The Apostasy in Kirtland 1836-1838
1837 was the worst year of apostasy this Church has ever
known.
What is an apostate?
“A traitor”
Five major problems in Kirtland:
1. Economic distress:
Many people were buying on credit and not paying it
back. Joseph had problems because of his trusting heart.
He purchased $60,000 worth of goods (back east) to set
up his store to provide an income for his family. He kept
giving things to people on credit. As a result he went
bankrupt. He was not a good business man.
2. Speculation in Kirtland on land sales:
In 1836-37 land sales increased 800%. People lost everything.
Two members of the twelve were involved. They bought land,
homes, etc. and sold it to members gathering in Kirtland and
then called on the note when the depression hit. The two
members of the twelve were John F. Boynton and Lyman
Johnson. Many of the Latter-day Saints became wealthy on
paper because of the value of their properties; however, this
wealth never materialized.
3. Pride:
There was a strong desire by some to become wealthy which
led to criticism of the Prophet. Associated issues such as
immorality centered around the rising questions about plural
marriage.
In 1837 the United States experienced the worst depression up
to that time. The state of New York alone lost $100,000,000. The
problems were nation wide. Members who were wealthy found
themselves poor. John Tanner and William Huntington were two
families who lost everything.
4. The failure of the Kirtland Society:
Joseph was the treasurer and Sidney was the President. Oliver
went to Philadelphia to get plates made in order to make
bank notes. Orson Hyde went to Columbia to meet with the
legislature in order to obtain permission to open a bank.
Permission was refused. As a result the bank was called the
Kirtland Anti-Banking Safety Society. The Church was sued
over it and lost.
Joseph fled to Missouri in January 1838 because of
persecution. Warren Parrish was the cashier when John F.
Boynton and Lyman Johnson took over $100,000 from the
bank. When Joseph learned of it he immediately resigned.
Boynton was excommunicated from the Church and never
returned. Lyman Johnson and Warren Parrish both followed
Boynton’s lead.
5. Apostasy:
In May of 1837, thirty prominent men met in the Kirtland
Temple to discuss replacing Joseph Smith as President of
the Church. Joseph was not in Kirtland because he was
serving a mission in Michigan.
Most of the men wanted David Whitmer to be the new
President.
The nomination fed David Whitmer’s ego and was
probably the cause of him later leaving the Church.
The only ones in that meeting who favored keeping the
Prophet Joseph were Sidney Rigdon, John Smith, and
Brigham Young.
Brigham told them that if they were to leave the Church
they would cut the thread that ties them to God and they
would sink their souls to hell.
Those who turn against the Church do so to play to
their own private gallery, but when, one day, the
applause had died down and the cheering has
stopped, they will face a smaller audience, the
judgment bar of God (Neal A. Maxwell, Things As
They Really Are, 90).
Occasionally a member of the Church who is
weak in the faith struggles with his other questions
and circumstances and loses the battle. Those few
members who desert the cause are abandoning
an oasis to search for water in the desert. Some of
them will not just wander off but become obsessed
critics occupying offices in the “great and
spacious building,” that large but third-class hotel
(Neal A. Maxwell, “Not My Will But Thine,” 28).
The Kirtland Safety Society Bank sold its first stock in October
1836. One year later, in November 1837, the bank closed.
Some two hundred shareholders who had bought stock in
the bank suffered losses (Joseph Smith had no control over
those factors).
Founding a bank in Kirtland in 1836 was a logical business
decision. Other communities in the area, such as Ashtabula,
Warren, and Ravenna, while not as large as Kirtland, had
banks.
In 1837 the Church’s debt probably exceeded fifty thousand
dollars.
In all, two hundred people invested, with an average
investment of twelve dollars (which represented about oneweek’s income in 1840). About twenty thousand dollars was
invested in the bank (Hill, Rooker, and Wimmer, Kirtland
Economy, 61)
On November 2, 1836 Sidney Rigdon was elected President
and Joseph Smith, cashier.
Oliver Cowdery went to Philadelphia to procure dies and
plates for bank bills. The name Kirtland Safety Society
Bank appeared on the notes because it was assumed that
the state of Ohio would grant a charter.
