Vol. 3: "A Divided Mormon Zion"
Copyright © 2012 by John J Hammond
All rights reserved - fair use excerpts transcribed
Phelps mentions:
42, 125,
142-44,
155, 158-59,
164-69,
203, 223, 239, 246, 252, 296-97, 320, 323-24, 326, 330, 337, 352, 354, 360,
362-69,
380-84, 395, 403, 411-13, 423, 437, 439-43, 445-48, 451, 456,
465, 467, 475, 477, 479-80, 483, 502, 512-13, 522, 526-36, 541, 544-45, 548-50
142-144
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A DIVIDED MORMON ZION
must have been Joseph Smith, since the Lord would have known how to spell his name. [295] Ryder did not go to Missouri, learned
more about the Law of Consecration, and, like his good friend Ezra Booth, angrily left the Church. Joseph Jr. had decided he must go to Missouri
to decide upon the precise location for Zion, and D&C 52 made this official. "Joseph," Bushman declares, "said that the expedition to find
the site 'was the most important subject which then engrossed the attention of the saints.' In the spring and summer of 1831, every activity
anticipated the building of the city." Bushman notes that "When the call to the Missouri mission came, the revelation assured the twenty-eight
elders that 'I the Lord will hasten the city in its time," [296] although 181 years later it still has not been built.
Providentially, as Joseph Jr. was preparing to go west, a man arrived from New York with his family who, though not yet a Mormon, would
play a crucial role in Missouri and in the Church. Though down on his luck, William Wine Phelps -- born 17 February
1792 -- was a talented man who had been candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York. According to Staker, "Phelps came
from a prominent abolitionist family in Canandaigua (near Palmyra),' and 'had worked briefly on two newspapers, the Western Courier
and the Lake Light before starting his own newspaper the Ontario Phoenix in Canandaigua (1827-28)." While his paper "focused
heavily on anti-Masonic issues," it also "included a platform opposing slavery," and Phelps "printed articles in all these
papers critical of issues of slavery." [297]
Though his abolitionist views appear to have been somewhat superficial, they would cause great problems for Mormons in slave-state
Missouri in 1833. Bushman describes him as "a Bible-believing seeker and millenarian when he heard of the Book of Mormon's publication
in Palmyra just twelve miles north of his home in Canandaigua. The book struck him as true on first reading, and a visit to Joseph Smith
in December 1830 confirmed the initial impression. He delayed baptism until a decline in his fortunes the following spring, including a brief
stay in debtors' prison, persuaded him to move to Kirtland and throw in his lot with the Mormons. [298] Like Joseph Smith and Sidney
Rigdon, Phelps would be one of those indigent Mormons whose "stewardship" would be larger than his "consecration."
NORTHEASTERN OHIO OR WESTERN MISSOURI?
143
William Wine Phelps.
Photo courtesy of International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
Recognizing Phelps' intellect and publishing skills, Joseph Jr. produced a brief revelation for him (D&C 55) which indicated that,
after he was baptized and ordained an elder, he would be "ordained to assist my servant Oliver Cowdery to do the work of printing, and of selecting
and writing books for schools in this church, that little children also may receive instruction before me as is pleasing unto me." The Lord told
him to "take your journey [to Missouri] with my servants Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, that you may be planted in the land of your
inheritance to do this work."
Before leaving for Missouri, Joseph Jr. issued a revelation (D&C 56) on June 15 dealing with the parties to the Thompson economic
boondoggle. Ezra Thayre's mission call to Missouri was revoked (Ezra and Lumen Copley had owned the land which originally had been given
to the Colesville saints), and Selah Griffin was called to travel with Thomas B. Marsh in his place. The revelation delivered an angry ultimatum:
my servant Ezra Thayre must repent of his pride, and of his selfishness, and obey the former commandment [Law of Consecration] which I have
given him concerning the place upon which he lives [Thompson]. And if he will do this, as there shall be no divisions made upon the land, he shall be appointed
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still to go to the land of Missouri; Otherwise he shall receive the money which he has paid, and shall leave the place, and shall be cut off
out of my church, saith the Lord God of hosts. ...
"Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls . . . . Wo unto you poor
men, whose hearts are not broken, whose spirits are not contrite, and whose bellies are not satisfied, and whose hands are not stayed
from laying hold upon other men's goods, whose eyes are full of greediness, and who will not labor with your own hands."
The Demill family -- part of the Colesville saints group of "about sixty souls" -- described their over eight hundred mile trip from Thompson
(Ohio) to Jackson County (Missouri), in the following words: "June 28 (1831), set out from Ohio, arrived at Wellsville (Ohio) July 2nd,
[Wellsville was a town on the Ohio River directly south of Kirtland] set out 3rd [of July, by steamboat], arrived at Louisville (Kentucky)
July 7th, set out [on] 9th, arrived at St. Louis [on] 13th, set out [on ] 18th. We arrived at Independence [Missouri] July 25. Aug. 2
commenced the first house by placing the first log." [299]
Leaving Kirtland on June 19, Joseph Jr. and his party traveled by wagon, canal boat, and stagecoach to Cincinnati,
and then by steamboat to Louisville and St. Louis. While at Cincinnati Joseph Jr. "had an interview with the Rev. Walter Scott, one
of the founders of the Campbellites, or Newlight church. Before the close of our interview, he manifested one of the bitterest spirits
against the doctrine of the New Testament (that 'these signs shall follow them that believe,' as recorded in Mark the 16th chapter,)
that I ever witnessed among men." [300] There was no love lost between the Campbellites and Mormons, who were fighting
over the same turf in northeastern Ohio.
At St. Louis Joseph Jr., Martin Harris, Phelps, Partridge, and Joseph Coe undertook to walk the remaining 250 miles
of sparsely settled prairie in hot July weather. Rigdon, Algernon Gilbert, and Gilbert's
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CHAPTER 14
CANOEING ON THE
"BIG MUDDY"
Behold there are many dangers upon the waters, and more especially hereafter; for I the Lord have decreed, in mine anger, many
destructions upon the waters; yea, and especially upon these waters . . . . Behold I the Lord in the beginning, blessed the waters,
but in the last days by the mouth of my servant John [the Revelator?], I cursed the waters: Wherefore, the days will come that no
flesh shall be safe upon the waters, and it shall be said in days to come, that none is able to go up to the land of Zion, upon the waters,
but he that is upright in heart. . . . And now I give unto you a commandment, that what I say unto one I say unto all, that you shall
forewarn your brethren concerning these waters, that they come not in journeying upon them, lest their faith fail and they are caught
in snares: I, the Lord have decreed, and the destroyer rideth upon the face thereof, and I revoke not the decree....
--- Revelation to Joseph Smith, Jr.
at Charlton, Missouri (13 August 1831) [345]
Joseph Smith Jr. left Independence to return to Kirtland on 9 August 1831 with "ten Elders," including Oliver Cowdery (who was momentarily
leaving Missouri to visit his family and friends), Sidney Rigdon, W. W. Phelps, and Reynolds Cahoon and his companion
Samuel H. Smith, Joseph Jr.'s brother. Also in the party was Ezra Booth, who was having major doubts about the Mormon enterprise by this time.
His companion Isaac Morley also returned to Ohio, but only long enough to sell his property and return to
NORTHEASTERN OHIO OR WESTERN MISSOURI?
165
Missouri, where he had been appointed to be a counselor to Bishop Partridge.
The leadership group left Independence "landing" by canoe and traveled down the Missouri River toward St. Louis. It was a
notoriously dangerous river, called by the Indians "Smoky Water" and by the whites the "Big Muddy," from the sediment that its
rushing waters carried along. Describing Lewis and Clark's 1804 boat trip up the Missouri from St. Louis over the very route the
Mormon party took in August 1831, historian David Lavender observes: "To everyone it sooner or later became sullen, unpredictable,
treacherous. The light canoes which had mastered the eastern and northern rivers would not have worked on the Missouri, even if
birch-bark had grown along its bottomlands for building the fragile craft. This tumultuous river demanded force, not delicacy." [346]
One major problem was the extremely dangerous "sawyers" or "snags," trees which -- having fallen into the river and gotten their
roots stuck on the bottom -- left sharp branches hidden just below or barely visible just above the surface.
