaving, were also attempting to recover or replace their former possessions. One of them, William Jones, an early and wealthy convert to the Morrisites, was the first to acknowledge Morris as a prophet of God when Morris was still destitute Ibid., 170:5 (December 17, 1861), 302, emphasis mine. 44 Ibid. Interestingly, both Joseph Smith and Joseph Morris made the Second Coming contingent on the Mormons and in both cases the Mormons not following through was used to explain why the Lord did not come. But as with Morris questioning the Zion of institutional Mormonism, more and more Morrisites began questioning the routinization of the Morrisite Zion. 45 Ibid., revelation 6:2 8; 254:1. 46 Ibid., 254:3 (April 3, 1862), Anderson, Joseph Morris, 103.

143 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 131 Anderson notes the irony in this situation over Morris first convert leaving and inadvertently starting the beginning of the end of the movement. But it is also fitting, for Morris had failed to follow through in his original message, was predicating the Second Coming on material preparations, and had become like Brigham Young in many ways. As such, Jones likely didn t see any reason to honor Morris revelations that apostates could not reclaim property, especially since it was issued post facto from when Jones first entered into the United Order. With Jones and two others held prisoner for trying to take back their own property, territorial authorities, highly influenced by Brigham Young, demanded their release. But the Morrisites refused, stating that they honored no authority but their own, which was the highest on earth. In fact, the Lord reassured Morris that the taking of these men as prisoners was necessary to get the Mormons to follow through on attacking the Morrisites. On May 29, the Lord declared to Morris: You understand my situation very well. You know that I cannot cut off your enemies until they have gathered themselves together and made the attempt to come up against my people with the intention to destroy them. 48 At least half of this prophecy came true. On June 10, 1862, a posse was organized among the Mormons (likely by the leaders of Mormon congregations) to enforce the writ of habeas corpus and new warrants for Morrisite leaders were issued. 49 Robert Burton, a colonel in the territorial militia, was charged with enforcing the order, but it was not in that capacity that he directed the posse; rather, he rode as deputy territorial marshal. Territorial marshal Henry W. Lawrence expressed opposition to such an armed confrontation with the Morrisites and left the territory rather than be a part of it. 50 Lawrence would later become one of the founding Godbeites, a dissenting group that would also present a competing vision of Zion and Mormonism in the 1860s and early 1870s. Although reports vary as to the strength, five companies consisting of hundreds of men and perhaps even a thousand, equipped with military armaments, positioned themselves around Kingston Fort on June 13, With a Mormon army situated to attack, the Morrisites were both alarmed and relieved: it was a fulfillment of long-awaited prophecy, and they expected the coming Lord to rescue them. Thirteen days earlier, they had gathered for foreshadowing day, a review of the armies of Israel. In the preface to The Spirit Prevails, a brief history records that the officers were at the head of the kingdom, the generals were at the head of the army, and Joseph [Morris] was hailed as Lord of the whole earth, as a representative of Jesus. Twelve generals appeared on horseback, the first four riding on white, red, black and 48 Spirit Prevails 289:1 (May 29, 1862), Anderson, Joseph Morris, Howard, Men, Motives, and Misunderstandings.

144 132 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL pale horses. 51 The Morrisite procession, followed by seven companies of well armed and equipped infantry, marched around the fort seven times, then changing riders, marched around another twelve times. The record then states: From this time until the appearance of the Mormon Militia on the hills around Weber, many revelations were given, and there was much anxiety among the people. With this necessary requirement involving the four horses accomplished, the Morrisites were expecting an engagement with the Mormons, but had a very different expectation on how it would unfold. With the militia on the hills surrounding them, the Morrisites gathered together to discuss Burton s terms and more likely, to receive final instructions from their prophet before the Apocalypse. But Burton had given them a deadline to respond, delivered not by officers of the militia, but by a young boy who had been herding cows. It had taken time for the boy to bring the message, then for Morris to receive a revelation, and then for the revelation to be recorded and read to the congregation. Before they could respond to the militia, however, Burton ordered the artillery to shoot two warning shots from a twelve-pound howitzer. Countless times in their revelations, the Lord had promised that while blood would be shed, it would be Mormon and not Morrisite blood. But the second of the two warning shots from the posse came in the form of a bounding cannonball which smashed through the fort, taking lives and inflicting serious injury, and sent the Morrisites rushing to defend themselves. As the engagement drew on, a heavy rain broke the exchange of fire. After battling both Mormons and the elements for two days, by June 15, the Morrisites could no longer fight. Morris, not knowing his life was all but spent, received the following message from the Lord: My faithful people have nearly spent their physical strength, and used up their ammunition, and when they have done so, and are not able to defend themselves against their enemies any longer, they will have done their part, and will be pronounced faithful before me, having done their duty. Until my people have come to this point, I cannot lawfully come to their release Spirit Prevails, 6. Although impossible to say with certainty, it is possible that this event influenced the White Horse Prophecy of Joseph Smith, as remembered by Edwin Rushton and Theodore Turley. Rooted within the historical context of Utah in the 1850s and 60s, this supposed prophecy fits well within the apocalyptic fervor of the age. As Mormons encountered the Morrisites, being a mirror to themselves and their earlier history, Mormon history was affected: Morrisites establishing themselves in South Weber echoed the Mormons arriving to Utah, and foreshadowing day is similar to the review of the Nauvoo Militia conducted by General Joseph Smith on the day he supposedly gave the White Horse Prophecy involving four horses of different colors. Further research is needed, however. 52 Ibid., 304:3,

145 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 133 As the posse entered the fort, Burton, with his revolver at close range, shot Joseph Morris dead. David Bigler notes that [i]t had the look of an execution. 53 William Banks was also shot in the neck, but survived until his suspicious death later that night, having his neck unhinged as Brother Watts had suggested. And like many who found themselves on the wrong side of the law in the Old West, the bodies of the dead Morrisites were displayed in a gory spectacle at city hall as a warning to all. All of this begs the question: which law were the Morrisites on the wrong side of? Burton later reported during a trial that he felt that Morris was attempting to retrieve a weapon. Others there recorded that Morris was moving toward the steps of a building so that he could address his people, the weapons stacked off in the distance. Two women rushed up just as their prophet was being slain and in the confusion they were also killed. Burton was tried for the murder of those slain but was found not guilty by a Mormon jury, which determined that the deaths were accidental or in self-defense and that the posse commander was only fulfilling his duty toward the territory. 54 But if his focus was solely on the good of the territory, it contradicts the histories of at least three Morrisites who recorded that the commander from the territorial militia entered the fort using religious language. Two eyewitnesses reported Burton s words as, I want no more of your damned apostasy 55 ; and, speaking to Morris, give yourself up, in the name of the Lord. 56 The historical records of the period are either incomplete or contradictory as to whether Brigham Young sent Burton on a theocratic mission to exterminate Morris. Howard states: To what extent Burton s actions were motivated by sectarian commitment is difficult to determine exactly, but it may be presumed substantial. Mormon authorities took a hard line toward apostate groups at that time, and Burton was close to Brigham Young and the heartbeat of Mormon orthodoxy. Young himself, traditionally uncharitable toward his enemies, publicly equated the Morrisites with the devil, directed that they be ostracized, and forbade their reentry into Mormonism. 57 Whether or not Brigham Young sent Burton to kill Morris, Young was determined to see the Morrisites suffer in this life and the next. He announced from his pulpit in the Salt Lake bowery, Let them wait a thousand years before reentry into the church Bigler, Forgotten Kingdom, Orson F. Whitney, Popular History of Utah, (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1916), George Dove, an eyewitness, leaves out damned, which was included by Eardley as he compiled a history for the Morrisites; see Anderson, Joseph Morris, 134, Anderson, Joseph Morris, Howard, Men, Motives, and Misunderstandings. 58 Namely, a thousand years in spirit prison or hell before anyone completed a proxy restoration of temple and membership blessings for any Morrisite.

146 134 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL However the order came down, Morrisites and Mormons expected a struggle and saw it play out in cosmic terms. Surviving a greatest disappointment after the death of their prophet by Burton s revolver, the remaining Morrisites relocated throughout the West. Although the sect existed for another hundred years, neither the first martyr, Joseph Smith, nor the second martyr, Joseph Morris, lived long enough to see their visions of Zion completely realized. While sociological factors such as immigration, socioeconomic status, and institutional stratification led to the division between Mormons and Morrisites, it was their respective ideologies that led to violent conflict. To understand the mindsets of the participants inside and out of Kingston Fort, I d like to review Morrisite and Mormon theologies, within their historical contexts, that led to the Morrisite War. Theology, Theocracy, and Violence Reading Morris revelations, it becomes apparent that he perceived Jesus as an exalted man, with many of the same constraints that a human might face. In one revelation, the Lord spoke about how many enemies he could slay per minute, compared to how many an angel could slay; he talked of traveling back and forth between heaven and earth, of meetings with his Father, of being very busy and frustrated with foiled plans, of not knowing exactly when things will happen. But one constant is the Lord repeatedly assuring Morris that when he would arrive, he would hand things over to him, because it would be Morris place to preside over the earth. Even the Lord answers to Morris on some things. A contemporary of Morris, Ludwig Feuerbach, provides a partial answer to this startling endowment of power in a human: as one of the young Hegelians (which included Karl Marx), Feuerbach pushed his mentor s teachings beyond the realm of synthesis between man and an actual divine, but saw the divine as a projection of idealized humanity. For Feuerbach, theology is but anthropology (and psychology) 59 ; for Morris, in a believer s sense, he would have also seen theology as anthropology, but the reverse as well: anthropology as theology. 60 The study of humanity being equivalent to the study of God is not just a feature of Morrisite theology. Orson Pratt, writing in his newspaper the Seer, equated the necessity of polygamy in the context of populating worlds. As a potential god, Pratt expected that if he had two wives, he could produce spiritual offspring twice as fast as having just one. And once he and his wives 59 Ludwig Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity, 1841 (translated from German into English by George Eliot in 1854). A student of Hegel s, Feuerbach expands upon his mentor s speculative theology, stating that What man calls Absolute Being, his God, is his own image, or a projection of both his inner and idealized self ( Introduction: 1. Being of Man in General ). 60 This fits well within the Snow couplet of As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become. In a non-mormon, secular setting, Morris (and Mormon views on exaltation in general) do not contradict but only reinforce Feuerbach s thesis.

147 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 135 had a critical mass of spiritual offspring, then it would be time to organize a planet in the same fashion as described in Genesis Someone like Brigham Young (or Joseph Smith) who had many, many wives, would reach Godhood all the faster. This idea is not unique to Utah Mormonism, but had its roots in Smith s teachings, including the disputed King Follett funeral address in April Shortly before his death, Smith purportedly said, God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. 62 Even earlier, in 1832, in his Vision of the Three Degrees of Glory, Smith stated that the redeemed of Christ in the celestial kingdom, as members of the Church of the Firstborn, are gods, even the sons of God. 63 This vision is much more widely accepted in the Restoration, although interpretations vary. Morris human God was not foreign to Joseph Smith. Even Brigham Young s Adam-God doctrine is but an effort to explain Smith s principles, not expand upon them. While the climax of Smith s theology can be found in Nauvoo, it all began to form once the prophet of the church shifted more to president of the church and made the millennium contingent upon good works. Zion s Camp is the genesis of King Follett, the dormant concepts of man s potential and God s boundaries in Restoration scripture awakened and magnified until potential human exaltation was possible. While Smith may have been departing from primitive Christianity in doctrine, he was in step with the reactions of the descendants of first-generation Christians. Grant Underwood states that [a] theme common in the study of early Christianity is the delay of the Parousia (Coming). 64 For the Saints, it was the delay of Zion. Both resulted in routinization for the sake of survival. Underwood continues that when the End did not come during the lifetimes of the earliest Christians, the Catholic Church was born... Institutionalization occurred as a church hierarchy was established, creeds were formalized, and a canon was fixed. Of course, this left the problem of why the prophecies were not fulfilled, but By applying cognitive dissonance theory to early Christianity, it has been argued that the delay intensified a sense of mission, as Christians subconsciously sought to convince themselves, through successfully converting others, that the movement was right after all. Thus, disconfirmation [of an immediate Advent] did not necessarily result in discreditation Orson Pratt, Seer 1, no. 3 (March 1853), Joseph Smith, King Follett Discourse, History of the [LDS] Church, 6: D&C 76:54, 58 (LDS); see also Community of Christ D&C 76:5e, 5h. 64 Grant Underwood, The Millenarian World of Early Mormonism (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1999), Ibid.

148 136 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Similar to Christianity, Smith telling the elders to wait and prepare, for Zion wasn t ready to be redeemed, extended the mythical journey and horizons of what might have been a dead end. But for Joseph Morris and his followers, routinization and deferment was an end a failure of the prophet, not the prophecy. Had he been in Zion s Camp when Smith called retreat, Morris would have affixed bayonet and charged. Morris got his chance three decades later, resulting in the end of his life. Smith s deferred salvation of Zion was both shaped by and shaped the theology of the Restoration, sharpening the already established focus on good works before divine assistance would become available. 66 And so while I agree with Underwood s statement that Mormon cosmology and soteriology, in the time of Smith, were shaped by millenarian apocalypticism, I assert the converse as well, that Mormon theology shaped their millennium in unique ways. 67 Two years before Zion s Camp, Smith had received a revelation outlining three degrees of potential glory in the afterlife. Almost everyone is rewarded in this system to varying degrees of glory in the next life, based on the life led on earth. The revelation also established a place of outer darkness, a fourth estate of no glory or light for the sons of Perdition. 68 Eventually, gradations in soteriology influenced eschatology, with corporate salvation the redemption of Zion and the Second Coming reflecting an earned individual exaltation. Yet, the routinization of Zion also pushing the possibilities of human potential unto exaltation as Saints prepared to purify themselves to hasten a Second Coming that was always on the horizon. Thus, Smith s notions of grace and works, and judgment and salvation, did more than expand the traditional Christian soteriological binaries of heaven and hell: they allowed room for the creation of a sacred humanism, bringing divinity to humanity and humanity to divinity in a sacralization and partial reversal of Feuerbach s thesis the young Hegelian only seeing religion as imagined shackles, not a route to human exaltation. Eternal progress and divine potential within humanity allowed Smith, near the end of his life, to inaugurate the kingdom with himself crowned as king. Smith was not claiming to be Christ, but was simply making the necessary earthly preparations for Christ s grace to then empower the kingdom. This literal coronation took place in the spring of 1844 at Nauvoo in the presence of Smith s secret theocratic 66 I will not pretend to know exactly what Joseph Smith believed on the subject of grace and works; however, the Book of Mormon suggests that while the grace of Christ alone produces salvation, still works are required to bring the believer into a prerequisite state of reconciliation with God before grace is received. For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do (2 Nephi 25:23 [LDS], italics mine). See also 2 Nephi 10: Underwood, Millenarian World, See D&C 88.

149 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 137 Council of Fifty. His two immediate successors in the LDS Church, Brigham Young and John Taylor, also held the theocratic office of King over Israel on Earth. 69 In various evolutions of Smith s kingship, so did at least three of his successors outside of the LDS Church: Gladden Bishop, James Strang, and Joseph Morris. These Mormon kings expected an apotheosis of their earthly kingdom through the Second Coming, much as their earthly preparations, through the supernatural grace of Christ, allowed for their individual apotheosis. Hence, Smith s formalities ( symbolic as Underwood puts them 70 ) were absolutely serious especially apparent as Smith s vision was transplanted to Young s Deseret. Divisions between sacred and secular, divinity and humanity, were of degree, not ontological. As Morris revealed a very human God, he was reflecting this tradition. With so much resting on humanity, the Mormons guarded challenges to their theocracy as seriously as they defended their faith: they had become one and the same, making holy war possible against threats to the kingdom. Especially during the age of Brigham s Sledgehammer and blood atonement, but true still today, alternative visions of Zion are a threat to the exclusive authority of the institution and its claims to be the only source of exaltation. Still, the denial of coevalness by the Mormon institution toward other Mormons today is much less serious than the rhetoric of its nineteenthcentury counterpart and actions by its members. And today, with a loss of a Mormon theocracy and millenarian action (think violence), it is impossible for Mormons to fathom events like the Morrisite War or the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Both of these last two events shocked the nation and Mormons themselves in how far Mormons were willing to go to defend their sovereign interests. Within this environment, Morrisites converts risked their lives in order to embrace a more charismatic form of Mormonism one that was more true to their worldview, to which they had been willing to sacrifice everything. Like other theocratic states, violence can be seen as a necessary measure in purifying the people of God. During times of millennial millenarian reform, these efforts can get quite frenzied as in Mountain Meadows which took place five years before the Morrisite War. The Morrisites had just emerged during a period when the power of the Mormon theocracy surged for its last time, and during an age of blood atonement for those who opposed the kingdom of God. Anticipating trouble, Morrisites expected a violent standoff with the Mormons to bring about the millennium; and in detaining prisoners, they hoped to evoke 69 Wilford Woodruff declined to convene a meeting of the Fifty or receive its theocratic office of King over Israel on Earth ; see D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1997), Underwood, Millenarian World,

150 138 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL a response so the Lord could come out of his hiding place. The stage had been set. Conclusion Challenging the Mormon theocracy was a deadly game. Mormon theology had stipulations for violence; Morrisite theology expected violence. The Mormon institution during its theocratic years officially, , and then a brief resurgence of Deseret in 1862 with a shadow government in force until 1870 employed violence to protect its sovereign interests. To make the situation even more unpredictable, individual Mormons translated violent rhetoric, doctrines, and practices into acts of violence not sanctioned by the institution, but, they thought, in Zion s best interests. By forming an alternative Zion and challenging Brigham Young s authority, the doctrines of polygamy, and the nature of the millennium, Morrisites expected and received a deadly response from their Mormon neighbors. But believing Morrisites saw the outcome differently in their minds: often immigrants, they left their homes and traveled thousands of miles to be part of something prophetic. Instead, they were disenchanted by Young s Zion. It was fitting that Morris led them, for he didn t fit into the Mormon version of Zion, either. The Morrisites challenged Mormon society, just as Mormons challenged American society. For both Mormons and Morrisites, perhaps on a subconscious level, courting persecution was essential to their cosmos. Both Morrisites and Mormons were deadly serious about reviving the millennial kingdom. But while both engaged in questionable, illegal, or atrocious behavior, they were ultimately waiting for the most radical aspect of their revolution against the established order and laws the Second Coming of Christ and worldwide implementation of his kingdom. Morris, once he was unable to gain institutional support of his prophetic calling (and supposedly even asking the RLDS Church to accept him as prophet), then stretched the boundaries of Mormonism to provide room for himself and his followers outside of the institution in Salt Lake. 71 It resulted in a violent ride for his group, for he followed Joseph Smith all the way to martyrdom. It can be argued whether charisma was to the detriment or benefit of the movement s life expectancy, but it essentially kept the Morrisites true to the unconditionally new, utopian vision of the Restoration. And true to early Mormonism s experience, the Morrisites were persecuted and driven from their homes, unable to build the temple in Jackson County, 71 In a letter to then RLDS Historian Richard P. Howard, Gordon Howard asks if the RLDS archives have a letter that Joseph Morris wrote to your Church President asking to come up as hed [sic] of your Church? The RLDS Historian s response is that such a letter is not in the archives, possibly having been lost in a fire of the Lamoni Herald Office. For this correspondence, see Mss. B-279, box 1, folder 6, Gordon M. Howard Collection, Utah State Historical Archives.

151 BRYANT: Mormons, Morrisites, and Massacre 139 Missouri. The Morrisite s timing was poor, if they had wished to avoid conflict. Had they emerged a few years later when the Godbeites did, it is likely the Morrisite War would have never happened. But perhaps since so much of their millenarianism hinged upon war with the Mormons this was an ideal period to emerge: one of high tension and conflict. Joseph Morris experience with Brigham Young is but one of many historical instances of conflict involving believing but dissident Mormons, often derived from the tension between obedience to principles and obedience to a religious institution. The call for a return to primitive Mormon principles allows the believing but dissident Mormon to protest the Mormon institution without renouncing Mormonism itself. It is a survival mechanism when new institutional directions conflict with the believer s understanding of correct Mormonism, allowing Mormons to remain faithful to principles (and thus their worldview) while questioning the institution. In all of this, the Morrisites attempted to out Mormon the Mormons. They expected at Christ s Second Coming to gather to Salt Lake City, to the site where the Salt Lake Temple now stands, and begin their march to Independence, Missouri, with Christ at their head, to build the unrealized city and temple that Joseph originally envisioned. 72 At this New Jerusalem, Edenic hopes would be realized in Zion. Layers of Judaism, Christianity, and Mormonism all contributed to this Morrisite vision, as they recapitulated each, entering the mythical time that their predecessors had already moved out of. Morris was forever a liminal being. His followers who survived had to deal with the crisis of his death, much as the Mormons did with Joseph Smith s in Future Morrisite prophets continued his prophetic impulse, creating revelation upon revelation until Morrisitism became far removed from original Latter-day Saint theology but not its founding impetus. They were on a journey of greater Mormonism, finding space beyond the mainstream to experience and revive the charismatic power of the early Restoration. Seth L. Bryant (bryant@ufl.edu) completed a BA in English at Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah, and an MA in religion at the University of Florida. He will start a PhD program in religion at Vanderbilt University in the fall of This paper is taken from chapter 2 of his master s thesis, Latter-day Anguish and the Epic of Greater Mormonism completed under the guidance and patient mentoring of David G. Hackett. A version of this paper was also presented on September 26, 2008 at the annual meeting of the John Whitmer Historical Association held in Burlington, Wisconsin. 72 Spirit Prevails 21:31.

152 Revelation in the Latter Day Saint Movement: Prophets, Seers, and Revelators in the Modern Era Steven L. Shields Founded on the related principles of (a) continuing revelation (b) by ordinary folk, the Latter Day Saint movement may well have the largest percentage of prophets, seers, revelators, and translators of any similarly sized religious community. Joseph Smith Jr. held a strict monopoly on revelation and translation during the years of his ministry ( ). Others who claimed revelations, visits from angels, or translations of ancient records were summarily dismissed as having been deceived. Joseph Smith and his councils swiftly moved to discipline such people. 1 Hiram Page and Mrs. Hubble, each of whom claimed to have received revelations through the use of peep stones, barely make the footnotes of early Mormon history. 2 A self-proclaimed prophet, James Brewster, gets slightly more attention, due in part to his published Book of Esdras and other translations. 3 In the years following the death of Joseph Smith Jr. the church he founded became fragmented into many competing organizations. One of the most notable spiritual voices of the early years was James J. Strang, who published revelations and translations of ancient records. 4 Another voice of note was Joseph Morris, who recorded more than three hundred written revelations in just five years, with one-half of those documents issued in the first six months 1 Doctrine and Covenants, sections 27 and 43 (Community of Christ edition). 2 B. H. Roberts, ed., A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 6 vols. (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1965), 1:218; James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976), 50, 66; Richard P. Howard, The Church Through the Years 2 vols. (Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, ), 1:85. 3 James C. Brewster, The Words of Righteousness to all Men, Written from One of the Books of Esaras [sic, Esdras] (Springfield, IL: Ballard and Roberts, Printers, 1842). 4 James J. Strang, The Book of the Law of the Lord (Saint James, MI: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [Strangite], 1856).

153 SHIELDS: Revelation in the Latter Day Saint Movement 141 of There are dozens of other examples that I will not mention in this short paper. 6 In this paper, I briefly introduce many of the spiritual voices in the modern era who have issued added books or other documents to the scriptural literature of the Latter Day Saint movement. I define the modern era as the twentieth century to the present. For this paper, I define scripture texts as writings promoted as: (a) translations of ancient documents, (b) messages received through angels or other spiritual communication, and (c) published documents following the pattern of Joseph Smith Jr. s various scriptural texts. There are other types of inspired writings, which some may consider on par with scripture, but I will not consider them specifically. 7 Book of Mormon, Sealed Plates In the modern era, among the added works of scripture, there are at least four different versions of the sealed plates of Book of Mormon lore. In addition, there are at least two versions of the Book of Lehi, said to be the contents of the 116 pages of manuscript loaned to Martin Harris and subsequently lost. 8 Davied Israel, who was formerly known as Gilbert Clark, founded Sons Ahman Israel in Utah in The group has a community at Canebeds (near Fredonia), Arizona. This is near the twin towns of Hilldale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona the headquarters of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, led by Warren Jeffs. Shortly after Israel organized the new church, the angels Shulem and Moroni appeared to Hava Pratt, a woman in the church living then at Fairhaven, Nevada. The two angels began to dictate the contents of the Writings of Moroni to her on February 16, Beginning on April 24, 1982, at St. George, Utah, Davied Israel began translating the sealed portion of the book of Mormon. The translation is titled the Oracles of Mohonri. Israel writes, I beheld an angel opening up the gold plates, and between him and I were two iridescent stones, one purple-black and the other akin to light lavender, which I understood to be the urim and thummim. I then experienced a type of trance or time displacement, where I would experience the same thoughts, emotions, etc., of the original writer, and then from my own vocabulary and sense of communication I was inspired to write what the original writer had meant to convey. 9 5 Joseph Morris, The Spirit Prevails (San Francisco: George S. Dove and Company, 1886). 6 See Steven L. Shields, Divergent Paths of the Restoration, 4th ed. (Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1990). 7 For example, many would consider the writings of Annalee Skarin to be comparable to scripture. See: Annalee Skarin, Ye Are Gods (1952; repr., DeVorss & Company, 1998) and later volumes. Her revelations from Moroni might constitute, in some ways of thinking, something akin to the sealed plates. 8 Howard, Church Through the Years, 1: Davied Israel, Oracles of Mohonri (1983; repr., n.p.: Sons Ahman Israel, 1987).

