“And this shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things. And this glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.”
Lydia was weeping as she looked into Nathan’s eyes and listened to the powerful words, but she was tingling now as well. His eyes were glistening too as he listened to what Joseph was promising them.
“Then shall you be gods,” he went on, still quoting but now addressing it directly to them, “because you have no end. You shall be from everlasting to everlasting, because you continue. Then shall you be above all, because all things are subject unto you. Then shall you be gods, because you have all power, and the angels are subject unto you.”
He stopped and let the silence fill the room. Then with great joy he nodded down at the two of them. “If you will face one another and take each other by the hand, we shall proceed.”
When it was over, Joseph watched happily as they kissed and then stood together, their arms around each other’s waist. Then he stepped forward to congratulate them. He gave a soft laugh as he kissed Lydia on the cheek. “Now do you see why I had to go and change my clothes? It wouldn’t be proper to do something this important in my work clothes.”
She laughed. “I’m glad you did.”
Joseph turned to Nathan now, sobering. “There’s something else you ought to know, Nathan. Today the high council voted to remove John C. Bennett from his fellowship in the Church.”
Chapter Notes
Joseph does not speak a great deal in his own history about his personal feelings concerning plural marriage. But he did share his inner feelings with some of his most trusted associates. The words he uses here—the repugnance he felt toward the idea at first, his keen awareness of the troubles this would bring upon them, how the world would react to it—come from those other sources. The report of the angelic visits which resulted in his deciding to move forward, no matter what the cost, also comes from the men who knew him best. These include such men as Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, Lorenzo Snow, and Joseph B. Noble. (See
Encyclopedia of Mormonism,
s.v., “plural marriage”; Danel W. Bachman, “A Study of the Mormon Practice of Plural Marriage Before the Death of Joseph Smith” [master’s thesis, Purdue University, 1975], pp. 74–75.)
Joseph’s words prior to sealing Lydia and Nathan come from the revelation which is now D&C 132. He quotes from verses 19 and 20.
It should be noted that at this stage of the Church’s development, when the endowment was just being introduced, some people were sealed together for time and eternity before they had received their endowments.
Chapter 31
Joshua Steed arrived back in Nauvoo on the Orleans Queen, which docked at the north riverboat landing shortly after one o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday, May twenty-first. When he had realized back in St. Louis that he would be gone about twice as long as he originally thought, he had written a letter to Caroline in which he informed her of the approximate date he planned to be home. Now as he moved toward the gangplank, his eyes searched the crowd, and he felt a twinge of disappointment. Caroline and the children weren’t there to meet him. It was not a great surprise, but still a bit of a letdown. Nauvoo was now a major city along the upper Mississippi. With the river clear of winter ice, sometimes there could be as many as five or six boats stop there in a day. Though schedules were pretty loose, the boats would always blow their great steam whistles—one long, two shorts, one long, two shorts—to alert the populace that they were coming in. That would give all interested persons a chance to make their way to the landing in time to greet disembarking passengers.
But there was no familiar face, no little redheaded imp waiting to dash up to him as he came down the gangplank.
No Will,
he thought, though that was even less surprising to him. Well, he would be home soon enough. He picked up his valise and a small suitcase and followed the crowd off the boat and onto the wooden pier. He pushed his way past various groups who still lingered in greeting, then stopped short. Nathan and Carl stepped out from behind the small shelter at the end of the dock. “Hello, Joshua,” Nathan said.
They found a shady spot under a large cottonwood tree just a block from the landing and sat down on the grass. Carl spoke first. “Caroline was going to come, but as we talked about it, we felt that you should know what’s been going on before you see her. That’s why we met your boat today.”
“All right,” Joshua said, still a little puzzled.
“There’s been a lot going on here since you left almost three weeks ago. I suppose the first thing you ought to know is that your father is now a member of the city council.”
Joshua’s eyes snapped open. “What?”
“Yes,” Carl said. “How’s that for a surprise? We also have a new mayor.”