After a couple of days on the river, Joseph Jr. claimed that Phelps experienced a startling vision after some particularly
harrowing experiences. Ezra Booth later maintained that one occurred because Joseph Jr. was piloting a canoe and, while arguing with brethren
on board, almost got the canoe hung up on a "sawyer." In his History, Joseph Jr. wrote: "Nothing very important occurred till the third
day, when many of the dangers so common upon the western waters, manifested themselves; and after we had encamped upon the bank of the
river, at McIlwaine's Bend, Brother Phelps in open vision by daylight, saw the destroyer in his most horrible power, ride
upon the face of the waters; others heard the noise, but saw not the vision." [347]
Joseph Jr.'s talk about the "horrible power" and "noise" involved in this phenomenon makes one wonder if it might have been a tornado --
after all, this area is in what today is commonly called "Tornado Alley," an area particularly prone to such sudden and violent storms,
which many compare to the sound of a roaring, on-rushing locomotive. Had it been a tornado, however, everyone presumably would have
seen it and called it a windstorm. Joseph Jr. simply accepted Phelps' word that the phenomenon they had experienced
was "the destroyer," as it corroborated his own (and probably Phelps') demon-haunted worldview. Presumably the two
of them meant Satan.
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A DIVIDED MORMON ZION
but often in Joseph Jr. 's revelations and sermons the Lord was the Destroyer.
At any rate, the next morning, August 13, Joseph Jr. claimed he had received a revelation the day before (BofC 62, LDS and RLDS
D&C 61) in support of Phelps' personification of the phenomenon as either divine or devilish, or perhaps both.
After informing the eleven brethren that their sins were forgiven, the Lord in part declared:
But verily I say unto you, that it is not needful for this whole company of mine elders to be moving swiftly upon the waters,
whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief. [348]
Nevertheless, I suffered it that ye might bear record:
Behold there are many dangers upon the waters and more especially hereafter: for I, the Lord, have decreed, in mine anger,
many destructions upon the waters: yea, and especially upon these waters.
Nevertheless, all flesh is in mine hand, and he that is faithful among you shall not perish by the waters...
Behold I the Lord in the beginning, blessed the waters, but in the last days by the mouth of my servant John [the Revelator?],
I cursed the waters:
Wherefore, the days will come that no flesh shall be safe upon the waters, and it shall be said in days to come,
that none is able to go up to the land of Zion, upon the waters, but he that is upright in heart...
And now I give unto you a commandment, that what I say unto one I say unto all, that you shall forewarn your brethren
concerning these waters. that they come not in journeying upon them, lest their faith fail and they are caught in her
snares ["sawyers?"]
I the Lord have decreed, and the destroyer rideth upon the face thereof, and I revoke not the decree.
I, the Lord, was angry with you yesterday, but today mine anger is turned away....
And now, concerning my servants, Sidney [Rigdon], Joseph [Smith, Jr.]. and Oliver [Cowdery], let them come not again
upon the waters, save it be upon the canal, while journeying unto their homes, or in other words they shall not come upon
the waters to journey, save upon the canal.
NORTHEASTERN OHIO OR WESTERN MISSOURI?
167
Behold, I, the Lord, have appointed a way for the journeying of my saints, and behold this is the way:
That after they leave the canal they shall journey by land, inasmuch as they are commanded to journey and go up
unto the land of Zion; and they shall do like unto the children of Israel, pitching their tents by the way. [349]
Reading his revelations carefully in the context of what was going on in his life at the time is important to gaining an
understanding of the mind of Joseph Jr. All of these wild pontifications appear to have been engendered by some scary
experiences on the Big Muddy. The perspective that is revealed is a deeply disturbing one. Joseph Jr.'s God is a vengeful
and angry deity, cursing the waterways and wreaking havoc and destruction upon them. The implication is that "the
destroyer"-- presumably the Devil -- was "riding on the river" the previous day because God had "decreed" it. Apparently
the Devil sometimes acts as the Lord's instrument of destruction.
