Ep 211 – “I Think You Are Perfectly Safe”

06/12/20 • 104 min

On this episode, Joseph and Hyrum Smith wake up in Carthage jail to a bustling town filled with anti-Mormon militiamen, surrounded by their closest acolytes. Various meeting take place, Jo sends messengers to Nauvoo calling for documents and witnesses in the upcoming trial for treason. Governor Ford finally has a sit-down with the prophet and they discuss everything which led up to Jo and Hyrum being in Carthage jail. Then a hearing is held to determine whether or not to keep the prisoners locked in the jail and to schedule a date for the criminal hearing. Ford decides to disband the militias in Carthage and Warsaw as they were no longer needed. He then resolves to make his way to Nauvoo to talk with the citizens and give a speech to the Mormons there on June 27th, however, he won’t be taking the prisoners with him during the journey as he’d previously stated. Uncle John Smith visits the prisoners and carries a message to Almon Babbit in Macedonia on behalf of the prophet. The prisoners lay down for the evening while Willard Richards scratches away in his journal. A gunshot is heard outside.

Links:

Willard Richards journal extract June 23-27 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-3-willard-richards-journal-excerpt-23-27-june-1844/1#full-transcript

History of Illinois by Governor Ford https://archive.org/details/ahistoryillinoi00shiegoog/page/n336/mode/2up/search/treason

Show links:

Website http://nakedmormonismpodcast.com Twitter @NakedMormonism Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Naked-Mormonism/370003839816311 Patreon http://patreon.com/nakedmormonism Music by Jason Comeau http://aloststateofmind.com/ Show Artwork http://weirdmormonshit.com/ Legal Counsel http://patorrez.com/

Links:

Willard Richards journal extract June 23-27 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-3-willard-richards-journal-excerpt-23-27-june-1844/1#full-transcript

History of Illinois by Governor Ford https://archive.org/details/ahistoryillinoi00shiegoog/page/n336/mode/2up/search/treason

Show links:

Previous Episode

Ep 210 – First Night in Carthage Jail

On this episode, Jo and company spend their first entire day in the city of Carthage, one of the twin cities of anti-Mormonism. Governor Ford does his best to keep the peace and does so by marching Jo and Hyrum down the line of the various militias in Carthage shaking hands and providing proper introductions as “Generals Smith”. The Carthage Greys commit a brief bit of mutiny before Governor Ford brings them under control. Jo tells Ford about the vulnerability of Nauvoo with the Prophet’s absence and Ford elects to send a trusted advisor to Nauvoo to guard against a vigilante mob descending on the city and burning it to ash. Charges of treason are filed against Joseph Smith and his older brother, Hyrum Smith, for declaring martial law in Nauvoo to shut down riots across the city. A hearing takes place in Carthage to determine if there is enough evidence for the circuit court at Carthage to pursue criminal convictions on the initial charges of riot. 16 of the arrested city councilors are released on bail and the hearing is scheduled for June 29th when the state and defense attorneys can call witnesses and collect evidence. After most of them head for Nauvoo that afternoon, Jo and Hyrum are arrested and interred in Carthage Jail for their own protection. Jo and friends spend the night “laid promiscuously on the floor”.

Links:

Willard Richards journal extract June 23-27 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-3-willard-richards-journal-excerpt-23-27-june-1844/1#full-transcript

History of Illinois by Governor Ford https://archive.org/details/ahistoryillinoi00shiegoog/page/n336/mode/2up/search/treason

Posse Comitatus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act

Warsaw Signal archives http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/IL/sign184x.htm

SUNSTONE!!! https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/2020symposium/

Show links:

Next Episode

Ep 212 – Emma Smith, Linda Newell, and Valeen Avery

On this episode, Joseph and Hyrum Smith are locked up in Carthage Jail and they aren’t going anywhere. We take a little time to catch up with other prominent figures in Nauvoo history; this week begins with Emma Hale Smith. We discuss her role in the Relief Society, unwillingly policing polygamy rumors, running land speculation and deals while her husband is occupied, and fighting with her sister wives. Then we focus on her role in the two week period of June 12-25 1844 and her actions which have been construed by the SLC leadership to lead to Jo’s death. Is she responsible? Or, are those myths fabricated by the SLC propaganda machine which have been debunked by historians? This episode interweaves Emma’s story with the story of her seminal biographers, Valeen Tippets Avery and Linda King Newell on their journey writing Emma’s biography through the 1970s-80s.

Links:

Check out Writing Mormon History; Historians and their Books http://www.signaturebooks.com/product/writing-mormon-history/

Also pick up a copy of Mormon Enigma; Emma Hale Smith https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/mormon-enigma-emma-hale-smith_linda-king-newell/302792/#isbn=0252062914&idiq=9621239

Relief Society Minutes https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/nauvoo-relief-society-minute-book/1#full-transcript

Emma Biography JSP https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/person/emma-hale-smith

SUNSTONE!!! https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/2020symposium/

Show links: