"President Joseph told me he had difficulty with Emma yesterday. She rode up to the Woodworths with him and called while he came to the Temple. When he returned she was demanding the gold watch of Flora. He reproved her for her evil treatment, On their return home she abused him much and also when he got home. He had to use harsh measures to put a stop to her abuse but finally succeeded.."
My question: What were the harsh measures? Was Emma justified in her anger? Did Joseph stop visiting Flora after his wife's outrage?
The background: Joseph Married Flora Woodsworth earlier that year, in the Spring of 1843. She was 16. Joseph was 38.
According to William Clayton's Journal, Joseph went and visited Flora Woodsworth on May 2nd, June 1st, August 26th, August 28th, and August 29th. I find it notable that three of these occurred right after Emma expressed her outrage.
Can anyone really say this was proper? Does Christ condone this conduct? How is this not immoral? AMAZING
In the dynamics of addictive relationships where a sexual addiction is present (see the works of Patrick Carnes and Charlotte Davis Kasl) the codependent's control dynamics--and denial--are equally as powerful as the forces that drive the addict's desires.
Both get their unconscious, shame-based needs met by acting out the dynamics with a separation-reunion pattern that is apparent upon close examination.
With the number of "plural marriages" Joseph was entering into during the period 1842-44, it's likely the mutual abuse escalated into physical violence...
If this gets a lot of play, watch the apologists insist that it was commonplace for men of the 19th Century to beat their wives...
This whole scenario makes the LDS fiction of Joseph and Emma's marriage as loving, wholesome partnership a laughable joke.
I have a question about the gold watch. It sounds like Joseph gave Flora a gold watch (probably not an inconsiderable gift back in those days,) and Emma was demanding it back. Does that sound about right?