David W. Patten was the first apostolic martyr of the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, marking in blood a legacy that defined what it means to give all for the faith.  At his funeral, Joseph Smith remarked that “There lies a man that has done just as he said he would—he has laid down his life for his friends.” His entire life was dedicated to mankind, up until and including his martyrdom.

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Conversion And Missions

David W. Patten was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1832. In 1830, after hearing of the publication of the Book of Mormon, he read only the preface and the testimony of the Three Witnesses before he was convinced that the book was true. Two years later, he heard that his brother John Patten had joined the Church, and he rode three hundred miles to Fairplay, Indiana, and was baptized by his brother.

David hit the ground running. Two days after he was baptized, he was made an elder and sent on a mission to the Michigan Territory. He had hardly any money or food, instead relying on the hospitality of those he found on his way. He was joined by another recent convert named Joseph Wood, and the two of them took the territory by storm.

David immediately set himself apart as a man of great faith and empathy towards others. He was known on his mission for his healing abilities; many would come to him seeking a blessing, and through their faith and his faith in his Heavenly Father, he laid his hands on their heads and cured them of their illnesses. Such were the miracles of his blessings that Abraham O. Smoot said, “he never knew an instance in which David’s petition for the sick was not answered.”

In total, David W. Patten served twelve missions for the Church. He was ordained a member of the first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1835, only three years after his baptism. He was known for his resilience against the mob persecution that began in Missouri. Such was his dedication and fearlessness in defending and preaching the gospel that other members of the Church began to refer to him as Captain Fear-Not.

He would seal this title with his death.

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Martyrdom

On October 24th, 1838, a Missourian mob kidnapped three Saints and planned to kill them that night. At midnight, 75 members of the Church, led by Captain Fear-Not, armed themselves and prepared a daring rescue mission against the mob to rescue their brethren.

David wanted to surprise the mob and take back the prisoners through intimidation alone, but when they came near Crooked River, a mob member standing guard fired a shot and hit Patrick O’Banion, who fell. Captain Patten, leading a separate group of about 15 men away to flank the mob, heard the shot and came to the rescue.

The Battle of Crooked River commenced. Several men were wounded, and Gideon Carter was killed instantly. The Missourians were situated behind a riverbank, holding a tactical position that allowed them to fire into the Mormon army.

Patten, seeing the hearts of his men falter in the face of terrific gunfire, led a charge against the mob position, taking his sword and leading with the battle cry of “GOD AND LIBERTY!!!” The Missourian line broke, but not before Patten was shot and mortally wounded.

He died several hours after the battle. On his deathbed, he quoted Paul in saying that, “I feel that I have kept the faith, I have finished my course, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown, which the Lord will give me.” Moments later, he died.

Unbeknownst to most, David W. Patten died exactly the way he wanted to. He had once remarked to the Prophet that he had a great desire to die the death of a martyr. Joseph was sorry when he heard this, and he told David that,  “when a man of your faith asks the Lord for anything, he generally gets it.”

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Fear Not And Serve

Captain Fear-Not was a man of great faith, but he wielded that faith in the service of others.

In these last days, it’s not enough to have faith in the gospel. Faith isn’t an endgame, it’s a step towards fulfilling our destiny in life, which is to serve our fellow man to the best of our ability. We may not have to die for one another, but we should certainly be prepared to, and this kind of valor is only attained along the path that David W. Patten paved: a lifetime of service and sacrifice.

If we can walk that path, maybe one day we can earn a title as cool as Captain Fear-Not.

lgroll

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!

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Artwork: Kelly Donovon

Guest Author

Excerpts used in this article were taken from the original article “What 17 Famous People Have Said About Mormons” by Danielle B. Wagner for the 31 August 2016 online edition of LDS Living.com.

People have a lot to say about the Mormons these days, what with The Book of Mormon musical still going strong not to mention how Mormons are impacting the current presidential election. And there’s no short supply of topics or opinions.

But, since the 1800s, Mormons have always been a popular topic of conversation, and often misrepresentation. As a “peculiar” people, we just can’t help but draw the attention of famous people, from writers to presidents to celebrities and more.

Here are just a few priceless quotes of what influential people have said about Mormons:

President Abraham Lincoln

“When I was a boy on the farm in Illinois there was a great deal of timber on the farm which we had to clear away. Occasionally we would come to a log which had fallen down. It was too hard to split, too wet to burn and too heavy to move, so we plowed around it. That’s what I intend to do with the Mormons. You go back and tell Brigham Young that if he will let me alone I will let him alone.”

Charles Dickens

Upon boarding an emigrant ship with several Latter-day Saints, Dickens observed,“Nobody is in an ill temper, nobody is the worse for drink, nobody swears an oath or uses a coarse word, nobody appears depressed, nobody is weeping . . . And these people are so strikingly different from all other people in like circumstances whom I have ever seen, that I wonder aloud, ‘What would a stranger suppose these emigrants to be!’”

Dickens also noted: “It is surprising to me that these people are all so cheery, and make so little of the immense distance before them. . . . What is in store for the poor people on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, what happy delusions they are labouring under now, on what miserable blindness their eyes may be opened then, I do not pretend to say. But I went on board their ship to bear testimony against them if they deserved it, as I fully believed they would; to my great astonishment, they did not deserve it; and my predispositions and tendencies must not affect me as an honest witness, I went over the Amazon’s side, feeling it impossible to deny that, so far, some remarkable influence had produced a remarkable result, which better known influences have often missed.”

Maria von Trapp

“In Brazil, in Argentina, in Peru, in Chile, in Mexico, in New Zealand, in Australia … whenever there were two strapping young Americans—two—coming up to us, very friendly, they were Mormon missionaries. I always admired the Mormon Church, for this in a way is most natural thing to do, to give two years of your life—a preconceived Peace Corps plan, long before there was Peace Corps—and to go to teach all people, as He has told us to do.”

-From Much Ado About Mormons: What Famous People Have Said About the Mormons by Rick Walton

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Good out of evil. One must thank the genius of Brigham Young for the creation of Salt Lake City — an inestimable hospitality to the Overland Emigrants, and an efficient example to all men in the vast desert, teaching how to subdue and turn it to a habitable garden.”

-From Much Ado About Mormons: What Famous People Have Said About the Mormons by Rick Walton

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

In a letter to Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt commented on a Deseret News article noting that Churchill was related to members of the LDS Church. He wrote:

“Hitherto I had not observed any outstanding Mormon characteristics in either of you—but I shall be looking for them from now on. I have a very high opinion of the Mormons—for they are excellent citizens.”

-From Much Ado About Mormons: What Famous People Have Said About the Mormons by Rick Walton

Cecil B. Demille

Filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille said during his comments at a BYU commencement: “I have known many members of your church—and I have never known one who was not a good citizen and a fine, wholesome person—but David O. McKay embodies, more than anyone that I have ever known, the virtues and the drawing-power of your church.

“David McKay, almost thou persuadest me to be a Mormon! And knowing what family life means to the Latter-day Saints, I cannot speak or think of President McKay without thinking too of that gracious and spirited young lady who is his wife.”

-From Much Ado About Mormons: What Famous People Have Said About the Mormons by Rick Walton

Mark Twain

“We walked about the streets [of Salt Lake City] some, afterward, and glanced in at shops and stores; and there was a fascination in surreptitiously staring at every creature we took to be a Mormon. This was a fairyland to us, to all intents and purposes—a land of enchantment, and goblins, and awful mystery. We felt a curiosity to ask every child how many mothers it had, and if it could tell them apart; and we experienced a thrill every time a dwelling-house door opened and shut as we passed, disclosing a glimpse of human heads and backs of shoulders—for we longed to have a good satisfying look at a Mormon family in all its comprehensive ampleness, disposed in the customary concentric rings of its home circle.”

