The Erie Canal, which celebrates its 200^th birthday this year, provided many miracles—not the least of which included a means of travel and communication that allowed The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to spread and thrive better than it would have otherwise.

How so, you ask?

For one thing, the rise of wealth in the area may have contributed to the Second Great Awakening, when interest in religion throughout the existing United States was revived with notable ardency, resulting in many denominations frequently butting heads over doctrine and wrestling to retain and increase their memberships. After all, as Nephi so eloquently related, opposition is necessary for progress, and in this case, finding earthly satisfaction in material goods urged the desire to find spiritual satisfaction in one’s relationship with God as well. Although it was not the only factor that ignited the religious fire of this time period, the Erie Canal was certainly an important spark.

The Erie Canal. Courtesy of Pexels.

Furthermore, the canal’s sheer reach across the continental United States let all kinds of people carry their ideas and causes to faraway places in record time. In fact, one of its many nicknames was the “psychic highway.” Of course, among the groups that took advantage of the canal’s accessibility were the Mormons, who were able to use it to travel around the country to build cities for themselves, transport the materials necessary for such cities, and even serve missions. On its waters were brought all the paper and equipment needed to publish the Book of Mormon as well. Even the likes of Charles Dickens himself was floating on it when he was first impressed by the Mormons he met there. Never before had the Lord’s commandment to baptize the world seemed more realistic.

Before the Erie Canal was built, getting around the country was difficult and exhausting. While it was undergoing construction, however, it brought many jobs; its completion ensured more wealth in nearby areas, promoted other sectors of economic growth by providing transportation for all kinds of goods, greatly helped U.S. citizens get wherever they needed to go, and served as a symbol of America’s engineering innovations. However, equally important is its role in the rise of the kingdom of God in the latter days, for God does work through the hands of man to accomplish His ends.

Ashley Morales

Frequently whimsical and overly optimistic about how much time it will take to do things, Ashley Morales is deeply passionate about the gospel and all kinds of creativity. Her hobbies include philosophically analyzing nearly every book, play, video game, and movie that she consumes, writing music and short stories, promising herself that she will finish writing her novels, going to sleep too late, eating foods she’s never tried, putting off cleaning her house, browsing Zillow, spending as much quality time as possible with her wonderful husband, trying to be a good mother to her fantastic children, and never finding the balance between saying too much and too little. One day, she hopes to leave a positive mark on the world and visit every continent (except Antarctica) with her family.

On June 27, 1844, not longer after singing “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief” to his cellmates, John Taylor lay suffering on the floor of Carthage Jail. He had endured terrible injury at the hands of an angry mob that had just killed the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. This tragic event became a defining moment in the history of the Church and in the life of John Taylor.

John Taylor, by John Willard Clawson. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

In Witness to the Martyrdom, Mark H. Taylor, a great-great-grandson of John Taylor, revives the only eyewitness account of these events. Below is John Taylor’s eyewitness account:

—–

Soon afterwards I was sitting at one of the front windows of the jail, when I saw a number of men, with painted faces, coming round the corner of the jail, and aiming towards the stairs. The other brethren had seen the same, for, as I went to the door, I found Brother Hyrum Smith and Dr. Richards already leaning against it. They both pressed against the door with their shoulders to prevent its being opened, as the lock and latch were comparatively useless. While in this position, the mob, who had come upstairs, and tried to open the door, probably thought it was locked, and fired a ball through the keyhole; at this Dr. Richards and Brother Hyrum leaped back from the door, with their faces towards it; almost instantly another ball passed through the panel of the door, and struck Brother Hyrum on the left side of the nose, entering his face and head. At the same instant, another ball from the outside entered his back, passing through his body and striking his watch. The ball came from the back, through the jail window, opposite the door, and must, from its range, have been fired from the Carthage Greys, who were placed there ostensibly for our protection, as the balls from the firearms, shot close by the jail, would have entered the ceiling, we being in the second story, and there never was a time after that when Hyrum could have received the latter wound. Immediately, when the ball struck him, he fell flat on his back, crying as he fell, “I am a dead man!” He never moved afterwards.

I shall never forget the feeling of deep sympathy and regard manifested in the countenance of Brother Joseph as he drew nigh to Hyrum, and, leaning over him exclaimed, “Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum!” He, however, instantly arose, and with a firm, quick step, and a determined expression of countenance, approached the door, and pulling the six-shooter left by Brother Wheelock from his pocket, opened the door slightly and snapped the pistol six successive times; only three of the barrels, however, were discharged. I afterwards understood that two or three were wounded by these discharges, two of whom, I am informed, died.

I had in my hands a large, strong hickory stick brought there by Brother Markham, and left by him, which I had seized as soon as I saw the mob approach; and while Brother Joseph was firing the pistol, I stood close behind him. As soon as he had discharged it he stepped back, and I immediately took his place next to the door, while he occupied the one I had done while he was shooting. Brother Richards, at this time, had a knotty walking-stick in his hand belonging to me, and stood next to Brother Joseph, a little farther from the door, in an oblique direction, apparently to avoid the rake of the fire from the door. The firing of Brother Joseph made our assailants pause for a moment; very soon after, however, they pushed the door some distance open, and protruded and discharged their guns into the room, when I parried them off with my stick, giving another direction to the balls.

It certainly was a terrible scene: streams of fire as thick as my arm passed by me as these men fired, and, unarmed as we were, it looked like certain death. I remember feeling as though my time had come, but I do not know when, in any critical position, I was more calm, unruffled, and energetic, and acted with more promptness and decision. It certainly was far from pleasant to be so near the muzzles of those firearms as they belched forth their liquid flame and deadly balls. While I was engaged in parrying the guns, Brother Joseph said, “That’s right, Brother Taylor, parry them off as well as you can.” These were the last words I ever heard him speak on earth.

Every moment the crowd at the door became more dense, as they were unquestionably pressed on by those in the rear ascending the stairs, until the whole entrance at the door was literally crowded with muskets and rifles, which, with the swearing, shouting, and demoniacal expressions of those outside the door and on the stairs, and the firing of guns, mingled with their horrid oaths and execrations, made it look like pandemonium let loose, and was, indeed, a fit representation of the horrid deed in which they were engaged.

