Emma Hale Smith
Encyclopedia
Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 – April 30, 1879) was married to Joseph Smith, Jr., until his death in 1844, and was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement
, during Joseph Smith's lifetime and afterward as a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS, now the Community of Christ
). She was also named in 1842 as the inaugural president of the Ladies' Relief Society
of Nauvoo, a women's service organization.
, as the seventh child of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis Hale. Emma first met her future husband, Joseph Smith, Jr., in 1825. Smith lived near Palmyra, New York
, but boarded with the Hales in Harmony while he was employed in a company of men hoping to unearth buried treasure (specifically a silver mine for Josiah Stowell, a farmer whose home still stands on the north side of the Susquehanna River on New York State Route 7 in Ninevah, New York, just west of Afton). Although the company found no treasure, Smith returned to Harmony several times to court Emma. Isaac Hale refused to allow the marriage because he considered Smith's occupation disreputable. Finally, on January 17, 1827, Smith and Emma eloped across the state line to South Bainbridge (Afton), New York, where they were married the following day. The marriage site is now the Afton Fairgrounds, located on New York State Route 41 on the east side of the Susquehanna River; and a New York State Historical Marker commemorates the location. The couple moved to Smith's parents' home on the edge of Manchester Township
near Palmyra.
On September 22, 1827, Joseph and Emma took a horse and carriage belonging to Joseph Knight, Sr.
, and went to a hill now known as the Hill Cumorah
where Joseph claimed to receive a set of Golden Plates
. This created a great deal of excitement in the area. In December 1827, the couple decided to move to Harmony, where they reconciled—to some extent—with Isaac and Elizabeth Hale. Emma's parents helped her and Joseph obtain a house and a small farm. Once they settled in, Joseph began work on the Book of Mormon
with Emma acting as a scribe. She became a physical witness of the plates, reporting that she felt them through a cloth, traced the pages through the cloth with her fingers, heard the metallic sound they made as she moved them, and felt their weight. She later wrote in an interview with her son, Joseph Smith III: "In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us." While in Harmony on June 15, 1828, Emma gave birth to her first child—a son named Alvin—who lived only a few hours.
In May 1829, Emma and Joseph left Harmony and went to live with David Whitmer
in Fayette, New York
. While there, Joseph finished work on the Book of Mormon, which was published by March 1830.
Emma was baptized by Oliver Cowdery
on June 28, 1830, in Colesville, New York
, where an early branch
of the church was established. During the next weeks, Joseph was arrested, tried and exonerated in South Bainbridge for "glass looking" on the state's vagrancy law (glass looking was a common scam in which the glass looker claimed to have the ability to find buried treasure for a fee). Emma may have been disheartened and Joseph reported a revelation which instructed her to "murmur not" but also comforted her with the assurance, "thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art an elect lady, whom I have called." The revelation goes on to state that Emma would "be ordained under [Joseph's] hand to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church" and further authorizes Emma to "make a selection of sacred Hymns" for the church.
Joseph and Emma returned to Harmony for a time, but relations with Emma's parents broke down, and the couple went back to staying in the homes of members of the growing church. They lived first with the Whitmers in Fayette, then with Newel K. Whitney
and his family in Kirtland, Ohio
, and then into a cabin on a farm owned by Isaac Morley
. It was here on April 30, 1831, that Emma gave premature birth to twins, Thaddeus and Louisa, who died hours later. That same day, Julia Clapp Murdock died giving birth to twins, Joseph and Julia
. When they were nine days old, their father, John, gave the infants to the Smiths to raise as their own. On September 2, 1831, the new family moved into John Johnson's home in Hiram, Ohio
. The infant Joseph died of exposure or pneumonia in late March 1832, after a door was left open during a mob attack on Smith.
On November 6, 1832, Emma gave birth to Joseph Smith III
in the upper room of Newel K. Whitney
's store in Kirtland. Young Joseph (as he became known) was the first of her natural children to live to adulthood. A second son, Frederick Granger Williams Smith (named for a councilor
in the church's First Presidency
), followed on June 29, 1836.