Orson Hyde went to Columbus, the Ohio state capital with
a petition for an act of incorporation. He reported that the
legislature raised frivolous excuses because they were
Mormons and refused banking privileges (History of the
Church, 2:468).
In January of 1837 they decided on a new course, the
Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company.
Although forming a bank without a state charter may seem
unusual to one today, it was not at all unusual in 1837.
“Anti-banks,” were operating not only in Ohio but also in
surrounding states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania,
and anti-bank conventions were held in counties near
Kirtland.
In the first few days of operation, bills in one, two, and three
dollar denominations were issued but the three dollar bill
was the only on which the phrase “Anti-Banking Co.” was
successfully stamped.
With heavy demand for speci (gold, silver, or bills or notes
from other institutions) the bank’s liquid reserves were wiped
out. Although the estimated reserves were about fifteen
thousand dollars, which should have been sufficient, there
was a run on the bank.
In June of 1837, ten stockholders, including the Prophet,
transferred their stock to Oliver Granger and Jared Carter
and withdrew from the bank.
Joseph Smith suffered overwhelming financial losses and
embarrassments from the bank’s failure. He had personally
borrowed money to keep the bank open, so when the bank
closed, his financial losses were greater than those of most
investors; in fact, he suffered more financial losses than all
other investors except one. His personal investment in bank
stock totaled $1,360. He had borrowed money, $4,250, from
two banks. In early 1837, in an attempt to repay the loans,
he sold $5,100 worth of land within a three-month period of
time (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 2:497).
Financial mistakes by Church leaders were unintentional,
they may have been errors of the head and not the heart. In
October 1837: Joseph and Sidney go to trial. Each was
found guilty and fined one thousand dollars plus costs.
Joseph and Sidney appealed the fine and felt that the fine
was initiated by influential enemies of the church.
In November of 1837 the bank closed it’s doors.
It has been estimated that the total losses were a little over
forty thousand dollars. The average loss, therefore, would
have been about one hundred dollars to two hundred
dollars, or about one-fourth to one-half of an individual’s
yearly income in 1837 Kirtland (Journal of Discourses, 11:11).
Even after have been forced to leave, Joseph spent
considerable effort, until his death, to repay the notes and
loans. The fact that he and other founders of the bank
repaid the bulk of their debts, even when distant from
Kirtland, points out their desire to maintain their integrity.
Just before his resignation from the bank, Joseph said, “It
seemed as though all the powers of earth and hell were
combining their influence in an especial manner to
overthrow the Church at once, and make a final end.
Benjamin Johnson (19 years old) called this time in Kirtland
“the first great apostasy” and regarded it as a test he had to
pass.
From the Quorum of the Twelve fell four of the brightest:
William McLellin, Luke and Lyman Johnson and John
Boyington; of the First Presidency, F.G. Williams; the three
witnesses to the Book of Mormon, Oliver Cowdery, David
Whitmer and Martin Harris, Joseph Coe and many others
who apostatized or became enemies to the Prophet.
Approximately one-third of the leaders appear to have
succumbed to apostasy, and they drew many others away
with them.
About two hundred to three hundred person apostatized,
representing a loss of 10-15 percent of the Kirtland
membership. About one-third of the Church leaders were
either excommunicated, disfellowshiped, or removed from
their Church callings.
Allegations about Joseph Smith
Warren Parrish said,
“Joseph and Sidney lie by revelation,
swindle by revelation, cheat and defraud
by revelation, run away by revelation, and
if they don’t mend their ways, I fear they
will at last be damned by revelation.”
Warren Cowdery accused the
Prophet of “Making himself a
monarch, absolute and
despotic, and ourselves
objects, slaves or phoning
sycophants” (self-seeking
flatterers).
Parley P. Pratt charged the Prophet with
“covetousness, and taking advantage of
his brothers by undue religious
influence.”
Parley approached his convert – John
Taylor on the street and complained
bitterly about Joseph Smith. John
Taylor said, “Why Parley, I’m surprised
at you, when you came to Canada
you told me Joseph was a prophet of
God and the Holy Ghost had borne
witness to you of that truth. Therefore, I
suggest that you repent!”