The problems that the Mormon party had on the Big Muddy the day before, the revelation declared, occurred because God
was angry with the Mormon party, but, for no apparent reason, now this completely unpredictable God 's anger was "turned away."
The saints were commanded to give up river travel and stick to the canals and roads (but they and Joseph Jr. did not do so
in the future), although they were supposed to be God 's chosen people, and presumably He had the "power to command the
waters."
Joseph Jr. noted in his History that also on August 13, "I met several of the Elders on their way to the land of Zion" and "after the joyful
salutations with which brethren meet each other," "I received" another revelation (BofC 63, LDS and RLDS D&C 62). [350]
Although he did not mention who these "Elders" were, we know from John Murdock's journal that it was his brother Hyrum, Murdock,
Harvey Whitlock, and David Whitmer. [351] Reynolds Cahoon, who was with Joseph Jr.'s party, noted in his journal that they met
these four missionaries at Charlton on August 13," and then "we traveled [on land] to Fayette, where Brothers Joseph Smith, Oliver
Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon took the stage, while Samuel H. Smith and myself journeyed by land by way of Columbia." [352]
Joseph Jr. reported that after the negative experience on the Missouri River, and the reception of two revelations, his party
"continued our
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A DIVIDED MORMON ZION
journey by land to St. Louis, where we overtook Brothers Phelps and Gilbert [who had gone on some undisclosed
"mission"]. From this place we took stage, and they [Phelps and Gilbert] went by water to Kirtland, where we
arrived safe and well on the 27th [August]." [353] After all this revelatory "sound and fury" about the danger of water travel,
Phelps and Gilbert (though not Smith, Rigdon, and Cowdery) apparently traveled by steamboat to Louisville and
Cincinnati (and probably on from there to Wellsville on the Ohio River). Were they not informed of the extreme danger of river travel by Joseph Jr.?
By the time Joseph Jr. returned to Ohio, substantial revelatory promises had been made to the Missouri saints. A revelation announced
in Jackson County on 7 August 1831 stated that "blessed are they whose feel stand upon the land of Zion, who have obeyed my gospel;
for they shall receive for their reward the good things of the earth, and it shall bring forth in its strength." [354] The saints were promised
that if they led righteous lives "the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth
upon the trees and walketh upon the earth; Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment,
or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards...." [355]
On the banks of the Missouri River on August 13 Joseph Jr. received a revelation which declared: "Behold, I, the Lord, have brought you together
that the promise might be fulfilled, that the faithful among you should be preserved and rejoice together in the land of Missouri, I, the Lord,
promise the faithful and cannot lie." [356] Thousands of Mormon converts took these words as divinely inspired, and Joseph Jr.
would spend the rest of his life trying to explain why, after the summer of 1833, the Lord's promised Jackson County New Jerusalem
could not be established. How could a few crude and violent Missourians frustrate God's will?
Richard Bushman notes that "In Southampton County, Virginia, Nat Turner, the slave visionary, was awaiting a moment for his people
to rise against their masters. In February 1831, he interpreted a solar eclipse as the signal. Five months later, moved by further signs,
Turner acted. In August, while Joseph [Smith Jr.] returned from Missouri, fifty slaves armed with knives and clubs slew fifty-seven
whites before the outbreak was stopped. Over a hundred slaves were executed in retribution." [357]
NORTHEASTERN OHIO OR WESTERN MISSOURI?