While in Kirtland, Emma's feelings about temperance and the use of tobacco may have influenced her husband's decision to pray about dietary questions. These prayers resulted in the "Word of Wisdom
". Also, Emma's first selection of hymns was published as a hymnal for the church's use. It was also in Kirtland that the collapse of Joseph's banking venture, the Kirtland Safety Society
, led to serious problems for the church and the family. On January 12, 1838, he was forced to leave the state or face charges of fraud and illegal banking.
Emma and her family soon followed and made a new home on the frontier in the Latter Day Saint settlement of Far West, Missouri
, where Emma gave birth on June 2, 1838 to Alexander Hale Smith
. Events of the 1838 Mormon War soon escalated, resulting in Joseph's surrender and imprisonment by Missouri officials. Emma and her family were forced to leave the state with the majority of Latter Day Saint refugees. She crossed the Mississippi River which had frozen over in February 1839. Of these times, she later wrote:
, until Joseph escaped custody in Missouri. The family moved to a new Latter Day Saint settlement in Illinois which Joseph named "Nauvoo
." On May 9, 1839, they moved into a two story log house there which they called the "Homestead." They lived there until 1842 when a much larger house, known as the "Mansion House
" was built across the street. A wing (no longer extant) was added to this house, which Emma operated as a hotel.
On March 24, 1842 the Ladies' Relief Society was formally organized as the women's auxiliary to the church and Emma became its founding president, with Sarah M. Cleveland
and Elizabeth Ann Whitney
as her counselors. The organization was formed to "provoke the brethren to good works in looking to the wants of the poor, [search] after objects of charity...[and] to assist by correcting the virtues of the female community," according to the minutes of the society. Shortly before this, Joseph initiated the Anointed Quorum
—a prayer-circle of important men and women in the church that included Emma.
Rumors concerning polygamy and other practices erupted into the open by 1842. Emma was involved in campaigns to publicly condemn polygamy and deny any involvement by her husband. Emma authorized and was the main signatory of a petition in Summer 1842, with a thousand female signatures, denying Joseph Smith, Jr. was connected with polygamy. As President of the Ladies' Relief Society, she authorized the publishing of a certificate in October 1842 denouncing polygamy and denying her husband as its creator or participant. In March 1844, Emma published, In June 1844, with the publication of the Nauvoo Expositor
by disaffected former church members, the press was destroyed by the town marshal on orders from the town council (of which Joseph was a member) which set into motion the events that ultimately led to his arrest and incarceration in the jail in Carthage
. While he was there, a mob of about 200 armed men stormed Carthage Jail in the late afternoon of June 27, 1844. Gun shots killed both Joseph and his brother Hyrum
.
Joseph's death threw both the church and Emma's family into disorder. Emma was left a pregnant widow—it would be on November 17, 1844, that she gave birth to David Hyrum Smith
, her and Joseph's last child together. In addition to being church president, Joseph had been trustee-in-trust for the church. As a result, his estate was entirely wrapped up with the finances of the church. Untangling the church's property and debts from Emma's personal property and debts proved a long and potentially dangerous process for Emma and her family.
The church itself was left with no clear successor and a succession crisis
ensued. Emma wanted William Marks
, president of the church's central stake
, to assume the church presidency
, but Marks favored Sidney Rigdon
for the role. After a meeting on August 6, a congregation of the church voted that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
should become the new First Presidency
of the church. Brigham Young
, president of the Quorum, then became de facto president of the church in Nauvoo.
Relations between Young and Emma steadily deteriorated and Emma's friends as well as members of the Smith family were alienated from Young's followers, the bulk of the church members gathered in the Nauvoo area. Relations between the Latter Day Saints and their neighbors also declined into near open warfare, and finally Young made the decision to relocate in the West. When he and the majority of the Latter Day Saints of Nauvoo abandoned the city in early 1846, Emma and her children remained behind in the mostly empty town.
Nearly two years later, a close friend and non-Mormon, Major Lewis C. Bidamon
, proposed marriage and became Emma's second husband on December 23, 1847. Bidamon moved into the Mansion House
and became stepfather to Emma's children. Emma and Bidamon attempted to operate a store and to continue using their large house as a hotel, but Nauvoo had too few residents and visitors to make either venture very profitable. Emma and her family remained rich in real estate but poor in capital.
