The Tar & Feathering of Joseph Smith -The Real Story

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ibmagg
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There have been many references to the reason behind the "tar and feathering" of Joseph Smith. The principal reason offered by "Guitarsoup" and several other is becasue of an illicit immoral affair with a fourteen year old girl. Respected historians, such as Dr. Richard Bushman, Columbia University professor emirtus, state that there is not a shread of evidence to support this accusation but this has never slowed down Fawn Brodie in her anti-Mormon publications.

This the official account by his mother and Dr. Bushman. On the night of March 24, 1832 while laying down with one of his children who was sick with measles, he was awakened by the screaming of his wife. He found himself suddenly going out of the door in the hands of about a dozen men; some of whose hands were in his hair, and some had hold of his shirt, drawers, and limbs.

"I made a desperate struggle as I was forced out, to extricate myself, but only cleared one leg with which I made a pass at one man and he fell on the door steps. I was immediately confined again, and they swore by G__, they would kill me if I did not be still, which quieted me. As they passed around the house with me, the fellow thatI kicked came to me and thrust his hands into my face all covered with blood (for I hit him on the nose), and with an exultant horselaugh, muttered, 'Gee,gee,G___d___ye, I'll fix ye.'

They then siezed me by the throat and held on till I lost my breath. After I came to, as they passed along with me, about thirty rods from the house, I saw Elder Sidney Rigdon stretched out on the ground, whither they had dragged him by the heels. I supposed he was dead.

I began to plead with them saying, you will have mercy and spare my life, I hope. To which they replied, G___d___ye, call on yer God for help, we'll show you no mercy; and the people began to show themselves in every direction until there was over fifty; one coming from the orchard with a plank and and I expected they would kill me and carry me off on a plank. They then turned to the right and went on about 30 rods farther -about 60 rods from the house and about thirty from where I saw Elder Rigdon -into the meadow where they stopped, and one said 'Simonds, Simonds', (meaning I suppose Simonds Rider) pull up his drawers, pull up his drawers, he will take cold.

Another replied, 'ain't ye going to kill im? Ain't ye going to kill im?' When a group of mobbers collected a little way off and said, 'Simmonds, Simmonds, come here; and Simmonds charged those who had hold of me to keep me from touching the ground (as they had done all the time) lest I should spring upon them. They went and held a council, and I could occasionally overhear a word, I supposed it was to know whether it was best to kill me. They returned after awhile when I learned that they had concluded not to kill me, but pound and scratch me well, tear off my shirt and drawers, and leave me naked. One cried, 'Simonds, Simonds, where is the tar buckets?'

I don't know answered one, where it is, Eli's left it. They ran back and fetched the bucket of tar, when one exclaimed, with an oath, 'Let us tar up his mouth', and they tried to force the tar paddle into my mouth; I twisted my head around so that they could not, and they cried out, 'G___d___ye, hold up yer head and let us giv ye some tar. They then tried to force a vial into my mouth and broke it in my teeth. All my clothes were torn off of me except my shirt collar; one man fell on me and scratched my body with his nails like a mad cat, and then muttered out, G___d___ye, that's the way the Holy Ghost falls on folks.'

During the attack, Joseph was stretched on a board and they tore his clothes off for the purpose of emasculating him with Dr. Dennison there to perform the task. But when Dr. Dennison saw the Prophet stripped and stretched on the plank, his heart failed him and he refused to operate. The hisorian Fawn Brodie speculated that it wa to be done to punish Joseph for an intimacy with Nancy Miranda, a daughter of John Johnson, but the hypothesis falls for a lack of evidence.

In the meantime, Brother John Poorman heard an out cry across the cornfield, and running that way met Father Johnson, who had been fastened in his house at the commencement of the assault by having his door bared by the mob. He called to his wife to bring his gun, saying he would blow a hole through the door; the mob fled, and Father Johnson, seizing a club ran after the party that had left Elder Rigdon and knocked one man down and raised his club to level another.

Joseph's friends spent the night in scraping and removing the tar and washing and cleansing his body, so that by morning he was ready to be clothed again. This being the Sabbath morning, the people assembled for meeting at the ususal hour of worship, and among them came also the mobbers,viz. Simonds Rider, a Campbellite (Church of Christ) preacher and leader of the mob; one McClentic, who had his hands in my hair, one Streeter, son of a Campbellite (Church of Christ) minister...With his flesh all scarified and defaced, Joseph preached to the congregation as usual, and in the afternoon of the same day baptized three individuals.

