Radio Free Mormon

Elder David Bednar recently completed a landmark address in two parts, seeking to defend the LDS Church against its critics. RFM is joined by the Backyard Professor in breaking down the first part of Elder Bednar’s talk titled, “That Ye May Believe.” After deconstructing Elder Bednar’s talk, a better title might be, “That Ye May NOT Believe.”

What is the greatest problem in the LDS Church? That question is at the heart of this week’s episode. Jim Bennett is our guest this week on Mormonism LIVE, as we explore this question and some of the territory surrounding it.

Apostasy is something the LDS Church show serious concern over. And why shouldn’t they knowing James Strang, Lorin C. Wooley, Denver Snuffer, Julie Rowe all have led Splinter Factions of one sort or another that have had influence over segments of Latter-day Saints. The idea that a few voices or even a single voice can sway large groups of people into disaffection has the Brethren always on guard. But often the heart of the issue is the lack of listening on the part of the Leaders themselves who can in fact be their own worst enemy. We dive into one such story where LDS Leadership and those they call to preside often become their very own stumbling block as we discuss “The Third Convention”. Rey Lucero Pratt   Born October 11 1878 PRATT’S PARENTS Pratt was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, the fourth child of Helaman Pratt and Emmeline Victoria Billingsley Pratt. When Rey was nine, the Pratts moved to Mexico to help settle Colonia Dublán, a Mormon colony in the northern state of Chihuahua. His father was settling in Mexico to escape being prosecuted by the United States federal government for practicing polygamy (Note to the audience that Helaman is a polygamist and has more than one wife). Rey grew up in Mexico, learning to appreciate its history and people. Somewhere along the way he and at least some of his siblings became mexican citizens REY PRATT & ORSON F WHITNEY & Hyrum Harris Apostle Orson F. Whitney set Pratt apart as a missionary on 4 October 1906. On 1 November, Pratt arrived by train in Mexico City and reported to the mission home. He served for nearly a year under mission president Hyrum S. Harris, during which time he presided over the Toluca conference for seven months. Then, on 25 August 1907, Harris announced that Pratt would replace him as president of the Mexican Mission. Pratt was set apart by Harris on 29 September and the Pratts moved to Mexico City shortly thereafter. Pratt started as president of the Mexican mission in 1907.  Church membership in Mexico more than doubled during Pratt’s first six years as mission president. By 1911, over a thousand church members lived in the Mexican Mission. THE CRISTERO REBELLION [ Cristero Rebellion, a peasant uprising from 1926 to 1929, pushed Mexico to the brink of political chaos. The Cristeros generally saw the conflict as a religious war against the anticlericalism of the Mexican government. This anticlericalism originated in northern Mexico, where North American-style entrepreneurs, Protestant converts, and ambitious politicians built a movement to transform their traditionally Catholic nation into a center of secular economic expansion. The movement’s leading proponent, Plutarco Elías Calles (president of Mexico, 1924–1928), placed rigid regulations on the church, including required registration of priests and the closing of church schools. The church responded with a strike—the cessation of religious services—which caused a panic among the faithful. In Jalisco and the surrounding states of central Mexico, this panic sparked a peasant rebellion. Government claims that the rebels were superstitious tools of scheming priests were largely propaganda. Only about 45 of the 3,600 priests in Mexico supported the rebellion. The Cristeros were indigenous and mestizo peasants whose motives for rebellion were mixed. Most acted to defend their faith against an expansive secular state, while others seized the opportunity to demand more extensive land reform] – https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cristero-rebellion  The Cristero rebellion of 1926 had disrupted the religious atmosphere in Mexico for nine years and forced all foreign clergy out of Mexico. (The rebellion was instigated as a response to an executive decree by Mexican President Plutarco Elías Calles to strictly enforce Article 130 of the Constitution, a decision known as Calles Law. Calles sought to eliminate the power of the Catholic Church in Mexico, its affiliated organizations and to suppress popular religiosity.) However, Mexico’s political climate gradually worsened. Porfirio Diaz, Mexico’s longtime dictator, lost control of the government and revolution ensued. Shortly after serious fighting began in Mexico City in 1913, the church’s First Presidency authorized the Pratts and the American missionaries to return to the United States. The Pratts moved to Salt Lake City in September 1913. Two years later, the First Presidency again instructed the Pratts to move, this time to Manassa, Colorado, and establish missionary work among Mexicans in the United States. After five years, in November 1918, church leaders moved the mission headquarters to El Paso, Texas, making it closer to the center of the vast mission territory. In March 1921, Pratt reopened missionary work in Mexico with eight missionaries. In November, jurisdiction of the Juárez Stake in Chihuahua was transferred to the Mexican Mission. This made Pratt president of all the church’s Spanish-speaking organizations. He continued to expand the mission, opening up work in southern California in 1924 and establishing a Los Angeles branch. What this means for the Mormons is that their connection to Salt Lake is partially severed.  The mexican Saints have no direct liaison to Salt Lake outside of mail and they must lead themselves inside the country.  Rey Pratt the sort of local (As he had lived in Mexico off and on since he was 9 and had Mexican Citizenship)  serving as the Mission President is the highest ranking leader they will have direct contact with for a almost a decade.  And Rey seems to be well respected and manages keeping the Church there on track and growing. LOCAL LEADERSHIP MAP Rey L. Pratt was a much loved mission president. When Pratt was assigned in 1924 to help open the Church’s mission in Argentina, (next Slide 7) he appointed Isaias Juarez to preside over the central Mexican District, with Abel Paez and Bernabe Parra as his counselors. These three men maintained stability and confidence in the small branches in Mexico. The branches survived their isolation from Salt Lake City and some even flourished. But much of the Church members and leader’s stability depended on Rey Pratt’s guidance and direction. Pratt was also responsible for creating a new translation of the Book of Mormon into Spanish; he also translated many of the hymns of the church into Spanish. EY PRATT (Death) Disaster struck on April 14, 1931 following an operation for an intestinal rupture (appendicitis) and Rey L. Pratt died in Salt Lake City. Antoine Ridgeway Ivins Antoine Ridgeway Ivins was appointed to replace Rey Pratt. Ivins showed no interest in his new appointment. For nearly a year he never paid a visit to Mexico nor did he communicate with the leaders or members there. The Mexican Saints get together (The first Convention) and request the Church do something about the lack of leadership they are getting from Salt Lake and wished for a native born leader.  The fact that they received no support nor a response to their petition for a native born mission leader increased the chasm. (He wasn’t lazy, just didn’t prioritize the Mexican Saints) Antoine Ivins and Melvin J Ballard Finally in the spring of 1932, nearly a year after his appointment as Mexican mission president, Antoine R. Ivins traveled with Elder Melvin J. Ballard to Mexico to meet with the petitioning Mexican Mormons (I believe this trip was in response to what is now understood as the 2nd Convention). IVINS AND JUAREZ Ivins approached the situation aggressively. He reprimanded the members for their assertiveness in sending a petition to Salt Lake City. President Antoine Ivins returned to the United States and left them alone once again. A silent arrangement between President Ivins and President Isaias Juarez continued through the end of Ivins term in 1934. Harold Wilcken Pratt The Cristero rebellion of 1926 had disrupted the religious atmosphere in Mexico for nine years and forced all foreign clergy out of Mexico. The ensuing isolation of the Mexican Mormon leaders from Church headquarters in Salt Lake City resulted in an understandable independence among them. Twice during Ivins serving as Mission President, the Mexican Saints had petitioned Church Headquarters to call a Mexican Citizen as Mission President Seeing they have a mess on their hands the Church releases Antoine Ivins in 1934 and calls Rey Pratt’s half brother Harold Wilcken Pratt as the new Mexican Mission President.   