After parrying the guns for some time, which now protruded thicker and farther into the room, and seeing no hope of escape or protection there, as we were now unarmed, it occurred to me that we might have some friends outside, and that there might be some chance of escape in that direction, but here there seemed to be none.

As I expected them every moment to rush into the room – nothing but extreme cowardice having kept them out – as the tumult and pressure increased, without any other hope, I made a spring for the window which was right in front of the jail door, where the mob was standing, and also exposed to the fire of the Carthage Greys, who were stationed some ten or twelve rods off. The weather was hot, we all of us had our coats off, and the window was raised to admit air. As I reached the window, and was on the point of leaping out, I was struck by a ball from the door about mid-way of my thigh, which was struck the bone, and flattened out almost to the size of a quarter of a dollar, and then passed on through the fleshy part to within about half an inch of the outside. I think some prominent nerve must have been severed or injured for, as soon as the ball struck me, I fell like a bird when shot, or an ox when struck by a butcher, and lost entirely and instantaneously all power of action or locomotion. I fell upon the windowsill and cried out, “I am shot!”

Not possessing any power to move, I felt myself falling outside the window, but immediately I fell inside, from some time, at that time, unknown cause. When I struck the floor my animation seemed restored, as I have seen it sometimes in squirrels and birds after being shot. As soon as I felt the power of motion I crawled under the bed, which was in a corner of the room, not far from the window where I received my wound. While on teh way and under the bed I was wounded in three other places; one ball entered a little below the left knee, and never was extracted; another entered the forepart of my left arm, a little above the wrist, and passing down by the joint, lodged in the fleshy part of my hand, about midway, a little above the upper joint of my little finger; another struck me on the fleshy part of my left hip, and tore away the flesh as large as my hand, dashing the mangled fragments of flesh and blood against the wall.

My wounds were painful, and the sensation produced was as though a ball had passed through and down the whole length of my leg. I very well remember my reflections at the time. I had a very painful idea of becoming lame and decrepid, and being an object of pity, and I felt as though I would rather die than be placed in such circumstances.

It would seem that immediately after my attempt to leap out of the window, Joseph also did the same thing, of which circumstance I have no knowledge, only from information. The first thing that I noticed was a cry that he had leaped out of the window. A cessation of firing followed, the mob rushed downstairs, and Dr. Richards went to the window. Immediately afterward I saw the doctor going toward the jail door, and as there was an iron door at the head of the stairs, adjoining our door which led into the cells for criminals, it struck me that the doctor was going there, and I said to him, “Stop, Doctor, and take me along.” He proceeded to the door and opened it, and then returned and dragged me along to a small cell prepared for criminals.

Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, by Gary E. Smith. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

Brother Richards was very much troubled, and exclaimed, “Oh! Brother Taylor, is it possible that they have killed both Brother Hyrum and Joseph? it cannot surely be, and yet I saw them shoot them;” and elevating his hands two or three times, he exclaimed, “Oh Lord, my God, spare Thy servants!” He then said, “Brother Taylor, this is a terrible event;” and he dragged me farther into the cell, saying, “I am sorry I can not do better for you;” and, then, taking an old, filthy mattress, he covered me with it, and said, “That may hide you, and you may yet live to tell the tale, but I expect they will kill me in a few moments.” While lying in this position I suffered the most excruciating pain.

Soon afterwards Dr. Richards came to me, informed me that the mob had precipitately fled, and at the same time confirmed my worst fears that Joseph was assuredly dead. I felt a dull, lonely, sickening sensation at the news. When I reflected that our noble chieftain, the Prophet of the living God, had fallen, and that I had seen his brother in the cold embrace of death, it seemed as though there was a void or vacuum in the great field of human existence to me, and a dark gloomy chasm in the kingdom, and that we were left alone. Oh, how lonely was the feeling! How cold, barren and desolate! In the midst of difficulties he was always the first in motion; in critical positions his counsel was always sought. As our Prophet he approached our God, and obtained for us his will; but now our Prophet, our counselor, our general, our leader, was gone, and amid the fiery ordeal that we then had to pass through, we were left alone without his aid, and as our future guide for things spiritual or temporal, and for all things pertaining to this world, or the next, he had spoken for the last time on earth.

These reflections and a thousand others flashed upon my mind. I thought, why must the good perish, and the virtuous be destroyed? Why must God’s nobility, the salt of the earth, the most exalted of the human family, and the most perfect types of all excellence, fall victims to the cruel, fiendish hate of incarnate devils?

The poignancy of my grief, I presume, however, was somewhat allayed by the extreme suffering that I endured from my wounds.

Aleah Ingram is a full-time writer, social media manager, and editor who graduated from Southern Virginia University.

Ashley Morales

Frequently whimsical and overly optimistic about how much time it will take to do things, Ashley Morales is deeply passionate about the gospel and all kinds of creativity. Her hobbies include philosophically analyzing nearly every book, play, video game, and movie that she consumes, writing music and short stories, promising herself that she will finish writing her novels, going to sleep too late, eating foods she’s never tried, putting off cleaning her house, browsing Zillow, spending as much quality time as possible with her wonderful husband, trying to be a good mother to her fantastic children, and never finding the balance between saying too much and too little. One day, she hopes to leave a positive mark on the world and visit every continent (except Antarctica) with her family.

Melchizedek Priesthood Restoration (The Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood) © Kenneth Riley, Courtesy of LDS Media Library

It would have been impossible to bring to pass the fullness of the gospel without this event. While the Aaronic priesthood provides a foundation for faith by using special rituals to explain gospel principles and form covenants, the Melchizedek priesthood adds new portals of divine access as well as layers of responsibility by authorizing teachers and administrators.

Taking Things to the Next Level

With this priesthood, the sick can be healed, people can receive blessings of guidance and comfort and hold general leadership positions, graves can be dedicated, and many other ordinances are possible as well. Perhaps the most important one, however, is the bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Although anyone can feel the influence of the Holy Ghost at any given time, the Melchizedek priesthood has the ability to grant it to someone as a constant companion, provided baptismal covenants have been made and the recipient is living worthily.

Additionally, the Melchizedek priesthood allows men and women to receive temple endowments, act as stand-ins for deceased persons who must receive their endowments as well, and prepare for missions. Basically, this priesthood gives all members of the Church an opportunity to bring the blessings of the gospel to both the dead and the living, and it brings us beyond salvation to achieve exaltation, the highest state of being to which we could possibly aspire.

