The Apostasy in Kirtland 1836 1838 1837 was

The Apostasy in Kirtland 1836 -1838 1837 was the worst year of apostasy this Church has ever known. What is an apostate? “A traitor” Five major problems in Kirtland: 1. Economic distress: Many people were buying on credit and not paying it back. Joseph had problems because of his trusting heart. He purchased $60, 000 worth of goods (back east) to set up his store to provide an income for his family. He kept giving things to people on credit. As a result he went bankrupt. He was not a good business man.

2. Speculation in Kirtland on land sales: In 1836 -37 land sales increased 800%. People lost everything. Two members of the twelve were involved. They bought land, homes, etc. and sold it to members gathering in Kirtland then called on the note when the depression hit. The two members of the twelve were John F. Boynton and Lyman Johnson. Many of the Latter-day Saints became wealthy on paper because of the value of their properties; however, this wealth never materialized. ßJohn F. Boynton Lyman Johnson

3. Pride: There was a strong desire by some to become wealthy which led to criticism of the Prophet. Associated issues such as immorality centered around the rising questions about plural marriage. In 1837 the United States experienced the worst depression up to that time. The state of New York alone lost $100, 000. The problems were nation wide. Members who were wealthy found themselves poor. John Tanner and William Huntington were two men who lost everything. ß John Tanner William Huntington

4. The Failure of the Kirtland Society: Joseph was the treasurer and Sidney was the President. Oliver went to Philadelphia to get plates made in order to make bank notes. Orson Hyde went to Columbia to meet with the legislature in order to obtain permission to open a bank. Permission was refused. As a result the bank was called the Kirtland Anti-Banking Safety Society. The Church was sued over it and lost. Joseph fled to Missouri in January 1838 because of persecution. Warren Parrish was the cashier when John F. Boynton and Lyman Johnson took over $100, 000 from the bank. When Joseph learned of it he immediately resigned. Boynton was excommunicated from the Church and never returned. Lyman Johnson and Warren Parrish both followed Boynton’s lead.

5. Apostasy: In May of 1837, thirty prominent men met in the Kirtland Temple to discuss replacing Joseph Smith as President of the Church. Joseph was not in Kirtland because he was serving a mission in Michigan. Most of the men wanted David Whitmer to be the new President. The nomination fed David Whitmer’s ego and was probably the cause of him later leaving the Church. The only ones in that meeting who favored keeping the Prophet Joseph were Sidney Rigdon, John Smith, and Brigham Young. Brigham told them that if they were to leave the Church they would cut the thread that ties them to God and they would sink their souls to hell.

David Whitmer

“Those who turn against the Church do so to play to their own private gallery, but when, one day, the applause had died down and the cheering has stopped, they will face a smaller audience, the judgment bar of God” (Neal A. Maxwell, Things As They Really Are, 90). “Occasionally a member of the Church who is weak in the faith struggles with his other questions and circumstances and loses the battle. Those few members who desert the cause are abandoning an oasis to search for water in the desert. Some of them will not just wander off but become obsessed critics occupying offices in the “great and spacious building, ” that large but third-class hotel” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Not My Will But Thine, ” 28).

The Kirtland Safety Society Bank sold its first stock in October 1836. One year later, in November 1837, the bank closed. Some two hundred shareholders who had bought stock in the bank suffered losses (Joseph Smith had no control over those factors). Founding a bank in Kirtland in 1836 was a logical business decision. Other communities in the area, such as Ashtabula, Warren, and Ravenna, while not as large as Kirtland, had banks. In 1837 the Church’s debt probably exceeded fifty thousand dollars. In all, two hundred people invested, with an average investment of twelve dollars (which represented about oneweek’s income in 1840). About twenty thousand dollars was invested in the bank (Hill, Rooker, and Wimmer, Kirtland

On November 2, 1836 Sidney Rigdon was elected President and Joseph Smith, cashier. Oliver Cowdery went to Philadelphia to procure dies and plates for bank bills. The name Kirtland Safety Society Bank appeared on the notes because it was assumed that the state of Ohio would grant a charter. Orson Hyde went to Columbus, the Ohio state capital with a petition for an act of incorporation. He reported that the legislature raised frivolous excuses because they were Mormons and refused banking privileges (History of the Church, 2: 468). In January of 1837 they decided on a new course, the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company. Although forming a bank without a state charter may seem unusual to one today, it was not at all unusual in 1837.

