6 The Kirtland Experience: Estrangement and Strife in Kirtland, 1837

Brigham Young returned to Kirtland in late May 1837 to face some of the most difficult and painful months of his life. Much of his concern was for Joseph Smith who was increasingly assailed. Here Young gradually came to the fore as a defender of the Prophet, in some ways his foremost defender. He labored with the Saints, reassuring the faithful, perhaps reproving those who faltered. Although he worked mostly behind the scenes, everyone knew where he stood. And occasionally he spoke out boldly. He stood firmly for Joseph and the kingdom, and in the end Young had to flee to save his life. As before, he continued observing and learning from the example and teachings of Joseph.

For most of this period Young was the presiding member of the Twelve in Kirtland, and for some of it perhaps the only apostle in town not estranged from the Prophet. Young’s second concern, it seems, was with his brethren of the Twelve. While there was no established tradition that suggested he presided by right among the apostles in Kirtland while his seniors were elsewhere, he did labor with them, although apparently not in a formal or quorum capacity. In some respects Young’s own quorum was at the head of the rebellion—some rebelled early and, as the storm raged, eventually ^[273] all but Young himself and Kimball would become disaffected. The little evidence we have suggests that Young tried to reason with them, keep them in, bring them back.

Only once during this period were the Twelve together as a quorum—and then just briefly, in the shadow of rebellion, with a few apostles present. While Thomas Marsh and David Patten were in Kirtland during the summer, Marsh met with several of the apostles, laboring with some success to reconcile them to Joseph. At this time Smith delivered to Marsh for the Twelve a revelation that further explained their quorum and again affirmed the importance of their office. The revelation confirmed their unique position holding, as did the Presidency, the priesthood keys of their gospel dispensation. It was also during this time of crisis as two apostles headed up a mission to England that the Twelve first fulfilled their duty to take the message abroad.

It has been evident to all that the Twelve were involved in and severely affected by the Kirtland difficulties. This chapter, and the next which explores the aftermath, examines in detail what that impact was and how it helped prepare for new leadership thereafter. The reminiscences of Young, along with some additional contemporary evidence not available or used before—especially the perceptive and detailed letters of Mary Fielding¹—permit for the first time a more complete chronology of the Kirtland problems. This chronology is essential for understanding the developing crisis and for exploring Young’s role in this vital period. Here we see the role of the Twelve in the rebellion, the impact of the ^[274] rebellion on the Twelve and on the Church, and Young’s role in defending his prophet and all he believed in during a time of crisis.

News of the Kirtland problems quickly reached Missouri. Information that the difficulties involved several of the apostles particularly distressed Thomas Marsh and David Patten, the two senior members of the Twelve. They had heard “much evil . . . by letter and otherwise” about three of the Twelve—Luke and Lyman Johnson and John Boynton.² Marsh, sensitive about his prerogatives as president of the Twelve, no doubt took the rebellion of some of the apostles as a personal affront. Anxious to appear to Smith and the Saints as a powerful and successful leader, yet too distant from the scenes of dissent to influence events, he felt frustrated and powerless. Reports that Parley Pratt, and perhaps others of the Twelve, expected to leave for missionary labors in Europe also distressed him. Since his spring 1836 anointing to lead the Twelve in opening work abroad, Marsh had felt that to be his particular mission and did not intend to be upstaged. With these things in mind, he concluded to appoint an extraordinary meeting of the Twelve in Kirtland and interject himself into the fray on the side of Joseph. Marsh hoped that through some dramatic act he could bring the Twelve into line and himself once again to the fore as their leader.

Elders Marsh and Patten wrote to Parley Pratt 10 May to inform him of the meeting and insist that he not go to England until difficulties within the Quorum were settled and they could ^[275] consult. The time had come to go abroad, they agreed, but Pratt should not take the work upon himself. And before anyone went

The 12 must get together difficulties must be removed & love restored, we must have peace within before we can wage a successful war without. . . . shall the 12 apostles of the Lambe be a disorganised body pulling different ways, Shall one [go] to his plough another to his merchandise, another to England &c. No! I even I Thomas will step in (if there is none other for it is my right in this case) and give council to you.

There was much to say that could not be written, hinted Marsh. He urged Pratt at all costs to be in Kirtland on 24 July for a special meeting “to break through every obstacle” and prepare for their mission abroad.³

Meanwhile, Parley Pratt was involved in difficulties far more serious than any supposed urge to slip away to England ahead of his brethren. Caught up in the “envyings, lyings, strifes and divisions,” as he later phrased it, Pratt was one of those to strike out at Joseph Smith.⁴

On 23 May, Parley Pratt wrote Smith an angry letter, accusing him of covetousness and taking advantage of his brother “by undue religious influence.” Specifically, Pratt complained bitterly that Smith had turned his personal notes for debt over to a bank. He insisted he would prefer charges against the Prophet, and six days later a note was drawn up by Apostles Lyman Johnson and Orson Pratt condemning Smith for “lying and misrepresentation. Also for extortion—and for speaking disrespectfully against his brothers behind their backs.”⁵ Parley Pratt’s letter to Joseph accused him of impoverishing his family by selling them land at an “extortionary price,” and concluded “that the whole ^[276] scheme of speculation in which we have been engaged, is of the devil.” Parley was certain that by precept and example President Smith and President Rigdon had been “the principal means in leading this people astray, in these particulars.”⁶

Brigham Young returned to Kirtland about the same time that Parley Pratt wrote his severe letter attacking Joseph Smith. Joseph Fielding and his sisters Mary and Mercy, Canadian converts of Pratt, arrived about the same time. Fielding had arrived expecting to accompany those who would go to England on the projected preaching mission. He was sorrowed and troubled by the contention in Kirtland, especially so to see the Prophet “much accused by some of the Elders, by some of the Twelve, and by some of the Three Witnesses.”⁷