London, England Temple. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

The Priesthood of the Spirit

If the Aaronic priesthood specializes in outward, physical demonstrations of gospel principles and commitment, the Melchizedek priesthood focuses more on internal matters of faith. It corresponds to the higher law as taught by Christ, who made it clear that rituals and going through the motions will matter little if our hearts are not pure. Teaching, administering, giving blessings, following promptings—these are all things of the spirit, and their promotion is the purpose of the Melchizedek priesthood.

Body and spirit are both necessary to live. Similarly, the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods make our salvation and exaltation possible. The fact that God entrusted us with them after losing them two thousand years ago is a great testament to our divine potential.

Ashley Morales

Frequently whimsical and overly optimistic about how much time it will take to do things, Ashley Morales is deeply passionate about the gospel and all kinds of creativity. Her hobbies include philosophically analyzing nearly every book, play, video game, and movie that she consumes, writing music and short stories, promising herself that she will finish writing her novels, going to sleep too late, eating foods she’s never tried, putting off cleaning her house, browsing Zillow, spending as much quality time as possible with her wonderful husband, trying to be a good mother to her fantastic children, and never finding the balance between saying too much and too little. One day, she hopes to leave a positive mark on the world and visit every continent (except Antarctica) with her family.

Brigham Young: Taking on the Visage of Joseph Smith

After the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, the apostles gathered in to Nauvoo from their missions. Sidney Rigdon, estranged from the Church, now wanted to be its “guardian.” He called a conference for a certain date, but it was scheduled by Elder Marks a bit later, for Thursday, August 8, 1844, after Brigham Young and other apostles finally arrived in Nauvoo.

The meeting’s purpose was to sustain a new leader of the Church. Rigdon had met with the apostles, who were united quickly.  The apostles firmly felt they held all the keys of the kingdom.

Rigdon claimed to have had a vision, an extension of the one he shared with Joseph that became Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants. It failed to impress the Brethren. Wilford Woodruff recorded in his journal that Sidney’s statement was a “long story. It was a kind of second class vision.”

A solemn assembly was called for later that day.

On that day a miracle occurred before the body of the Church—Brigham Young was transfigured before the people, and the succession crisis of the Church was resolved…. Sidney Rigdon spoke for an hour and a half about his desires to be the guardian of the Church, but he awakened no emotion and said nothing that marked him as the true leader. Brigham Young told the audience that he would rather have spent a month mourning the dead Prophet than so quickly attend to the business of appointing a new shepherd. While he was speaking, he was miraculously transfigured before the people.

People of all ages were present, and they later recorded their experiences. Benjamin F. Johnson, twenty-six at that time, remembered, “As soon as he [Brigham Young] spoke I jumped upon my feet, for in every possible degree it was Joseph’s voice, and his person, in look, attitude, dress and appearance was Joseph himself, personified; and I knew in a moment the spirit and mantle of Joseph was upon him.”

Zina Huntington, who was a young woman twenty-one years old at that time, said “President Young was speaking. It was the voice of Joseph Smith—not that of Brigham Young. His very person was changed. … I closed my eyes. I could have exclaimed, I know that is Joseph Smith’s voice! Yet I knew he had gone. But the same spirit was with the people.”

This miracle brought the Saints in unison under the leadership of Brigham Young. Read more in Church History in the Fulness of Times.

Brigham Young: True Religion Means Rescuing Stranded Pioneers

“As the Saints prepared for general conference in Salt Lake City in October 1856, everyone assumed that the arrival of the third handcart company ended the immigration that year. But Franklin D. Richards, who had come into the valley two days prior to the conference, announced that two more handcart companies and two ox-cart supply trains were still on the plains and desperately needed food and clothing to finish the journey.

“When Brigham Young learned that these companies were still on the plains, he spoke to the Saints who had gathered for general conference. The meeting was actually held on 5 October, one day before the conference officially convened. Brigham Young said:

“The text will be, ‘to get them here.’ …

“I shall call upon the Bishops this day, I shall not wait until to-morrow, nor until next day, for 60 good mule teams and 12 or 15 wagons. …

“I will tell you all that your faith, religion, and profession of religion, will never save one soul of you in the celestial kingdom of our God, unless you carry out just such principles as I am now teaching you. Go and bring in those people now on the plains.”

The response was impressive. Sixteen wagon loads of food and supplies were quickly assembled; and on the morning of 7 October, sixteen good four-mule teams and twenty-seven hardy young men (known as Brigham Young’s “Minute Men”) headed eastward with the first provisions. More help was solicited and obtained from all parts of the territory. By the end of October, two hundred and fifty teams were on the road to give relief” (Church History in the Fulness of Times).

Thomas B. Marsh: His Apostasy and Return to the Church

Thomas B. Marsh had once been President of the Twelve but lost his testimony, rebelled against the Church, and left. Penitent, he made his way to Salt Lake City and was invited by Prophet Brigham Young to speak to the membership of the Church in the Bowery in Salt Lake on Sunday, September 6, 1857.

Brother Marsh said,

I have sought diligently to know the Spirit of Christ since I turned my face Zionward, and I believe I have obtained it. I have freTquently wanted to know how my apostacy began, and I have come to the conclusion that I must have lost the Spirit of the Lord out of my heart.

The next question is, “How and when did you lose the Spirit?” I became jealous of the Prophet, and then I saw double, and overlooked everything that was right, and spent all my time in looking for the evil; and then, when the Devil began to lead me, it was easy for the carnal mind to rise up, which is anger, jealousy, and wrath. I could feel it within me; I felt angry and wrathful; and the Spirit of the Lord being gone, as the Scriptures say, I was blinded, and I thought I saw a beam in brother Joseph’s eye, but it was nothing but a mote, and my own eye was filled with the beam; but I thought I saw a beam in his, and I wanted to get it out; and, as brother Heber says, I got mad, and I wanted everybody else to be mad. I talked with Brother Brigham and Brother Heber, and I wanted them to be mad like myself; and I saw they were not mad, and I got madder still because they were not. Brother Brigham, with a cautious look, said, “Are you the leader of the Church, brother Thomas?” I answered, “No.” “Well then,” said he, “Why do you not let that alone?”