154 142 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL The Oracles begin with the first book of Moroni: And the Lord spake unto me, Moroni, saying: Take ye this record, even this most sacred record which I have preserved in your hands, and seal it up unto me. Yea, lay upon it thy hands, and anoint ye it with sacred oil, that it might be preserved unto me from the hands of the destroyer for the benefit of future generations. We learn that Moroni made two identical sets of plates, one of which was the set found near Palmyra, New York by Joseph Smith Jr. With the other set, Moroni tells us, he traveled toward the setting sun, into the land devoid of life; barren and cursed sealing them up, like as I sealed up the first copy. The record continues with the writings of Mohonri Moriancumer, who is known as the brother of Jared. He writes of the creation, explains the mysteries of salvation, and the manner in which the world has been ordered. The reader is introduced to several different angelic messengers as Mohonri is taken in vision to the heavenly realms. Several sections of the book are blank, except for this note: Contains writings that cannot be revealed unto the world; but is to be had in the Holy Temple of God. Finally in the Ninth Book of Moroni, chapter 2, the record closes with Moroni s parting words: That all ye to whom this work shall come behold, ye shall be judged according to thy choice choose with wisdom, be soul still. Seek after the Spirit in prayer and fasting and praise seek ye always to perfect thyself before thy maker and honor Him in all ye do Until that final day, I bid adieu. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he lift his countenance upon you in favor and loving kindness, and may he grant you peace. Amen and Amen. 10 Mike Rigby of Orem, Utah, now a former member of the Salt Lake City, Utahbased Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter, LDS Church), published a book in 1994 called simply, Sacred Scripture. He writes, This work is a compilation of sacred scripture preserved by the hand of God to come forth in this the evening of the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. Each of these texts is now presented to you in the same form as I received them. 11 Thirty people signed a statement affirming their belief in the writings. Rigby does not claim to be a prophet. Friends and family who find the Sacred Scripture a guide for faith occasionally get together for fellowship. Rigby says that faith is a personal and individual matter. He maintains that institutionalizing religion does not foster faith as it should be formed. 12 The book, Sacred Scripture, is a compilation of several writings but includes material from the sealed section of the Book of Mormon. This material begins with Moroni, chapter 11. The first chapters are word for word identical with Israel s First Book of Moroni, but the chapter divisions and versification is 10 Ibid. 11 Mike L. Rigby, Sacred Scripture (Orem, Utah: M.A.P. Inc., 1994). 12 Mike L. Rigby, telephone interview with author, August 19, 2008.

155 SHIELDS: Revelation in the Latter Day Saint Movement 143 different. The balance of Rigby s sealed plates material is different from Israel s version. The Brotherhood of Christ Church, in 2001, published volume 1 of the Sealed Portion of the Brother of Jared. 13 A second volume was published a couple of years later. In 2007, the church published a third book of scripture, the Book of Remembrance of Enoch. The church claims all three volumes were translated from stone tablets using the urim and thummim. Ron Livingston, formerly a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (hereafter, RLDS Church), 14 is the leader of the church 15 and the translator of the records. Livingston no longer uses his given name. The title page of the Sealed Portion was changed late in 2008 giving the name Goker Harim III as the translator. 16 He says the book is called sealed because the ancient languages are hidden or lost. He does not claim to have translated the sealed plates of the Book of Mormon. Rather, the record that he has translated is the original record of the brother of Jared and not Moroni s redaction. Livingston reveals the name of the brother of Jared is Achee. The record states that Achee means the brother. 17 At the end of several hundred pages, the record ends with: And thus ends the account of the record of the Brother of Jared who is called Achee concerning the seven great pleadings of Messiah. And there were never greater things seen by man nor yet entered into their hearts concerning all of the marvelous works of God. And there is no more profitable knowledge that can come into the soul of man to guide them in the ways of righteousness and to prepare them to live life to the full of it and thus prepare themselves by their works of repentance and righteousness for the last and great day of judgment. Amen. 18 William C. Chappell, who states he is still a member of the LDS Church, published An Abridgment of the Record of Lehi in Chappell, born in 13 Brotherhood of Christ Church, The Sealed Portion of the Brother of Jared, vol. 1 (Leawood, Kansas: Leathers Publishing, 2001). 14 The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints changed its official name in 2001 to Community of Christ. 15 The Brotherhood of Christ Church is located at Davis City, Iowa. Ron Livingston is not mentioned by name in any of the church s literature, yet much of the material is written in the first person. His name is known by personal knowledge of acquaintances. 16 Dale Luffman, former president of the Lamoni [Iowa] Stake, RLDS Church, interview with author, September 9, First Book of Achee 1:3 [101], Goker Harim III, trans., The First Book of Achee, Sealed Portion of the Brother of Jared, (accessed June 8, 2009) Achee 9:68 70 [289], Goker Harim III, trans., The Second Book of Achee, Sealed Portion of the Brother of Jared, pdf (accessed June 8, 2009). 19 William C. Chappell, An Abridgment of the Records of Lehi (n.p.: William C. Chappell, 2002).

156 144 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL 1944, became a member of the LDS Church in 1974, but says he has had a testimony of the Book of Mormon since July 22, 1972 when the Holy Ghost descended on him for the first time. Chappell says he produced the book from the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Chappell also has received the correct geography for the Book of Mormon, which he includes in the second part of the Lehi material. He reveals the name Mormon means born again. The book begins, Behold I, Lehi, do make a record of my proceedings in my days. I am the son of Samuel who dwelt all his days in the land of Egypt. And I do inscribe my record on plates of copper and gold alloy, and, behold, I do call it the Book of Lehi Wherefore, I, Lehi, was taught the scriptures and the traditions of the Jews from the days of our fathers. And I, Lehi, did spend much of my time in pursuit of knowledge and in seeking the will of the Lord my God. Chappell s Lehi was born and raised among the Jews in Egypt, where his father was a metal smith. God led Lehi to return to Jerusalem at age eighteen. The record ends with the voyage across the seas to the great southern continent in the isles of the sea. Finally, Lehi gives his own benediction, Yea, my health has been failing me since the time we camped at Bountiful, and I could not help build the ship. Yea, behold, I am old before my time. But, nevertheless, all of the hopes and dreams of my childhood, and of my life as a man and a prophet of God, have been fulfilled. Christopher Marc Nemelka says he was an employee of the security department at the headquarters of the LDS Church, working the graveyard shift in the summer of He states that as he made his rounds of the Salt Lake Temple, Joseph Smith Jr. appeared to him. Joseph told him that when the time was right, he, Joseph, would bring the plates and direct Nemelka further. This was fulfilled several years later. Nemelka published both the Book of Lehi and the Sealed Portion of the plates in He says he did the translation by the urim and thummim. Nemelka also recorded the words spoken by God during Joseph Smith s First Vision, as dictated to Nemelka by Smith himself on December 23, Nemelka states that Mormon abridged the large plates of Nephi and inscribed the abridgment on the plates that Joseph Smith used for the Book of Mormon. His version of the Book of Lehi begins: I, Mormon, according to the commandment of the Lord, have made these plates of ore according to the knowledge and understanding that the Lord hath given unto me. And I write the things that I have been instructed to write, having received this instruction from the Holy Spirit. The record continues, Lehi was the son of Jeshron, a High Priest among the Jews, who lived at Jerusalem. And Lehi was a High Priest like his father before him. Nemelka s Lehi lived his entire life in Jerusalem where he was active in priestly work, judging those who claimed to be prophets. One day, two prophets, who did not belong to the church, were brought before Lehi and the others of

157 SHIELDS: Revelation in the Latter Day Saint Movement 145 the council. Zenos and Zenock prophesied against the Jews. They asserted that corruption had come into the Jewish church. Lehi became a believer and saved the lives of the two prophets. Nevertheless, Laban, who was the Chief High Priest, did stand forth to confound Lehi; and he commanded that Lehi should be bound also and judged for his testimony against the church of God and its leaders. Lehi is spared, and after prayer receives a marvelous vision in which appeared before him a pillar of fire. Lehi s death is recorded in chapter 7, with Nephi becoming the leader, and the older brothers, Laman and Lemuel separating from the community. By the end of the book, with chapter 9, Mosiah discovers the people of Zarahemla, dies and is buried, and is succeeded as king by his son Benjamin. And it came to pass that though the people of the land of Zarahemla loved their king, they loved their riches and their pride and their houses and their precious things more than they loved their fellowmen... And there arose much contention throughout the land of Zarahemla. Nemelka s Sealed Portion is a volume more than nine hundred pages long. The record begins with Moroni recording the things revealed to the Brother of Jared. This frames a detailed account of the heavens, creation, and the degrees of glory awaiting humankind in the next life. We learn that Moroni sees in vision the establishment of the church of God in the last days and have seen the reestablishment of this holy endowment and the construction of many temples. However, it shall come to pass that the people of the church that he shall establish [referring to Joseph Smith Jr.] shall reject the pure message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Sealed Portion ends with chapter 100, recording Moroni s epilogue. Moroni s parting counsel is to love one another. Do good to all. Look at your neighbors and imagine them as a child of God. Know that each of you is a child of God, and that He loveth each of you, and hath done all these things for your good. Remember the words of Christ which have been given unto you. Remember them, my beloved brothers and sisters and one day we shall meet in the kingdoms of the Father, where we shall receive eternal life. Amen. Terrill R. Dalton and Geody M. Harman lead the Church of the Firstborn and the General Assembly of Heaven, located in Magna, Utah, on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley. Dalton and Harman are the two witnesses. 20 Not only have they published a translation of the Sealed Book of Mormon (work began on the project July 23, 2004); they have produced more than fifty other works of sealed books of scripture. They have begun correcting biblical texts to restore the undefiled Bible. There are also several books added to the list of 20 The Church of the Firstborn and the General Assembly of Heaven, The Two Witnesses Page Name, (accessed September 3, 2008).

158 146 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL biblical canon, said to have been deliberately removed, such as Romans 2 and 3, Thessalonians 3, Agrippa, John 4, and Angels. 21 The Sealed Book of Mormon contains the Words of Moroni, the Book of Mosiah, Jacob the Seer, and Shemnon the Prophet. Other Book of Mormonrelated materials include the Testimony of Samuel the Lamanite, and the Record of the Brother of Jared. The translations are not all completed, according to Dalton and Harman, but the currently available material covers several hundred 8½ x 11 inch pages, in single-spaced, small type. In the manuscript, Moroni writes, I Moroni the son of Mormon who was the keeper of these records at the end of our people do at the command of the Lord seal up this record that it go not unto the children of men, save they have faith among them to believe as the prophets of old have believed, and this is only to come forth in the last days by the hands of those who have been chosen unto this work by prophecy and by tribulation I exhort you with all diligence that you ask the Lord in the name of the Christ if these things are not true, and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, having real intent and faith in him, then you shall know, even as I know and now testify that these things are true. 22 Doctrine and Covenants, Revelatory Documents There are many continuations or additions to Joseph Smith Jr. s book of Doctrine and Covenants. Maurice L. Glendenning recorded his first written revelation on January 20, 1923, almost twenty years before organizing the Aaronic Order. The document was published in the first collection of revelations the church published, called the Book of Elias. This first document was numbered as chapter At the time, the LDS Church edition of the Doctrine and Covenants ended with section Two additional books of Glendenning s revelations and inspired writings were published by the Order (by New Revelations and Disciple Book). Leadership of the Aaronic Order merged all three books into the 1978 publication of Levitical Writings. The compilation preserves chapter 137 in place and ends with chapter 326, comprising 189 total chapters. 21 The Church of the Firstborn and the General Assembly of Heaven, Undefiled Version of the Holy Bible, (accessed September 3, 2008). 22 The Church of the Firstborn and the General Assembly of Heaven, The Sealed Book of Mormon: Words of Moroni, Sealed Book of Mormon.htm (accessed September 3, 2008). 23 Aaronic Order, Levitical Writings (EskDale, UT: Aaronic Order, 1978). 24 Although the Aaronic Order disavowed any connections with the LDS Church in its foundational years, most members of the Order had been members of the LDS Church. These earliest members saw in the Book of Elias a clear continuation of the material published in the LDS Church edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. This early history is not currently emphasized by the Order.

159 SHIELDS: Revelation in the Latter Day Saint Movement 147 In 1943, Glendenning was commanded to set up the Order. In chapter 232 of Levitical Writings, dated March 8, 1943, we find: Now my servant, I command thee to rebuild unto me the Order of Aaron; and there shall be of it an House of Aaron, and there shall be of the House of Aaron an house of Levi. And there shall be of the house of Levi a company of priests, and there shall be of the company of priests all the members of the congregations of the Order of Aaron. Robert C. Crossfield, a Canadian by birth and a member of the LDS Church, began recording revelations in 1961 and published the first twentythree of those documents in 1968 as the Book of Onias. Forming a school of the prophets, Crossfield now lives in the United States and continues to issue revelatory documents. His followers see him as the one mighty and strong. These revelations are published as the Second Book of Commandments. As of August 2008, the book contained 237 sections. 25 Art Bulla received his first vision in 1969 and published the Revelations of Jesus Christ in The book contains only a selection of Bulla s more than three hundred written revelatory documents. He believes God has appointed him as the one mighty and strong. Stanley M. King of Owen Sound, Ontario, formerly a member of the RLDS Church, issued his first revelation dated December 17, Over the next four years, King published another thirteen revelations, which were published in 1976 in the church s Supplement to the Doctrine and Covenants. Early in 1970, King and his followers organized the Church of Jesus Christ Restored. At its peak, the church claimed more than twenty-five thousand members, most of who lived in India, where King and members of the church funded an orphanage and medical ministries. King died in The church continued for a short time afterward, but remaining members are reported to have eventually joined the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, under the leadership of Marcus Juby. 27 Eugene O. Walton s first published revelation is dated June Walton converted to the RLDS Church from a Baptist background and eventually was ordained to the office of seventy in the priesthood. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Walton was active in a movement protesting liberal trends in the RLDS Church. He became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ (Alpheus Cutler) in 1976, but by 1978 he had separated from that body and formed a new church, the Restored Church of Jesus Christ, headquartered at Independence, Missouri. 25 United Order Publications, Second Book of Commandments (Salem, UT: United Order Publications, 2004), (accessed August 25, 2008). 26 Art Bulla, The Revelations of Jesus Christ (San Diego: Art Bulla, 2000). 27 Church of Jesus Christ Restored, Supplement to the Doctrine and Covenants (Owen Sound, ON: Board of Publication of the Church of Jesus Christ Restored, 1976).

160 148 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL The Restored Church of Jesus Christ publishes Walton s revelations in a book called The Stick of Ephraim. This book is an expanded version of the Doctrine and Covenants, to which several documents authored by Joseph Smith Jr. that appear in church histories and other sources are added. Walton has delivered more than one hundred revelatory documents to his church, beginning with number Christopher C. Warren, an Englishman who now lives in Sweden, was a member of the LDS Church, but became a member of the RLDS Church at Oxford, England. He resigned from that church in 1986 and formed a new church, now called Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon. Warren has produced thousands of pages of written material explaining the theology of his church, including more than seven hundred revelatory documents, most of which have been published in the Olive Branch (first edition in 1997). 29 A second printed volume of revelations was projected to include documents after 1997, but the book had not been published as of September God called Warren to set up a new church in a revelation received in June Lift up thy heart and rejoice, for the hour of thy mission hath come; and thy tongue shall be loosed, and thou shalt declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation. And I will establish a Church by thy hand; and thou shalt strengthen them and prepare them against the time when they shall be gathered [to Zion]. These words are not of man but of Me, even Jesus Christ, thy Redeemer. (Olive Branch, section 4) Antonio A. Feliz, first a member of the LDS Church, and then a member of the RLDS Church, formed a separate denomination in There are fifty-five numbered revelatory documents by Feliz and his successors in the leadership of the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ published in a book of scripture called Hidden Treasures and Promises. These documents are dated between 1985 and A former member of the First Presidency of the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ, John R. Crane, independently published a book in 1996 called Foundation of Zion. Crane included more than one hundred of his own revelatory documents and inspired psalms, which are dated between 1985 and The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints opted in 1998 to publish another book of scripture with the revelations of Marcus Juby and 28 Restored Church of Jesus Christ, The Stick of Ephraim: The Revelations of Jesus Christ (Independence, MO: Restored Church of Jesus Christ, 1987). 29 New Covenant Church of God, The Olive Branch, vol. 1, bks 1 3 ( ), also known as the New Covenants and Commandments (Oslo, Norway: New Covenant Press, 1997). 30 The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ, Inc., Hidden Treasures and Promises, (accessed August 25, 2008). 31 John R. Crane, Foundation of Zion (n.p.: John R. Crane, n.d.).

161 SHIELDS: Revelation in the Latter Day Saint Movement 149 others, rather than add to the Doctrine and Covenants. 32 As of April 2003, there were thirty-six sections in the book. 33 The Church of Jesus Christ Restored 1830 publishes an extra book of scripture called Seventies Revelations. The revelations, dated from June 6, 2000, begin with number 3. Numbers 1 and 2 are attributed to then-seventy Norman Page, who was a key leader in forming the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and are not included in the Seventies Revelations. Nolan W. Glauner and other seventies separated from the Restoration Church during a leadership crisis and formed a new organization. On August 5, 2008, Glauner issued revelation number While a few others have issued revelations that are included in the book, Glauner has produced most of the documents. The church accepts the Doctrine and Covenants (Community of Christ edition) up to section 144, attributed to Israel A. Smith. The Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has opted to number the revelations from their president, Frederick N. Larsen, beginning with section 145 (2002) but with the prefix of the letter R. 35 This suggests a numbering in succession from the last published revelation of then-rlds Church president Israel A. Smith, while side-stepping additions to the Doctrine of Covenants produced by W. Wallace Smith and later presidents of the RLDS Church. As of April 2009, the Remnant Church has canonized nine of Larsen s documents. Matthew Philip Gill, founding prophet of the Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ in England, says that he received an ancient record of the inhabitants of the British Isles written on twenty-four metal plates. Translated with the urim and thummim, Gill published his scripture as the Book of Jeraneck in The ancient people group migrated to Britain from the Tower of Babel, and was acquainted with the brother of Jared who migrated in the opposite direction and ended in the Americas. These ancient people were the original builders of what we know today as Stonehenge. Gill s revelations and visions are published in another book accepted as scripture called Prophecies and Revelations of the Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Book of Restoration Revelations (Independence, MO: Board of Publication of the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1998). 33 Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, What We Believe, (accessed August 24, 2008). 34 Church of Jesus Christ Restored 1830, Revelations, REVELATIONS 1.htm (accessed August 24, 2008). 35 The Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Latter Day Revelations, (accessed August 24, 2008). Larsen s first document, then, is numbered R Matthew Gill, The Book of Jeraneck (Hilton, Derbyshire, England: Times and Seasons Press, 2008) and (n.p.: Upfront Publishing, 2008), see also, Matthew Gill, Prophecies and Revela-

162 150 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Other Scriptural Texts Archie J. Inger, of San Francisco and a lifelong member of the LDS Church, published in 1908 the Revealed Translation of John s Revelation dictated to Inger personally by Jesus Christ. Inger was a medium in the project. Another book, The Historical Fulfillment of John s Revelation was published later. The text of this book was also dictated to Inger by Jesus Christ. 37 In the mid-1920s, Otto Fetting and thousands of others transferred their membership from the RLDS Church to the Church of Christ (Temple Lot). This was during a time of leadership controversy in the RLDS Church. 38 In those days, a membership transfer agreement between the two denominations was in effect, based on a mutual recognition of priesthood authority in the original church under Joseph Smith Jr. Fetting became an apostle in the Temple Lot Church in Early the following year in his home in Port Huron, Michigan, Fetting wrote: I got up at 5 a.m., fixed the furnace, washed and sat down in an easy rocker to wait for the fire to start up good so I could shut off the furnace. I had turned off the light but the street light shining through the front door made it somewhat light in the room. I was not thinking about the church at all at the time, but was about to doze a little when all at once someone gave me a slap on my shoulder. He slapped me real hard and I looked up and saw the form of a man standing just a little way from me in the light of the door. He was about six feet three inches, very fine build and about thirty or thirty-five years of age. His hair was down to his coat collar. He had a beard. His voice was soft and his looks mild but much in earnest. 39 Later messages received by Fetting directed the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) to begin construction of a temple, which was to be built on the two and one half acres owned by that denomination in Independence, Missouri. The twelfth message, received July 18, 1929, proved quite divisive to the church. 40 In autumn of that same year, Fetting and his group walked out of the Temple Lot Church conference, crossed River Boulevard in Independence, Missouri, and held an alternate church conference in what was called the Kansas Street tions of the Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ (Hilton, Derbyshire, England: Times and Seasons Press, n.d.). 37 Archie J. Inger, trans., The Revealed Translation of John s Revelation, History of the Origin of all Things, Translation of John s Revelation.pdf (accessed August 26, 2008). 38 Howard, Church Through the Years, 2:232ff. 39 Church of Christ, the Church with the Elijah Message, The Word of the Lord (Independence, MO: Church of Christ, the Church with the Elijah Message, 2005), message 1, preface. 40 Fetting understood the twelfth message as ordering a rebaptism of everyone who had transferred into the church from the RLDS Church, and possibly a rebaptism of all in order to make a recommitment.

163 SHIELDS: Revelation in the Latter Day Saint Movement 151 Church. 41 By 1930, the split in the church was complete, and Fetting and his followers began publishing an alternate church paper, the Voice of Warning. About one thousand members of the Temple Lot Church sided with Fetting. When Fetting died in 1933, he had recorded thirty visits from the Messenger (John the Baptist). The thirtieth message was received on Fetting s death bed, January 28, Fetting died on January 30, The text of the seventeenth message has seemingly been lost, as Fetting was directed to withhold publication until he received further instructions. 42 There are at least eight denominations that accept the messages delivered by Fetting as scripture. Four of these denominations accept ninety added messages (for a total of 120) received between 1937 and 1994 by Wilhelm (William) A. Draves. Thomas B. Nerren, an apostle in Otto Fetting s Church of Christ, proclaimed a visit and message from John the Baptist on February 5, 1933, one week following Fetting s death, but before Nerren got news of his death. Nerren was told by the messenger that Otto Fetting, heeded not my commands or my pleadings with him and became a law unto himself and divided my church as my servant Joseph Smith heeded not my commands to build my house, and he was taken so Otto Fetting heeded not my commands, and he has been removed. 43 Nerren originally followed Fetting out of the Temple Lot Church in 1930 and was called to be an apostle in the twentieth message. 44 Sometime later he said he had been commanded to return to the Temple Lot Church. He went to Independence, explained his actions to the church leaders, and was received back into the church. He returned to his home in Denver, and most of the Temple Lot members there who had initially gone with Fetting returned to the Temple Lot Church. Nerren s first messages were received and published while he was in full fellowship with the Temple Lot Church. When the Temple Lot Church formally renounced Fetting s messages in 1936, the group at Denver, with Thomas B. Nerren, rejected that action and organized a separate church. 45 Nerren received and published at least one hundred messages over a tenyear period, from 1933 to about The only texts of his messages that I have found are those published within the pages of the church paper, the Arimat. I 41 The Kansas Street Church building was erected by the Church of Jesus Christ, founded by Thomas W. Williams and others, in The congregation separated from the RLDS over what has been called the Supreme Directional Control controversy. Williams church pulpit was open to all comers with little restriction. 42 S. T. Bronson, The History and Origin of the Church of Christ (Independence, MO: Church of Christ, n.d.). 43 Arimat 3, no. 2 (1940): Church of Christ, the Church with the Elijah Message, The Word of the Lord. 45 Arimat (February 1940).