-From Much Ado About Mormons: What Famous People Have Said About the Mormons by Rick Walton

President Herbert Hoover

“I have witnessed their devotion to public service and their support of charitable efforts over our country and in foreign lands during all these years. I have witnessed the growth of the church’s communities over the world where self-reliance, devotion, resolution, and integrity are a light to all mankind. Surely a great message of Christian faith has been given by the church—and it must continue.”

-From Much Ado About Mormons: What Famous People Have Said About the Mormons by Rick Walton

All images from Getty Images.

Guest Author

First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1880.

This article written on 14 April 2016 by the LDS News Room appeared in the 18 April 2016 online edition of Meridian Magazine.

George Q. Cannon was one of the best-known Latter-day Saints in the last half of the 19th century. His record covers half a century, a period in which he served as a Church editor and publisher, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a territorial delegate in Congress and a counselor to Church Presidents Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow.

The first online installment of the journal of the Mormon leader has been released to the public by the Church Historian’s Press, an imprint of the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The free publication, “The Journal of George Q. Cannon,” is available at churchhistorianspress.org.

“The George Q. Cannon journals are among the most important sources of Latter-day Saint history during the latter half of the 19th century,” said Richard E. Turley Jr., assistant Church historian, and recorder and coeditor of the previously published volumes of Cannon’s journals.

George Q. Cannon prison visit.

“We are delighted as a department to make these remarkable records available to Church members and historians at this time,” said Reid L. Neilson, assistant Church historian, and recorder.

Cannon’s extensive 50-volume journal is one of the most insightful and detailed records in Mormon history. The journal will also be of great interest to scholars of American political and religious history as well as the history of the U.S. West. The total journal contains roughly 2.5 million words. The 1855 to 1875 release contains roughly 270,000 words.

“[President Brigham Young blessed me that] I should be blessed in writing and publishing, and when I should take up the pen to write I should be blessed with wisdom and the Lord would inspire me with thoughts and ideas that what I should write and publish should be acceptable to the people of God,” said Cannon.

Covering 1849 to 1901, Cannon’s journal provides an unfiltered look not only into his remarkable life but also into central Latter-day Saint leadership at a time when the Church was undergoing great change. He began his journal during his mission to Hawaii as a young man and continued writing until nearly the end of his life.

The journal provides insight into many significant events in Latter-day Saint history. The first three volumes of Cannon’s journal, covering 1849 through 1854, were previously published in two print volumes: “The Journals of George Q. Cannon: To California in ’49” and “The Journals of George Q. Cannon: Hawaiian Mission, 1850–1854.”

The initial online release of Cannon’s journal starts where those books left off, beginning with the entry of May 10, 1855, and extending through 1875. Transcripts of additional portions of the journal will be released in later stages. Eventually, all volumes of the journal will be transcribed and published on the Church Historian’s Press website.

Some passages of the original journal will be withheld in accordance with policies of the Church History Library, where the journal is housed, to redact sacred, private and confidential information, including details about temple ceremonies and names of individuals involved in Church disciplinary councils.

Cannon employed secretaries to help him keep the journal, and extensive portions of it were typed rather than written by hand. Many events were recorded right after they happened, such as an interview in June 1862 with United States President Abraham Lincoln.

In a bid for Utah statehood, representative Latter-day Saints held a constitutional convention in Salt Lake City in the spring of 1862. On April 16, the convention nominated George Q. Cannon to serve as senator of the proposed state. Returning from England, Cannon proceeded to Washington and there met with President Lincoln in the midst of the U.S. Civil War.

Elder Cannon said of President Lincoln, “He looks much better than I expected he would do from my knowledge of the cares and labors of his position, and is quite humorous, scarcely permitting a visit to pass without uttering some joke. He received us very kindly and without formality. … He was quite noncommittal respecting our admission [to statehood], having no wish seemingly to commit himself upon the subject.”

In January 1873, Cannon made a journal entry about the political plight of the Latter-day Saints. “The modern politician is a moral coward. He has not the courage to defend a weak, unpopular side, especially if the question of ‘Mormonism’ be involved. They are as afraid of being suspected of having any sympathy with that, as they would be of the contagion of small-pox.”

The 50-year time span covered in the journal allows readers to see wide-sweeping change not only in the Church but also in politics, technology, travel, and other areas. Topics found in the journal include Cannon’s many travels in the United States and Europe; his counsel to and relationships with his family, which consisted of six wives and 43 children; his meetings with congressmen and senators; his close relationships with Church leaders and his counsel to Church members; his life in prison after being arrested for practicing plural marriage; his financial dealings; and his devotion to the Church.

A short-term exhibit featuring original journals, photographs and other historical documents titled “George Q. Cannon: A Mighty Instrument” will be on display at the Church History Library from April 12 to May 13.

Previous publications of the Church Historian’s Press include a dozen volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers and a collection of documents chronicling the history of the Relief Society in the 19th century.

Guest Author

Perhaps you have heard or read that I gave a talk called “Beyond Petticoats and Poultices: Finding a Women’s History of the Mormon-Missouri War of 1838” at the Beyond Biography: Sources in Context for Mormon Women’s History conference at Brigham Young University.  My paper sought to address the history of how women experienced the violence in Missouri, particularly as victims of sexual violence.  As part of that research, I examined the case study of Eliza R. Snow as a possible victim of a gang rape that might have left her unable to have children. I looked at a few of the rapes and attempted rapes in Missouri, recalled by various witnesses, legal testimonials, and personal accounts, with a discussion of why women are not specifically named in most sources. The scarcity and limitation of sources has presented historians with the difficulty of uncovering a history of sexual violence in Missouri, and of identifying actual victims. So I concluded with an examination of a primary source that amazingly came to me only three weeks prior to the conference, via a colleague who received it from a member of the family where the source is held. That source gives a description of Eliza’s rape, and its larger meaning in Snow’s life and possible motivations for her polygamous marriage to Joseph Smith.

The case of Eliza R. Snow has received considerable media attention in the last four days, and has invited many questions from those who have read the brief report in the Salt Lake Tribune and other outlets. A brief newspaper report, while introducing readers to this information, could not possibly address the larger history, context, and methodology I offered in my paper.  So, to that end, this post is meant to respond to those questions in brief, while also opening an important and ongoing conversation about the history of sexual violence in Church history, and the particular case of Eliza R. Snow.

The account comes from a portion of the autobiography of Alice Merrill Horne written in her later years. Horne was a member of the Utah State Legislature, a board member of the General Relief Society, and a famed art critic and patroness. Born in 1868, she was the granddaughter of Apostle George A. Smith and Bathsheba W. Smith, the 4th General Relief Society President, who was one of the original members of the Female Relief Society in Nauvoo in 1842, and close friend to Eliza R. Snow and other high leadership of the Relief Society in Utah Territory. Bathsheba’s granddaughter Alice remembered visiting her grandmother as a young girl, and hearing the elderly women of Mormonism reminisce about the early days of the Restoration. I quote here using Alice Merrill Horne’s own words: “The most important Mormon women of the nineteenth century often gathered at the Smith home abutting the Church Historian’s Office.” Alice would “sit on her grandmother’s lap and listen, catching . . . the whispered word unraveling, spelling, and signs made by those ladies.” It was there, at one of these rendezvous of feminine confidences, young Alice overheard the account of the brutal gang rape of Eliza R. Snow. “There was a saint—a Prophetess, a Poet, an intellectual, seized by brutal mobbers—used by those eight demons and left not dead, but worse. The horror, the anguish, despair, hopelessness of the innocent victim was dwelt upon. [W]hat [sic] future was there for such a one? All the aspirations of a saintly virgin—that maiden of purity—had met martyrdom!” In this case, the rape left its victim not only emotionally scarred, but also permanently affected. Eliza R. Snow would never be able to have children.