Perhaps the first Sunday meeting either of them attended was the meeting in the temple on 28 May. Woodruff, a witness to the February cabal against Joseph, wrote in his diary that the same spirits of “murmering, complaining, & of mutiny” had continued unabated “untill many & some in high places had risen up against Joseph . . . and they were striving to overthrow his influence & cast him down.” Apparently it was in this meeting that Warren Parrish openly denounced Joseph Smith before the congregation. Smith responded in his own defense, and Sidney Rigdon and several others also vigorously sustained the character of the Prophet. This must have been the incident witnessed by Canadian convert John Taylor, briefly in Kirtland on a visit. He said that the denunciations of Joseph were “warmly sustained by many of those present,” and that he was among those who spoke out ^[277] in Smith’s defense. Not content with denouncing the Prophet, Parrish also pronounced a curse upon his head which, he insisted, the God of Heaven would seal because of his wickedness.⁸ In Woodruff’s view, Joseph was vindicated in the confrontation, for he “acted wisely while all saw the spirit of his foe.”⁹ Clearly, not all would agree.

According to Taylor, Pratt tried to convince him of Smith’s errors but ceased when reminded of the testimony “by revelation” that he had given them of Smith’s divinely appointed call. Taylor told Pratt that he now had that same testimony, and “if the work was true six months ago, it is true today; if Joseph Smith was then a prophet, he is now.” Joseph Smith entertained the influential Canadian convert in his home, and Taylor left comforted and reinforced in the gospel.

Warren Parrish had earlier been an intimate of Joseph, his private secretary for many months, and a man for whom Smith had expressed warmth and admiration. His estrangement from Joseph and disaffection from the Church were neither sudden nor simple. In addition to his involvement with the temporal developments that influenced so many, Parrish’s personal difficulties, if later accounts are to be trusted, began with moral infractions that cost him influence and position.¹⁰

Those faithful to Joseph Smith immediately brought charges against Warren Parrish, Parley Pratt, and Lyman Johnson of the Twelve, Frederick G. Williams of the Presidency, and David Whitmer for conduct unbecoming their high office and “injurious to the Church of God.” The following day the Kirtland High Council, ^[278] presided over for the occasion by Sidney Rigdon, met to hear the cases.¹¹ Parrish countered by charging President Rigdon with not believing the revelations of God, “both old and new,” and with denying the agency of man and his accountability to God.¹² Instead of moving against the dissenters, the council became embroiled in procedural disputes and ended in confusion. Appalled at the outcome, Wilford Woodruff filled his diary entry with shorthand and concluded to “let memory speak upon this subject.”¹³

Since at least February some of the Twelve had looked towards a summer mission to England. Heber Kimball in that month discussed the project with Brigham Young and Parley Pratt, suggesting that they begin preparing themselves. Increasing difficulties in Kirtland, however, along with the continued absence of President Marsh, made the mission appear doubtful. Kimball, then, was considerably surprised when Joseph Smith told him that, according to the Spirit, the mission must go forth and that he must head it. In spite of the strife and apostasy in Kirtland—or perhaps because of it—the mission would be sent. Kimball was very anxious that Brigham accompany him, but Smith, indicating he needed Young at home, would not agree. If Kimball was to establish the Church abroad, Young was to help preserve and defend it at home.¹⁴

Taking the gospel abroad was a responsibility of the Twelve as a quorum, and one especially dear to Quorum President Marsh. Now it appeared that, not only would Marsh be denied the opportunity to preside, but that Kimball alone of the Twelve would be involved in the first overseas mission. In addition to Parley Pratt’s disaffection, Kimball later said that at this time apostles ^[279] McLellen, Boynton, and the Johnson brothers had “rebelled against Joseph Smith, and all those who were his friends” and now ridiculed “that religion that they had formerly borne testimony of to the world.”¹⁵ Orson Hyde and Orson Pratt were also disaffected. Marsh and Patten, of course, were still in Missouri and probably William Smith as well.

Orson Hyde entered the room just as the Presidency prepared to bless Kimball for his mission. He acknowledged that he had sinned “before my God and you” and asked their forgiveness, announcing that if they thought him worthy he intended to accompany Heber to England. He, too, received the preparatory blessing. As Kimball completed his preparations to leave, Boynton told him that if he “was such a damned fool as to go at the call of the fallen prophet” he would not get a dime’s help from John Boynton. Lyman Johnson also tried to dissuade Heber, but declared he would help him if Heber insisted on going. He “took his cloak off his back and put it on to mine; this was the first cloak I ever had in my life.”¹⁶

The same day that Joseph Smith met with Elders Kimball, Hyde, and Fielding to instruct them¹⁷ on their mission, Willard Richards arrived in Kirtland. Because he had stayed with family, he had not returned from their joint mission when Brigham Young had. According to his diary, he had months before made a covenant with Kimball to be among the first missionaries to a foreign land, but now that the mission was departing, he felt that his deep involvement in “the Temporal affairs of the Church in Co[mpany] with Bro. Brigham,” would prevent his participation. With ^[280] Kimball’s encouragement, the Presidency’s permission and the cooperation of cousin Fitch Brigham—who would assist Brigham Young in Willard’s place—Willard concluded to join the mission to England.¹⁸ On 13 June, Brigham Young accompanied the missionaries the twelve miles in a steamer to the Lake Erie shore and then returned to Kirtland.

