The church added a new display to its Salt Lake museum showcasing its new acquisitions from the Community of Christ.

I watched a short clip of the new display. The tour guide was hyping child murderer and horse thief Emma Smith while showing off a newly acquired portrait of her.

As far as I'm concerned Emma is just as responsible for the tragedy of Mormonism as Joseph.

I cringe every time she's held up as an example to young women, hailed as the elect lady.

There was a very long time she was seen as the direct opposite, especially in early Utah and particularly among the descendants of Joseph's other wives.

If spoken about at all in my youth, it was either in whispers or with vile contempt, shown as an example of betrayal and evil.

Not sure when things changed. Probably with correlation.

I understand the corporation wants to project to the world the picture of a loving, monogamous relationship of its founder and first spouse.

It still bewilders me that even long time church members know nothing of Joseph's other wives and of Emma's involvement in founding the corporation.

Anyone else brought up to despise Emma?

Murderer & horse thief?

documentation, please.

btw. Did any of Joeys ‘other wives’ go west to Utah/ Idaho/ Arizona?

How were they taken care of after Joe died?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2024 11:39AM by GNPE.

Who best to rat you out than your own mother?

Lucy Smith details on her history of the Smith family how Joseph and Emma stole a horse and wagon from a guest that was staying at the Smith farm.

Coincidentally, this was the night Joseph "received" the plates.

Mother Smith goes into detail of how the next morning their guest was quite upset his horse eas missing.

Mother Smith then goes on to detail distracting the guest with breakfast as her other sons searched for the horse.

Finally Emma and Joseph return with the horse and wagon. Joseph tells the guest he needed to "borrow" the wagon so he could retrieve the plates and hide them elsewhere.

Emma also pushed a pregnant with Joseph's child Elisa Snow down a flight of stairs, killing her unborn child.

Many of Joseph's wives came west.

Some married prominent church leaders, some married common men as it were.

Asking because not knowing….

How many of Joes ‘other wives’ were unattached to other men (or other women)?

Was homosexuality mentioned in MoHistory?

GNPE Wrote:
-----------------------------
>
> Was homosexuality mentioned
> in MoHistory?

If you're asking, "What do we know about homosexuality in mormon history?" here's one source:

http://www.connellodonovan.com/abom.html


If you're asking, "Is homosexuality mentioned in official church history?" I'm not sure.  If you try asking about homosexuality on the church's website, it won't directly answer your question.

GNPE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Murderer & horse thief?
>
> documentation, please.
>
> btw. Did any of Joeys ‘other wives’ go west to
> Utah/ Idaho/ Arizona?
>
> How were they taken care of after Joe died?

Please see

http://wivesofjosephsmith.org

Each of his wives has her own link with small biographys for each one. Most stayed in the church and moved to Utah. My personal favorite is the one who, after Joseph's death, joined the church of the devil (she became a nun in the Roman Catholic church).

I've never considered Emma to be any better than Joseph. They were a pair of con artists.

summer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've never considered Emma to be any better than
> Joseph. They were a pair of con artists.


I have wondered about Emma a lot. How much did she know? Joseph did cheat on Emma behind her back in the barn.

I was taught that William Law complained about Emma Smith trying to talk him into having sex with her...

The account I've read in multiple sources states that Emma said she should be given that cute little William Law as a plural husband and that in a moment of weakness JS gave his permission.

Having messed that up, his wing man, yea even God, sprung into action on his behalf. . .

Verse 51: "Verily, I say unto you: A commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself and partake not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham, and that I might require an offering at your hand, by covenant and sacrifice."

Verse 53: "And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law."

That seems pretty clear to me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2024 06:38PM by Lot's Wife.

https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:_Did_Joseph_Smith_offer_to_trade_Jane_Law_for_Emma_Smith_in_a_wife_swap_with_William_Law%3F

Wow I had no idea about the Emma Smith and William Law rumor. Those "saints" had a wild side I guess.

Note how FAIR tries to discredit the evidence.

1) William Law denied the claimed offer of romance with Emma. That may be true but it doesn't matter. All that the "rumor" claimed is that JS said Emma could have another husband if she wanted. It is entirely possible she hadn't raised the issue with Law.

