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Joseph Smith and the United Firm: the Growth and Decline of the Church's First Master Plan of Business and Finance, Ohio and Missouri, 1832-1834
BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 46 Issue 3 Article 1 7-1-2007 Joseph Smith and the United Firm: The Growth and Decline of the Church's First Master Plan of Business and Finance, Ohio and Missouri, 1832-1834 Max H. Parkin Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Recommended Citation Parkin, Max H. (2007) "Joseph Smith and the United Firm: The Growth and Decline of the Church's First Master Plan of Business and Finance, Ohio and Missouri, 1832-1834," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 46 : Iss. 3 , Article 1. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol46/iss3/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Parkin: Joseph Smith and the United Firm: The Growth and Decline of the C Joseph Smith and the United Firm The Growth and Decline of the Church’s First Master Plan of Business and Finance, Ohio and Missouri, 1832–1834 Max H Parkin year after Joseph Smith organized the Church, the young prophet A began to gather about him a management team that helped direct the Church’s early business affairs. These officers assisted him before the principal quorums of Church leadership were formed or fully developed. This growing board of managers printed the first collection of Joseph Smith’s revelations; planned for the new city of Zion and its temples, as it did for Kirtland; operated the Lord’s storehouses; and fostered other com- mercial interests. -
William Smith, 1811-93: Problematic Patriarch Irene M
ARTICLES AND ESSAYS William Smith, 1811-93: Problematic Patriarch Irene M. Bates WILLIAM SMITH, YOUNGER BROTHER of the prophet Joseph Smith, has been easy to dismiss but difficult to deal with. More often than not, he has been described with adjectives like violent, wicked, unstable, and licentious. Yet intriguing references suggest that a more balanced view of this complex man might be appropriate. The Prophet described his brother in a blessing 18 December 1833 this way: "Brother William is as the fierce lion which divideth not the spoil because of his strength." x Then on 9 December 1842, William defended the Nauvoo Charter with uncommon eloquence as representative for Hancock County in the Illinois legislature.2 In August 1845, W. W. Phelps designated William "the Patriarchal Jacob's Staff." 3 And B. H. Roberts, impressed with the seventy-year-old William in 1881, said he had "so vindicated the claims and the character of his brother that ever afterward whenever the question of Joseph Smith came up, people would say 'He had just as good a right to be a prophet as any man mentioned in the Bible.' " 4 William Smith was born at Royal t o n , Vermont, 13 March 1811, the fifth son of Joseph, Sr., and Lucy Mack Smith. He was baptized by David Whitmer 9 June 1830 and was ordained an apostle 15 February 1835, before he was twenty-four years old. He married Caroline Amanda Grant, the sister of IRENE M. Bates, who joined the Church in England in 1955 and moved to the United States with her husband, William, and four children in 1967, is a 1975 graduate of UCLA. -
“We Took Our Change of Venue to the State of Illinois”: the Gallatin Hearing and the Escape of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Prisoners from Missouri, April 1839
Alexander L. Baugh: Escape of Joseph Smith from Missouri 59 “We Took Our Change of Venue to the State of Illinois”: The Gallatin Hearing and the Escape of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Prisoners from Missouri, April 1839 Alexander L. Baugh On 6 April 1839, Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, Caleb Baldwin, Alexander McRae, and Lyman Wight were taken from the jail in Liberty, Missouri, and placed in the custody of a strong guard assigned to transport them to Gallatin in Daviess County for what was expected to be a formal hearing on the charge of treason against the state. The Smiths and Wight had been in state custody for more than five months, Baldwin and McRae slightly less. For over four months, the five men had languished in the loath- some Liberty dungeon. However, unbeknown to them at the time, in less than three weeks, they would be free men and would be reunited with their families and friends in Illinois. The Gallatin hearing, the release of Joseph Smith and his companions, and their flight across northern Missouri com- prise one of the concluding chapters of the Mormon experience in Missouri. The Arrest and Incarceration of the Mormon Prisoners Following nearly three months of civil conflict between the Mormons and their Missouri neighbors, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, George W. Robinson, Lyman Wight, and Parley P. Pratt were arrested at Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri, on 31 October 1838. The following day, Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman were taken into custody. The arresting officers were actually part of the state militia called out by Missouri Governor Lilburn W. -