“Anti-banks, ” were operating not only in Ohio but also in surrounding states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania, and anti-bank conventions were held in counties near Kirtland. In the first few days of operation, bills in one, two, and three dollar denominations were issued but the three dollar bill was the only on which the phrase “Anti-Banking Co. ” was successfully stamped. With heavy demand for speci (gold, silver, or bills or notes from other institutions) the bank’s liquid reserves were wiped out. Although the estimated reserves were about fifteen thousand dollars, which should have been sufficient, there was a run on the bank. In June of 1837, ten stockholders, including the Prophet, transferred their stock to Oliver Granger and Jared Carter and withdrew from the bank.

Joseph Smith suffered overwhelming financial losses and embarrassments from the bank’s failure. He had personally borrowed money to keep the bank open, so when the bank closed, his financial losses were greater than those of most investors; in fact, he suffered more financial losses than all other investors except one. His personal investment in bank stock totaled $1, 360. He had borrowed money, $4, 250, from two banks. In early 1837, in an attempt to repay the loans, he sold $5, 100 worth of land within a three-month period of time (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 2: 497). Financial mistakes by Church leaders were unintentional, they may have been errors of the head and not the heart. In October 1838 Joseph and Sidney went to trial. Each was found guilty and fined one thousand dollars plus costs. Joseph and Sidney appealed the fine and felt that the fine was initiated by influential enemies of the church.

In November of 1837 the bank closed it’s doors. It has been estimated that the total losses were a little over forty thousand dollars. The average loss, therefore, would have been about one hundred dollars to two hundred dollars, or about one-fourth to one-half of an individual’s yearly income in 1837 Kirtland (Journal of Discourses, 11: 11). Even after have been forced to leave, Joseph spent considerable effort, until his death, to repay the notes and loans. The fact that he and other founders of the bank repaid the bulk of their debts, even when distant from Kirtland, points out their desire to maintain their integrity. Just before his resignation from the bank, Joseph said, “It seemed as though all the powers of earth and hell were combining their influence in an especial manner to overthrow the Church at once, and make a final end.

Benjamin Johnson (19 years old) called this time in Kirtland “the first great apostasy” and regarded it as a test he had to pass. From the Quorum of the Twelve fell four of the brightest: William Mc. Lellin, Luke and Lyman Johnson and John Boyington; of the First Presidency, F. G Williams; the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, Joseph Coe and many others who apostatized or became enemies to the Prophet. Approximately one-third of the leaders appear to have succumbed to apostasy, and they drew many others away with them. About two hundred to three hundred person apostatized, representing a loss of 10 -15 percent of the Kirtland membership. About one-third of the Church leaders were either excommunicated, disfellowshiped, or removed from their Church callings.

Allegations about Joseph Smith Warren Parrish said, “Joseph and Sidney lie by revelation, swindle by revelation, cheat and defraud by revelation, run away by revelation, and if they don’t mend their ways, I fear they will at last be damned by revelation. ”

Warren Cowdery accused the Prophet of “Making himself a monarch, absolute and despotic, and ourselves objects, slaves or phoning sycophants” (self-seeking flatterers).

Parley P. Pratt charged the Prophet with “covetousness, and taking advantage of his brothers by undue religious influence. ” Parley approached his convert–John Taylor on the street and complained bitterly about Joseph Smith. John Taylor said, “Why Parley, I’m surprised at you, when you came to Canada you told me Joseph was a prophet of God and the Holy Ghost had borne witness to you of that truth. Therefore, I suggest that you repent!”