Unlike other members of the Smith family who had at times favored the claims of James J. Strang and/or William Smith
, Emma and her children continued to live as unaffiliated Latter Day Saints. Many Latter Day Saints believed that her eldest son, Joseph Smith III
, would one day be called to take his father's place. Knowing the dangers and hardships firsthand, Emma may have preferred a different path for her son. However, when he reported receiving a calling from God to take his father's place as head of a "New Organization" of the Latter Day Saint church, she supported his decision. Both she and Joseph III traveled to a conference
at Amboy, Illinois
and on April 6, 1860, Joseph was sustained as president
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, adding the word Reorganized to the name in 1872 (presently known as the Community of Christ
). Emma became a member of this organization without rebaptism
, as her original 1830 baptism was still considered valid.
Emma and Joseph III returned to Nauvoo after the conference and he led the church from there until moving to Plano, Illinois
in 1866. Joseph III called upon his mother to help prepare a hymnal for the reorganization, just as she had for the early church.
Major Bidamon renovated a portion of the unfinished Nauvoo House
hotel (across the street from the Mansion House) and he and Emma moved there in 1871. Emma died peacefully in the Nauvoo House on April 30, 1879. Her funeral was held May 2 of that year in Nauvoo, Illinois, with RLDS Church minister Mark Hill Forscutt
preaching the sermon.
, an early church periodical.
The first church hymnal came off the press in 1836 (and maybe late 1835) at Kirtland, Ohio
. It was titled A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints
and contained 90 hymn texts (no music). More than half of the texts were borrowed from other Protestant traditions, but often changed slightly to reinforce the theology of the early church. For example, Hymn 15, changes Isaac Watts
' Joy to the World
from a song about Christmas to a song about the return of Christ (See Joy to the world! the Lord will come!
) Most of these changes as well as a large number of the original songs included in the hymnal are attributed to William Wines Phelps.
Emma also compiled a second hymnal by the same title, which was published in Nauvoo, Illinois
in 1841. This contained 304 hymn texts.
When her son Joseph III became president/prophet of what would be later known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, she was again asked to compile a hymnal. Latter Day Saints' Selection of Hymns was published in 1861 by what was then called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
and Avery
, in their biography, Mormon Enigma
, make the claim that Emma witnessed several marriages of Joseph Smith, Jr. to plural wives. However, throughout her lifetime Emma publicly denied knowledge of her husband's involvement in the practice of polygamy
and denied on her deathbed that the practice had ever occurred. Emma stated,
Emma Smith claimed that the very first time she ever became aware of a polygamy revelation being attributed by Mormons to Joseph Smith was when she read about it in Orson Pratt
's booklet The Seer in 1853. Her son, Joseph Smith III
, became prophet/president of the Reorganization — which gathered many of the Latter Day Saints still scattered across the Midwest and elsewhere. Many of the Midwestern Latter Day Saints had broken with Brigham Young and/or James Strang because of earnest opposition to polygamy. Emma's continuing public denial of the practice seemed to lend strength to their cause, and opposition to polygamy became a tenet of the RLDS church (now known as Community of Christ
). Over the years many RLDS church historians attempted to prove that the practice had originated with Brigham Young
.
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
, during Joseph Smith's lifetime and afterward as a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS, now the Community of Christ
Community of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...
). She was also named in 1842 as the inaugural president of the Ladies' Relief Society
Relief Society
The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization and an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, USA and has approximately 6 million members in over 170 countries and territories...
of Nauvoo, a women's service organization.
Early life and first marriage, 1804–1829
Emma was born July 10, 1804, in Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, PennsylvaniaHarmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
Harmony Township is a township in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 558 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-History:Harmony, Pennsylvania, is...
, as the seventh child of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis Hale. Emma first met her future husband, Joseph Smith, Jr., in 1825. Smith lived near Palmyra, New York
Palmyra (town), New York
Palmyra is a town in Wayne County, New York, USA. The population was 7,672 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the ancient city Palmyra in Syria....