The prosperity that had driven Kirtland for months disappeared in the spring and summer of 1837. Instead of animation, activity, optimism, editor Warren A. Cowdery wrote of “a sullen, we can almost say, a desponding gloom.” During the boom almost every man had borrowed too much, thought Cowdery, and now at a time of slow business and tight money the loans came due. Land prices were down, food prices up, many men unemployed. “The day of speculation . . . appears to have gone by for the present, and the hour of adversity—the time of trial—has come; payments are due, money scarce, credit impaired, and confidence gone!”¹⁹

Many of the faithful who had tried to sustain the Safety Society notes now found they had little else, yet no one would accept them. Joseph Fielding would try to use some for passage to New York. Heber left his wife Vilate “in debt with nothing but Kirtland money to pay her way” and not knowing “whether it is ever likely to pass.” Jonathan Crosby went around Kirtland with a bundle of bills and couldn’t get food for his family. About this time Mary Fielding heard Joseph Smith say that between the unfaithfulness of the bank directors and the division of the people he did not know that the bank would ever rise again.^{20 [281]}

The day after he instructed the departing missionaries, Joseph fell ill. When the elders called to bid him farewell, he was unable to raise his head from his pillow. By the following day he was worse and suffering intensely. Overjoyed, his enemies used the illness against him by suggesting that his afflictions were because of transgression.²¹ Writing to her sister Mercy, who had returned to Canada, Mary Fielding said that on 18 June President Smith appeared to be so far gone that president Rigdon told the Saints that without the intervention of God, it would be a wonder if he lived till night. Mary reminded her sister of Parrish’s curse. That night a number of brethren—doubtless Brigham among them—fasted and prayed for Joseph nearly all night in the temple. From that time, wrote Mary, to the relief and great joy of his friends, Joseph began to recover. His message to the faithful: “he shall yet stand in his place and accomplish the work God has given him to do however much many seek his removal.”²²

On Sunday, while Joseph lay apparently dying, the Saints entered the temple for meeting to find that Elder Parley Pratt occupied the stand. In a “very plausible de[s]course” Pratt labored to show that Joseph had committed great sins and that nearly all the Church had departed from God. Pratt acknowledged two letters to Joseph, said he would retract nothing, and went on to profess himself innocent of all charges of wrongdoing. Reports circulating against him, he insisted, had been raised through envy and malice.

President Rigdon quickly dismissed the large congregation who had listened with great attention, “some pleasd but many greatly displeased.”^{23 [282]}

With the prophet disabled, Sidney Rigdon for a time shouldered alone the burdens of the beleaguered Presidency. He remained steadfast in his loyalty to Joseph and, as always, impressive in his oratory.

The afternoon meeting was for Mary Fielding an unforgettable scene of confusion. Both of the Pratt brothers, Warren Parrish, and “many others disafected” were again present.²⁴ President Rigdon, “bowed down with the sad condition of the Church and the situation of dear Brother Joseph,” stood before the Church and “in language it is impossible to . . . describe” talked about what they had witnessed and what the gospel should mean to them. He would bear no more the public insulting of Joseph, he concluded, and if anything occurred again similar to Elder Pratt’s morning performance, Rigon would leave immediately. After a vote indicated many in agreement, he left the building followed by many of the Saints. Mary stayed to hear Oliver Cowdery attempt some reconciliations and then, when Orson Pratt began to speak, she and many more also left. As she passed Joseph Smith’s home, she wondered if he would live until morning.²⁵

A few days later Joseph Smith was enough recovered that Mary Fielding and Heber’s wife Vilate ate supper with him and his family. Wrote Mary of the visit, he can now walk and converse, but “feels himself to be but a poor creature,” able to perform only as God strengthens him. To him, his sickness had been a “power that had seized him” and against which he struggled. Joseph told the ladies that Parley Pratt had left his family and set out for Missouri without a parting word. Smith did not know his intentions. Brigham Young, the senior and now the only apostle in Kirtland not ^[283] disaffected, had no doubt labored with Parley, though without avail. For Mary, as earlier with Young, the issues were simple: “I know not what the Lord will have to do with his Church before it will submit to be governd by the Head but I fully believe we shall have no prosperity till this is the case.”²⁶

By Sunday, 25 June, Joseph was still not well enough to attend meeting. Parrish, using every opportunity to spread his disaffection and defy the authorities faithful to Smith, arrived early enough to seat himself in the place usually occupied by the Prophet. Hyrum Smith conducted the meeting and spoke until tears forced him to his seat. When in control of his feelings, Hyrum again took the stand, and this time, “before he concluded he seemed to be filled with the spirit and power of God . . . when he assured us with great energy that from that hour the Church should begin to rise.”²⁷

It is interesting to think of Brigham Young sitting week by week in the meetings Mary Fielding described. No doubt he felt enraged at the conduct of the dissenters, yet we find no mention that he took the stand to speak out in defense of Joseph. Missionary stumping had taught him to explain his beliefs and convictions simply and forcefully, something he would do in Kirtland meetings a few weeks later when those he thought more able were not at hand. But for now his influence was less visible—perhaps in council, in some groups, one on one with individuals. Convinced that men like Sidney Rigdon and Hyrum Smith—and Oliver Cowdery while faithful—could speak out more persuasively, he left the public defenses to them. Still, ^[284] this crisis weighed heavily upon him. Reminiscing about it later with several of the apostles, he confessed: “I could not sleep those days I spent many a knight all knight without sleeping at all I prayed a good deal my mind was constantly active in those days.”²⁸

The next week brought changes, first several meetings of peace and renewal—for a time, at least, the raging storm subsided—and then the arrival of Elders Marsh and Patten from Missouri. Sunday, 2 July, Joseph Smith, seated with his faithful parents, brothers, and uncles, was present to witness what Mary Fielding called “a quiet comfortable waiting upon god in his House.” Sidney Rigdon delivered a striking discourse from Daniel 2:44 on the kingdom of God, telling the Saints with great energy that the prophesied kingdom was set up, that it would never be destroyed “nor be left to other People. no said he nor yet change Governors.” Like Woodruff in the months before after moving meetings, Mary thought his remarks should have convinced the opposers that their efforts were fruitless, although she did not expect “in the least that Satan will give up the contest.”²⁹

If possible, the weekday meetings on Thursday were even better. Fielding wrote her sister that she witnessed remarkable demonstrations of the power and spirit of God, and that many who had long resided in the city said that “such a time of love & refreshing has never been known.” Hearts were melted and brethren and sisters wept and praised God together.