Horne links Eliza’s inability to bear children in part to the decision to marry Joseph Smith polygamously in Nauvoo, Illinois. To her, the connection was clear: “The prophet heard and had compassion. This Saint, whose lofty ideals, whose person had been crucified, was yet to become the corner of female work. To her, no child could be born and yet she would be a Mother in Israel. One to whom all eyes should turn, to whom all ears would listen to hear her sing (in tongues) the praises of Zion. She was promised honor above all women, save only Emma, but her marriage to the prophet would be only for heaven.”

So, with that brief introduction to the source upon which I am basing my argument for Eliza R. Snow’s rape, I want to address the four most significant questions that I am receiving from online forums, colleagues, and friends.

1. The first question has to do with the authenticity of the source itself. Admittedly, the source is problematic, as a hearsay account written forty or fifty years later from the memory of a young girl, listening to elderly women describe something that had happened thirty years before. Without apparent corroboration from Eliza herself or other sources, this source on its own might be worthy of dismissal. Audience attendees, as well as online commenters, have sought clarification on this point. And justifiably so. Here are some of my thoughts, lettered a through f:

a. What I “revealed” last Thursday is not necessarily new information. I first heard of the rumor probably ten years ago from Eliza’s biographer, Jill Mulvay Derr, who discussed it with me when the question of the Emma-Eliza stairs story came up at an MHA conference. Further, Derr had at times discussed Eliza’s possible rape in some semi-public forums, which were then reported in various blogs. What made my presentation unique from Derr’s is that I had access to and presented the official source publicly at this official conference.  Further, Derr has argued that Eliza’s poetry about Missouri exposed a particular rage, as well as carefully-worded and brutal descriptions of the Missouri mob violence, while not going into specifics about herself. Not a smoking gun, but certainly contextually significant. I discuss some of these poems and interpretive frameworks in my paper.

b. Horne’s account is not distant and vague; its language and tone are personal, intimate and familiar.  Horne gives no indication at all that she didn’t get the information from Eliza herself. In fact, later in the document, Horne describes in detail her personal relationship to Eliza R. Snow, as a mentor and friend and Relief Society leader. By virtue of being the granddaughter of one of Snow’s best friends, and in spite of her age difference to the elder leader, Alice apparently enjoyed some kind of intimacy with the Presidentess. I consider it unlikely that Horne would have reported an account of this severity without some kind of prior communication and verification from Eliza herself.

c. The source comes from Alice Merrill Horne, not some easily discounted anonymous or outside observer. In other words, she was no yahoo. Horne was well-respected, educated, influential, widely published, and connected to the highest circles of church leadership. By virtue of her reputation and her social and religious credentials, it is difficult to dismiss the source outright as the ramblings of an unknown, a fame-seeker, or a gossip.

d. Alice’s motives are not to debase or disrespect Eliza R. Snow, but to describe how she overcame great trial and struggle to become the spiritual, political, and artistic leader that she was. Horne viewed Eliza’s life as a triumph over tragedy and constructed it as such. Given that construction, what possible other motives could she have in describing it as she did? As a private autobiography that went unpublished, she did not receive money or fame for the disclosure. But she apparently intended it, in part, as an instructive lesson for her descendants or the larger membership of the Church, on how an important Mormon leader and the most famous Mormon woman was able to overcome a violent crime and still make a successful life.

e. The importance of “institutional” family memory is worth consideration here. Memory is tricky, especially when disseminated through families, it becomes like a game of telephone, with details and interpretation changing with each telling. And yet, in each family,  life-changing events of the past become part of the self-identification and group construction of that family, and are sometimes remembered quite clearly. I can’t remember when my father’s family first told me about the tragic death of their grandmother in 1925 from complications related to childbirth. And yet, I heard the story so often that I knew it completely changed the trajectory of my grandmother’s life and the lives of her siblings. So much, that the stories of two step-mothers, some child abuse, and the young children shuttered from home to home during the Great Depression were often the subject of dinnertime conversations and family gatherings well until my grandmother’s death. And at some time in my young life, I remember hearing my grandmother’s own account of the day her mother died. She went into her parents’ bedroom, saw her mother lying on the bed (there might have been blood on the sheets or not, that is unclear in my memory) and my great-grandmother softly said, “Bee, I need you to go get your daddy.” My great-grandmother died that day. If I ever write my family history, I will include a tragic moment witnessed and remembered only by an eight-year-old girl in 1925, without corroboration, shared with a granddaughter in the 1980s, and written down here in 2016. Similarly, Horne’s 1930s account of Eliza R. Snow’s 1838 rape invites us to consider the possibilities and limitations of individual and institutional memory and how it is transmitted.  Perhaps Horne remembered details of Eliza’s rape incorrectly:  were there eight assailants, or just one?  Were there more? The various accounts of gang rapes from the Missouri period list many different numbers.  Lack of clarity on details doesn’t mean that the rape didn’t happen at all, since it was significant enough for her to include fifty years after first hearing it.

f.  If readers are still not convinced of the authenticity of this source, I readily invite those concerns in the comments here.  But, as a preview, I offer the (hopefully) future publication of my research, which will include at least one corroborating source on Eliza that has been given to me in the last few days.  I am eager to explore other primary accounts of the Missouri violence as Mormon women experienced it.  Further, I am keen to consider what a rape account might look like, if passed down through family memory.  I think it would look exactly like this one.

2. Eliza and Emma and the infamous stairs story. This story is persistent and tenacious. It was the very first question I received in the Q & A following my presentation, and I have received many more questions about it. It boils down to whether Eliza’s ability to have children could possibly have been “damaged” from Missouri, when she was supposedly pregnant and miscarried in Nauvoo. The stairs story has largely been discounted by many historians, including Richard Bushman, Linda King Newell, Valeen Tippetts Avery, and Derr herself, as apocryphal, as motivated by anti-Emma sentiments in the 1870s, and as a way of sensationalizing the Nauvoo polygamy experience. It is impossible to cover the Emma-Eliza stairs story here, but I offer for your consideration, JI’s Amanda’s overview here, as well as Brian Hales’s examination of the same here. I am sure that comment on this post will address this event, and I invite those discussions as we complicate Eliza’s narrative in light of the account of her rape.

3. Eliza’s supposed infertility or inability to have children. No one knows why Eliza R. Snow couldn’t have children. She was 34 years old when she experienced the Missouri violence, and 38 when she married Joseph Smith, and 41 when she married Brigham Young.  Her age might have precluded being able to conceive as easily had she been in her twenties. But, without the obstetric knowledge that might have diagnosed some kind of trauma to her reproductive organs, or some other condition unrelated to age or rape, it is highly improbable for historians to give her a posthumous diagnosis. But, if the Horne account is accurate, it appears that Eliza herself considered the Missouri rape to be the cause of her infertility. Does that mean the rape was so violent that her internal organs were damaged? Does it mean that she was unable to have intercourse at all, either from emotional or physical trauma? Or did she perhaps acquire a sexually transmitted disease like chlamydia or gonorrhea?  Both of which are known to cause pelvic inflammatory disease that can scar the fallopian tubes, cause inflammation of the uterus, and make it impossible to bear children.  In a pre-antibiotic era, such an infection would have gone unchecked to the point of incurable damage.  It is impossible to know. But this account offers an alternate explanation for Eliza’s infertility that counters the dubious stairs-miscarriage story.