He whipped around. “Bennett’s gone?”
“Yes,” said Nathan. “He offered his resignation on Tuesday. The city council met Thursday and appointed Joseph as the mayor. Hyrum is the vice-mayor. That created some openings on the council. Pa’s name was put forward and he was selected.”
“Well, well,” Joshua said, completely astonished. “What brought all that on?”
Nathan explained. “As Carl said, there has been a lot happening since you left. The council met about ten days ago, and Joseph told them that there were houses of infamy in the city and that action had to be taken against them in order to protect the innocent and stop the corruption of the morals of the citizenry. Bennett didn’t dare oppose that of course, and so the council passed an ordinance that any or all brothels immediately be closed down. That put Bennett on notice that he was in big trouble. He started scrambling to undo the damage. He made a public statement denying that Joseph ever gave him license to have immoral relations with the women of the city. He said that anyone who was saying that he had said those things was an infernal liar.”
“He said that?” Joshua said, tight-lipped.
“Yeah,” Carl said with equal grimness. “Since that is exactly what he told you and me, I guess that makes both of us infernal liars.”
Nathan went on. “He even swore out an affidavit attesting to the same kind of things—Joseph never taught anything contrary to the strictest principles of the gospel or of virtue, Joseph had never countenanced any of Bennett’s immoral conduct and had never taught him in public or private that illicit relations between the sexes was justifiable.”
“That’s a pretty important confession,” said Joshua.
“Yes, it is. Then he offered his resignation as mayor and also to have his name withdrawn from the Church. Pa thinks he was hoping that the council would not accept it and give him another chance. Instead, they accepted it, thanked him for his service, and had a new mayor elected before Bennett had a chance to blink. Pa says Bennett was stunned.”
“It couldn’t happen to a more deserving man,” Joshua drawled sarcastically. Then, sensing that Nathan was suddenly hesitant, he asked, “Can I assume from the fact that you and Carl are both here that you’ve found some answers on that question you were going to investigate?”
“We have. But there’s something else you need to know too. The women know everything.”
“What!”
“Just hear me out first, then you can ask all the questions you want.”
Joshua was fuming, but he finally nodded. “This had better be good.”
There was a quick, darting glance at Carl; then Nathan knew there was no delaying it. He plunged in. He only omitted two things—first, he was careful not to say anything that would give away the identity of Brigham Young or Heber and Vilate Kimball as he told Joshua about the meeting they had gone to that night. Second, Nathan said nothing of his own personal struggle and search. All the rest came out dispassionately and calmly. Carl said little, only adding a detail here and there as Nathan talked.
Nathan saw Joshua’s eyes narrow and his heavy black brows knit closer and closer together as he told him what they had learned. But when Nathan got to the part about their deciding to let the wives know everything, Joshua blew up. “So much for your word.”
“Father told them,” Nathan said. “Once we learned about the assassination attempt, we decided they had a right to know.”
“You can do whatever you please with your wife, mister,” Joshua snapped angrily. “But you made me a promise. Caroline was not to know until I got back.”
Carl leaned forward. “Joshua, it was a joint decision. I concurred. I thought it was best.”
“Oh, really?” he said with deep irony. “You waited until I was gone and then you made a
joint
decision.”
Nathan had spent a good part of the night and most of the morning steeling himself for this confrontation. He vowed he was not going to let Joshua goad him into a fight. “You think what you want, Joshua. I promised I would investigate this issue for you. I’ve done that. You now have a full report. We thought it best to tell you all of this before you talk to Caroline and Will. You—”
“Will too?” Joshua cried, the betrayal heavy in his voice. “You two have really been busy, haven’t you?”
Carl slapped his open hand with a fisted one. “I’ll not be having your insults, Joshua. We did what we thought was right. It was Caroline who decided Will had a right to know too. If that somehow messes up your little scheme to stop them from being baptized, then that’s your affair.”
His sharpness caught Joshua by surprise, and Joshua backed down slightly. “I’m sorry, Carl. It’s just that—” His mouth tightened. “You shouldn’t have told her. That was my place.”
