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CHAPTER XII.
MATTERS OF PECULIAR INTEREST AT NAUVOO.
Upon my return home I found my family well. Work on the Temple was progressing finely, and every effort was being made to push it ahead. About this time John C. Bennett came on a visit to see the Prophet, and soon after joined the Church. At that time he wielded quite an influence in government affairs. He grew in the graces of the Prophet and became his right-hand man. He endeavored, in connection with Stephen A. Douglass, to obtain a charter for the City of Nauvoo. Bennett organized the Nauvoo Legion, and was elected Major General. Through his influence, backed by Douglass, arms were obtained for the Legion from the government. A Free Mason's lodge, and the privileges of Masonry, were extended to the Legion. Judge Cleveland, of Springfield, Ill., was very friendly, and frequently visited the Prophet. A fine lodge was built in Nauvoo, and many were admitted as members. The brothers, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, held high positions in the brotherhood. I here became a member of the order and received three degrees.
The institution flourished during our stay in Nauvoo, and was frequently visited by the Grand Worshipful Master from Springfield, and lectures were had and a library established. I was Librarian of the order. I was also Wharf Master of the city, and held the position of Major in the Nauvoo Legion, and commanded the escort in the Fifth Infantry. I was made the general clerk and reader for the Seventies and issued the laws to that body. I held the office of a Seventy, and was collector of the delinquent military tax. The same Fall I was appointed a committee, with Brigham Young as counselor, to build a hall for the Seventies, the upper story to be used for the Priesthood and the Council of Fifty. Previous to my being appointed on the committee two committees had been appointed, but had accomplished nothing,, and we commenced without a dollar. My plan was to build it by shares, of the value of five dollars each. Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch, told me that he would give the Patriarchal Blessing to any that labored on the foundation of the building. The Seventies numbered about four hundred and ninety men. I was to create the material. That is, I would watch, and when I could get a contract to take out lumber from the river, as rafts would land at the city, I would take common laboring men, and the portion of the lumber that we got for our pay we would pile up for the building. In this way we got all the lumber needed. The brick we made ourselves, and boated the wood to burn them and our lime from the island.
In the month of March, 1844, we had the building up on the west side nearly two stories high. One day when the wall was built up nine feet high and forty-five feet long, and was of course green, a tornado came that night and blew the wall down, breaking columns and joists below, doing a damage of several thousand dollars. I was inclined to be down in the lip, but Brigham Young laughed at me, and said it was the best omen in the world; it showed that the Devil was mad, and knew that the Seventy would receive the blessings of God in that house; and as they were special witnesses to the nations of the earth, they would make his kingdom quake and tremble; that when Noah was building the ark he was mobbed three times, but he persevered, and finally they said, "Let the d-d old fool alone, and see what he will accomplish." "Just so with you; double your diligence and put her up again. If you do not you will lose many a blessing."
I went to work again with as many men as could work to advantage. We threw the wall down flat, and commenced a new one, another brick thicker than the former. I borrowed fifty thousand brick, and made them and returned them when the weather was fine. By the first of May we had the Hall closed in.
I must now leave the building of the hall for other matters. During the winter, Joseph, the Prophet, set a man by the name of Sidney Hay Jacobs, to select from the Old Bible such scriptures as pertained to polygamy, or celestial marriage, and to write it in pamphlet form, and to advocate that doctrine. This he did as a feeler among the people, to pave the way for celestial marriage. This, like all other notions, met with opposition, while a few favored it. The excitement among the people became so great that the subject was laid before the Prophet. No one was more opposed to it than was his brother Hyrum, who denounced it as from beneath. Joseph saw that it would break up the Church, should he sanction it, so he denounced the pamphlet through the Wasp, a newspaper published at Nauvoo, by E. Robinson, as a bundle of nonsense and trash. He said if he had known its contents he would never have permitted it to be published, while at the same time other confidential men were advocating it on their own responsibility. Joseph himself said on the stand, that should he reveal the will of God concerning them, that they, pointing to President W. Marks, P. P. Pratt, and others, would shed his blood. He urged them to surrender themselves to God instead of rebelling against the stepping atone of their exaltation. In this way he worked upon the feelings and minds of the people, until they feared that the anger of the Lord would be kindled against them, and they insisted upon knowing the will of Heaven concerning them. But he dared not proclaim it publicly, so it was taught confidentially to such as were strong enough in the faith to take another step. About the same time the doctrine of "sealing" for an eternal state was introduced, and the Saints were given to understand that their marriage relations with each other were not valid. That those who had solemnized the rites of matrimony had no authority of God to do so. That the true priesthood was taken from the earth with the death of the Apostles and inspired men of God. That they were married to each other only by their own covenants, and that if their marriage relations had not been productive of blessings and peace, and they felt it oppressive to remain together, they were at liberty to make their own choice, as much as if they had not been married. That it was a sin for people to live together, and raise or beget children, in alienation from each other. There should exist an affinity between each other, not a lustful one, as that can never cement that love and affection that should exist between a man and his wife. I will here mention that Orson Hyde and W. W. Phelps turned against Joseph in Missouri, and forsook him in time of peril and danger, and even testified against him in the courts. After the troubles were over, and Joseph was again in place in the midst of the Saints, they both wished to be restored to fellowship and standing in the Church, confessing their faults. Joseph laid the case before the Church, and said that if God could forgive them he ought to, and would do so, and give them another chance. With tears he moved that we would forgive them and receive them back into fellowship. He then sent Elder 0. Hyde and John E. Page to Jerusalem, and to the land of Palestine, to dedicate that land for the gathering of the Jews. Report said that Hyde's wife, with his consent, was sealed to Joseph for an eternal state, but I do not assert the fact. I also understood that Brigham Young's wife was sealed to Joseph. After the death of Joseph, Brigham Young told me that Joseph's time on earth was short, and that the Lord allowed him privileges that we could not have.