, but boarded with the Hales in Harmony while he was employed in a company of men hoping to unearth buried treasure (specifically a silver mine for Josiah Stowell, a farmer whose home still stands on the north side of the Susquehanna River on New York State Route 7 in Ninevah, New York, just west of Afton). Although the company found no treasure, Smith returned to Harmony several times to court Emma. Isaac Hale refused to allow the marriage because he considered Smith's occupation disreputable. Finally, on January 17, 1827, Smith and Emma eloped across the state line to South Bainbridge (Afton), New York, where they were married the following day. The marriage site is now the Afton Fairgrounds, located on New York State Route 41 on the east side of the Susquehanna River; and a New York State Historical Marker commemorates the location. The couple moved to Smith's parents' home on the edge of Manchester Township
Manchester (town), New York
Manchester is a town in Ontario County, New York, USA. The population was 9,258 at the 2000 census. The town was named after one of its villages, which in turn was named after the original Manchester in Greater Manchester, England....
near Palmyra.
On September 22, 1827, Joseph and Emma took a horse and carriage belonging to Joseph Knight, Sr.
Joseph Knight, Sr.
Joseph Knight, Sr. was a close associate of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and provided significant material support to Smith's translation and publication of the Book of Mormon....
, and went to a hill now known as the Hill Cumorah
Cumorah
Cumorah is a drumlin in Manchester, New York, where Joseph Smith, Jr...
where Joseph claimed to receive a set of Golden Plates
Golden Plates
According to Latter Day Saint belief, the golden plates are the source from which Joseph Smith, Jr. translated the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the faith...
. This created a great deal of excitement in the area. In December 1827, the couple decided to move to Harmony, where they reconciled—to some extent—with Isaac and Elizabeth Hale. Emma's parents helped her and Joseph obtain a house and a small farm. Once they settled in, Joseph began work on the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
with Emma acting as a scribe. She became a physical witness of the plates, reporting that she felt them through a cloth, traced the pages through the cloth with her fingers, heard the metallic sound they made as she moved them, and felt their weight. She later wrote in an interview with her son, Joseph Smith III: "In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us." While in Harmony on June 15, 1828, Emma gave birth to her first child—a son named Alvin—who lived only a few hours.
In May 1829, Emma and Joseph left Harmony and went to live with David Whitmer
David Whitmer
David Whitmer was an early adherent of the Latter Day Saint movement who eventually became the most interviewed of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon's Golden Plates.-Early life:...
in Fayette, New York
Fayette, New York
Fayette is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 3,643 at the 2000 census.The Town of Fayette is on the western border of the county and is southeast of Geneva, New York.- History :...
. While there, Joseph finished work on the Book of Mormon, which was published by March 1830.
"Elect Lady" and the early church, 1830–1839
On April 6, 1830, Joseph and five other men established the "Church of Christ" (whose name was changed to the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" in 1838).Emma was baptized by Oliver Cowdery
Oliver Cowdery
Oliver H. P. Cowdery was, with Joseph Smith, Jr., an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836, becoming one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's golden plates, one of the first Latter Day Saint apostles, and the Second Elder of...
on June 28, 1830, in Colesville, New York
Colesville, New York
Colesville is a town in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 5,441 at the 2000 census.The Town of Colesville is in the northeast part of the county and is northeast of Binghamton.- History :...
, where an early branch
Branch (Mormonism)
In denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement , a branch is the term used for what is called a congregation in other Christian denominations.-See also:*Bishop*Stake*Ward...
of the church was established. During the next weeks, Joseph was arrested, tried and exonerated in South Bainbridge for "glass looking" on the state's vagrancy law (glass looking was a common scam in which the glass looker claimed to have the ability to find buried treasure for a fee). Emma may have been disheartened and Joseph reported a revelation which instructed her to "murmur not" but also comforted her with the assurance, "thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art an elect lady, whom I have called." The revelation goes on to state that Emma would "be ordained under [Joseph's] hand to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church" and further authorizes Emma to "make a selection of sacred Hymns" for the church.
Joseph and Emma returned to Harmony for a time, but relations with Emma's parents broke down, and the couple went back to staying in the homes of members of the growing church. They lived first with the Whitmers in Fayette, then with Newel K. Whitney
Newel K. Whitney
Newel Kimball Whitney was a prominent leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an American businessman. He served as Bishop of Kirtland, Ohio, Far West, Missouri, and Nauvoo, Illinois. He also served as the second Presiding Bishop of the Church from 1847 until his death...
and his family in Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, USA. The population was 6,670 at the 2000 census. Kirtland is famous for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Origins of Kirtland:...