I’m sure John Taylor thanked Parley P. Pratt
for what happened in Canada, but I think
Parley will thank John Taylor for eternity!
There are only two members of the Twelve
who are not out of harmony with the Prophet
and they are Brigham Young and Heber C.
Kimball. Even David W. Patten was out of
harmony for a short time. When David
Patten returned from his mission he was in
the home of Warren Parrish and was soured
against the Prophet. He then went to the
home of Joseph and complained that
Joseph was “abusive.”
Without warning Joseph reared back and slapped
him (David W. Patton) as hard as he could. He then
kicked him out of his house and sent him down the
path to the gate.
David later said it was the best thing that had ever
happened to him (Thanks, I needed that).
Brigham Young said about those days,
He doubted the Prophet for about 30 seconds and
then he told the devil to keep his nose in his own
business.
Remember, when Brigham Young died, his last three
words were “Joseph, Joseph, Joseph.”
Brigham was loyal to the Prophet.
Orson Pratt and Lyman Johnson, both apostles,
charged the Prophet with lying and
misrepresentation, extortion and for speaking
disrespectfully about Orson’s brother behind his
back.
In 1837 Joseph was involved in 18 different
lawsuits.
Persecution got so bad that in January 1838 he
had to flee.
In one of the lawsuits he was tried for murder.
Nothing was ever proven against Joseph.
Conflict between the High Priests and 70’s!
The argument was who was the greatest in the
Kingdom of God?
Some in the groups had been ordained both as
Seventies and High Priests. They said they were
better than men in either group because they
held both offices.
There was a fist fight between Jared Carter and
Benjamin Winchester concerning it.
Seventy Quorums in the Stakes were
discontinued in 1986.
On April 6th, 1837 Joseph called all the
High Priests and the Seventies into a
meeting in the Kirtland Temple. He said,
“How many of you are ordained a High
Priest?” Those who were also ordained
Seventies were released from the
Quorum of Seventy and told to take their
place with the High Priests.
The problem with High Priests and
Seventies was resolved in 1961 when
David O. McKay ordained the First
Council of the Seventy as High Priests.
Some people in the Church were
offended then too.
Mission to England
In June of 1837 Joseph was in the Kirtland
Temple when he leaned over to Heber C.
Kimball and told him that it was time for
him to go on a mission to England.
Heber asked him why? Joseph’s answer
was to “save this Church.”
He then asked if he could take Brigham
Young with him to which Joseph said no.
Heber C. Kimball Was Suffering From Excruciating
Back Pain:
A short time previous to my husband’s stating…he was
prostrated on his bed from a stitch in his back, which
suddenly seized him while chopping and drawing
wood for his family, so that he could not stir a limb
without exclaiming, from the severe-ness of the pain.
Joseph Smith hearing of it came to see him, bringing
Oliver Cowdery and Bishop Partridge with him. They
prayed for and blessed him, Joseph being the mouth,
beseeching God to raise him up. He then took him by
the right hand, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
and by virtue of the holy priesthood vested in me, I
command you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to rise, and
be thou made whole.” He arose from his bed, put on
his clothes, and started with them, and went up to the
temple, and felt no more of the pain afterwards
(Tullidge, Women of Mormondom, 113).
Before Elder Kimball left for England,
Joseph Smith had a vision, which he
described to his associate: “I saw the
12, apostles of the Lamb, who are now
upon the earth who hold the keys of
this last ministry, in foreign lands,
standing together in a circle much
fatigued, with their clothes tattered and
feet swollen, with their eyes cast
downward, and Jesus standing in their
midst, and they did not behold him, the
Savior looked upon them and wept
(Joseph Smith, Diary, in Jessee, The
Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 146).
This was the first overseas mission for
the Church.
Orson Hyde walked into the room
and was so touched by what he felt
that he repented right then and there
and asked if he could go as well.
Joseph granted him permission.
President Marsh who was President of
the Twelve was offended because he
thought he should be the one who
opened up England for missionary
work.
The following were called to go:
Willard Richards, Levi Richards (Levi read
the Book of Mormon twice in 10 days.
Joseph Fielding, John Goodson, John
Snyder and Isaac Russell.
The men introduced their family members
in England to the apostles and the door
was opened.
