Identity Maintenance in the 1844 Latter-Day Saint Reform Sect Robert M
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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-2017 Anatomy of a Rupture: Identity Maintenance in the 1844 Latter-day Saint Reform Sect Robert M. Call Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, and the History of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Call, Robert M., "Anatomy of a Rupture: Identity Maintenance in the 1844 Latter-day Saint Reform Sect" (2017). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 5858. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/5858 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ANATOMY OF A RUPTURE: IDENTITY MAINTENANCE IN THE 1844 LATTER-DAY SAINT REFORM SECT by Robert M. Call A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in History Approved: _________________________ _________________________ Philip Barlow, Ph.D. Kyle T. Bulthuis, Ph.D. Major Professor Committee Member _________________________ _________________________ Clint Pumphrey Mark McLellan, Ph.D. Committee Member Vice President for Research and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2017 ii Copyright © Robert M. Call 2017 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Anatomy of a Rupture: Identity Maintenance in the 1844 Latter-day Saint Reform Sect by Robert M. Call, Master of Science Utah State University, 2017 Major Professor: Philip Barlow Department: History Dissent riddled Mormonism almost from the day of its inception. Competing prophets and dissatisfied adherents challenged Joseph Smith’s leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Perhaps the most serious of Smith’s challengers was the dissent of his counselor William Law. In 1844, Law confronted Smith over the implementation of the latter’s doctrinal innovations (particularly plural marriage) and Zion building activities in Nauvoo, Illinois. At the height of the dissent movement, anti-Mormon citizens in the region (some say inflamed by Law’s newspaper the Nauvoo Expositor) assassinated Smith. The assassination caused a religious rupture in Mormonism called the Succession Crisis. This thesis examines identity formation, maintenance, and evolution in Law’s 1844 dissenting group. It argues that several factors, notably estrangement and social networks, were key in forming the group’s identity. As other scholars acknowledge, the group intended on a Mormon reformation. It also argues that a more accurate understanding of the dissent organization is one of an extralegal internal reform body rather than (as current scholarship puts forth) an external separatist church. The reform sect maintained their iv distinct identity during the closing months of 1844, but evolved into the 1845 Church of Christ that Sidney Rigdon helmed. Lastly, this thesis surveys the reformers’ navigation of a turbulent religious climate and offers some analysis on why those reformers most committed to Mormonism ultimately rested in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (169 pages) v PUBLIC ABSTRACT Anatomy of a Rupture: Identity Maintenance in the 1844 Latter-day Saint Reform Sect Robert M. Call Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, managed dissent throughout his prophetic career. Most of the earliest dissenters came and went with little lasting impact on Mormonism—the church maintained a coherent structure despite attempted disjuncture. However, when Smith was assassinated in June 1844 (just fourteen years after he established the church), the Mormon community ruptured. Claimants to Smith’s ecclesiastical office competed for church-wide leadership. Brigham Young led thousands westward to the Rocky Mountains, but thousands of Mormons rejected Young and his version of Mormonism. This crisis over succession sparked the growth of schisms in the young American faith. Much of the scholarship on dissenters and schisms in Mormonism focuses on why the divisions occurred—the reasons for dissatisfaction. The scholarship also tends to be biographical in nature, focusing on the lead dissenter. Lacking in the scholarship is the “how” of dissent and schisms—how did schisms form, how did they maintain distinct identity, and how did they evolve. This thesis utilizes William Law’s 1844 dissenting group as a case study to answer these questions. By looking at the “how” we learn that Law’s organization was an extralegal internal reform body (not a separatist church), that evolved into Sidney Rigdon’s 1845 Church of Christ, and that many dissenters stayed true to their reform goals by aligning themselves with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the 1860s. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I direct my first acknowledgements to Dr. Philip Barlow for his mentoring, insightful discussions (in and out of the classroom), patience, encouragement, and assistance in completing this thesis and in all my activities at Utah State University. His support has been invaluable. Dr. Kyle T. Bulthuis has also been very helpful in our discussions and reassuring me in my skills and career options—which is much appreciated. Clint Pumphrey’s course (co-taught with Dan Davis) on archive management gave me skills I could not have acquired at USU otherwise and allowed me to develop some ideas found in this thesis. Lastly, all three committee members deserve a tremendous thank you for the hours each spent in reviewing thesis drafts and the finished product. I am grateful to the history department at USU for providing a travel grant that facilitated some necessary research necessary. Additionally, faculty members and the staff have been helpful in guiding me through my time at USU. Dr. Norm Jones’s course on the history of religions helped me think through many issues pertinent to my thesis. His perspective and support has been reassuring. Particularly, I thank him for once telling me: “You are what you are and don’t apologize.” The staff and volunteers at several depositories have been very helpful, most notably the LDS Church History Library in Salt Lake City and the Community of Christ Library and Archives in Independence, Missouri. This project could not have been accomplished without the facilities and resources made available at both locations. I thank Rachel Killebrew at the Community of Christ for graciously opening their archives to me and going out of her way to pull records and give suggestions for research paths. Team vii members at The Joseph Smith Papers at the Church History Library, particularly Dr. Mark Ashurst-McGee and Dr. Christopher Blythe, encouraged me and gave me opportunities to improve my history abilities. It would be negligent to not thank the faculty in Brigham Young University’s family history program, where I did my undergraduate studies, for the preparation they gave me. While I highly value the contributions every faculty member made to my education, I name just a few here. First, Dr. Gerald Haslam who first put the idea of graduate studies into my head. Second, Dr. Amy Harris who gave countless hours of advice on graduate school and the intersection of family history and traditional history. Dr. Harris always encouraged me to pursue additional studies even when I doubted. Lastly, Jill Crandell—professor, mentor, employer, internship director—who unfailingly supported me in all my pursuits. Her mentorship in academic and professional family history is indispensable. Lastly, I thank my friends, siblings, and parents for years of supporting my endeavors. They have listened and conversed with me for hours about this thesis and other topics. Those conversations helped shape this project and gave me the resolve to continue in all my projects. My brother John merits specific mention for his encouragement, advice, research assistance, and willingness to go on hair-raising adventures to the archives. Thanks John. My parents, in making my interests their own, have been incredibly supportive—thank you. Robert M. Call vii CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii PUBLIC ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................1 Historiographical Review ..................................................................................6 2. SEEDS OF DISSENT: LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING THE 1844 DISSENT MOVEMENT ....................................15 Survey of Mormon Dissent to 1844 .................................................................15 Overview of Causes of the 1844 Dissent Movement.......................................25 Prelude to Dissent: 1842 & 1843 Activities ....................................................37 3. THE REFORM BODY TAKES SHAPE: IDENTITY FORMATION & EMBODIMENT .......................................................................................................46 Structural Beginnings of Schisms ....................................................................47