Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier by Benjamin E. Park

Author:Benjamin E. Park [Park, Benjamin E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781631494864
Google: -4eQEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1631494864
Barnesnoble: 1631494864
Goodreads: 45894097

Portrait of Heber C. Kimball and Vilate Kimball. The Kimball family was one of the first exposed to Smith’s polygamous teachings, as Heber was sealed to several women, and Helen Mar, Heber and Vilate’s daughter, was sealed to Joseph Smith. PIONEER MEMORIAL MUSEUM, INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF DAUGHTERS OF UTAH PIONEERS, SALT LAKE CITY.

The experience of William Clayton, one of Smith’s secretaries, demonstrates the complexities of the secret practice. One of the more earnest disciples in Nauvoo, Clayton fluctuated between attraction and fear when pondering polygamy. His first wife, Ruth Moon, approved of his marriage to her sister Margaret. But theirs was hardly a harmonious relationship. Margaret struggled with the new circumstances and often voiced her displeasure to Clayton. She and Ruth’s mother discussed her plight between themselves, too. That they all lived under one roof added to the drama. Undeterred, Clayton contemplated marrying a third Moon sister, Lydia, though he was turned away when Joseph Smith informed him of a revelation that men could only marry two women within one family. Smith, in fact, had considered taking Lydia as his own plural wife. Lydia eventually turned down both men.

Clayton’s family expanded in another way, however: Margaret became pregnant, one of the few cases of a plural relationship producing a child during Joseph Smith’s lifetime. Smith counseled Clayton to keep her sequestered at home and not let anyone know of her condition. If anyone raised trouble, however, Smith would publicly scold and excommunicate Clayton, but then privately rebaptize him and return him to his previous position. Throughout it all, Clayton was eager to maintain his wives’ affection, their mother’s approval, and his prophet’s validation. It was an impossible balance.30

Despite the best efforts of the new quorum’s members, word crept out about both the unions and the revelation that justified them. John C. Bennett acquired a copy of the new revelation within months of its drafting, as he wrote about its contents in an October letter that appeared in an Iowa newspaper. Reports also appeared in the church’s small settlements outside Illinois regarding visiting elders who were accused of teaching polygamy. Smith and his counselors closed ranks. When they received word in January 1844 that a missionary, Hiram Brown, had taught polygamy in Michigan, they published an editorial denouncing his actions and cutting him off from the church. But problems continued to arise. The next month, a series of poetic editorials in a nearby newspaper accurately, if sarcastically, revealed key information concerning the practice’s participants. The texts were likely written by Francis Higbee, one of the growing number of Nauvoo residents who opposed the prophet. Their primary objective was to unmask Smith’s doings. Soon the whispers traveled even further. Flora Drake, a recent convert who moved to Nauvoo with her sister, Saphronia, received a letter from relatives in Michigan that casually asked whether they had been “married to Joseph Smith” yet.31

The greatest opposition came within the church’s own ranks, from Higbee and others. William Law, though a counselor in the First Presidency, was one of the last members of Nauvoo’s elite circles to be introduced to polygamy.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.