164 152 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL have only found an incomplete collection of the Arimat. Only two or three of the messages carry a number. For example, the August 1944 Arimat quotes from a 1940 message numbered 119. In the pages of the Arimat, announcements were made of books of messages being printed and available. There were three books. However, I ve never been able to find any copies. I guess the books were mimeographed, in the same manner as the Arimat, and may never have been printed in mass production. Also, I have not yet discovered whether Nerren s Church of Christ accepted all thirty of the Fetting messages. I have also not discovered how Nerren s messages were numbered. Nerren s messages focus on a coming time of trouble. Apocalyptic proclamations were a common theme of many other spiritual voices in the years leading up to the Second World War: The wind shall come, hot like a flame of fire, and burn as it goes; and where the ground is moist, it shall be dried up. 46 War! War! Yea, more than you can at present understand; for the air shall be on fire, and the earth shall tremble. 47 And, The coming of the Savior is near. Bring your tithes and your offerings into the Storehouse. He or she that will be obedient shall be blessed. Those that will not hearken great shall be their sorrow. 48 After issuing messages calling the church and its membership to find at a place of refuge in Missouri, and approving the purchase of land near Schell City, Nerren, for some reason, became disaffected with his own church. He never left Denver, Colorado, where he died in With the Church of Christ transplanted to Missouri, and without Nerren s leadership or messages, another church member, Wilbur McCumber began to receive visits from John the Baptist. However, McCumber is said to have refused to accept the messages until 1944, when the Messenger persisted. Still, McCumber and the other church members held out hope that Nerren would join them in Missouri. Finally, when that did not happen, McCumber took up the work in November 1946 and called the people together, and many of the difficulties were ironed out, and the work began in earnest. 50 The texts of forty-two messages, or excerpts from them, were published in a mimeographed booklet by the church at Schell City, Missouri in the early 1970s. McCumber s messages carry dates between 1946 and I ve not been able to find any biographical information about McCumber. It would seem the complete texts of all his messages were never published. Visits from the Messenger to members of this denomination stopped with McCumber s 46 Ibid., (February 9, 1937). 47 Ibid., (February 26, 1938). 48 Ibid., (April 23, 1938). 49 United States Social Security Death Index. 50 Gerald Hall, untitled manuscript of McCumber s messages dated between 1946 and Copy in author s possession.

165 SHIELDS: Revelation in the Latter Day Saint Movement 153 presumed death in the mid-to-late 1950s. 51 A flurry of revelations, not visits from John the Baptist, were issued by Dean Corbin, another leader in the same church, between August 1974 and January W. A. Draves was a young elder in Fetting s church who lived in Nucla, Colorado. He reported his first visit from the Messenger on October 4, 1937, four and a half years after Fetting s death. Subsequently, in 1943, a split occurred in Fetting s Church of Christ, with part of the membership rejecting the messages brought by Draves. Between 1937 and 1943, Draves issued the texts of thirty messages. The group that went with Draves organized under the name, Church of Christ with the Elijah Message. Draves final message, numbered 120, was received just over one month before Draves died. 53 Draves Church of Christ with the Elijah Message has since split into four separate organizations. Thomas B. Nerren mentioned W. A. Draves in one of the messages, Yea, my servant Wilhelm Draves that is filled with selfish desire to cause him to lie and be filled with deception, has caused many honest ones to be deceived. If he repenteth not, great shall be his sorrow. 54 Over a twenty-year period between 1937 and 1956, visits from John the Baptist are concurrently claimed: first, by Thomas B. Nerren; second, by Wilbur McCumber; and, third, by Wilhelm (William) A. Draves. None of the existing Nerren and McCumber messages carry the same dates as the concurrent Draves material, but a handful of messages are within a day or two of the others. Since Draves death in 1994, there have been no known visits of the Messenger. Robert E. Baker, a former seventy in the RLDS Church, states that Jesus Christ appeared to him in 1989 on the Temple Lot in Independence, Missouri. Christ commanded Baker to form a new church to replace the RLDS Church, said to have fallen into apostasy. In 1995 Baker published the Record of John. This book is a commentary on the gospel of John, the letters of John, and Revelation, written under the influence and direction of the Spirit of God. 55 A leader of reform Mormonism, Mike Richan, published a new book of scripture in 2003 titled, Book of Michael. 56 This short book (only sixteen pages) contains an exposition of God, truth, and scripture. Unlike most spiritual voices that produce works of scripture in the Latter Day Saint movement, Richan 51 I assume this because in Gerald Hall s manuscript, the latest message is dated October 10, Since Hall issued the manuscript in the mid-1970s, it would seem logical that messages, if any, after 1956 would have been included. 52 Gerald Hall, untitled manuscript, beginning on page 1, with Given by Dean Corbin, Sunday, August 11, Church of Christ, the Church with the Elijah Message, The Word of the Lord (Independence, MO: Church of Christ, the Church with the Elijah Message, 2005). 54 Arimat (July 1, 1938). 55 Robert Baker, The Record of John (Independence, MO: Old Path Publishers, the Church of Christ His Zion s Remnant, 1995). 56 Reform Mormonism, The Book of Michael, bom/index.htm (accessed August 24, 2008).

166 154 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL does not claim any particular inspiration or angelic visit. Reform Mormonism proposes that the one true church is determined by the individual believer and his or her need for faith and spiritual growth. The Mentinah Archives are said to contain the histories of the people of Hagoth, from the Book of Mormon, who journeyed from Nephite lands to the land northward. These records were recorded on various kinds of metal plates, parchments, and vellum. Although in ancient times various locations throughout Central and North America housed copies of the records, the only surviving copies are kept in buried cave-archives found in Sanpete County, Utah. The publishers claim to be descendants of these ancient peoples, known as the Nemenhah. The Council of Mayan Elders is said to have sent people to the various scattered libraries to make copies of all the records. The publishers say that when Brigham Young s followers colonized the Sanpete Valley in central Utah, Native Americans told them of the records and requested that Brigham Young translate them. However, Brigham Young is said to have told them the records would have to wait, as it was not possible then to translate them. The story continues in 1957, when the Council of Mayan Elders is reported to have asked the leadership of the LDS Church to translate and publish the records. Leaders of the church are reported to have said it was not possible to translate the records. The Council then began to translate the ancient records, it is said, into Quiche, with the first English-language translations published in Mentinah Publishing is located in Orem, Utah. The translators are Phillip C. Landis of Moroni, Utah; Cesar Padilla de Ramarra and Tui Xiu of Guatemala; Menemi Shen of Taiwan; and Porfiro Munoz de Xiu of Ethiopia. Hagoth, according to the records, took his people north from the Nephite lands and settled eventually in the Four Corners area in the United States southwest. Later, a settlement on the plains and another in the mountains were set up. This area became known as the land of Mentinah. Hagoth s son, Hagmeni was ordained by Nephi of Zarahemla. Samuel, the Lamanite, visited Mentinah and spent several months with the people there. 57 Volume 7 was released in August of Each volume is around one hundred, 8½ x 11 single-spaced pages. Archie Dean Wood, now known as Azrael Ondi-Ahman, lives in Boise, Idaho, where he has been teaching in a school of the prophets for more than twenty years. Born and raised in the Baptist faith, Wood became a member of the LDS Church as a young adult during his military service in Vietnam. God first appeared to Wood on June 19, Subsequently, Wood says, he had many visits with both Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother and other spiritual beings. With the 2008 publication of Song of God, an eight hundred- 57 Mentinah, (accessed August 25, 2008).

167 SHIELDS: Revelation in the Latter Day Saint Movement 155 page book of new scripture revealed by Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father, Azrael claims he has now fully restored the True Gnostic Church. 58 The Song of God opens with Adam and Eve descending to this earth. In the beginning Adam and Eve came unto the earth that God might breathe into man the breath of life, whereby the children of men might possess a living soul in the beginning were the children of men innocent before God, for they knew neither good nor evil. For this cause did Adam walk among the inhabitants of the land, teaching unto them every good thing. (Beginnings 1) As the book comes to its conclusion, the Supreme Mother in Heaven, challenges all of us to come now and seize this moment for now is god most near, dwelling close beside your heart to fill you up with wonder, being eager to prove for you a wise and holy counselor; always ready to give you guidance in the living of your life. Let the Song of God be for you as daily bread and the breath of all your life, to fill you up with holy counsel, to light the way before, to lift you up above the storms which often rage about, placing you safe upon that shore where the light of God does shine. (Seventh Endowment 7) Conclusion This compilation of prophets, seers, revelators, and translators of the modern era is but a brief outline of a large corpus of literature that has been produced in the English language. The nature and scope of this paper does not allow even a listing of each known spiritual voice. There are many examples that have not been mentioned here, and there are undoubtedly many more that are lost to the bibliographic record. Joseph Smith Jr., in founding his new religious movement, proclaimed that God s voice was available to the average person. Since Smith s death in 1844, the Latter Day Saint movement exploded into at least four hundred known denominations, groups, ministries, or other expressions. The movement has also seen a similar number of voices expressing what many have believed to be God s will for the present day. The dozens of works of scripture produced by the Latter Day Saint movement since Joseph Smith await analysis with the various disciplines of literature, comparative studies, and exegesis. Steven L. Shields (sshields@cofchrist.org) is a member of Community of Christ and serves in the priesthood office of high priest. He works fulltime for the church and over the past twenty-two years has had assignments in California and Asia. He has independently researched and written on the history of the Smith-Rigdon (Latter Day Saint) movement since his high school years. His seminal work, Divergent Paths of the Restoration, has been in print in four editions since This paper was originally presented at the 2008 annual 58 Azrael Ondi-Ahman, The Song of God: the Living Gnosis of the Aghendai (n.p.: Azrael Ondi- Ahman, 2008).

168 156 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL meeting of the John Whitmer Historical Association in Burlington, Wisconsin. Copyright All Rights Reserved.

169 Mitt Romney, the 2008 Vice-presidential Selection Process, and the Continuing Impact of the Mormon Question Craig L. Foster P olitical pundits and observers often talk about the ghosts of failed campaigns haunting candidates. Such was the case with Mitt Romney in the summer of The political ghosts of bigotry and intolerance that had irreparably damaged his presidential campaign again reared their ugly heads. Once again the so-called Mormon Question played a major role in Mitt Romney being passed over in the Republican vice-presidential selection. John McCain s unexpected announcement of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate took most political observers by surprise. This was especially in light of the fact that her qualifications seemed minor in comparison to those of some of the people previously mentioned as possible running mates. In fact, Palin was considered such a long shot as a running mate that she was not even seriously discussed by the majority of the media. Even before John McCain clinched the needed delegates for the Republican presidential nomination, the guessing game was being played publicly and privately. There were a number of capable individuals whose names surfaced to the top of the running mate pool. For example, Florida s governor, Charlie Crist, would probably help with the Hispanic vote and would ensure Florida s many electoral votes. Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee would have encouraged support from the two social and philosophical extremes of the Republican Party. Texas senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice would have appealed to the women s vote. Both Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty appealed to conservatives and younger voters. Even Democrat turned Independent Joe Lieberman was discussed as a possibility. At the time, however, the selection of first-term governor Sarah Palin seemed like an incredibly risky move by John McCain. Nevertheless, her selection immediately represented two significant facts about McCain s thought process and, ultimately, his campaign plans. First and most obvious, John McCain felt he needed to shake up his campaign by selecting a woman to counter act the novelty of having an African-American major party presidential candidate.

170 158 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Furthermore, he was trying to appeal to not only Republican and Independent women but also the numerous women who felt alienated by Hillary Clinton s treatment by the Democratic Party. The second significant, but probably not as noticeable, accomplishment with Sara Palin s selection was McCain s appeasement of the Christian right a very powerful Republican voting bloc. While being born a Catholic, Sarah Palin converted to the Pentecostal movement as a teenager and attended the Wasilla Assembly of God church for a number of years. She now attends several different evangelical congregations in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. The religious significance of Palin s selection did not go unnoticed by the Republican Party s religious right. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said he was ecstatic and that a number of women within his office had expressed interest in volunteering for the McCain-Palin ticket. 1 Dr. James Dobson, who earlier in 2008 had announced he could not vote for John McCain, was very, very pleased, and said he would pull that lever for McCain-Palin. 2 Mat Staver, chairman of the conservative Liberty Counsel and a former organizer for Mike Huckabee s failed presidential campaign, called Palin s selection an absolutely brilliant choice. Huckabee himself issued a statement saying Palin s selection was a pleasant surprise for those of us who had hoped Senator McCain would pick a principled and authentic conservative prolifer. 3 Dr. Gary Cass, chairman and CEO of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, was even more effusive in his praise of the selection. John McCain is to be commended on his choice of Sarah Palin, a true Christian for vice president. Palin, an evangelical who is pro-life and pro-marriage, meets all the criterion that CADC set forth for a VP pick. 4 Partly in reaction to the Christian right s outspoken approval of Palin s selection, a number of people complained that John McCain was pandering to the religious right in order to get their votes. The possibility of McCain s pandering became more real when considering the positive characteristics and 1 Sarah Pulliam, Richard Land glows over Palin pick, Christianity Today, September 1, 2008, (accessed September 2, 2008). 2 Dennis Prager, Dobson: I Would Pull that Lever for McCain-Palin, Townhall.com, August 29, 2008, would_pull_that_lever%e2%80%9d_for_mccain-palin (accessed September 2, 2008). 3 Michael Scherer, Huckabee Supporters and Evangelical Activists Cheer Palin Pick, Time, August 29, 2008, evange.html (accessed September 3, 2008; page now discontinued). 4 Jason Leopold, McCain Panders to Christian Right in Choosing Sarah Palin as VP, Public Record, August 29, 2008, (accessed September 2, 2008).

171 FOSTER: Mitt Romney 159 qualifications of the other people mentioned as possible running mates. This was particularly the case of W. Mitt Romney. On February 7, 2008, Mitt Romney stopped his presidential race and, shortly thereafter, began to campaign for John McCain as the apparent Republican presidential nominee. He was particularly good as a stand-in for McCain on the talk show circuit and as a fundraiser. In fact, if it had not been for Romney s presence and persistence, McCain probably would have raised very little money in Utah. 5 As Romney campaigned for McCain, their relationship changed from a frosty, almost antagonistic connection to what one insider called two alpha males who have moved beyond their earlier conflicts. 6 In fact, they seemed to do so well together, that throughout the spring and summer of 2008, Mitt Romney was often mentioned as a possible McCain running mate. Former White House advisor Karl Rove and other Republican Party bigwigs began to strongly encourage McCain to select Romney. 7 Certainly, among political observers and on paper, Mitt Romney was the most appealing and probable vice president selection for several reasons. He was scandal free and had already been thoroughly vetted by both the party and media. He also had many positive characteristics like being unflappable in debates, 8 not afraid to go negative against his opponents (which is a necessary role for the vice-presidential nominee), and having both economic and social conservative fans, especially because of his reputation as an economic expert. 9 5 Lisa Wangsness, Romney touted as VP choice, Deseret News, May 30, 2008, (accessed September 2, 2008). See also, McCain Fundraiser Tour Fails Its Way Through Mormon World Capital, Wonkette, June 2, 2008, (accessed September 2, 2008). 6 LaVarr Webb, Utah Policy: Politics, Communications & Government Relations, June 11, 2008, received by Craig L. Foster, copy in author s possession. See also, Rick Moran, Romney, McCain warming up frosty relations, American Thinker, July 19, 2008, americanthinker.com/blog/2008/07/romney_mccain_warming_up_frost.html (accessed July 21, 2008). 7 Robert Novak, Novak: Rove Wants Romney as VP, Newsmax.com, March 2, 2008, (accessed March 3, 2008). According to Novak, Romney s closest advisors [were] dead set against his taking the vice-presidential slot. 8 Fred Barnes, The Veepstakes: There s an obvious winner, The Weekly Standard, March 17, 2008, (accessed March 12, 2008). 9 Dick Polman, Whom should John McCain pick for veep? Detroit Free Press, July 10, 2008, (accessed July 14, 2008; page now discontinued) and Seth Gitell, Romney s Rationale, New York Sun, July 15, 2008, (accessed July 15, 2008; page now discontinued).

172 160 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Another very appealing factor was that Mitt Romney was particularly good at raising large amounts of money. 10 Even Romney s obvious weaknesses were, according to some editorialists like Michael Medved, now assets. For example, according to Medved, one of Romney s biggest problems was his instincts as a panderer an eager, palpable, almost panting desire to tell people what they wanted to hear, rather than what they needed to know. As a vice-presidential candidate, Romney would easily be able to reflect and echo the positions and opinions of McCain. For a Vice Presidential nominee, pandering is a good thing, a necessary thing so long as the prime focus of that pandering is the presidential nominee who selected you. 11 Perhaps one of the most appealing factors about a Romney vice-presidential nomination was his potential vote-getting power. A number of political polls showed that a McCain-Romney ticket would actually help the Republican ticket win in several battleground states. These states included Colorado, 12 Florida, 13 Michigan, 14 and Nevada. 15 While a number of people believed Romney would be the vice-presidential nominee and 38 percent of Republican delegates selected him as their top 10 Lisa Wangsness, Romney touted as VP choice, Deseret News, May 30, 2008, (accessed June 2, 2008; page now discontinued) and Rick Moran, Is Romney the Veep Frontrunner? American Thinker, June 30, 2008, (accessed July 1, 2008). 11 Michael Medved, Mitt s Weakness For The Top Spot Could Help Him As Veep, Townhall. com, March 12, 2008, weakness_for_the_top_spot_could_help_him_as_veep (accessed March 12, 2008). 12 Karen E. Crummy, Romney could lift McCain in West, Denver Post, July 30, 2008, (accessed July 30, 2008). According to the article, Romney on the ticket would have helped throughout the West, even in Arizona where McCain had been trailing Obama. Pollster John Zogby said, Picking Romney would probably solidify Arizona behind McCain. According to Carolyn Lohead, McCain-Romney? Dems fear it could hurt in West, San Francisco Chronicle, August 25, 2008, (accessed August 25, 2008). The Democrats in Colorado were particularly concerned that having Romney on the ticket would affect their local as well as presidential race. 13 Marc Caputo, Poll says Romney might boost McCain in Florida, Miami Herald, August 28, 2008, (accessed August 28, 2008; page now discontinued). 14 Kathleen Parker, Two stand out among favorites for the GOP ticket, Baltimore Sun, July 24, 2008, 9 (accessed July 25, 2008; page now discontinued) and Robert D. Novak, Romney s Value, Townhall.com, July 26, 2008, romneys_value (accessed July 28, 2008). 15 Molly Ball, Poll says picking Romney may help McCain in Nevada, Las Vegas Review-Journal, August 24, 2008, (accessed on July 25, 2008).

173 FOSTER: Mitt Romney 161 choice, he was not popular with the entire Republican base. 16 Both Mitt Romney and his religion were disliked and distrusted by some members of the religious right. As one newspaper writer stated, the same thing that doomed Romney s presidential campaign would be the same thing that would keep him from being selected as the vice-presidential nominee: his religion. The writer went on to explain that to Christians, a Mormon is as much an apostate as a Muslim. 17 This was particularly so among southern evangelicals, and some political pundits promised Romney could lose McCain the South. 18 Unfortunately, during Romney s presidential campaign he took what analysts believe was the wrong approach in addressing his religion. First, Romney did his best to downplay and even ignore the differences between LDS doctrine and that of other Christian denominations. Secondly, when Romney did discuss his religion, as Steven Waldman of Beliefnet.com explained, Romney exacerbated the problem when he tried to cast himself as a Good Christian. 19 A Pew Research Center poll of evangelicals found that 40 percent of white evangelicals do not think of Mormons as Christians. 20 Because of their attitude toward Mormonism, Richard Land commented that it was fair to say that about 15 to 20 percent of evangelicals would have a difficult time voting for a Mormon on either side of the ticket. 21 It would not be too much to say that there was a certain animosity on the part of some evangelicals toward Mitt Romney and his religion. As Stephen 16 Jim Meyers, Newsmax Poll: Romney Top Choice for McCain VP, Newsmax.com, August 28, 2008, html (accessed August 29, 2008) and Romney Is Top V.P. Choice Of GOP Delegates, CBS News, August 28, 2008, (accessed August 29, 2008; page now discontinued). 17 Mark Charalambous, Our long national nightmare is over, Men s Newsdaily, June 8, 2008, (accessed June 9, 2008; page now discontinued). See also Elisabeth Bumiller, Talk of McCain s No. 2 Concerns Conservatives, New York Times, August 20, 2008, politics/20veep.html (accessed August 20, 2008). 18 Whistling About Dixie, American Prospect, July 1, 2008, blogs/tapped_arch?month=07&year=2008&base_name=whistling_about_dixie (accessed July 7, 2008). 19 Steven Waldman, VP Guide: The Religion Factor, Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2008, blogs.wsj.com/politicalperceptions/2008/08/05/vp-guide-the-religion-factor/#comment (accessed August 6, 2008). 20 Charles Lewis, Evangelicals distrust hurts Romney s chances of joining McCain ticket, National Post, July 30, 2008, (accessed July 31, 2008). 21 Michael Luo, Romney on the ticket? Some on the right shudder, Twin.Cities.com, August 15, 2008, (August 18, 2008; page now discontinued).

174 162 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Pizzo of OpEdNews.com, wrote, [Romney] was a Mormon, and (though it s ever-so politically incorrect to say it out loud) almost no one likes Mormons, except of course other Mormons. And that s never more true than among the GOP s mainstream Christian and Christian evangelical base, who tend to consider Mormons in the same going to hell category as Scientologists. So choosing Romney would not do. 22 This was particularly the case among supporters of Mike Huckabee who were outspoken in their opposition of Mitt Romney. Huckabee supporter and well-known evangelical novelist Tim LaHaye explained, We aren t against Mormonism, but Romney is not a thoroughgoing evangelical. As was noted by some well-placed Christian conservatives, Mr. Huckabee s supporters tend to be rabid in their views against Mr. Romney because of his faith. 23 An example of Huckabee-inspired attacks against a possible Romney vicepresidential nomination was in early April 2008 when the Government Is Not God-PAC sponsored a No Mitt VP campaign aimed at discouraging John McCain from selecting Mitt Romney. The campaign included full-page newspaper advertisements as well as a Web site where people could sign a petition and leave comments. The advertisement announced: The unvarnished facts of Mitt Romney s record as governor of Massachusetts make him utterly unacceptable as a Vice Presidential choice. The advertisement explained, The grassroots is nearing a breaking point with Republican Party leadership on many issues, not the least of which is the relentless whitewashing of Mitt Romney as a so-called conservative. 24 The backers of the No Mitt campaign then threatened to have the Christian conservatives flex their political muscles by boycotting the Republican ticket. If Governor Romney is on your ticket, many social conservative voters will consider their values repudiated by the Republican Party and either stay away from the polls this November or only vote down the ticket. For the sake of your election, the health of your party, and the future of America you must not allow the obvious electoral consequences of that to occur. Twenty-six people signed the open letter and advertisement. 25 One of them was the late Paul Weyrich, a high-profile evangelical leader and former Romney supporter. Apparently, Weyrich had reconsidered his original endorsement of Romney. He even apologized to a select group of Christian right leaders gathered at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New Orleans in March 22 Stephen Pizzo, McCain s Palin Equation, OpEdNews.com, September 2, 2008, opednews.com/articles/mccain-s-palin-equation-by-stephen-pizzo html (accessed September 2, 2008). 23 Ralph Z. Hallow, Evangelicals warn against Romney on ticket, Washington Times, July 29, 2008, (accessed on July 29, 2008). 24 No Mitt (Washington D.C.: Government Is Not God-PAC, 2008), copy in author s possession. 25 Ibid.

175 FOSTER: Mitt Romney : Friends, before all of you and before Almighty God, I want to say I was wrong. He then essentially confessed that he and the other leaders should have backed Huckabee. 26 At least one source stated that Weyrich s turning against Romney stemmed from his disappointment at Romney s endorsement of John McCain, who Weyrich strongly opposed. Although Weyrich eventually distanced himself from the anti-mitt advertisement, his regret at supporting Romney was a significant message from some within the religious right who felt they had made a serious political mistake by supporting the Mormon candidate over the Baptist candidate. 27 Mike Huckabee said he did not expect McCain to select Romney as his running mate given their deep philosophical differences, 28 and denied any involvement with the anti-mitt Romney campaign. However, Fox News reporter Molly Henneberg and other members of the media emphasized that many of the signers were Huckabee supporters. Many pundits felt the No Mitt campaign was a way to slow Romney s momentum, bring Huckabee back into the public eye, and emphasize the religious right s concerns about Romney s record and positions. Many Latter-day Saints, however, believed there was more to the campaign than simple politics, and quickly spread the word that it was another anti-mormon attack. William J. Murray, chairman of Government Is Not God-PAC, angrily responded that the ad campaign was not an anti-mormon attack; he and his PAC had supported Mormon candidates and would do so in the future. He noted that the letter and advertisement had focused on Mitt Romney s problematic positions on social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. Murray then complained that people had gone to the Web site and used this opportunity to post hateful and bigoted anti-evangelical messages at the site that I cannot reprint here. At one point a volunteer had to work full time to cull out those messages that were too offensive to leave up. We blocked the server at BYU in Utah and the number of offensive messages declined. In describing how offensive some of the messages were, he mentioned that his personal favorite was a message calling the members of Government Is Not God-PAC a bunch of fat, ugly Baptist women Paul Weyrich to Evangelical Leaders: We should have backed Huckabee; Update: Weyrich disavows anti-romney ad, Hot Air, April 8, 2008, paul-weyrich-tells-evangelical-leaders-we-should-have-backed-huckabee/ (accessed April 13, 2008). 27 Ibid.; Don Irvine, Huckabee Denies Involvement In Anti-Mitt Effort, Accuracy in Media, April 6, 2008, (accessed April 7, 2008). 28 Molly Henneberg, Anti-Mitt Romney Ad, Fox News Report, Sunday, April 6, William J. Murray, The No Mitt Ad and Mormonism, Government Is Not God, April 6, 2008, d=53 (accessed April 7, 2008).