I’m sure John Taylor thanked Parley P. Pratt for what happened in Canada, but I think Parley will thank John Taylor for eternity! There are only two members of the Twelve who are not out of harmony with the Prophet and they are Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. Even David W. Patten was out of harmony for a short time. When David Patten returned from his mission he was in the home of Warren Parrish and was soured against the Prophet. He then went to the home of Joseph and complained that Joseph was “abusive. ”

Without warning Joseph reared back and slapped him (David W. Patton) as hard as he could. He then kicked him out of his house and sent him down the path to the gate. David later said it was the best thing that had ever happened to him (Thanks, I needed that). Brigham Young said about those days, He doubted the Prophet for about 30 seconds and then he told the devil to keep his nose in his own business. Remember, when Brigham Young died, his last three words were “Joseph, Joseph. ” Brigham was loyal to the Prophet.

Orson Pratt and Lyman Johnson, both apostles, charged the Prophet with lying and misrepresentation, extortion and for speaking disrespectfully about Orson’s brother behind his back. In 1837 Joseph was involved in 18 different lawsuits. Persecution got so bad that in January 1838 he had to flee. In one of the lawsuits he was tried for murder. Nothing was ever proven against Joseph.

Conflict between the High Priests and 70’s! The argument was who was the greatest in the Kingdom of God? Some in the groups had been ordained both as Seventies and High Priests. They said they were better than men in either group because they held both offices. There was a fist fight between Jared Carter and Benjamin Winchester concerning it. Seventy Quorums in the Stakes were discontinued in 1986.

On April 6 th, 1837 Joseph called all the High Priests and the Seventies into a meeting in the Kirtland Temple. He said, “How many of you are ordained a High Priest? ” Those who were also ordained Seventies were released from the Quorum of Seventy and told to take their place with the High Priests. The problem with High Priests and Seventies was resolved in 1961 when David O. Mc. Kay ordained the First Council of the Seventy as High Priests. Some people in the Church were offended then too.

Mission to England In June of 1837 Joseph was in the Kirtland Temple when he leaned over to Heber C. Kimball and told him that it was time for him to go on a mission to England. Heber asked him why? Joseph’s answer was to “save this Church. ” He then asked if he could take Brigham Young with him to which Joseph said no.

Heber C. Kimball Was Suffering From Excruciating Back Pain: A short time previous to my husband’s stating… he was prostrated on his bed from a stitch in his back, which suddenly seized him while chopping and drawing wood for his family, so that he could not stir a limb without exclaiming, from the severe-ness of the pain. Joseph Smith hearing of it came to see him, bringing Oliver Cowdery and Bishop Partridge with him. They prayed for and blessed him, Joseph being the mouth, beseeching God to raise him up. He then took him by the right hand, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and by virtue of the Holy Priesthood vested in me, I command you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to rise, and be thou made whole. ” He arose from his bed, put on his clothes, and started with them, and went up to the temple, and felt no more of the pain afterwards (Tullidge, Women of Mormondom, 113).

Before Elder Kimball left for England, Joseph Smith had a vision, which he described to his associate: “I saw the 12, apostles of the Lamb, who are now upon the earth who hold the keys of this last ministry, in foreign lands, standing together in a circle much fatigued, with their clothes tattered and feet swollen, with their eyes cast downward, and Jesus standing in their midst, and they did not behold him, the Savior looked upon them and wept (Joseph Smith, Diary, in Jessee, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 146).

This was the first overseas mission for the Church. Orson Hyde walked into the room and was so touched by what he felt that he repented right then and there and asked if he could go as well. Joseph granted him permission. President Marsh who was President of the Twelve was offended because he thought he should be the one who opened up England for missionary work.