Heber C. Kimball was the senior apostle
on the mission.
On the way over to England there was a
child on board the ship that the ship
surgeon had given up on as dead.
Heber C. Kimball took the child into his
arms, blessed the child and healed the
child. It had a great impact on those who
were on board.
After arriving in England, Heber jumped
into a little boat and from there onto the
docks and was the first one to put his feet
on British soil.
Heber C. Kimball saw a banner positioned over
one of the homes that said, “Truth will Prevail” and
saw it as a good omen. They started their mission
and soon had nine people to baptize.
That morning in Preston, the evil one made himself
manifest by trying to destroy the missionaries.
It was recorded by Wilford Woodruff and George
A. Smith that when Isaac Russell left Canada, a
legion of evil spirits left with him. They said that
the evil spirits had followed him to England. Night
after night he would walk the decks of the ship in
great discomfort as the evil spirits would torment
him.
Heber C. Kimball Overcomes the Power of the
Adversary
(Preston, England --- July 1837, as related by Heber C. Kimball)
On Sunday, July 30th, 1837, about daybreak, Elder Isaac Russell (who
had been appointed to preach on the obelisk in Preston square that
day), who slept with Elder Richards in Wilfred Street, came up to the
third story, where Elder Hyde and myself were sleeping, and called
out, “Brother Kimball, I want you should get up and pray for me that
I may be delivered from the evil spirits that are tormenting me to such
a degree that I feel I cannot live long, unless I obtain relief.”
I had been sleeping on the back of the bed. I immediately arose,
slipped off at the foot of the bed, and passed around to where he
was. Elder Hyde threw his feet out, and sat up in the bed, and we laid
hands on him, I being mouth, and prayed that the Lord would have
mercy on him, and rebuked the devil.
While thus engaged, I was struck with great force
by some invisible power, and fell senseless on the
floor. The first thing I recollected was being
supported by Elders Hyde and Richards, who
were praying for me; Elder Richards having
followed Russell up to my room. Elder Hyde and
Richards then assisted me to get on the bed, but
my agony was so great that he could not endure
it, and I arose, bowed my knees and prayed. I
then arose and sat up on the bed, when a vision
was opened to our minds, and we could
distinctly see the evil spirits, who foamed and
gnashed their teeth at us.
When Heber C. Kimball placed his hands
on his head, he was knocked forcibly to
the floor. He tried again and this time was
knocked out. Heber was laying on the
bed trying to re-cooperate when he saw a
legion of evil spirits coming at him.
He said they had whips, daggers, knives
and pistols in their hands. He said they
used every filthy, vulgar expression ever
imaginable. He said they would come
right up to their faces and spit at them and
gnash their teeth in hatred.
We gazed upon them about an hour and a half (by
Willard’s watch). We were not looking toward the window,
but towards the wall. Space appeared before us, and we
saw the devils coming in legions, with their leaders, who
came within a few feet of us. They came towards us like
armies rushing to battle. They appeared to be men of full
stature, possessing every form and feature of men in the
flesh, who were angry and desperate; and I shall never
forget the vindictive malignity depicted on their
countenances as they looked me in the eye; and any
attempt to paint the scene which then presented itself, or
portray their malice and enmity, would be in vain. I
perspired exceedingly, my clothes becoming as wet as if
I had been taken out of the river. I felt excessive pain,
and was in the feelings of horror; yet by it I learned the
power of the adversary, his enmity against the servants of
God, and got some understanding of the invisible world.
We distinctly heard those spirits talk and express their
wrath and hellish designs against us that day.”
Elder Hyde’s supplemental description of that fearful
scene is as follows, taken from a letter addressed to
President Kimball:
“Every circumstance that occurred at that scene of
devils is just as fresh in my recollection at this
moment as it was at the moment of its occurrence,
and will ever remain so. After you were overcome by
them and had fallen, their awful rush upon me with
knives, threats, imprecations and hellish grins, amply
convinced me that they were not friends of mine.
While you were apparently senseless and lifeless on
the floor and upon the bed (after we had laid you
there), I stood between you and the devils and
fought them and contended with them face to face,
until they began to diminish in number and to retreat
from the room.