2) William Law was a Smith intimate but eventually fell away, implying that anything involving him is suspect. What FAIR doesn't seem to realize is that this discredits Law's purported denial of the possibility of a relationship with Emma.

3) The church says the "rumor" was that JS and William Law would engage in a wife-swapping arrangement. But the rumor does not say anything of the kind. Red herring.

4) FAIR tells us that what Joseph offered Emma was not a plural husband but a divorce. I am unaware of any serious history that takes this seriously, but even if it were plausible one has to ask whether there was any chance of Emma leaving her husband. I suggest that if divorce were a realistic alternative for her, she would have done it long before 1843.

5) Brian Hales, one of FAIR's sources, is an anesthesiologist and not a historian.

And we all know what anesthesiologists do.

Maybe you're thinking of Jake from Lonesome Dove.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kxgRkNOcvAE

"I didn't see no line, Gus." Possibly the finest Western ever.

Emma stood by her man, mostly. I mean, she didn't die with him. She did take a horse without asking but brought it back.

Yeah. Borrowing a horse and wagon and returning it after breakfast hardly seems to qualify for being called a horse thief. Sounds like they just didn’t want to bother harnessing their own horse.

didn't Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey/ass?

It's perfectly fine if you *ask* first and receive permission. How would you feel about a neighbor grabbing your car keys without your knowledge to go on a short errand? Even my family asks if I'm visiting and they want to move my car for some reason.

When you read the account you see that Mother Smith had no idea if Joseph and Emma would even come back.

Wasn't borrowed, was outright theft. The owner had no idea who took his horse and wagon. Therefore it was taken without permission.

I really wonder how much we know about Emma Smith. Her first husband was hated and loved. The historical accounts sway hard one way or another. Emma was stuck with a lot of the church’s debt. She didn’t follow any of the splinter groups. The branch of Mormonism she did she did later join was the better one. There was no polygamy or militant attitude. Amazingly enough they never got driven out and did some good like starting a nursing school.

If there was any fault of Emma was she didn’t marry well. Both husbands cheated on her and she ended up with the mess they created.

It all reads as normal human behavior. Always the gossip, always the poor judgement, and always a con somewhere.

Nothing has changed, just the names of those involved.

Exactly. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Both sides embellish their stories.

Interesting that in this thread, no one chooses to mention the “child murder” charge.

Impulsively pushing a pregnant woman down the stairs, accidentally causing miscarriage, although morally reprehensible, is not murder.
And the source material for the story is not entirely reliable. It probably happened, but only probably.

> Impulsively pushing a pregnant woman down the
> stairs, accidentally causing miscarriage, although
> morally reprehensible, is not murder.

+1

Way more than probably.

My third times great grandmother treated Elisa for the miscarriage.

Impulsively pushing her? No, Emma had a history of beating Joseph's wives.

It was no accident.

"Murder" generally requires proof of premeditated intent to kill. If Emma beat Eliza in a rage, it is much more likely to be manslaughter--even if there was intent to kill in the precise moment of the attack. The planning, the premeditation, is key.

In a comparable situation, an enraged killing in a bar fight will almost always engender a manslaughter conviction even if it has happened more than once. That is very likely true of a serial woman-beater like Emma as well.

"Emma had a history of beating Joseph's wives"

You say that like it's a bad thing. She probably kept Joseph in line too. No wonder BY hated her. Of course the Brighamites would demonize Emma.

Id the child dies, it most certainly is.

One may have a personal conviction that an embryo or fetus is fully human, but personal beliefs don't change the definition of murder.

the fact that she didn't go West with BY & his tribe was all the MOs needed to denigrate her.

She was the 'odd person out' when most became loyal to Bring Em Young.

I'm pretty sure she had damning information/evidence that would reveal that Joey was despicable & exploited women, some married, some young.

I have read a lot of church history and have found I identify with the victims rather than the supposed heroes. Emma was one of Mormonisms victims. She never signed on to all she endured when she made her vow with Joseph. Some of her closest confidantes such as Eliza betrayed her in the deepest way imaginable. Honestly, if I had been Emma I might have done the same or worse. I probably would have left him even if it meant swallowing my pride and returning to my parents, hopefully with my children in tow.