Well, this is about the amount of my hypocrisy–I meddled with that which was not my business. But let me tell you, my brethren and friends, if you do not want to suffer in body and mind, as I have done,–if there are any of you that have the seeds of apostacy in you, do not let them make their appearance, but nip that spirit in the bud; for it is misery and affliction in this world, and destruction in the world to come (BYU.edu).

Wilford Woodruff: The End of Earthly Polygamy

Under the Edmunds-Tucker Acts, the U.S. government hoped to end polygamy. The Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887 also included provisions aimed at destroying the Church as a political and economic entity. The law officially dissolved The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a legal corporation and required the Church to forfeit to the government all property in excess of fifty thousand dollars.

Many of its leaders, husbands, and fathers were imprisoned. Wives were forced to testify against their husbands, voting rights were curtailed, and life became very difficult for the Saints.

Wilford Woodruff was 80 when he began to lead the Church. Although arrests and imprisonments caused families to suffer, the greatest problem for the Church was its inability to acquire and hold the funds necessary to build temples, do missionary work, publish material, and provide for the welfare of the Saints. It was the end of August when President Woodruff received confirmation that the U.S. government, in spite of an 1888 agreement promising that temples would not be disturbed, was going to confiscate them.

President Woodruff said later that the Lord had shown him by revelation exactly what would take place if plural marriage did not cease. The utter destruction of the Church. After a great spiritual struggle, Woodruff drafted  the Manifesto, now Official Declaration 1 in the Doctrine and Covenants, ending polygamy among the Saints.

General conference convened Saturday morning, 4 October 1890, and lasted three days. It was on the third day of the conference that President George Q. Cannon announced the Manifesto and then asked Orson F. Whitney, then bishop of the Salt Lake City 18th Ward, to read the document. The Saints in attendance, recognizing the authority of the Prophet and the Brethren, unanimously accepted it (from Church History in the Fulness of Times).

Lorenzo Snow: Pay your Tithing

Even after Prophet Lorenzo Snow attached the punishment of excommunication for those still practicing polygamy, the Church did not recover financially. The Church went about $300,000 in debt as a direct result of the Edmunds-Tucker Act. It was also taking care of the families of men jailed for plural marriage, as well as their legal fees and court costs and its own legal expenses.

Tithing revenues had declined in the 1880s because members had been reluctant to contribute when the federal government was confiscating the money. The Church was forced to borrow money from worldly financial institutions. President Lorenzo Snow prayed long and hard about the situation, desiring to use the Church’s resources for forwarding the Lord’s work, and to bring it to a sound financial situation.

He visited Southern Utah during a period of terrible drought. On Wednesday, 17 May 1899, at the opening session of the conference in the St. George Tabernacle, President Snow told the Saints that “we are in your midst because the Lord directed me to come; but the purpose of our coming is not clearly known at the present, but this will be made known to me during our sojourn among you.”

LeRoi C. Snow, son of the President, who was reporting the conference for the Deseret News, recalled what happened: “All at once father paused in his discourse. Complete stillness filled the room. I shall never forget the thrill as long as I live. When he commenced to speak again his voice strengthened and the inspiration of God seemed to come over him, as well as over the entire assembly. His eyes seemed to brighten and his countenance to shine. He was filled with unusual power. Then he revealed to the Latter-day Saints the vision that was before him.”

President Snow told the Saints that he could see that the people had neglected the law of tithing and that the Church would be relieved of debt if members would pay a full and honest tithing. He then said that the Lord was displeased with the Saints for failing to pay their tithing and promised them that if they would pay their tithes the drought would be removed and they would have a bounteous harvest.

Under inspiration, he had set in motion the program that would, by 1907, completely free the Church from debt. Many Saints testified that not only were the windows of heaven opened to save the Church, but those who followed this divine law were spiritually and temporally blessed as well (Church History in the Fulness of Times).

Boyd K. Packer: Spiritual Crocodiles

Stories always make for the most memorable General Conference talks, and this one by Boyd K. Packer stays with the listener forever. We sometimes think we know the lay of the land and fail to see the dangers around us and fail to heed those who do.

Elder Packer gave this talk in April 1976 and aimed it especially toward the youth of the Church.

“The antelope, particularly, were very nervous. They would approach the mud hole, only to turn and run away in great fright. I could see there were no lions about and asked the guide why they didn’t drink. His answer, and this is the lesson, was ‘Crocodiles.’

“I knew he must be joking and asked him seriously, ‘What is the problem?’ The answer again: ‘Crocodiles.’

“Nonsense,” I said. ‘There are no crocodiles out there. Anyone can see that.’”

Bruce R McConkie: His Final Testimony

Actually called The Purifying Power of Gethsemane, this moving talk is remembered with affection and gratitude by all who heard it. Bruce R. was dying of cancer at the time. He delivered this talk in April General Conference, 1985, and died a short time later on April 19th. This was his final, emotional testimony.

“And now, as pertaining to this perfect atonement, wrought by the shedding of the blood of God—I testify that it took place in Gethsemane and at Golgotha, and as pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person.

“I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears.

“But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way.”

Ezra Taft Benson: Beware of Pride

President Ezra Taft Benson delivered this address in April 1989 General Conference. It is a landmark talk on the evils of pride.

BONUS: BYU Devotionals by Hugh B. Brown

Profile of a Prophet

God is the Gardener

It is important not only that you keep growing but that you be versatile, adaptive, and unafraid to venture. In other words, be up to date. Seek to obtain a certain flexibility of mind that will inspire you to listen, to learn, and to adapt as you move forward into a new and ever-expanding universe.

Original Content Link can be found here.

Megan Finley

In between writing short stories she’ll never finish and marathoning Marvel movies, Megan Finley is often found missing the loves of her life, her two cats Leia and Loki. Her passion for “geek culture” extends into her passion for academics, as she is an optimistic MA student with plans to be the next Professor X (with hair). Her life’s dream is a simple one—to drink a hot chocolate in every Disney park in the world.

Born in 1805 and martyred in the summer of 1844, Joseph Smith’s life was firmly rooted in and influenced by the same widespread nationalist fervor, relentless religious upheaval, and profound political divisions that permeated the lives of all during the antebellum era.

