CHAPTER XII.
The Suppression Of The Expositor
Dr. Foster and the Laws--Rebellion against Smith's Teachings--Leading Features of the Expositor--Trial of the Paper and its Editors before the City Council--Destruction of the Press and Type--Smith's Proclamation
SMITH was now to encounter a kind of
resistance within the church that he had never met. In all previous apostasies,
where members had dared to attack his character or question his authority, they
had been summarily silenced, and in most cases driven at once out of the Mormon
community. But there were men at Nauvoo above the average of the Mormon convert
as regards intelligence and wealth, who refused to follow the prophet in his
new doctrine regarding marriage, and whose opposition took the very practical
shape of the establishment of a newspaper in the Mormon city to expose him and
to defend themselves.
In his testimony in the Higbee trial Smith had accused
a prominent Mormon, Dr. R. D. Foster, of stealing and of gross insults to
women. Dr. Foster, according to current report, had found Smith at his house,
and had received from his wife a confession that Smith had been persuading her
to become one of his spiritual wives.1
1 "At the May, 1844, term of the Hancock Circuit Court two indictments were found against Smith by the grand jury -- one for adultery and one for perjury. To the surprise of all, on the Monday following, the Prophet appeared in court and demanded that he be tried on the last-named indictment. The prosecutor not being ready, a continuance was entered to the next term." -- GREGG, "History of Hancock County," p. 301.
Among the leading members of the church at Nauvoo at this time were two brothers, William and Wilson Law. They were Canadians, and had brought considerable property with them, and in the "revelation" of January 19, 1841, William Law was among those who were directed to take stock in Nauvoo House, and was named as one of the First Presidency, and was made registrar of the University. Wilson Law was a regent of the University and a major general of the Legion. General Law had been an especial favorite of Smith. In writing to him while in hiding from the Missouri authorities in 1842, Smith says, "I love that soul that is so nobly established in that clay of yours."2 At the conference of April, 1844, Hyrum Smith said: "I wish to speak about Messrs. Law's steam mill. There has been a great deal of bickering about it. The mill has been a great benefit to the city. It has brought in thousands who would not have come here. The Messrs. Law have sunk their capital and done a great deal of good. It is out of character to cast any aspersions on the Messrs. Law."
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XX, p. 695.
Dr. Foster, the Laws, and Counsellor Sylvester Emmons became greatly stirred up about the spiritual wife doctrine, and the effort of Smith and those in his confidence to teach and enforce the doctrine of plural wives; and they finally decided to establish in Nauvoo a newspaper that would openly attack the new order of things. The name chosen for this newspaper was the Expositor, and Emmons was its editor.3 Its motto was: "The Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth," and its prospectus announced as its purpose, "Unconditional repeal of the city charter -- to correct the abuses of the unit power -- to advocate disobedience to political revelations." Only one number of this newspaper was ever issued, but that number was almost directly the cause of the prophet's death.
3 Emmons went direct to Beardstown, Illinois, after the destruction of the paper, and lived there till the day of his death, a leading citizen. He established the first newspaper published in Beardstown, and was for sixteen years the mayor of the city.
The most important feature of the Expositor (which bore date of June 7, 1844) was a "preamble" and resolutions of "seceders from the church at Nauvoo," and affidavits by Mr. and Mrs. William Law and Austin Cowles setting forth that Hyrum Smith had read the "revelation" concerning polygamy to William Law and to the High Council, and that Mrs. Law had read it.4
4 These were the only affidavits printed in the Expositor. More than one description of the paper has stated that it contained many more. Thus, Appleton's "American Encyclopedia," under "Mormons," says, "In the first number (there was only one) they printed the affidavits of sixteen women to the effect that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon and others had endeavored to convert them to the spiritual wife doctrine."
The "preamble" affirmed the belief of the
seceders in the Mormon Bible and the "Book of Doctrine and
Covenants," but declared their intention to "explode the vicious
principles of Joseph Smith," adding, "We are aware, however, that we
are hazarding every earthly blessing, particularly property, and probably life
itself, in striking this blow at tyranny and oppression." Many of them, it
was explained, had sought a reformation of the church without any public
exposure, but they had been spurned, "particularly by Joseph, who would
state that, if he had been or was guilty of the charges we would charge him
with, he would not make acknowledgment, but would rather be damned, for it
would detract from his dignity and would consequently prove the overthrow of
the church. We would ask him, on the other hand, if the overthrow of the church
were not inevitable; to which he often replied that we would all go to hell
together and convert it into a heaven by casting the devil out; and, says he,
hell is by no means the place this world of fools supposes it to be, but, on
the contrary, it is quite an agreeable place."
