[Joseph Smith Diary] Thursday, May 23d 1844 With my family reading Hebrew with [Alexander] Neibaur and counselling with various friends. Emma some better. /10 A.M. Municipal Court. N[ewel] K. Whitney adjourned 1 week.
/1 P.M. Held council with the Indians Sac and Fox &c. in my back kitchen. They told me (Joseph) "You are a big chief. We are sons of /2 as/ big men /and Priests/ as ever inhabited this land. You preach a great deal so say great Spirit, you be as great and good as our fathers that will do. Our worship is different, but we are good as any other men. Before our nation were acquainted with white men, they were as great men as ever lived on the river, now live on Desmoines. 20 y[ea]rs ago [there was] 6,000 of us, now [we are a] small nation. 3 towns 2 [-] not over yesterday. They talk with big spirit. We have had possession of this land. Neohope is one of our principle men. We wish friendship with all men. Our chiefs done wrong in selling our country.
"Black Hawk's bro[ther] Maquisto Fox Nation worshipped on this piece of ground. When our Fathers first came here this was inhabited by Spanish. When driven off French came and then the English and Americans talk a great deal with the G[r]eat spirit. We different colour, no difference. We all good men. Another said we have seen a great deal of pleasure on this piece of land. Our fathers worshipped on this piece of land. English were very friendly. Had good. We drove off a nation who was on their river. This is the best country our fathers had seen. Fathers of the 2 old men were preachers. Wanted Joseph to be as good as they were. 2 Nations are brothers. Wanted Joseph to talk right to be our big chief white men wear hats. Indians naked [-]. English, French, Indian all brethren. Don't expect to live long. Don't care for any thing only for something to eat &c. Friendly visit. 2 days. Sac chief sold their land again and would go to M[iss]o[uri] in 2 years. We are very poor. White
s cheat us. But no difference not long to live. We wanted to let you know we were a Christian people."
I replied "We know you have been wronged, but we bought this land and paid our money for it. Advise you not to sell any more land. Cultivate peace with all men with the different tribes. Great spirit wants you to be united and live in peace. Found a book (presenting the Book of Mormon) which told me about your fathers and Great spirit told me. You must send to all the tribes you can and tell them to live in peace and when any of our people come to see you treat them as we treat you."
3 P.M. Indians commenced a war dance in front of my old house. Our people commencing with music and firing cannon. After the dance which lasted about 2 hours firing of cannon closed the exercise. With our music marched back to office. Before they commenced dancing the Saints collected $9.45 cents for to get them food. Soon after the dance commenced, [someone] come to my clerk Dr. Richards and told him an officer was on the way with an attachment for him. He had come from Carthage 12.30 mi[les] to bring the news. Dr. R[ichards] come to my house and staid all night. Aaron Johnson come from Carthage and said Foster had been swearing that I swore to the affidavit on which Simpson was arrested &c. I instructed Johnson and Rockwell to go to Carthage in the morning and have him indicted for perjury as I never did swear to the complaint. His officer was after John D. Parker also and /Report says B[righam] Young and W[illia]m C. Kimball/. Past nine eve I walked a little way with Dr.
Richards for exercise.
Several police out during the night. Hyrum was in this evening and cautioned me about speaking so freely about my enemies and in such a manner they could make it actionable. I told him 6 months would not roll over his head before they would swear 12 as palpable lies about him as they had about me. (1)
[Lucy Mack Smith] William Law accuses Joseph of adultery/polygamy. Joseph H. Jackson and Robert Foster swear a writ against Joseph on 24 May for false swearing. For the next few weeks, Joseph and Hyrum Smith engage in a flurry of accusations and counteraccusations with William and Wilson Law, charging each other with counterfeiting, sexual immorality, and other illegal acts, including alleged attempts by both Joseph and William to hire Joseph H. Jackson to kill the other. (2)
William Law files a formal complaint with the Hancock County circuit court charging Smith was living "in an open state of adultery" with Maria Lawrence, Smith's foster daughter and polygamous wife. Maria Lawrence was a teenaged orphan who was living in the Smith household. In fact, Smith had secretly married both Maria, age 19 ,and her sister Sarah, age 17 on 11 May 1843 and was serving as executor of their $8,000 estate. William Law apparently hoped that disclosing Smith's relationship with the young girls might lead him to abandon polygamy, but Smith immediately excommunicated Law, had himself appointed the girls' legal guardian, and rejected the charge in front of a church congregation on 26 May 1844, denying that he had more than one wife. Suit filed against Smith for adultery with foster daughter . PLACE: Hancock County Circuit Court, IL SOURCE: Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. 6, p.403, Mormon Polygamy: A History, p.66 (3)
-- May 24, 1844
[Apostle Wilford Woodruff Journal] 24th We rode to Laport, Laport Co Ia & spent the night with Elder Wm. Rudd. Distance 28 miles. (4)
Footnotes:
1 - Faulring, Scott (ed.), An American Prophet's Record: The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith: Joseph Smith Diary, 1844, http://amzn.to/jsdiaries
2 - Anderson, Lavina Fielding, Editor, Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir, 2001, Signature Books, http://bit.ly/lucys-book
3 - Joseph Smith Polygamy Timeline, http://www.i4m.com/think/polygamy/JS_Polygamy_Timeline.htm
4 - Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies
LDS History Timeline
About this site: http://bit.ly/mhist
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