May 2005 New
THE MAY 2005 SPECIAL ISSUE: THE TIMES AND SEASONS OF JOSEPH SMITH The New Era Magazine oseph Volume 35, Number 5 oseph May 2005 Smith . Official monthly publication J Jhas done for youth of The Church of Jesus Christ more, save of Latter-day Saints Jesus only, for The New Era can be found the salvation in the Gospel Library at www.lds.org. of men in this world, than Editorial Offices: any other man New Era any other man 50 E. North Temple St. that ever lived Rm. 2420 Salt Lake City, UT in it” (D&C 84150-3220, USA 135:3). E-mail address: cur-editorial-newera In this @ldschurch.org special issue, Please e-mail or send stories, articles, photos, poems, and visit the ideas to the address above. Unsolicited material is wel- places where come. For return, include a the Prophet self-addressed, stamped the Prophet envelope. Joseph Smith To Subscribe: lived, and feel By phone: Call 1-800-537- 5971 to order using Visa, the spirit of MasterCard, Discover Card, or American Express. Online: all he Go to www.ldscatalog.com. By mail: Send $8 U.S. accomplished check or money order to Distribution Services, as the first P.O. Box 26368, Salt Lake City, UT President of 84126-0368, USA. The Church of To change address: Jesus Christ of Send old and new address information to Distribution Latter-day Services at the address above. Please allow 60 days Saints. for changes to take effect. Cover: Young Joseph Smith begins the great work of the Restoration. -
NAUVOO's TEMPLE It Was Announced August 31, 1840, That A
NAUVOO’S TEMPLE Dean E. Garner—Institute Director, Denton, Texas t was announced August 31, 1840, that a temple would be built, and Iarchitectural plans began to come in. Joseph Smith “advertised for plans for the temple,” William Weeks said, “and several architects presented their plans. But none seemed to suit Smith. When [William] presented his plans, Joseph Smith grabbed him, hugged him and said, ‘You are the man I want.’”1 Thus William was made superintendent of temple construction. All his work was cleared by the temple building committee. Those on the committee were Reynolds Cahoon, Elias Higbee, and Alpheus Cutler.2 Joseph Smith had the final say pertaining to the details of the temple, for he had seen the temple in vision, which enabled him to make decisions on the temple’s appearance.3 During the October Conference of 1840, the building of the Nauvoo During the temple was voted on and accepted by the saints. The temple was to be October Conference constructed of stone. Many weeks preceding the conference, a survey of Nauvoo’s main street verified that the entire route was underlain with a of 1840, the building massive layer of limestone many feet thick, particularly so in the northern of the Nauvoo part of the community. That site was selected for the quarry, where quality white-gray Illinois limestone could be extracted for the construction of temple was voted the temple. The principal quarry from which the temple stone would on and accepted by come was opened within ten days of the conference. Work in the quarry began October 12, 1840, with Elisha Everett striking the first blow.4 the saints. -
Missouri Mormon War Timeline of Events
Missouri Mormon War Timeline of Events Sunday, June 17, 1838 threaten him on August 8, 1838, if he did not sign a pe- Sidney Rigdon’s Salt Speech tition not to molest the people called Mormons.. War- Sidney Rigdon used Matthew 5:13 as the theme for rants of arrest are issued for Joseph Smith and Lyman his discourse: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt Wight. have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is Thursday, August 30, 1838 thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to B. M. Lisle, Adjutant General Jefferson City, be trodden under foot of men.” Rigdon used the spir- letter to Major General David R. Atchison itual metaphor to encourage the Saints to cast out the 3d Div. Missouri Militia, Richmond, MO dissenters from the Latter-day Saint communities. Adjutant General B. M. Lisle dispatches orders from the Commander-in-Chief, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs Wednesday, July 4, 1838 to Major General Atchison to raise immediately, in his Sidney Rigdon’s 4th of July Speech division, four hundred men, mounted and equipped. Speaking of the Constitution of the United States, This is to be done because of the indications of Indi- Rigdon proclaimed the Church’s rights and freedom an disturbances on “our immediate frontier” and re- from its enemies. The sentiment expressed in the ser- cent civil disturbances of Caldwell, Daviess and Car- mon was indicative of a new attitude some of the mem- roll Counties. Note: Similar letters to Generals John B. bers of the Church were taking toward their enemies Clark, Samuel D. -
History of the Church of Christ FINAL