4. The fourth question I have heard is whether I am using the Eliza case to defend or justify polygamy, according to Horne’s description, and my Tribune statement, which has received much criticism for being an apology for polygamy. I did not intend it that way. Let me be quite clear on this point: The origins and practice of Mormon polygamy, as introduced by Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, are complex, multi-faceted, and difficult to pin down with uniformity or consistency. Before I had seen the Horne source, I had often wondered at the connections between the traumas that women experienced in Missouri and the origins of polygamy, in that Mormon male leadership had felt incapable of protecting women from mob assaults. The vulnerability that women felt perhaps fostered a climate whereby celestial marriage offered solace, protection, or some kind of spiritual connectivity that kept the community cemented together in the face of danger. The Horne document presented me with evidence of the possibility that Joseph offered, and Eliza accepted, a polygamous marriage as a way of providing spiritual comfort in the absence of earthly justice. I am interested in exploring this question, but I also invite readers not to project their issues with Joseph Smith onto a topic which I have intended to bring historical attention to very real and violent crimes committed against Mormon women. I am merely trying to understand how Eliza viewed her polygamous marriage to Joseph Smith as a response to her own personal circumstances, and that is a fair historical question to ask.

Finally, I hope that readers will consider the impact of knowing Eliza’s status as a rape victim.  I worried, even agonized over revealing this brutal part of her past, that those who cherish her memory would consider her identity somehow changed by this. I am mindful of those who think I was wrong to reveal this at all, but I stand by what I did. If we seek to conceal this crime against her out of some kind of protective impulse, I believe that we are perpetuating the idea that rape brings shame to its victims.  What are your thoughts on this, readers?  I do think Eliza would want to be remembered for the wholeness of her amazing life, her poetry and hymns, her Relief Society leadership, her role in significant Restoration and pioneering events, and her contributions to Mormon women then and today.  Her story humanizes and feminizes an event that has always been told as a story of male war, male imprisonment, and male victimhood.  She unsilences the silenced.  And yet, her victimhood does not and will not define her, but this new knowledge has the potential to bring hope and healing to other victims of sexual violence among our Church membership and others, for whom Eliza provides an emulative model of strength, hope, faith, and resilience.  Whether as a historian or a Mormon woman, that is my main purpose in sharing Eliza’s story.

Guest Author

Mormons believe that ancestors of some Native Americans were the first people that the Savior ministered to when He appeared in the Americas after His resurrection.

Lamanites and Nephites in the Book of Mormon

One of the groups of people mentioned in the Book of Mormon is the Lamanites, described as rivals to a more religious people known as the Nephites. The introduction to the Book of Mormon states that the Lamanites were “among” the ancestors of the American Indians.

According to the text, the Lamanites are descendants of Laman and Lemuel, two rebellious brothers of a family of Israelites who crossed the ocean in a ship around 600 BCE. Their brother, Nephi, is portrayed as founding the rival Nephites. The text states in 2 Nephi 5:20-22 that after the two groups separated from each other, the Lamanites received a “skin of blackness” as a sign of their being cut off from the presence of the Lord, and so that they would “not be enticing” to the Nephites.

Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence. And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them. And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.

After centuries of wars among the two groups, Jesus Christ appeared and converted all of the united Lamanites and Nephites to Christianity. However, after about two centuries, many of the Christians began to fall away and identified themselves as Lamanites (see 4 Nephi 1:20), while those who remained true to the faith, identified themselves as Nephites. The Book of Mormon describes a series of great battles which ultimately occurred, ending with the Lamanites annihilating all of the Nephites (see 4 Nephi 1:35-39). The Lamanites, from whom some present-day Native Americans descend, remained to inhabit the American continents.

Native Americans in the Events of the Last Days

The following is cited from the article “Native Americans” in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:

The Book of Mormon contains many promises and prophecies about the future directed to these survivors. For example, Lehi’s grandson Enos prayed earnestly to God on behalf of his kinsmen, the Lamanites. He was promised by the Lord that Nephite records would be kept so that they could be “brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps, they might be brought unto salvation” (Enos 1:13).

The role of Native Americans in the events of the last days is noted by several Book of Mormon prophets. Nephi prophesied that in the last days the Lamanites would accept the gospel and become a “pure and delightsome people” (2 Nephi 30:6). Likewise, it was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith that the Lamanites will at some future time “blossom as the rose” (Doctrine and Covenants 49:24).

After Jesus’ resurrection in Jerusalem, he appeared to the more righteous Lamanites and Nephites left after massive destruction and prophesied that their seed eventually “shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity” (3 Nephi 21:5). He also stated that if any people “will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob [the descendants of the Book of Mormon peoples], unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance”; together with others of the house of Israel, they will build the New Jerusalem (3 Nephi 21:22-23). The Book of Mormon teaches that the descendants of Lehi are heirs to the blessings of Abraham (see Abrahamic Covenant) and will receive the blessings promised to the house of Israel.

Mormon Missionaries and the Shoshone

In 1853, Mormon settlers established an outpost in Shoshone country known as Fort Supply where a number of Shoshone sought refuge among the Mormons during the winter months. Envisioning this as an opportune learning experience, the Mormons sought to learn as much as possible about the natives’ marriage customs, burial rites, and the tribal roles of medicine men. In addition, they also studied the Shoshone language.

Brigham Young, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ at that time, established the Southern Indian Mission and stressed that missionaries needed to learn the languages of the Indians in order to teach them. In 1855, 27 men were called to serve as missionaries in territories north of Utah which were inhabited by the nations of the buffalo-hunting Indians of the Bannock, Shoshone, and Flathead.

The missionaries began their work and settled on the banks of the Salmon River in Idaho to work with the Bannock, with the mission itself being located near a site where the Bannock, Shoshone, Nez Perce, and Flathead met each summer for gambling and horse-trading. The Native Americans were friendly towards the missionaries and ensured them that they were welcomed to use the land for farming. Part of the missionary efforts included holding classes to learn the Shoshone language, and as a result of their efforts, they soon baptized 55 Indians.

However, as the Latter-day Saints had become well accustomed through the many years of persecution in their history, along with the sweetness came the bitter, as not all Indians welcomed them with open arms. In 1858, a Mormon mission in Idaho, Fort Lehmi, was attacked by a war party of about 200 Bannock and Shoshone warriors leaving two Mormons dead and five wounded. The Indians took as their bounty 250 cattle and 29 horses. As a result of the attack, the mission was abandoned.

According to an article titled “19th Century Mormon Missionaries & the Shoshone”. . . .

In 1873 Mormon missionaries under the leadership of George Washington Hill traveled to southern Idaho where they baptized about 100 Shoshone and Bannock. Speaking to the Indians in their own language, Hill told them about the Book of Mormon and depicted its story by placing pictures on a scroll. The baptized Indians were then settled on farmland near Brigham City, Utah. The Indians named the new community Washakie, after a Shoshone Chief.

In 1875, Shoshone chief Pocatello traveled to Salt Lake City where he demanded to be baptized by the Mormons. In addition to Pocatello, five other Shoshone men and four Shoshone women are baptized. Pocatello predicted that many more would follow seeking spiritual salvation.

In 1875, a Mormon missionary gathered a number of Shoshone on a spot between Malad and the Bear River in Idaho. They put in 140 acres of corn, wheat, and potatoes. The missionary then began a series of evangelical meetings which resulted in 574 baptisms.

The article further points out:

The Mormon missionary, Amos Wright, explained to the Shoshone the contents of the Book of Mormon, their relationship to the Lamanites, and the promises that God made to them. Wright spoke to them in broken Shoshone, but in spite of this his talk made such an impact upon those assembled that 87 requested baptism. Washakie and 17 of his family members converted. Wright baptized 422 Shoshone during a four-week time period.

Mormons in the Land of Native Americans – Yesterday and Today

After the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Carthage, Illinois jail in 1844, his successor, Brigham Young, made the decision to move the Saints to the Great Basin. In doing so, the Church’s policy toward Native Americans became a matter of utmost importance. As the Saints began their trek west, Young admonished them to “treat the American Indians fairly and take up the duty to convert them whenever possible.”