169
Bushman mentions this event -- along with William Miller's millennial preaching and Joseph Smith's New Jerusalem revelations -- to support
his contention that 1831 was "a signal year for millenarian activity." But what was important about the bloody events in Virginia was that --
coming at a time when the northern abolitionist movement was being launched by William Lloyd Garrison and others -- it galvanized white
Southerners into militant action in defense of slavery, made them super-sensitive to challenges to the institution, and made slave-owners in
western Missouri far less willing to tolerate the rapid immigration of non-slaving-owning Yankee New Englanders into Jackson County
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CHAPTER 29
THE SIDNEY RIGDON REVOLT
We waited a long time before he [Sidney Rigdon] made his appearance; at last he came in, seemingly much agitated. He did not go to
the stand, but began to pace back and forth through the house [barn]. My husband [Joseph Sr.] said, “Brother Sidney, we would like to
hear a discourse from you to-day." Brother Rigdon replied, in a tone of excitement, "The keys of the kingdom are rent from the Church,
and there shall not be a prayer put up in this house this day." "Oh! No," said Mr. [Joseph] Smith [Sr.], "I hope not." "I tell you they are,"
rejoined Elder Rigdon, "and no man or woman shall put up a prayer in this place to-day." This greatly disturbed the minds of many
sisters, and some brethren. The brethren stared and turned pale, and the sisters cried * * * "I tell you again," said Sidney, with much
feeling, “the keys of the kingdom are taken from you, and you never will have them again until you build me a new house."
--- Lucy Mack Smith, describing Sidney Rigdon's
actions in Kirtland (5 July 1832) [661]
A major Mormon event of the summer of 1832 was the publication in Independence of the first issue of the Star, the Church's first
periodical, and the first publication by Mormons since the Book of Mormon. It came off the press in late June, and copies were received in
Kirtland in early July. Editor W. W. Phelps bragged about its frontier location: its office "is situated within 12
miles of the west line of the state of Missouri; -- which at present, is the western limits of the United States, and about 120 miles west
of any press in the state." [662] He also began publishing the Upper Missouri Advertiser, more of a community
newspaper. [663]
In the first Star he wrote: Early in May, Capt. Bonaville's Company, (150) under the command
NORTHEASTERN OHIO OR WESTERN MISSOURI?
363
of Capt. [Joseph] Walker passed this town,
on its way to the Rocky Mountains, to trap and hunt for fur in the vast country of the Black Feet Indians. About the middle of May, Capt.
Soublett's Company (70) passed, for the Rocky Mountains, on the same business. At which time, also, Capt. Wythe of Mass., with a
Company of 30, passed for the mouth of Oregon River, to prepare (as it is said) for settling a territory. During the month of May there also
passed one Company bound to Sante Fe. About the 8th or 9th of this month [June] Capt. Blackwell's Company, (60 or 70) passed this
place for the Rocky Mountains, in addition. [664]
This indicated how critically situated the Missouri Mormons were with regard to western trade, exploration, and settlement. Ask yourself
how likely it was that the majority slave-owning Southerners in the area would have allowed for a rapid growth of religiously "strange"
Mormons -- predominantly New Englanders -- which would have enabled them to monopolize the political, economic, social, and religious
life of Jackson County, the future location of Kansas City? And yet "The Prophet" seems not to have grasped this potential difficulty for
his projected New Jerusalem. Joseph Jr. was delighted when he received the Star, rightly seeing it as a sign of progress for the Mormon
movement: "In July we received the first number of the 'Evening and Morning Star,' which was a joyous treat to the saints. Delightful indeed,
was it, to contemplate, that the little band of brethren [and sisters?] had grown so large, and grown so strong, in so short a space as to be
able to issue a paper of their own . . . ." He complained that "So embittered was the public mind against the truth, that the press universally
had been arrayed against us; and although many newspapers published the prospectus of our new paper, yet it appeared to have been
done more to calumniate the editor, than give publicity to the sheet." [665]
The Star indicated it would be a monthly and would cost $10 in advance yearly subscription. The first issue contained a brief account
of how the Mormon Church had originated. It talked about how "God ministered" to the "first Elder" (Joseph Smith's name did not appear
in the article) "by an holy angel" who helped him "translate" the Book of Mormon. No mention was made of a "First Vision."