I do assure you Brother Hyrum Smiths prediction that from that hour the Lord would begin to bless his people has been verily fulfild, I believe . . . what I felt that day seemed to out ^[285] way [weigh] all the afliction and destress of mind I have sufferd since I came here.³⁰

Elder Marsh arrived in the midst of this renewal. He assured Mary Fielding that he believed the difficulties between the Presidency and the Twelve would be shortly settled. Already they had persuaded Parley Pratt, when they had met on the road, to return with them. Mary thought Elder Marsh “a most exelent Man . . . a Man of great faith.”

To be certain that they received a proper report on the perplexing problems that had beset the Twelve and the Church, Brigham Young met Thomas Marsh and David Patten as soon as they arrived. President Marsh took Young’s advice and went directly to Joseph Smith. Patten, however, was apparently already too agitated to do the same. Was he insistent on first hearing firsthand the rumored charges against Joseph? Was he confused by conflicting reports and unwilling to face the Prophet until he had sorted things out for himself? Brigham Young said later that Patten first went to Warren Parrish who succeeded in swaying the apostle somewhat to his view. He “got his mind prejudiced,” reported Young, “& when he went to see Joseph[,] David insulted Joseph & Joseph slaped him in the face & kicked him out of the yard.” In Young’s view this sharp reaction from Joseph “done David good” and quickly brought him to his senses.³¹ Patten’s clash with Smith was sharp but of brief duration. If he did not immediately assist Marsh and Young in working to reconcile the other apostles, there is at least no other record that he had any further difficulty with or doubts about Joseph himself. ^[286]

With the mantle and responsibility of quorum president, and perhaps with the assistance of the impressive meetings, Thomas Marsh was more successful with the Pratt brothers than Brigham Young had been. During the next Sunday meetings, Orson Pratt was among those who made apologies for past errors. He said his actions had been founded on report and that he did not know personally anything against the Prophet. On the contrary he believed Smith to be honest and now felt in his own mind quite satisfied. Either this Sunday or the next Parley Pratt likewise made “considerable acknowledgement” of his faults, although Mary Fielding judged his confession less satisfactory.³²

A public letter that Parley Pratt prepared a few months later suggests what he might have said at the time of his reconciliation. He freely acknowledged writing to the Presidency a letter “in great severity and harshness” in regard to some business matters, “but at the same time expressing my entire confidence in the faith of the church.” He maintained that even though the letter was written “under feelings of excitement, and during the most peculiar trials,” he did not believe then or at any time that the Presidency were dishonest or had wrong motives or intentions. Always, he said, he had thought them men of God. “But I considered them like other men, and as the prophets and apostles of old liable to errors, and mistakes, in things which were not inspired from heaven; but managed by their own judgement.” His letter had been meant as a private admonishment, although, in retrospect, he knew that it was not written “in the spirit of meekness, to do them good, but rather to injure them and wound their feelings.” He ^[287] censured himself for rashness and imprudence “and many faults which I would to God that I had avoided.”³³

According to Mary Fielding, these “ample confessions” included promises to give themselves up more fully than ever to the work of the Lord. Parley Pratt was faithful to that promise. By 5 August he was laboring on a mission in New York and from then until his death remained “in the harness,” as Heber Kimball later characterized the labor of the apostles. For Kirtland Saints this was a time of comfort and consolation. The contention, it appeared, was almost over.³⁴

Thomas Marsh and David Patten, apparently in company with William Smith, had traveled to Kirtland for the express purpose of meeting in conference with the Twelve.³⁵ Because of the disaffections and the absence from Kirtland of several members, the proposed 21 July 1837 meeting of all the Twelve could not be held. Instead, President Marsh had to content himself with investigating the condition of each of the apostles and laboring with those still disaffected.

Elder McLellen had apparently left Kirtland before this and largely disassociated himself from the Church. His later assertion that he had in August 1836 “ceased to be an active minister among that people because he verily believed that the course pursued by their Leaders would sooner or later bring inevitable destruction upon them and their followers” may be the best explanation for the failure of Kirtland or Missouri records to mention him over a period of many months, although we do find him participating in some fall 1837 church meetings in Missouri ^[288] before his formal excommunication. An 1872 letter mentions again the fall 1836 date, insisting with more details that he quit the Church because “they practiced so much wrong.” Like Young and Kimball, McLellen returned from his 1836 mission to find a Kirtland changed from the one he had left and “the Presidency to a great extent absolved [involved? absorbed?] in temporal things.” In his memory, what convinced him of their error was their indebtedness, partying, and intoxication as “big-merchant-men,” and inevitably their support of “that swindling Kirtland banking concern, about which so many lies were prophesied.” As he said in another letter many years later,

I left the Church in Aug. 1836, not because I disbelieved the Book [of Mormon] or the (then) doctrines preached or held by the Church, but because the Leading men to a great extent left their religion and run into and after speculation, pride, and popularity! . . . I quit because I could not uphold the Presidency as men of God.³⁶

When Heber Kimball wrote that the “appearance of prosperity” and expectation of material wealth stimulated many “to great exertions, so much so that even some of the Twelve went to New York and purchased to the amount of 20,000 dollars worth of goods,” he was thinking primarily of Lyman E. Johnson and John F. Boynton. Later comments that their difficulties stemmed from “leaving their calling to attend to other occupations” no doubt referred to this same activity.³⁷ In addition to merchandising, the two apostles contracted for a tract of land, which they subdivided and sold at inflated prices. With the economic downturn, they were unable to satisfy the mortgage and lost the whole tract. ^[289]

Although in stable times they might have made a good living without materially injuring the Saints, their critics felt that they had engaged in the enterprise for the wrong motives and as a result lost the spirit of their calling.³⁸ And Saints who had purchased from them in good faith, many paying considerable money, lost all. One man who had paid them $1500 of an $1800 contract claimed that, after he lost everything because of their handling of the affair, they tried to attach his horses for the remaining $300. Justice of the Peace Oliver Cowdery’s docket book suggests this was not an isolated example. Time after time the two apostles appear as plaintiffs initiating action for debt.³⁹