The interaction between the Mormons and the Native Americans remained friendly until conflicts began to evolve over the use of the limited resources that were available. Young’s plans to move to the Great Basin had not taken into consideration that the Native Americans were already using its resources to full capacity.

According to the historical narrative as recounted in an article titled “Mormons and Native Americans: A Historical Overview” in the Online Nevada Encyclopedia:

As Mormons poured into Salt Lake City, settlers appropriated rivers, streams, and springs. They fenced off productive land and used up raw materials such as pine-nut bearing trees. This caused no immediate conflict, but upon discovering their loss, members of the local Ute tribe demanded access to their resources and, when denied, simply did what they had long done and took what had been theirs.

As the Mormon population grew, tensions escalated. Infertile soil and a lack of water made it impossible to quickly create dense, sedentary settlements, so Young sent newcomers farther from Salt Lake City. Unwilling to change plans, he advised against provoking the Native Americans, but soon allowed ruthless punishment of any Indian caught stealing or harming a settler or his property.

In a short time, church leaders authorized attacking American Indians who refused to give up their resources without a fight. Church leaders argued that Native Americans who resisted were actually rejecting Christ’s message and, by refusing, justified retribution.

In Search of Native American DNA

The fact that there are perhaps many people who are descendants of Native Americans is of no surprise, however being able to find DNA in order to prove such ancestral ties can present another challenge as one reader on Ancestry.com whose great-great-grandmother was one-fourth Cherokee (Tiptendille Tribe-TN) recently found out and wrote in and asked the question, “Where is my Native American DNA?” The reply that the reader received was “the traces of Native American DNA in your test may be too small to detect.” The following explanation was given to help the reader better understand why this may be the case:

If your great-great-grandmother was ¼ Cherokee, then it was her grandparent that was 100% Native American. And that would be your 4th-great-grandparent. Now your great-great-grandmother would get 50% of her DNA from her mother and 50% from her father. To make this easy, let’s divide by 2 for every generation.

Using the information given above as a reference, it then follows that the amount of the great-great-grandmother’s DNA that the reader is likely to have is about 1.5625% which is not necessarily enough to detect Native American ethnicity.

Ancestry.com further recommended finding an older generation on the family line to have tested, as well as having brothers, sisters and cousins tested. They also suggested that, “Even if you find the DNA connection, you will still want to follow the paper trail.”

Native Americans Embrace Mormon Way of Life

The interaction between Mormons and Native American peoples today is somewhat different. Missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are sent to teach the gospel on Indian reservations. As a result, the Church has witnessed significant growth in membership among various tribes as churches of other faiths in the surrounding area continue to struggle in maintaining a sizable membership. For example, membership in the Tube City Stake in Arizona which covers 150 miles of Navajo and Hopi lands, has increased by 25 percent since 2008.

One of the main principles that Latter-day Saints teach the Navajo people is how to be self-reliant. In an October 2013 New York Times article titled “Some Find Path to Navajo Roots through Mormon Church,” the following is reported:

To attract followers, Larry Justice, a white man who is the President of the Tuba City Stake, took a page from the lives of Navajo ancestors and began a gardening program to teach people how to live off the land.

He and a handful of church volunteers teach gardening techniques, distributing seeds from a plot behind the church building here. The program started with 25 gardens four years ago, each made by Navajos next to their homes. There were 1,800 gardens last month, and by next year 500 more are to be created in Tuba City and communities all around it, Mr. Justice said.

Participants learn how to fertilize the soil, parched by years of drought. They learn to build fences to keep out the animals that roam the land. They learn what to harvest and when: melons and grapes in the summer, squash and cabbage in the fall.

“Their grandparents knew how to farm. Their parents forgot it. We’re working to make sure the young people learn it,” Mr. Justice said as he escorted visitors through the chapel, which was so crowded one recent Sunday that a divider was removed to make way for more seats. “It’s important to teach our people to be self-reliant.”

According to the statistical reports of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are presently 15,082,028 members world-wide, divided among 29,253 congregations, with the Book of Mormon being translated into 189 different languages. Of the total Church membership, approximately one-quarter live in South America.

Converts living on the Navajo reservation declare that becoming Mormon has helped them to draw closer to the fundamental Navajo values of charity, camaraderie, and respect for the land. Even though Mormonism often compels them to leave behind rituals that have long defined their identity, like a medicine man’s healing ceremonies or the cleansing in sweat lodges, speaking through a translator, one of the converts, Nora Kaibetoney, explained, “There is a feeling of “reconnecting to our traditions.” Another convert, 64-year-old Ms. Smith who was baptized while she was still in high school, commented, “In Navajo culture, the most important things we have are life and our family. Converting wasn’t about turning away and embracing an entirely different tradition; it was about reconnecting.”

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

Eliza Roxcy Snow is one of the most revered women in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (frequently misnamed the “Mormon Church”). She was an incredible woman who, once she found the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, dedicated her life building up the kingdom of God on the earth.

Early Life of Eliza Snow

Eliza was born on January 21, 1804, in Becket, Massachusetts. She was the second daughter of Oliver and Rosetta Pettibone Snow. She was raised in a financially successful home and was well educated. Unusually for the time, Eliza was even employed as her father’s secretary for a period, proving herself quite capable. At different times in her life, she was also employed as a seamstress and schoolteacher.

Eliza is perhaps most famous for her poetry, but if she made any money with her poetry before she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she did not make money for her poetry after her conversion. She believed it was a gift from God which she had a duty to share for free. Her first poem was published in 1825. Though there was a brief period of intense sorrow in her life, from about 1836 to 1838, where there is no record of her writing any poetry at all, for the most part, she continuously wrote poetry her entire life.

In 1828, Eliza encountered a suitor through her writings. He offended her, however, when he published a very presumptuous poem about her in the Western Courier, of which he was the editor. Though he pursued her with courtship, she denied him. This was several years before she joined the Church, but looking back at her early life, she said:

I remained single; and why, I could not comprehend at the time. But, when I embraced the fulness of the Gospel, in recalling the events of my past life, I felt, and still feel to acknowledge the kind overruling hand in the providences of God in that circumstance, as fully as in any other in my mortal existence; I do not know that one of my former suitors have received the Gospel, which shows that I was singularly preserved from the bondage of a marriage tie which would, in all probability, have prevented my receiving, or from the free exercise of religion which has been, and now is dearer to me than my life. (“Sketch,” in Beecher, Personal Writings, 16.)

Many members of Eliza’s family joined the Church. Eliza’s sister Leonora and their mother, Rosetta, joined first. It took more than four years for Eliza to be certain that was a step she wanted to take herself. She was 31 when she was baptized in 1835. Almost immediately upon being baptized, Eliza and her family began to experience the persecution that was the lot of the early Saints. Over the years, Eliza’s parents and some of her siblings distanced themselves from the Church due to the persecution. Eliza, however, remained faithful and valiant all her life.

Her love of poetry and writing made Eliza a well-known figure among the Saints almost immediately. She published poetry frequently in the Saints’ newspaper, the Deseret News. She also wrote many hymns, some of which are still sung and loved by the Saints today. In Nauvoo, Illinois, she was called to serve as a secretary for the first meetings of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo. This organization, now known simply as the Relief Society, is the largest women’s organization in the world.

In Kirtland, Ohio, Eliza was present at the dedication of the temple there, which experience had a profound impact on her. There are many records of the miraculous things that happened at the dedication, and Eliza counted herself lucky to have been a part of it. She even gave her inheritance to the building of the Kirtland Temple and supported herself by teaching school. It was in Kirtland that Eliza’s younger brother Lorenzo visited her and eventually joined the Church as well. He became the fifth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1898.