The following were called to go: Willard Richards, Levi Richards (Levi read the Book of Mormon twice in 10 days. Joseph Fielding, John Goodson, John Snyder and Isaac Russell. The men introduced their family members in England to the apostles and the door was opened. Heber C. Kimball was the senior apostle on the mission.

John Snyder Levi Richards Joseph Fielding Isaac Russell Willard Richards,

On the way over to England there was a child on board the ship that the ship surgeon had given up on as dead. Heber C. Kimball took the child into his arms, blessed the child and healed the child. It had a great impact on those who were on board. After arriving in England, Heber jumped into a little boat and from there onto the docks and was the first one to put his feet on British soil.

Heber C. Kimball saw a banner positioned over one of the homes that said, “Truth will Prevail” and saw it as a good omen. They started their mission and soon had nine people to baptize. That morning in Preston, the evil one made himself manifest by trying to destroy the missionaries. It was recorded by Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith that when Isaac Russell left Canada, a legion of evil spirits left with him. They said that the evil spirits had followed him to England. Night after night he would walk the decks of the ship in great discomfort as the evil spirits would torment him.

Heber C. Kimball Overcomes the Power of the Adversary (Preston England --- July 1837, as related by Heber C. Kimball) On Sunday, July 30 th, 1837, about daybreak, Elder Isaac Russell (who had been appointed to preach on the obelisk in Preston square that day), who slept with Elder Richards in Wilfred Street, came up to the third story, where Elder Hyde and myself were sleeping, and called out, “Brother Kimball, I want you should get up and pray for me that I may be delivered from the evil spirits that are tormenting me to such a degree that I feel I cannot live long, unless I obtain relief. ” I had been sleeping on the back of the bed. I immediately arose, slipped off at the foot of the bed, and passed around to where he was. Elder Hyde threw his feet out, and sat up in the bed, and we laid hands on him, I being mouth, and prayed that the Lord would have mercy on him, and rebuked the devil.

While thus engaged, I was struck with great force by some invisible power, and fell senseless on the floor. The first thing I recollected was being supported by Elders Hyde and Richards, who were praying for me; Elder Richards having followed Russell up to my room. Elder Hyde and Richards then assisted me to get on the bed, but my agony was so great that he could not endure it, and I arose, bowed my knees and prayed. I then arose and sat up on the bed, when a vision was opened to our minds, and we could distinctly see the evil spirits, who foamed and gnashed their teeth at us.

When Heber C. Kimball placed his hands on his head, he was knocked forcibly to the floor. He tried again and this time was knocked out. Heber was laying on the bed trying to re-cooperate when he saw a legion of evil spirits coming at him. He said they had whips, daggers, knives and pistols in their hands. He said they used every filthy, vulgar expression ever imaginable. He said they would come right up to their faces and spit at them and gnash their teeth in hatred.

We gazed upon them about an hour and a half (by Willard’s watch). We were not looking toward the window, but towards the wall. Space appeared before us, and we saw the devils coming in legions, with their leaders, who came within a few feet of us. They came towards us like armies rushing to battle. They appeared to be men of full stature, possessing every form and feature of men in the flesh, who were angry and desperate; and I shall never forget the vindictive malignity depicted on their countenances as they looked me in the eye; and any attempt to paint the scene which then presented itself, or portray their malice and enmity, would be in vain. I perspired exceedingly, my clothes becoming as wet as if I had been taken out of the river. I felt excessive pain, and was in the feelings of horror; yet by it I learned the power of the adversary, his enmity against the servants of God, and got some understanding of the invisible world. We distinctly heard those spirits talk and express their wrath and hellish designs against us that day. ”

Elder Hyde’s supplemental description of that fearful scene is as follows, taken from a letter addressed to President Kimball: “Every circumstance that occurred at that scene of devils is just as fresh in my recollection at this moment as it was at the moment of its occurrence, and will ever remain so. After you were overcome by them and had fallen, their awful rush upon me with knives, threats, imprecations and hellish grins, amply convinced me that they were not friends of mine. While you were apparently senseless and lifeless on the floor and upon the bed (after we had laid you there), I stood between you and the devils and fought them and contended with them face to face, until they began to diminish in number and to retreat from the room.