The last imp that left turned round to me as
he was going out and said, as if to
apologize, and appease my determined
opposition to them, I never said anything
against you! I replied to him thus: It
matters not to me whether you have or
have not; you are a liar from the beginning!
In the name of Jesus Christ, depart! He
immediately left, and the room was clear.
That closed the scene of devils for that
time.”
Heber and the others gazed upon them about an hour
and a half. They saw the devils coming in legions, with
their leaders, who came within a few feet of them. They
were like armies rushing to battle.
They appeared to be men of full stature, possessing every
form and feature of men in the flesh, who were angry and
desperate. Heber said he would never forget the
vindictive malignity depicted on their countenances as
they looked him in the eye. He said that any attempt to
paint the scene which presented itself or portray their
malice and enmity would be in vain.
Heber perspired exceedingly, his clothes becoming as
wet as he had taken them out of the river. He felt
excessive pain, and was in distress for some time.
Years later, narrating the experience of that awful morning
to the Prophet Joseph, Heber asked him what it all meant,
and whether there was anything wrong with him that he
should have such a manifestation. “No Brother Heber,” he
replied, “at the time you were nigh unto the Lord; there
was only a veil between you and Him, but you could not
see Him. When I heard of it, it gave me great joy, for I
then knew that the work of God had taken root in that
land. It was this that caused the devil to make a struggle
to kill you.”
Joseph then related some of his own experience, in many
contest he had had with the evil one, and said: “The
nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater power will
be manifested by the adversary to prevent the
accomplishment of His purposes.”
An answer this, for the unbelieving and sophistical, who argue,
with the shallow reasoning of Job’s comforters, that they have
sinned most who suffer most, and are ever ready to ascribe
spiritual manifestations, good or evil, to madness, drunkenness
or imbecility. It is needful, we are told, to experience
opposites, to be enabled to choose intelligently between them;
and to those who have this experience, and who “take the Holy
Spirit for their guide,” the way to judge is as plain “as the
daylight from the dark night.”
So was it with the Apostles and Elders in Preston, after their
terrible encounter with the powers of evil, at Sunday day-break,
July 30, 1837. The Spirit of the Lord, with peace and joy that
“passeth understanding,” dawned with the Sabbath sun upon
their souls. They had tasted of the bitter, and would thenceforth
more fully know the sweet; encompassed about by the “horror
of darkness,’ they hailed with ecstasy till then unknown, the
glory of the golden morn (Life of Heber C. Kimball, Orson F.
Whitney, 129-32).
“A Marriage Proposal”
One day Heber came up to Willard Richards and said, “Willard,
I just baptized your wife for you.”
Her name was Janetta Richards. Willard was certainly
interested.
Willard wrote to Janetta and said,
“Dear Janetta Richards, I have always liked the last name
Richards and would not want to change it. How do you feel
about it?”
She wrote back and said, “I also have always liked the name
Richards and I don’t think I would ever like to change it.”
That was the proposal and the acceptance.
(See, you guys make everything too difficult!)
Another family brought into the Church by Heber was
named the Smithies. They had a baby girl who was ill and
it looked like she would not survive.
Heber blessed her and promised that she would live to be
a faithful member of the Church and a mother in Israel.
She was healed and later became a wife to the man who
had blessed her as a baby.
She was the last wife of Heber C. Kimball. They lived in
Utah and had five children together.
Heber also baptized a man name Alexander Nichols who
was a German Jew who later fixed Joseph’s broken tooth
in Nauvoo.
Alexander Nichols later testified in the Salt Lake Valley
that he saw the Savior.
After 10 months in England, the
brethren began to return home.
Joseph Fielding and Willard
Richards stayed in England and
were left in charge of the mission
along with another convert
named William Clayton.