The next morning Joseph went to see Elder Rigdon and found him crazy and his head highly inflamed, for they had dragged him by his heels and so high from the ground that he could not raise his head. It was lacerated exceedingly from the rough, frozen surface. The feathers used with the tar had been taken from Elder Rigdon's house.

During the mobbing, one of the twins contracted a severe cold and continued to grow worse till Friday and died. The mobbers were composed of various religious parties, but mostly Campbellites (Church of Christ), Methodists and Baptists, who continued to molest and menace Father Johnson's house for a long time.

There is some interesting speculation as to the real reasons for the attack on Sidney Rigdon and Joseph. Sidney had been a very successful Campbellite (Church of Christ) preacher before he joined the LDS Church, who had been preceeded in his conversion by another Campbellite (Church of Christ) preacher, Parley P. Pratt. It was well known of the anger of Alexander Campbell towards Joseph Smith for the loss of two of his ministers and many of their congregation. When Joseph was murdered, Alexander Campbell wrote in the Millenial Harbinger the following: "the money digger, the juggler and the founder of the golden bible delusion has been hurried away in the madness to his final account. The hand of the Lord was heavy on him. An outlaw himself, God cut him off by outlaws." Expressing similar sentiments was Rev. William G. Brownlowe as published in the Jonesboro Wake: "Smith was killed as he should have been. Three cheers to the brave company who shot him to pieces."

So the question rises, was Simonds Rider, the Campbellite (Church of Christ)minister along with the other Campbellites, and others, acting upon the behest of Alexander Campbell? Why the brutal treatment of Sidney Rigdon just before the attack on Joseph? One does have to wonder.

IBMAGG

[This message has been edited by ibmagg (edited 4/5/2006 11:49a).]
three and out
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To be fair, Richard Bushman is an LDS member. I'm not really questioning the validity, but he is just as likely to be as biased in his views as those that have anti-Mormon views.

Richard L. Bushman
three and out
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Also...this is a review of the book, "Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?," by Jerald and Sandra Tanner. This review comes from an LDS webpage. I am just presenting a mormom's own words to you guys.

quote:
This is perhaps the most slanted, biased, and down right mean representation of the Mormon church there is. However, most of the stuff is true (although some of the conclusions and interpretations are a stretch). A more appropriate title for this book would be “Mormonism: Here are the Shadows”. Your average, active Mormon does not know about many (if any) of the things that are contained in this book even though they happen to be true for the most part. This probably isn’t the first book you want an active member to read to find out their church isn’t “true”. Most will probably throw it quickly into a fire thinking that Satan himself must have written it.


I guess it just makes me wonder why there are "true" things that mormons get upset over being included in this book. And also, why are most active mormons not aware of many (or possibly any) of these things? Serious question that is not by any means intended as a flame. I guess I was just curious because it comes from a Mormon website.

http://www.lds-mormon.com/sor.shtml

[This message has been edited by three and out (edited 4/5/2006 5:11a).]
Fightin TX Aggie
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AG
Good stuff here. A few minor corrections.

First, are you you aware that this mob consisted of LDS church members? The proof that it was Joseph's own church members who did the tarring was his statement that he recognized the perpetrators in church the morning after the incident, primarily one Symonds Rider and the sons of John Johnson. Smith, Emma, and Rigdon had been boarding with the Johnson family 35 miles from Kirtland at Hiram, Ohio.

So, what is the evidence that Joseph Smith had engaged in relations with a minor (Marinda Johnson) in the house?

Rather than a cut and paste, here is a link to a concise discussion of the facts:

http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_joesephsmith.html#pub_-619391932

If you have now read the link, you will see that there is far more than a shred of evidence. There is no way to know for sure. The facts that are persuasive to me:

  • Joseph had already taught plural marriage
  • No one tried to castrate Rigdon
  • Joseph later plural married Marinda
  • Marinda's brothers were involved in the mob

    [This message has been edited by Fightin TX Aggie (edited 4/5/2006 7:25a).]
  • bizag
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    Three and Out,

    That is not an LDS webpage. It is set up to look that way. Dig deeper. It was set up by someone who left the church. I am not saying there is any agenda. I am just saying it isn't "AN LDS site"

    Go to the intro section link on the top.
    Guadaloop474
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    Sounds like back then his accusers thought that the LDS was a non-prophet organization....
    ibmagg
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    Simonds was a member of the Church for 3 months. Dr. Bushman's new book has been praised by by both LDS and non-LDS (evangelicals) Scholars. He has a national professional reputation to protect but that being said, every writer brings bias to his writings. What Dr. Bushman does not bring is a misrepresentation of the facts.