But before one attempts to expound upon Smith’s impact upon not only religion, but American culture as a whole, it is important to ground him in the world which he changed; in fact, a deep cultural analysis of Antebellum America can only bring a heightened sense of insight into to our collective understanding of who Joseph Smith would become, both in character and in station.

America Catches Nationalist Fever

Via Murray Hudson, Halls, Tennessee. A map of the United States at the time of Joseph Smith’s birth in 1805.

A portrait of America in the context of the early 1800’s paints an enticing picture, indeed. A proud, infantile nation stands on wobbling feet as it emerges victorious from two wars.

Its first, the Revolutionary war (1775-1783) bought the nation its ensured autonomy, while the second, the War of 1812 (1812-1815) instilled within its people an unwavering sense of pride.

The birth of an American identity is therefore forever tied with an initial and prevailing sense of nationalism—the exaltation of and devotion to its national culture. Economic nationalism manifested itself as American manufacturing began to find its niche both domestically and in the worldwide market.

The Embargo Act of 1807, a general embargo enacted by the United States Congress against France and Great Britain, stimulated domestic production and encouraged the U.S. to adopt a sense of economic self-reliance. Henry Clay’s “American System”(3)—which touted plans for an industry promoting tariff, a national bank, and federal subsidies for infrastructural development—as well as President James Monroe’s “Era of Good Feelings,” reflected a desire for unity.

However, regionalism, which was simultaneously practiced alongside nationalism, only undermined the goals of Democratic-Republicans such as Monroe. It was this grating tension, particularly between the North and South, that would set the scene for the American Civil War.

A Religious Awakening Begins

The Second Great Awakening took its cues from a long-standing tradition of restorationist movements, some of which can be dated back as early as the Renaissance. Medieval Christian humanism, which emphasized the humanity and personalization of Christ through the study of the Greek New Testament and Hebrew Bible, was fundamental in its impact upon reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther, who sought after a “purer” form of Christian belief and practice. (p.24)

The early 19th century brought forth a similar sentiment, as religious orators began to call for a return to a more ideal form of Christian worship. Both English and American religion began to detach itself from its long-held Enlightenment values, which prized—in the vernacular of Mormon scholar Hugh Nibley—the Sophic (logical rationalization without the influence of the supernatural) over the Mantic (faith-based sentiment that readily accepts religious authority).

While historians loosely pin the movement’s beginnings as early as the 1730s, one of its first major events has been referenced as The Cane Ridge Revival held in Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in 1801. The power of religious orators to both compel and spellbind their audiences fanned the flames of theological fervor, catapulting men such as Barton W. Stone (minister of Cane Ridge’s Presbyterian sect) and contemporaries Thomas and Alexander Campell (influential leaders of the Disciples of Christ) to fame.

A shift in morality delivered an immense ripple effect, resulting in the conquest of the abolitionist spirit in upstate New York as well as increased church membership. Many denominations, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Shakers, the Seventh Day Adventists, and the Unitarian Universalists, were destined to be born into this revitalized, religiously-charged atmosphere.

The Rise of Print Culture 

While Richard M. Hoe’s rotary printing press did not arrive until 1843, its effects on American culture were revolutionary. “Print culture” took form in the popular literature, lithographs, and newspapers that found their way into every pocket. Newspapers, in particular, surged in popularity in the 1830s, when the “penny papers” made both news and literacy all the more accessible to the working class. Sensationalism (as well as the early tabloid) found its origins in this period, as journalists continuously searched for fodder to fill their pages while simultaneously intriguing the masses.

Some of the most paramount achievements of the Antebellum period belonged to the realm of literature. As America was still in its character-forming adolescence, items in print became the basis of its cultural identity, bringing forth literary trends such as Transcendentalism.

Author-philosophers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, as well as others involved in the movement each injected their belief in the power of individualism, nature, self-reliance, and progress into their writing. Emerson, whose notable address “American Scholar” was given in 1837, appealed to the budding desire in the States to depart from long-held European traditions and begin to develop a national character. Publication of the Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language was a further attempt at defining the autonomy of the U.S.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, and Edgar Allen Poe were not only prominent authors of the era, but significantly aided the rise of the short story as a literary genre. Hawthorne, whose renowned novel The Scarlet Letter was an instant best-seller, published shorter works such as the first part of his Twice-Told Tales in 1837.

Washington Irving found his niche in short texts, with tales such as “Rip Van Winkle” (1819) and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (1820) effortlessly becoming part of the American literary canon. The brief narratives and prose of Edgar Allen Poe were similarly well-received, exciting the imaginations of the public between 1832 and 1849. “The Tell-tale Heart,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” each reflected the assertions Poe made in his 1846 essay, “The Philosopy of Composition,” where he argues that texts should not suffer to be long-winded, but rather designed to be enjoyed in a single sitting.

Sickness and Maladies

Despite commercial development, medical knowledge remained relatively rudimentary until after the Civil War. In a BYU History publication, Joseph B. Hinckley cites that there were essentially two methods of medical practice: heroic/allopathic medicine and botanical/homeopathic medicine.

Joseph Smith lived during an epoch referred to as “The Age of Heroic Medicine,” (1780–1850). Heroic (also called allopathic) approaches are defined by treatments with extreme effects, often administered with substantial risk to the patient.

Examples of common practices include bloodletting and the prescription of a castor oil/calomel concoction, which promoted internal “cleansing” to remove toxins and pull disease out of the body. Despite often exacerbating a patient’s ailments rather than acting as a curative, most educated physicians of the time—including Benjamin Rush, whose contributions to American culture included singing the Declaration of Independence—were staunch defendants of this type of medicinal care.

Homeopathic remedies ran their own risks, though perhaps not on the same scale as heroic counterparts. Samuel Thompson, known to history as the Father of American Herbalism, played a vital role in the development of this form of treatment.

Homeopaths such as Thomsonians believed wholeheartedly in the concept of medical liberty, even going so far as to form a political force known as the Popular Health Movement. However, while mild and often alleviatory, herbal remedies with little scientific backing were often powerless against incessant strains of cholera, smallpox, thyphoid, and yellow fever.

Marginalization of the “Other”/Dangerous Divisions

By definition, socio-political tensions dominated the years before the Civil War. The matter of “separate spheres” for both men and women drove the basis for which inequality between the sexes remained.