After increased persecution had caused the Saints to flee Ohio and settle in Missouri, tensions began to build in their new communities. These tensions in Missouri culminated in the Saints once again begin driven from their homes. Much later in life, as Eliza was writing for the Juvenile Instructor, a periodical for young Latter-day Saints, she tried to capture the state of affairs in a manner which a child could comprehend. She wrote of her family’s dog, Jack.

We had a very large watch-dog, which my father took with him from Ohio, on purpose to guard the wagons while we were traveling. As soon as my brother Lorenzo [who had been very ill] was strong enough to walk out, and carry a rifle, he amused himself by hunting turkeys, which were very abundant in that part of Missouri. Whenever he went on those little hunting excursions, the watch-dog, Jack, was sure to accompany him. Some dogs seem quite sensible, as my young readers will understand, and Jack was uncommonly smart, and seemed to realize that his master had but little strength—he would walk as stilly as possible, at my brother’s heels, until they came in sight of game, when he would place himself directly in front, and raise his head sufficiently, then hold his head perfectly still for his master to rest the rifle on his head, to shoot.

. . . Jack was highly prized by all the family, and although a dog, he was worthy of respect, because he was a true friend. . . . We had learned that Jack could be trusted, and when we knew that we were surrounded by mobocrats, we could lie down at night, feeling pretty safe, knowing that no one could approach the house, until the faithful dog had given the alarm.

I think by this time, my little friends are feeling enough interest for the dog Jack, to wish to know what became of him. I will tell you. Our Missouri neighbors (if I may call those neighbors who were plotting our destruction) saw that Jack was true to us, and they were afraid of him, and tried to entice him away, but when they found it impossible to coax him to leave us, they shot him. We all felt very sorry to lose poor Jack, and two of my younger brothers dug a grave and buried him with all the formalities that the occasion called for, and, with great childish lamentations, pronounced him a martyr. (Snow, “Little Incidents for Little Readers,” Juvenile Instructor, November 15, 1866, 2; as quoted in Eliza: The Life and Faith of Eliza R. Snow, by Davidson and Derr.)

Days in Nauvoo and Plural Marriage

In late 1838, Joseph Smith personally asked Eliza to once again use her poetry to uplift the Saints. She rose to the occasion, though it was not easy for her, and wrote poetry the rest of her life. After the Saints were driven from Missouri, they settled in what became Nauvoo, Illinois, and, for a brief time, enjoyed peace and prosperity. Eliza loved Nauvoo and enjoyed her time there. She lived with Joseph and Emma Smith for a time.

She considered the privilege of receiving her temple endowment in the completed Nauvoo Temple one of the most important of her life. She served as an ordinance worker both in the Nauvoo Temple and later in Salt Lake at the Endowment House, helping other women who were receiving their temple ordinances. She loved the temple and working in the temple.

Another eternally significant event for Eliza took place during her time in Nauvoo. On June 29, 1842, she was sealed to Joseph Smith as a plural wife for time and eternity, “in accordance with the Celestial Law of Marriage, which God has revealed” (Snow, “Sketch,” in Beecher, Personal Writings, 17). Eliza was one of the first women to enter into plural marriage, and the principle was not shared with many until much later because public opinion was so violently opposed to it.

Pretty much everyone who first heard the principle was opposed to it, including Joseph Smith himself. He did not want to implement the practice, and postponed doing so as long as he could, but it is a testament to the truthfulness of the principle that those who were asked to live it had very spiritual, personal witnesses from the Holy Ghost that the principle was from God. Eliza was no exception to this.

She recorded that at the outset the idea was “very repugnant to my feelings.” The thought of Old Testament polygamy would be reinstated was not favorable to nearly anyone raised in a Western culture. However, over time, Eliza said that she became converted through faith and revelation. She said, “As I increased in knowledge concerning the principle and design of Plural Marriage, I grew in love with it.” She defended the principle the rest of her life and called it a “precious, sacred principle” (Personal Writings, 17).

Records show that Emma Smith vacillated in her public opinion of plural marriage. After Joseph Smith’s martyrdom, she declared that he had never taught the principle, which everyone close to him knew to be false. Still, out of respect for Emma, it wasn’t until after Emma Smith’s death and after Brigham Young’s death (Eliza’s second husband) that Eliza took Joseph’s name and was known until her death as Eliza R. Snow Smith. Eliza was a believer in the principle as it was revealed by God and defended it until her death. However, judging from her stalwart behavior, it is more than likely she would have been an advocate for the transition from plural marriage back to monogamy which the Church eventually followed under God’s direction. She believed the prophets were men called of God who spoke in God’s name and followed them in faith.

Persecutions raged so strongly in Illinois that Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were eventually martyred on June 27, 1844. The Saints were once again forced to flee their homes. Those who had killed Joseph expected his death to be the end of the Mormon movement, but they misunderstood the Saints’ faith. It was not Joseph Smith they worshipped. It was and is Jesus Christ who leads His own Church. Brigham Young was called by God to lead the Saints to the West and to be the second prophet of our day. Eliza accompanied the Saints on the long, arduous journey. It was filled with misery and death, but upheld by faith and determination. The journey began on February 12, 1846 and didn’t end until October 1847.

Women had few opportunities to support themselves at this time, and Eliza was married to Brigham Young for time only (until death do they part) in October 1844. A marriage of time gave Eliza protection and a home, though due to circumstances this wouldn’t actually be the case for two more years, once the Saints were settled in the Salt Lake Valley. Mormon doctrine teaches that marriages for eternity are what provide everlasting blessings, but a woman can only be sealed to one man. Since Eliza had already been married to Joseph for eternity, the marriage to Brigham Young was more to provide for her financially than it was to secure those eternal blessings.

The Saints Settling in Utah

Though the experience was a long and difficult one, Eliza did not complain much about the long trek to Utah, nor did the other Saints. Amidst intense suffering, their faith in God was solidified to a point where it could not break. Lifelong friendships were forged which helped to build the kingdom in what became the Utah Territory. It took many years, but the Saints made the desert blossom as a rose.

After living with a few different women, Eliza moved to the Lion House in Salt Lake, Brigham Young’s large home. She had her own room here, but helped with the children and around the house. She recorded that she was very happy there and loved to be with all the children. She was an excellent seamstress and devoted nurse.

Eliza continued to write poetry and published her first volume of poetry in 1856. Brigham Young called on her myriad talents several times to help further organize the Relief Society in 1867­–68. Two years later, he called her to establish a new organization for younger women, which was originally called the Retrenchment Associations and then the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Associations. She encouraged women to meet together and to edify their minds. She helped Mormon women develop cooperative stores in the different settlements, produce their own newspaper (the Woman’s Exponent), manufacture silk in their homes, and even helped many women attend medical colleges. Remaining very vocal about the gospel and its doctrine, Eliza continued to use both poetry and prose to reach people who were not members of the Church.

Much later in her life, in October 1872, Eliza had the opportunity to journey with several Church leaders to different parts of Europe and the Holy Land. It was one of the crowning points of her life. She shared her experiences with the sisters of the Church, who had helped fund her trip, by sending them articles and poems to publish in their paper.

It is hard to fathom that a single woman could have accomplished so much in one lifetime, but Eliza did not even stop there. In 1878, she and two other women decided to come up with an organization to help the young children of the Church. With full support from Church leaders, the women began organizing the children in different settlements. These became known as the Primary Associations. Today it is simply called Primary. The organization teaches children the principles of the gospel through lessons, activities, and music.

Continuing her pattern of service until the end of her life, Eliza took a trip from November 1880 to March 1881 to visit five Utah counties and strengthen the people in each. It was a difficult and uncomfortable journey at the best of times, but at her age it must have been an ordeal. She loved to visit with the sisters and the youth, though.