Key doctrines were set forth: the story of the creation, the Fall of man, the ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, ... ...
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and the requirements of faith, repentance, and baptism. The "Father and Son and Holy Ghost" were spoken of as being "one God, infinite and
eternal, without end." There was a brief description of the different priesthood offices, with no word of two separate levels, and no mention
of the offices of "seventy" and "high priest." The duties of Apostles, Elders, Priests, Teachers, and Deacons were listed, and there were
differences from current LDS Church practice. The business of "certificates" and "licenses" was spelled out: "each Priest or Teacher,
who is ordained by a Priest, was to take a certificate from him at the time, which when presented to an Elder, he is to give him a license,
which shall authorize him to perform the duty of his calling." [666]
There was a statement emphasizing the importance of keeping Church membership records, and the suggestion that "Any member removing
from the Church where he resides, if going to a Church [branch] where he is not known, may take a letter certifying that he is a regular member
and in good standing."
The long millennialist revelation (D&C 45) that was issued on 7 March 1831 was printed in full. It contained vague references to people being
"gathered out" of the "eastern lands" and going forth "into the western countries," where a "New Jerusalem" would be established, but brief
extracts from later revelations that were more specific about the location of "Zion" were included. Most of the paper was devoted to an odd
assortment of news items from around the world -- for the most part accounts of increases in crime rates and horrible natural and man-made
disasters, all apparently meant to imply that these were "signs of the times" indicating that the Second Coming of Christ was imminent. The
first Star was apocalyptic in tone and message, and it contained the words to numerous hymns, many carrying a millenarian message.
The next (July) issue of the Star was somewhat more practical. It talked about the "gathering" and the "necessary preparation to meet the
Savior at his second coming, with all his saints to dwell with them in the millennium reign," but it cautioned that “the Lord has commanded
that it shall not be done in haste, nor by flight, but that all things shall be prepared before you . . . . And the saints will remember that the
Bishop in the land of Zion, will not receive, say, as wise stewards, without they bring a recommend from the Bishop in Ohio, or from three
elders." The word "recommend' would have a long life in the LDS Church.
Phelps told the elders
NORTHEASTERN OHIO OR WESTERN MISSOURI?
365
to "be careful not to recommend and send up churches [branches] to this place, without first receiving information from the bishop in Ohio,
or in the land of Zion, that they can be accommodated when they arrive, so as to be settled without confusion, which would produce
pestilence." [667] Phelps reported that "between three & four hundred [Mormons] have arrived here
and are mostly located upon their
inheritances, and are generally in good health and spirits and are doing well." But he warned that “although Zion . . . is to become like Eden
or the garden of the Lord, yet, at present it is as it were but a wilderness and desert, and the disadvantages of settling in a new country,
you know, are many and great: Therefore, prudence would dictate at present the churches abroad, come not up to Zion, until preparations
can be made for them, and they receive information as above." [668] These cautionary words probably would have come as a surprise to
those who had read Sidney Rigdon's essay lavishly promoting the area.
Donna Hill notes that "Phelps began to denounce slackers in his newspapers, as well as any Saints who tried to
better themselves independently by working for their Gentile neighbors. Joseph soon sent out a message that unless converts shared in the Law
[of Consecration], they were not to be admitted to the church." [669] He printed a long article to that effect in the January
1833, Star. [670] Phelps also
did not use good discretion with regard to the messages he conveyed in the Star, considering that it was likely to be read
by already hostile gentile Missourians. Hill notes that his articles alerted them to the possibility of a threatening Mormon-Indian alliance.