While white women began to see an increase in educational and vocational opportunities, they were often demeaned and ridiculed for their attempts at merging into “men’s affairs.” Women’s suffrage was, therefore, a pressing issue. So much so, that the discourse inspired by the 1848 Seneca Falls women’s rights convention heavily influenced Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony’s 1881 The History of Women’s Suffrage. 

Arm in arm with the division over women’s rights came the turmoil that accompanied the abolitionist movement. In the Antebellum spirit of reform, abolitionists called attention to slavery as yet another damaging, archaic system to turn over.

Numerous arguments to slavery were gaining traction. The Second Great Awakening had shaken America’s moral heart, as Quakers such as Benjamin Lay began to proclaim that slavery should offend any decent Christian’s virtuous sensibilities.

Women such as Angelina Grimke and Sarah Moore Grimke saw the similarities in the persecution of women and African-Americans, and often gave speeches to mixed audiences regarding the absolute need to end slavery. Black abolitionists, such as Fredrick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, brought their own stories as slaves to the forefront, rendering the deeply dehumanizing experience of human bondage as impossible to ignore.

Joseph Smith: America’s Prophet or More?

However central setting may be to the LDS Church’s genesis, Richard Bushman—whose research remains authoritative in studies of the prophet Joseph Smith—advises against restricting his narrative to that of an American venue.

In order to truly understand his contribution to both secular and non-secular realms, Bushman can only advocate a global perspective, stating that it remains “…the only way to highlight the nature of Smith’s achievement…[in tying] him to upstate New York, we will miss the expansiveness of his thinking, like explaining Shakespeare from the small town mentality of Stratford” (Underwood, “Attempting to Situate Joseph Smith“).

Regardless, to seek to understand the culture to which Smith was undoubtedly exposed, and more importantly, the implications of said culture, is not a vain effort; one need only look to the expansive vision that Smith had for his gospel, and the worldwide ripple effect it has since achieved.

Via Mormon.org.

Megan Finley

In between writing short stories she’ll never finish and marathoning Marvel movies, Megan Finley is often found missing the loves of her life, her two cats Leia and Loki. Her passion for “geek culture” extends into her passion for academics, as she is an optimistic MA student with plans to be the next Professor X (with hair). Her life’s dream is a simple one—to drink a hot chocolate in every Disney park in the world.

The article titled “In Our Lovely Deseret: What pioneers wrote of their impressions of the Prophet Joseph Smith” by Susan Evans McCloud appeared in the 29 September 2016 online edition of Deseret News in the Faith section.

Those who were privileged to meet the Prophet Joseph Smith in the flesh were universal in their responses to the experience.

President Lorenzo Snow, who joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a young man in Kirtland, Ohio, was just one witness.

“I heard the Prophet (Joseph Smith) discourse upon the grandest of subjects,” he said, which was recorded in “Remembering Joseph,” by Mark L. McConkie. “At times he was filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking as with the voice of an archangel, and filled with the power of God; his whole person shone and his face was lightened until it appeared as the whiteness of the driven snow.”

George Spilsbury was baptized in England and later became a member of the Nauvoo Legion, seeming to expand on this same theme.

“In his preaching, I have heard him (Joseph) quote scriptures in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and German,” he said (see “Personal Glimpses of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” by Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus). “He was a great man — a statesman-philosopher, also a revealer of many things in philosophy and astronomy.”

Bathsheba W. Smith, a convert from West Virginia, married the Prophet’s cousin, George A. Smith, and became the fourth general president of the Relief Society.

She left a lively description of Joseph. “The Prophet was a handsome man — splendid looking, a large man, tall and fair,” she wrote (see “They Knew the Prophet,” compiled by Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus). “He had a nice complexion. His eyes were blue, and his hair a golden brown, and very pretty.

“My first impressions were that he was an extraordinary man, a man of great penetration; was different from any other man I ever saw; had the most heavenly countenance; was genial, affable and kind; and looked the soul of honor and integrity.”

Elizabeth B. Pratt crossed the ocean from England as a young girl, arriving in Nauvoo in November 1841.

“When I was first introduced to the Prophet, he held my hand and said, ‘God bless you.’ There was such an influence with his words I wondered how anyone could doubt his being a prophet,” she wrote in an article in 1890 in “The Young Women’s Journal” that was published in “Personal Glimpses of the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

Perhaps Joseph knew this young convert would need that word of blessing, for Elizabeth wrote, “My father only stayed nine weeks in the church. He apostatized and moved away to Warsaw with the family. … I stayed on the ship Zion which has brought me safely thus far on my journey.”

She added, “We would meet to worship on the Sabbath in a large bowery where he (Joseph) sometimes addressed the assembly for two to three hours. The Saints were rapt in profound attention by the words of inspiration that fell from his lips.”

Every time Joseph Smith spoke — to individuals or to the Saints as a whole — he taught something. Every act of his, every word, was a blessing to others — for so hundreds of the people who knew him testified.

“He was visited constantly by angels, he had vision after vision … that he might comprehend the great and holy calling that God had bestowed upon him. In this respect, he stands unique. Think of what he passed through! Think of his afflictions, and think of his dauntless character!” said George Q. Cannon, who knew Joseph Smith in Nauvoo and was later the first counselor in the First Presidency to President John Taylor, President Wilford Woodruff, and President Snow (see “Personal Glimpses of the Prophet Joseph Smith”). “He was filled with integrity to God, with such integrity as was not known among men. He was like an angel of God among them.”

“The Prophet’s voice was like the thunders of heaven, yet his language was meek and his instructions edified much,” wrote Joseph Lee Robinson in “The Journal of Joseph Lee Robinson.” “There was a power and majesty that attended his words that we never beheld in any man before.”

People heard him talk to God in prayer. They received blessings under his hand. They heard him preach and prophesy. They saw him teach, inspire and support women. They saw him play tenderly with their children, they saw him direct and defend their youth; upon many occasions, they saw him weep. And with the power of his own humility and goodness, many times the Saints saw the Prophet forgive.

After years of faithful service and the blessings of a personal relationship with the Prophet, Parley P. Pratt fell victim to the raging spirit of apostasy that swept through Kirtland following the dedication of the temple there.