President Marsh no doubt labored with the two merchant apostles, as well as with the constable Luke Johnson.⁴⁰ Residing with Joseph during his stay in Kirtland, Marsh called a meeting at Smith’s home “to which several of the brethren who were disaffected were invited.” Marsh “moderated” the meeting and after listening patiently to the “aggrieved parties” succeeded in affecting a reconciliation.⁴¹

If Marsh’s success with the dissenters gave him satisfaction, he was still troubled, nonetheless. He wanted to be known as a strong and effective leader, yet so many of his quorum had been deeply involved in the rebellion. Also, one of his purposes for calling a meeting of the Twelve had been to prepare, as a quorum, for a foreign mission under his direction. Much to his consternation, that mission was already underway. Questioning his own status, wondering if the Lord could still accept the Twelve, he went to Joseph 23 July, the day before the ^[290] grand council would have been held, to discuss his troubling concerns. In response Joseph dictated as Marsh copied in his own book “the word of the Lord unto Thomas B. Marsh concerning the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.”⁴²

“I have heard thy prayors . . . in behalf of those thy Brotherin whoe ware chosen to bare testamona of my name,” read the revelation acknowledging Marsh’s concern for the Twelve. It continued with admonition, warning, and blessing specifically for President Marsh in his calling, that he should continue his residence in Missouri, that he had a role in publishing the Word to the world. If he was faithful he could continue to defend successfully the kingdom: “thy voice shall be a rebuke unto the transgressor, and at thy rebuke, let the tongue of the slanderer cease to perverseness.” Marsh was told to pray for his brethren of the Twelve and admonish them “sharply,” and then heard the promise: “and after their temptations & much tribulations behold I the Lord will feele after them & if they harden not their harts and stifen not their necks aganst me they shall be converted and I will heal them.” In response to concerns about his own status and about some of the Twelve going abroad without him, the revelation acknowledged Marsh as the one chosen to hold the keys pertaining to the Twelve among all nations, “for on thou have I layed the burden of all the Churches, for a little season.”⁴³ Marsh told Vilate Kimball in connection with this that “there was one thing made known to joseph while he was receiving [the revelation] which he told [Marsh] not to write.” Joseph had assured him, explained Marsh, that since proclaiming the gospel ^[291] in Europe was his special responsibility, the door could not be “effectually” opened until he sent someone or went himself.⁴⁴

Although the revelation was addressed to Marsh and prompted by his concerns, it also dealt with the Twelve as a quorum:

I say unto all the twelve; arise gird up your loins take up your cross. follow me and feed my sheep; exalt not yourselves, rebel not against my servant Joseph for verily I say unto you I am with him and my hand shall be over him.

The Twelve were not to trouble themselves “concerning the affairs of my Church in this place saith the Lord,” for Kirtland was not their responsibility, “but purify your harts before me, and then go Ye into all the world and Preach my gospel.” The Twelve, concluded the revelation, held in connection with the Presidency, the priesthood keys and power for their generation,

for Verely I say unto You the Keys of the dispensation which Ye have recived have com down from the Fathers. and last of all being sent down from Heven unto you: behold how grate is your caulling.⁴⁵

By the end of July Kirtland had quieted markedly. Joseph again sent Brigham Young east on business. At the same time, his own strength returning, he determined to visit the Saints in Canada, including Mary Fielding’s sister Mercy and her husband Robert B. Thompson, later a clerk to Joseph.

On 26 July, Hyrum, Joseph, Sidney Rigdon, David Patten, Thomas Marsh—heading for Canada—and Brigham Young and a few heading east, set out. They traveled no further than Painesville before Smith was arrested for “some pretended debt.” A trial was held immediately and he was released, re-arrested on another charge, again dismissed after a hearing. A third time Anson Call provided bail. A fourth time he was forced to pay a few dollars ^[292] on a debt. A fifth arrest was on a case “soon disposed of,” and finally after a sixth arrest Joseph left his valuables as security. Because of the delays they returned home until the following evening when they again set out, this time “shunning . . . places where we suspected our enemies were laying in wait to annoy.” At Ashtabula they boarded a steamer for Buffalo. “I gave the Prophet my valize for a pillow,” said Brigham, “and I took his boots for mine, and we laid down on the deck of the vessel for the night.” At Buffalo they parted company.⁴⁶

In New York, Brigham transacted business, visited with Parley P. Pratt and held several meetings. Albert P. Rockwood, a cousin whom Brigham and Joseph Young had first preached to in 1836, had visited Kirtland in July and, “satisfied that Joseph was a Prophet,” received baptism at Brigham’s hands. Now in New York, Young ordained his cousin an elder, predicted that his family would all join the Church and a branch be raised up in his hometown of Holliston, Massachusetts, and set him apart to preside over the branch when it came to exist.⁴⁷

With Young in the East and Joseph and other leaders in Canada, Kirtland was neither quiet nor peaceful. Soon after the departure of Joseph and his party from Kirtland a great row occurred in the temple with apostle against apostle, pistols and knives brandished, frightened women screaming and men jumping out of windows. Warren Parrish, the ringleader of the dissenting party, came into the temple on a Sunday and, with armed followers, seated himself in the east-end pulpits. In the absence of the Presidency, Father Smith took his place in the Melchizedek Priesthood pulpits ^[293] on the other end and conducted the meeting. When the dissenting faction attempted to disrupt the meeting and would not be quieted, Father Smith called for the police. As if at a signal, the armed men on the west end rushed from their seats with John Boynton saying “he would blow out the brains of the first man who dared to lay hands on him.” Loyal police and other members of the Church succeeded in disarming them and “after a short, but terrible scene to be enacted in a Temple of God,” order was restored.⁴⁸