While Pratt had lived stateside most of his life he was born in Mexico July 16th 1899 and had served a mission in Mexico 1921-1923.  Besides that he is Rey Pratt’s half brother.  With that mustache what could go wrong? Harold Wilcken Pratt [son of Helaman Pratt and Bertha Wilcken Pratt] was called to preside over the Mexican mission on January 1934 as clergy had recently been re-admitted into Mexico by the Mexican government. He presided for two and a half years from El Paso while he simultaneously continued to serve as counselor in the Juarez Stake Presidency.] Harold Pratt along with Abel Paez and Margarito Bautista (Valencia) The Mexican Saints independence away from Salt Lake’s Church Leadership and having a defunct Mission President in Ivins who failed to connect the local Saints to SLC’s Church Leadership, along with strong feelings of nationalism and ethnic pride persuaded several local leaders in and around Mexico City, to organize.  Soon after news of Harold W. Pratt’s appointment reached Mexico City, Abel Páez, first counselor in the Mexican district presidency, was at work. Spurred on by his uncle, Margarito Bautista (Valencia), he summoned the Saints to a crisis conference now called the Third Convention.  Who is Margarito Bautista Born in Mexico 1878 June 10, he converted to the Church Nov 10th 1901 in what he describes as a very spiritual experience.  He has his conversion show up Stateside in the Improvement Era.  Margarito Bautista was one of the most articulate members of the Church in Mexico. Bautista, a member for many years, was an experienced leader in the Church and was an ordained high priest. He had known and admired Rey L. Pratt.   Bautista was an uncommonly literate man and a gifted orator who had worked to educate himself, studying English and living for many years in Salt Lake City, where he taught the Spanish-American branch’s Gospel Doctrine class in Sunday School. He had observed Church government over a number of years and had done ordinance work in the Salt Lake Temple. Like many temple workers, Bautista had become an expert genealogist.  After 1934 he was back in Mexico helping the Mexican Saints trace their ancestry.  Bautista took to heart many Book of Mormon prophecies that speak of the rise of the Lamanites. An avid scriptorian, he agreed with Rey L. Pratt and numerous other leaders that Mexican history was inseparable from Lamanite history and that Book of Mormon promises were inseparable from both.   Rey Pratt had often expressed this theology to the Mexican Saints, many of whom took great pride in their mighty Lamanite ancestors. Bautista, stimulated by Rey Pratt’s sentiments, decided to write a book correlating Book of Mormon teachings with the Old Testament.   Pratt, who was anxious to see more literature become available to the Mexican members, encouraged Bautista.  Even after Pratt’s death, Bautista persisted, completing his manuscript in 1934. Isaias Juarez (District President) who was part of the first two Conventions is apprehensive about the preparations for this 3rd Convention “Sensing his people’s mood, Isaias Juárez, president of the mission’s Mexican district, was alarmed by their preparations for the Third Convention. He could see the implications perhaps better than anyone, having struggled through nine years and many storms to lead the mission. Juárez had learned to read the pulse of the Mexican Saints accurately. He knew this would be no simple petition; quite a few Mexican Mormons were determined to settle for nothing less than a Mexican leader, however unusual even odd, such a demand was for Mormons, whose authorities are always appointed from above, never “selected” by the congregation. Juárez also sensed accurately the mood of the authorities in Salt Lake City, he knew there would be no Mexican mission president forthcoming. The church, he reasoned, would not succumb to pressure politics, and he foresaw an unfortunate and inevitable clash.” Juarez comes up against Paez Isaias Juarez siding with the Church tried to dissuade Abel Paez out of confronting the Brethren in Salt Lake.  Juárez was no passive fence-sitter. Having taken a position against the Third Convention, he then tried to soothe and persuade the Mexican Saints. Finally he issued a circular letter explaining that the meeting was unauthorized and out of order and that those who participated in it would be considered rebellious and therefore run the risk of excommunication. He contacted Harold Pratt posthaste and tried to sensitize him to the impending trouble and its roots. He met repeatedly with Abel Paez, trying to dissuade him. Paez waffling  Juarez at first convinced Paez to call of his confrontation with Salt Lake but Paez returned to his position after speaking to Margarito Bautista The Third Convention The Third Convention convened on 26 April 1936. An observer was sent to take notes for Presidents Juárez and Pratt who did not attend. The Conventionists quickly decided that the Salt Lake City leaders had misunderstood their previous requests. Even though Harold Pratt had come from the Mormon colonies and was a Mexican citizen, he was not one by blood and race and certainly not one culturally. The Saints’ new petition was intended to convey their desire for a president who was Mexican by blood and spirit (de raza y sangre). Reasoning that the church’s General Authorities might not be aware of qualified Mexican members, the Third Convention decided to nominate a candidate. They considered several men, including Narciso Sandoval and Margarito Bautista. In the end, however, the convention settled on Abel Páez. They did not intend to demand Páez’s appointment but rather to clearly inform the Salt Lake City authorities that qualified Mexicans were available. After making their main decision, the Conventionists strengthened their petition in two ways. 1st wanting their leaders to recognize their intense seriousness, they agreed to gather signatures for the petition. 2nd, the Conventionists authorized a commission composed of Abel Páez, Narciso Sandoval, and Enrique González to travel to Salt Lake City and personally present the petition and supporting documents to the Mormon church’s General Authorities. Its business concluded, the Third Convention then adjourned.” Observer reports back When the Observer reported back to Harold Pratt and Isaias Juarez that Paez had gone through with the convention and relayed the outcome, Isaias Juárez wept hearing that his counselor of many years had betrayed him.  “Harold Pratt realized that the Mexican brethren would soon implement their decisions. Seeking to prevent that, Pratt immediately contacted Abel Páez. They set a meeting for 30 April, the Thursday following the convention.” The Meeting On the appointed day Abel Páez met with Pratt, Juárez, and Bernabé Parra, the second counselor in the district presidency. After a long discussion, the men agreed on four points: 1st, Páez would terminate the Third Convention’s activities, including the gathering of signatures for the petition. Moreover, Páez would thereafter take no unilateral action on any matter without the district presidency’s consent, a hallowed leadership practice within the Mormon faith. 2nd, to show their unity and harmony, the four leaders- Páez, Juárez, Parra, and Pratt, would together visit all the local branches. Third, each would send a separate report of the Third Convention to the First Presidency of the Church. Fourth, all would prepare to visit Salt Lake City soon to discuss the Mexicans’ feelings and desires with the General Authorities. The upcoming October general conference was set as a tentative date for the trip. Bur Pratt and Juarez Broke their Agreement Páez was to be disappointed. As the district presidency visited the various branches, Pratt and Juárez seemed to equivocate on their position. Pratt said that he alone would take the petition to Salt Lake City at conference time. Then, instead of assuring church members that Third Convention desires would be enacted through regular church channels, Juárez and Pratt made it increasingly clear that both the convention’s procedures and its goals were out of order. They suggested that Páez and his colleagues were wolves among the Lord’s sheep and warned all members against listening to them. Mainline Mexican Mormons, approximately two-thirds of the membership, had made their anti-Third-Convention opinions known to Juárez and Parra, and no doubt Pratt had received communications on the issue from Salt Lake City. In any case, Conventionists were incensed. They wondered how Páez could believe that Pratt would do anything but present the Third Convention’s case negatively. With Pratt and Juarez having broke the agreement and called out Paez and others as being in apostasy, Paez had no choice but to feel tricked and betrayed.  