, and then into a cabin on a farm owned by Isaac Morley
Isaac Morley
Isaac Morley was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement and a contemporary of both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. He was one of the first converts to Smith's Church of Christ...
. It was here on April 30, 1831, that Emma gave premature birth to twins, Thaddeus and Louisa, who died hours later. That same day, Julia Clapp Murdock died giving birth to twins, Joseph and Julia
Julia Murdock Smith
Julia Murdock Smith Dixon Middleton was an early member of the Latter Day Saint movement and the eldest surviving child and only daughter of Joseph Smith, Jr...
. When they were nine days old, their father, John, gave the infants to the Smiths to raise as their own. On September 2, 1831, the new family moved into John Johnson's home in Hiram, Ohio
Hiram, Ohio
Hiram is a village in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It was formed from portions of Hiram Township in the Connecticut Western Reserve. The population was 1,242 at the 2000 census...
. The infant Joseph died of exposure or pneumonia in late March 1832, after a door was left open during a mob attack on Smith.
On November 6, 1832, Emma gave birth to Joseph Smith III
Joseph Smith III
Joseph Smith III was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and Emma Hale Smith...
in the upper room of Newel K. Whitney
Newel K. Whitney
Newel Kimball Whitney was a prominent leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an American businessman. He served as Bishop of Kirtland, Ohio, Far West, Missouri, and Nauvoo, Illinois. He also served as the second Presiding Bishop of the Church from 1847 until his death...
's store in Kirtland. Young Joseph (as he became known) was the first of her natural children to live to adulthood. A second son, Frederick Granger Williams Smith (named for a councilor
Frederick G. Williams
Frederick Granger Williams was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and served in the First Presidency as Second Counselor to church president Joseph Smith, Jr. from 1833 to 1837...
in the church's First Presidency
First Presidency
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency was the highest governing body in the Latter Day Saint church established by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1832, and is the highest governing body of several modern Latter Day Saint denominations...
), followed on June 29, 1836.
While in Kirtland, Emma's feelings about temperance and the use of tobacco may have influenced her husband's decision to pray about dietary questions. These prayers resulted in the "Word of Wisdom
Word of Wisdom
The "Word of Wisdom" is the common name of a section of the Doctrine and Covenants, a book considered by many churches within the Latter Day Saint movement to consist of revelations from God...
". Also, Emma's first selection of hymns was published as a hymnal for the church's use. It was also in Kirtland that the collapse of Joseph's banking venture, the Kirtland Safety Society
Kirtland Safety Society
The Kirtland Safety Society was a quasi-bank organized in 1836 by leaders and followers of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. According to KSS's 1837 "Articles of Agreement", it was intended to serve the banking needs of the growing Mormon community in Kirtland, Ohio...
, led to serious problems for the church and the family. On January 12, 1838, he was forced to leave the state or face charges of fraud and illegal banking.
Emma and her family soon followed and made a new home on the frontier in the Latter Day Saint settlement of Far West, Missouri
Far West, Missouri
Far West, Missouri, was a Latter Day Saint settlement in Caldwell County, Missouri.-Foundation and early history:The town was founded by Missouri Mormon leaders, W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer in August 1836 shortly before the county's creation. The town was platted originally as a square area,...
, where Emma gave birth on June 2, 1838 to Alexander Hale Smith
Alexander Hale Smith
Alexander Hale Smith was the third surviving son of Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Hale Smith. Alexander was born in Far West, Missouri and eventually became a senior leader of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints . Alexander served as an apostle and as Presiding Patriarch of...
. Events of the 1838 Mormon War soon escalated, resulting in Joseph's surrender and imprisonment by Missouri officials. Emma and her family were forced to leave the state with the majority of Latter Day Saint refugees. She crossed the Mississippi River which had frozen over in February 1839. Of these times, she later wrote:
Early years in Nauvoo, 1839–1844
Emma and her family lived with friendly non-Mormons John and Sarah Cleveland in Quincy, IllinoisQuincy, Illinois
Quincy, known as Illinois' "Gem City," is a river city along the Mississippi River and the county seat of Adams County. As of the 2010 census the city held a population of 40,633. The city anchors its own micropolitan area and is the economic and regional hub of West-central Illinois, catering a...