176 164 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Murray added that he was surprised by the number of anti-evangelical messages and the tone of hatred for evangelicals in general. Furthermore, he was unhappy because there was an overall dishonesty by the Romney supporters who posted at the NoMittVP site. In order to leave a post they had signed a petition saying they did not want Mitt Romney as their VP choice. To be blunt, they lied in order to post pro-romney or anti-evangelical messages. 30 While Murray lamented the dishonesty of many Romney supporters who had trashed his Web site, his accusation was somewhat disingenuous. It is true those accessing the Web site had to sign the petition before they could leave their message. The site asked them, however, if they would vote for a McCain-Romney ticket. Thus, some Romney supporters may have genuinely considered that signing the anti-romney petition was worthwhile since they could then register their desire to vote for a McCain-Romney ticket. 31 What was disappointing and could not be rationalized, were the hateful and bigoted anti-evangelical messages. Mormons who wrote such messages were certainly behaving inappropriately. Nevertheless, Murray s assertion that the twenty-six signers did not have anti-mormon bias was, to say the least, rather dishonest. One of the signers, Janet Folger, president of Faith2Action, had published a letter in the e-newspaper, WorldNetDaily, headed, To Anti- Huck Rock Throwers, which mentioned the controversy over Huckabee s brothers comment about Jesus and Lucifer. She ended her discussion of Romney with the comment, The word blasphemy comes to mind. A bit more than a mere denominational difference, don t you think? 32 Another example was James Hartline, founder and publisher of California Christian News, who wrote an essay headlined: Breaking News: San Diego Republican Party Hits New Low Invites Cult Member as Christmas Party Guest of Honor. It included the charge: Romney s bizarre religious beliefs truly disgrace the birth of Christ. Mormon politics is more about promoting the economic interests of the Mormon Church and its wealthy members rather than any pseudo Biblical beliefs. 33 Not to be outdone, talk show host Gregg Jackson complained that some evangelicals were actually waging a propaganda blitz trying to mislead evangelicals into doing what would shock most evangelicals in American history: [namely] elect a Mormon for president Ibid. 31 The Petition, (accessed June 8, 2008; page now discontinued). 32 Janet Folger, To anti-huck rock throwers, WorldNetDaily, November 6, 2007, worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageid=44388 (accessed June 6, 2008). 33 James Hartline, Breaking News: San Diego Republican Party Hits New Low Invites Cult Member as Christmas Party Guest of Honor, James Hartline Report, December 3, 2006, (accessed June 6, 2008). 34 Gregg Jackson, Is This the End of Evangelicalism in America? Townhall.com, November 2, 2007, of_evangelicalism_in_america (accessed June 6, 2008). In the article, Jackson also comment-

177 FOSTER: Mitt Romney 165 While concern over Mitt Romney s stand on issues and his previous record were frequently cited as key reasons for the signatures and ad campaign, bigotry may have played an important, if unacknowledged, component. American Spectator published David Tomaselli s op-ed piece, Slow the Veep Down, in which he admitted, Whether we like it or not, [Romney s] Mormonism is still a factor to many evangelicals and Christian conservatives. 35 The Huckabee-inspired, anti-romney activities did not stop with the No Mitt for VP campaign in the spring of While there appears to have been a bit of a lull after the initial anti-romney push, it reemerged in the summer. In fact, in the middle of August a number of Michigan Huckabee supporters met with McCain representatives to express their opposition to Romney. They pushed to have Huckabee selected, saying it would speak volumes. 36 They made it clear that if Huckabee wasn t selected, they would take it as a personal affront: When you snub him, you snub GOP votes. 37 Even Mike Huckabee, himself, got in on the act. He went on Fox News and said, concerning Romney, I think there are better choices for Senator McCain that have the approval of values voters. 38 On a couple of other occasions he argued in TV interviews against a Romney vice-presidential pick. 39 It was unclear how large the evangelical opposition to Romney actually was; several prominent evangelicals reminded people that Romney had received a sizeable evangelical vote during the presidential primaries. However, there clearly was enough threat of a boycott by evangelicals that the McCain ed, The vast majority of Christians for most of American history would have been outraged at an evangelical Christian wearing a sandwich board for a Mormon candidate. As they saw it, America was a Christian nation to be led by a Christian president, who would be led by the God of the Bible. 35 David Tomaselli, Slow the Veep Down, American Spectator, March 18, 2008, spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12908 (accessed March 18, 2008; page now discontinued). Fred Barnes, The Veepstakes: There s an obvious winner, Weekly Standard 13, no. 26 (March 17, 2008), 854gvvhu.asp (accessed March 19, 2008). 36 Jennifer Riley, Pro-Huckabee Activists to Dissuade McCain on Romney Ticket, Christian Post, August 13, 2008, (accessed on August 14, 2008) and Kathleen Gray and Dawson Bell, McCain s Michigan visit stirs up Romney buzz, Detroit Free Press, August 13, 2008, (accessed on August 14, 2008; page now discontinued). 37 Jonathin Martin, The Huck effort to block Mitt for veep, Politico, August 14, 2008, html (accessed August 14, 2008). 38 Ibid. 39 Michael Luo, Romney Still Raises Concerns in Some Conservatives, New York Times, August 16, 2008, (accessed August 18, 2008; page now discontinued).

178 166 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL campaign took notice especially due to the depth and intensity of passion of those warning against Romney as McCain s choice. Christians are praying earnestly for the right person, Diane Stover, an Ohio Huckabee supporter, explained. 40 Dr. Gary Cass was even more vocal in his concerns about John McCain selecting the right candidate. After complaining that Barack Obama, a fake Christian, had selected Joe Biden, a fake Catholic, he went on to write, Unless McCain picks a true Christian for Vice President, real conservative Christians are being disfranchised from this presidential election. 41 Reaction by not only some Romney supporters, but also by political pundits and even some Republican Party insiders was strong, if not outright angry. For example, a staff member at Real Clear Politics commented, So the Hucka-fans are willing to trash Romney to get their guy on the ticket because, among other inanities, He s a Mormon? 42 Another political pundit commented, First, when a guy like Tim LaHaye says, We aren t against Mormonism, it s not exactly a stretch to think they re against Mormonism. 43 It was within this volatile setting in the last weeks of August that John McCain began his final phase of selecting a running mate. While McCain was begged not to kowtow to evangelical pressure, 44 he also knew that the first rule in selecting a vice-presidential running mate was don t take someone who costs you votes. 45 During this time of high media attention, Senator Joseph Lieberman s name was again floated as a possible running mate in what some political observers saw as a stalking horse for Mitt Romney. 46 Ultimately, McCain s need for something to shake up a rather lackluster campaign was probably the main impetus for selecting Sarah Palin. As already mentioned, 40 Jennifer Riley, Pro-Huckabee Activists to Dissuade McCain on Romney Ticket, Christian Post (13 August 2008), 41 Dr. Gary Cass, Fake Christian Picks Fake Catholic for Vice Presidential Running Mate, ChristianNewsWire, August 23, 2008, (accessed August 25, 2008). 42 John Schroeder, That Story from Yesterday That and Obama and Religion, Article VI Blog, July 30, 2008, (accessed August 4, 2008). 43 Ibid. 44 Editorial: Campaign is no place for religious bigotry, Washington Times, August 3, 2008, (accessed August 5, 2008). 45 Lieberman on McCain s VP Short List, Newsmax.com, August 10, 2008, newsmax.com/insidecover/lieberman_mccain/2008/08/10/ html (accessed August 11, 2008). 46 Newell Bringhurst has argued that perhaps Mitt Romney s name being constantly floated as a possible running mate was because Romney was actually being used as a stalking horse for Joseph Lieberman, a very close friend of McCain s.

179 FOSTER: Mitt Romney 167 her selection offered McCain a fortuitous twofer. He got both a woman and an evangelical. Ironically, while a number of political pundits and political junkies across the country were betting and even planning on a Romney nomination (the DNC and the Obama campaign had already done plenty of opposition research and even had a Web site up and running), Mitt Romney kept affirming he was not going to be selected. There were, nonetheless, a lot of disappointed people and some hurt feelings, especially in Utah and among Latter-day Saints. Spencer Stokes, a Utah GOP strategist, explained that by floating Romney as a vicepresidential choice, the McCain campaign played chicken with evangelicals and they didn t blink. So McCain did. As much as the LDS Church has invested in public relations and trying to improve how much the church is viewed in the South, it may take another hundred years for these voters to get past the Mormon issue. 47 So, what does all of this mean? Well, the most obvious point is that Mitt Romney was not on the presidential ticket. There are, however, several more things that can be ascertained from the Romney presidential and vicepresidential saga. The first is that politics trumps experience and expertise. Most people with political savvy would agree that, except perhaps for John McCain s decades in the United States Senate, Mitt Romney had the most business and leadership experience to offer among the Republican presidential candidates. He had even more experience than the other possible Republican vice-presidential nominees. Nevertheless, he failed both times. Second, there was, without doubt, religious bigotry involved in both the presidential and vice-presidential campaigns. I say vice-presidential campaign because it definitely took on the trappings of a campaign with various sides vying for their particular man (or woman). Former Kansas House Speaker Doug Mays explained shortly before the National Republican Convention, There s an awful lot of people in America who feel very strongly with regard to their faith. A president can be elected or a candidate can be defeated on that issue. 48 Such was the case with Mitt Romney. There were numerous examples of anti-mormon bigotry on various levels. An August 5 editorial in the Ogden Standard-Examiner stated: 47 Peggy Fletcher Stack, Hearts sink as Romney left on sideline, Salt Lake Tribune, August 30, 2008, (accessed September 2, 2008; page now discontinued). According to Lisa Riley Roche, Not Romney? Utah surprised, Deseret News, August 30, 2008, (accessed September 2, 2008). In this article, Orrin Hatch said, None of us really expected Mitt to be picked by McCain. 48 Tim Carpenter, Religion plays role in politics: Matters of faith something neither Republicans nor Democrats can ignore, Capital-Journal, August 31, 2008, (accessed September 2, 2008; page now discontinued).

180 168 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL There is, however, one clearly bad reason for not supporting Romney. That is religious bigotry against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Unfortunately, opposition to Romney as vice president has coalesced under that sour rationale. In a rather un-christian manner, so-called evangelical leaders are working overtime to try to poison the atmosphere against the former Massachusetts governor. 49 What was frustrating for Lowell Brown of Article VI Blog was that when outrageous things were said about Mitt Romney, no national leader [seemed] to have come forward and denounced what [was] undeniably religious bigotry. Statements made about Mormonism would not have been tolerated about any other faith. Brown wrote, It continues to amaze me that in the United States of America the general response to such repulsive speech has been silence, which I think is born of outright cowardice. 50 Among the few voices that did complain about anti-mormon bigotry was a Washington Times editorial: However, much of the white evangelical opposition to Mr. Romney is not based on principle. It is simply old-fashioned bigotry a discomfort with Mr. Romney s Mormon faith. White evangelicals need to be reminded that this is America a republic where neither religious convictions nor the lack thereof disqualifies a politician from office. 51 Another voice in the wilderness was conservative Christian Jon Christian Ryter who complained that attacking Mitt Romney simply because of his Mormonism, only hurts evangelicals and the Republican Party. He wrote about Republican Party officials ignoring the evangelical old boys club and their destructive politics of religious bigotry. 52 Several things seemed to encourage the anti-mormon bigotry exposed in both the presidential primaries and during the vice-presidential search. The first and most obvious is an uncomfortable history of persecution and intolerance between certain evangelicals and Latter-day Saints that boiled over into presidential politics. Without any doubt, during the campaign season leading up to the presidential primaries, Mike Huckabee knowingly and with premeditated malice, encouraged anti-mormon bigotry by describing himself as the Christian candidate and then questioning if Mormons believe Jesus and Satan are 49 The campaign s religious bigotry, Standard Examiner, August 5, 2008, 6A. 50 Lowell Brown, The Mitt Romney Candidacy Ends: Some Thoughts, Meridian Magazine, August 29, 2008, (accessed August 29, 2008). 51 Editorial: Campaign is no place for religious bigotry, Washington Times, August 3, 2008, (accessed August 4, 2008). 52 Jon Christian Ryter, Evangelical Enigma, NewsWithViews.com, August 4, 2008, (accessed August 4, 2008).

181 FOSTER: Mitt Romney 169 brothers. Although both Romney and Huckabee lost their presidential bids, Huckabee seemed to harbor a continued, intense dislike for Romney. Huckabee s animus towards Romney seemed to extend beyond the 2008 political season. In his memoir of the presidential race, Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That s Bringing Common Sense Back to America (2008), Huckabee spent more time discussing Romney than any other candidate and most of the discussion was negative. In fact, one book reviewer stated that there were so many attacks against Romney and his expensive campaign that the book should have been titled, Mitt Romney is a Big Fat Spender. 53 Whether it was Romney s Mormonism or there were personality conflicts that encouraged such antipathy is not known. What is known is that his continued encouragement of anti-mormon bigotry expressed under the guise of concern about Romney as a potential running mate was mean spirited and destructive. Even more destructive for Romney s presidential campaign and, to a lesser degree, any hope of a vice-presidential nomination was the media. There seemed to be an obsession on the part of the media when it came to Mitt Romney s religion. Not only that, they focused on the more sensational aspects of Mormonism, such as Romney s polygamous great-grandfather while the mainstream media ignored the fact that Barack Obama s father and grandfather were both polygamists. Unfortunately, evidence points to that omission not being just by happenstance. A Pew Forum survey reported that more than one-third of all religion-related campaign stories during the presidential primaries focused on Romney and his religion. It was only when Barack Obama s connections to his controversial minister, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, came to a head in March and April of 2008 did the number of religion-related stories surpass those of Mitt Romney. During the Wright controversy, 55 percent of campaign-related stories focused on that issue. 54 The continued media focus on Romney s religion and the questionable tone of many of these reports ultimately had a negative effect on many potential voters. As Ryan Cooper of Springfield, Missouri s News-Leader wrote after the announcement of Sarah Palin as McCain s choice as running mate: We can thank the media for killing Romney s chance at being [vice president]. With constant references to his religion, you d think he was in the running for Assistant Head Pastor of America. Cooper then commented that in an age of media tolerance, there wasn t any room for Romney. He went on to explain 53 Jason George, Mike Huckabee s Do the Right Thing, Swamp, November 18, 2008, th.html (accessed February 10, 2009). 54 Running on Faith: Study Finds Media Coverage of Religion in Primary Campaign Rivaled That of Race and Gender Combined, The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, July 10, 2008, (accessed 16 September 2008).

182 170 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL that while the official name of the church has Jesus Christ in the title, Romney was never described as a Christian. Ultimately, the underlying story was that a Mormon can t be president or vice president because a Mormon can t be trusted. 55 Former Minnesota governor Arne Carlson addressed the apparent anti- Mormon bigotry regarding what was then Romney s potential of being selected as John McCain s running mate. In his impassioned, sharply worded public letter, he stated, It has now become increasingly apparent that some are insistent that there be a religious test for the position of the Vice Presidency. The simple fact that religious beliefs are being considered is both offensive and harmful to our American Constitution. He then asked, If a Mormon cannot be considered today for high office, who will be eliminated from the same consideration tomorrow? 56 That is the same question I asked in my book, A Different God? Mitt Romney, the Religious Right and the Mormon Question. In the past it was Quakers, Catholics, and other so-called undesirables. This time it was a Latterday Saint. Who s next to experience the bitterness of religious bigotry in a land of freedom of religion? Craig L. Foster (1craigfoster@comcast.net) is the author of A Different God? Mitt Romney, the Religious Right and the Mormon Question (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2008); Penny Tracts and Polemics: A Critical Analysis of Anti-Mormon Pamphleteering in Great Britain, (Greg Kofford Books, 2003); and coauthor, with Newell G. Bringhurst, of The Mormon Quest for the Presidency (Independence, MO: John Whitmer Books, 2008). He is also the author of a number of articles appearing in such scholarly journals as the John Whitmer Historical Association Journal, the Journal of Mormon History, Journal of the West, and Utah Historical Quarterly. 55 Ryan Cooper, Media s obsession with Romney s religion doomed him, News-Leader.com, September 2, 2008, OPINIONS06/ (accessed September 2, 2008, page now discontinued). 56 Editorial: A blast from a past Minnesota governor, Star-Tribune.com, August 18, 2008, qyp4o:dw3ckuid3apc:_yyc:auuj (accessed August 19, 2008).

183 Book Reviews Ronald E. Romig, ed. Emma s Nauvoo. Independence, Missouri: John Whitmer Books, iv, 92 pp. Photographs, notes, bibliography, no index. Paperback: $9.95. ISBN: Susan Easton Black. Emma Smith: An Elect Lady, (Setting the Record Straight series). Orem, Utah: Millennial Press, Inc., v, 105 pp. Photographs, notes, no bibliography, no index. Paperback: $9.95. ISBN Darcy Kennedy, Angeline Kennedy Washburn, comps. The Emma Smith We Know: A Collection of Memories and Recipes from Emma as Recalled by Her Posterity. Alpine, Utah: The Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society, Inc., v, 99 pp. Photographs, chart, notes, no bibliography, no index. Paperback: $9.99. ISBN Angela Eschlar. Love Letters of Joseph and Emma. American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications Inc., pp. Illustrated by Liz Lemon Swindle. Notes, no bibliography, no index. Hardcover: $ ISBN and ISBN Lori E. Woodland. Beloved Emma: The Illustrated Life Story of Emma Smith. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, iix, 194 pp. Illustrated by Liz Lemon Swindle. Chart, notes, bibliography, index. Hardcover: $ ISBN Reviewed by Linda King Newell One hundred thirty years have passed since the death of Emma Hale Smith Bidamon. For the first hundred of those years, she was virtually written out of Mormon history. But in the past thirty years, at least fifteen books have been published about her. Five of these appeared in the last two years and are the subject of this review. What caused this recent flurry of interest in Emma is a mystery, but it seems everyone wants to own a piece of the Elect Lady. And pieces are just what the reader gets from each of these publications. Ronald E. Romig s Emma s Nauvoo is the only one of the five that is written from the Community of Christ perspective. The pages are attractively laid out in columns, much like a newspaper with illustrations interspersed in the narrative.

184 172 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Add the decorative border along the top of each page and the embellished page numbers and the result is an old-fashioned feel that takes the reader back to Emma s own time. A wide selection of photographs and drawings illustrate the book and add to its appeal. The well-known painting of a picnic on the bluff overlooking Nauvoo by Emma s youngest son, David Hyrum Smith, graces the cover. Emma s Nauvoo is not meant to be a biography of Emma Smith. It starts with a short biographical sketch based on Carol Cornwall Madsen s Emma Hale Smith in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, but the book is essentially a collection of writings about Emma Smith fifty-five of them in postexodus Nauvoo. Romig provides a brief background and commentary on most of the pieces he includes. Six selections highlight Emma s well-known denials of plural marriage: Edmund C. Briggs in October 1856, Nancy J. Thorpe in 1869 and Julius Chambers in the summer of Three are from Joseph III: his letters to A. W. Dennetts in March 1876 and J. J. Barbour in May 1878, and his interview with his mother shortly before her death in Romig s own narrative echoes this theme again as he tells of Joseph III s entry into the Reorganized Church as its prophet and president: Joseph III believed polygamy to be wrong. He also believed that his father was a good man and therefore could not have been responsible for the introduction of polygamy in Nauvoo during the 1840s... He believed that his father s public denials and direct evidence from his mother, Emma, held precedence over any other statements, which Joseph III interpreted as hearsay (58 60). Thus, Romig sums up the Reorganization s explanation of plural marriage: It was Brigham Young who introduced the doctrine after the main body of the church moved to the Great Basin. He adds that Joseph III frequently encountered contradictory statements... about events in Nauvoo. However, this did not deter [him] from his course (60). All the denials aside, it is difficult to ignore Joseph Smith Jr. s involvement in plural marriage and his teaching of it to others in Nauvoo. Two scholarly works detail his participation in and teaching of the practice: Todd Compton s In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Signature Books, 1997), and George D. Smith s Nauvoo Polygamy:... but we called it celestial marriage, (Signature Books, 2008; reviewed in this issue). There is, however, more to this little book than denying plural marriage. Romig includes entries about Lucy Mack Smith s life with Emma, including an advertisement for the Egyptian mummies that she kept in the Mansion House and showed to visitors for a few coins. Other topics include Joseph Smith s New Translation of the Bible, the relationship between Emma and Brigham Young, visits to Nauvoo by some of those who had settled in Utah and were traveling back through the city, and stories about Emma s children as they grew into adulthood. One omission is the death of her son Frederick, who died at age 25 in His passing is mentioned only briefly in one of Emma s obituaries.

185 BOOK REVIEWS 173 Included, also, is Alexander Smith s description of Emma s last days and her death. Obituaries from the Deseret News, the Saints Herald, the Nauvoo Independent and Women s Exponent all summarize her life. Although the Deseret News story took much of its copy from an article in the Carthage Republican, it added an editorial comment of its own: She chose to remain at Nauvoo, when the saints left for the West, and in consequence lost the honor and glory that might have crowned her brow as the elect lady (74). In addition, there is a detailed description of her funeral and burial along with several tributes to her by friends. Although there is little if anything new in this book, Ronald Romig has given us a unique and entertaining view of Emma Hale Smith Bidamon s life in Nauvoo after 1846 that provides freshness to a history that will be familiar to most readers. Emma s Nauvoo is worth reading if only to take a second look at that history. For me, the most irritating of these five books is Susan Easton Black s Emma Smith: An Elect Lady. It is one of nine works in the publisher s Setting the Record Straight series. There is nothing in this slim volume that sets any record straight. In fact, she manages to muddle it. Her research is spotty at best. Only a handful of her footnotes include primary sources and they are all from BYU Special Collections or from the LDS Archives and are mostly the letters between Joseph and Emma. There is not one source from the Community of Christ Library-Archives. Black s secondary sources are also heavily dependent on orthodox LDS publications with only three coming from the Saints Herald. She does cite two Community of Christ authors: Roy Cheville, Joseph and Emma Smith, Companions for Seventeen and a Half Years, (Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1977) and Roger D. Launius, Father Figure: Joseph Smith and the Creation of the Reorganized Church (Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1990). Black s token use of these two authors consists of a one-sentence reference from each. From Cheville she quotes Isaac Hale: [Joseph] made several visits at my house, and at length asked my consent to his marrying my daughter, Emma. This I refused (16). From Launius fine and comprehensive work we get only this: Joseph Smith III (November 6, 1832 December 10, 1914) served as the leader of the RLDS Church for fiftyfour years. The format is one of mostly simplistic questions highlighted in bold type: Did Emma serve as scribe for the Book of Mormon translation?... Is it evident that Joseph prayed to the Lord in behalf of his wife Emma?... Did Emma accompany Joseph from western New York to Kirtland, Ohio?... How did Joseph feel about Emma s willingness to feed so many guests? The answers are not new and some are inaccurate. For example, Black asks if Emma s response to [a letter from Joseph] led Joseph to leave Iowa, return to Nauvoo, and to Carthage. Quoting the official History of the Church, she says, Emma sent over Orrin P. Rockwell, requesting

186 174 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL him to entreat of Joseph to come back. Reynolds Cahoon accompanied [Rockwell] with a letter which Emma had written to the same effect, insisting that Cahoon should persuade Joseph to come back and give himself up (57). In fact, no one but Joseph and Hyrum read Emma s letter. After reading it, Joseph is reported to have said, I know my own business, indicating that he was set in his decision to leave. It was actually Reynolds Cahoon and Hiram Kimball who were adamant that Joseph return to Nauvoo. Both men called Joseph a coward, saying that if the mob destroyed their property they would all be homeless. Joseph answered, If my life is of no value to my friends, it is of none to myself. He and Hyrum crossed the river back to Nauvoo. Emma s response was, When he came back I felt the worst I ever did in my life, and from that time looked for him to be killed. 1 Another example is found on page 64: After the Latter-day Saints left Nauvoo, did Emma renounce her testimony of the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon? Black replies with a reference to the New York Sun letter to the editor dated November 20, She says it was signed by Emma Smith, then continues, The letter renounced Joseph Smith as a prophet and also the angelic coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Although General James Arlington Bennet of New York pronounced the letter authentic, Emma declared the letter to be a forgery. Black then quotes Emma s succinct denial to the New York Sun, noting that they did not choose to print it, but it did appear in the Times and Seasons (64). It seems that it is Emma s word against James Arlington Bennet s. In fact, Brigham Young believed that Bennet himself forged the letter and further historical sleuthing bears that out. 2 Black should have made that clear. There are other problems that the informed reader will easily recognize. One can only conclude that Emma Smith: An Elect Lady falls far short of setting the record straight. Susan Easton Black does herself as well as Emma a disservice with such a shallow book. Darcy Kennedy and Angeline Kennedy Washburn are the authors and compilers of The Emma Smith We Know: A Collection of Memories and Recipes from Emma as Recalled by her Posterity. Their intent was not to write a biography of Emma Smith but to publish remembrances of her descendents. Darcy is married to Michael Kennedy, a third-great-grandson of Emma and Joseph. Angeline is their daughter. They are part of the Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society, of which over eight hundred members are descendents of Joseph and Emma. This same group produced the recent motion picture Emma: My Story. The cover photos (front and back) of The Emma Smith We Know are of Katherine Nelson, who played Emma in the movie. 1 The entire discussion of this issue and the quotations used are in Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith (New York: Doubleday, 1984), Newell and Avery,

187 BOOK REVIEWS 175 A poem by Emma s last son, David Hyrum Smith, is written to his brother Alexander to persuade him to consider and think on the religious influence of their mother. A number of other entries are by some of Emma s grandchildren who actually knew her and wrote their memories down, for example: grandson Frederick Alexander Smith, granddaughters Emma Belle Smith Kennedy, Vida E. Smith, and Emma Josepha Smith McCallum. Descendents further down the genealogical line reflect the sentiments of those who know her only from the writings of others. A few are testimonials to the lives of Joseph and Emma and their influence on the faith of their descendents. One of these is written by Gracia Jones, a second-great-granddaughter. Gracia, who grew up in Montana, became one of the first of Emma and Joseph s descendents to join the LDS Church. She has made it her life mission to bring together the widely scattered posterity of Emma and Joseph, becoming the catalyst behind the above-mentioned family organization. Her son, David Denning, is a contributor to the book as well. A song, Where are My Children? written by Gracia s mother Lorena Normandeau, is also included. An interesting addition to the descendants contributions is a letter from Charles Edward Bidamon, Emma s stepson, to his friend L. L. Hudson. Charlie was the illegitimate son of Emma s second husband, Lewis C. Bidamon, and lived in Emma and Lewis s household from 1868, when he was four years old, until Emma s death in His description of Emma is one of love and admiration: She had a queenly bearing without the arrogance of a queen, and was a noble woman living and showing a charity for all, loved and beloved (4). Scattered among these personal reflections are Emma s recipes (or close facsimiles) for raisin cookies (which I have made and they are delicious), brown sugar cookies, fritters (those puffed up pastries Emma called candidates ), corn bread, and biscuits. Also included are the ingredients for scarlet fever and small pox remedies as well as salves for cuts-bruises-fever-rheumatism-for every kind of ache and pain tonic (75). Excerpts from the Nauvoo Relief Society Minutes give an abridged account of Emma s activities as president of the society. What is left out reveals the compilers lack of interest in anything controversial namely, the spiritual gifts the women, including Emma, exercised. Emma and her counselors laid hands on their sick sisters and blessed them that they might be healed. At the Relief Society s fifth meeting, a Sister Durfee bore testimony to the great blessing she received when administered to after the close of the last meeting by Prest. E. Smith and [her] Councilors Cleveland and Whitney. 3 Likewise, there is no mention of plural marriage in the book. What is known as Emma s self- 3 A Record of the Organization and Proceedings of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo (hereafter cited as Minutes of the Nauvoo Female Relief Society), March 30, 1842, pp.22, microfilm of original, Historical Department Archives, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (hereafter cited as LDS Church Archives).