Also Harold Pratt seemed to lose what little trust he had left with a significant number of the Mexican Saints. Paez felt he had little choice but to move forward with the original Third Convention’s ruling The Aftermath Almost One Third of the Mexican Saints disaffect.   Salt Lake in turn moved forward with Pratt as the Mission President and 2000 of the mexican saints remained with the mainline faith in spite of many of them sharing frustration with Pratt and the Church generally. The Third Conventionists maintained belief in Salt Lake’s Leadership and continued at least early on practicing Mainline orthodox Mormonism.  But simply waited on Salt Lake to meet their demands.  J Reuben Clark Letter In November of 1936 the First Presidency formally responded. J. Reuben Clark, Jr.,a member of the First Presidency and former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico prepared a carefully written letter to be read in all the congregations. Within, Clark declared that the people who signed the convention’s petition were entirely out of order; that the mission president was not the representative of the members to the president of the church but of the president to the people, and that this representative should therefore be acquainted with all the church procedures in order to prevent disorder and disruption; that none of the church’s missions were presided over by any other than men from the bosom of the church; that if the president of the church ever felt so inspired he would appoint one of their number to preside over them; that Mexicans had an unusual number of their own people in responsible positions anyway; that the Mexicans were not exclusively (among Mormons) of the blood of Israel, and that both Mexicans and North American Mormons were from the same family (that of Joseph); that all of the Book of Mormon’s promises applied as well to one people as to another, and so on for fourteen typescript pages. But this doesn’t seem to fix the issue Salt Lake Tries Again though seemingly being tone deaf The First Presidency themselves learned quite soon that the letter had solved nothing. No doubt somewhat exasperated by this time, the authorities decided to send Antoine R. Ivins to Mexico one more time to attempt a reconciliation. Although Ivins was considered the church’s frontline expert on Mexico, his previous trips there had been largely unsuccessful because, as he perceived, the Mexican Mormons did not respect his authority (And Because he was an absent Leader). So Apostle George F. Richards, one of the senior members of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, was appointed to accompany Ivins. What Could Go Wrong? Outcome of that Visit Apostle George F Richards  & Antoine R. Ivins never address the people and are put back on a train fearing they will be arrested by Mexican Officials. LDS Leaders misunderstood the 3rd Convention as imposing Paez be called rather than showing there were several worthy Mexican Nationals who potentially could be called and hence had a tone of distrust and misunderstanding and magnified the situation. The Church begin Disciplinary measures.  On 6, 7, and 8 May 1937, courts were convened in San Pedro Mártir and the sentences handed down. Andres C. Gonzalez Jr. wrote that eight Conventionist leaders were excommunicated for rebellion (having worked against the mission authorities), insubordination (having completely disobeyed the orders of mission authorities), and apostasy (having failed to recognize the Mormon church’s authority). A Serious divide ensued between those loyal to the mainline Church and the third Conventionists.  Distrust and bad mouthing persisted and eventually deep separation between the two groups followed.  Hence an apostasy of ⅓ of the Mexican Saints What Happened to the Third Conventionists They organized Sunday Schools, conducted sacrament meetings, established “Mutual Improvement Associations” (MIA, the church’s youth organization), and functioned very much like a normal Mormon congregation. Like the mainline church, they blessed infants, baptized children, and ordained men to the priesthood. Conventionist men and women were sent out as missionaries to “preach the word” to all who would listen. Constructed at least six new meetinghouses and, in accordance with Mormon custom, dedicated them to the Lord. Produced some religious literature, for example; a magazine entitled El Sendero Lamanita (The Lamanite Path), which contained articles such as “How the Gospel Came to Mexico” and “The Blessed Gentiles about which the Scriptures Speak,” and reports of various convention conferences and activities Efforts to bring them back into the fold Finally the Church sees its hardline approach doesn’t work.  And under George Albert Smith’s presidency the effort to love these saints and to show kindness and to interact with them in healthy ways begins to make headway Arwell Pierce Arwell Pierce was a month short of being sixty years old when he entered Mexico as mission president.  Given his age, some wondered if he would be up to the task of holding the Church together in Mexico, a challenge that had taxed a series of mission presidents beyond their capabilities. Actually, Pierce’s age may have worked in his favor; the problems in Mexico called for someone with patience, wisdom, insight, and compassion—characteristics frequently associated with maturity and possessed in good measure by President Pierce. Pierce’s assigned task was to bring Third Conventionists back to the fold. President David O. McKay had told him that “we don’t have a divided mission; we have a big family quarrel,” adding that “you are the Abraham Lincoln who must save this union.” Arwell Pierce observed that their reasons for apostasy were certainly not doctrinal, and yet Conventionists were outside the community of the Church. Studying the situation, he wondered how brotherhood could have decayed so completely. During the five years since the schism, the issues had become clouded, remembrances diffused or altered, and passions changed. Slowly and painstakingly, he put all his diplomatic skills to the task. Realizing that feelings had been hurt, he set out to heal those wounds. Although the Conventionist’s initial response was antagonism,that soon changed—first to respect and later to admiration, in part because Pierce met every travail with kindness and understanding. Pierce began by attending Third Convention meetings and conferences. Slowly and carefully, he introduced himself and built friendships with Third Convention members and leaders. He even tried to assist the Convention in its own programs, inviting its members to the mission home to pass on information from Salt Lake City, giving advice when asked, and distributing recently translated Church literature. And he talked with Abel Páez and his wife, also Othón Espinoza, Apolonio Arzate, Julio García, and even Margarito Bautista, all of whom had been principal leaders in the Third Convention. Always ready to listen and to understand, he extended personal hospitality and acceptance unconditionally. After weighing all that he had heard, Pierce concluded that the Third Convention problem could have been handled better. Given the circumstances, he even thought that some of the Convention’s complaints were justified. Although having an ethnic Mexican mission president was the Third Conventionists’ primary concern, they also wanted a building program for chapels, access to Church literature, and an opportunity for their young people to go on missions—all privileges that members in the U.S. had. They also wanted an educational system for their children like the system that the Anglo members had established in northern Mexico. Pierce realized that he did not object to the Conventionists’ goals, although one could legitimately wonder how programs to achieve them could possibly have been funded in the 1930s. On the other hand, he saw how the Third Conventionists’ methods for achieving their goals had brought them trouble. Pierce did not approve of the Third Convention’s rebellion and withdrawal from the Church. Because of his willingness to listen, however, disagreeing people, for the first time in nearly a decade, were discussing the issues rather than shouting about them. In the meantime, the Conventionists had generally maintained doctrinal integrity, had done a lot of proselyting in central Mexico, and had promoted much interest in the Book of Mormon. Given all of these factors, reunification was possible and desirable. So Pierce listened, argued, lectured, sympathized, persuaded, and worked long hours. He often told them “the brethren are willing to give you everything you want, but not the way you want it.”  