The last imp that left turned round to me as he was going out and said, as if to apologize, and appease my determined opposition to them, I never said anything against you! I replied to him thus: It matters not to me whether you have or have not; you are a liar from the beginning! In the name of Jesus Christ, depart! He immediately left, and the room was clear. That closed the scene of devils for that time. ”

Years later, narrating the experience of that awful morning to the Prophet Joseph, Heber asked him what it all meant, and whethere was anything wrong with him that he should have such a manifestation. “No Brother Heber, ” he replied, “at the time you were nigh unto the Lord; there was only a veil between you and Him, but you could not see Him. When I heard of it, it gave me great joy, for I then knew that the work of God had taken root in that land. It was this that caused the devil to make a struggle to kill you. ” Joseph then related some of his own experience, in many contest he had with the evil one, and said: “The nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater power will be manifested by the adversary to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes. ”

An answer for this, for the unbelieving and sophistical, who argue, with the shallow reasoning of Job’s comforters, that they have sinned most who suffer most, and are ever ready to ascribe spiritual manifestations, good or evil, to madness, drunkenness or imbecility. It is needful, we are told, to experience opposites, to be enabled to choose intelligently between them; and to those who have this experience, and who “take the Holy Spirit for their guide, ” the way to judge is as plain “as the daylight from the dark night. ” So was it with the Apostles and Elders in Preston, after their terrible encounter with the powers of evil, at Sunday day-break, July 30, 1837. The Spirit of the Lord, with peace and joy that “passeth understanding, ” dawned with the Sabbath sun upon their souls. They had tasted of the bitter, and would thenceforth more fully know the sweet; encompassed about by the “horror of darkness, ’ they hailed with ecstasy till then unknown, the glory of the golden morn (Life of Heber C. Kimball, Orson F. Whitney, 129 -32).

“A Marriage Proposal” One day Heber came up to Willard Richards and said, “Willard, I just baptized your wife for you. ” Her name was Janetta Richards. Willard was certainly interested. Willard wrote to Janetta and said, “Dear Janetta Richards, I have always liked the last name Richards and would not want to change it. How do you feel about it? ” She wrote back and said, “I also have always liked the name Richards and I don’t think I would ever like to change it. ” That was the proposal and the acceptance. (See, you guys make everything too difficult!)

Another family brought into the Church by Heber was named the Smithies. They had a baby girl who was ill and it looked like she would not survive. Heber blessed her and promised that she would live to be a faithful member of the Church and a mother in Israel. She was healed and later became a wife to the man who had blessed her as a baby. She was the last wife of Heber C. Kimball. They lived in Utah and had five children together. Heber also baptized a man name Alexander Nichols who was a German Jew who later fixed Joseph’s broken tooth in Nauvoo. Alexander Nichols later testified in the Salt Lake Valley that he saw the Savior.

After 10 months in England, the brethren began to return home. Joseph Fielding and Willard Richards stayed in England were left in charge of the mission along with another convert named William Clayton.

Parley P. Pratt to Canada: He hesitated to go because he was in debt, and his Thankful was chronically ill. Parley recounts what happened next: I had retired to rest one evening at an early hour, and was pondering my future course, when there came a knock at the door. I arose and opened it, when Elder Heber C. Kimball and others entered my house, and being filled with the spirit of prophecy, they blessed me and my wife, and prophesied as follows: “Brother Parley, thy wife shall be healed from this hour, and shall bear a son, and his name shall be Parley; and he shall be a chosen instrument in the hands of the Lord to inherit the priesthood and to walk in the steps of his father. He shall do a great work in the earth in ministering the Word and teaching the children of men. Arise, therefore, and go forth in the ministry, nothing doubting. Take no thoughts for your debts, not the necessaries of life, for the Lord will supply you with abundant means for all things” (Pratt, Autobiography, 130).