Parley P. Pratt to Canada:
He hesitated to go because he was in debt, and Thankful, his
wife, was chronically ill. Parley recounts what happened next: I
had retired to rest one evening at an early hour, and was
pondering my future course, when there came a knock at the
door. I arose and opened it, when Elder Heber C. Kimball and
others entered my house, and being filled with the spirit of
prophecy, they blessed me and my wife, and prophesied as
follows:
“Brother Parley, thy wife shall be healed from this hour, and shall
bear a son, and his name shall be Parley; and he shall be a
chosen instrument in the hands of the Lord to inherit the
priesthood and to walk in the steps of his father. He shall do a
great work in the earth in ministering the Word and teaching the
children of men. Arise, therefore, and go forth in the ministry,
nothing doubting. Take no thoughts for your debts, not the
necessaries of life, for the Lord will supply you with abundant
means for all things” (Pratt, Autobiography, 130).
The blessing that Thankful would bear a
son was particularly startling because in
ten years of marriage she had been
unable to conceive.
The birth was a bittersweet experience,
however, for she died just three hours
later.
She was buried in the churchyard near
the Temple in Kirtland.
The First Baptisms in the River Ribble
Word spread quickly that there was going
to be a baptism and it was estimated that
7,000 – 9,000 people showed up to watch.
Nine people were baptized that day and
there was a friendly wager between them
as to who would be baptized first.
They settled it with a foot race which
George Watt’s won.
Unfortunately he was later
excommunicated and died outside
of the Church.
A lot of the people who were
baptized had seen Heber in a vision
before he came to England and the
Spirit had testified to them that “he
would teach them the truth.”
In just 10 months the missionaries had
baptized over 2,000 people. Heber
C. Kimball baptized 1,500 of them
himself.
Chatburn
Heber told some of the converts that he felt
impressed to go to Chatburn. His convert friends
warned him not to go. They said the people in
Chatburn had driven all the ministers out of their
town.
Heber C. Kimball responded that the Spirit drove
him there and that he had to go.
After he arrived he baptized nearly the entire
town and also a couple of the other nearby
towns.
A few months later when he re-visited the
area, the little children came out to greet
him, encircled him and sang songs of Zion.
Heber said,
“As I passed down the streets of Chatburn,
women came out of their homes and cried
and waved hankies in respect. Men took
off their hats in reverence as I passed. I felt
as though I were on sacred ground and
should have removed my shoes.”
Later, when Heber shared that
experience with Joseph,
Joseph told him that ancient
Apostles had stood on that
very spot and had prepared it
for Heber’s coming.
Some have said it was Paul
and Simeon, others - James
and John.
Parley P. Pratt preaching in Mentor:
Some came to hear, and some to disturb the meeting; and
on Mr. Newel soon appeared at the head of a mob of some
fifty men and a band of music. These formed in order a
battle and marched round several times near where I stood,
drowning out my voice with the noise of their drums and
other instruments. I suspended my discourse several times
as they passed, and then resumed. At length, finding that
no disturbance of this kind would prevent the attempt to
discharge my duty, they rushed upon me with one accord
at a given signal, every man throwing an egg at my person.
My forehead, bosom, and most of my body was completely
covered with broken eggs. At this I departed, and walked
slowly away, being insulted and followed by this rabble for
some distance. I soon arrived in Kirtland, and was assisted
by my kind friends in cleansing myself and clothes from the
effects of this Christian benevolence (Pratt, Autobiography,
128-29).
Orson Hyde narrowly missed harm:
He and his companion held a meeting in a
private home. A mob of several hundred men
surrounded the house to tar and feather the
elders. Orson noted that “a little boy came
into the house to see if we were there and he
did not see us, and went out and told them
that we were not there, and they then
disappeared swearing and scolding, and thus
the Lord delivered us (Bitton, op. cit. 506-7).
Back to the Apostates in Kirtland
In August of 1837 the “Parish Gang” was
organized. They claimed that the Church
was out of harmony by adding the title “of
Latter-day Saints.” They formulated “The
Church of Christ” and tried to take over the
temple by force and violence.
John F. Boynton (one of the twelve) and
others in the gang rushed onto the floor
armed with bowie knives and pistols.
Women were screaming and John said,
“any man that touches me I will blow his
brains out!”
The police eventually arrived and restored
peace and order.
Every day the Parish Gang would show up
at the temple in order to try and get
Joseph. On one occasion one of the gang
members was so determined to get to
Joseph that he started running on top of
the seats because there were so many
people in front of him.
Joseph calmly told Vincent Knight who
was a rather small man to throw him out.