The following day Father Smith, William Smith, and seventeen others were arrested and bound over for trial after the dissenters charged their opponents with riot. Eliza R. Snow, called as a witness, found the trial “as amusing as the Temple scene was appalling,” as a non-Mormon lawyer hired to defend the brethren mocked John Boynton, the wayward apostle. “Just look at Mr. Boynton, see how changed! Before he apostatized, we used to see him in Painesville—he then was humble, and seemed truly a follower of the meek and lowly Jesus,” but now we see him puffed up with pride, “more like a celestial dandy than a Saint.” The court acquitted the brethren.⁴⁹

Brigham Young arrived home on 19 August. Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon did not get back from Canada until the weekend of Sunday, 27 August, and then not without difficulty. Within four miles of Kirtland they were surrounded, taken to Painesville, and secured in a tavern until a supposed trial could be arranged. But, as Mary wrote to her sister in Canada,

to the disappointment of the wretches the Housekeeper was a Member of the Church who assisted our beloved Brethren in making their escape, but as Bro J[oseph] S[mith] says not by ^[294] a Basket let down through a Window but by the Kitchen door. no doubt the hand of the Lord was in it or it could not have been effected.⁵⁰

But escaping from the tavern was only half the battle. The night was wet and dark and they had to avoid the roads to elude their pursuers. Forewarned by the lighted torches of their pursuers, they were able to lay down in a swamp or by an old log with men sometimes so nearby that Joseph had to entreat the exhausted Sidney Rigdon to breathe more softly if he intended to escape. Greatly fatigued, they arrived home at 5:00 a.m.⁵¹

Here it was late August and Smith had not yet acted decisively against any of his accusers. The open rebellion and disloyalty of some would seem to have justified firm action months before, as early as February and May. In these and later difficulties Smith demonstrated a tendency to forgive at the first intimation of repentance. If that was one reason for delay, the method bore fruit: the events of late June and early July clearly strengthened some who wavered and might have been lost had Joseph earlier acted precipitously. Because of his patience and capacity to forgive, men like Parley Pratt, Orson Hyde, and Orson Pratt were back in their quorum. It is also possible that Smith had avoided a decisive move until all had a chance to demonstrate their propensities, and until he was certain he had the strength and unity among the faithful to prevail. In retrospect eighteen months later he suggested still another reason for delay—that he had stayed his hand for fear of the consequences of reproving firmly as soon as he detected perfidy.⁵² At any rate, whatever his reasons for previous delay, when Joseph Smith returned this time ^[295] to find Kirtland once again in turmoil, he determined to remove from positions of influence those who had openly rebelled and appointed for the Sunday following a conference to reorganize the Church.⁵³

Without being asked, Brigham Young understood what had to be done. Early in the morning before the conference, he went to those whose votes could be relied on and asked them to occupy the stand and prominent seats.⁵⁴ Business of the conference began at 9:00 a.m. with those assembled first sustaining the Presidency: Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams⁵⁵ as “the three first presidents of the church” and Oliver Cowdery,⁵⁶ Joseph Smith, Sr., Hyrum Smith and John Smith as “assistant counselors” in the Presidency. These seven, said Smith, were to be considered “the heads of the Church.” After voting on the Kirtland bishopric, the Church voted separately on each of the Twelve. The Saints rejected Luke and Lyman Johnson and John F. Boynton, although they gave the men an opportunity “of making their confession if they had any to make.”⁵⁷

Elder Boynton, the only one of the three present, gave a partial confession of error, but devoted most of his comments to self-justification. Brigham Young strongly protested Boynton’s conduct and “in a plain and energetick manner” stated why he could not receive Boynton into fellowship “untill a hearty repentance was manifested.”⁵⁸ Thomas Marsh fully agreed with Brigham’s testimony and similarly withdrew his fellowship. President Rigdon then spoke at length about the cause of the difficulties of Elders Boynton and Johnson, cautioning all the priesthood not to leave their ^[296] calling “to persue any ocupation derogatory to that calling,” or, to save them, the Lord would chasten them. Boynton spoke again, still attributing his difficulties to the failure of the bank and insisting that he understood it had been instituted “by the will & revilations of God, & he had been told that it would never fail let men do what they pleased.” Joseph Smith denied that he had said or authorized anyone to say any such thing, and insisted that he had always said it could not stand unless righteously conducted.⁵⁹ The Church then voted their dissatisfaction with Elder Boynton’s confession.

With Brigham Young’s assistance, the conference had succeeded in disfellowshipping those of the Twelve not in harmony with the Prophet.⁶⁰ One week later President Rigdon commented on the conjectures of some that he and President Smith had rigged the conference by conspiring together to remove certain people from office or use their influence to do so. The conjectures were wrong, he insisted, “for not one word has passed between them on the subject.” Nor was a word needed.⁶¹

After the conference, Thomas Marsh and Hyrum Smith prepared to leave for Missouri. With them they carried the minutes of the conference, Joseph Smith’s letter of greeting to the Missouri Saints, and other important notices. No doubt they had a copy of a revelation, bearing the same date as Smith’s letter, chastising two of the Missouri church leaders: “John Whitmer and William W. Phelps have done those things which are not pleasing in my sight, therefore if they repent not they shall be removed out of their places.”⁶² And apparently Joseph prepared at this same time an announcement warning the Church against the disaffection of the ^[297] Witnesses to the Book of Mormon. David Whitmer and others, read the notice, “have been in transgression, but we hope that they may be humble and ere long make satisfaction to the Church, otherwise they cannot retain their standing.” The notice likewise indicated that Oliver Cowdery had been in transgression, “but as he is now chosen as one of the presidents or counselors, I trust he will yet humble himself and magnify his calling”; if not, he too would be removed. Cowdery, by this time, may have left Kirtland to live in Missouri; because he was absent, later in the month he was replaced as church recorder.⁶³

Efforts to labor with the wayward apostles and other brethren did not end with the 3 September meeting that disfellowshipped them. Both Thomas Marsh and Brigham Young met with the apostles during the week and when the Saints convened again on Sunday, 10 September the three who had been disfellowshipped the week before were invited to speak. After each made confession, the Church voted that they be “received into the fellowship of the Saints and retain their office of Apostleship.” Joseph Smith then read the congregation a letter from Thomas Marsh to the effect that before he left for Missouri the three had satisfied him; “Elder Young also stated the same to the congregation.”⁶⁴ The three repentant apostles then administered the Lord’s Supper to the congregation. After this last week of meetings and reconciliation, it was President Marsh’s understanding that the difficulties that had existed when he arrived in Kirtland in late June were “all apparently settled.” Even Warren Parrish had ^[298] “affected” repentance and satisfaction with Joseph Smith and the Church.⁶⁵

A conference on 17 September discussed some of the temporal concerns of the Church and resulted in a general circular from the bishop of Kirtland to the Saints, issued the following day:

Whatever is glorious, whatever is desireable, whatever pertains to salvation, either temporal or spiritual, our hopes, our expectations, our glory, and our reward, all depend on our building up Zion according to the testimony of the Prophets. . . .