, until Joseph escaped custody in Missouri. The family moved to a new Latter Day Saint settlement in Illinois which Joseph named "Nauvoo
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
." On May 9, 1839, they moved into a two story log house there which they called the "Homestead." They lived there until 1842 when a much larger house, known as the "Mansion House
Joseph Smith Mansion House
The Joseph Smith Mansion House in Nauvoo, Illinois is a building constructed by Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Smith used the house as a personal home, a public boarding house, a hotel, and as a site for the performance of temple ordinances.In January 1841, Smith...
" was built across the street. A wing (no longer extant) was added to this house, which Emma operated as a hotel.
On March 24, 1842 the Ladies' Relief Society was formally organized as the women's auxiliary to the church and Emma became its founding president, with Sarah M. Cleveland
Sarah M. Cleveland
Sarah Marietta Kingsley Cleveland was the first counselor to Emma Smith in the presidency of the Relief Society from 1842 to 1844....
and Elizabeth Ann Whitney
Elizabeth Ann Whitney
Elizabeth Ann Whitney , born Elizabeth Ann Smith, was an early Latter Day Saint leader, and the wife of Newel K. Whitney, another early Latter Day Saint leader.Born in Derby, Connecticut to non-sectarian parents, Ms...
as her counselors. The organization was formed to "provoke the brethren to good works in looking to the wants of the poor, [search] after objects of charity...[and] to assist by correcting the virtues of the female community," according to the minutes of the society. Shortly before this, Joseph initiated the Anointed Quorum
Anointed Quorum
The Anointed Quorum, also known as the Quorum of the Anointed, or the Holy Order, was a select body of men and women who Joseph Smith, Jr. initiated into Mormon temple ordinances at Nauvoo, Illinois, which gave them special standing in the early Latter Day Saint movement...
—a prayer-circle of important men and women in the church that included Emma.
Rumors concerning polygamy and other practices erupted into the open by 1842. Emma was involved in campaigns to publicly condemn polygamy and deny any involvement by her husband. Emma authorized and was the main signatory of a petition in Summer 1842, with a thousand female signatures, denying Joseph Smith, Jr. was connected with polygamy. As President of the Ladies' Relief Society, she authorized the publishing of a certificate in October 1842 denouncing polygamy and denying her husband as its creator or participant. In March 1844, Emma published, In June 1844, with the publication of the Nauvoo Expositor
Nauvoo Expositor
The Nauvoo Expositor was a newspaper in Nauvoo, Illinois that published only one issue, which was dated June 7, 1844. Its publication set off a chain of events that led to the death of Latter Day Saint movement founder, Joseph Smith, Jr....
by disaffected former church members, the press was destroyed by the town marshal on orders from the town council (of which Joseph was a member) which set into motion the events that ultimately led to his arrest and incarceration in the jail in Carthage
Carthage, Illinois
Carthage is a city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,725 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Hancock County. Carthage is most famous for being the site of the murder of Joseph Smith in 1844.- History :...
. While he was there, a mob of about 200 armed men stormed Carthage Jail in the late afternoon of June 27, 1844. Gun shots killed both Joseph and his brother Hyrum
Hyrum Smith
Hyrum Smith was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the older brother of the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr....
.
Later years in Nauvoo, 1844–1879
David Hyrum Smith
David Hyrum Smith was an American religious leader, poet, painter, singer, philosopher, and naturalist. The youngest son of Joseph Smith, Jr. and Emma Hale Smith, he was an influential missionary and leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was born approximately five months after the murder of...
, her and Joseph's last child together. In addition to being church president, Joseph had been trustee-in-trust for the church. As a result, his estate was entirely wrapped up with the finances of the church. Untangling the church's property and debts from Emma's personal property and debts proved a long and potentially dangerous process for Emma and her family.
The church itself was left with no clear successor and a succession crisis
Succession crisis (Mormonism)
The succession crisis in the Latter Day Saint movement occurred after the violent death of the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., on June 27, 1844....
ensued. Emma wanted William Marks
William Marks (Mormonism)
William Marks was a leader in the early days of the Latter Day Saint movement and was a member of the First Presidency in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...