The "preamble" further set forth the methods
employed by Smith to induce women from other countries, who had joined the
Mormons in Nauvoo, to become his spiritual wives, reciting the arguments
advanced, and thus summing up the general result: "She is thunderstruck,
faints, recovers and refuses. The prophet damns her if she rejects. She thinks
of the great sacrifice, and of the many thousand miles she has travelled over
sea and land that she might save her soul from pending ruin, and replies,
'God's will be done and not mine.' The prophet and his devotees in this way are
gratified." Smith's political aspirations were condemned as preposterous,
and the false "doctrine of many gods" was called blasphemy.
Fifteen resolutions followed. They declared against the
evils named, and also condemned the order to the Saints to gather in haste at
Nauvoo, explaining that the purpose of this command was to enable the men in
control of the church to sell property at exorbitant prices, "and thus the
wealth that is brought into the place is swallowed up by the one great throat,
from whence there is no return." The seceders asserted that, although they
had an intimate acquaintance with the affairs of the church, they did not know
of any property belonging to it except the Temple. Finally, as speaking for the
true church, they ordered all preachers to cease to teach the doctrine of
plural gods, a plurality of wives, sealing, etc., and directed offenders in
this respect to report and have their licenses renewed. Another feature of the
issue was a column address signed by Francis M. Higbee, advising the citizens
of Hancock County not to send Hyrum Smith to the legislature, since to support
him was to support Joseph, "a man who contends all governments are to be
put down, and one established upon its ruins."
The appearance of this sheet created the greatest
excitement among the Mormon leaders that they had experienced since leaving
Missouri. They recognized in it immediately a mouthpiece of men who were better
informed than Bennett, and who were ready to address an audience composed both
of their own flock and of their outlying non-Mormon neighbors, whose antipathy
to them was already manifesting itself aggressively. To permit the continued
publication of this sheet meant one of those surrenders which Smith had never
made.
The prophet therefore took just such action as would
have been expected of him in the circumstances. Calling a meeting of the City
Council, he proceeded to put the Expositor and its editors on trial, as
if that body was of a judicial instead of a legislative character. The minutes
of this trial, which lasted all of Saturday, June 8, and a part of Monday, June
l0, 1844, can be found in the Neighbor of June 19, of that year, filling
six columns. The prophet-mayor occupied the chair, and the defendants were
absent.
The testimony introduced aimed at the start to break
down the characters of Dr. Foster, Higbee, and the Laws. A mechanic testified
that the Laws had bought "bogus" -- (counterfeit) dies of him. The
prophet told how William Law had "pursued" him to recover $40,000
that Smith owed him. Hyrum Smith alleged that William Law had offered to give a
man $500 if he would kill Hyrum, and had confessed adultery to him, making a
still more heinous charge against Higbee. Hyrum referred "to the
revelation of the High Council of the church, which has caused so much talk
about a multiplicity of wives," and declared that it "concerned
things which transpired in former days, and had no reference to the present
time." Testimony was also given to show that the Laws were not liberal to
the poor, and that William's motto with his fellow-churchmen who owed him was,
"Punctuality, punctuality."5 This was naturally a serious
offence in the eyes of the Smiths.
5 The Expositor contained this advertisement: "The subscribers wish to inform all those who, through sickness or other misfortunes, are much limited is their means of procuring bread for their families, that we have allotted Thursday of every week to grind toll free for them, till grain becomes plentiful after harvest. -- W. & W. Law."
The prophet declared that the conduct of such men,
and of such papers as the Expositor, was calculated to destroy the peace
of the city. He unblushingly asserted that what he had preached about marriage
only showed the order in ancient days, having nothing to do with the present
time. In regard to the alleged revelation about polygamy he explained that, on
inquiring of the Lord concerning the Scriptural teaching that "they
neither marry nor are given in marriage in heaven," he received a reply to
the effect that men in this life must marry in one of eternity, otherwise they
must remain as angels, or be single in heaven.