A difference arose between Joseph and Wm. Law, his second counselor, on account of Law's wife. Law said that the Prophet proposed making her his wife, and she so reported to her husband. Law loved his wife and was devoted to her, as she was an amiable and handsome woman, and he did not feel like giving her up to another man. He exposed the Prophet, and from that time became his enemy. His brother, Wilson Law, sided with him. They were Canadians, and wealthy and influential men. They, in connection with Foster and Higbee, who were in the wane in the faith, established a paper at Nauvoo, called the Expositor, in which they took about the same position that the Salt Lake Daily Tribune does. They set the Prophet up without mercy. They soon got after Brigham for trying to influence Martha Brotherton to be sealed to Joseph. Her father found it out and helped to expose them, which made it rather hot for them. The next move of the Prophet and his friends was to get the City Council to pass an ordinance declaring the Expositor to be a nuisance, and also Higbee's grocery, unless they would close them up.
John C. Bennett became suspected, and fears were entertained that he would join the faction. He was accused of selling offices in the military organization, to certain men who would help him win the good graces of some of the young sisters, and that he became intimate with Orson Pratt's wife, while Pratt was on a mission. That he built her a fine frame house, and lodged with her, and used her as his wife. Fearing that Bennett would assail the character of the Prophet, I brought him before the City Council, and had him make a statement, certifying that he knew nothing derogatory to the character of the Prophet, and that his behavior, was that of a gentleman and a man of God. After this, Bennett was hauled up and dealt with, and severed from the Church. He said that the Prophet gave him permission to do as he had done with Mrs. Pratt. Joseph said Bennett was guilty or adultery, but that as a matter of policy he had not exposed him until after Bennett had made his statement.
Previous to this time, the Prophet had written a letter to Martin Van Buren, wishing to know his views in regard to the grievances and wrongs of the Mormon people, should he be elected President. He replied that he believed their cause was just, and that Congress had no right to interfere. That it was a State matter, and was left to the Executive. The Prophet addressed another letter to Wm. H. Harrison, on the same subject. His answer was but little more satisfactory. He them drew up a statement of his own, of the power and policy of the Government. A convention was called, and the Prophet was. nominated as a candidate for the Presidency. He set forth his. views in the Nauvoo Neighbor, a newspaper formerly known as the Wasp. He stated that if the people would elect him President it would be the salvation of the nation, but if otherwise, the Union would soon be severed. That the two political parties would continue to influence the people until it would end in a civil war, in which all nations would take part, and this nation would be broken up. At this convention, the Elders were assigned missions to different States. I was sent to stump the State of Kentucky, with ten elders to assist me.
Brigham Young said to me, "You had better shut up the Seventies' Hall, and obey, perhaps, the last call of the Prophet." Things looked rather squally before I left, and but little prospect of growing better. I left Nauvoo on the 4th of May, 1844, with greater reluctance than I had on any previous mission. It was hard enough to preach the gospel without purse or scrip,, but it was nothing compared to offering a man with the reputation that Joseph Smith had, to the people as a candidate for the highest gift of the nation. I would a thousand times rather been shut up in jail, than to have taken the trip, but I dared not refuse.
About one hundred of us took the steamer Ospray, for St. Louis. Our mission was understood by all the passengers on board. I was not long waiting until the subject was brought up. I had made up my mind to banish all fear, and overcome timidity. I made the people believe that I felt highly honored to electioneer for a Prophet of God. That it was a privilege that few men enjoyed in these days. I endeavored to make myself agreeable by mixing with the passengers on the steamer. I told them that the Prophet would lead both candidates from the start. There was a large crowd on the boat, and an election was proposed. Judges and clerks were appointed and a vote taken. The Prophet received a majority of seventy-five, out of one hundred and twenty-five votes polled. This created a tremendous laugh, and we kept it up till we got to St. Louis. Here the most of us took the steamer Mermaid. The change of steamers afforded me a new field of labor. Here I met a brother of Gen. Atchinson, one of the commanders of the militia that served against the Church at Far West. He became very much interested in me, and when we parted at Smithland, Ky., he invited me to go home with him and preach in his neighborhood. My destination being Frankfort, I could not accept his invitation. I went to Lexington, by way of Georgetown, lecturing as I went. I finally went to the Capital, put up at a hotel, and endeavored to hire the State House to speak in, but found it engaged.
