Some sneaked southward to the Missouri River and took boat passage to St. Not six months before the death of Joseph, he called his wife Emma into a secret council, and there he told her the truth, and called upon her to deny it if she could. He helped shepherd Saints across Missouri by advancing with one part of the camp as rapidly and as far as possible and then returning with the teams to move others out. Brigham interpreted Emma's refusal to answer as an admission of guilt.. "Women felt comfortable leaving their children in the church nursery across the hall," she writes, "because the caregivers passed background checks, earned a fair wage, and had a well-managed. Sister Emma cried and said that they [thieves] had taken all of her bed clothes, except one quilt and blanket, and what could she do? So Caroline and other sisters told Emma to send hers to Joseph, which she did, and they gave her replacement bedding for her family. Since he did father many children with Emma, parenthood was possible, but there is, at this time, no biological proof of traditional marriage relationships and the only accounts came from others, not the women or Joseph. Provo, UT 84602 document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. "On three of these moves she had to leave behind most or all of her furniture. These were the top four reasons for leaving the LDS Church: "I studied church history and lost my belief" (39% primary factor, 81% moderate to strong factor); "I lost faith in Joseph Smith" (39% primary, 84% mod-strong); "I ceased to believe in the church's doctrine/theology" (38% primary, 87% mod-strong); She stood by her husband even when they faced strains in their marriage. [26] Hartley, My Best for the Kingdom, 8586. Minute Book 1, 14 Sept. 1835; Joseph Smith III, "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," Saints' Herald, 1 Oct. 1879, 289; "Hale, Emma," in Black, Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848, 19:846; Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma, 57; Cook, Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 37. On March 5, Bishop Edward Partridge reported in Quincy that ice had been running for three days so that no one could cross the Mississippi. [8] After eleven days travel, they reached white Settlements on the Desmoine River in Iowa. Finally, Brigham was Joseph's successor, and Emma challenged that succession by supporting her son, Joseph Smith III, as the 'proper' leader, and as one who would not teach the hated doctrine of polygamy (which Emma falsely claimed Brigham had foisted on the Church). Linda requested and was granted a meeting with some general authorities, including Dallin Oaks, to discuss the ban and discover what aspects of the book had been found objectionable. He referred to a handmade chart that showed the homes Emma Smith had during her 17-year marriage to Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith. Modern Mormons are beginning to come to terms with Emma as the elect lady God declared her to be in a revelation, but a very real and human one at the same time who fought for God as long as she had to before choosing the calmer life she longed for. . A few days later, the horses ran away. Those coming from outside Far West suffered because as John Greene wrote, we have been robbed of our corn, wheat, horses, cattle, cows, hogs, wearing apparel, houses and homes, and indeed, of all that renders life tolerable.[19] On November 9 the Missouri Republican Daily reported that the Saints situation was a case of great difficulty because they are generally poor and facing starvation. [39] Joseph Holbrook said that Saints understood that if the Church would make haste and move as fast as possible it would [do] much to the relieve our brethren who were now in jail as our enemies were determined to hold them as hostages until the church left the state so that every exertion was made in the dead of the winter to remove as fast as possible (Life of Joseph Holbrook, 46). . He rode with the Mormon militia who fought in the Battle of Crooked River. Also, three men were sent to locate possible settlement sites up the Mississippi River in Illinois. Along the way, he said he had to stop among strangers with my daughter who had given birth to a child on the prairie.[64] Elisha Whiting said his family was driven in the month of March through cold storms of snow and rain, having to make our beds on the cold wet ground which when we arose in the morning we often found drenched with water and then obliged to load our wet bedding into the waggon and move slowly forward.[65], About March 18, Wilford Woodruff, in Quincy and newly back from a mission, went to the river and looked across and saw a great many of the Saints, old and young, lying in the mud and water, in a rainstorm, without tent or covering. Joseph and Emma Smith's sorrow over this matter was, for the most part, very private, according to Delewski. The John Murdock family left on February 4 without any team or animal or carriage of any kind. They put Mrs. Murdock and the household furniture in a Brother Humphreys wagon. If Brigham Young had one constant character trait, it was his absolute faithfulness to Joseph Smith. She even owned cows and other items, possibly given as payment from students. When the Twelve returned from Far West in early May, they rejoiced to see him a free man in Illinois. I asked my mother one day, why don't Grandma laugh with her eyes like you do, and my mother said because she has a deep sorrow in her heart. Fanny lived in the Smiths' house with Emma, which caused much tension. had not heard anything from me during this time, neither dare I write to [them].[68], At a March 17 meeting, Saints in Quincy heard a letter read from the Committee of Removal in Far West asking for teams & money for the removing of fifty families of poor Saints from far west to Quincy.