, president of the church's central stake
Stake (Mormonism)
A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. A stake is approximately comparable to a diocese in the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations...
, to assume the church presidency
President of the Church (Mormonism)
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed successors, such as Brigham Young, Joseph Smith III,...
, but Marks favored Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Baptist background:...
for the role. After a meeting on August 6, a congregation of the church voted that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy...
should become the new First Presidency
First Presidency
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency was the highest governing body in the Latter Day Saint church established by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1832, and is the highest governing body of several modern Latter Day Saint denominations...
of the church. Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
, president of the Quorum, then became de facto president of the church in Nauvoo.
Relations between Young and Emma steadily deteriorated and Emma's friends as well as members of the Smith family were alienated from Young's followers, the bulk of the church members gathered in the Nauvoo area. Relations between the Latter Day Saints and their neighbors also declined into near open warfare, and finally Young made the decision to relocate in the West. When he and the majority of the Latter Day Saints of Nauvoo abandoned the city in early 1846, Emma and her children remained behind in the mostly empty town.
Nearly two years later, a close friend and non-Mormon, Major Lewis C. Bidamon
Lewis C. Bidamon
Lewis Crum Bidamon was a leader in the Illinois militia that assisted Latter Day Saints in the 1846 "Battle of Nauvoo". In 1847, Bidamon married Emma Smith, the widow of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement; from this time, Bidamon was the stepfather of Joseph Smith III...
, proposed marriage and became Emma's second husband on December 23, 1847. Bidamon moved into the Mansion House
Joseph Smith Mansion House
The Joseph Smith Mansion House in Nauvoo, Illinois is a building constructed by Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Smith used the house as a personal home, a public boarding house, a hotel, and as a site for the performance of temple ordinances.In January 1841, Smith...
and became stepfather to Emma's children. Emma and Bidamon attempted to operate a store and to continue using their large house as a hotel, but Nauvoo had too few residents and visitors to make either venture very profitable. Emma and her family remained rich in real estate but poor in capital.
Unlike other members of the Smith family who had at times favored the claims of James J. Strang and/or William Smith
William Smith (Mormonism)
William Smith was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and one of the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Smith was the eighth child of Joseph Smith, Sr...
, Emma and her children continued to live as unaffiliated Latter Day Saints. Many Latter Day Saints believed that her eldest son, Joseph Smith III
Joseph Smith III
Joseph Smith III was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and Emma Hale Smith...
, would one day be called to take his father's place. Knowing the dangers and hardships firsthand, Emma may have preferred a different path for her son. However, when he reported receiving a calling from God to take his father's place as head of a "New Organization" of the Latter Day Saint church, she supported his decision. Both she and Joseph III traveled to a conference
Amboy Conference
The Amboy Conference was the setting of the official "re-organization" of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints into the Latter Day Saint denomination now known as the Community of Christ...
at Amboy, Illinois
Amboy, Illinois
Amboy is a city in Lee County, Illinois, along the Green River. The population was 2,561 at the 2000 census. The chain of Carson Pirie Scott & Co. began in Amboy when Samuel Carson opened his first dry goods store there in 1854...
and on April 6, 1860, Joseph was sustained as president
President of the Church (Mormonism)
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed successors, such as Brigham Young, Joseph Smith III,...
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, adding the word Reorganized to the name in 1872 (presently known as the Community of Christ
Community of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...
). Emma became a member of this organization without rebaptism
Rebaptism (Mormonism)
Rebaptism is a practice in some denominations of the Latter Day Saint or Mormonism movement.The Latter Day Saints were headquartered in Nauvoo, Illinois. Many who were already baptized members of the church, were rebaptised either to show a renewal of their commitment to the movement or as part of...
, as her original 1830 baptism was still considered valid.
Emma and Joseph III returned to Nauvoo after the conference and he led the church from there until moving to Plano, Illinois
Plano, Illinois
Plano is a city in Kendall County, Illinois, United States near Aurora, with a population of 5,633 at the 2000 census. The city is rapidly growing with new subdivisions such as Lakewood Springs completed and several other developments under construction or in the planning stages. Former Speaker...
in 1866. Joseph III called upon his mother to help prepare a hymnal for the reorganization, just as she had for the early church.