188 176 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL blessing brings her own words into the volume and presents a self examining, humble, and insightful self-portrait. This is not a scholarly book by any means and should not be judged as such. It certainly is not recommended reading for anyone who wants to know more about Emma Smith, but it does express the love and admiration for Emma that has carried down through many generations. Love Letters of Joseph and Emma by Angela Eschler is nothing more than a picture book designed primarily to showcase Liz Lemon Swindle s beautiful illustrations of events in Joseph and Emma s lives. It is a large format (9 inch 12 inch) coffee table book with large print. There are no numbers on the pages but the count is thirty-one. Of their correspondence to each other, sixteen letters from Joseph and five from Emma have been preserved in various forms. From the title of this book, one would assume these letters would appear in their entirety with annotations offering proper context and perhaps some insight. Instead, the book has five short sections introduced by a scant narrative. One finds no more than one or two lines selected from seven of Joseph s letters and three of Emma s. That is all. Eschler includes a few abbreviated references from Doctrine and Covenants section 25, known as the Elect Lady Revelation, and section 121:7 8 (cited as 1221:7 8) directed to Joseph which reads, Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, god shall exalt thee on high. Three sentences of Emma s patriarchal blessing, given to her by her father-in-law, Joseph Smith Sr., are in the book, as well as a quote from one of Emma s letters to her son, Joseph Smith III (neither have a citation). If I could make one wish, it would be that Richard L. Anderson would have published his extensive and long-overdue work, Dear Emma, Dear Joseph, dealing with this same correspondence. The letters and their authors certainly deserve more than Angela Eschler provides. Lori E. Woodland s Beloved Emma: The Illustrated Life Story of Emma Smith is the only one of these five books that is a biography limited though it is. It suffers from the same problem of one-sidedness that all the others do, although Woodland did selectively use documents from the Community of Christ archives. It also relies on older sources, many of which contain errors, thus perpetuating those inaccuracies. The book is written for an orthodox LDS audience by an LDS Church employee: Woodland is a former women s basketball coach at Rick s College, who is now the director of the physical activities program at BYU Idaho, with a joint appointment as an instructor in the Department of Religious Education. As with Angela Eschler in Love Letters of Joseph and Emma, Woodland s Beloved Emma is illustrated with paintings by Liz Lemon Swindle. Of the fourteen illustrations, twelve also appear in Eschler s book. This in no way detracts from the aesthetics of the volume. Swindle s art is well worth the double exposure. The book s entire layout is attractive and easy to read with extra white space between lines. Woodland is a competent writer. Remembering that this

189 BOOK REVIEWS 177 is a Deseret Book publication, it is not surprising that what little controversy creeps into the narrative is about Emma not Joseph, nor any church leaders or the church in general. The long-suffering Saints are never to blame for their misfortunes. One example has to do with the July 4, 1838 celebration in Far West, Missouri. Woodland writes: Far West was alive with people celebrating not only the independence of the United States but also their Declaration of Independence from all mobs and persecutions which [had been] inflicted on them. A parade made up of the infantry of militia, the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other mounted men and women was enjoyed by all... After the parade, the four-cornerstones were laid for the Far West Temple, and the congregation together gave the Hosanna Shout [87 8]. What really happened that day set the stage for Governor Lilburn W. Boggs infamous extermination order of October 27, Sidney Rigdon gave a fiery speech which brought cheers from the Mormon crowd and angered the Missourians who watched with growing fear from the side lines. We are wearied of being smitten... and tired of being trampled upon... But from this day and hour, we will suffer it no more... And that mob that comes on us to disturb us, it shall be between us and them a war of extermination... We will follow them till the last drop of their blood is spilled or else they will carry the seat of war to their own houses and their own families... We this day then proclaim ourselves free, with a purpose and determination that never can be broken No never! No never! 5 Rigdon s intemperate oration gave the Missourians, who were already agitated by the influx of Mormons into Clay County, a reason to ignite raids on the newcomers. What Woodland describes as little more than a summer picnic was actually a turning point in Mormon and Missouri history. She gives only the slightest reference to the speech: Copies of an inflammatory speech given on the Fourth of July by Sidney Rigdon fell into the hands of several Missouri officials and before long anti-mormon mobs were gathering to run the Saints from the county (88). The author s section on the organization of the Nauvoo Female Relief Society is also lacking. She repeats Joseph Smith s long misquoted line: I now turn the key in your behalf (115). If Woodland had checked in the LDS Archives for the original minutes, she would have discovered that Joseph actually said, I now turn the key to you in the name of God and this Society shall rejoice and 4 B. H. Roberts, intro. and notes, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Documentary History of the Church] 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978), 3: Joseph Smith had the speech printed under the name Oration Delivered by Mr. S. Rigdon on the 4 th of July, 1838, at Far West Missouri (Far West, Mo.: Journal Office, 1838), Chicago Historical Society.

190 178 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from this time. 6 Joseph also told the women in the first meeting, I will organize the sisters under the priesthood after a pattern of the priesthood... If any Officers are wanted to carry out the design of the Institution, let them be appointed and set apart, as Deacons, Teachers & etc. are among us. He elaborated further on this theme when he spoke again to the women at the third meeting: The society should move according to the ancient Priesthood... [I will] make of this Society a kingdom of priests as in Enoch s day as in Paul s day. 7 Woodland also ignores (as did Susan Easton Black) any mention of the spiritual gifts exercised by the members of the Relief Society. In the same speech quoted above, Joseph Smith responded to inquiries about the women giving blessings to each other: If the sisters should have faith to heal the sick let all hold their tongues... Respecting the females, laying on hands... there could be no devils in it if God gave his sanction by healing that there would be no more sin in any female laying hands on the sick than in wetting the face with water. 8 These stories of women laying on hands and blessing each other, as well as references to the priesthood as it related to women in the Relief Society, together with the many instances of the women being ordained to various offices and callings that are also recorded in those early minutes are important. And they should make Mormon women of today at least ponder what has happened to these promises and procedures that their early sisters experienced. In the discussion of Joseph s property after his death and the falling out of Emma and Brigham Young, Woodland concludes: Though most of the ensuing offenses can be attributed to misunderstanding and misinterpretations caused by others, Emma tended to shift responsibility for all the hurtful happenings directly to President Young (148). To be honest, she should have added and Brigham, in turn, put the blame on Emma. While there is much lacking in the objectivity of this publication, Woodland has put considerable effort into providing a book with which orthodox LDS readers can be comfortable and still feel compassion for Emma and come away with some understanding of her life. While each of these books will have an audience, it is unfortunate that they all perpetuate half-truths and historical inaccuracies that have clouded the real Emma Hale Smith Bidamon for over 150 years. To be sure, there will be other books written about Emma. If the five reviewed here are any indication, however, many will continue to be a whitewash of the issues and events that filled her colorful life. Linda King Newell is an independent writer and historian living in Salt Lake City. She is a former president of the John Whitmer Historical Association 6 Minutes of the Nauvoo Female Relief Society, 6 th meeting, April 28, 1842, emphasis mine. 7 Ibid., 3 rd meeting, March 30, Ibid.

191 BOOK REVIEWS 179 and the Mormon History Association and has served on the board of both organizations. She has authored or coauthored four books, dozens of articles and book reviews as well as essays in several other books. She is best known for the prize-winning biography, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, which she coauthored with Valeen Tippetts Avery. Linda and her husband, L. Jackson (Jack) Newell are past editors of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. Over the years, she has served on many boards including the Utah Humanities Council, the David Woolley Evans and Beatrice Cannon Evans Award, and the Lowell Bennion Center for Community Service. George D. Smith. Nauvoo Polygamy: but we called it celestial marriage. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, pp. Photographs, footnotes, bibliography, maps, charts, index. Paperback: $ ISBN: Reviewed by William D. Morain This skillfully written book will enlighten, inform, and perhaps trouble any who are game to absorb over seven hundred pages of prose, photographs, and comprehensive appendix. Through exhaustive research and documentation, George Smith has chronicled the definitive account of polygamy in early Mormonism. With nonjudgmental voice, the author presents his narrative in full detail, permitting the reader to draw whatever conclusion suggests itself from the historical facts. The reader may alternatively see an evolving story of religious cultural evolution or a most vexing tale of misogyny, opportunism, and abuse or perhaps both. The clear protagonist of the book is Joseph Smith Jr., himself, whose quixotic pursuit of multiple marital partners became an obsessive idée fixe that he would pursue against all obstacles until it led inevitably to his demise. The author begins with a description of Smith s early life, conventional marriage, Book of Mormon authorship, and church founding. The narrative follows through successive chapters in the following sequence: Smith s first sixteen plural wives and a conjugal pause during a period of dissent His resumption of wife acquisition to the author s estimated total of thirty-seven Smith s selective granting of polygamy to male associates The cultural expansion of polygamy until the time of Smith s death A description of polygamous domestic life The internal and external dissent occasioned by polygamy Problems in the historiography of Mormon polygamy Some interesting polygamous antecedents in history

192 180 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL The distinguishing feature of the book s treatment of Smith himself setting it apart from Brodie s, Compton s, and others expositions on the subject is the juxtaposition the author continually places between Smith s marital pursuits and his contemporaneous activities in other realms. The result is a depiction resembling in some respects a kind of dual personality with one persona leading a very public charismatic role as societal leader and another as a secretive and charming seducer both frequently on the same day. Highly public religious and civic duties are carried out betwixt secret sealing ceremonies and overnight trysts with dizzying boldness. The reader is left to wonder on what terms Smith s two personas related to one another. Equally important is the emphasis the author places on the unusual nature of the primary historical record for this chapter of the Mormon story the near complete absence of any but the most carefully protected documentation of the many early marital sealings. Despite the fastidious daily record of Smith s clerical and civic activities in History of the Church and personal diaries, there is almost total absence of any official mention of his thirty-seven polygynous relationships. Only the author s efforts at precise comparison of the daily chronicle of Smith s activities on the date of each sealing ceremony illuminates the true clandestine purpose of that carefully worded citation regarding the meeting in the upper room... to attend to ordinances and counseling. As the author notes, the record of Mormon polygamous practices has largely been a retrospective piecemeal process, gathered only after the fact from diaries, letters, affidavits, and court testimony. The author further points to the official Latter-day Saint reluctance to acknowledge or possess this pre-eminent feature of its own institutional history, much less the centrality of the practice to its eschatology to say nothing of the abject denial of the practice by the Reorganized group for over a century. The extraordinary detail with which the author describes Smith s courtship patterns (what some contemporaries would call his love map) offers considerable food for thought concerning the nature of Smith s personality peculiarities. It is clear that he patiently groomed each target through his attentions and charisma before making his many bids for consummation using the consistent line of a claim to divine favor and the promise of eternal bliss to each intended. But it is difficult to regard the power discrepancy between each woman and him as other than clerical abuse, especially as exercised against those in their midteens whose naiveté and childish inexperience were no match for the command of a presumed prophet of God. A striking message of the book is the manner in which polygamy for Smith himself differed dramatically from that of his many lieutenants. For all of his remonstrations to his associates about placing the hand of the second wife into that of the first, he was profoundly reluctant to do so himself. His own machinations to keep his liaisons secret from first wife Emma (and from the vast body of his flock as well) were carried out with the greatest care to avoid detection. Smith himself appears to have carried out few, if any, of the

193 BOOK REVIEWS 181 customary domestic or fiduciary duties to his many mates after the sealing other than occasional clandestine conjugal visits. The other polygamous husbands brought into the practice, however, did otherwise for the most part, bringing the new spouses into the household alongside the first wife. The author expands on this point with careful numerical analysis of the expansion of the practice from the time of its introduction. In 1844, Nauvoo held sixty-eight polygamous families. By 1846, there were two hundred polygamous husbands with a total of 717 wives, an average of almost four wives each. These men added 417 more wives to their households after leaving Nauvoo, bringing the average nearly to six per husband, largely sharing living space and domestic responsibilities. In an additional distinction between Smith and his fellow polygamists, the author reminds us that Smith s earliest justification for the practice in the latter days was to raise-up seed to the almighty. Many gladly did their seminal duty, including John D. Lee with sixty-four children and Brigham Young with fiftyfive. Oddly, Smith himself seems to be nearly alone in never having produced polygamous progeny (at least insofar as Perego and associates have lately been able to determine through DNA testing). In view of his many documented conjugal visits with numerous wives alongside his demonstrated capacity to bear children with wife Emma, the reader of this book is left with the obviously awkward question of possible contraceptive methodology on Smith s part especially occurring in the era before the vulcanized rubber condom. Though several solutions suggest themselves, the question must be left hanging for lack of historical evidence, and the book s author has chosen to sidestep this pregnant issue. There are many disturbing threads running through this book. Among these are the many polyandrous episodes when missionaries, such as Brigham Young, would entice married women with families to leave their husbands and remarry without first divorcing. Wife swapping also occurred without official resistance. And men with higher priesthood office could usurp the wife of one with lower station through the privilege accorded through ecclesiastical rank. The author also reinforces D. Michael Quinn s observation that Smith s care in wife selectivity began the formation of a kind of royal super clan of privilege and authority that would assume hierarchical dominance of leadership in the movement for generations to come. George Smith s book is a gift to nineteenth-century historians. He has mined Mormon polygamy s mother lode to its precious depths wielding the pick and shovel of encyclopedic historical detail. In the process he has removed uncertainties and denial that have muddied the previous record through dispute and design. But his work will undoubtedly lead to new speculation concerning the original prophet puzzle, certainly to the enrichment of future debate and deliberation.

194 182 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL William D. Morain, MD of Lamoni, Iowa is a retired professor at Dartmouth Medical School and the former editor of the Annals of Plastic Surgery. He is the author of The Sword of Laban: Joseph Smith Jr., and the Disassociated Mind (American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 1998). B. Carmon Hardy. Doing The Works of Abraham: Mormon Polygamy: Its Origin, Practice, and Demise, (Kingdom of the West series). Norman, OK: The Arthur H. Clark Company, pp. Photographs, footnotes, bibliography, index. Cloth: $ ISBN: Reviewed by Todd Compton When we look at important works on Mormon polygamy, most of them are written on special topics or the historic periods of the practice, such as Irwin Altman and Joseph Ginat, Polygamous Families in Contemporary Society (Cambridge University Press, 1996), George Smith s recent Nauvoo Polygamy:... but we called it celestial marriage (Signature Books, 2008), or Hardy s own Solemn Covenant: the Mormon Polygamous Passage (University of Illinois Press, 1992). 9 Such books are broader in depth and philosophical outlook than their strict subjects, but they nevertheless put most of their intensive focus on a limited period. For many years, the only survey of the entire history of LDS polygamy was Richard Van Wagoner s excellent, pioneering book Mormon Polygamy: A History (Signature Books, 1985); but now, happily, in addition, we have B. Carmon Hardy s Doing The Works of Abraham: Mormon Polygamy: Its Origin, Practice, and Demise, published as the ninth volume of Arthur Clark s Kingdom of the West series. This book is a magnificent achievement, combining Hardy s characteristic scholarly erudition, stylistic elegance, and breadth of insight as he surveys the panorama of polygamy s history. He looks at his subject with enormous sympathy, at the same time regarding it with unflinching honesty. As the Kingdom of the West series emphasizes documentary history, Hardy quotes generously from many documents that tell the story of plural marriage, providing commentary and context as he does so. Mormon polygamy is endlessly fascinating, from its secretive beginnings in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, to its open practice throughout the Mormon west for nearly half a century, to its painful, gradual (and again, secretive) cessation from 1890 to the early years of the twentieth century. One can open this book anywhere and find intriguing stories and writings or speeches on the Principle impassioned doctrinal discourses defending it and equally 9 For the story of how Hardy wrote Solemn Covenant, as well as the book under review, see his Polygamy, Mormonism, and Me, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 41, no. 2 (Summer 2008):

195 BOOK REVIEWS 183 impassioned antipolygamous rhetoric from non-mormons. Each of the periods of the history of LDS plural marriage is filled with paradox, triumphs and failures, stark human tragedies brought about by human failings, and inspiring stories of men and women struggling to live plural marriage as a religious ideal. Hardy s book has an epic sweep that captures this panorama of history. No two scholars will ever see entirely eye to eye. I believe Mosiah Hancock s account of the plural marriage ceremony of Joseph Smith Jr. and Fanny Alger in 1833 Kirtland is a foundational document in the history of Mormon polygamy, while Hardy does not mention it. Hancock s autobiography is problematic in some ways, like many Mormon memoirs, but it is a nineteenth-century document by Fanny Alger s full cousin; it should be treated to some extent. By my counting, Hardy takes forty pages (one chapter) to look at the beginnings of polygamy, then some 150 pages (four chapters) to describe polygamy as it was practiced in Utah. The Mormon conflict with America that brought about the end of polygamy occupies 118 pages (three chapters) and Manifesto and post-manifesto polygamy are dealt with in thirty-eight pages (one chapter). Finally, ten pages (one chapter) cover twentiethcentury, schismatic, fundamentalist polygamy. I would have preferred less emphasis on the conflict with America that preceded the Manifesto, and more on post-manifesto polygamy, Hardy s specialty. Nevertheless, the story of Mormonism s cultural and legal conflict with America in the 1870s and 1880s is perhaps an important theme for the Kingdom of the West series, as it shows the Mormon kingdom determinedly holding onto a key practice and doctrine, plural marriage, and Mormons justifying themselves through theocratic ethics. They chose to participate in this openly illegal marriage practice for many years and suffered increasingly grim legal consequences for this policy. Mormon polygamist men went to prison routinely in the 1880s but were viewed by their religious community as heroes; they were often given ward farewells just before starting their jail terms, as we give ward farewells to Mormon missionaries today. 10 Then in the 1890s, after the Manifesto which publicly ended polygamy, church leaders, including First Presidency members and apostles, continued to enter into new, secret plural marriages or give permission for new plural marriages another example of theocratic ethics, and another witness to the enormous religious importance that polygamy had for these men. The Mormon kingdom either came to an end or changed fundamentally in the 1890s and early twentieth century. Utah achieved statehood. Historians have debated whether giving up polygamy or abandoning church control of secular politics in Utah was the most important element in bringing about the end of the LDS earthly kingdom of the West (though both polygamy and 10 For example, see Helen Mar Whitney s diary entry for October 11, 1885, in A Widow s Tale: the Diary of Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, introduction, notes and register by Todd Compton, transcription by Charles Hatch and Todd Compton (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2003), 107.

196 184 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL political control had to be surrendered). But those who tend to understate the importance of the Principle in nineteenth-century Mormonism are seriously misinterpreting a key element of LDS history. Hardy s book is a valuable corrective to that kind of thinking. For a reader new to Mormon polygamy, this is where you should start Doing The Works of Abraham is the most important and fascinating book on the general history of LDS plurality that we have and one of the most important books on Mormon history period. Todd Compton (toddmagos@yahoo.com), is the author of In Sacred Loneliness: the Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Signature Books, 1997), which won Best Book awards from the Mormon History Association and the John Whitmer Historical Association, and Victim of The Muses: Poet as Scapegoat, Warrior and Hero (Harvard University Press, 2006). An independent historian, he works in Palo Alto, California and is currently researching a biography of Jacob Hamblin. Susan Easton Black. Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet, (Setting the Record Straight series). Orem, Utah: Millennial Press, Inc., pp., Paperback: $9.95. ISBN: Reviewed by Paul M. Edwards Susan Easton Black, professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University, is a highly esteemed thinker, author, and lecturer. In most cases, she is worth listening to; but not so much in this case. In this case, she has taken on the job of explaining Joseph Smith Jr. for the Setting the Record Straight series designed, if not to actually set things straight, then at least to try and make them consistent. She has done a beautiful job of what I suspect she was asked to do: to provide a short, simple, readable, rehash of the old, old story by answering questions artfully set up by Mr. and Mrs. Every Person, whose convictions are questionable, and religious knowledge minute. The answers she provides are simple, illustrative, vague, often humorous, usually scriptural, always kind, and quite often unrelated to the question asked. Some questions seem consciously trite: Were Kirtland residents pleased with the temple? And some answers appear conspicuously irrelevant: How did Joseph Smith treat his followers? Answer: he often gathered prairie flowers to give to the children. This small, well-constructed little book, begins with a historical cross reference to Joseph s life, gives the reader thirty-four pages of inquiry and response about the Life of Joseph Smith, twenty-four pages of questions and answers dealing with the Core Concepts of the Religious Teachings, provides

197 BOOK REVIEWS 185 a penultimate section of commentaries by contemporaries of Joseph, and then ends with the author s testimony. It is an interesting little book. If you want to know what the standard and popular Mormon concepts are these days about Joseph Smith and some of his teachings, this is the book for you. If you are looking for anything very deep or insightful into Mormonism, I would suggest you check out her other works. Paul M. Edwards is the former academic dean at Graceland University and the former president of the Temple School for the Community of Christ. In retirement, he has established a collection of Korean War materials at the Independence, Missouri Graceland campus. He is the author of several books. Jack R. Christianson. The Book of Mormon, (Setting the Record Straight series). Orem, Utah: Millennial Press, pp. Bibliography, index. Paperback: $9.95. ISBN-13: Reviewed by John Glaser The Book of Mormon, part of the Setting the Record Straight series published by Millennial Press, addresses controversial issues facing Latter-day Saints (i.e., Homosexuality, Masonry, Polygamy, etc.). Written by Jack R. Christianson, an author of inspirational and self-help books, this book uses what I term hamartiological polemics to defend the Book of Mormon against those who criticize and attack its message and historical narrative. The underlying assumption of hamartiological polemics is that the concepts of sin that regulate people s lives and the way in which those sins are defined, are at times used as hegemonic devices or as mechanisms to control people. Therefore, in the perspective of hamartiological polemics, the aim of ministerial intervention is not merely to liberate people from sin, but rather to liberate them from those oppressive concepts of sin that have been imposed upon them. The hamartiological polemics of this book seem to be directed toward believers who, steeped in traditional narratives of Book of Mormon authenticity, are also facing the movement s Galileo event of DNA evidences to the contrary. Christianson establishes his purpose and polemic stance in the book s introduction by relating a story of his missionary years in which a charismatic congregation attacked him and his companion for believing in the Book of Mormon. As part of their worship, members of this other church attempted to exorcise these two young missionaries for the perceived sin of belief in a book of the devil. In effect, this story serves as a framing device for the hamartiological rebuttals in support of the Book of Mormon. The battle of this narrative is to establish the supremacy of a hamartiological framework to defend the truth of the Book of Mormon.

