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| | |L=Mormonism and Wikipedia/Joseph Smith, Jr./Death |
| | |H=An analysis of Wikipedia article "Joseph Smith" |
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| | |L1= |
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| {{FAIRAnalysisWikipedia | | {{FAIRAnalysisWikipedia |
| |title=[[../]] | | |title=[[../|"Joseph Smith"]] |
| |wikipedialink=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. | | |wikipedialink=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith |
| |uplink=[[../|Joseph Smith, Jr.]] | | |uplink=[[../|Joseph Smith]] |
| |section=Death | | |section=Death |
| |previous=[[../1838 - 1844: Nauvoo, Illinois|1838 - 1844: Nauvoo, Illinois]] | | |previous=[[../1839 - 1844|1839 - 1844]] |
| |next=[[../Aftermath|Aftermath]] | | |next=[[../Distinctive views and teachings|Distinctive views and teachings]] |
| |notes={{WikipediaDisclaimer}} | | |notes={{WikipediaDisclaimer}} |
| }} | | }} |
| =An analysis of Wikipedia article "Joseph Smith, Jr." (Version 19 May 2009)=
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| === Death ===
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| ====Dissent in Nauvoo====
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| {{BeginWikipediaTable|link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr.|section=Dissent_in_Nauvoo|article=Joseph Smith, Jr.}}
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| =====1A=====
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| Smith faced growing opposition among his former supporters in Nauvoo, and he "was stunned by the defections of loyal followers."
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| *Bushman (2005), 527.
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| *{{WikipediaCorrect}}
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| =====2A===== | | ==Reviews of previous revisions of this section== |
| || | | {{SummaryItem |
| Chief among the dissidents was William Law, Smith's second counselor in the First Presidency, who was well respected in the Mormon community.
| | |link=/051909 |
| || | | |subject=19 May 2009 |
| *Ostlings, 14. Law had taken Hyrum Smith's place in the First Presidency as second counselor.
| | |summary=A review of this section as it appeared in Wikipedia on 19 May 2009. |
| *Brodie calls Law one of Smith's "ablest and most courageous men." Brodie, 368.
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| *Law had been one of the few Saints to arrive in Nauvoo with capital; and he and his brother Wilson had purchased a considerable amount of land and constructed flour and lumber mills. Bushman (2005), 528.
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| *Brodie notes that Law came from Canada "a wealthy man" and had fostered "more than anyone else the sorely needed industrialization of the city." Brodie, 368.
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| *{{WikipediaCorrect}}
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| =====3A===== | | ==Section review== |
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| | === Death {{WikipediaUpdate|9/3/2011}} === |
| Law's disagreement with Smith was partly economic.
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| *Law paid his workers in cash, but Smith "operated on scrip, credit, and tithed labor." Law was also convinced that Smith was misappropriating money donated by church members to complete the Nauvoo House hotel in order to buy land and sell it to converts at a profit. Ostlings, 14;
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| *Brodie, 368.
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| *The statement regarding methods of payment is from Ostlings, 14.
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| *The statement regarding Law's suspicions regarding the funds used to build the Nauvoo House comes from Brodie, 368. Brodie states, "Law became convinced, whether rightly or wrongly, that Joseph was using the funds donated for the hotel to buy more land, which he then sold for a generous profit to new converts." Brodie, however, provides no citation or source for this statement.
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| =====4A===== | | ===== ===== |
| || | | {{IndexClaimItemShort |
| But the most significant difference between the two was Law's opposition to plural marriage. There is even evidence that Smith propositioned the wives of both Law and his associate Robert D. Foster.
| | |title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref> |
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| *Ostlings, 14;
| | Smith and his brother Hyrum were held in [[Carthage Jail]] on charges of treason. |
| *Brodie, 369-72. Brodie repeats the testimony of another dissenter, Joseph H. Jackson, that Smith had vainly tried for two months to win the "amiable and handsome" Jane Law—and that Emma suggested that she be given William Law as a spiritual husband.
| | |authorsources=<br> |
| || | | #Joseph and Hyrum were accompanied in jail by [[John Taylor (Mormon)]] and Dr. [[Willard Richards]], who were not prisoners. |
| *"...there is evidence that at some point Smith propositioned the wives of both Law and Foster." {{CriticalWork:Ostling:Mormon America|pages=14}}
| | |authorsources=<br> |
| *The Ostlings cite the following works:
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| **{{CriticalWork:Quinn:Mormon Hierarchy|pages=124-132, 137-141, 642-645}}
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| **Newell and Avery, ''Mormon Enigma'', pp. 167-168, 177-178, 180-182.
| | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} |
| **{{CriticalWork:Brodie:No Man Knows|pages=340, 343, 368-375}}
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| **Arrington and Bitton, ''The Story of the Latter-day Saints'', pp. 191-193.
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| **{{CriticalWork:Van Wagoner:Mormon Polygamy|pages=63-71}}
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| =====5A===== | | ===== ===== |
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| | {{IndexClaimItemShort |
| Law and others gave testimonies at the county seat in Carthage that resulted in three indictments being brought against Smith, including one accusing him of polygamy.
| | |title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref> |
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| *On the legal issues, see Edwin Brown Firmage and Richard Collin Mangrum, ''Zion in the Courts: A Legal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900'' (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), 106-113.
| | On June 27, 1844, an armed group with blackened faces stormed the jail and killed Hyrum instantly with a shot to the face. |
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| | |authorsources=<br> |
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| | #{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=550}} ("Hyrum was the first to fall. A ball through the door struck him on the left side of the nose, throwing him to the floor.") |
| =====6A=====
| | |authorsources=<br> |
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| | # |
| On May 26, just a few weeks before his death, Smith spoke before a large crowd of the Saints in front of the uncompleted temple and once again denied having any more than one wife.
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| *Smith stated "I had not been married scarcely five minutes, and made one proclamation of the Gospel, before it was reported that I had seven wives....I have rattled chains before in a dungeon for truth's sake. I am innocent of all these charges, and you can bear witness of my innocence, for you know me yourselves....What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man, and as innocent as I was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers."''Address of the Prophet—His Testimony Against the Dissenters at Nauvoo'', History of the Church, Period I, 6:408–412.
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| *Referring to Law, Smith stated "This new holy prophet has gone to Carthage and swore that I had told him that I was guilty of adultery. This spiritual wifeism! Why, a man dares not speak or wink, for fear of being accused of this". History of the Church, 6:410–411.
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| *Bushman argues that, while to Smith's enemies "the speech was blatant hypocrisy", in Smith's mind "priesthood plural marriage was based on another principle than polygamy." Bushman (2005), 538
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| *The cited source, Bushman, states that Joseph's "main point as always was that he was not committing adultery, nor was he practicing 'spiritual wifeism,' another name for polygamy. To Joseph's enemies, the speech was blatant hypocrisy, but in his own mind, priesthood plural marriage was based on another principle than polygamy." (Bushman, p. 538)
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| *See: [[Joseph_Smith_and_polygamy#Hiding_the_Truth.3F|Hiding the truth about polygamy]]
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| {{EndTable}}
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| ====''Nauvoo Expositor''====
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| {{BeginWikipediaTable|link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr.|section=Dissent_in_Nauvoo|article=Joseph Smith, Jr.}}
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| =====1B=====
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| Unlike earlier dissenters Law had enough money to buy a printing press and publish a newspaper called the ''[[Nauvoo Expositor]]''. Its only edition, published on June 7, 1844, contained affidavits testifying that the signers had heard Smith read a revelation giving every man the privilege of marrying ten virgins. The paper also attacked the attempt to "christianize a world by political schemes and intrigue" and denounced "false doctrines" such as "doctrines of many Gods," which, the paper said, Smith had recently revealed in his King Follett discourse. The newspaper also refused to "acknowledge any man as king or lawgiver to the church."