Vincent stood up, grabbed the man, threw
him over his shoulder and walked out with
the man bawling like a baby.
The Parrish Gang accused the Prophet of
training a dove to come into the temple.
They said the dove would land on Joseph’s
shoulder and converse with him. They said that
Joseph would claim the Holy Ghost made things
known to him by the actions of the dove.
Lies were being told about him all the time.
In July Joseph had been sick and the Parrish
Gang spread the rumor that the reason he was
sick and dying was because he had
desecrated God’s Holy Temple.
Warren Parrish, Jared Carter and
Oliver Cowdery were guilty of
adultery.
Oliver came to the Prophet one day
and said, “We know it is true, let’s live
it.”
Joseph told Oliver that he did not
have permission from God to live the
law. Oliver saw himself as Joseph’s
equal and began to live plural
marriage without Joseph’s consent.
Brigham Young later said of Oliver, “He ran
before he was sent.”
Just because you know the law does not
give you permission to live the law.
It was not until 1843 in Nauvoo that Joseph
gave permission for people to live that
law.
In January 1838 the Kirtland printing press
was destroyed by apostates. They also
tried setting the Temple on fire.
Wilford Woodruff
Wilford was preparing to say his prayers when an angel
came through the wall, sat down in a chair and said,
“Wilford you are a faithful man. Because of your faith, the
Savior has sent me to show you the end of the world.”
Wilford saw all the events leading up to the Second
Coming and beyond.
Wilford also saw the resurrection.
As the events would go before his eyes, the angel would
stop and explain them so he could understand.
If we were to pick out a man in this dispensation who was
a visionary man, who approached Joseph, but not his
equal, it would be a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood
named Wilford Woodruff.
Reverses
April 1836- January 1838
To this point, the Church had suffered little internal
contention. Joseph’s most virulent critics had
been newspaper editors and lapsed Mormons.
By the winter of 1837, however, factions in
Kirtland, believing Joseph had fallen, were trying
to depose him. Joseph was accused of false
steps in the promotion of a Kirtland Bank and of
moral transgression in taking an additional wife —
or worse.
Unfortunately, Joseph’s own words are rarely
heard in this dark time.
Between the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in
the spring of 1836 until the prophet fled Kirtland in
early 1838, only two brief revelations were
recorded. From then until the end of his life, only
twenty more were added to the canon. His
speeches are known only from notes by listeners.
On the large issues of the next eight years —
plural marriage, the temple endowment, the
plans for the Kingdom of God — we hear virtually
nothing from Joseph himself. He moved behind a
screen of other minds: those of clerks who wrote
his diaries, hearers who took notes on his
sermons, enemies who charged him with dire
crimes, official letters written by others,
sensational reports by newspaper editors, and
later remembrances of loyal old comrades and
embittered former friends.
Fanny Alger
There is evidence that Joseph was a polygamist by
1835. In an angry letter written in 1838, Oliver
Cowdery referred to the “dirty, nasty, filthy, affair” of
Joseph Smith and Fanny Alger (Fanny would have
been 18 or 19).
No one intimated in 1835 that Joseph’s actions
caused the rumors. The sources written before 1839
indicate that most Church Leaders knew nothing of a
possible marriage. Cowdery believed that Joseph
did have an affair and that his insinuations were not
lies but the truth as he understood it.
David Patton, who made
inquiries in Kirtland, concluded
the rumors were not untrue.
Joseph never denied a
relationship with Alger, but
insisted it was not adulterous.
He wanted it on the record that
he never confessed to such a
sin. Presumably, he felt
innocent because he had
married Alger.
Alger disappeared from the Mormon historical record for
a quarter of a century. Her story was recorded as many
as sixty years later by witnesses who had strong reasons to
take sides. Surprisingly, they all agreed that Joseph
married Fanny Alger as a plural wife and her parents were
supportive of it.
One of the few tales that appeared in more than one
account was of Oliver Cowdery experimenting with plural
marriage himself, contrary to Joseph’s counsel.
The date plural marriage began remains uncertain.
It seems possible that he received the revelation on plural
marriage in 1831 while working on the Old Testament.