    Those who left the Church were almost always among the bitterest persecutors. When Satan is allowed to take over the heart, that was and still is the result. Look at those who followed Christ, fell away and were among the ones at the end screaming "crucify him"!

    They wanted the ultimate humiliation for Joseph. They just tortured Sidney and left him for dead. They had the nerve to show up at sacrament the next morning. I wonder how many of us who would have gone through that experience, been up all night in constant pain as the tar and feathers were removed, trying to have the broken flesh dressed, would have felt like preaching a sermon the next morning?

    As usual it was the ministers who were always at the forefront of the persecution of Joseph and the rest of the Saints.

    Neither the girl in question nor her father ever made that accusation against Joseph. Many families split wide open over a member or members of their family joining the Church while they did not.

    [This message has been edited by ibmagg (edited 4/5/2006 7:27p).]
    three and out
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    Sorry about the webpage. I know there is the "Mormon Ring" with both pro- and anti-mormon sites on it. You are right...sometims you do have to look very closely. I thought this one was but I was not so sure. Sorry for the inaccurate post.
    ibmagg
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    Unfortunately there are many website and brochures that pass themselves off as LDS but are in fact are anti-mMormon. Nowhere is this more prevelant than during the open house of a new LDS temple. They hand out brochures, etc. and try to make you think they are part of the LDS volunteers directing traffic. You get past the heading and then the vicious anti-Mormon rhetoric starts. The Church in its wisdom as never produced an anti-baptist, anti-catholic, anti-Church of Christ, etc., etc. brochure or literature, ever!
    three and out
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    quote:
    The Church in its wisdom as never produced an anti-baptist, anti-catholic, anti-Church of Christ, etc., etc. brochure or literature, ever!


    Well, I would definitely beg to differ concerning this comment. These are all words of Mormons, and those of prophets, no less. Are these comments any different than what the folks producing the anti-Mormon literature are saying? These all sound like anti- pretty much any non-Mormon church to me. Sorry for the long post, but I felt like I should provide a wide variety of quotes from high-ranking LDS memebers.

    From the words of Joseph Smith (The 1st Prophet):
    quote:
    Joseph Smith claimed that he had seen both God the Father and Jesus Christ and asked these personages which church he should join. He claimed he was told to join none of them, "for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight" (Joseph Smith History 1:19).


    quote:
    When asked "Will all be damned but Mormons?" Smith replied, "Yes, and a great portion of them unless they repent and work righteousness" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 119).


    quote:
    "Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the w h o r e of all the earth" (Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 14:10).


    From the words of Brigham Young (The 2nd Prophet):
    quote:
    "With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" (Journal of Discourses 8:199).


    quote:
    "Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" (Journal of Discourses 10:230)."


    quote:
    "The religion of God embraces every fact that exists in all the wide arena of nature, while the religions of men consist of theory devoid of fact, or of any true principle of guidance; hence the professing Christian world are like a ship upon a boisterous ocean without rudder, compass, or pilot, and are tossed hither and thither by every wind of doctrine" (Journal of Discourses 10:265).


    From the Words of John Taylor (The 3rd Prophet):
    quote:
    We talk about Christianity, but it is a perfect pack of nonsense ...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century" (Journal of Discourses 6:167).


    quote:
    "What! Are Christians ignorant? Yes, as ignorant of the things of God as the brute beast." (Journal of Discourses 6:25).


    quote:
    "What does the Christian world know about God? Nothing ...Why so far as the things of God are concerned, they are the veriest of fools; they know neither God nor the things of God" (Journal of Discourses 13:225).


    From the Words of Spencer W. Kimball (12th LDS Prophet)
    quote:
    "This is the only true church ...This is not a church. This is the Church of Jesus Christ. There are churches of men all over the land and they have great cathedrals, synagogues, and other houses of worship running into the hundreds of millions of dollars. They are churches of men. They teach the doctrines of men, combined with the philosophies and ethics and other ideas and ideals that men have partly developed and partly found in sacred places and interpreted for themselves" (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, pg.421).


    And how about these words from Heber C. Kimball, the First Counselor to Brigham Young...

    quote:
    "Christians - those poor, miserable priests Brother Brigham was speaking about - some of them are the biggest w h o r e masters there are on the earth ..." (Journal of Discourses 5:89).