Her death on December 5, 1887, brought sadness to all who knew her. Her absence was felt keenly, but she left a legacy for members of the Church which continues today. Her faithfulness and endurance are an example to the world.

Sources:

Eliza: The Life and Faith of Eliza R. Snow, by Karen Lynn Davidson and Jill Mulvay Derr.

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Haun’s Mill was a small settlement 12 miles east of Far West, Missouri, and was founded by Jacob Haun, who some sources say was a convert to the Church from Green Bay, Wisconsin, though recent research from Brigham Young University professor Alex Baugh seems to show he was not a member of the Church. Baugh’s research also indicates that this man’s name has been misspelled for many years and his last name is actually spelled Hawn, as his headstone in Yamhill, Oregon, records.

Hawn had moved to Shoal Creek in 1835. Hawn’s Mill (which is named after its founder, Jacob Hawn, so its spelling has been recently changed to reflect the discovered correction in Hawn’s name) consisted of a mill, a blacksmith shop, a few houses, and a population of about twenty to thirty families at the mill itself and one hundred families in the greater neighborhood. Tragically for the people in the wagon train, on October 30, nine wagons with immigrants from Kirtland arrived at Hawn’s Mill and decided to rest there before continuing onto Far West. Tensions in the area had been rising between the Mormons and non-Mormons for quite some time. Several misunderstandings and prejudices led the governor of Missouri, Lilburn W. Boggs, to issue what became known as the infamous Extermination Order, stating, “The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state, if necessary for the public good. Their outrages are beyond all description” (See History of the Church, 3:175). After a small battle between the Saints and the non-Mormons at Crooked River, Joseph Smith, prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, advised everyone in the area where tensions were highest (which included the settlement of Hawn’s Mill) to relocate to Far West, Missouri, or to Adam-ondi-Ahman (also in Missouri) for safety. Records seem to indicate that Jacob Hawn did not want to leave his property, so he stayed and instructed the people of the settlement to stay as well.

Despite a so-called peace settlement on October 28, in which both parties signed an agreement to not attack the other, the non-Mormon party did not disband. On the afternoon of October 30, about 240 armed men approached and attacked Hawn’s Mill.

Joseph Young, Sr., a recent arrival at Hawn’s Mill, described the late afternoon setting: “The banks of Shoal creek on either side teemed with children sporting and playing, while their mothers were engaged in domestic employments, and their fathers employed in guarding the mills and other property, while others were engaged in gathering in their crops for their winter consumption. The weather was very pleasant, the sun shone clear, all was tranquil, and no one expressed any apprehension of the awful crisis that was near us—even at our doors” (In History of the Church, 3:184). While there was no indication for the settlers that danger was so near, they did have some men on lookout and an emergency plan of using the blacksmith shop as a fort if necessary. With only minimal warning, the mob attacked at about 4:00 p.m. Many women and children ran to the woods to hide while the men fortified themselves in the blacksmith shop. Though David Evans, the military leader of the small group of Saints, cried for peace, the mob opened fire on everyone, pitilessly attacking women, children, and even elderly men. Two of the women, Amanda Smith and Mary Stedwell, grabbed Amanda’s two daughters and ran across the millpond walkway while the mob continued to fire at them. The mob quickly forced its way into the blacksmith shop and one man shot a ten-year-old boy, Sardius Smith, in the head, reportedly saying later, “Nits will make lice, and if he had lived he would have become a Mormon” (In Jenson, Historical Record, Dec. 1888, p. 673; see also Allen and Leonard, Story of the Latter-day Saints, pp. 127–28). Sardius’ younger brother, Alma, who was only seven, saw both his father and brother killed. Alma was shot in the hip, which shattered his bone, but he was miraculously healed (see story below). Even with the people who were able to run to safety in the woods and hills, at least 17 people were killed in the massacre, and 13 were wounded. Jacob Hawn was wounded, but he survived. Looking back on the tragedy a few years later, Joseph Smith said, “At Hauns’ Mill [sic] the brethren went contrary to my counsel; if they had not, their lives would have been spared” (History of the Church, 5:137). This is a tragic story in the history of the Saints, and the people who died were all innocent and undeserving of their fate, but the story is a testament that we need to follow the prophet of God whose counsel will protect us and guide us. We can also learn from this sad experience to work harder to develop peaceful relationships with those who do not believe as we do. Violence and anger will only bring more violence and anger. Here is the miraculous story of Amanda Smith’s faith which helped to heal her son Alma after his hip was shattered in the Hawn’s Mill massacre.

On that terrible day in 1838, as the firing ceased and the mobsters left, [Amanda Smith] returned to the mill and saw her eldest son, Willard, carrying his seven-year-old brother, Alma. She cried, “Oh! my Alma is dead!”

“No, mother,” he said, “I think Alma is not dead. But father and brother Sardius are [dead]!” But there was no time for tears now. Alma’s entire hipbone was shot away. Amanda later recalled:

“Flesh, hip bone, joint and all had been ploughed out. . . . We laid little Alma on a bed in our tent and I examined the wound. It was a ghastly sight. I knew not what to do. . . . Yet was I there, all that long, dreadful night, with my dead and my wounded, and none but God as our physician and help. ‘Oh my Heavenly Father,’ I cried, ‘what shall I do? Thou seest my poor wounded boy and knowest my inexperience. Oh, Heavenly Father, direct me what to do!’ And then I was directed as by a voice speaking to me.

“ . . . Our fire was still smouldering. . . . I was directed to take . . . ashes and make a lye and put a cloth saturated with it right into the wound. . . . Again and again I saturated the cloth and put it into the hole . . . , and each time mashed flesh and splinters of bone came away with the cloth; and the wound became as white as chicken’s flesh.

“Having done as directed I again prayed to the Lord and was again instructed as distinctly as though a physician had been standing by speaking to me. Near by was a slippery-elm tree. From this I was told to make a . . . poultice and fill the wound with it. . . . The poultice was made, and the wound, which took fully a quarter of a yard of linen to cover, . . . was properly dressed. . . .

“I removed the wounded boy to a house . . . and dressed his hip; the Lord directing me as before. I was reminded that in my husband’s trunk there was a bottle of balsam. This I poured into the wound, greatly soothing Alma’s pain.

“‘Alma my child,’ I said, ‘you believe that the Lord made your hip?’

“‘Yes, mother.’

“‘Well, the Lord can make something there in the place of your hip, don’t you believe he can, Alma?’

“‘Do you think that the Lord can, mother?’ inquired the child, in his simplicity.

“‘Yes, my son,’ I replied, ‘he has showed it all to me in a vision.’

“Then I laid him comfortably on his face, and said: ‘Now you lay like that, and don’t move, and the Lord will make you another hip.’

“So Alma laid on his face for five weeks, until he was entirely recovered—a flexible gristle having grown in place of the missing joint and socket, which remains to this day a marvel to physicians. …

“It is now nearly forty years ago, but Alma has never been the least crippled during his life, and he has traveled quite a long period of the time as a missionary of the gospel and [is] a living miracle of the power of God” (“Amanda Smith,” in Andrew Jenson, comp., Historical Record, 9 vols. [1882–90], 5:84–86; paragraphing and punctuation altered).

Sources:

Church History in the Fulness of Times Student Manual, 2003, 193–210

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765642730/Picturing-history-Hawns-Mill-and-Thomas-McBride.html

“The Shield of Faith,” James E. Faust, General Conference, April 2000

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

John Whitmer was a member of the famed Whitmer family who played important roles in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which church is often inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon Church”). Although all but the mother of the Whitmer family, who died early, eventually either officially left the church or simply stopped participating in it, the family members are still respected for their early and essential contributions and for consistently confirming their testimonies even after they left.