The time is not far distant when some of those who now deride and mock the Saints for devoting their all to build up the Zion of God, will bless their name for having provided a city of refuge for them and their children.⁶⁶

To further emphasize the Church’s unfaltering commitment to Zion building, Joseph talked that evening to a conference of elders about the gathering, emphasizing that more places of gathering must be appointed and more missionary exertions undertaken to bring in a gathered people. One hundred and nine elders accepted calls to preach and Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon accepted the assignment of laying out additional gathering places in Missouri.⁶⁷ Confidence returning, the elders prepared to resume their labors. Ten days later, accompanied by William Smith, bishop’s counselor Vinson Knight and some others, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon departed for Far West.⁶⁸

Something of the mood and expectation of Joseph and Sidney Rigdon at the eve of their departure to Missouri has been preserved in a letter from Mary Fielding to her sister Mercy. Joseph had visited Sister Fielding shortly before leaving and it was probably then that she learned that, after settling in order the Missouri church, they intended to select locations for ^[299] eleven new stakes of Zion: “but this is not spoaken of in publick for reasons you will be much aware of If this were generally known it would make their way much more dificult.”⁶⁹ Meeting the last Sunday before the Presidency departed proved especially moving. President Rigdon discoursed about the enlargement and future glory of Zion. He concluded by telling the people what they must do and what their privileges and future blessings would be if they did, to which “all the Congregation in one Simultainous voice responded with a loud Amen it was the opinion of most that they never heard the like before.” Joseph Smith poured out his blessings on the congregation and wept openly at this evidence of their unity.⁷⁰ If the battle that had raged for months within the Church was over directions and over control of the program of the Church, the faithful in Kirtland in September knew who had won. Zion would be built. Zion must be built.

In Far West, Missouri, on 7 November, Joseph Smith held a conference to sustain the authority of the Church and to reorganize the Missouri church leadership, a parallel of the 3 September conference in Kirtland. Although Thomas Marsh and several others objected to sustaining Frederick G. Williams, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, and W. W. Phelps, each was eventually sustained except Williams. Most of the concern about President Williams stemmed from sentiments (not enumerated in the minutes) expressed in a letter he had written that apparently stirred up feeling in Missouri over actions in Kirtland. The conference rejected him and sustained Hyrum Smith in his place in the First Presidency.⁷¹ David Whitmer was sustained “by almost an unanimous vote” as president of the ^[300] Church in Missouri only after considerable discussion with several speaking out strongly in his favor. For the first time in more than a year, apostle William E. McLellen suddenly reappeared in an official record because he spoke for Whitmer. At Whitmer’s request McLellen spoke again and his remarks “gave general satisfaction.”⁷² Joseph Smith also spoke—whether for or against is not indicated. All of the Twelve were unanimously sustained during the meeting, indicating that the Presidency not only accepted McLellen but had accepted the confessions and repentance of the three Kirtland apostles.⁷³

Three days later a general meeting of all Missouri priesthood brethren dealt with “laying off cities” and “consecrating lands for public purposes”—the foundations for the temporal enlargement of Zion. It was voted that the gathering to Far West continue and that other places for gathering and settlement be laid out. In effect, the Missouri Church voted to sustain the Prophet’s program as the Kirtland Saints had done in September. As part of a committee, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer set out to locate additional lands in upper Missouri. Soon after this, Joseph and his party departed for Ohio, a departure probably hastened by the news of the death of Hyrum’s wife Jerusha Barden in Kirtland.⁷⁴

Joseph felt pleased, overall, with his visit to Missouri. He reported in Kirtland that they had found the Missouri Church in as prosperous a condition as they could have expected. While there the high council had convened and settled many difficulties. It is also clear that Smith met privately with Oliver Cowdery in an ^[301] effort to mend their growing breach. Cowdery’s difficulties with the Prophet involved not only differences over the temporal program, but also personal differences with Joseph. Each thinking the other had acknowledged errors, they parted in Missouri somewhat reconciled. So pleased was Joseph with the location and the society of Far West—compared with a Kirtland of lukewarm Saints surrounded by less-than-warm neighbors—that he and Elder Rigdon decided to locate their families there “as soon as circumstances will admit.”⁷⁵

Kirtland did, indeed, enjoy a period of peace following the September reconciliations. Mary Fielding’s early October letter to her sister noted that nothing “very particular” had occurred there since her last letter—nothing, at any rate, as dramatic as the scenes that had filled her pages in the summer. Had she written another letter a few weeks later she would have had plenty to report, for the lull was only temporary and her own forebodings proved only too true.⁷⁶ The details of this last storm—especially why it swirled around Brigham Young with such intensity—seem presently unrecoverable. While so many church officials were absent in Missouri, Young was one of perhaps three men of high position thoroughly loyal to Joseph and still in Kirtland.⁷⁷ That, along with Young’s increasingly vigorous and outspoken defense of Joseph, accounts for his central role when once again dissent violently erupted.