198 186 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL After providing a brief overview of the Book of Mormon, Christianson launches into nine polemic arguments addressing long-standing arguments against the divinity of the Book of Mormon. Every charge is answered with a counterargument quoted from a movement s internal authoritative source, followed by an additional admonition. These arguments and admonitions are summarized as follows: The Book of Mormon was written by a man who did not have the capacity to write such a book and could only have done it with the gift and power of God. Therefore, by implication, questioning the divine origin of the book is to question the work of the divine. To charge the prophet with using a seer stone, thereby accusing him with motives of personal gain is, by implication, to negate the prophet s stated motives of building the kingdom and glorifying of God. Although evidence firmly correlates the Book of Mormon historical narrative to Latin American archeology and anthropology, according to Christianson, the ultimate test of the book s truth is in reading its own testimony about itself. A reading of the book that does not validate its historicity implies a spiritually defective reader. The scriptures (i.e., Old and New Testament, Doctrine and Covenants, etc.) provide a hermeneutic cross validation in support of each other s truth. Divine judgment awaits those who will not be persuaded to see this truth. The Book of Mormon s appearance was prophesied in the Old and New Testaments and to disbelieve this claim is to disbelieve the Bible. Meekness and humility are imperative in the study of the Book of Mormon and mockery will be met with mourning. These hamartiological stances are presented as prolegomenon to the book s discussion of the recent controversy of DNA evidence invalidating the biological correlation between Hebrew and Native American populations. The reader is redirected to the Web site of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) at Brigham Young University for further explanation. Christianson directs his hamartiological rebuttals against those arguments that challenge a person s faithful certainty of the Book of Mormon. Yet, other hamartiological arguments within the Book of Mormon receive superficial treatment, for example, God cursing the Lamanites by darkening their skin. The author begins by challenging the traditional interpretations of the race curse, which have concluded that God darkened the skin of the Lamanites due to their sinfulness. The author contends that the real curse upon the Lamanites is their spiritual exile, i.e., to be cut off from the presence of God due to their sinfulness. In addition to this curse, Christianson affirms that God intended to prevent the miscegenation between the fair and delightsome white-skinned people and the Lamanites. Subsequently, God darkened the Lamanite s

199 BOOK REVIEWS 187 skin and thus made them loathsome to the narrative s white population thereby halting their miscegenation. Uninitiated readers may be troubled by Christianson s exegesis of this divine act in which he states: Thus, the mark [of dark skin] became a curse but was not the curse (69). Christianson s audience evidently does not require an explanation of a theology that allows for acts of antimiscegenation. In chapter 9, Christianson encourages his audience to divert its attention from the secondary issues associated with the historical narrative of the inhabitants of ancient America. Instead, Christianson places emphasis on the book s primary role, as it is subtitled: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon was rechristened in 1982 with this added moniker. Christianson concludes by arguing that the Book of Mormon is its own best witness. It can be validated through prayerful meditation and supplication to determine its own veracity. He argues that if the Book of Mormon is true, then Latter-day Saintism, its founder, its doctrine, and Jesus Christ must also be true. Throughout his book, Christianson does not advocate for external source investigation and open-ended discussion of scripture. To set the record straight is to remind the reader that there is no room for uncertainty in the mind of Book of Mormon adherents. To do otherwise would be a sin. John Glaser is full-time coordinator of Hispanic leadership development for the Community of Christ. He has a BA in history from Graceland College, MA in urban planning from the University of Kansas, and a PhD in education from Texas A&M. He met his wife, Paula, during a summer internship at the Joseph Smith Historic Center in Nauvoo. H. Michael Marquardt. The Four Gospels According to Joseph Smith. Longwood, Florida: Xulon Press, pp. Photographs, appendices, bibliography, index. Paperback: $ ISBN: Cloth: $ ISBN: Reviewed by William D. Russell We owe a great debt to H. Michael Marquardt. For decades, his careful, meticulous studies of what I call the Joseph Smith canon, have been valuable for students of Mormonism, as seen in his Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record (with Wesley P. Walters, Smith Research Associates, 1994); The Joseph Smith Revelations: Text and Commentary (Signature Books, 1999); and The Rise of Mormonism, (Xulon Press, 2005). His work has been especially important for those wanting more in-depth knowledge about Joseph Smith s revelations. In this book, Marquardt provides us with the text of the four gospels in Joseph Smith s New Translation of the Bible, endearingly referred to by the

200 188 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL RLDS community for more than a century as the Inspired Version. Marquardt places the Mormon prophet s additions in boldface; he then provides valuable background information on the early biblical manuscripts, modern English translations, related information from the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants, as well as a valuable, very detailed, chronology regarding Joseph Smith s Bible revision, Also included are five interesting appendices: (1) Revelations of Joseph Smith on Gospel texts ; (2) Joseph Smith on Matthew 13 ; (3) Commentary by Joseph Smith on verses in Gospels ; (4) Words modernized for revision ; and (5) Selected Index to Joseph Smith s additions to the Gospels. As Marquardt notes, Joseph Smith did not know Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic, but he thought he was restoring lost texts of the Bible when he translated from the text of the 1828 King James Version purchased from E. B. Grandin in Palmyra, New York. Many RLDS members believe Smith s claim that medieval monks removed plain and precious truths when recopying various texts of the Bible during the Dark Ages. Yet Smith s alterations of the text have found no support in the earliest manuscripts, prior to the apostasy. Marquardt writes, There are no noteworthy additions in Joseph Smith s inspired translation that find support in Codex Vaticanius, Codex Sinaiticus, or any pre-fourth century papyri fragments of the gospels (33), adding, The Bible revision is better understood as an inspired correction, and where additions were made, as an expansion of the biblical text (35). Marquardt concludes it was a revision of the text rather than a translation (345). In the early 1960s, I read materials published by the National Council of Churches which included a brief discussion of about fifty passages in the King James Version which are now inaccurate because some words have significantly changed their meaning since 1611 and new knowledge gained by the discovery of much earlier New Testament manuscripts than were available in the seventeenth century. I was surprised that in more than 80 percent of the cases, Joseph Smith had not spotted the problem and left the King James language unchanged. In the 20 percent or so where changes were made, more often than not the change was not in the direction that the new scholarship suggested. Biblical studies were especially fascinating for me when I was in seminary at Saint Paul in Kansas City. As we studied the history of ancient Israel, the development of the Old and New Testaments, the historical background of the various books and the canonization process, it was disturbing when I came to realize that if you take the contents of the Joseph Smith canon literally as many Saints do you turn historical scholarship on its head. When we look at the biblical world from a historical perspective, we see the development of a religious community from primitive roots, with polygamy, slavery, a severe patriarchy, murder justified as divinely commanded, and many gods recognized. Over time, we see the Israelites moving toward monotheism and

201 BOOK REVIEWS 189 monogamy, and finally, in the midst of the Roman Empire, a young man from the hill country of Galilee comes forward with a message of a new age. Joseph Smith makes all this history false, because as he saw it, the Gospel of Jesus Christ existed at the beginning of human history, during the time of the mythological Adam. It was restored by Jesus and again by Joseph Smith. Thus, the gospel was not affected by history. It was handed down from heaven at the beginning of time and restored by prophets when apostasy occurred. Smith thereby led many well-educated Saints some of them historians to believe that Adam and Eve really existed, historical evidence to the contrary. Joseph Smith projected his unique church organization and priesthood system back onto the New Testament Church. Unfortunately, we don t really know if a church existed as yet in Jesus time. But Smith went one better than that. Referring to Genesis, he in essence made that book a Christian document, says Marquardt (30). One of the most unfortunate changes the prophet made in the New Testament, is in Luke s account of Jesus on the cross, where he says, Father, forgive them, for they know not what to do. Joseph added (meaning the Roman soldiers), thereby destroying this great passage on forgiveness. Contrary to Jesus forgiveness on the cross and his forgiving the woman taken in adultery, who deserved death, according to the scriptures, we also see Joseph Smith adding the idea that speaking against the Holy Ghost is unforgiveable (Matt. 12:42), the wicked shall be destroyed (Matt. 24:14; 24:51; and Mark 13:10) and vindictiveness toward the transgressor (Mark 9:43 45). Jesus was a Jew and he labored among his people. One indication of the fact that the anonymous Gospel of John was written quite late is the fact that the author speaks of the Jews as though they were not Jesus people. But Joseph Smith has Jesus referring to the Jews in Matt. 21:46, 24:21 22 and Mark 13:2, 13:4, and 13:19. Matthew is famous for his rebuttal of Paul s assertion (Galatians 3:10) that the law is a curse in Matt. 5:17 ( Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill ); but Smith carries that idea over into Luke 16:17. Joseph s alteration of the beautiful opening sentences in both Luke and John is unfortunate. Joseph Smith condemned wicked monks who he thought deliberately altered the biblical manuscripts, taking plain and precious truths from the Bible to suit their own personal opinions. But he did the same. He altered the biblical text in many places to suit his own theological assumptions. That does not render the Joseph Smith Translation worthless. It helps us understand the mind of the founding prophet of Mormonism. But that is about all. Given the better understanding of the biblical texts we have now, four centuries since the King James Version, I find it incredible that the LDS Church still uses the King James Version as its official Bible. But at least that is preferable to the Inspired Version which the RLDS Church has traditionally

202 190 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL endorsed, because at least LDS people don t have Joseph Smith messing with the text when they read the Bible. William D. Russell is professor emeritus of American history and government at Graceland University, and is a past president of both the Mormon History Association and the John Whitmer Historical Association. He is the author of Treasure in Earthen Vessels: An Introduction to the New Testament (Independence Press, 1966) and Homosexual Saints: The Community of Christ Experience (John Whitmer Books, 2008). Ron Romig, ed. Martin Harris s Kirtland. Independence: John Whitmer Books, pp. Photographs, maps, notes, sketches, additional reading. Paperback: $9.95. ISBN Reviewed by Kevin Bryant As archivist for the Community of Christ, Ron Romig has frequent access to countless documents, letters, and manuscripts on a wide variety of Latter Day Saint peculiarities. Scholars and researchers have long had access to work and study within various archives, but few (if any) can have a stronger understanding of a particular archival collection than the archivist. In Martin Harris s Kirtland, Ron Romig has opened the archives and published a wide variety of sources regarding the life of Martin Harris. Other than Joseph Smith Jr., perhaps no other name of the early Mormon church is as well known as Martin Harris. Harris ends up in Utah in the 1870s, but his journey from New York to Utah is anything but the standard story. Romig reveals, through primary and secondary sources, the Kirtland left behind in 1838, yet still inhabited by Harris, the man so instrumental in getting the religious movement on its feet. One of the Three Witnesses, Harris remained behind in Kirtland, Ohio, when so many other church members left for Missouri, Illinois, and, eventually, other communities across the continent. Romig s book shows Harris in various roles, as he becomes a tour guide for the Kirtland Temple, a Shaker, a Strangite missionary to England, and a McLellinite. While residing in Kirtland, he also meets with the Brighamites, Josephites, Rigdonites, Brewsterites, and numerous other restoration-tradition churches. Yet, Harris always upheld his early religious beliefs, encounter after encounter, as members and nonmembers alike invited him to share his recollection of the origins of the Book of Mormon. On those occasions, he became a man with a message, a man with a noble conviction in his heart, a man inspired of God (89). Romig has assembled excellent material on Harris. At the same time, he describes a lesser-known time in the city of Kirtland. Martin Harris s journey

203 BOOK REVIEWS 191 with the Saints is anything but ordinary from prosperous Founding Father to a poorly clad, emaciated little man (88). The various expressions of the Latter Day Saint movement returned to Harris s doorstep. To paint this picture, Romig uses documentation from the Community of Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints archives along with numerous other published sources to create a very useful glimpse into the extraordinary life of Martin Harris. Additionally, this is a must read for anyone with an interest in Kirtland, Ohio and, particularly, the Kirtland Temple. Scholarship on the Kirtland Temple up to 1838 is thorough, but the farther removed one gets the more gaps appear in Kirtland s historiography. Romig satisfies a portion of that need but more scholarship can yet be undertaken. In Martin Harris s Kirtland, Ron Romig has produced what may be the finest in his ever-expanding and incredibly useful series of books, which includes Emma s Nauvoo, Emma s Family, and Lucy s Nauvoo (John Whitmer Books). The reader is shown the story of a well-known figure who suddenly disappears without warning from conventional retellings of Latter Day Saint history. Perhaps one of the more well-known phrases of Harris later in life was spoken to William Homer in Harris revealed his side of the story, reminding Homer: Young man, I never did leave the Church; the Church left me (91). Kevin Bryant (kevinwbryant@hotmail.com) is employed at the Joseph Smith Historic Site in Nauvoo. He holds a BS in history from the University of Central Missouri and is currently completing a MA in American history at Western Illinois University. He is a member of JWHA and the Mormon History Association. Linda Wilcox DeSimone, ed. Fanny Stenhouse, Expose of Polygamy: A Lady s Life among the Mormons, (Life Writings of Frontier Women series). Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, pp. Preface, introduction, photographs, appendix, footnotes, index. Cloth: $ ISBN: Reviewed by Melvin T. Smith Fanny Stenhouse s Expose of Polygamy, first published in 1872, has now been published as volume ten in Utah State University s series: Life Writings of Frontier Women. It was expanded in 1874 into Stenhouse s betterknown book Tell It All, which would see more than a dozen editions with the last two printings occurring in 1971 and Tell It All added more details on polygamy, on Brigham Young s life in polygamy, and on the Mountain Meadows Massacre than Expose of Polygamy.

204 192 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Editor DeSimone brings the original and earlier book, Expose of Polygamy, to readers with no change in the text or organization. She provides an excellent introduction, in which she briefly reviews the life and history of Fanny Stenhouse, along with Fanny s marriage to Thomas Brown Holmes (T. B. H.) Stenhouse. The well-educated couple learned of polygamy in England, immigrated to the United States in late 1855, and reached Utah in September 1858, where T. B. H. Stenhouse published the first daily newspaper in Utah Territory the Salt Lake Telegraph. DeSimone follows the Stenhouses into polygamy, into disillusionment, to their affinity with the Godbeites, and finally to their excommunication from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With the publication of Expose of Polygamy and later Tell It All, Fanny became a national celebrity and began a lecture circuit that took her from California to Washington, DC and from London to Australia. Fanny thoroughly enjoyed her touring and travels. In later years, she would go blind from an accident in San Francisco; still, she continued to travel. Although T. B. H. had published an excellent history of the Latter-day Saints, the Stenhouses suffered hard times after their excommunication from the LDS Church. Although T. B. H. died in 1882, Fanny continued her lecturing and traveling until her own death in Los Angeles, on April 18, To explain her own feelings about plural marriage, Fanny quoted Joseph Smith s revelation on polygamy in its entirety in her book, along with testimonies and comments from several Mormon church authorities in Utah. She also quotes at length from the writings of Joseph Smith s second son, Alexander H. Smith, in which Alexander challenges the idea that the revelation on polygamy was God inspired. His article concludes: Now may God save this people from this great plague spot that cankers and corrodes the soul, alienates it from God, and fits it only for Satan s kingdom (164). The editor provides footnotes giving dates, names, and relationships of many of the people Fanny Stenhouse writes about in her book. DeSimone wanted readers to see polygamy from the sympathetic and personal experiences of Fanny herself, without the hype of the later volume, Tell It All. In her epilogue, the editor summarizes: Overall, the narration of the Expose is forthright and honest, expresses genuine emotion, and conveys a kindly, understanding stance towards others (171). Now to Fanny s own story! She writes, The following pages are simply what they pretend to be: What I know about Polygamy... I have given a brief account of my personal experiences what I myself felt, what I saw and knew (27). At the age of fifteen, Fanny went to France to teach English in a Catholic school, but longed for a prophet who could tell her what she needed to do to be saved. At age twenty-one, she returned to England and met her first Mormons. Their prophet-message resonated deeply with her. She became a dedicated convert (1849), married missionary T. B. H. Stenhouse, and shared in his extensive missionary work and its without purse or script economic challenges. Fanny

205 BOOK REVIEWS 193 explains how she felt when she was first introduced to polygamy, along with her pain at having to teach it to the Swiss sisters. Back in England, Fanny watched the elders silliness in courting women, using a last days prophecy that seven women would seek the coat-tail of one man. Some happily married women left unbelieving husbands, only to find the promised heaven of faithful obedience to be hollow. Her examples are specific and legion. Since T. B. H. was away much of the time preaching, Fanny laments: Mormonism for me at that time was a melancholy fact (63). The Stenhouses sailed from Liverpool the middle of November Upon arriving in New York City, T. B. H. was called to serve as assistant editor to the Mormon. Fanny cites his acceptance as evidence of their obedience to authority. There she saw polygamy in practice, firsthand. Arriving in Utah in September 1858, Fanny writes of Salt Lake City: It looked like a beautiful garden another Eden in the midst of a desert valley (66). While her first impressions of Brigham Young were positive, she soon had direct experiences with polygamic life and her fears and pain regarding the practice re-emerged. A dedicated believer in the church s divine mission, what Fanny witnessed of polygamous life disturbed her greatly. In her book, Fanny Stenhouse relates that polygamy as preached required a Mormon husband to get: (1) permission from Brigham Young, (2) consent of the first wife, (3) approval of the bride-to-be s parents or guardian, and (4) an agreement with the young lady herself. Fanny adds: Without the consent and approval of Brigham Young, no patriarchal marriage can be consummated; with his approval, that of the wife, the parents, and the girl herself can all be dispensed with (70). Fanny saw the hurt, the pretense, and the pain of women in polygamy. Most had submitted under duress, believing their obedience was a commandment of God himself. She cites examples of girls trapped into plural marriage by men who procured oaths of marriage from maiden converts, or girls living in the men s own families who had been told to subdue their rebellious natures. Fanny adds: Men of Utah! Don t you believe it! Women never get over such treatment (78). Fanny Stenhouse witnesses the patriarch attending the dances with his first wife, sometimes, and/or with a new wife, and/or with a prospective plural wife with whom he is flirting. She asks her readers: How can you possibly judge what the feelings of a Mormon woman are, who has been taught to believe her desire shall be unto her husband, and he shall rule over her. Women in Utah is only a chattel! (85). Fanny at first refuses her husband s request to join him in getting their endowments, but consents when she realizes the pressure he is under to be endowed. To be only an observer of polygamic Mormonism was not to be Fanny s lot, either. Her husband s interest followed a pattern seen in many Mormon men of the time, namely: (1) an increased sense of duty, (2) fear the Lord would not pardon them for their neglect of polygamy, and (3) their becoming very religious in attending meetings, singing, preaching, etc. She comments

206 194 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL that if it was the law of God, as I had been led to believe it was, I must endure, though it should cost me my life (97). Fanny felt anger toward both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, toward T. B. H. s young bride and even toward her own husband, whom she loved dearly. Still, submit she did, because of her faith. She asks: Why should man have this power over woman. Surely, a just and impartial God can have nothing to do with this! (100). Within a couple of years, T. B. H. would add another jewel to his crown (104). Fanny chose to read the Revelation on Marriage carefully. Her conclusion: this doctrine of plural marriages was not of divine origin (105). Relief began to come for her as she saw a foreshadowing of doubt begin in her husband and grow into apostasy as his contact with the gentile world increased, and as other prominent men within Mormonism became more vocal against polygamy. Fanny observed: The strength of Mormonism consists in the blind obedience of its disciples (110). Her husband had submitted to Brigham s orders to move his newspaper, the Telegraph, to Ogden, which proved an economic disaster. He returned the paper to Salt Lake City, where the Utah Magazine assumed to speak to the people of their [Godbeites s] position (113). Soon after this, the Stenhouses asked to have their church memberships terminated. A few days later, they were attacked and had human excrement thrown on them ( ). Both young women and young men in polygamy had few options. Where could they go? She includes Martha Brotherton s detailed account, published in the Sangamo Journal (July 1842) of Brigham Young s proposal to Martha, and of Joseph Smith s collusion in the affair ( ). Martha refused Brigham and went public with her experience. Fanny shares her insights into the practices of polygamy in Utah, the strange marriage arrangements of men marrying sisters, or even a mother and daughters. She cites the example of temple work (baptisms and marriages) for the dead. A woman she knew had been baptized as proxy for the Empress Josephine, while her son had stood for Napoleon I (133). She observes: Polygamy with riches is bad enough; but polygamy with poverty is terrible (143). She saw nothing redeeming in Mormon polygamy. For her, it was demeaning to both women and men. She adds this caveat: Men marry the women; women divorce the men; and this is about the only rational thing there is in connexion [sic] with the Mormon marriages (134). Fanny concluded: I have completed my task I shall, I know, be condemned by those hymn-singing, devotional women, who, childless and husbandless here, dream of the glories of the world to come, while they never knew the duties, the obligations, the sweet and hallowed sympathies of the world in which they live. In their eyes, I have doubtless committed the unpardonable sin. I have written for the suffering and sorrowing women in Polygamy. They will understand me, and to them I appeal. Before the Great Tribunal I will cheerfully meet their verdict (155).

207 BOOK REVIEWS 195 Melvin T. Smith is a former director of the Utah State Historical Society and a former president of the Mormon History Association. He lives in St. George, Utah. William Thomas Allison and Susan J. Matt, eds. Dreams, Myths, & Reality: Utah and the American West. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, pp. Footnotes, no bibliography, no index. Paperback: $ ISBN and ISBN Reviewed by Melvin C. Johnson Dreams, Myths, & Reality: Utah and the American West is the book that you sit on the bed stand when you finish it. Why? Simply to page through it from time to time. This book of essays grabs you deep down where you feel for a place and its meaning. Somewhere amongst being born and raised in California, serving for years in the Army, and instructing in a community college in Texas, the framework of Dixie College and Utah State University introduced me to the Beehive state s peculiar people and unique past. Love or not Utah and its folks, or even feel at once both primal emotions, the culture grabs the unwary by the chin and never lets go. The book s strength is that it gives a sophisticated examination of the nuances of that grip and encourages one to consider just why that hold remains so unwavering. Professors William Thomas Allison (Georgia Southern University) and Susan J. Mott (Weber State University) have compiled this compelling edition of the annual Critchlow Lectures at Weber State University, the first delivered in The topics include, but are not limited to: pioneer settlement, war, baseball, Native American women, mining, and exploration, along with a distinctive and unique emphasis on Mormonism, perhaps the most unique expression of all of America s religious experiences. The fourteen addresses are uneven in quality, of course, yet each offers a profitable value that can be determined by each reader. In order, they are: James P. Ronda, Everything by the Book: Lewis and Clark s Voyage into Print (2002); William J. Critchlow III, Captain James Brown: A Founder of Ogden (1990); Valeen Tippets Avery, Contested Ground: David Hyrum Smith s Mission to Utah, 1869 (1994); Davis Bitton, George Q. Cannon and the Economy of Territorial Utah (1999); Thomas G. Alexander, Mormon Prophets and the Environment: Creation, Sin, the Fall, Redemption, and the Millennium (1997); Wayne Carver, Strictly Personal: History, Baseball, Plain City, and Me (1993); William Mulder, In Their Own Tongue: Utah s Nordic-Language Press as an Aspect and Instrument of Immigrant Culture (1995); Leonard J. Arrington, Symbols of Growth and Development: the First National Bank of Ogden and its Affiliates (1992); Dean L. May, Gold, War, and the New West of the 1860s (1991); Jean Bickmore White, Dreams,

208 196 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Myths, and Reality: A Centennial Perspective on Utah s Constitution (1996); Ross Peterson, Sharing America: The Environmental Legacy of Stewart Udall (1998); Ronald W. Walker, Native Women of the Utah Frontier (1990); Carol Cornwall Madsen, The Personal Diplomacy of Emmeline B. Wells (2000); and David Haward Bain, From Wasatch to Green Mountains: Tracking Bernard DeVoto, Teacher/Historian (2003). The two particular reviews that follow are from the lectures (among at least eleven) that I have read several times. Almost every male of a certain age can attest, as does Wayne Carver in Strictly Personal: History, Baseball, Plain City, and Me, a remembrance of an almost mythic past. We males who came to age in an era ranging from the Great Depression to just before the incandescent conflagration of Vietnam almost every last one of us were molded in the smithy of baseball the national pastime. History since 1965 has melded us all into newer alloys as the striking of our national metal still happens. Yet, almost every single one of us older guys is linked by boyhood hardball sentiment. Carver examines that bond in the village of his youth, Plain City. He brings, too, a wonder of word aura: I live in history. But I am not a historian... where Santayana had many of the virtues of poets; I have all of their vices. The writer weaves words as he tells of a time when baseball brought teams from Davis, Weber, and Box Elder counties into a common struggle that revealed individual and village weaknesses as well as strengths, not just of northern Utah but of the country. The writer evokes, in many of his readers, the remembrance that each individual still may have a past personal cheat lingering on one s conscience. I think Carver correctly denounces the materialism that overwhelmingly dominates the game s corporate structure. But, in my opinion, not all is doomed! The Craig Biggios and Greg Madduxes, each recently retired, became rich and famous, but did it the right way, for the love of the game. Despite his denunciation of modern professional baseball, I keep rereading this essay, because it takes me to a time and a way of life recognizable to a once boy from southern California. Another essay tells of David Hyrum Smith, the youngest son of Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Smith, who was born five months after the murder of his father. I think David s sad life story is dominated by his journey to find the father he never knew; and the discoveries he made on that path exacerbated a latent proclivity for madness. Valeen Tippets Avery, a longtime professor of history at Northern Arizona University at the time of her death, explores an important time of young Smith s life in Contested Ground: David Hyrum Smith s Mission to Utah, One of those times was David s discovery of the serial sexuality his father engaged in with women other than David s mother. For many years, the Reorganized Church denied that Joseph had been the originator of Latter-day polygamy in Mormonism. Evidently, Emma Smith was not forthcoming to her sons about her husband s extra-marital adventures, apparently denying them

209 BOOK REVIEWS 197 forthrightly, even with direct knowledge to the contrary. David s older brother, Joseph Smith III, first and longtime president of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ), flatly accepted his mother s word and never wavered on it. The writer s recounting of twenty-five-year-old David s mission to Utah Territory and then on to California, reveals a gentle and sensitive young man. He was tender and sensitive to his mother, he let her know often that he missed her and that he thought daily of her with love, and was courteous with everyone he came into contact. He enjoyed nature and each day s adventure, as he wound his way across the vast western wilderness. Avery ably discloses the young Smith s poetic and artistic character. She carefully examines the impact that a terrible truth potentially can have on a person with a predisposed mind and nature. David, as he went about his father s work, had the opportunity to preach the restored gospel, to try to reconvert the Rocky Mountain Saints, and to visit with family members and others who had known his father well. What he learned was that his father, according to the Utahns, founded and practiced plural marriage. Some historians have made knowledge of his father s polygamy the cataclysmic event that led David inexorably into madness. However, Avery is careful to note that whatever shadow [that] fell over the journey when David developed a puzzling illness, it was serious. She noted that Perhaps the experiences in Utah caused his illness, but the exact nature of it is not known. The infirmity, which is not fully described but only hinted at in retrospect, seemed to come on David not in Utah but [later] in California, and whether it was physical or mental or a combination of both remains unclear. This is good history writing, to go as far as the evidence can take the historian then speculate only lightly thereafter. She made me want to know more about David Hyrum Smith and his life of early light and subsequent darkness. All of the essays are interesting in that the subjects covered in this book are intrinsically important, if only to that area. I ended up, for example, considering the role of Native American women in frontier Utah, and developed a healthy respect for Emmeline Wells as a women s rightist, as well as an interest in the role of George Q. Cannon in Utah s developing economy. Whatever your interest in Utah and its past, I make a promise each reader will find presentations worth the price of the book. Melvin C. Johnson, historian and writer, is on the faculty of Angelina College, Lufkin, Texas. He and his wife, the linguist Halli Johnson, live in Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas. He is author of Polygamy on the Pedernales: Lyman Wight s Mormon Village in Antebellum Texas (Utah State University Press, 2006).