The Conventionists recognized him as a friend, its leaders even asking him to speak in Convention conferences. He did so, carefully honoring their confidence in the initial stages by avoiding sensitive issues, speaking instead on “neutral” subjects such as prayer. The Third Conventionists began to visit mainline Church meetings, and Pierce characteristically asked them to sit near the front whereas in years past, when Conventionists had visited a mainline branch, the seats would empty of mainline members as quickly as the Conventionists sat down. Finally, Páez began to soften and warm up to Pierce and started to think with cautious enthusiasm about reunification. They return to the fold Eventually 1200 Third Conventionists returned under George Albert Smith’s Leadership in 1946 Several members of the Third Convention were temporarily excommunicated by the LDS Church during the period in which it was active, although most of these were changed to the lesser punishment of disfellowshipment by President George Albert Smith in 1946, signaling a compromise. Rapprochement continued with President Smith’s visit to Mexico that year, resulting in most Third Conventionists returning to the fellowship of the LDS Church. One last loose end SIX NEW MEETING HOUSES? Though scholars had believed the Third Convention movement had died out by the 1970s and ’80s, anthropologist Thomas W. Murphy located an active Third Conventionist community in Ozumba, Mexico in 1996. The group was situated in Colonia Industrial, founded in 1947 as the community of Margarito Bautista, a prominent Third Conventionist. As of 2011, there are 800 people living in Colonia Industrial, and all are members of a church officially named “El Reino de Dios en su Plenitud” (The Kingdom of God in its Fullness), though adherents preferred to call themselves “Mormons.” The group practiced plural marriage and communal principles of the law of consecration, and seemed to be moderately affluent. They were affiliated with the Apostolic United Brethren Mormon fundamentalist church, and saw Owen Allred as a prophet. Another Third Conventionist group about 300 strong, also rediscovered by Murphy in 1997, exists in San Gabriel Ometotztla, Puebla. It is called La Iglesia de los Santos de la Plenitud de los Tiempos (The Church of Jesus Christ of the Saints of the Fullness of Times). SLIDE SHOW for this Episode – https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/The-Third-Convention.pdf RESOURCES:https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/global-histories/mexico/stories-of-faith/mx-03-a-division-in-the-church?lang=eng https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Convention https://web.archive.org/web/20080907191615/http://www.orsonprattbrown.com/MexicanMission/third-convention.html https://deliverypdf.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=130069006013112011119070120069002031034018053020030049097003103125124101002069088122020018034045018032097090109029113124110079044016056009084006119098002029102121123003034034024027067003069086126073078079091000110096123064119084011086021080095079125006&EXT=pdf&INDEX=TRUE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints_in_Mexico https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1972/09/mormons-in-mexico-the-first-96-years?lang=eng https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarito_Bautista Photos of Bertha Wilcken Pratt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rey_Pratt https://mx.laiglesiadejesucristo.org/historia-de-la-iglesia-en-mexico/pioneros/narciso-sandoval http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cristero-2.htm https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-was-the-cristero-war.html http://jared.pratt-family.org/parley_family_histories/helaman-pratt/joseph-pratt.html https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/chd/individual/margarito-bautista-1878?lang=eng http://labola.com.mx/la-bola-3/zapata-donde-se-unen-los-colores/  https://www.jstor.org/stable/43040563#metadata_info_tab_contents https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/a-shepherd-to-mexicos-saints-arwell-l-pierce-and-the-third-convention/ https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cms/search/searchterm/Fernando%20R.%20and%20Enriqueta%20Gomez%20Mormon%20Mexican%20History%20Collection/field/event/mode/exact/conn/and

RFM has a free-for-all with the gang at Mormon News Roundup!  Keeping up with Mormonism in the news has never been so much fun!

To celebrate our 100th episode, we invite all of you to join us as we take a look back at the past 99 episodes and share which have been most meaningful and which are our favorites and we will be taking calls from you our listeners and letting you share with us which ones meant the most to you!

Is it possible a prophet of God would steal someone else’s miracle story for themselves? Check out this podcast for a famous miracle story of Wilford Woodruff where he may have just done that very thing!

On this week’s episode we take a deeper look at the 1826 trial in Bainbridge, NY. We examine what led to the trial, what witnesses claimed, what we know about the trial proceedings, how Smith and Stowell got introduced to each other, and a few other interesting facts along the way that make this such an interesting episode in Church history. This outline was used in preparation for Mormonism LIVE: 099 : The 1826 Trial of Joseph Smith, The Glass Looker – https://youtu.be/A2JxyoOtNlM On this week’s episode we take a deeper look at the 1826 trial in Bainbridge, NY. We examine what led to the trial, what witnesses claimed, what we know about the trial proceedings, how Smith and Stowell got introduced to each other, and a few other interesting facts along the way that make this such an interesting episode in Church history. A.) SET THE STAGE Spring of 1825, Joseph Smith is at Simpson (Simeon in some records) Stowell’s home in palmyra when Simpson’s father Josiah Stowell visits him and Joseph Smith uses his seer ability, presumably the stone in the hat and proceeds to amaze those in attendance with a couple of “Remote Viewing” performances such as describing Josiah’s house and outhouses correctly while all of them are at palmyra and Stowell’s property for which presumably Joseph Smith had never seen, is located in Bainbridge NYJosiah Stowell, so amazed at the Prophet’s ability, hires him to both work the farm and to lead treasure digs near Stowell’s property in NY (SLIDE 1)Several Members of Stowell’s family, Joseph Smith Jr. and Sr., Isaac Hale and other members of the Hale family and a few others make a “mining” agreement on Nov 1st 1825 (SLIDE 2 & 3) and the Church agrees it is Authentic Joseph Smith is living on Stowell’s property for about half a year working the farm and doing these treasure digs but they are finding absolutely nothing and these digs are failing at every turn.Members of Stowell’s family along with others in the community perceive that Stowell is being taken advantage of and on March 20th 1826 Joseph Smith is brought before the court on charges of being a “disorderly person and an imposter”The trial is first printed in Fraser Magazine February 1873 Edition and then reprinted again in the Utah Christian Advocate January 1886 Edition (SLIDE 4 & 5)Frasers Magazine 12 July 1873 http://www.fullerconsideration.com/images/frasersmagazine08unkngoog_0243-0244.jpg (Document page 229 [pdf 248])https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-docket-entry-20-march-1826-state-of-new-york-v-js-a/1 B.) Where does the author in Fraser’s Magazine locate this trial record? In Bainbridge? Nope. From enemies? Nope. Rather from an old lady in Salt Lake City who kept records of Joseph Smith’s altercations with the Law. (SLIDE 6)It gets worse though because the Utah Christian Advocate says this was taken directly from the record books of a bainbridge justice of the peace by a daughter or niece (suspicion since he doesn’t know) who tore the record out of the books and the author claims he verified. (SLIDE 6) C.) Capt’n Kidd W.D Purple is in 1877 in the Chenango Union is giving us info about these treasure Digging activities and implies that Stowell is looking for Capt’n Kidd’s treasure.Notice the implication that Stowell knows the story of Capt’n Kidd – hence we should expect that Joseph is informed about said stories too. Not appropriate to start with the assumption he may not have known them. More rational to start with he did. (SLIDE 7)According to J. H. Kennedy, Joseph “made confession” that the autobiography of Captain Kidd “made a deep impression upon him.” Kennedy does not say in what context Smith made this “confession.” Palmyra native Philetus B. Spear recalled in an 1873 interview that as a boy Joseph “had for a library a copy of the ‘Arabian Nights,’ stories of Captain Kidd, and a few novels.”89 Pomeroy Tucker also mentions Joseph’s youthful fascination with Captain Kidd, Stephen Burroughs the counterfeiter, and others, noting that such stories “presented the highest charms for his expanding mental perceptions.”90 Ellen E. Dickinson similarly wrote: It is said that Joseph at an early age could read, but not write; and when quite young committed these lines to memory from the story of Captain Kidd, the notorious pirate, which seemed to give him great pleasure: “My name was Robert Kidd, As I sailed, as I sailed; And most wickedly I did As I sailed, as I sailed.”91 D.) The Proceedings themselves Living w/ Stowell (5 Months) most of the time and a small part of time out looking for mines. But mostly farm work and going to schoolSome quotes indicate that Smith used treasure digging as a way to get out of farm work while still bringing in the needed income.Had been employed to work at the farm part time E.) Joseph Smith claims he is in Bainbridge “spending a small time looking for mines but mostly working for Stowell on the farming and “Going to School” He is 20/21 during the time of these digs. What school would a frontier adult go to that he could be speaking of? College/university? Trade School? F.) He mentions his seer stone and his seeing ability. Work had slowed down because this line of work was bad for his eyes. They were soreHe was turning down most workBut with stowell he found some “oar” (ore) that looked like goldBut its not gold…. So why is such promising?They would find a tail feather though not the buried treasure that was supposed to be with it. (Could the foretold item have been planted by Smith before or during the dig? Does this not best explain what is happening?)He describes Stowell’s house and outhouse from Palmyra while staying at “Simpson Stowell’s” (Is this a relative of Josiah? Sources claim this is Josiah’s son) Could Stowell’s son have described Josiah’s property at an earlier time? Could Joseph have had enough info to make an educated guess? (This is how psychics work) G.) Testimony of Others Horace Stowell testifiedArad Stowell TestifiedPretends to read a book with his back turned to the book, with the book open lying upon a white cloth, while using the stoneThis seems significant as if it points to a photographic memory and that as far as an outside observer could tell, he is doing the same sort of “translation work” as he did with the Book of MormonRather than exclude all light he instead places his stone near a candleSeveral seem disgusted as the fraud was so noticeable that they said it was palpable (almost a physical knowledge that he was a frauding them)McMaster said Joseph claimed if he held his stone to the sun or candle (excluding light hurt his eyes so he declined to use the hat and instead choosing instead the Sun (or a candle) Johnathon Thompson – Joseph told them where a trunk was buried and they dug 5’ and (someone or the group) heard the shovel hit what sounded like a plank or board.“Two indians had buried the chest” – Lamanites. Joseph’s tales already have “Indians” involved. These indians fought and one killed the other and buried him in the hole “to Guard It”.Isn’t Moroni a guardian Spirit of the same sort? (SLIDE 11 then back to 12) Below is a second hand report of how Joseph Smith Sr. described his son’s interaction with Moroni He believes without seeing a chest that he certainly must of hit it (most rational explanation in his mind for the sound)in spite of it sinking into the earth but as outsiders can we see how irrational that perspective is. That a sound can provide one a conclusion in spite of needing magic in order to not see what should have been there and visible?The trunk stayed at distance, just out of reach to touch or to be seen.Isn’t that convenient“Salt might be found in bainbridge”Stolen items, ancient treasures, salt depositsThompson believes JS can discern with his stone and hat“Witness lost some money and Joseph was able to describe the man Witness thought had taken it.” H.) Court Costs The costs themselves Court Charges: (Is this all in cents?) Court found defendant guilty Cost warrant – 19 cents Complaint upon Oath – 25.7 Witnesses – 87.5 Recognizince – 25 Mitimus – 19 Recognizince for Witness – 75 Subpoena – 18 TOTAL? $2.68 (verified by the docket commentary on such in next section) IF THIS PROCEEDING IS TRUE, LDS APOLOGISTS STATE IT WOULD BE THE MOST DAMNING EVIDENCE AGAINST MORMONISM The Mormon writer Francis W. Kirkham just could not allow himself to believe that the 1826 court record was authentic. He, in fact, felt that if the transcript were authentic it would disprove Mormonism: “A careful study of all facts regarding this alleged confession of Joseph Smith in a court of law that he had used a seer stone to find hidden treasure for purposes of fraud, must come to the conclusion that no such record was ever made, and therefore, is not in existence…. had he [Joseph Smith] made this confession in a court of law as early as 1826, or four years before the Book of Mormon was printed, and this confession was in a court record, it would have been impossible for him to have organized the restored Church. (A New Witness For Christ In America, vol. 1, pages 385-387) “If a court record could be identified, and if it contained a confession by Joseph Smith which revealed him to be a poor, ignorant, deluded, and superstitious person — unable himself to write a book of any consequence, and whose church could not endure because it attracted only similar persons of low mentality — if such a court record confession could be identified and proved, then it follows that his believers must deny his claimed divine guidance which led them to follow him…. How could he be a prophet of God, the leader of the Restored Church to these tens of thousands, if he had been the superstitious fraud which ‘the pages from a book’ declared he confessed to be?” (Ibid., p. 486-487) The noted Mormon apologist Hugh Nibley published a book in which this statement appeared: “…if this court record is authentic it is the most damning evidence in existence against Joseph Smith.” (The Myth Makers, 1961, page 142) On the same page we read that such a court record would be “the most devastating blow to Smith ever delivered.” Because he could see the serious implications of the matter, Dr. Nibley tried in every way possible to destroy the idea that the court record was an authentic document. I.) Additional Documentation Neeley’s Fee Bill – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/fee-bill-circa-9-november-1826-state-of-new-york-v-js-a/1 (SLIDE 13) Why this is important – Because once we find the additional documentation that verifies $2.68 as the total, we add credibility to the trial proceeding retelling (SLIDE 14) 2nd Fee Bill – Philip M. De Zeng https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/fee-bill-1826-state-of-new-york-v-js-a/1 (SLIDE 15) J.) Surrounding Statements that shape our perception Oliver Cowdery claims Joseph was acquitted at the 1826 trial“Oliver Cowdery, who did not attend the hearing (he met Joseph Smith about three years later), mentioned the most likely result in light of missing documentation, that Joseph was acquitted of being a disorderly person.”(SLIDE 16) Cowdery may be confusing an 1830 trial that he took part in where Joseph actually was acquitted though the Church’s footnote makes sense to me.Should Cowdery’s non first hand telling be considered strong enough evidence to dismiss the alleged court proceeding? noDefer to RFMThe first 1830 Trial – Court Case before Justice of the Peace Joseph Chamberlin, South Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York: Constable Ebenezer Hatch arrested Joseph Smith on June 30, 1830, held him over night, and brought him before Justice Joseph P. Chamberlin on a charge of being a disorderly person.Abram Willard Benton, the man who filed the disorderly person complaint against Smith in 1830, also wrote an account of this 1830 trial.8 Benton also relates Stowell’s testimony: (https://user.xmission.com/~research/early/court1830.htm)Josiah Stowell, a Mormonite, being sworn, testified that he positively knew that said Smith never had lied to, or deceived him, and did not believe he ever tried to deceive anybody else. (SLIDE 17)“Did Smith ever tell you there was money hid in a certain place which he mentioned? Yes.Did he tell you, you could find it by digging?Yes.Did you dig?Yes.Did you find any money?No.Did he not lie to you then, and deceive you?NO, the money was there, but we did not get quite to it!How do you know it was there?Smith said it was. ( A. W. Benton, “Mormonites,” Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, April 9, 1831, p. 120, as reprinted in Francis W. Kirkham, A New Witness for Christ in America*, (Brigham Young University, 1959) II:467-468)*This is called circular reasoning and it is exemplified by Kerry Muhlstein (soundbite) “It is reported, and probably true, that he commenced his juggling by stealing and hiding property belonging to his neighbors, and when inquiry was made, he would look in his stone, (his gift and power) and tell where it was.”Remember the Miners hill episode where in the “Mormon Cave” were found various animal remains and debris or items. (I think every instance of claims that Joseph Smith found lost property through a seer stone should note the most rational explanation is something other than the supernatural or magic.