He records in “Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt”: “It seemed as if the very powers of darkness which war against the Saints were let loose upon me.”

When Parley criticized the Prophet to John Taylor — whom he had helped teach the gospel — his friend’s reply had the power to awaken his senses. “If the work was true six months ago, it is true today,” said President Taylor in “John Taylor,” by Francis M. Gibbon. “If Joseph Smith was then a prophet, he is now a prophet.”

“I went to brother Joseph Smith in tears, and, with a broken heart and contrite spirit,” Pratt recorded. “He frankly forgave me — prayed for me — and blessed me.”

Gilbert Belnap, a convert from Canada, who later served as a bishop in Utah, wrote this of Joseph Smith: “While I was standing before his penetrating gaze, he seemed to read the very recesses of my heart — I gazed with wonder at his person and listened with delight to the sound of his voice. My very destiny seemed to be interwoven with his” (see “Autobiography of Gilbert Belnap”).

Today, as ever, the gospel will go forward. As George Q. Cannon testified: “It is indestructible, for it is the work of God. And knowing that it is the eternal work of God, we know that Joseph Smith, who established it, was a Prophet holy and pure” (see “Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet”).

Guest Author

Monday, August 6, 1838, Gallatin, Missouri. When the fighting stopped between the Mormons and the non-Mormons John Lowe Butler gathered his brethren about him and faced the mob declaring that they would fight as long as the blood ran warm in their veins. But, bloodied and bruised, both sides had had enough and parted ways. John went to where he had left his wagon and team, but they were gone. So he mounted a horse and rode home with Samuel Harrison Smith, where he spent the night, presumably fulfilling his duties as a militia captain.

The next morning, he rode home to the Marrowbone settlement where his wife had been anxiously waiting. John determined to ride to Far West and inform the Prophet Joseph Smith about what had happened. Exaggerated reports of the brawl had spread throughout the county and many tempers were fanned into flames. After hearing what had happened, Joseph then asked John if he had moved his family to safety. “I told him, no,” John said. “Then, said he, go and move them directly and do not sleep another night there. But said I, I don’t like to be a coward.” To which Joseph said, “Go and do as I tell you.”

John turned around immediately and rode the 14 miles back home, arriving about 2 hours after dark. He informed his wife what Joseph had said. They loaded up their household goods and moved to the Taylor’s home about a mile and a half away, arriving just at dawn.

They would later learn that no sooner had they departed than a close neighbor saw a mob of about 30 men ride up and surround the Butler cabin. Fearing the worst, he rode off in a fright toward the Taylor home. When he arrived and saw the Butlers, he exclaimed, “Oh, I am so glad that you are here for there are about thirty men around your house to kill you all.”

John Butler would later write, “I then saw the hand of the Lord guiding Brother Joseph Smith to direct me to move my family away. If he had not, why in all probability we should all have been murdered, and I felt to thank God with all my heart and soul.”

We thank, O God, for a prophet who still sees the way to safety!

Source Link

Artwork: Kelly Donovon

Guest Author

This article which was written by Danielle B. Wagner appeared in the 23 June 2016 online edition of LDS Living Magazine.

“As with many other truths of the gospel, our present knowledge about a Mother in Heaven is limited,” the Church’s Gospel Topics Essay “Mother in Heaven” states.

While we do have quotes from Church leaders that give us insight into Her nature and role in our lives, many understand our unique knowledge of Her is sacred.

However, the First Presidency shared in 1909 that “all men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity,” and in 1995 the First Presidency declared in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” ” Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.”

While we might not know as much about our Heavenly Mother as we do our Heavenly Father, the words of prophets and apostles, as well as Church records still provide a surprising amount of information about our other divine Parent.

For instance, the LDS archives contain a journal entry from Abraham H. Cannon, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and son of George Q. Cannon. On August 25, 1880, Abraham Cannon recorded a time when the Prophet Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Zebedee Coltrin saw a vision of our Heavenly Mother:

One day the Prophet Joseph Smith asked him (Zebedee Coltrin) and Sidney Rigdon to accompany him into the woods to pray. When they had reached a secluded spot Joseph laid down on his back and stretched out his arms. He told the brethren to lie one on each arm and then shut their eyes.

After they had prayed he told them to open their eyes. They did so and they saw a brilliant light surrounding a pedestal which seemed to rest on the ground. They closed their eyes and again prayed. They then saw, on opening them, the Father seated upon a throne; they prayed again and on looking saw the Mother also; after praying and looking the fourth time they saw the Savior added to the group. He had auburn brown, rather long, wavy hair and appeared quite young” (Journal of Abraham H. Cannon , 25 Aug. 1880, LDS archives).

Though rare, this vision might not have been a singular occurrence. The Church’s Gospel Topics Essay “Mother in Heaven” states, “Susa Young Gates, a prominent leader in the Church, wrote in 1920 that Joseph Smith’s visions and teachings revealed the truth that ‘the divine Mother, [is] side by side with the divine Father'” (emphasis added).

The use of the plural in this case suggests that Joseph Smith may have had other visions in which Heavenly Mother was revealed to him, which means other prophets and apostles could have been blessed with such a divine visitations.

But whether or not others have seen our Heavenly Mother, many Church leaders have talked about her great influence in our lives. According to an article published in BYU Studies, “‘A Mother There’: A Survey of Historical Teachings about Mother in Heaven,” Susa Young Gates called Heavenly Mother a great “molder,” who watches over us with “watchful care” and provides “careful training.” In addition, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” teaches us that we were born to Heavenly Parents who guided and reared us in the pre-existence.

Guest Author

The following article by Jannalee Rosner appeared in the 27 June 2016 online edition of LDS Living.com.

Most members of the Church are familiar with the events surrounding the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. But what they might not realize is that news of their murder made headlines all across the country, from Arkansas and Connecticut to Florida and Maine. And though many didn’t believe Joseph was a prophet, the majority of these media sources condemned the act as murder and a scandal.

As we remember the anniversary of this tragic moment in Mormon history, here’s a look at a few of the reactions of newspapers across the country:

The New York Sun reported, “It is no small thing, in the blaze of this nineteenth century, to give to men a new revelation, found a new religion, establish new forms of worship, to build a city, with new laws, institutions, and orders of architecture, to establish ecclesiastic, civil and military jurisdiction, found colleges, send out missionaries, and make proselytes in two hemispheres: yet all this has been done by Joe Smith, and that against every sort of opposition, ridicule and persecution.”