210 198 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr. and Glen M. Leonard. Massacre at Mountain Meadows. New York: Oxford University Press, xvi, 430 pp. Photographs, maps, notes, index. Cloth: $ ISBN: Reviewed by Newell G. Bringhurst At first glance, one might ask why another book on the notorious Mountain Meadows Massacre of September 1857 in southern Utah wherein some 120 emigrants were killed in cold blood by an armed force of Mormon militia men and their Paiute Indian allies given the spate of previously published books on this topic The most notable of these are Will Bagley, Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows (University of Oklahoma Press, 2002) and Juanita Brooks 1950 classic study, The Mountain Meadows Massacre (University of Oklahoma Press, reissue 1991). The thoroughly researched and carefully written nature of both Bagley and Brooks works, notwithstanding, Walker, Turley, and Leonard s Massacre at Mountain Meadows a work authorized by officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints breaks new ground in a number of areas. Most evident is the volume s prodigious documentation through the extensive use of contemporary primary sources many recently discovered and/or previously unutilized. Such materials were gathered over a six year period by a team of researchers in the employment of the LDS Church who visited various libraries and archives, not just in Utah and the Far West, but throughout the United States. The countless number of hours devoted to such research has enabled the authors to reconstruct an almost daily record of events leading up to the massacre (xi) a fact evident in 126 pages of endnotes documenting the 230- page narrative text. Further reflective of the volume s extensive research, are four detailed appendices containing the names of both the perpetrators and victims of the massacre their meticulous, careful construction enhancing the importance of the volume. Specifically: (1) Appendix A contains a list of emigrants known or strongly believed to have perished in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, along with the seventeen children who survived (243 49); (2) Appendix B provides a table listing the known property of the emigrants slain at Mountain Meadows along with the estimated value of [that] property determined from statements given by surviving friends and family members, as well as tax records from 1855 through 1857 (251 54); (3) Appendix C contains a list of the Mormon militiamen whose names have been associated with the massacre (255 64); and (4) Appendix D is a list of the Indians whose names have been associated with the massacre in various sources (265 70). The authors, to their credit, sought thoroughness and candor as their ideals in presenting their account, asserting that they did their best to go where the evidence led even if it meant changing some of [their] early

211 BOOK REVIEWS 199 opinions (x). Also, in seeking objectivity, they arrived at a commonsense recognition that both victims and perpetrators were decent but imperfect people whose paths crossed in a moment of history that resulted in a terrible tragedy (xiii). The story of the massacre is carefully placed within the broader historical context of other critical events. Among the most important was the so-called Utah War of which resulted in U.S. President James Buchanan proclaiming the Mormon-controlled territory to be in a state of rebellion, causing him to dispatch a federal force of some five thousand troops to subdue the Saints. This caused Latter-day Saints to fear the worst, while also evoking bitter memories of past persecutions. Meanwhile, the Latter-day Saint community, itself, was in the midst of a wave of religious enthusiasm known as the Mormon Reformation. This, in turn, helped to stoke a sense of apocalyptic millenarianism a belief that the Second Coming and End Times were near. Further aggravating this situation was the economic deprivation prevalent in the southern Utah communities near where the massacre occurred. In summing up this situation, the authors note that the conditions for mass killing demonizing, authority, obedience, peer pressure, ambiguity, fear, and deprivation all were present in southern Utah in 1857 (xiv). Further enhancing the narrative, the authors utilized the tools and analytical techniques of sociology and psychology or what they termed group psychology in discussing the motives and behavior of those Mormons in southern Utah directly involved in the massacre, as well as those leaders and others in the larger Latter-day Saint community involved in creating a climate of paranoia wherein such an atrocity could occur. Also, the text utilized modern scientific analysis in reconstructing details of the so-called Corn Creek incident in which most contemporary and historical accounts had previously asserted a number of Indians died as a result of consuming poisoned cattle left behind by the emigrants. In an intriguing chapter entitled Men have Magnified a Natural Circumstance (116 28), the authors conclude that the Indians died, not from deliberate poisoning but rather as the result of deadly anthrax spores spread by natural means. Such attributes, notwithstanding, Massacre at Mountain Meadows is deficient in several respects. Most notably, the book conveys a sense of incompleteness, in that it abruptly ends with the 1857 massacre itself, although it does include a very brief epilogue, Under Sentence of Death, describing the 1877 execution by a federal government firing squad of John D. Lee a principal leader of the massacre (127 31). Left out are critical events over the twenty-year period from 1857 to 1877 leading up to the execution of Lee the only one of the some thirty to forty Mormon militiamen involved to be so punished. Left untold is the compelling story of initial efforts to downplay Mormon involvement and portray the Indians as the sole instigators of the massacre, resulting in a so-called Mormon cover-up promoted by Latter-day Saints from the highest levels on down. In acknowledging omission of this part

212 200 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL of the story, the authors simply stated that they had too much information... for a single book and promised to tell the story of the massacre s aftermath in a second volume to be published at a later date (xii). Meanwhile, interested readers are left with the earlier works of Juanita Brooks and Will Bagley for the most detailed, definitive accounts of this second half of the story (xii). A second fundamental problem is the book s lack of a clear, coherent, overall theme or thesis this, in part, a product of the authors intent to present their information in a narrative style largely forgoing topical or critical analysis. Such an approach was justified by a desire to appeal to a larger audience than just scholars (xii). This, however, has made for a narrative that is uneven. Granted, the second half of the book conveys a sense of drama and tension which culminates in the massacre, itself. But the first half is much less satisfactory jumping back and forth in time and too often burdened with excessive detail the information provided is not always germane to the central thrust of the story being told. The result is a narrative style that in many places seems choppy and disjointed. The book s lack of critical analysis underscores yet another problem, a failure to adequately answer four fundamental questions posed in the opening paragraphs of the book, which in turn could have provided a clear, overarching thematic framework for the book as a whole. Specifically, they were: What did the terrible atrocity say about the killers? What did it say about their church and its leaders? Did early Mormonism possess a violent strain so deep and volcanic that it erupted without warning? And what did the Mountain Meadows Massacre say about religion in general? (ix) Granted, answers to these questions are alluded to in various scattered places throughout the book. But the addition of a much-needed concluding chapter would have provided the opportunity to present clearly stated definitive answers to these fundamental questions as well as outlining the broader significance of the massacre for the present day. Nevertheless, Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and Glen M. Leonard are to be congratulated for providing a carefully written narrative resulting in a volume which will serve as an essential starting point for all future studies of this topic. And finally, officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must be praised for their willingness to both authorize the research and finance the production of Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Newell G. Bringhurst (newellgb@hotmail.com) is a retired professor of history and government at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California. He is widely published in Mormon history and is a former president of both the John Whitmer Historical Association and the Mormon History Association.

213 BOOK REVIEWS 201 Michael Harold Paulos, ed. The Mormon Church on Trial: Transcripts of the Reed Smoot Hearings. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, xxxiii, 709 pp. Photographs, index. Cloth: $ ISBN: Reviewed by Matthew C. Godfrey Plural marriage has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles and television news shows in the past few months, largely because of a raid against a polygamous community in Texas and that state s confiscation of children living in that community. In addition, the LDS Church, whose members no longer practice plural marriage, recently issued a statement against gay marriage, stating that such a practice violated the sanctity of the home. Against this backdrop, the publication of the transcripts of the Reed Smoot hearings is both ironic and timely. In the early 1900s, Reed Smoot, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was elected senator from Utah, but the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections held hearings as to whether or not Smoot was fit to sit in the Senate. The hearings mostly revolved around the Mormon past practice of polygamy and the continuation and propagation of polygamy by high church leaders, even after the issuance of the Manifesto in In large part, the hearings were held because Protestant leaders and women s organizations charged that polygamy was a threat to the sanctity of the home. Over the course of three years ( ), the committee called numerous witnesses before it, to discover whether Smoot was part of a body that encouraged civil disobedience to laws outlawing polygamy, whether he was a leader of a church that dominated temporal affairs in Utah and Idaho, and whether he had taken an oath of vengeance against the United States (in the LDS temple ceremony) for the murder of Joseph Smith. Witnesses included LDS Church President Joseph F. Smith, who stunned many in the Mormon community by claiming that he had never received a revelation; B. H. Roberts, who had clashed with other LDS authorities over politics; and James E. Talmage, future apostle, who provided elucidation on the doctrine of polygamy and the constitution of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Disaffected and excommunicated Mormons also testified, as did non-mormons. Conspicuous in their absence were apostles John W. Taylor and Matthias F. Cowley, who had allegedly performed plural marriages after Wilford Woodruff s issuance of the Manifesto, and Heber J. Grant, who created a firestorm when he, in the eyes of many observers, flaunted his status as a polygamist in a public address at the University of Utah. Grant then left the United States to serve as president of the LDS Church s European Mission (perhaps, as some claimed, to avoid prosecution). Church members generally condemned the proceedings as persecution directed against them for their religious beliefs, a position

214 202 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL bolstered by anti-mormon viewpoints held by such committee members as Chairman Julius Burrows, from Michigan, and Fred Dubois, from Idaho. In The Mormon Church on Trial: Transcripts of the Reed Smoot Hearings, Michael Harold Paulos provides a wonderful service to the scholarly community by giving an edited version of the transcripts. Originally constituting 3,432 pages, Paulos condenses the Reed Smoot transcripts into 688 pages and includes explanatory footnotes and contemporary perspectives on the hearings from sources such as the Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, Smoot s personal correspondence and the writings of Carl Badger, Smoot s secretary. The book also includes an introduction by Smoot scholar Harvard Heath, who provides historic context to the hearings, and an epilogue penned by Franklin S. Richards, who served as the church s legal counsel through the hearings. These perspectives provide interesting insights into the issues explored by the Committee on Privileges and Elections. Paulos footnotes, coupled with the testimony from the hearings, give the reader the impression that while LDS Church leaders and longtime members had a difficult time eliminating polygamy from the church, many younger members, such as Badger, considered the practice reprehensible and were glad to see it go. Likewise, the hearings and the additional information provided by Paulos show the difficulties the church faced in the early 1900s as it began to become more integrated into the United States politically, economically, and socially. Although Paulos provides good information, it is not always entirely clear which parts of the transcript are eliminated from his edited version and why. He explains that the abridgement focuses on the testimony of Joseph F. Smith and Reed Smoot, and that testimony from other witnesses is within the context of the topics raised in [their] examination. Paulos also states that he included testimony used by counsel for both sides in their closing arguments. Yet, as Paulos s editorial policy is not completely clear, more explanation of what was left out and why, would benefit the reader. The work also could have used a comprehensive list of who testified in the hearings and perhaps a clearer overview of just what the major topics of examination were. For example, the committee was interested in the church s domination of temporal affairs, but the only testimony on this topic included in the edited transcripts is that of Charles A. Smurthwaite. Smurthwaite claimed that Joseph F. Smith had deliberately tried to eliminate Smurthwaite s fledgling salt business because it competed with the Inland Crystal Salt Company in which Smith and the LDS Church held an interest. Perhaps no other witness testified as to the church s alleged economic domination, but since that was a pressing topic in the early 1900s, the lack of testimony regarding economics seems surprising and needs some explanation. For the most part, Michael Harold Paulos has produced a work that is both important to the larger scholarship of Mormon history and an interesting read. Those interested in Mormonism at the turn of the twentieth century now have a readily accessible source to turn to for firsthand information on issues

215 BOOK REVIEWS 203 important to both the United States and the LDS Church, as the two became more entwined. For this fact alone, Paulos should be commended. His ability to provide interesting details illuminating these issues and the testimony given in the hearings is just another reason why this volume is significant. Matthew C. Godfrey, PhD is president of Historical Research Associates, Inc. in Montana. Gilbert W. Scharffs. Mormons and Masons. Orem, Utah: Millennial Press, pp. Paperback: $9.95. ISBN: Reviewed by M. Guy Bishop Gilbert W. Scharffs holds degrees in business from the University of Utah and New York University, along with a doctorate in religion from Brigham Young University. He has taught religion classes for the LDS Church for over twenty-five years, retiring as director of the Salt Lake Institute of Religion adjacent to the University of Utah. He and his wife, Judy Short, are currently serving as LDS Church public affairs missionaries in London. Scharffs begins his book by alluding to one of the most controversial cinema events of recent times The Da Vinci Code (1 2). Those who have seen the movie or were enthralled by Dan Brown s book, on which the movie was based, will readily recognize its connection to Freemasonry. Scharffs rather unpersuasively engages in the question of why Joseph Smith was drawn to the Masonic Order. The issue has been problematic for many Latter-day Saints. The lingering question of whether or not Joseph purloined LDS temple rites from the ceremonies of the Masons still troubles many uninformed Latter-day Saints. 11 The blame for much of this questioning can rightly be laid at the feet of one of twentieth-century Mormonism s most reviled personalities Fawn Brodie, who, in her 1945 book, exposed the Latter-day Saints sacred temple garment. To the horror of many endowed Latter-day Saints, Brodie openly discussed the garment s sacred markings and described how the Masonic square and compass (which are reproduced, appropriately, with an image of the angel Moroni, on the book s cover). She also described how the marks were cut into the garment on the breast and a slash was made across the knee. 12 Did Smith really appropriate the Latter-day Saint temple ceremony from Masonic rites, 11 Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 453. Bushman observes, The resemblances of the temple rites to Masonic ritual have led some to imagine the endowments as an offshoot of the fraternal lodge movement. 12 Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, reissue 1978), 281.

216 204 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL as some critics have charged? Scharffs set out to set the record straight on this highly charged question. The question of why Joseph Smith was attracted to Freemasonry in the first place also begs for an answer. Without a doubt, Joseph identified certain aspects of Freemasonry of which he approved. For example, as the author notes, A Mason must believe in a Supreme being (27) and Freemasonry makes no claims to be a religion (26). Freemasonry is also a fraternal organization through which Smith could have sought to cultivate friendships among the Masons (27). This approach seems to have been a plausible tactic for the prophet to have taken, given both his and the Mormons growing reputation in Illinois. The more connections the beleaguered Saints could secure, the better their prospects for survival. As Joseph s close friend, Franklin D. Richards observed, Joseph [was] aware that there were some things about Masonry that had come down from the beginning and he desired to know what they were (23). Apparently, Smith believed that Freemasonry held knowledge that he sought. Still, however plausible Gilbert W. Scharrffs assessment may seem to some, it is unhelpful in this reviewer s judgment. The LDS temple ceremony, Scharffs claims, came through Joseph Smith s mind and through inspiration (23 24). For some this explanation may lack reliability. Both of these stated options tend to rule out any possibility of critical verification. Mormons and Masons is clearly not the final word on this subject. While this study may satisfy some who seek undemanding answers to the quandary raised by detractors of Joseph Smith and Mormonism, it should not be seen as the final word on the question of the LDS temple ritual and its connection with Freemasonry. M. Guy Bishop (doctorguybishop@gmail.com) is an independent historian living in Woods Cross, Utah, whose research interests include temple rites at Nauvoo and Joseph Smith s thinking on eternal families. Eric A. Eliason. The J. Golden Kimball Stories. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, pages. Notes, index, bibliography. Paperback: $ ISBN: Reviewed by Tom Morain Eric Eliason provides an excellent summary of his own work in the very first sentence of his preface: A serious book about a humorous subject the jokes, stories, and legends Mormons tell about their most-beloved folk hero, the cowboy-preacher J. Golden Kimball ( ) (vii). Because of his interest in the folklore that surrounds Kimball, Eliason does not try to separate the man from the myth he is interested in the mythic Kimball who exists in the collective Mormon memory.

217 BOOK REVIEWS 205 To most outsiders and even to younger Mormons (some parents have sought to protect their progeny from the less-than-genteel utterances of this unique church leader), Uncle Golden is unknown. However, to those who knew him and retold his jokes, comebacks, and pulpit remarks, he was a beloved figure. The audience for his funeral is said to have been as large as that for Brigham Young. Kimball s Mormon credentials were impeccable. Born in Utah in 1853, he was one of the sixty-five children of Heber C. Kimball and one of Heber s fortythree wives. Heber C. Kimball was one of the original twelve apostles called by Joseph Smith who then became a counselor to LDS Church President Brigham Young. One of seventeen sons, as J. Golden described his family, and not a bastard among them. When Heber died, his fifteen-year-old son became a mule skinner to help support the family. It was in this profession, J. Golden claims, that he learned the vocabulary that both shocked and endeared him to fellow Mormons when he employed it from the pulpit. Accepting professional appointment in the church and serving for forty-six years, J. Golden rose to the office of president of seventy. This book is more than a collection of Kimball stories. Eliason sets the context for the work with an excellent essay on folklore in which he compares the Kimball legend with folk heroes of other cultures. That Kimball could break convention with forbidden damns and hells and even an occasional sexual innuendo from the pulpit, upbraid Mormon leaders, laity and hostile gentiles alike, and endear himself throughout the church in the process is indeed the stuff of legend. When discovered drinking coffee in a back booth of a downtown Salt Lake City cafe, Kimball replied, Ma am, you are the third person today who has mistaken me for that old SOB! During a general conference address, Kimball asked the congregation to raise their hands if they were interested in reading the sealed portions of the Book of Mormon. The response was enthusiastic and unanimous, prompting Kimball to thunder, Then why in hell don t you read the parts that aren t sealed? Brother Kimball, I d rather commit adultery than swear so much! Wouldn t we all, brother? Wouldn t we all? Elder Kimball, do you believe that Jonah was really swallowed by a whale? I don t know. When I get to heaven, I ll ask him. But suppose he didn t make it there? Then you can ask him. During the Great Depression Elder Kimball was walking down the street after conference, accompanied by a banker. The banker told J. Golden, I don t think you as a General Authority should be swearing like you do. Elder Kimball replied, This is a hell of a time for a banker to give advice. The prophet once asked J. Golden Kimball if he paid a full 10 percent tithing. J. Golden replied, Hell no! I don t even make ten percent.

218 206 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL When Reed Smoot was called as an apostle, J. Golden Kimball came into his office to speak with him. Brother Smoot, he said, I just wanted you to know that I really and truly believe that your calling was inspired by God. It must have been a genuine revelation because sure as hell nobody else would have ever thought of you. J. Golden once spoke in a sacrament meeting with a sheaf of papers in his hand. He got worked up about his subject, which was exhorting the members to obey the commandments. After a while, he said, You may be wondering, brothers and sisters, what this sheaf of papers is that I keep waving around. Well, I ll tell you. It s the Lord s s#@t list, and all of your names are on it. Writes Eliason: These stories do not circulate because they are historically true, but because they are culturally true in servicing the psychological, cultural and religious needs of the people among whom they are found (11). Kimball did not challenge Mormon religious orthodoxy. He challenged its cultural propriety. And he got away with it. While feigning indignation, his contemporaries were secretly thinking, I wish I could have said that. Eliason has compiled an entertaining collection of humorous anecdotes and provided an enlightened context in which to understand the culture that produced them. We need more J. Golden Kimballs. It s a damn shame we don t have them! Tom Morain (tmorain@graceland.edu) is the former administrator of the State Historical Society of Iowa and a past president of the John Whitmer Historical Association. He currently teaches and serves as director of government relations at Graceland University. Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer. Escape. New York: Broadway Books, ix, 413 pp. Photographs. Cloth: $ ISBN: Reviewed by Brian Hales During the past few years, several women have left the ranks of modern polygamy and penned their memoirs. Some exited the LeBaron clan, while others departed the Allreds. The spring 2008 loggerhead between the State of Texas and the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) has drawn particular attention to this branch of modern polygamous sects. Carolyn Jessop, an escapee from the FLDS, provides an insider s view of the group in her book, Escape. Prior to being asked to review Jessop s Escape, I had two separate individuals tell me it was a page turner. With that recommendation, I purchased a copy and must confess that several sections of the book fully lived up to the characterization. Escape recounts Carolyn s upbringing as a daughter of longtime polygamist, Arthur Blackmore. Her childhood among a hoard of

219 BOOK REVIEWS 207 other polygamous children in the southern border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona is described in intriguing detail. Carolyn s surprise arranged marriage at age eighteen to a man she hardly knew was the beginning of her personal journey as a plural wife. She lamented: In just twenty-four hours, I had gone from worrying about my finals to preparing for a marriage I didn t want to a man I barely knew (76). Her father gave this prenuptial advice: If you want him to love you and love your children, you should always put his feelings first and find yourself in perfect obedience to him (78). Carolyn became the fourth wife to the powerful and authoritative Merril Jessop, a patriarch who would soon marry several more young ladies. The remainder of the book chronicles Carolyn s life as one of many orbs circling Merril Jessop in the FLDS universe. While explaining life s experiences in the desolate southern Utah region, Escape makes numerous references to unique Mormon fundamentalist traditions, such as their superiority complex over monogamists (16 18, 24) and their selective obedience doctrine that assumes that since they practice polygamy, God no longer expects them to obey commandments to do missionary work or build up the church, etc. (205, 216, 234). Carolyn Jessop also mentions doctrines that are found only in the FLDS sect, including the controversial one man rule (45), which assumes that the original Council of Seven Friends described by Lorin Woolley in 1932 and perpetuated by John Y. Barlow up to his death in 1949, was not necessary anymore. Reportedly Rulon Jeffs, Warren Jeffs father and the leader of the FLDS from , was going to be at the Second Coming of Christ, when he d turn over the keys to the priesthood to Jesus Christ (119). One common problem with polygamy in about any culture is the tendency to engender narcissism in the husband and codependency in the plural wives (177 78). Polygamous LDS Church leaders in nineteenth-century Utah cautioned patriarchs against these vices. However, the male domination and female submission dynamic seems to have become dogma in many Mormon fundamentalist sects today. Carolyn Jessop s descriptions indicate that the FLDS leadership endorse this pattern as God s only approved way. According to Carolyn, her husband Merril once clarified: There is nothing that you have that doesn t belong to me (103). Carolyn further explained: A woman who does not accept her powerlessness and complete submission to her husband s will is targeted by the other wives as a troublemaker (148). Whatever God had to communicate or reveal to a woman could be transmitted only through her husband. This doctrine was unassailable and had been so for generations in the culture I was born into (167). We were told that every problem a woman faced was because she was not being perfectly obedient to her husband (204 5). It is a sin for a woman to talk about abuse; if she s being abused, it is because she is not in harmony with her husband (276). It seems Joseph Smith would have been uncomfortable, if not scornful, of such controlling and domination. When we undertake to... exercise control or