There is no question that Young’s emotions were full during this period, and that those emotions were not predominantly emotions of calm and peace. A brief statement in his history ^[302] captures something of this intensity: “When I saw a man stand in the path before the Prophet to dictate him, I felt like hurling him out of the way and branding him a fool.”⁷⁸ This, essentially, is what he did in the oft-quoted story of catching a man loudly denouncing Joseph through the Kirtland streets after midnight one night—a story he included in his history. Cowhide in hand, Young confronted the man, jerked him round and warned him that if he did not stop and let the people sleep, he would cowhide him on the spot. They had the Lord’s prophet right there and did not need the devil’s prophet yelling in the streets, noted Young.⁷⁹ Another account has also survived involving Young and a whip quelling a street disturbance.⁸⁰ No doubt such characteristic vigor in defense of the Prophet was one reason that Young became a prime target and opponent of Kirtland apostates in the weeks ahead.

It is likely that Kirtland remained generally peaceful through October. The high council, often presided over by Joseph Smith, Sr., met regularly through the month and apparently had nothing more serious to deal with than disfellowshipping a group of Saints who had involved themselves in dances “with the world,” i.e. with non-Mormons.⁸¹ In October, Kirtland also received the first cheering news from England as letters from Apostles Kimball and Hyde recounted the early success of missionary labors in that country.⁸² Sometime in November, however, the Kirtland calm was swept away by still another wave of strife and contention. As Thomas Marsh reported it the next spring after learning about it from others, “it seems that Parrish, J. F. Boynton, Luke Johnson, ^[303] Joseph Coe, and some others, united together for the overthrow of the church.”⁸³ Perhaps the high council action of 30 November was related to this new dissent; Roger Orton, a long-time dissenter who did not appear for trial, was cut off “for abusing Elder Brigham Young.”⁸⁴ Along with dissent, this time there were also increasing threats of violence, the intensity of which might be gauged from the brawl in the temple the August before.

About 10 December, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon returned from Missouri, and soon after the dissenting band “openly, and publicly, renounced the church of Christ . . . and claimed themselves to be the old standard.” Calling themselves simply the Church of Christ, as all Mormons had done earlier, they “set at naught Br. Joseph, and the whole church,” whom they denounced as heretics who had strayed from the faith.⁸⁵ The stage was set for a raging battle between the Saints and the Old Standards or, as they called each other, the Lick Skillets and the Apostates. Some thirty leading men of Kirtland, some of considerable talent—“all the talented men among the Elders were ready to join them,” they boasted to George A. Smith a few months later—joined under Parrish’s banner of the Old Standard, including the apostate apostles and Oliver Cowdery’s brother Warren who until October had been editor of the church periodical.⁸⁶ Working openly against Joseph, Brigham, and all the faithful, they also corresponded privately with the Whitmers, Oliver Cowdery, President Williams and William McLellen in Missouri, men who had not yet made public their own rebellion. ^[304]

This time Joseph Smith must have moved immediately to cut off from the Church all those who rebelled. Less than three weeks after his return to Kirtland John Smith reported in a letter to his son George A. that in late December some “28 persons were upon mature discussion, cut off from the Church” making “between forty and fifty” dissenters removed in the “high and mighty pruning.” No doubt Brigham Young, who had been present throughout the fall, played an important role in testifying against many who were then cut off. If, in addition, he defended Joseph’s person and office as vigorously as the several reminiscences suggest, it is not difficult to understand the intensity of feeling his actions may have engendered among the dissenters. Before the month was out, Young’s life was sought. From mid-December threats of violence increased and by January actual violence occurred. In mid-January Hepzebah Richards wrote to her brother Willard that the dissenters “are very violent in their opposition to the President and all who uphold him.” She wrote of the new organization they had formed and their determination to hold their next meeting in the temple “if it is by the shedding of blood.”⁸⁷

On 12 January 1838, Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith fled Kirtland under cover of darkness. Luke Johnson, the “unantagonistic apostate” who helped in their escape, later told about the circumstances that led to their flight. Lawsuits, both “vexatious” and “pretended” as Joseph later called them, and justified suits over the tangled financial affairs of Kirtland, threatened both Smith’s freedom and his ability to arrange his affairs honorably, as he intended.⁸⁸ In addition, threats against their lives led ^[305] Rigdon and Smith to fear destruction if they were captured by their enemies either by mob action or “under the color of legal process.” Although armed men pursued them for more than two hundred miles through the cold and snows of winter, with the help of Constable Johnson they escaped.⁸⁹

Rigdon and Smith were not the first to flee Kirtland. Three weeks earlier Brigham Young had hastily departed. The specific circumstances that forced his action are not known, but there can be no doubt that he was convinced that his life was in immediate danger. “I had to leave [Ohio] to save my life,” he stated later: “I was going to the west where Joseph told me to go.” Desirous that the reason for the anger against him be understood, he further explained in his history:

On the morning of December 22, I left Kirtland in consequence of the fury of the mob, and the spirit that prevailed in the apostates, who had threatened to destroy me because I would proclaim, publicly and privately, that I knew by the power of the Holy Ghost, that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of the Most High God, and had not transgressed and fallen as apostates declared.⁹⁰

Although not fainthearted or easily intimidated, Young fled only four days after his wife Mary Ann give birth to twins, leaving her and his five children exposed to the anger of those who sought him. In his absence, the burden of the children and the continual harassment of her family by dissidents proved too much for the ailing Mary Ann. Her frail health was broken by the ordeal and she did not recover for many months.⁹¹

For Brigham Young, Heber Kimball, and others faithful to Joseph Smith, Kirtland was ever after not only a place of sorrowful scenes and unpleasant memories but, as Mary Fielding had described ^[306] it, “a place where Satan has his seat and is frequently stirring up . . . the people.”⁹² When Brigham passed through Kirtland in years ahead it was always with the gloomy feelings suggested by that description. Joseph Smith’s letters indicate similar feelings. Several years later, when it became Young’s responsibility to decide what to do with the Kirtland Temple and the faithful Saints still there, he wrote that every pure man, woman and child should depart, “leaving Kirtland to the owls & bats for a season.”^{93 [307]}