[69] On March 29 the committee in Quincy wrote to their counterparts in Far West sympathizing with their extreme labor and travail to move out the last poor Saints. Their difficult trip to Mississippi River took twelve days: We had snow and rain every day but 2. This forced expulsion of Saints from Missouri produced short- and long-term consequences, as enumerated here for various of the parties involved. 3 The process, like so many other endeavors in her life, Shortly after her baptism in July 1830, Emma Smithwas called by God to compile a hymnbook to edify the Church. In an essay published on its website quoting "careful estimates", the church said the wives. Emma served as a scribe during his first efforts to translate the Book of Mormon. The views expressed by individual users are the responsibility of those users and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. Saints gathered for a general conference on May 46 held in a Presbyterian campground two miles north of Quincy. [99] At that point the Saints exodus from Missouri was finished, and Governor Boggss extermination order had basically succeeded in removing Saints from northwest Missouri. [41] Jesse and Whittaker, Albert Perry Rockwood Journal, 34. I am already engaged on the other side.'[4]. She would smile with her lips, but to me, as small as I was, I never saw the brown eyes smile. This article examines the results of the Religious Landscape Study conducted in 2014 by the Pew organization, looking specifically at information related to the questions of who is leaving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, why they leave, where they go, and what factors seem to contribute to their exodus. She carried two children while two others hung on to her skirt. You might notice something a bit surprisingtheres no musical notation! The Saints exodus from Nauvoo took place a year and a half later, leaving Emma, a 41-year-old widow, with her aged mother-in-law, Lucy Mack Smith, and five children, ranging in age from fourteen years to fifteen months old, to care for. A test passed by the faithful. During November and December, Joseph C. Kingsbury and Caroline, his wife of two years, lived in a little cabin with meager provisions. Holbrook left behind his wife Nancy, who a week later gave birth to their fourth child, and three small children ages seven, five, and two. When he reached the Clevelands, Emma recognized him as he dismounted from his horse and met him half way to the gate.[101], A Quincy newspaper reporter publicized the arrival of Joseph Smith and his prison companions, concluding with a favorable description of the Church President and Prophet: We had supposed from the stories and statements we had read of Jo Smith (as he is termed in the papers) to find him a very illiterate, uncouth sort of man; but from a long conversation, we acknowledge an agreeable disappointment. Emma was a significant part of the church while her husband was alive. They reached Quincy on January 29 and found ourselves in a land of Freedom once more by the help of God and his blessings. Holbrook observed that brethren were continually coming to Quincy from the Missouri as I had done.[43] In late January, Ebenezer Robinson and three other men walked from Far West to Quincy through the snow.[44]. The Knight family. [54] The Saints Petition to Congress, November 1839, in Smith, History of the Church, 4:2438; the mention of bloody footsteps is on p. 36. . Who was the oldest president of the LDS Church? [97] During a change of venue from Daviess to Boone County, Joseph Smith and the four others who had been in Liberty Jail were allowed to escape on April 16, and they found their way to Illinois safely. How old was Emma Smith when Joseph Smith died? Emma Smith would make tremendous sacrifices for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for her husband, and for the church. [16] Baugh, A Call to Arms, 395; Reed Peck Manuscript, 29. In 1888 a Lyman Wight cabin was the only building standing in Ahman, and by 1970 it was totally gone.[124]. Emma's brothers and sisters were all named after family members, either on her mother's side or her father's. [59] Hartley, My Best for the Kingdom, 90. When the family arrived opposite Quincy, they became ice bound for two weeks. While they waited, a Brother Brunson came from Quincy and asked campers to donate their outfits to go back and assist in removing the poor. Did Emma Smith leave the LDS Church? . Unlike the majority of Latter Day Saints, Emma Smith did not follow Brigham Youngs suggestion that the Latter Day Saints leave Nauvoo and settle in the Salt Lake Valley in present-day Utah. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of FAIR, its officers, directors or supporters. The additions were Elias Smith, Erastus Bingham, Stephen Markham, and James Newberry (History of the Church, 3:24954, includes 214 names of those who pledged). Further, the committee agreed to find employment for those able and willing to labor. a boy whom many Saints felt to be Smiths rightful prophetic heir, The biography Linda and Valeen published with Doubleday several years later. Unfortunately, Apple's iOS doesn't support home screen shortcuts in the Chrome browser. Health problems and deaths. Many of the Saints were converts who had sung hymns before. John Lowe Butler, for one, wanted his written record to stand as a witness against Missourians who were cruel to his suffering family during the exodus and earlier. 11. [122] James Galligher Petition in Johnson, Mormon Redress Petitions, 218. The way that current materials deal with the conflict with Brigham Young is . The Smoots lacked a team, so their wagon was useless. Ever since the Prophet Joseph died as a martyr in Carthage, Illinois, some Latter-day Saints have felt disappointment that Joseph's wife Emma did not go with the Church in the westward exodus of the Saints in 1846-47.