The blessing that Thankful would bear a son was particularly startling because in ten years of marriage she had been unable to conceive. The birth was a bittersweet experience, however, for she died just three hours later. She was buried in the church-yard near the Temple in Kirtland.

The River Ribble

The First Baptisms in the River Ribble Word spread quickly that there was going to be a baptism and it was estimated that 7, 000 -9, 000 people showed up to watch. Nine people were baptized that day and there was a friendly wager between them as to who would be baptized first. They settled it with a foot race which George Watt’s won.

Unfortunately he was later excommunicated and died outside of the Church. A lot of the people who were baptized had seen Heber in a vision before he came to England the Spirit had testified to them that “he would teach them the truth. ” In just 10 months the missionaries had baptized over 2, 000 people. Heber C. Kimball baptized around 1, 500 of them himself.

Chatburn

Chatburn Heber told some of the converts that he felt impressed to go to Chatburn. His convert friends warned him not to go. They said the people in Chatburn had driven all the ministers out of their town. Heber C. Kimball responded that the Spirit drove him there and that he had to go. After he arrived he baptized nearly the entire town and also a couple of the other nearby towns.

A few months later when he re-visited the area, the little children came out to greet him, encircled him and sang songs of Zion. Heber said, “As I passed down the streets of Chatburn, women came out of their homes and cried and waved hankies in respect. Men took off their hats in reverence as I passed. I felt as though I were on sacred ground and should have removed my shoes. ”

Later, when Heber shared that experience with Joseph, Joseph told him that ancient Apostles had stood on that very spot and had prepared it for Heber’s coming. Some have said it was Paul and Simeon, others-James and John.

Parley P. Pratt preaching in Mentor: Some came to hear, and some to disturb the meeting; and on Mr. Newel soon appeared at the head of a mob of some fifty men and a band of music. These formed in order a battle and marched round several times near where I stood, drowning out my voice with the noise of their drums and other instruments. I suspended my discourse several times as they passed, and then resumed. At length, finding that no disturbance of this kind would prevent the attempt to discharge my duty, they rushed upon me with one accord at a given signal, every man throwing an egg at my person. My forehead, bosom, and most of my body was completely covered with broken eggs. At this I departed, and walked slowly away, being insulted and followed by this rabble for some distance. I soon arrived in Kirtland, and was assisted by my kind friends in cleansing myself and clothes from the effects of this Christian benevolence (Pratt, Autobiography, 128 -29).

Orson Hyde narrowly missed harm: He and his companion held a meeting in a private home. A mob of several hundred men surrounded the house to tar and feather the elders. Orson noted that “a little boy came into the house to see if we were there and he did not see us, and went out and told them that we were not there, and they then disappeared swearing and scolding, and thus the Lord delivered us (Bitton, op. cit. 506 -7).

Back to the Apostates in Kirtland In August of 1837 the “Parish Gang” was organized. They claimed that the Church was out of harmony by adding the title “of Latter-day Saints. ” They formulated “The Church of Christ” and tried to take over the temple by force and violence. John F. Boynton (one of the twelve) and others in the gang rushed onto the floor armed with bowie knives and pistols. Women were screaming and John said, “any man that touches me I will blow his brains out!”

The police eventually arrived and restored peace and order. Every day the Parish Gang would show up at the temple in order to try and get Joseph. On one occasion one of the gang members was so determined to get to Joseph that he started running on top of the seats because there were so many people in front of him. Joseph calmly told Vincent Knight who was a rather small man to throw him out. Vincent stood up, grabbed the man, threw him over his shoulder and walked out with the man bawling like a baby.