“It wouldn’t have made any difference,” Carl said flatly. “None of this has changed Caroline’s mind one bit. Will’s either.”
“Of course not,” Joshua nearly shouted. “The whole family has had three weeks to convince her there’s nothing wrong here.”
Carl shot to his feet, his mouth working. But finally he just turned to Nathan. “I’ve got work to do at the brickyard.”
Nathan held up one hand, still looking at Joshua. “The whole family doesn’t know,” he said quietly. “Only the seven of us and Caroline and Will.”
Carl sighed, looking at Nathan in resignation. “I told you this was going to tear the family apart. I know Joseph is sincere, but you go tell him that. It is going to tear this family apart.” He glared at Joshua. “And it’s your bullheaded blindness that is going to do it.” He gave Joshua a curt nod and moved out of the shade and into the sunshine, not looking back.
Stunned by such a vehement reaction from normally reticent Carl, Joshua just stared after him. After a moment, Nathan turned back to Joshua. “Look, Joshua. I’m not trying to convert you to this principle. You have your feelings and I have mine. Carl has his feelings—and in case you haven’t guessed it by now, they are much closer to your feelings than to mine. But he’s not lost his balance over it. He’s not ready for war with the family.”
Joshua stiffened a little. “Anything else?” he finally asked in a tight voice.
Nathan got to his feet slowly now. “No. We just thought you ought to know what has been going on before you went home. The rest is between you and Caroline.”
They waited until Savannah and Charles were both asleep. Joshua’s welcome home had been warm and sincere, even though they all sensed the underlying strain. He spent most of the afternoon playing with the children and catching up on the news since he had left. Then he left for a couple of hours to go to the freight office and check in there.
There was no family supper at his parents’ house as was traditional after someone returned home from an extended trip, and he was glad for that. Though many of the family had no idea what all lay behind it, they knew that the question of baptism for Caroline and Will was coming to a head. By unspoken agreement, they left them alone to work it out. So after a quiet supper of their own, Joshua took the two smaller children upstairs, read them stories, kidded and played and teased, getting them more worked up than sleepy. But they loved it, and it postponed the inevitable for Joshua. Finally about nine o’clock he came back down the stairs again to find Caroline, Will, and Olivia waiting for him in the sitting room.
Wearily he came in and sat down in a chair across the room from Caroline. “Livvy, your mother and Will and I need to talk. Would you excuse us please?”
There was a moment’s surprise; then she looked to her mother. Caroline was torn. She had hoped to lay some groundwork before it came to this, but she saw little chance of that now. So she turned to Joshua. “Olivia is in on this too, Joshua. She would also like to be baptized.”
There was a sharp intake of breath, and then his mouth hardened. “Sounds like a lot of things have gotten decided in my absence.”
“Pa!” Will cut in sharply.
But Caroline gave Will a look that silenced him. She spoke again to her husband. “Are you going to ask her about it, or should we just pretend she isn’t here in the room with us?”
Joshua’s eyes pinched in, but he finally turned to Olivia. “All right.”
Nervously, almost stammering, she started in. She looked very much like Caroline at that moment—beautiful, nervous, but very determined. “Papa, I know you think this is all Mama’s doing. Well, it’s not. I’ve been reading the Book of Mormon. I’ve asked Heavenly Father if it is true. And I’ve had a very strong feeling that it is true.”
“And your mother and brother have nothing to do with your decision?”
“Of course we do,” Caroline shot back at him. “Don’t try to trap her with a question like that. How could we not have been an influence? But the real question is, Are we the
only
reason Livvy feels this way? Or has she come to know for herself that this is what she wants?”
“I have, Papa,” Olivia said, her voice forlorn. “I know it’s true. I want to be a member of the Church.”
Joshua hardly flickered. He turned to Will. “And I suppose your mind is all made up now too?”
“Yes, Pa, it is.”
“So why are you talking to me? You’re going to do what you want anyway.”