The New York Weekly Herald added, “Thus died the plowboy Prophet of America at the hands of an assassin, the object of intense, local persecution within Hancock County, where feeling ran high in the communities of Carthage and Warsaw against Nauvoo, its balance of power and the Prophet. Yet, out beyond the vineyards of Hancock County, beyond that beautiful bend in the Mississippi, he was a respected and an admired Prophet and statesman.”

However, like any event in the media, there were multiple sides to every story. In fact, an article in the Herald of Freedom in Concord, New Hampshire stated, “. . .but I do not put the slightest confidence in the stories told of him by our political and religious presses. They tell as bad stories of the abolitionists as they do of Smith. They are not entitled to any credit. . . As to the Mormons, I would say here, that though I know nothing of their religion or character, I venture to guess they are both better—or at least as good, as those of the ruffians who killed them—or the other ruffians who virtually back them up in it” (pg 697).

There were several other papers, including, of course, the Times and Seasons and the Nauvoo Neighbor, who also put Joseph Smith in a more favorable light. In talking about the funeral procession, the Times and Seasons reported “It was a vast assemblage of some 8 or 10,000 persons, and with one united voice resolved to trust the law for a remedy of such a high-handed assassination, and when that failed, to call upon God to avenge us of our wrongs! Oh, widows and orphans! Oh Americans, weep, for the glory of freedom has departed!”

A piece printed in the Daily Evening Transcript in Boston, Massachusetts, seemed to reinforce a prophecy given to Joseph Smith by the angel Moroni that his name would be shared for good or for evil around the world:

“Joe Smith is dead and gone. He was one of the most remarkable men of the age. The time for writing his history has not arrived. Men who have known him long and well, differ in their estimate of his character; the future historian alone can reconcile the contradictory statements of his friends and enemies, and place him in his true position. The personal manners of every man make him friends or enemies, regardless of his principles and of his conduct. This remark is clearly illustrated in the case of Smith. He was a man of rough exterior and course manners, thousands who approached him were so completely disgusted at once by his manners, that they refused to look at the good he claimed to have done. But notwithstanding this he was a remarkable man, and has left the impress of his genius upon the age in which he lived; he has carved out for himself a title to a page in the history of his country, and his name will be remembered, for good or for evil, when the names of half the ephemeral Statesmen of the age will be forgotten. . .

“He was a man of genuine courage, and would have fought to the last moment of his life. He was pursued by a band of three hundred infuriated demons and cruelly shot down like a wild beast, while confined in a small room where he could not escape. It was a glorious exit for him. Whatever there was of evil in his heart will be forgotten in the recollection of his death. He will be eulogized by his disciples, and worshiped as a God. Time and distance will embellish his life with new and rare virtues, and more than earthly power; his doctrines will flourish, his influence will extend to ages yet unborn, and future generations will celebrate his birth and death by public festivals, public prayers, and an unlimited devotion [signed] H. J.” (pg. 668-671, emphasis added).

The news even spread in Europe. The Portland Transcript in Maine shared part of a story printed in the Liverpool Mercury: “The scenes which have taken place in Pennsylvania and Illinois would have disgraced a nation of savages. We question whether. . . any record can be found more sanguinary than the riots in Philadelphia, or the massacre of the Mormon leader and his brother, in the prison at Carthage” (pg. 661).

On the extreme other hand, some papers, such as the Jonesborough Whig, thoroughly supported the actions of the mob, praising the murders as a victory: “Some of the public Journals of the country, we are sorry to see, regret the death of that blasphemous wretch Joe Smith, the Mormon Prophet. Our deliberate judgment is, that he ought to have been dead ten years ago and that those who at length have deprived him of his life, have done the cause of God, and of the country, good service.”

Reverend Brownlow did not hide his enthusiasm when he concluded, “Smith was killed, as he should have been. THREE CHEERS to the brave company who shot him to pieces!”

The New York Herald even went so far as to say that “The death of the modern mahomet will seal the fate of Mormonism. They cannot get another Joe Smith. The holy city must tumble into ruins, and the ‘latter-day saints’ have indeed come to the latter day.” Others also spoke out against Joseph, calling his death the end of the “great deceiver, who has no doubt, seduced and ensnared numbers to their ruin” and claiming he would be remembered for his “deeds of darkness.”

Still others took a middle ground, denying Joseph’s standing as a prophet, but speaking out against his death in defense of a fair trial: “It will probably never be known who shot Joseph and Hyrum Smith—but their murder was a cold-blooded cowardly act, which will consign the perpetrators if discovered to merited infamy and disgrace. They have broken the pledges to the Government—disgraced themselves and the State to which they belong. They have crimsoned their perfidy with blood. . . It will long be regretted that things have taken the turn they have in relation to the Mormons” (Quincy Herald).

The Lee County Democrat in Fort Madison, Iowa, added, “The murder of Jo Smith and his Brother has caused feelings of deep regret in the breasts of every peaceable and law-abiding people; they look upon it as a high-handed outrage, and as a cruel, cold-blooded, cowardly and contemptible murder. That Jo and his brother were guilty of acts which required the interposition of the law, we are well aware, but after he and his brother had voluntarily surrendered themselves up to justice, under the full assurance that they would receive the protection of Governor Ford from all violence; they were entitled to all protection against all danger and all enemies” (pg. 659).

Though these are just a few of dozens of comments made about the death of the Prophet and his brother Hyrum, they show the wide range of influence the gospel of Jesus Christ, as restored by Joseph Smith, had and continues to have in the world. Despite the Church’s small numbers and the fact that most people did not believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet, many people knew who the Latter-day Saints were, and believed that the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum Smith were unjust.

Ultimately, the description Latter-day Saints will remember best is now recorded in our scriptures, penned by Elder John Taylor in D&C section 135 verse 3:

“Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum.”

Lead image from Wikimedia Commons:
Statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith on their way from Nauvoo, Illinois to the Carthage Jail. Located in front of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple. This 2003 sculpture is by Stanley J. Watts (human figures) and Kim Corpany (horses).

Guest Author