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| *{{cite article | title = Nauvoo Expositor | date = 1844-06-07 | author = William Law | work = [[Nauvoo Expositor]] | url = http://www.solomonspalding.com/docs/exposit1.htm | name="autogenerated8">{{Harvnb|Marquardt|2005}};
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| *{{Harvnb|Marquardt|1999}}, p. 312}}
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| *{{WikipediaOR}}The citation is to a primary source, the ''Nauvoo Expositor''. There is no citation supporting the phrase "unlike earlier dissenters Law had enough money to buy a printing press..." The wiki editor is interpreting the primary source, without the benefit of a secondary source per Wikipedia rules.
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| =====2B=====
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| Smith declared the ''Expositor'' a "nuisance." On June 10, the Nauvoo city council passed an ordinance about libels; and Smith, as mayor, ordered the city marshal to destroy the paper.
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| *Bushman, 540;
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| *{{Harvnb|Marquardt|2005}};
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| *{{Harvnb|Marquardt|1999}}, 312;
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| *L. Clark writes that Hyrum's statement "appeared in the Nauvoo ''Neighbor'' of June 19, 1844, but was omitted from the History of the Church" ({{Harvnb|Clark|1968}});
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| *{{Harvnb|La Rue|1919}};
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| *{{Harvnb|LDS Church|1912}}.
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| *The council met on June 8 and June 10 to discuss the matter; {{cite web | title=The Destruction of the "Nauvoo Expositor"—Proceedings of the Nauvoo City Council and Mayor | url=http://byustudies2.byu.edu/hc/6/22.html}}
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| *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} |
| *See: [[Nauvoo Expositor]]
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| =====3B===== | | ===== ===== |
| || | | {{IndexClaimItemShort |
| Press, type, and newspapers were dragged into the street and burned. Smith argued that destroying the paper would lessen the possibility of anti-Mormon settlers attacking Nauvoo; but as Richard Bushman has written, he "failed to see that suppression of the paper was far more likely to arouse a mob than the libels. It was a fatal mistake."
| | |title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref> |
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| *Bushman, 541.
| | Smith fired a [[pepper-box]] pistol that had been smuggled into the prison, |
| || | | |authorsources=<br> |
| | #{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|p=393}} ("Joseph discharging all six barrels down the passageway. Three of them missed fire, but the other three found marks."); {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|2005|p=549}} (Smith received a smuggled six-shooter, and passed along a single-shot pistol to Hyrum). |
| | |authorsources=<br> |
| | # |
| | }} |
| *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} |
| *See: [[Nauvoo Expositor]] | | *{{Detail_old|Joseph Smith/Martyrdom/Joseph fired a gun}} |
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| =====4B===== | | ===== ===== |
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| When the destruction of the ''Expositor'' was reported to Smith's journalistic enemy Thomas C. Sharp, his ''Warsaw Signal'' published a hysterical call to action: "Citizens arise, one and all!!! Can you stand by, and suffer such Infernal Devils! to rob men of their property and rights without avenging them. We have no time for comment, every man will make his own. Let it be made with Powder and Ball!!!"
| | |title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref> |
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| *''Warsaw Signal'', June 14, 1844.
| | then "sprang to the window" before being shot several times. He died shortly after falling to the ground. |
| || | | |authorsources=<br> |
| | #{{Harvtxt|Brodie|1971|pp=393–94}}; {{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005}}. |
| | |authorsources=<br> |
| | # |
| | }} |
| *{{WikipediaCorrect}} | | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} |
| *See [[Nauvoo Expositor]] | | *{{Detail_old|Joseph Smith/Martyrdom/Masonic cry of distress}} |
| |- | | *{{SeeCriticalWork|author=Fawn Brodie|work=No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith}} |
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| =====5B=====
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| Nauvoo Mormons feared reprisals from the non-Mormons, and non-Mormons were apprehensive about the Nauvoo Legion, especially after Smith, fearing for his life, declared martial law on June 18. Illinois Governor Thomas Ford, desperately trying to prevent civil war, then mobilized the state militia.