As the Saints [in Zion] grew in numbers, strength and influence, the older settlers began to look upon them with apprehension and
hostility, finding cause to complain first about the Mormon attitude toward the Indians. To the old settlers, the Indians were savages and
a threat to safety and property. They were dismayed by the thousands of Shawnee and other tribes evicted from their lands in Ohio,
Illinois and Kentucky who were now moving through Missouri toward the great plains to which they had been banished by Andrew
Jackson's decree. The settlers protested in vain against the practice most of the tribes had of camping for a night or two outside the
village of Independence before crossing the Missouri border. The Mormons, however, encouraged and befriended the Indians, rejoicing
and broadcasting their belief that the migrations were
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a manifestation of the gathering tribes of Israel. Throughout the remainder of 1832, Phelps published accounts of the
Indian migrations as
a manifestation of the second advent of Christ, which he predicted would occur within nine years. In his exuberance, Phelps
sometimes enlarged upon official church news, and his articles often unintentionally fanned the anger of old settlers. Before the end of
another year, the settlers would break into open hostility, with disastrous results for the church. [671] Hill blames this
editorial policy on Phelps, but there is no indication that Joseph Jr. would have pursued a different policy for the
Star had he been present in "Zion."
Interestingly enough, Joseph Jr. and Rigdon did not continue working closely together when they returned to Ohio in the summer of 1832.
"Joseph left Missouri on May 6, 1832," Staker notes, "and returned to Kirtland briefly. He, Emma, and Julia took up residence again at the
Johnson home [in Hiram] about July 1, where he continued his work on the Bible translation. Sidney Rigdon, who returned at the same time
as Joseph, went to Kirtland where he moved his family into temporary quarters on 'the flats.'" [672]
Actually Rigdon returned to Ohio about a month earlier than Joseph Jr. and Newel Whitney. The “flats” was the land in the Chagin River
valley just to the north of the present Kirtland Temple, where the Whitney Store was/is located. One wonders if there had been a falling out
between Joseph Jr. and Sidney, and what soon happened in Kirtland is evidence that this was the case. A startling rebellion by Rigdon on
July 5 stunned the Kirtland Mormon community. According to Van Wagoner, he left Joseph Jr. and the injured Whitney at Greenville and
hurried home on his own because his nine-year-old daughter Nancy was seriously ill. "During his absence, Rigdon's large family had been
shuffled from home to home, relying on the generosity of neighbors, and were boarding at Reynolds Cahoon's place when Sidney arrived.
These quarters were apparently unsatisfactory. Apparently worry over his daughter's illness and despair over living quarters precipitated
another virulent mood swing in Rigdon." [673]
NORTHEASTERN OHIO OR WESTERN MISSOURI?
367
The best account of the "Rigdon explosion" was written by Lucy Smith in her mid-1840s family memoir, although she gets the date wrong,
saying that it took place in the spring of 1832, before Smith and Rigdon went to Missouri. She explained that Joseph Jr. was in Hiram and
that the saints had gathered in a barn in Kirtland for a Thursday evening prayer meeting, expecting a sermon from Rigdon. After describing
Sidney's shocking behavior (see the quotation at the beginning of this chapter), Lucy noted that "Hyrum was vexed at this frivolous nonsense,
and, taking his hat, he went out of the house, saying, "I'll put a stop to this fuss, pretty quick, I'm going for Joseph.'" [674] Philo Dibble wrote
that "Brother Hyrum came to my house the next morning [Friday, July 6] and told me all about it, and said it was false, and that the keys of
the kingdom were still with us. He wanted my carriage and horses to go to the town of Hiram and bring Joseph. The word went abroad among
the people immediately that Sidney was going to expose Mormonism." [675]
Evidently there was fear that he would follow Ezra Booth's course, which would have been devastating given his close working relationship
with Joseph Jr. and his influence among the Mormons who were former Campbellites. According to Lucy, Hyrum borrowed a horse, rode
almost all night to Hiram, and he and Joseph Jr. rode back to Kirtland on Saturday. When they arrived the brethren were collected for meeting,
Joseph went upon the stand, and informed the brethren that they were under a great mistake, that the Church had not transgressed; "and,
as for the keys of the kingdom," said he, "I, myself, hold the keys of this Last Dispensation, and will for ever hold them, both in time and in
