AN EXTRACT FROM THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET—SIDNEY RIGDON'S TRANSGRESSION—TROUBLE IN JACKSON COUNTY. I shall now return to the month of September, 1831. Joseph, at this time, was engaged in translating the Bible, and Sidney Rigdon was writing for him. About the first of this month, Joseph came to the conclusion to remove himself and clerk, as well as their families, to the before-mentioned town of Hiram, in order to expedite the work. They moved to the house of Father John Johnson, and lived with him in peace until the following March, when a circumstance occurred, which I shall relate in his own words:
Sidney Rigdon went immediately to Kirtland, but Joseph remained at Father Johnson's to finish his preparations for a journey, which he contemplated making to Missouri. Immediately after Sidney's arrival at Kirtland, we met for the purpose of holding a prayer meeting, and, as Sidney had not been with us for some time, we hoped to hear from him upon this occasion. We waited a long time before he made his appearance; at last he came in, seemingly much agitated. He did not go to the stand, but began to pace back and forth through the house. My husband said, "Brother Sidney, we would like to hear a discourse from you today," Brother Rigdon replied, in a tone of excitement, "The keys of the kingdom are rent from the Church, and there shall not be a prayer put up in this house this day." "Oh! no," said Mr. Smith, "I hope not." "I tell you they are," rejoined Elder Rigdon, "and no man or woman shall put up a prayer in this place today." This greatly disturbed the minds of many sisters, and some brethren. The brethren stared and turned pale, and the sisters cried. Sister Howe, in particular, was very much terrified: "Oh dear me!" said she, "what shall we do? what shall we do? The keys of the kingdom are taken from us, and what shall we do?" "I tell you again," said Sidney, with much feeling, "the keys of the kingdom are taken from you, and you never will have them again until you build me a new house." Hyrum was vexed at this frivolous nonsense, and, taking his hat, he went out of the house, saying, "I'll put a stop to this fuss, pretty quick; I'm going for Joseph." "Oh don't," said Sister Howe, "for pity's sake, don't go for him. Brother Sidney says the keys of the kingdom are taken from us, and where is the use of bringing Joseph here?" Hyrum took a horse, and went immediately to Father Johnson's, for Joseph. He arrived there in the afterpart of the night. Joseph being informed of the precise situation of affairs, he got a horse from Father Johnsom, and started without delay, with Hyrum, for Kirtland. On his arrival there, the brethren were collected for meeting. Joseph went upon the stand, and informed the brethren that they were under a great mistake, that the Church had not transgressed; "and, as for the keys of the kingdom," said he, "I, myself, hold the keys of this Last Dispensation, and will for ever hold them, both in time and eternity; so set your hearts at rest upon that point, all is right." He then went on and preached a comforting discourse, after which he appointed a council to sit the next day, by which Sidney was tried, for having lied in the name of the Lord. In this council Joseph told him, he must suffer for what he had done, that he should be delivered over to the buffetings of Satan, who would handle him as one man handleth another, that the less Priesthood he had, the better it would be for him, and that it would be well for him to give up his license. This counsel Sidney complied with, yet he had to suffer for his folly, for, according to his own account, he was dragged out of bed by the devil, three times in one night, by his heels. Whether this be true or not, one thing is certain, his contrition of soul was as great as a man could well live through. After he had sufficiently humbled himself, he received another license; but the old one was retained, and is now in the hands of Bishop Whitney. On the second of April, 1832, Joseph set off for Missouri, accompanied by Newel K. Whitney, Peter Whitmer, and Jesse Gauze. They were taken by Brother Pitkin to the town of Warren, where they were joined by Brother Rigdon, and they all pursued their journey together. During her husband's absence, Emma Smith lived with Reynolds Cahoon, Father Smith, and Dr. F. G. Williams, occasionally spending a short time with us. On the twenty-fourth of April, Joseph arrived at Independence. He made haste to attend to the business that lay before him, and on the sixth of May following, he, with Brothers Whitney and Rigdon, left Independence for Kirtland. When they arrived at New Albany, Brother Whitney had the misfortune to get his leg broken. This detained Joseph, who remained, in order to take care of him, four weeks at Mr. Porter's public house in Greenville. While they were at this place, Joseph had poison administered to him in his food, which operated very violently upon his system, but he soon recovered, and the next morning they pursued their journey again, and arrived in Kirtland some time in the month of June. When Joseph got home, he immediately procured a house for his wife; and, after making his family comfortable, he went on a mission to the east, leaving his family in the care of Hyrum. Shortly after he left, Joseph Smith the third was born. After Joseph returned from his mission to the east, he established a school for the elders, and called them all home from the different parts of the country where they had been laboring. This was called the School of the Prophets; and was kept in an upper room of the house in which Joseph resided. At this time my sons were all called home, and shortly after they arrived, Joseph took all the male portion of our family into the before-named school room, and administered to them the ordinance of washing of feet; after which the Spirit fell upon them, and they spake in tongues, and prophesied. The brethren gathered together to witness the manifestations of the power of God. At that time I was on the farm a short distance from the place where the meeting was held, and my children being anxious that I should enjoy the meeting, sent a messenger in great haste for me. I went without delay, and shared with the rest, the most glorious outpouring of the Spirit of God, that had ever before taken place in the Church. We felt that we had gained a decided victory over the adversary, and,
But, alas! our joy was soon mingled with woe. It was but a few months, before a messenger arrived from Missouri, with tidings of the difficulty in Jackson county; that Brothers Partridge and Allen had been tarred and feathered, and put into prison; that some had been killed and others shot; and among the latter, was Brother Dibble, who had been dangerously wounded. Upon hearing this, Joseph was overwhelmed with grief. He burst into tears and sobbed aloud, "Oh my brethren! my brethren;" he exclaimed, "would that I had been with you, to have shared your fate. Oh my God, what shall I do in such a trial as this!" After his grief had a little subsided, he called a council, and it was resolved, that the brethren from the surrounding country, as well as those in Kirtland, should go immediately to Missouri, and take with them money and clothing to relieve the brethren in their distress.[A] [Footnote A: A revelation was received (see Doctrine and Covenants, section 101), requiring the brethren from Kirtland and other places in the state, to proceed to Missouri and relieve the persecuted Saints, and importune the civil authorities in their behalf. (See also Doctrine and Covenants, section 103).] |