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| *Ostlings, 16.
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| *"Mormons feared anti-Mormon retaliation. Local non-Mormons feared the Nauvoo Legion. Smith also feared for his life. On June 18, he declared martial law and mobilized the Legion. Non-Mormons pressured Governor Thomas Ford to mobilize the state militia." {{CriticalWork:Ostling:Mormon America|pages=16}}
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| =====6B===== | | ===== ===== |
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| The governor promised Smith that he would provide protection if Smith would stand trial at Carthage for the destruction of the newspaper. Smith ordered the Legion to disarm but then fled across the Mississippi to Iowa. Emma warned Joseph that Nauvoo residents believed he had left due to cowardice and that they feared reprisals from local mobs. Smith returned to Illinois on June 23, gave himself up, and was taken to Carthage to stand trial.
| | |title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref> |
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| *Ostlings, 17;
| | Smith was buried in Nauvoo. |
| *Bushman, 546. Eight Mormon leaders accompanied Smith to Carthage: Hyrum Smith, John Taylor, Willard Richards, John P. Greene, Stephen Markham, Dan Jones, John S. Fullmer, Dr. Southwick, and Lorenzo D. Wasson. [http://byustudies2.byu.edu/hc/6/31.html] All of Smith's associates left the jail, except his brother Hyrum, Richards and Taylor.
| | |authorsources=<br> |
| || | | #Arrington and Bitton, 82; Remini, 174-75. |
| *{{CriticalWork:Ostling:Mormon America|pages=17}}
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| {{EndTable}} | | # |
| | }} |
| | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} |
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| ====Death==== | | ===== ===== |
| {{BeginWikipediaTable|link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr.|section=Death|article=Joseph Smith, Jr.}} | | {{IndexClaimItemShort |
| =====1C=====
| | |title=the Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith<ref name="at_the_time">Due to the nature of wikipedia, articles can change. This analysis applies to the article as it stood circa September 2011.</ref> |
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| On June 27, 1844, an armed group of men with blackened faces stormed the jail where Smith and three other Mormon prisoners were being held in an upstairs room without bars. Both Hyrum and Joseph Smith had pistols that had been smuggled in by friends the previous day. As the mob broke into the room, Hyrum was shot in the face and killed. Smith discharged all six barrels of his pepper-box and wounded three men.
| | Five men were tried for his murder; all were [[acquitted]]. |
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| *<nowiki>http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/johnhayarticle.htm Hay, J. ''Atlantic Monthly''</nowiki>.
| | #{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=552}}. |
| *Richards was unharmed. Taylor was shot several times, but survived. (One of the bullets glanced off his pocket watch.){{cite book |last=Taylor |first=John |title=Witness to the Martyrdom |pages=91, 114–115}};
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| *{{cite book |last=Leanord |first=Glen |title=A Place of Peace, a People of Promise |origyear=2002 |origmonth= |publisher=Deseret Book |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages= |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote=Taylor, close behind the Prophet, had been using Markham's ‘rascal-beater’ to knock against the muskets and bayonets thrusting into the room.}} | | # |
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| *According to Brodie (p. 393), although Joseph discharged all six barrels of his pepperbox pistol, three of them misfired.
| | *{{WikipediaCorrect}} |
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| =====2C=====
| | {{To_learn_more_box:anti-Mormon_literature_and_Wikipedia}} |
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| But they continued to fire at Smith and the other Mormons. As Smith prepared to jump from the second floor, he was hit by a ball from the door and fell from the window. On the ground he stirred a bit. Four men fired and killed him.
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| *Brodie, 393-94.
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| *{{WikipediaCorrect}}
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| {{EndTable}}
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| ==References==
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| {{WikipediaRefList:Joseph Smith, Jr.}}
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| {{suggestions}} | | {{Endnotes sources}} |