My funds were low, though my hotel bill was four dollars per day. After three days' trial I hired the Court House. The people said that no Mormon had ever been able to get a hearing, though several had attempted to do so. When evening came I had to light up the house and ring the bell. Elder S. B. Frost assisted me. Soon the hall was filled with none but juveniles, from ten to fifteen years of age. I understood the trick. They supposed I would leave, but to their surprise I arose and said I was glad to see them out in such great numbers; that I knew they had good parents, or they would not be here; that if they would take seats and be quiet we would sing them some of our Mormon songs. Elder Frost was a charming singer. We sang two or three songs. Our juvenile hearers seemed paralyzed. I then knelt down and prayed. By this time the hail was crowded with men, and I begged them not to crowd my little friends out. I then spoke about an hour and a half upon the constitutional rights of American citizens. I spoke of the character of the Southern people; that they were noted for their kind and generous treatment of strangers in particular, but that I feared, from the treatment I had received, that I had missed my way in Kentucky. My sires were of Southern birth; my father was a relative of the Revolutionary Lee, of Virginia; my uncle was from Lexington, Kentucky; that I came a stranger into their midst, and I felt confident that the right of speech would be extended to us; that we were ministers of the gospel, traveling without purse or scrip, dependent upon the generosity of the people for food and raiment, nor did we preach for hire; that if they wished, we would remain there and lecture, and if it met the approbation of the people they could have the gospel preached to them without money and without price. The first man that spoke up was a saddler; he said he was a poor man, but we were welcome to his house, giving the street and number. About twenty more responded in like manner, among them some of the most wealthy men of the county. We went home with a rich farmer, and continued our labors, having more calls than we could fill. We were sent for by a rich planter, who lived about twenty miles away. I was anxious to extend our labors as much as it was advisable.
On our way to the planter's we found it difficult to obtain dinner. The orthodox people did not like to associate with Mormons. I finally asked them to direct me to where some infidel or gambler lived. They wanted to know what on earth I wanted of them. I replied, "To get something to eat; that they were too liberal-minded to turn a stranger away from their door. That the Saviour ate with publicans and sinners, for the very reason that we do, for the religious scribes and pharisees would not feed him." They pointed us to the next house, where we went and were kindly received and entertained. The gentleman informed us that he belonged to no church, but that he had an interest in a church, and said we were welcome to preach there. He went and made an appointment for us to preach. We preached there and were received with the greatest kindness. I soon began to baptize, and calls came in on every side, when the papers brought us the news of the assassination of the prophet Joseph, and his brother Hyrum.
We returned immediately to Frankfort, as I expected the Elders there, to learn what to do. We all retired to Maple Grove, on the Kentucky river, and kneeled in prayer, and asked the Lord to show us whether or not these reports were true. I was the mouth in prayer, but received nothing definite in answer to my prayer. I told the elders to follow their own impressions and if they wished to do so, to return to Nauvoo. Each of them made his way back. I went and spent the evening with a Mr. Snow. He claimed to be a cousin of Erastus Snow, who was favorable to us. We spent the evening talking over the reported deed. The next morning, about ten o'clock, my mind was drawn out in prayer. I felt as though the solemnity of eternity was resting upon me. A heavenly, hallowed influence fell upon me, and continued to increase until I was electrified from head to foot. I saw a large personage enter the door and stand before me. His apparel was as white as the driven snow, and his countenance as bright as the noon-day sun. I felt paralyzed, and was speechless and motionless. It remained with me but a moment, then receded back out of the door. This bright being's influence drew me from my chair and led me south about three hundred yards, into a plot of clover and blue grass, and stood over a persimmon tree, which afforded a pleasant shade. I fell prostrate upon my face upon the grass. While here I saw Joseph, the Prophet, and Hyrum his brother, the patriarch, and their wounds by which they had been assassinated. This personage spoke to me in a soft, low voice, and said that the Prophet and Patriarch had sealed their testimony with their blood. That our mission was like that of the Apostles, and our garments were clear of the blood of the nation. That I should return to Nauvoo and wait until power was granted us from on high. That as the Priesthood fell upon the Apostle Peter, so should it rest with the twelve apostles of the Church for the present. And thus the vision closed, and I gradually returned back to my native element. Rising up I looked at my watch and saw that I had been there an hour and a quarter. Returning to the house my friend Snow asked me if I was ill. I replied in the negative. He said I was very pale, that he saw my countenance change while I sat in my chair; that when I went out of the door it seemed as though every drop of blood had left me, or been changed. I then told him that the reports in the papers were true, and the two Saints, the Prophet and the Patriarch, were no more. I asked him to take me to the landing, as I wished to take the evening packet, as my labors were done in this county for the present. He importuned me so hard that I told him what I had seen. He saddled a horse for me and one for himself, and we started, in company with several others, for the landing. When we were about to start on the steamer, Mr. Steele, a brother of the Captain, introduced me to the Captain. About eight persons demanded baptism, but I could not stop, but advised them to come to Nauvoo; among them was my friend Snow. I had a cabin passage free. When I reached Nauvoo, the excitement was at the highest point.
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