The Parrish Gang accused the Prophet of training a dove to come into the temple. They said the dove would land on Joseph’s shoulder and converse with him. They said that Joseph would claim the Holy Ghost made things known to him by the actions of the dove. Lies were being told about him all the time. In July Joseph had been sick and the Parrish Gang spread the rumor that the reason he was sick and dying was because he had desecrated God’s Holy Temple.

Warren Parrish, Jared Carter and Oliver Cowdery were guilty of adultery. Oliver came to the Prophet one day and said, “We know it is true, let’s live it. ” Joseph told Oliver that he did not have permission from God to live the law. Oliver saw himself as Joseph’s equal and began to live plural marriage without Joseph’s consent.

Brigham Young later said of Oliver, “He ran before he was sent. ” Just because you know the law does not give you permission to live the law. It was not until 1843 in Nauvoo that Joseph gave permission for people to live that law. In January 1838 the Kirtland printing press was destroyed by apostates. They also tried setting the Temple on fire.

Wilford Woodruff

Wilford Woodruff Wilford was preparing to say his prayers when an angel came through the wall, sat down in a chair and said, “Wilford you are a faithful man. Because of your faith, the Savior has sent me to show you the end of the world. ” Wilford saw all the events leading up to the Second Coming and beyond. Wilford also saw the resurrection. As the events would go before his eyes, the angel would stop and explain them so he could understand. If we were to pick out a man in this dispensation who was a visionary man, who approached Joseph, but not his equal, it would be a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood named Wilford Woodruff.

Reverses April 1836 - January 1838 To this point, the Church had suffered little internal contention. Joseph’s most virulent critics had been newspaper editors and lapsed Mormons. By the winter of 1837, however, factions in Kirtland, believing Joseph had fallen, were trying to depose him. Joseph was accused of false steps in the promotion of a Kirtland Bank and of moral transgression in taking an additional wife --- or worse. Unfortunately, Joseph’s own words are rarely heard in this dark time.

Between the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in the spring of 1836 until the prophet fled Kirtland in early 1838, only two brief revelations were recorded. From then until the end of his life, only twenty more were added to the canon. His speeches are known only from notes by listeners. On the large issues of the next eight years --- plural marriage, the temple endowment, the plans for the Kingdom of God -- we hear virtually nothing from Joseph himself. He moved behind a screen of other minds: those of clerks who wrote his diaries, hearers who took notes on his sermons, enemies who charged him with dire crimes, official letters written by others, sensational reports by newspaper editors, and later remembrances of loyal old comrades and embittered former friends.

Fanny Alger There is evidence that Joseph was living plural marriage by 1835. In an angry letter written in 1838, Oliver Cowdery referred to the “dirty, nasty, filthy, affair” of Joseph Smith and Fanny Alger (Fanny would have been 18 or 19). No one intimated in 1835 that Joseph’s actions caused the rumors. The sources written before 1839 indicate that most Church Leaders knew nothing of a possible marriage. Cowdery believed that Joseph did have an affair and that his insinuations were not lies but the truth as he understood it.

David Patton, who made inquiries in Kirtland, concluded the rumors were not untrue. Joseph never denied a relationship with Alger, but insisted it was not adulterous. He wanted it on the record that he never confessed to such a sin. Presumably, he felt innocent because he had married Alger.

Alger disappeared from the Mormon historical record for a quarter of a century. Her story was recorded as many as sixty years later by witnesses who had strong reasons to take sides. Surprisingly, they all agreed that Joseph married Fanny Alger as a plural wife and her parents were supportive of it. One of the few tales that appeared in more than one account was of Oliver Cowdery experimenting with plural marriage himself, contrary to Joseph’s counsel. The date plural marriage began remains uncertain. It seems possible that he received the revelation on plural marriage in 1831 while working on the Old Testament. Joseph did not explain plural marriage as a love match or even a possible relationship. Only slight hints of romances found their way into his proposals. He understood plural marriage as a religious principle.