    And how about the words of George Q. Cannon, who served as a Counselor to Brigham Young, John Taylor, and Wilson Woodruff (the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th prophets). This quote is especially interesting because of another thread where bizag and others argued about saying that a person was not a man of reason if he came to certain conclusions. This is the same thing that bizag accused El Sid of having. First, bizags quote, then Cannon's. There seems to be a bit of a problem here.

    quote:
    El Sid,

    To you it is obvious. You are taking a very egocentric view of the world. My view is correct, no possibility for anyone elses. As dangerous as you may claim "Mormonism" is, intolerance of other beliefs is even more dangerous.


    quote:
    "I do not wish to say anything in relation to other forms of religion; I do not know that it is necessary that I should do so; but no thinking man can admit that Christianity so-called - I call it a false Christianity, untrue to its name - satisfies the wants of humanity at the present time. It is not a religion that satisfies" (Journal of Discourses 24:185).


    And finally, this quote by Bruce McConkie, a Mormon Apostle. It actually mentions specific names...

    quote:
    "What is the church of the devil in our day, and where is the seat of her power? ...It is all of the systems, both Christian and non-Christian, that perverted the pure and perfect gospel ...It is communism; it is Islam; it is Buddhism; it is modern Christianity in all its parts" (The Millennial Messiah, pp.54-55).


    [This message has been edited by three and out (edited 4/7/2006 4:20a).]
    three and out
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    I am actually somewhat interested to hear from some of the LDS guys as to their opinions of these quotes. I know there are quite a few, but I highlighted the parts that seemed to fit what ibmagg was talking about.

    The reason I ask is because Mormons get very upset when one claims that their's is a false religion. This was not meant as an attack or a flame, but I just found some of these things very interesting. I truly am looking for honest answers and discussion and I think I have proven that I have no malicious intent through my previous postings.
    Damon
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    Guitarsoup
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    AG
    Do Mormons still believe that black skin or dark skin is the mark of Cain?
    three and out
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    I appreciate that quote in response, but what of all the others that I listed? I really am not attempting to flame (if ibmagg were not headed to College Station, he could vouch for the fact), but I am just curious as to what the difference is between what these "anti-Mormon" groups say and what these other LDS leaders said? This is an honest question.
    three and out
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    quote:
    Do Mormons still believe that black skin or dark skin is the mark of Cain?


    Guitarsoup,

    I am not mormon, but I can answer this one. If I am wrong, you LDS guys feel free to correct me.

    In 1978, Spencer W. Kimball (the 12th Prophet) received a revelation on this issue. After much prayer in the upper room of the temple, he stated, "He has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the church may receive the holy priesthood... including the blessings of the temple. Accordingly, all worthy male members of the church may be ordained to the priesthood without regard for race or color."

    So, while I do not know, specifically, if Blacks still hold the mark of Cain, they are allowed in the Priesthood.
    Damon
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    Guitarsoup
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    AG
    I realize that black people can hold religious office in the LDS, finally after 150 years.

    But do you still believe that they hold the mark of Cain? What is the highest ranking black member?

    Its obvious that the LDS at least used to believe that.

    Here is Bruce McConkie
    quote:
    “NEGROES IN THIS LIFE ARE DENIED THE PRIESTHOOD; under NO circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty. The gospel message of salvation IS NOT CARRIED AFFIRMATIVELY TO THEM... “NEGROES ARE NOT EQUAL WITH OTHER RACES WHERE THE RECEIPT OF CERTAIN SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS ARE CONCERNED...” (Mormon Doctrine, 1958, p. 477)



    Joseph F Smith
    quote:
    “Not only was Cain called upon to suffer, but because of his wickedness HE BECAME THE FATHER OF AN INFERIOR RACE.”
    (The Way to Perfection, page 101)


    Brigham Young:
    quote:
    “Cain slew his brother....and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the FLAT NOSE AND BLACK SKIN...”
    (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, pages 290-291)




    quote:
    “Their skin is quite black, their hair woolly and black, THEIR INTELLIGENCE STUNTED, and they appear never to have arisen from the most savage state of barbarism.” The Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 3, page 157)