eternity; so set your hearts at rest upon that point, all is well." He then went on and preached a comforting discourse, after which he appointed
a council to sit the next day, by which Sidney was tried, for having lied in the name of the Lord. In this council Joseph told him, he must suffer
for what he had done, that he should be delivered over to the buffetings of Satan, who would handle him as one man handleth another, that the
less Priesthood he had, the better it would be for him, and that it would be well for him to give up his license. This counsel Sidney complied
with, yet he had to suffer
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A DIVIDED MORMON ZION
for his folly, for, according to his own account, he was dragged out of bed by the devil, three times in one night, by his heels. Whether this be true
or not, one thing is certain, his contrition of soul was as great as a man could well live through. After he had sufficiently humbled himself, he received
another license...."[676] According to Van Wagoner, "Charles C. Rich wrote that on Sunday morning, everybody turned
out to meeting.' Joseph Jr. preached, 'denouncing the doctrine of Rigdon as being false.' Rich wrote that Smith took [Rigdon's] license from
him and said, "The Devil would handle him as one man handles another -- the less authority he had the better....." [677]
Joseph Jr.'s handling of this affair makes it crystal clear who was in charge in the Church. Rigdon's rebellion was a direct criticism of
Joseph Jr.'s handling of financial matters, as well as his sense of fair play (having a house constructed for himself but not for Rigdon). Joseph Jr.
proclaimed that Rigdon's angry complaint was Devil-inspired and dismissed his “revelation” as phony (he "lied in the name of the Lord"), another
example to add to the long list of Rigdon's "revelations" which even Joseph Jr. and subsequent LDS Church leaders have sought to misleadingly
downplay his importance during the 1830s. According to Van Wagoner this has entailed a dishonest “retroactive” alteration of the historical
record. "Together Rigdon and Smith, in a theological partnership, led a nineteenth century religious revolution that is still on-going in many
respects. Rigdon's role in the birth of Mormonism was substantial, yet the lion's share of his contribution has been obscured by official
alterations of original records. Once the hierarchy began to tidy up Mormon history, Rigdon was swept out of the back door." [678a]
In some respects the decision by LDS Church leaders to deliberately diminish Rigdon's importance also has been due to the obvious
weaknesses of the man, which Van Wagoner fully acknowledges -- the subtitle of his biography is A Portrait of Religious Excess....
NORTHEASTERN OHIO OR WESTERN MISSOURI?
369
"Rigdon's disfavor lasted less than three weeks," Van Wagoner observes, and "In a relatively unknown contemporary account of Rigdon's
breakdown, Joseph Smith is more sympathetic. Writing to W. W. Phelps in a 31 July 1832 letter, the prophet
said that "when bro Sidney
learned the feelings of the Brethren in whom he had placed so much confidence, for whom he had endured so much fateague & suffering
& whom he loved with so much love his heart was grieved his spirits failed & for a moment he became frantick & the advisary taking the
advantage, he spake unadvisedly with his lips[.] after receiving a severe chastisement [he] resigned his commission and became a private
member in the church, but has since repented like Peter of old and after a little suffering by the buffiting of Satan has been restored to
his high standing in the church of God." [678b] Furthermore, Van Wagoner explains that the "Rigdon family did receive a
church-provided home after this incident, and, despite the transitory loss of his senses, Sidney's stock rose again." [679]
About eight months later, on 8 March 1833, the Lord supposedly addressed a revelation to Joseph Jr. saying, among other things: Thus
saith the Lord, verily, verily I say unto you my son [Joseph Jr.], thy sins are forgiven thee, according to thy petition . . . . Verily I say unto
you, the keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you, while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come . . . . And again,
verily I say thy brethren Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams, their sins are forgiven them also, and they are accounted as equal
with thee in holding the keys of this last kingdom . . . . And this shall be your business and mission in all your lives to preside in counsel
and set in order all the affairs of this church and kingdom. (D&C 90:1, 3, 6) Of course the statement that Rigdon and Williams "are accounted
as equal with" Joseph Jr. "in holding the keys of this last kingdom" was nonsense. Marquardt explains that when the 4 February 1831
revelation (BofC ???). ...
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