Major Bidamon renovated a portion of the unfinished Nauvoo House
Nauvoo House
The Nauvoo House in Nauvoo, Illinois is a boarding house that Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, began constructing in the 1840s. The boarding house was never completed, but the structure was later converted into a residential home and renamed the Riverside Mansion...
hotel (across the street from the Mansion House) and he and Emma moved there in 1871. Emma died peacefully in the Nauvoo House on April 30, 1879. Her funeral was held May 2 of that year in Nauvoo, Illinois, with RLDS Church minister Mark Hill Forscutt
Mark Hill Forscutt
Mark Hill Forscutt was an English hymn writer and a leader in several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. A convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , Forscutt broke with that denomination for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the practice of plural...
preaching the sermon.
Hymns and hymnals
In June 1832 a selection of six hymns was published in the first issue of The Evening and the Morning StarEvening and Morning Star
The Evening and the Morning Star was an early Latter Day Saint periodical published monthly in Independence, Missouri, from June 1832 to July 1833, and then in Kirtland, Ohio, from December 1833 to September 1834...
, an early church periodical.
The first church hymnal came off the press in 1836 (and maybe late 1835) at Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, USA. The population was 6,670 at the 2000 census. Kirtland is famous for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Origins of Kirtland:...
. It was titled A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints
Collection of Sacred Hymns (Kirtland, Ohio)
A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints. was the first hymnal of the Latter Day Saint movement. It was published in 1835 by the Church of the Latter Day Saints.Emma Smith selected 90 hymn texts for the hymnal...
and contained 90 hymn texts (no music). More than half of the texts were borrowed from other Protestant traditions, but often changed slightly to reinforce the theology of the early church. For example, Hymn 15, changes Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
' Joy to the World
Joy to the World
"Joy to the World" is a Christian Christmas carol.The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and...
from a song about Christmas to a song about the return of Christ (See Joy to the world! the Lord will come!
Joy to the World (Phelps)
"Joy to the World! The Lord Will Come" is an adaptation of the popular Christmas carol, Joy to the World. It was included in A Collection of Sacred Hymns , the first Latter Day Saint hymnal published in 1835 or 1836....
) Most of these changes as well as a large number of the original songs included in the hymnal are attributed to William Wines Phelps.
Emma also compiled a second hymnal by the same title, which was published in Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
in 1841. This contained 304 hymn texts.
When her son Joseph III became president/prophet of what would be later known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, she was again asked to compile a hymnal. Latter Day Saints' Selection of Hymns was published in 1861 by what was then called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Polygamy
NewellLinda King Newell
Linda King Newell is an American historian and author.Newell co-authored the 1984 book Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith with Valeen Tippetts Avery. During this time she was also editor of the scholarly Mormon periodical Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought with her husband L...
and Avery
Valeen Tippetts Avery
Valeen Tippetts Avery was an American biographer and historian best known for her work on Western American and Latter Day Saint history...
, in their biography, Mormon Enigma
Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet's Wife, "Elect Lady," Polygamy's Foe is a biography of Emma Hale Smith, wife of Joseph Smith Jr., written by Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery....
, make the claim that Emma witnessed several marriages of Joseph Smith, Jr. to plural wives. However, throughout her lifetime Emma publicly denied knowledge of her husband's involvement in the practice of polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
and denied on her deathbed that the practice had ever occurred. Emma stated,
Emma Smith claimed that the very first time she ever became aware of a polygamy revelation being attributed by Mormons to Joseph Smith was when she read about it in Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt
Orson Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles...
's booklet The Seer in 1853. Her son, Joseph Smith III
Joseph Smith III
Joseph Smith III was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and Emma Hale Smith...
, became prophet/president of the Reorganization — which gathered many of the Latter Day Saints still scattered across the Midwest and elsewhere. Many of the Midwestern Latter Day Saints had broken with Brigham Young and/or James Strang because of earnest opposition to polygamy. Emma's continuing public denial of the practice seemed to lend strength to their cause, and opposition to polygamy became a tenet of the RLDS church (now known as Community of Christ
Community of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...
). Over the years many RLDS church historians attempted to prove that the practice had originated with Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
.