    John Taylor
    quote:
    “The descendants of Ham, besides A BLACK SKIN which has ever been a curse that has followed an apostate of the holy priesthood, as well as a BLACK HEART, have been servants to both Shem and Japheth, and the ABOLITIONISTS ARE TRYING TO MAKE VOID THE CURSE OF GOD, BUT IT WILL REQUIRE MORE POWER THAN MAN POSSESSES TO COUNTERACT THE DECREES OF ETERNAL WISDOM.”
    (Times and Seasons, Vol. 6, page 857)


    Bruce McConkie again:
    quote:


    “Though he was a rebel and AN ASSOCIATE OF LUCIFER IN PRE-EXISTENCE, and though he was a liar from the beginning whose name was Perdition, CAIN MANAGED TO ATTAIN THE PRIVILEGE OF MORTAL BIRTH. Under Adam's tutelage, he began in this life to serve God....he came out in open rebellion, fought God, worshiped Lucifer, and slew Abel.... “As a result of his rebellion, CAIN WAS CURSED WITH A DARK SKIN; he became the father of the Negroes, and those spirits who ARE NOT WORTHY to receive the priesthood are born through his lineage. He became the first mortal to be cursed as a son of perdition. As a result of his mortal birth he is assured of a tangible body of flesh and bones in eternity, a fact which will enable him to RULE over SATAN.”(Mormon Doctrine, p. 102)




    Brigham Young (is interracial marriage still illegal?
    quote:


    “Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the AFRICAN RACE? If the WHITE man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the PENALTY, under the LAW OF GOD, IS DEATH ON THE SPOT. THIS WILL ALWAYS BE SO.” (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, page 110)


    three and out
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    14the$,

    Please do not confuse my motives. I have no ill will and am trying to "carefully consider" the LDS teachings. you said these men were converts, but were they not prophets when they spoke these things? Or at least members of, or leaders in, the Mormon church? My original post was in response to ibmagg's claims. I do not have a problem with anything that was said by these people, since if you beleive in the LDS teachings, these would be natural thoughts. But, I was trying to show ibmagg that his words were not so accurate.
    bizag
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    I think I posted something about this already. Could the gospel still be perfect while having unperfect leaders, members, etc. Well we know this has to be the case since only Jesus was perfect. IMHO, blacks and the priesthood is a product of imperfect people making decisions, especially in light of the views of the day. Blacks originally had the priesthood and they have it now, I have no other way of reasoning this out in my mind other than a mistake was made in the meantime and Spencer W. Kimball corrected this. Mormon Doctrine has many good, well researched ideas but it does not equal the gospel, the same goes for the Journal of Discourses. We know that we are promised we will know if something is from God by prayer, see James 1:5-6.

    http://www.blacklds.org/mormon/priesthood.html

    from another post link included for the entire article

    quote:
    Though the First Presidency endorsed the publication of the Journal, there was no endorsement as to the accuracy or reliability of the contents. There were occasions when the accuracy was questionable. The accounts were not always cleared by the speakers because of problems of time and distance. This was especially true during the persecution of the 1880s which finally forced the cessation of publication.


    http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=601105&page=4&forum_id=15

    three and out
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    quote:
    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has many beliefs in common with other Christian churches.


    Is the word "other" here not contrary to the words of all of the prophets and leaders that I listed quotes from above? This is, once again, an honest question. Why do you call protestants or Catholics "other" Christians if you do not believe that we are truly so?
    three and out
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    In the Second Edition of "Mormine Doctrine" by Bruce R. McConkie, which I assume is the current one used since I bought it this past weekend at Nauvoo Books in Houston, the mark of Cain is still said to be that of dark skin. I know this is the work of McConkie, and he admits "sole and full responsibility" for the book, but the Doctrines are still cited from LDS texts. Under the heading "Cain," on page 109, I read, "The Lord placed on Cain a mark of a dark skin, and he became the ancestor of the black race."

    Under the heading, "Negroes," on pages 526-528, McCorkie anknowledges Spencer Kimball's 1978 prophecy that black people were now able to attain full Priesthood. Since we know that Kimball was aware of that, and he wrote about the Mark of Cain being that of dark skin, I assume that it is still the LDS Church's position. Correct me if I am wrong but I am reading from the book as I type this. This is not intended as a flame, but I have started reading the Book of Mormon recently and also purchased a few other books from Nauvoo Books to help me understand it better.
    ibmagg
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    I am truly impressed at your effort. I personally believe that it is the mark of Cain but in the grand scheme of things that means nothing. They were our brothers and sisters in the pre-existtence and they are still our brothers and sisters and we should never feel nor act superior because it is not so much how you start the race as it is how you finish it.
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