220 208 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man (D&C 121:37). It also appears that the environment of FLDS polygamy to which Carolyn surrendered, especially being forced to comply with the whims of an often arbitrary master, accompanied by intense isolation from the outside world, produced a mental disconnect. Before I married Merril, my life had been relatively normal with moments of strangeness. Now it was surreal, with occasional bursts of reality (141). Ever since I was married it had been one shock after another. I felt numb (143). According to Carolyn Jessop, sex is a powerful force even in plural marriages: Sex was the only currency I had to spend in my marriage every polygamist wife knows that. Once we are no longer sexually attractive to our husbands, we are doomed... A woman who possesses high sexual status with her husband has more power over his other wives Sexual power also will often exempt a wife from physical labor (117). Merril would cut off my money if I stopped having sex with him (149). When on a vacation with Merril and two other plural wives, Carolyn lamented: There would be moments when I d think how weird it was that the three of us were competing for a man none of us loved, desired, or had ever wanted to marry (179). The age for becoming a plural bride apparently changed in the FLDS. Carolyn observed: One of the most noticeable changes was that girls were being assigned in the marriages at younger and younger ages. When Uncle Rulon [Jeffs] first came to power, girls didn t marry until they were over twenty. After his first stroke, the age dropped into the late teens. The sicker he got, the younger the brides in the community became. I remember when Uncle Rulon married a fourteen-year-old to her stepfather (313). Carolyn also outlines a few disturbing practices of Warren Jeffs (Rulon Jeffs successor as leader of the FLDS), practices that undoubtedly would have alarmed previous post-1904 polygamous leaders like John Y. Barlow and Joseph Musser. Warren would call a man to his office and tell him he was no longer going to be part of his family and that he must leave his wife and children, his job, and his community to repent from afar (327). Several women whom I knew had been reassigned as wives more than once, some to as many as five different men. One woman said she felt like she had become a priesthood prostitute (397). Jessop also discloses how Warren began making subtle suggestions that, as the prophet s son, he was Jesus Christ (334). Research shows a remarkable shift in the FLDS view of the Redeemer after Warren took power. References to Jesus Christ diminished and FLDS members looked to Warren to mediate their personal salvation. Escape presents itself as a historical account of Carolyn Jessop s personal experiences. However, historian Maureen Ursenbach Beecher warned of such

221 BOOK REVIEWS 209 reminiscences: Personal texts are the fictions we create in order to make our lives acceptable to ourselves and our imagined readers. Our memories are often flawed and distorted, as people discover when they share their version of a particular event with that of a sibling or a spouse. In addition, by omissions, by evasions, or by outright untruths we reshape events to our liking. 13 Perhaps one criticism deals with Carolynn Jessop s general portrayal of herself and her actions consistently in such positive light. One wonders if other wives would have seen her behavior as benevolent as she usually depicts them. Discussion with other modern polygamists indicates that Carolyn was one of Merril Jessop s favorite wives, bringing her special benefits. Escape is well written and an easy read. Individuals wishing to know if she and her eight children were able to successfully escape the austere and controlling FLDS world will need to read the book. Brian Hales, MD, (brianhales@msn.com) is an anesthesiologist in Layton, Utah and the author of Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: the Generation after the Manifesto (Greg Kofford Books, 2006). John P. Hatch, ed. Danish Apostle: The Diaries of Anthon H. Lund, Salt Lake City: Signature Books in association with the Smith- Pettit Foundation, lx, 822 pp. Footnotes, photographs, chronology, annotated list of prominent characters, index. Cloth: $ ISBN: Reviewed by Richard L. Jensen When eighteen-year-old Anthon H. Lund left his native Denmark for Utah in 1862, he had already served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than four years, proselytizing, giving English language instruction to prospective emigrants, and presiding over a number of church congregations. Eventually he became an apostle and a member of the First Presidency of his church the only person before 2008 to serve in either position whose native language was not English. He also kept forty-one volumes of journals. The work here reviewed was compiled from journals he kept from May 1890 to February 1921, two weeks before he died. Lund s thirty-one-year apostleship, , including nineteen years in the First Presidency, spanned an era of major transitions in his church. Lund s journals, and those of several of his colleagues in church leadership during that period, have been mined by editors for material that provides insight into the inner workings of the LDS Church. The focus is largely on reports of 13 Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, ed., The Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2000), xviii.

222 210 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL meetings. The resulting publications provide a rich montage of details regarding headquarters deliberations, involvements, and operations of challenges, human frailties, and accomplishments. They also provide fascinating glimpses of the personalities who were involved, although the original sources from which they were compiled provide fuller biographical insights. Overlapping and supplementing each other, they constitute a valuable resource, and Signature Books and the Smith-Pettit Foundation have performed a leading role in making personal writings from that era accessible through publication. Lund s journal entries are relatively succinct, often with pithy one-sentence summaries of decisions and of his own statements and opinions. Editor John Hatch provides thrifty annotation, with relatively few footnotes, completing the names of individuals and the location of places with the use of brackets within the featured text. Where Lund used shorthand or any of several non-english languages to record snippets of potentially sensitive information, translations have been provided. The journals appear to be relatively candid, with some exceptions. Hatch has identified a few instances in which Lund omitted information about his own performance of plural marriages in the late 1890s. Lund was a member of the First Presidency by the time the members of the Quorum of the Twelve unanimously agreed in 1904 that the brethren should not write in their journals that which took place in the Council meetings. 14 Lund s journals include detailed notes from a few of the council meetings before the 1904 agreement. For some such meetings before and after 1904, Lund s journals note only that the council met; his concise summaries for others focus on topics covered and decisions rendered more than on deliberations. Still, Lund provides numerous glimpses of many developments including the frustration of church leaders for a decade and a half after Joseph F. Smith s 1904 Second Manifesto as plural marriage took on a life of its own largely beyond their knowledge or control. A man of relatively few words, Lund appears to have been astute and straightforward in expressing his opinions and recommendations. He noted that Church President Joseph F. Smith was ever ready to hear his counselors opinion, and if better than what he had advanced he was ready to accept it (716). The recommendations Lund made were followed more often than not. Lund brought to church leadership a more cosmopolitan perspective than many of his peers. Both devout and pragmatic, he recommended the production of a separate series of proselytizing materials for the non-christian Japanese and the acceptance of cremation where appropriate. His discourses benefited from his knowledge of Greek and other languages and he translated correspondence in several languages to church headquarters. Because of the numerous and widely varied administrative responsibilities Lund occupied, the journals illuminate many facets of the inner workings of 14 Rudger Clawson journal, October 5, 1904, cited in Ministry of Meetings: The Apostolic Diaries of Rudger Clawson, ed. Stan Larson (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1993), 7.

223 BOOK REVIEWS 211 educational institutions and businesses in which his church held an interest. As a member of the board of regents of the University of Utah, he sought to help the institution find its way through clashes between its president and faculty and students. Lund served as president of Salt Lake City s Latter-day Saint University in 1901 and the church s Sanpete Stake Academy. He sought unsuccessfully to prevent the Utah Agricultural College in Logan, which as a state legislator he had earlier helped to found from offering a normal school curriculum. And as one of those most involved in education in his church, he dealt with a variety of opinions, like that of Joseph F. Smith who once complained to Lund that Utah was overemphasizing education. Meanwhile Lund served for many years as superintendent of his church s religion classes, for children in primary schools. After Church President Lorenzo Snow led a revitalization of tithe paying in the church, Lund noted substantial increases in its revenues that enabled the church to respond favorably to requests for assistance with buildings, roads, dams, and other projects in various localities, many of which are noted in the journals. Lund, in behalf of the church, played a role in many businesses. With his leading role in sugar companies in which the church was involved eventually as president of Amalgamated Sugar Company his journal provides much information about the machinations of various sugar interests in the Intermountain West, some of which embroiled the church and its leaders in legal controversy. His journals chronicle the waxing and waning of the church s involvements in banking, salt manufacturing, the production of electrical power, and entertainment and hospitality enterprises, primarily Saltair resort at the Great Salt Lake. Lund s membership on the boards of numerous other enterprises also provided material for insights in journal entries. Lund s enthusiasm for politics is evident in his journals, especially on election days. He provided counsel to would-be candidates, successfully resisted attempts to enlist himself as a major political candidate, and played a role in church political influence that extended beyond Utah to Idaho. In the latter case, he noted the need to avoid making the influence obvious. Of U.S. Senator Reed Smoot, the apostle who became a lightning rod for widespread attacks on his church before he was finally seated in 1907, Lund wished that the senator would quit using his put[-]on twang in speaking (485). The Smoot hearings at the national level and the rise of the anti-mormon American Party locally posed major quandaries for Latter-day Saint leaders. Lund s counsel on these matters seems likely to have been a significant factor in formulating their strategies as they worked their way through what Lund called the dense fog around us. But while the journals reveal the landscape of the problems, they disclose little about the discussions in which Lund was involved. In September 1906, Lund acknowledged pessimistically the hazards of church political influence: I, myself, am convinced we are in a very serious dilemma and by doing nothing we will get the American party into power, and by doing something we will have half our people opposed to us (342). At a

224 212 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL critical juncture in January 1906, both Smoot and church president Joseph F. Smith urged Lund to go to Washington, DC to assist Smoot. Lund does not explain why Apostle John Henry Smith and later Church Attorney Franklin S. Richards went instead, without Lund, while the latter continued to work behind the scenes, providing Richards with necessary documents. As church historian from 1900 to his death, Lund presided over a handful of able assistant historians and provided careful review of much of their work, including Brigham H. Roberts s edition of Joseph Smith s church history. The journals mention long discussions with assertive Assistant Historian Andrew Jenson, whose interaction with others at the historian s office Lund mediated. Lund s journal records a few encounters with officials of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now known as the Community of Christ) and of the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), or Hedrickites. In February 1900, Lorenzo Snow in Salt Lake City responded negatively to a proposal from a Hedrickite delegation that the three denominations join efforts to construct a temple in Independence. Hatch provides helpful context and excellent biographical material in his introduction to the volume. This compensates to a degree for the fact that Lund s journals as a missionary and as president of the Scandinavian mission and the European mission fall outside the scope of this volume, as does most information in the journals about his personal and family affairs. A few of the editor s identifications are incorrect. He confuses Brigham Young College in Logan, Utah, with Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah [after 1903, Brigham Young University] ( 127). The Benson Stake in northern Utah is incorrectly placed in Arizona (130) and the Bingham Stake in Idaho is misidentified as the Brigham Stake in Utah (265). Lund seems a likely candidate for a biography. Richard L. Jensen, of the Church History Department at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a coeditor of The Joseph Smith Papers, Journals, Volume 1, (Salt Lake City: Church Historian s Press, 2008) and a review editor for the other volumes of Smith s papers now in progress. Jensen s interests include the history of Scandinavian Latter-day Saints. His publications include translations of writings of Anthon Lund s Danish immigrant friend C. C. A. Christensen and a museum catalog of Christensen s work, coauthored with Richard Oman.

225 BOOK REVIEWS 213 Craig L. Foster. A Different God? Mitt Romney, the Religious Right and the Mormon Question. Salt Lake City: Kofford Books, xvi, 244 pp. Notes, index. Paperback: $ ISBN: Reviewed by Biloine W. Young The presidential election of 2008 will be one of the most analyzed and memorialized political contests in recent history. Competing to represent the liberal branch of American politics were, for the first time, a woman and an African-American man. Among those contending for conservative leadership were an aging war hero and a former Mormon bishop. Flowing beneath the surface of every candidate s campaign rhetoric and that of their supporters were powerful currents of America s cultural heritage: prejudice toward nonwhites and toward women, beliefs fostered by Protestant fundamentalism and the political clout of the religious right. In the first chapters of his book, Craig L. Foster traces the histories of fundamentalism and the evangelical movement as exemplified by Jerry Falwell s Moral Majority and Pat Robertson s Christian Coalition. Lumped together as the religious right and excoriated by the left for its identification with the Republican Party, the religious right, according to Foster, is anything but united and monolithic. The fundamentalist wing of the party holds to a literal interpretation of the Bible and accuses the evangelicals of having abandoned a militant Bible stance and accepted doctrinal corruption. Fundamentalists go so far as to assert that evangelicals are in a state of apostasy if they enter into dialogue with other denominations such as Catholics and Latter-day Saints. The irony here is that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are more conservative in their social values than either the evangelicals or fundamentalists themselves. Though the Mormons would seem to be natural allies of the religious right, they are not. Fundamentalists and evangelicals reject Mormons because of their unique theology and history, and insist that Mormons are non-christian. Foster points out that this discriminatory attitude presented a problem for the religious right in the 2008 presidential election the most religion-driven since 1960 when John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, ran for the presidency. None of the leading Republican candidates could pass the religious right s litmus test: Rudy Giuliani was a lapsed Catholic, Fred Thompson infrequently attended his Church of Christ, John McCain had criticized the religious right and Mitt Romney was a Mormon. Some in the religious right even threatened a thirdparty bid. Foster quotes the editorial writer Kathleen Parker who noted, Evangelical Christians never had it so good, but they seem not to know it. Instead of supporting the candidate who most shares their values Mitt Romney they seem hell-bent for the proverbial cliff.

226 214 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL Following a chapter on the political history of the Latter-day Saints, Foster devotes four chapters to Romney s biography, his run for the presidency, and the attacks against him from both the left and the religious right. Romney s campaign staff found few allies among the media (believed to be pro-liberal) and accused writers of having an unhealthy and biased obsession with Romney s religion. What follows in chapter 4 is a catalogue of media assaults on Romney from the left. As if that were not enough, more piling on is yet to come. Chapter 5 opens with the assertion that Although liberal disdain for Romney was considerable, the strongest negative reaction came from the Right, including the media. Foster may well be correct in his assertion that the majority of the attacks on Romney were religiously oriented. A reading of the litany of derogatory statements will be discouraging to any other Mormon considering a run for the presidency. Fifty-three percent of evangelicals said they would not vote for a Mormon; a university professor said that there is an unspoken, tremendous rejection of the Mormon religion ; a voter in Iowa stated, I don t think a Mormon or a Catholic is a Christian. Ted Haggard, then president of the National Association of Evangelicals sent out s stating, Mormonism is a cult, and the televangelist Bill Keller warned his millions of viewers that a vote for Romney was a vote for Satan and a victory for Romney would lead millions of souls to the flames of hell. Probably the greatest fear that Romney evoked among the leadership of the religious right was that a Romney presidency would legitimize the LDS Church. Critics feared that thousands of converts would join the Mormons and that a Romney presidency would be the first step in a Mormon plot for world domination. I found Foster s discussion of the differences among fundamentalists and evangelicals interesting as well as helpful. His catalogue of the media attacks on Romney will be useful to future historians of the U.S. presidency as will the extensive notes at the end of each chapter. Reading the details of the religiously motivated attacks on Romney contained in chapters 4 through 7 easily leave the reader with the impression that all of the criticism of Romney was based on his membership in the Mormon church and that very little related to Romney s own stiff manner, campaign errors, and the perception that he changed his positions on key social issues. Craig Foster is a believing Latter-day Saint, which he makes clear in his introduction, and his admiration for W. Mitt Romney is obvious throughout the book. What Foster does not go into, is speculation on the possible outcome of Romney s campaign if he had broken with his church on social issues. Mitt s father, George Romney, was perceived to have done that when he had spoken out on the subject of race (contrary to the Mormon position at the time), and as a result had experienced little opposition based on his church affiliation during his brief run for the U.S. presidency in And Mitt, himself, had

227 BOOK REVIEWS 215 relatively smooth going in liberal Massachusetts when, again contrary to the official Mormon position, he was thought to be pro-choice and pro-gay. John Kennedy, in his historic speech to the Baptist clergy, went to the heart of its concern about his Catholic religion which was, Would he be influenced in his decisions by the Pope were he to become president? Unlike Kennedy s answer, Romney s speech on religion failed to identify those core concerns and prejudices and candidly respond to them. Foster ends his book with a forward-looking question. He asks, based on the Romney experience, if Americans who are members of the Unification Church, or are Scientologists or Muslims or nonbelievers of any stripe will be automatically disqualified to be candidates for president of the United States. That, I believe, is the larger question. Biloine Young (bgwy@msn.com) of St. Paul, Minnesota is the author of thirteen nonfiction books and numerous articles. A past president of the John Whitmer Historical Association, she is currently writing the biography of Louis Warren Hill of Great Northern Railroad fame. Matthew J. Grow. Liberty to the Downtrodden: Thomas L. Kane, Romantic Reformer. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, pp. Photographs, notes, index. Cloth: $ ISBN: Reviewed by Lewis Weigand Considering 126 years have passed between the death of Thomas L. Kane and publication of his first biography, this book will, without doubt, always be his definitive biography. Kane s life was, nevertheless, extremely significant. He corresponded and met with U.S. presidents from Polk to Grant and he was the most trusted outside advisor to Brigham Young for thirty-one years. Kane was a leader in a large variety of nineteenth-century reform movements, especially antislavery and religious freedom. He served as a Civil War brigadier general and was prominent in the Democrat, Free Soil, and Republican political parties. Matthew J. Grow has made an important contribution through this eloquently written and diligently researched biography of an under-appreciated nineteenth-century reformer. Grow achieved the ultimate for a biographer in putting flesh on the bones, breath in the lungs, and passion in the heart of his subject. The reader learns of Kane s beliefs and personality traits, as well as his quirks and inconsistencies. Grow identifies a cluster of influences that shaped Kane s life. He was born into a loving, upper-class, and politically active family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They maintained their love even when expressing major disagreements. This trait allowed Kane to champion unpopular reforms

228 216 THE JOHN WHITMER HISTORICAL ASSOCATION JOURNAL such as Mormon religious liberty, women s rights, and opposition to capital punishment. Two members of Kane s family were also well known. His father was a United States district judge and his older brother, Elisha, was an Arctic explorer. Kane s family was Presbyterian, but he was skeptical of organized religion even after his conversion experience. Kane became a Democrat at a time when beliefs in individual liberty, equality, and limited government, associated with Jacksonian Democracy dominated. Kane strongly advocated antislavery when most antislavery advocates were Whigs and evangelicals, and most Democrats favored expanding slavery to new territories. Physically, Kane was short and frail. Numerous illnesses often curtailed his ambitious projects and caused bouts of depression. Kane compensated by becoming more aggressive. He often took bold action at great personal risk, and believed that tests of physical endurance might restore health. At times it seemed to work. In spite of being a Northerner, Kane held to a culture of honor that was by then associated with the South. Manliness to him included dueling and chivalry. Honor was another factor in his aggressiveness. In the Civil War, he sought the heaviest combat. He was wounded three times and was briefly held as a prisoner of war. Kane led troops in the defense of Culp s Hill in the Battle of Gettysburg. Kane challenged two men to duels. These challenges went unanswered but reflected Kane s view of honor until his conversion to Christianity. This book has appeal to many audiences. For Mormons, it provides context for a hero from outside the faith. Mormon myths surrounding Kane are gently put aside while revealing the human face of one who did much for them. He visited Mormon camps along the Missouri River in 1846, hoping to accompany the Saints to California, where he had visions of being appointed governor. He was instrumental in obtaining government approval to use Mormon troops in the Mexican War and he toured camps along the Missouri with church leaders to recruit the Mormon Battalion. When he suffered serious illness and learned the Mormons would winter along the Missouri, Kane elected to return home. Kane s greatest lifetime achievement was bringing the Utah War to a peaceful end. He persuaded President James Buchanan to let him go, at his own expense, carrying presidential letters to army and church leaders. Kane acted as a double agent for Brigham Young and Governor Alfred Cumming who was with the Army. He created a fiction that Young was a moderate, contending with a war party in the church. This approach helped persuade Cumming to work with Young against an army seeking action after the Nauvoo Legion cut off army supplies. This strategy averted a terrible tragedy. After working out a settlement, Kane secured a solution by encouraging presidential and public support for Cumming to continue as governor. Community of Christ members might be tempted to ignore Kane as a Mormon story. However, after he left the Mormon camps in 1846, Kane did a great deal of public relations work. He used pseudonyms in writing letters to newspapers praising Mormons. He persuaded prominent literary friends such

229 BOOK REVIEWS 217 as Horace Greeley and John Greenleaf Whittier to write pieces favorable to Mormons. Of course, many attitudes did not change, but the climate facing the early RLDS Church was less hostile due to Kane s efforts. Readers interested in the broader nineteenth-century reform movement can see reform through the eyes of a lesser-known leader. Grow provides, through Kane, insights into the antislavery wing of the Democratic Party. Civil War buffs can find in Kane s biography previously obscure accounts of major battles. Modern women s rights advocates can find much to ponder in Kane s attitudes toward women and his relationship with his wife Elizabeth. Yale University Press decision to publish Grow s first book is a tribute to the author s considerable talent and the importance of his subject. Grow is already known as a rising star among Mormon historians. I look forward to his future publications. Lewis Weigand is a graduate of Graceland University with majors in history and religion. He has an MA in public administration from the University of Oklahoma and completed additional graduate work in history at the University of Kansas. He is a retired United States Air Force colonel and has worked as an archivist with the Douglas County (Nebraska) Historical Society. He has presented papers at meetings of both the John Whitmer Historical Association and the Mormon History Association.

230 Book Notes Joseph Smith Jr., author, proprietor, translator. The Parallel Book of Mormon: The 1830, 1837, and 1840 Editions. Introduction by Curt A. Bench. Salt Lake City: The Smith-Pettit Foundation, xvii, 645 pp. Cloth: $ ISBN: This volume contains the first three editions of the Book of Mormon in parallel columns, with a valuable eleven-page introduction by Curt Bench, in which he gives the reader the background on all three editions. It has been said that there were three thousand changes made in the 1837 edition. This volume gives the reader the opportunity to see at a glance, the changes that were made. One well-known change, and one of the few with significant theological implications, is the reference in the 1830 edition (28) to Mary, the mother of Jesus as the mother of God, which no doubt sounded too Catholic and was changed in the 1837 edition to the mother of the son of God (I Nephi 3:58 [Community of Christ edition]; I Nephi 11:18 [LDS edition]). This volume will be useful for serious Book of Mormon students. Robert A. Rees and Eugene England, eds. The Reader s Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, ,048 pp. Boxed set of seven paperback volumes: $ ISBN: Mormon Studies scholars Robert A. Rees (UCLA) and the late Eugene England (BYU) asked prominent LDS writers to offer personal essays on the Book of Mormon, followed by the scriptural text itself. The text reprinted in this series comes from the first edition of the Book of Mormon (1830) and retains its nineteenth-century grammar usage. Although a few glaring typesetting flaws have been corrected, no attempt has been made to regularize grammar and spelling. This should make reading the Book of Mormon a new adventure, hopefully full of possibilities for deeper insights into the layers of meaning and messages contained therein. Contributors include: Claudia L. Bushman, Susan Elizabeth Howe, Linda Hoffman Kimball, Douglas Thayer, Steven Walker, and William A. Wilson. Rees and England were the founders, in 1965, of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought.

231 COMMUNAL STUDIES ASSOCIATION Communal Societies Journal of the Communal Studies Association An annual interdisciplinary journal presenting original research and analysis of historic and current communal groups. EDITOR: Rod Janzen, Fresno Pacific University Subscribe to Communal Societies: Make checks payable in US funds only to: Communal Studies Assoc. P.O. Box 122 Amana, IA Send me CSA membership information Name Institution Street City, State, Zip Telephone / Institutional subscriptions are $15 per year. Journal issued only once per year. Sample and back issues available upon request. ISBN

232 See what you missed? It took the Utah church fifty years to realize that polygamy wasn t such a good idea. But what fun we had in the meantime and what fascinating reading and compelling stories came out of it all! If you missed any of these definitive studies, you may want to treat yourself. Mormon Polygamy: A History Richard S. Van Wagner An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton George D. Smith, editor In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith Todd Compton Four Zinas: A Story of Mothers and Daughters on the Mormon Frontier Martha Sonntag Bradley and Mary Brown Firmage Woodward Nauvoo Polygamy:... but we called it celestial marriage George D. Smith Joseph Smith asked me to bring my sister to the city, where he saw her at my sister s, the Widow Sherman, who had already been sealed to him by proxy. His brother, Hyrum, said to me, Now, Brother Benjamin, you know that Brother Joseph would not sanction this if it was not from the Lord He told my sister to have no fears, and he there and then sealed my sister, Almira, to the Prophet. Soon after this he was at my house again, where he occupied my Sister Almira s room and bed, and also asked me for my youngest sister, Esther M. I told him she was promised in marriage to my wife s brother. He said, Well, let them marry, for it will all come right. Benjamin F. Johnson, a Nauvoo, Illinois, associate of Joseph Smith