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4qiP2hZtcACompare to the feather story – Could Joseph have hid the feather before or during the dig? How’s that not the most rational answer especially in light of not finding the treasure that went with it.SECOND 1830 TRIAL(actual newspaper article) – https://user.xmission.com/~research/early/court1830.htm (easier to read transcript)Church description“that he had been acquainted with Smith, the prisoner, for several years; that prisoner pretended to look in a certain glass, or stone, and said he could tell where stolen goods were, and could discover mines of gold and silver under ground (THOUGH NONE EVER FOUND); made some pretence at telling fortunes, but he, witness, never knew of prisoner’s finding any thing by his pretended art.”Harris Stowell “hid a bag of grain in his barn, told Smith he had lost a bag of grain, and wished prisoner to find it; prisoner looked in his glass in vain, for he could not find it; prisoner, after using all his art for a number of days, offered to give witness’ brother fifty cents (so his brother told witness,) to find where the grain was, and tell him, prisoner, unbeknown to witness, so that Smith, the prisoner, might have the credit of finding the grain.” – https://user.xmission.com/~research/early/court1830.htmAgain we have Joseph Smith allegedly using deception to to give off the impression that he can find lost items.Could not Joseph Smith have employed a similar tactic to have Simpson Stowell describe his father’s property so that Smith could later imply supernatural ability in describing Josiah Stowell’s farm?The 2 1830 Trials (Only important as Cowdery said Smith was acquitted and likely was misremembering the 1830 rather than 1826https://user.xmission.com/~research/early/court1830.htm K.) Other Interesting data points Ronald Jackson, a believing member forged a reprint of Wesley Walters discovery of the 1826 court docket http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no68.htm. Why does Jackson feel the need to do this? Because he believes the original is damning to Mormonism. CONCLUSION: Witness testimony implies that Joseph never found any treasure and that while many believed him to have real power, it was them accepting such on his word with either no results OR the belief on others that he had deceptively created the appearance of supernatural abilitySetting up the deception so that objects could be hidden and then discovered later under alleged magicThrough stealing property and then locating it for the victimPlacing items in places to be found laterBribing individuals to give him information that he could then “reveal” to others later (feather but not the accompanying treasure, stolen items, bribing a person’s family to tell him where their loved one hid the thing When the rubber met the road and Joseph had any ample opportunity to actually locate something of value, he came up empty every single time. RESOURCES: http://www.fullerconsideration.com/sources.php?cat=GP-T26 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/joseph-smiths-1826-trial?lang=eng https://www.shields-research.org/General/LDS_Leaders/1stPres/Joseph_Smith/1826_Trial_Walters.htm Joseph Smith and the 1826 Trial https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1504&context=byusq https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/introduction-to-state-of-new-york-v-js-a/1 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/fee-bill-circa-9-november-1826-state-of-new-york-v-js-a/1https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-docket-entry-20-march-1826-state-of-new-york-v-js-a/1 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/220141943.pdf https://www.jstor.org/stable/45225965#metadata_info_tab_contents https://watermark.silverchair.com/45227184.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAArowggK2BgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggKnMIICowIBADCCApwGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMUJ6sRlPRmWN-EOEsAgEQgIICbdN47lit91anjntjBGUirES28IfmW249Mm-oEc8iXOiv-KT6ryM16M0YSHmj1vHN8Gs1h78CZnAg_3SwoPAA_MN5WDxWWN3WZ2S9TYVhhgbciCC6-VrApRswCYJLnhapCnHNEw6e-MUOPyF6LwbkwWG3VVMcWtO73IRWV8zy89aeTsy13t_uJZlJoT0pmIXhsM6rE5KULGjqEKAW97gaAW9NMJhWNBvS3ayJGcCEfimJ7GqN4FGZjItkOLzK0a49Sqg5oBHDvxi2L5l5KE3LSDwDGlU0Ux2hayjmJw1mUpiW0b-KUT8FuDmxxiPGQCGpWnghWKOf3kQaZs8CqVBFTMakXSaBplrw-kJMyEF7Lt7hDxOHdMx0L4lplEujRkQSAPbd299bOgKy3PCDWstnbGckbLLXW_2P2g17dhd4WQFLGpedntbWdTMinZHY4hfHxCF2qCLjFH54aSGGTe286zslE7Uv4AHZJco0LGO15tkDsju2wplN4hRmRe9YCLKBtJY6SMWwOuquJ1cuzMuKUVeL6bcowdP4cb9foLRLXT4PdEeBjilU9pd3MJDNeLLDWgYHwVSdHEfa5ZPBususc1DXIZgJGwhF9zkT3gNgIkCQrUlZGugMJKgbCp-k5sdLSDrhpsPzek8Mz3ss6KqMQY3wRvoDMx9oT5OT-NMG9qKYKws-xvmYzgc6ufxmQsV3IAOd0DlBeylpJgQyDqQr0r5GGDK2R2W5BMFBseh4hPxEBDn_OX204I_VzxkyMxCRVf20p06j2Apu6h8henels8KeYM66zinNRVB33i4Zv7FW0L4hoWRZHkzEqGKTcQ https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-1-agreement-of-josiah-stowell-and-others-1-november-1825/1 http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no68.htm https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/48 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Letters_by_Oliver_Cowdery_To_W.W._Phelps_on_the_Rise_of_the_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints/Letter_VIII https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/107 https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2287&context=byusq

RFM delves into four fascinating items related to Mormonism he has only recently discovered. You won’t want to miss this one!

In this Episode Bill and RFM will go into a story few members know about in regards to the Prophet Joseph Smith and one of his young plural wives. It involves some re-gifting, a land deal, and Harsh Measures T-Shirt Contest Voting takes place here – https://forms.gle/MzBroWzRvk7EFEpQ9 A.) Lucien Woodworth born April 3rd 1799 becomes a close associate of Joseph Smith around the year 1841  a.) Appointed aide-de-camp in Nauvoo Legion, May 1841 b.) Member of Nauvoo Masonic Lodge c.) Admitted to Council of Fifty, 11 Mar. 1844 d.) Traveled to Texas to negotiate with Sam Houston for possible Latter-day Saint settlement, 1844. e.) Sent by JS to deliver letter explaining Latter-day Saint difficulties to Illinois governor Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844. Married Phebe Watrous in 1825 and had at least 3 children (seen in 1850 Census) The oldest of those children is Flora Ann Woodworth born June 12, 1826 according to one genealogy site and November 14, 1826 according to Brian Hales B.) The Interactions between The Woodworth family and the Smiths generally March 31, 1843 ~ Friday On the 31 friday I spent the afternoon at Mr Lucian Woodworth’s in company with Joseph Smith, Hiram Smith, Heber C. Kimball Orson Hyde, a Br Chase with our wives we had a feast of a fat turkey & had a good time (Before her Sealing to JS most likely) –   C.) Strange Interactions with potential suitor nineteen-year-old Orange Wight (Son of Lyman Wight) pursued Flora Ann and is interrupted and offered a ride by Joseph Smith He wrote, “[Having just returned from a mission] I concluded to lo[o]k about and try to pick up one or more of the young Ladies before they were all Gone, so I commenced keeping company with Flora Woodworth… [We were walking near Joseph’s home when he (JS) rode up in a carriage and invited us to take a ride]  D.) William Clayton records multiple visits by the Prophet to see young Flora Ann Woodworth March 31, 1843 ~ Friday On the 31 friday I spent the afternoon at Mr Lucian Woodworth’s in company with Joseph Smith, Hiram Smith, Heber C. Kimball Orson Hyde, a Br Chase with our wives we had a feast of a fat turkey & had a good time (Before her Sealing to JS most likely) May 2nd: “Joseph rode out today with Flora W.”   June 1st: “Evening Joseph rode in the carriage with Flora.”   August 26th: “Hyrum and I rode up to my house and Joseph met Mrs. Wdth and F[lora] and conversed some time.”   August 28th: “President Joseph met Ms Wdth at my house.”   