Joseph did not explain plural marriage as a love match or
even a possible relationship. Only slight hints of romances
found their way into his proposals. He understood plural
marriage as a religious principle.
After leaving Kirtland in 1836, Alger, reportedly, amiable person
had no trouble remarrying. She married Solomon Custer, a
non-Mormon listed in the censuses as grocer, baker, and
merchant. Alger remained in Indiana with her husband. She
bore nine children. After Joseph’s death, Alger’s brother asked
her about her relationship with the Prophet. She replied: “That is
all a matter of my — own. And I have nothing to
communicate.”
Finances
On August 19, Joseph wrote Emma that, “we have found the
house since Bro. Burgess left us, very luckily and providentially,
as we had one spell been most discouraged.” They were
plotting how to get possession. “The house is occupied and it
will require much care and patience to rent or buy it.” Joseph
said they were willing to wait months if necessary, but by
September, the party was back in Kirtland with no treasure for
their pains (Doctrine & Covenants 111).
Joseph had run up debts over $100,000. To raise more
capital, Church leaders planned a bank. Like stores and
mills, banks were multiplying in the 1830’s. Twenty banks
had been chartered in Ohio since 1830.
On November 2, 1836 the Kirtland Safety Society back
was organized and began selling stock. As usual, Joseph
thought big. In actuality, the Safety Society was a partial
“land bank,” a device New Englanders had once resorted
to in their cash-poor, land rich society.
The disappointment began almost immediately. Cowdery
brought back the plates and printed notes, but Hyde
failed to obtain the charter from the Ohio legislature. The
Mormons adjusted by organizing themselves into an “antibanking” company and, spiting the legislature, stamped
the word “anti” before the word “banking” and began
issuing notes.
In a simpler and more isolated society,
where mutual trust was high, the scheme
might have worked. In Kirtland, the bank
failed within a month. Business started on
January 2, 1837. Three weeks later, the
bank was floundering. All of the investors
lost their capital, Joseph as much as
anyone. He had bought more stock than
eighty-five percent of the investors. In
June, faced with complete collapse, both
Sidney and Joseph resigned as treasurer
and secretary.
Meanwhile, Joseph’s enemies attacked. The
bank episode not only hurt the Saints financially,
it tried their faith. Widespread apostasy resulted.
The stalwarts Parley and Orson Pratt faltered for a
few months. David Patton, a leading apostle,
raised so many insulting questions Joseph
“slapped him in the face and kicked him out of
the yard.” Joseph’s counselor Frederick G.
Williams was alienated and removed from office.
One of the Prophet’s favorites, his clerk Warren
Parrish, tried to dispose him.
Heber C. Kimball claimed that by June 1837 not
twenty men in Kirtland believed Joseph was a
prophet.
Wilford Woodruff’s Kirtland
Apostasy was rife, but the Church was not near collapse.
As leaders defected, men of equal ability rose to take
their places. By 1837, Mormonism had developed such
momentum that the loss of a few high-placed men could
not slow it down. While Joseph was fending off critics in
Kirtland, the Missouri Church leaders were building a Zion
in Far West. Elsewhere, the traveling elders were
gathering converts faster than Joseph’s opponents could
make apostates.
Wilford Woodruff did not feel the bank trouble threatened
Joseph’s authority. Paradoxically, the trials of 1837,
instead of tearing Joseph down, built him up.
Apostasy
The bank failure, suspicions and
Joseph’s morals, and economic
stress combined to bring on the
apostasies of 1837. It took
months for the Pratt’s to recover
their composure and return to
the fold.
Zion
In June 1837, Joseph called Heber C. Kimball to lead a
band of seven to England. On June 13, they set out to
begin a work that over the next fifteen years would yield
51,000 converts. Three weeks later, 1,500 Saints in Far
West broke ground for a new temple in Missouri. During
the conference, 109 elders accepted calls to serve
missions.
In late December, twenty-eight men were cut off from the
church, bringing the total to more than forty that year. But
excommunication did not silence the group. The “old
standard” faction was determined to hold their meetings
in the temple even “if it is by the shedding of blood.” They
claimed to be the legitimate Church, making Joseph the
apostate. They called themselves the Church of Christ,
the Church’s first name.