Smith then proposed that the Council make some
provision for putting down the Expositor, declaring its allegations to
be "treasonable against all chartered rights and privileges." He read
from the federal and state constitutions to define his idea of the rights of
the press, and quoted Blackstone on private wrongs. Hyrum openly advocated
smashing the press and pieing the type. One councillor alone raised his voice
for moderation, proposing to give the offenders a few days' notice, and to
assess a fine of $300 for every libel. W. W. Phelps (who was back in the fold
again) held that the city charter gave them power to declare the newspaper a
nuisance, and cited the spilling of the tea in Boston harbor as a precedent for
an attack on the Expositor office. Finally, on June 10, this resolution
was passed unanimously: --
"Resolved by the City Council of the City
of Nauvoo that the printing office from whence issues the Nauvoo
Expositor is a public nuisance, and also all of said Nauvoo
Expositors which may be or exist in said establishment; and the mayor is
instructed to cause said printing establishment and papers to be removed
without delay, in such manner as he shall direct."
Smith, of course, made very prompt use of this
authority, issuing the following order to the city marshal: --
"You are hereby commanded to destroy the
printing press from whence issues the Nauvoo Expositor, and pi the type
of said printing establishment in the street, and burn all the
Expositors and libellous hand bills found in said establishment; and if
resistance be offered to the execution of this order, by the owners or others,
destroy the house; and if any one threatens you or the Mayor or the officers of
the city, arrest those who threaten you; and fail not to execute this order
without delay, and make due return thereon.
"JOSEPH SMITH, Mayor."
To meet any armed opposition which might arise, the
acting major general of the Legion was thus directed: --
"You are hereby commanded to hold the
Nauvoo Legion in readiness forthwith to execute the city ordinances, and
especially to remove the printing establishment of the Nauvoo Expositor;
and this you are required to do at sight, under the penalty of the laws,
provided the marshal shall require it and need your services.
"Lieutenant General Nauvoo Legion."
The story of the compliance with the mayor's order is thus concisely told in the "marshal's return," "The within-named press and type is destroyed and pied according to order on this 10th day of June, 1844, at about eight o'clock P. M." The work was accomplished without any serious opposition. The marshal appeared at the newspaper office, accompanied by an escort from the Legion, and forced his way into the building. The press and type were carried into the street, where the press was broken up with hammers, and all that was combustible was burned.
Dr. Foster and the Laws fled at once to Carthage, Illinois, under the belief that their lives were in danger. The story of their flight and of the destruction of their newspaper plant by order of the Nauvoo authorities spread quickly all over the state, and in the neighboring counties the anti-Mormon feeling, that had for some time been growing more intense, was now fanned to fury. This feeling the Mormon leaders seemed determined to increase still further.
The owners of the Expositor sued out at Carthage a writ for the removal to that place of Joseph Smith and the Nauvoo counsellors on a charge of a riot in connection with the destruction of their plant. This writ, when presented, was at once set aside by a writ of habeas corpus issued by the Nauvoo Municipal Court, but the case was heard before a Mormon justice of the peace on June 17, and he discharged the accused. As if this was not a sufficient defiance of public opinion, Smith, as mayor, published a "proclamation" in the Neighbor of June 19, reciting the events in connection with the attack on the Expositor, and closing thus: --
"Our city is infested with a set of blacklegs, counterfeiters and debauchees, and that the proprietors of this press were of that class, the minutes of the Municipal Court fully testify, and in ridding our young and flourishing city of such characters, we are abused by not only villanous demagogues, but by some who, from their station and influence in society, ought rather to raise than depress the standard of human excellence. We have no disturbance or excitement among us, save what is made by the thousand and one idle rumors afloat in the country. Every one is protected in his person and property, and but few cities of a population of twenty thousand people, in the United States, hath less of dissipation or vice of any kind than the city of Nauvoo.
"Of the correctness of our conduct in this affair, we appeal to every high court in the state, and to its ordeal we are willing to appear at any time that His Excellency, Governor Ford, shall please to call us before it. I, therefore, in behalf of the Municipal Court of Nauvoo, warn the lawless not to be precipitate in any interference in our affairs, for as sure as there is a God in Israel we shall ride triumphant over all oppression.
"JOSEPH SMITH,
Mayor."