August 29th: “A.M. at the Temple. President Joseph at my house with Miss Wdth.”  E.) Joseph Smith seems to be in the picture a lot but this is because 16 year old Flora Ann has by the Spring of 1843 become a plural wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith 1.) In the spring of 1843 Joseph Smith was sealed to 16 year old Flora Ann Woodworth According to Brian Hales “A March 4, 1843, entry in the Prophet’s diary appears to have been written “Woodworth,” which is crossed out and is difficult to discern. The name “Woodworth” appears interlineally above in shorthand, so it is possible they were sealed that day.” Those visits by Smith to Flora recorded by Clayton – they have already been sealed/married by then  2.) That story w/ Orange Wight…  here is the rest of the story “I was walking along the street with Flora near the Prophet’s residence when he, Joseph, drove, up in his carriage, stopped and spoke to I and Flora and asked us to get in the carriage and ride with him. He opened the door for us and when we were seated opposite to him he told the driver to drive on. We went to the [Nauvoo] temple lot and many other places during the afternoon and then he drove to the Woodworth house and we got out and went in. After we got in the house Sister Woodworth took me in another room and told me that Flora was one of Joseph’s wives. I was aware or believed that Eliza R. Snow and the two Partridge girls were his wives but was not informed about Flora. But now Sister Woodworth gave me all the information necessary, so I knew Joseph believed and practiced polygamy…Now as a matter of corse I at once—after giving her Flora/ a mild lecture left her and looked for a companion in other places, and where I could be more sure. I was now called on a mission to go up the river 5 or 6 hundred miles to make lumber for the Nauvoo house and Temple.” Mild Lecture Joseph gets him out of town sending him on a mission 500 to 600 miles away….   F.)  The Gift Giving of a Gold Watch Emma somehow becomes aware that Flora Woodworth has on her person a Gold watch which she comprehends is the Gold Watch of her Husband and the Prophet Joseph Smith (RFM to give most rational explanation).  We know this because William Clayton records the following “President Joseph told me that he had difficulty with E[mma] yesterday. She rode up to Woodworths with him and called while he came to the Temple. When he returned she was demanding the gold watch of F[lora]. He reproved her for her evil treatment.” No record exists of the exact date of the marriage or the gift-giving of the watch (According to Hales) The story implies that Joseph didn’t knowwhen dropping off emma at the woodworths that a conflict would ensue over the watch.  The Smith’s and Woodworths hung out a lot it seems so it likely it all seemed normal when he dropped Emma off RFM – when did Emma discover Flora had JS watch? Joseph seems to only figure out that he has been caught when he returns to pick Emma up and she is in the middle of a confrontation with Flora demanding the watch backHow embarrassing for Emma Joseph seems to have a history of giving Gold watches to his plural wives The Prophet may have given a gold watch to several of his plural wives. Mary Ann Barzee Boice remembered that she was “acquainted with Eliza R. Snow Smith, his [Joseph Smith’s] wife and saw his gold watch which she carries.” Mary Ann Boice in John Boice and Mary Ann (Barzee) Boice “Record,” MS 8883, Microfilm of manuscript, 174. link to an image of the gold watch Joseph Smith gave to Eliza R. Snow  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eliza_R_Snow_pocket_watch_given_by_Joseph_Smith.jpeg  G.) According to Clayton the argument that started when Smith showed up on the scene to find Emma in a confrontation with Flora continued on the carriage ride home and once the Smith’s got back to their home.  George D. Smith, ed., An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1995), 119. “President Joseph told me that he had difficulty with E[mma] yesterday. She rode up to Woodworths with him and called while he came to the Temple. When he returned she was demanding the gold watch of F[lora]. He reproved her for her evil treatment. On their return home she abused him much and also when he got home. He had to use harsh measures to put a stop to her abuse but finally succeeded.” What are Harsh Measures in this context that could stop “the abuse” by Emma? This speaks volumes about how Emma might feel in this situation was disregarded.  How she isn’t seen as having a right to her hurt and anger. It addresses the quote from last week where Bednar suggests these women pursued Joseph for a sealing when the reality is that He pursued them.   It also runs counter to Bednar’s imposing these were adoptions and not marriages and certainly not sexual.  (Gold watch, Orange Wight, Emma’s being caught off guard)  We should spend a few minutes sorting this out)This instance demonstrates the brethren are either naive and ignorant and speak out of turn on such things or they intentionally play on the naivete and ignorance of members or a combination of both. Oh and what happened to the watch you ask – Seymour B. Young recalled in 1912 that Emma destroyed the watch: “The name of the Prophet’s plural wives [included] … Flora Woodward [sic] to whom he is said to have given a gold locket or watch which was stamped under foot by Emma.” – Seymour B. Young, Journal, April 2, 1912, CHL, restricted; excerpt copied in D. Michael Quinn Papers—Addition—Uncat WA MS 244 (Accession:19990209–c), Box 1—Card file—Topic: Polygamy, Joseph Smith’s  Or is that what happened? – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLLtMuXtEPITime Stamp 1.18.30 for a story about Joseph’s Gold Watch. H.) Coincidence or Women scorned Flora apparently had a serious life event the very next day after the confrontation. The marriage index of Hancock County records Flora Ann marrying Carlos Gove, a non-member, the very next day after her confrontation with Emma. – Marriage of Flora Woodworth to Carlos Gove, August 23, 1843, in Marriage index of Hancock County, Ill., 1829–1849, Tri-County Genealogical Society, comp. (Augusta, Ilinois: Tri-County Genealogical Society, 1983), 19. Helen Mar Kimball recalled a different chain of events: “A young man boarding at her father’s after the death of Joseph not a member of the Church had sought her hand, in time won her heart, and in a reckless moment she was induced to accept his offer and they eloped to Carthage, accompanied by a young lady friend, and were there married by a Justice of the Peace.” Helen Mar Whitney, “Travels Beyond the Mississippi,” Woman’s Exponent (November 1, 1884), 87; italics mine. This marriage is not listed in Lyndon Cook, Nauvoo Deaths and Marriages, 1839–1845 (Orem, Utah: Grandin Book Co., 1994), undoubtedly because his marriage records are extracted from Church publications and records. According to Hales – “The level of friendship between Gove and Flora prior to their legal marriage is unknown, but it is probable that Emma encouraged the nuptial” – and his evidence for that is “Emily Partridge recalled that Emma: “once proposed to a young man to ask Eliza [Partridge, Emily’s sister] to take a ride with him.” Emily Dow Partridge Young, “Incidents in the early life of Emily Dow partridge,” MS d 2845, fd 1, typescript in possession of the author.” I.) And as I was digging into this story…… I found a couple more things Land Deed between Lucien Woodworth and Joseph Smith Mention the transfer of money into the hand of Joseph Smith of $250 Note that I am not saying there is anything odd about this Land deed But It is odd when juxtaposed against this Land Deed directly to Flora Ann WoodworthThe Land Deed itself between Joseph and FloraNotice the date of May 13th 1843 is just two months after the “march 4th” possible sealing date between Flora and JosephNotice it appears to be part of the same lotNotice the amount of $1000Which 16 year old girl has $1000Did actual money change hands or was Flora given land valued at $1000 as a inheritance for her marriage?My hunch is nothing was paid but the wording is a formality for a gift.Other Land DealsLand Deed to Sarah Ann Whitney – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-sarah-ann-whitney-6-september-1842/1But then, of course, there was Sarah herself. Only seventeen years old at the time, and by all accounts well liked by her peers, this was an event that would change the course for her whole life. Even while she was initiated into the Mormon church’s inner circle, and linked forever to the faith’s prophet, she must have known that she risked alienation from everyday life. Could she survive as the secret wife of an already much-married man? There had to be compensation. Six weeks after the secret sealing, and two weeks after Smith’s request for a clandestine meeting, Smith deeded to Sarah a lot of land only one block from his own. It was rare for a woman to own land in Nauvoo, especially a woman as young as Sarah; indeed, it was so rare that whoever filled out the deed had to strike out “his” and write in “hers” to match the inheritor’s gender. FOOTNOTE 1 – While the land deed states that the property cost one thousand dollars, a figure slightly higher than most plots sold that year, it is very unlikely that Sarah herself paid that amount. It is possible that Sarah’s parents provided the money, or that Smith merely covered it himself but desired not to leave a paper” trail.https://benjaminepark.com/2017/10/16/sarah-ann-whitney-blessing/ Joseph Kingsbury (sham) marriage to Sarah Ann Whitneyhttps://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/marriage-certificate-for-joseph-kingsbury-and-sarah-ann-whitney-29-april-1843/1 Emma Smith Land Deed – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-emma-smith-and-others-12-july-1843/1 $10,000 Patty Bartlett Sessions – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-patty-bartlett-sessions-9-august-1843/1 Mary Elizabeth Rollings Lightner – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-mary-elizabeth-rollins-lightner-5-july-1843/1 Helen Mar Kimball – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-helen-mar-kimball-7-june-1843/1 Sylvia Sessions Lyon – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-sylvia-sessions-lyon-5-june-1843/1 Sarah Scott Mulholland – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-sarah-scott-mulholland-13-may-1843/1 Four years later [1843], Sarah is thought to have married Joseph Smith in a union concealed by her October 25, 1843, civil marriage to Alexander Mullinder –a ceremony performed by Apostle John Taylor.  On February 3, 1846, Sarah was sealed to Mulholland, Heber C. Kimball acting as proxy for her deceased first husband.  There are two reasons for concluding that Sarah was joined to Joseph for time and eternity.  First, in her 1846 sealing ceremony, she was identified as Sarah Smith, indicating a prior marriage to Joseph.  [NO FOOTNOTE OR REFERENCE.]  Second, in a biography of Heber Kimball, family tradition lists her among “the wives of the prophet” whom Kimball adopted as his own, 1844-46  –   George D. Smith, Nauvoo Polygamy: “… but we called it celestial marriage”, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2008, 218. Sarah Scott, who had married James Mulholland (1810–39) in early1839, wed Alexander Mullinder/Mullander (born ca. 1810) civilly on October 25, 1843, with Apostle John Taylor performing the ceremony. Mulholland was probably a “front” husband to conceal Sarah’s plural marriage to Smith—much the same arrangement by whichSmith had authorized Joseph Kingsbury and Sarah Whitney’s “prete[n]ded marriage” on April 29, 1843. Scott was sealed to Mulholland for eternity and to Heber Kimball, not Mullinder, for time on February 3, 1846, in the Nauvoo Temple. The record of that ceremony identifies her explicitly as “Sarah Smith,” implying an earlier sealing to Joseph Smith – Gary J. Bergera, “Identifying the Earliest Mormon Polygamists, 1841-1844,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought38, no. 2 (Fall 2005): 31 Elizabeth Buchannan Coolidge (Plural Wife)- https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-elizabeth-buchannan-coolidge-30-march-1843/1 Elizabeth Davis Durfee – (Brian Hales) https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-elizabeth-davis-durfee-10-march-1843/1 Partridge Sisters – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-eliza-partridge-and-others-10-february-1843/1 Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-marinda-nancy-johnson-hyde-10-february-1843/1 Hyrum Smith’s Plural Wives Lydia Dibble Granger – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-lydia-dibble-granger-15-march-1843/1 Mary Fielding Smith – https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-mary-fielding-smith-15-march-1843/1  J.) Other Interesting facts Flora’s marriage/sealing to Joseph happened right around the same time to Lucy Walker and Helen Mar Kimball Speak again to Bednar’s imposition on JS’s Polygamy Joseph Smith, May 1844: “What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one.” JOSEPH SMITH’S WIVES as of May 1844: Emma Hale, Louisa Beaman, Mrs. Zina Diantha Huntington (Jacobs), Mrs. Presendia Lathrop Huntington (Buell), Agnes Moulton Coolbrith (Smith), Mrs. Lucinda Pendleton (Morgan Harris), Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Rollins (Lightner), Mrs. Sylvia Porter Sessions (Lyon), Mrs. Patty Bartlett (Sessions), Mrs. Sarah M. Kingsley (Howe Cleveland), Mrs. Elizabeth Davis (G. Brackenbury Durfee), Mrs. Marinda Nancy Johnson (Hyde), Delcena Diadamia Johnson (Sherman), Eliza Roxcy Snow, Mrs. Sarah Rapson (Poulterer), Sarah Ann Whitney, Martha McBride (Knight), Mrs. Ruth Daggett Vose (Sayers), Flora Ann Woodworth, Emily Dow Partridge, Eliza Maria Partridge, Almera Woodward Johnson, Lucy Walker, Sarah Lawrence, Maria Lawrence, Helen Mar Kimball, Mrs. Elvira Anna Cowles (Holmes), Rhoda Richards, Hannah S. Ells, Mary Ann Frost (Stearns Pratt), Olive Grey Frost, Nancy Maria Winchester, Desdemona Catlin Wadworth Fullmer, Melissa Lott, Sarah Scott (Mulholland), Mrs. Phebe Watrous (Woodworth), Mary Huston, Fanny Young (Carr Murray). (George D. Smith, Nauvoo Polygamy [2008]). Here are the wives of Joseph Smith who were under the age of 20: Fanny Alger (16); Sarah Ann Whitney (17); Flora Ann Woodworth (16); Lucy Walker (17); Sara Lawrence (17): Helen Mar Kimball (14); Nancy Winchester (14) K.) Sad Ending 1850 Census record of Flora – middle of the page That same year Flora was staying in Kanesville Iowa Never making it to Utah, Flora passed away in Kanesville, Iowa around 1850.  Helen Mar wrote, “I never saw her again as she died at that place, leaving two or three children.”  Flora would have been in her mid-twenties at the time. RESOURCES: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-flora-ann-woodworth-13-may-1843/1 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-flora-ann-woodworth-13-may-1843/2 https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,58572 Some of my issues with the Nauvoo Polygamy Essay from exmormon Flora Ann Woodworth https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/person/flora-ann-woodworth-gove http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/19-FloraAnnWoodworth.htm https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/flora-ann-woodworth-24-1g3l7rw Flora Ann Woodworth https://www.yearofpolygamy.com/tag/flora-ann-woodworth/ https://s3.amazonaws.com/researchties-uploads-553de69e5551e9.40089907/18/32385-LR%203102%2027_f0004_00014.JPG http://nauvoo.byu.edu/ViewExtract.aspx?Record=1850Pop&ID=15928 http://www.mormonthink.com/QUOTES/jsplural.htm Flora Ann Woodworth · Collection https://shemwellfamily.com/webtrees/individual.php?pid=I26226&ged=Shemwell https://www.yearofpolygamy.com/tag/flora-ann-woodworth/ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80764619/flora-ann-gove https://www.ldscleardoctrine.com/Doctrine-and-Covenants/Joseph-Smiths-Personal-Practice-of-Plural-Marriage.php https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Historical_Record/Is1LAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA224&printsec=frontcover http://www.withoutend.org/emmas-awareness-response-brian-hales-jmh-letter-editor/ This list the plural marriages around the same time  (should be an interesting read) https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/person/lucien-woodworth (Father) https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/deed-to-lucien-woodworth-and-others-31-may-1843/1 (Deed to parents) May 1, 1843 Nauvoo, Illinois Joseph Smith paid Lucien Woodworth, general contractor, monies toward the building of the Nauvoo House. Sources: History of the Church,(link is external) Joseph Smith, 5:366, 372 March 31, 1843 ~ Friday On the 31 friday I spent the afternoon at Mr Lucian Woodworth’s in company with Joseph Smith, Hiram Smith, Heber C. Kimball Orson Hyde, a Br Chase with our wives we had a feast of a fat turkey & had a good time http://www.joylogan.com/LDS/Parallel/1843/21Feb43.html Some book on Clayton’s recording plural marriagehttps://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/history/orange-l-wight/https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1978-B39-The-Feuding-Gunsmiths-Of-Denver.pdf  https://mdpodcast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/10/1843-Land-Plot.png Joseph Smith, Sarah Ann Whitney, and the Familial Dynamics of Nauvoo Polygamy https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/the-papers/documents

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