| Joseph
Smith in Greenville (May—June 1832) |
| Returning from Independence to Kirtland, stage
coach horses begin to run away. Joseph Smith and Newel K. Whitney jump
from the coach. Newel's leg is badly broken and Joseph stays with him
in Greenville, Indiana, until the leg mends. Joseph prays daily in a nearby
grove. One day he sees some fresh graves, and after dinner vomits violently,
dislocating his jaw and spewing out blood and "poisonous matter," and
losing tufts of hair §. Was this caused by the
sight of graves, poisoning, an undiagnosed internal injury, or some other
cause? He writes Emma a surly letter §. After four
weeks he and Newel return to Kirtland, traveling much of the way on the
Ohio river. |
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| Joseph,
Sidney, and Newel leave Independence |
|
On May 6, 1832, Joseph,
Sidney Rigdon, and Newel
K. Whitney leave
Independence by stage for St. Louis. From there, Joseph writes, they
intend to go to Vincennes, Indiana, then New
Albany, "near the falls
of the Ohio River."
Vincennes, on the western border of Indiana, is due east of St. Louis.
New Albany on Indiana's southeastern border, is opposite Louisville, Kentucky,
on the Ohio river. |
MH-A,
214–215. |
| Horses
spook, Newel injured |
|
However, near Greenville, Indiana,
twelve miles east of New Albany,
the horses are startled and begin to run away. Joseph and Newel jump,
but the bishop's foot gets entangled in the wheel, breaking his leg and
foot in several places. Sidney remains in the coach and is not injured. |
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| Sidney
goes on |
|
Joseph and Newel put up in a Mr.
Porter's public house in Greenville, while Sidney, whose nine-year-old
daughter, Nancy, is seriously ill, continues on to Kirtland, arriving May
26. |
Sidney Rigdon,
125. |
| Mormon
healing |
|
In his 1839
history, Joseph makes two ironic observations. First, Newel "lost
not a meal of victuals or a night's sleep;" and second, Dr. Porter,
the landlord's brother who waited on Newel, remarked that it was "a
dam'd pity we had not got some mormon there, they can set broken bones.
or do any thing else." |
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While
waiting for Newel's leg to heal, Joseph |
|
Sight
of fresh graves
Violent vomiting
Dislocates jaw |
|
frequently walked
out in the woods, where I saw several fresh graves; and one day when I
arose from the dinner-table. I walked directly to the door and commenced
vomiting most profusely. I raised large quantities of blood and poisonous
matter, and so great were the muscular contorsions of my system that my
jaw was dislocated in a few moments; |
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| Resets
jaw |
|
this I succeeded
in replacing with my own hands, and made my way to Brother Whitney (who
was on the bed,) as speedily as possible, |
|
Newel's
blessing heals instantly
Hair loss |
|
he laid his hands on me and
administered in the name of the Lord, and I was healed in an instant,
although the effect of the poison had been so powerful, as to cause much
of the hair to become loosened from my head. |
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Thanks be to my heavenly father
for his interference in my behalf at this critical moment, in the name
of Jesus Christ; Amen. |
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| Intentional
poisoning |
|
Dean Jessee cites this
passage as evidence that the stay in Greenville "had a sinister side
to it." Intentional poisoning might indeed account for the violent
vomiting and sudden hair loss. But it would be extraordinary, in my opinion,
for Joseph to pass on opportunity to accuse someone of seeking his life,
and nowhere—not even seven years after the fact (when this source was
written)—does he make the charge. |
PWJS, 264n3. |
| Unintentional
poisoning |
|
Unintentional poisoning, such as
food poisoning, for example, might explain violent vomiting, but probably
not hair loss. |
|
Fresh
graves
|
|
Looking only at the
text it seems that Joseph may have believed there was a connection between
his viewing of fresh graves and the vomiting. |
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| Injury,
illness |
|
But the "large
quantities of blood and poisonous matter" and hair loss suggests something
more traumatic—gastroenteritis, bleeding ulcer, or other illness, or
perhaps an internal injury suffered in his jump from the stagecoach. In
such an interpretation "poisonous matter" could be composed of
bile, black blood, etc. Temporary hair loss can be caused by ringworm, inadequate
protein, iron deficiency. |
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| Letter
to Emma |
|
More
than a month after the accident, Joseph wrote Emma. Nearly every day he
retired to a grove of trees behind town, |
Joseph
to Emma, June 6, 1832, JS letters sent // PWJS, 264–265. Original, Chicago Historical Society. |
| Secret
prayer, meditation |
|
where I can be Secluded from
the eyes of any mortal and there give vent to the feelings of my heart
in meaditation and prayr |
| Regrets |
|
I have Called to mind all the past moments of my life
and am left to morn w <and> Shed tears of sorrow for my folly
in Sufe |
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| Forgiven |
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but God is mercif<ul> and has fo[r]given my Sins
and I r[e]joice that he Sendeth forth the Comferter unto as many as believe
and humbleeth themselves before him … |
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| Joseph's
follies |
|
Joseph's "follies" are usually associated with
treasure hunting—which presumably ended three or four years earlier.
Was he still suffering from remorse about that? Was he conflicted by the
deceptions of a "pious fraud," or by his relationship with Fanny
Alger?
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After commenting on news from Kirtland, Joseph
turns to a letter Newel had received from his wife Elizabeth Ann. It was |
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| Joseph
unwell, anxious in Greenville |
|
very chearing {but} and being unwell at that
time and filled with much anxiety it would have been very Cons<o>ling
to me to have received a few lines from you |
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From this contemporaneous letter we learn that
Joseph was unwell in Greenville, a detail not mentioned in the 1839 history.
He was also "filled with anxiety"—about what? |
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| Jab
at Emma |
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but as you did not take the trouble |
|
"God
is my friend"
Only desire to do his will |
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I will try to be contented with my lot knowing
that God is my friend in him I shall find comfort I have given my f life into his hands [265] I am prepared
to go at his Call I desire to be with Christ I Count not my life dear to me only to do his will |
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| Angry
with William E. McLellin |
|
Next Joseph criticizes William McLellin for returning from his mission early and expresses astonishment that Emeline
[Miller] would have married him: |
William
had been called with Luke Johnson on January 25 but one month later, feeling
ill, he stopped in Middlebury, Ohio and clerked in a store while. In April,
still not fully recovered, he returned to Kirtland and maried Emeline Miller
(April 26), after a brief courtship. , 82.
Dean Jessee notes that William married Emeline four days after meeting her,
PWJS, 265n5), but in his August 4, 1832 letter to
his "Beloved Relatives," William wrote, "You have often heard
of short courtships but I was maried the 4th day after I first even hinted
to [sic] subject to my partner." , 82.
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I cannot belive she is not a worthy sister.
I hope She he will <find> him true and kind to her but have no
reason to C expect it his Conduct merits the disapprobation of every
true follower of Christ but this is a painful subject I hope you will
excuse my warmth of feeling in mentioning this sub subject |
Glad
Emma is still in the faith
Remembers family |
|
After expressing his pleasure that Emma is "still
in the faith of Christ and at Father Smiths," he encourages her to
comfort his parents and other family members. He would like to see their
adopted girl, Julia and take her on his knee. |
| Omit
important things (cautious about mail) |
|
Then he alludes to things that would not be "prudent"
for him to write about. "I omit all the important things which could
I See you I could make you acquainted with." |
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Finally, after asking Emma to convey his respects
to the brethren and the Whitneys, he subscribes himself "your Husband"
and asks the Lord to bless her with peace until he returns. |
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Now we return to Joseph's 1839
history: After Newel had lain in bed "near four weeks,"
Joseph, eager to get home, approaches him with him with a plan. |
| Return
to Kirtland |
|
[I] and told him if he would agree to start from home in the morning. we would take a wagon to the river about four miles, and there would be a ferry boat in waiting which would take us quickly across, where we would find a hack which would take us directly to the landing, where we should find a boat in waiting. and we will be going up the River before 10 o'clock and have a
prosperous journey home." |
MH-A, 215 //
Papers 1:383–384.
Why does scribe Willard Richards he would agree? Did Newel felt he needed to rest more before resuming their journey again, and Joseph had to persuade him. Note he did not use a revelation to get his way. |
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|
Newel agreed and by 10 a.m. the next day they
were in fact passing up the river. They land at Wellsville—roughly
55 miles from Hiram and 90 from Kirtland. They take the stage to Chardon,
which is less than ten miles southeast of Kirtland and about twenty miles
north of Hiram—(presumably, then, their destination is Kirtland)—and
a wagon the last few miles. |
Ten
months earlier, returning from Independence, Joseph had received a warning
that the elders that it was dangerous to travel on "the waters."
D&C 61 |
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Dating the Greenville episode |
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In Joseph's letter to Emma cited above, he reports: |
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Brother Martin has arrived here and braught the pleasing
news that our Familys were well when he left there which Greately Cheared
our hearts and revived our Spirits … Martin arrived on Satterday
June 2] the Same week he left Chagrin haveing a prosperous time |
Joseph to Emma, June 6, 1832, JS letters sent // PWJS, 264. Original, Chicago Historical Society. |
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Chagrin (Willoughby) is 5 miles northwest of Kirtland
and 35 from Hiram.
If Martin made the trip in five days, he must have taken a river boat,
probaby from Wellsville to Louisville, just across the river and a few
miles from Greenville. This was the route Joseph and Newel would take
in the opposite direction.
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"Chagrin" was changed to "Willoughby" when
that township was organized in Cayahoga county in 1834. PWJS,
264n2. |
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Reynolds Cahoon's diary indicates that they were in the Kirtland
area by July 5.
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Kirtland 1831–1832
Joseph Smith Correspondence
Joseph Smith
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