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST First Edition - September 2012 Board of Publications Church of Christ (Temple Lot) Independence, Missouri TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME ONE An Outline History of the Church of Christ 1830 - 1950 Page 1 VOLUME TWO History of the Church of Christ 1950 - 2008 Page 176 INDEX Page 512 NOTE: Volumes One and Two each have a table of contents and preface. REFERENCES: Throughout this publication, references to “The History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” are made simply as “Reorganized Church History.” Similarly, references to “History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints” are made simply as “Utah Church History.” History of the Church of Christ 1 VOLUME ONE of the History of the Church of Christ, being AN OUTLINE HISTORY of the CHURCH OF CHRIST (Temple Lot) by Apostle B. C. Flint General Church Historian Original Publication in 1953 * * * Revised and Prepared for Publication by the Board of Publications Church of Christ (Temple Lot) Independence, Missouri In this latest edition of “An Outline History of the Church of Christ,” published here as Volume One of this edition of the “History of the Church of Christ,” some spelling errors were found and corrected as well as some errors in content such as dates, etc. With the exception of spelling corrections, all such content errors are corrected and footnotes are provided explaining the correction. Board of Publications, February 2012 2 History of the Church of Christ VOLUME ONE CONTENTS Illustrations Frontispiece: Picture of previous building and grounds ............................ 8 Temple “Spot” Marker Stone.................................................................. -
Missouri's 1838 Extermination Order and the Mormons' Forced Removal
William G. Hartley: Missouri’s 1838 Extermination Order 5 Missouri’s 1838 Extermination Order and the Mormons’ Forced Removal to Illinois William G. Hartley “If I am called here again, in case of a noncompliance of a treaty made,” Major General John B. Clark of the Missouri State militia warned Latter-day Saints captives, “you need not expect any mercy, but extermination, for I am determined the governor’s orders shall be executed.” General Clark was implementing orders he had received from Missouri’s Governor Lilburn W. Boggs, dated 27 October 1838, which stated: “Your orders are, therefore, to hasten your operations with all possible speed. The Mormons must be treat- ed as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if neces- sary for the public peace.”1 Extermination, a powerful word, means to eradicate but also implies killing.2 Governor Boggs’s extermination order called for a nineteenth-cen- tury version of what in recent discussions of Serbian treatment of Kosovars is termed “ethnic cleansing.” This article focuses on how the Latter-day Saint people complied with that extermination order and managed, with war-reduced resources and mostly during wintertime, to leave the state and seek safety in Quincy, Illinois, and other places of refuge.3 The “Mormon War” in Missouri The Mormon troubles in upper Missouri are well documented and explained in several published histories.4 In a nutshell, what in Missouri annals is termed “the Mormon War” broke out in the summer and fall of 1838, resulting in shooting, house burning, pillaging of crops and livestock, WILLIAM G. -
12 Hartley.Indd
william g. hartley 1839 e Saints’ Forced Exodus om Missouri ucked between popular Church history chapters about Liberty Jail and Nauvoo is a little-known but vitally important chapter dealing with the Latter-day Saints’ seven-month struggle to survive the winter of 1838–39 in Missouri and to leave there by spring 1839. TTriggered by Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs’s October 1838 extermination order against them, some ten thou- sand Saints engaged in a mass exodus, many going to Quincy, Illinois. It was difficult, dramatic, sometimes harrowing, and only partly organized. Their tough experiences produced definite impacts—both short- and long-term—on Missouri and Illinois, on the course of the Church, and on individual members.¹ William G. Hartley is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University. 347 joseph smith, the prophet and seer The Saints’ exodus from Missouri took place mostly during winter and involved four main arenas: Far West, Missouri; Quincy, Illinois; a road network between the two cities; and the west shore mudflats across the Mississippi River from Quincy. Because Joseph Smith was in prison during the exodus, attention focuses here on Joseph Smith’s parents, his wife Emma, Elders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, and four selected families: the John and Caroline Butler family, the Newel and Lydia Knight family, the Daniel and Martha Thomas family, and the Levi and Clarissa Hancock family. Ordered to Leave On October 27, 1838, three days after Missouri and Mormon militias engaged in the Battle of Crooked River, Governor Boggs issued his infamous extermination order. To his military leaders, it decreed, “The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state, if necessary for the public good.”² Four days later, that order reached Church leaders and members in northwest Missouri. -
A Photographic History of the Temple Lot in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri
Addams and Baugh: Photographic History of the Temple Lot 31 “Upon a Lot . Not Far From the Courthouse”: A Photographic History of the Temple Lot in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri R. Jean Addams and Alexander L. Baugh Among the diverse expressions of the Latter Day Saint movement, the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) or “Hedrickites” (as members of their church have been called historically) is unique in its early claim to a specific revela- tion to return “as a church” to Jackson County, Missouri, and to redeem or reclaim the “temple lot” in the “center place” of Zion. Soon after the organization of the Church founded by Joseph Smith Jr. in Fayette, New York, on April 6, 1830, the first missionaries were sent by Smith to Missouri (see D&C 28:8–9; 30:5–8; 32:1–5).1 The following year, Smith and some of his closest advisors left Kirtland, Ohio (where the Church had relocated in 1831), and traveled to Independence, Jackson County, Mis- souri. Shortly after Joseph Smith’s arrival in the early summer of 1831, he announced, by revelation, the Lord’s intention to make Independence, Jack- son County, Missouri, the chosen place for the gathering of the Saints (D&C 57:1–4). In the revelation, the town of Independence (in Jackson County), R. JE A N Adda MS ([email protected])is an independent researcher living in Woodin- ville, Washington. He received his BS and MBA from the University of Utah. He is also a member of the Mormon History Association and the John Whitmer Historical Associa- tion. -
Joseph Smith's Incarceration in Richmond, Missouri, November 1838
134 Mormon Historical Studies The arrest of Joseph Smith near Far West, Missouri, by C. C. A. Christensen. Baugh: Joseph Smith’s Incarceration in Richmond, Missouri 135 “Silence, Ye Fiends of the Infernal Pit!”: Joseph Smith’s Incarceration in Richmond, Missouri, November 1838 Alexander L. Baugh On October 27, 1838, after nearly three months of hostilities between Mormon and Missouri settlers in Daviess, Carroll, Ray, and Caldwell Counties, Missouri, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs signed an executive order authorizing the state militia to subdue the Mormon populace and force their surrender, and ordered them to evacuate the state.1 The order was carried out by Samuel D. Lucas, a major general in the state militia and the commander of the troops from Jackson and Lafayette Counties. The day before issuing the “Extermination Order,” Boggs relieved Major General David R. Atchison of his command of the state militia in the Northern District.2 Atchison’s release probably stemmed from the fact that he had served as legal counsel to Joseph Smith and was at least partially sympathetic of the Mormons. Boggs replaced Atchison with John B. Clark of Howard County. However, since Clark was not on the scene to take charge, Lucas assumed command. On October 31, General Lucas and his officers negotiated a peaceful, albeit unfair settlement with a five-man Mormon delegation led by George M. Hinkle, commander of the Caldwell County militia. The final conditions of surrender called for the Mormons to make an appropriation of property to cover any indemnities caused during the Missouri conflict, give up their arms, ALEX A N D ER L. -
Policing the Borders of Identity At
POLICING THE BORDERS OF IDENTITY AT THE MORMON MIRACLE PAGEANT Kent R. Bean A dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2005 Jack Santino, Advisor Richard C. Gebhardt, Graduate Faculty Representative John Warren Nathan Richardson William A. Wilson ii ABSTRACT Jack Santino, Advisor While Mormons were once the “black sheep” of Christianity, engaging in communal economic arrangements, polygamy, and other practices, they have, since the turn of the twentieth century, modernized, Americanized, and “Christianized.” While many of their doctrines still cause mainstream Christians to deny them entrance into the Christian fold, Mormons’ performance of Christianity marks them as not only Christian, but as perhaps the best Christians. At the annual Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti, Utah, held to celebrate the origins of the Mormon founding, Evangelical counter- Mormons gather to distribute literature and attempt to dissuade pageant-goers from their Mormonism. The hugeness of the pageant and the smallness of the town displace Christianity as de facto center and make Mormonism the central religion. Cast to the periphery, counter-Mormons must attempt to reassert the centrality of Christianity. Counter-Mormons and Mormons also wrangle over control of terms. These “turf wars” over issues of doctrine are much more about power than doctrinal “purity”: who gets to authoritatively speak for Mormonism. Meanwhile, as Mormonism moves Christianward, this creates room for Mormon fundamentalism, as small groups of dissidents lay claim to Joseph Smith’s “original” Mormonism. Manti is home of the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days, a group that broke away from the Mormon Church in 1994 and considers the mainstream church apostate, offering a challenge to its dominance in this time and place.