John Whitmer was born on August 27, 1802, in Pennsylvania. His parents, Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman, were members of the German Reformed Church in New York, where they moved just before 1810. John was the third child and, like his brothers, grew up working the family farm. John was confirmed a member of the German Reformed Church on April 5, 1822, with his brothers Christian and Jacob.

John Whitmer’s Introduction to Mormonism

John’s brother David met Oliver Cowdery while visiting Palmyra, New York. The two learned of a man named Joseph Smith, who was translating an ancient record recorded on gold plates. David and Oliver were both very curious about this document, and Oliver decided to travel to meet Joseph Smith in person in order to learn more. He did so and sent three letters to David testifying of the truthfulness of these religious documents. Oliver asked David if he and Joseph Smith could come to live in the Whitmer home for a time to continue the translations. Cowdery was now assisting Joseph in the role of scribe and persecutions were making the work difficult.

Although the family was at first hesitant (mainly because David would need to go and get the two men, taking him from his farm work), a small miracle showed them God wanted this to happen. David was able to finish several days’ work in one day. He went for Joseph and Oliver, with Joseph’s wife, Emma, joining them later.

Mary Whitmer, David and John’s mother, was burdened by the extra work inherent in having additional people in her home. She received a heavenly visitor who showed her the plates on which the records were written. She never again felt overwhelmed by the work and she, unlike most of her family, retained her faithfulness in the gospel her entire life.

John Whitmer: Witness to the Book of Mormon

All the Whitmers eventually gained testimonies of the work. John served for some time as a scribe for Joseph Smith, helping to move the work of translation along much more quickly. In 1829, Oliver Cowdery baptized John Whitmer, probably in Senaca Lake in Senaca, New York. John and seven others, many of whom were related to him, were chosen by God to be witnesses of the work, were allowed to see and handle the gold plates, and were instructed to record their official testimonies of them. John’s testimony is recorded in the front of the Book of Mormon:

Testimony of the eight witnesses to the Book of Mormon

When The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formally organized on April 6, 1830, John was one of the people (of whom six were required by New York law to organize a new church) who was blessed to become an official member that day. John received revelations through Joseph Smith specifically for himself and also received a call to missionary work. He was instructed by revelation to carry out his regular labors and to study the scriptures as well.

John went with Joseph Smith back to Pennsylvania, where Joseph normally lived at that time, to assist in copying revelations received. While they were there, they learned that Oliver Cowdery wanted to change a revelation that had been received. Not entirely understanding the role of a prophet in God’s church, Oliver felt that he could command the prophet to change the revelation in the name of God, essentially placing himself in the position of a prophet.

Joseph and John returned to New York to find that most of John’s family sided with Oliver Cowdery. They liked his version of the revelation better than the one Joseph had actually received. Joseph worked to teach them that there could be only one living prophet in order to avoid the confusion the world already faced in religion and that we had to accept the word of God even when we preferred something different than what God taught. Eventually, they all understood the importance of a single prophet.

Unfortunately, the Whitmers and Oliver again fell prey to false doctrine. This time it was Hiram Page who claimed to be receiving revelations through a seer stone. He managed to convince the Whitmers and Oliver that he really was receiving them from God, even though his “revelations” contradicted established doctrine and the New Testament. Joseph spent most of a night before a church conference in prayer to God in order to learn how to handle the problem.

At the conference a revelation was read explaining that only Joseph Smith could receive revelation for the entire church. Everyone can receive it for issues relating to his or her own sphere of influence, but not for the entire church. Each person attending the conference had this revelation confirmed to them personally by the Holy Ghost and accepted it, even Page himself.

John Whitmer: Serving the Lord

Despite these lapses, which would occur again, the Whitmers were valiant workers in organizing the church. They provided tireless service and made it possible for the church to function.

John Whitmer received, in 1830, a missionary call to serve in Ohio.

In 1831, John received a call to replace Oliver Cowdery as Church historian and recorder. He was hesitant to accept the call, admitting that he would rather not do it. However, he also noted that if God really wanted him in the position, he would accept it. Joseph Smith prayed and received a revelation concerning the call.

Behold, it is expedient in me that my servant John should write and keep a regular history, and assist you, my servant Joseph, in transcribing all things which shall be given you, until he is called to further duties. Again, verily I say unto you that he can also lift up his voice in meetings, whenever it shall be expedient. And again, I say unto you that it shall be appointed unto him to keep the church record and history continually; for Oliver Cowdery I have appointed to another office. Wherefore, it shall be given him, inasmuch as he is faithful, by the Comforter, to write these things. Even so. Amen (Doctrine and Covenants, Section 47).

From 1831 to about 1847, John Whitmer worked on writing a history of the Church. In 1833, he married Sarah Maria Jackson in Missouri, where the Mormons had gathered. A few months later, a mob converged on Independence, Missouri, where many Mormons lived, and began threatening them as the mob searched out church leaders. John and several other leaders offered to go peacefully if the mob would spare the rest of the community.

John and the others were ordered to leave the city. John moved to Clay County, where he was, in 1834, named assistant president of the church in that area, serving under his brother David. He attended the Kirtland Temple dedication in Ohio and was also appointed to oversee the sale of some church-owned property.

John Whitmer: Weakened by Trials and Temptation

As persecution and trials increased, many valiant people began to falter. John and his brother David, as well as William W. Phelps, were charged with appropriating properties they were to buy for the church with church funds. They put the titles to some of these lands in their own names. They ignored repeated warnings against such behavior, and so were excommunicated on March 10, 1838. As church historian and recorder, John had possession of important church documents, which he refused to return, even after several warnings and a revelation commanded him to do so.

In 1838, John participated in an event that made even himself ashamed. Joseph Smith received a revelation that was merely a command, not a prophecy. The apostles were instructed to gather at the temple lot near the end of April to receive instructions for departures to various missionary assignments. John Whitmer joined with a member of the mobs that had persecuted the Mormons (including John himself before he had left the church) and several other people who had left the church. They went to the Committee on Removal and read the revelation aloud to Theodore Turley, mocking it as a false revelation because the apostles would not all be able to arrive by that date. They announced that if the apostles did, by chance, arrive in time, they would kill them. They tried to convince Turley to denounce Joseph Smith. When he refused, they mocked him intensely. John was ashamed, by this time, of his participation in this meeting. Theodore Turley, knowing John had been a witness to the gold plates, asked John if he still held to the testimony he had once given. John said he did and knew the Book of Mormon was true.

When the Mormons were forced out of the city again by the mobs, John Whitmer stayed behind. Mormons were forced to sell their properties for minimal amounts, and John took advantage of these sales, refusing to pay a fair price for the properties he purchased. However, although he never returned to the church, he continued to uphold his statement about having seen the gold plates.

Confirmed Testimony of the Book of Mormon

In 1861, a missionary visiting him heard his testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, of Joseph Smith’s role as a prophet, and even a commitment to Brigham Young’s work as a prophet. He simply couldn’t bring himself to ask forgiveness, even though he was sorry he had ever left. Shortly before his death, a missionary from the Reorganized Church, an offshoot of the main church, challenged him to become a Mormon again. John had tears in his eyes as he expressed a hope that the time would come when they would all see eye to eye. In the history of the church, which he had refused to return to the church, he wrote after his excommunication, “Therefore I close the history … hoping that I may be forgiven of my faults … not withstanding my present situation, which I hope will soon be bettered and I find favor in the eyes of God and all men his saints.”

Sources:

Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007.

Richard Lloyd Anderson, The Whitmers: A Family That Nourished the Church, Ensign, August 1979

Keith W. Perkins, “True to the Book of Mormon—The Whitmers,” Ensign, February 1989

The Joseph Smith Papers

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.