After leaving Kirtland in 1836, Alger, reportedly, amiable person had no trouble remarrying. She married Solomon Custer, a non. Mormon listed in the censuses as grocer, baker, and merchant. Alger remained in Indiana with her husband bore nine children. After Joseph’s death, Alger’s brother asked her about her relationship with the Prophet. She replied: “That is all a matter of my --- own and I have nothing to communicate. ” Finances On August 19, Joseph wrote Emma that, “we have found the house since Bro. Burgess left us, very luckily and providentially, as we had one spell been most discouraged. ” They were plotting how to get possession. “The house is occupied and it will require much care and patience to rent or buy it. ” Joseph said they were willing to wait months if necessary, but by September, the party was back in Kirtland with no treasure for their pains (Doctrine & Covenants 111).

Joseph had run up debts over $100, 000. To raise more capital, Church leaders planned a bank. Like stores and mills, banks were multiplying in the 1830’s. Twenty banks had been chartered in Ohio since 1830. On November 2, 1836 the Kirtland Safety Society back was organized and began selling stock. As usual, Joseph thought big. In actuality, the Safety Society was a partial “land bank, ” a device New Englanders had once resorted to in their cash-poor, land rich society. The disappointment began almost immediately. Cowdery brought back the plates and printed notes, but Hyde failed to obtain the charter from the Ohio legislature. The Mormons adjusted by organizing themselves into an “antibanking” company and, spiting the legislature, stamped the word “anti” before the word “banking” and began issuing notes.

In a simpler and more isolated society, where mutual trust was high, the scheme might have worked. In Kirtland, the bank failed within a month. Business started on January 2, 1837. Three weeks later, the bank was floundering. All of the investors lost their capital, Joseph as much as anyone. He had bought more stock than eighty-five percent of the investors. In June, faced with complete collapse, both Sidney and Joseph resigned as treasurer and secretary.

Meanwhile, Joseph’s enemies attacked. The bank episode not only hurt the Saints financially, it tried their faith. Widespread apostasy resulted. The stalwarts Parley and Orson Pratt faltered for a few months. David Patton, a leading apostle, raised so many insulting questions Joseph “slapped him in the face and kicked him out of the yard. ” Joseph’s counselor Frederick G. Williams was alienated and removed from office. One of the Prophet’s favorites, his clerk Warren Parrish, tried to dispose him. Heber C. Kimball claimed that by June 1837 not twenty men in Kirtland believed Joseph was a prophet.

Wilford Woodruff’s Kirtland Apostasy was rife, but the Church was not near collapse. As leaders defected, men of equal ability rose to take their places. By 1837, Mormonism had developed such momentum that the loss of a few high-placed men could not slow it down. While Joseph was fending off critics in Kirtland, the Missouri Church leaders were building a Zion in Far West. Elsewhere, the traveling elders were gathering converts faster than Joseph’s opponents could make apostates. Wilford Woodruff did not feel the bank trouble threatened Joseph’s authority. Paradoxically, the trials of 1837, instead of tearing Joseph down, built him up.

Apostasy The bank failure, suspicions and Joseph’s morals, and economic stress combined to bring on the apostasies of 1837. It took months for the Pratt’s to recover their composure and return to the fold.

Zion In June 1837, Joseph called Heber C. Kimball to lead a band of seven to England. On June 13, they set out to begin a work that over the next fifteen years would yield 51, 000 converts. Three weeks later, 1, 500 Saints in Far West broke ground for a new temple in Missouri. During the conference, 109 elders accepted calls to serve missions. In late December, twenty-eight men were cut off from the church, bringing the total to more than forty that year. But excommunication did not silence the group. The “old standard” faction was determined to hold their meetings in the temple even “if it is by the shedding of blood. ” They claimed to be the legitimate Church, making Joseph the apostate. They called themselves the Church of Christ, the Church’s first name.