“Tell the husband it’s Joseph’s doing,” Benjamin answered quietly.
“Yes!” Carl exclaimed. “Oh, I think there is a good chance that Joseph went to her when he learned what was happening. And she was outraged, all right, but not because Joseph asked her to be his wife. I think it was because Joseph threatened to expose the two of them. So by twisting the account just a little, she becomes the innocent victim.”
“And you don’t think there is any truth to her accusations?” Joshua asked after a moment.
Carl sighed. “No, I don’t, Joshua. Not one shred. I think she and Bennett have concocted the whole thing about Joseph to cover their own sins.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
“You can hang on and believe what you like, Joshua, but that’s my conclusion. Remember, you have a mountain of evidence about Bennett that shows what kind of character he is. We know about his former life in Ohio—he was a wife beater, an adulterer, and a father who abandoned his children. He came to Nauvoo under false colors. We know that since coming here he has used his position as a women’s doctor to seduce unsuspecting and vulnerable women. Though I am not absolutely certain, there is mounting evidence that he has tried to use his physician’s skills to help certain women rid themselves of an unwanted child.”
That even rocked Joshua. “You really mean that?”
“Yes. I haven’t talked to the actual women, but this was told to me by friends or family members who would know. We also know that he is a frequent visitor to a brothel here in town and is probably one of the owners of the same.”
“Brothel?” Benjamin echoed, genuinely shocked. “Here? Where?”
“Down by the river where it can serve the river traffic.”
“I don’t believe it,” he said, thunderstruck.
“Believe it,” Carl murmured darkly. “It’s been kept very secret, but it’s my understanding that this has now come to the attention of the city council and they will be acting on it very soon. I think you’ll find that Bennett is behind it, at least to some degree.” He turned back to Joshua. “So there is a man who swears he’s telling the truth. And there is Joseph Smith who swears he is lying. Who am I supposed to believe? I don’t think that’s a hard question, Joshua.”
There was a long silence, and finally Joshua nodded. “Agreed,” he murmured.
Carl picked up his papers again. “I won’t go through all of this, but here’s a sampling of what I’ve found. Joshua told you which men were there today backing Bennett up. So let me tell you about them.” He started to read off his notes now. “I have talked to four women, or to their families, who swear that Chauncey Higbee seduced them using the same lies Bennett did. I won’t give you any names here, but one sister reported that Higbee had gained his way with her five or six times, swearing that Bennett had sanctioned it as Assistant President of the Church. Another woman, a young widow, said Chauncey told her that she could never commit the sin of adultery because she was single. She submitted.
“Gustavus Hills is married,” he went on grimly, “but I have a letter from a woman—she didn’t want to talk to me personally—who says that Hills openly bragged to her that he was intimate with numerous women but that there was no sin in it as long as it was kept secret. She herself is with child by him. Hills obtained some medicine—I assume from Bennett—and tried to induce her to take it so she would lose the baby. When she refused to consider such a horrible thing, he begged her to leave town so that he would not be discovered.”
As Nathan fumed, Joshua nodded slowly, feeling a growing anger welling up inside him. Bennett had set him up, and there would be a price for that.
Carl laid one page down and went to the next. “Melissa Schindle? She says that Joseph took her to his bed. It might be hard for her to remember who was in her bed, because I have sworn testimony from two men—neither are members—telling me that Melissa Schindle is one of those that will be out of work when Bennett’s brothel is shut down.”
“You’re saying she’s a harlot?” Joshua said, straightening.
“Yes. Very likely one of Bennett’s employees. Which does bring the validity of her testimony into some question, I would say.”
“One last thing,” Carl said, tired now. “This whole story about Martha Brotherton and the locked room? She swears it’s true. But men of known integrity—Heber Kimball, Brigham Young, Hyrum Smith—” He stopped and shook his head. “Hyrum Smith? Can you think of a more honest and decent man than that? Well, these men flatly deny it, saying the whole thing is a fabrication. So once again I am forced to ask, how do I decide what is the truth?” He sighed. “So let me tell you about Martha Brotherton.”
“Who is she anyway?” Benjamin asked.
“She’s an English girl,” Joshua said. “She claims to have come over on the same ship with Mary Fielding Smith’s brother last fall.”
“That’s right,” Carl agreed. “I also had a man tell me he’d heard that Martha is another one of Bennett’s harlots, but he finally admitted that was only common gossip. I didn’t think that was sufficient. But I did go to Joseph Fielding, since he came in the company with them, to see if I could find out where the family is. No one here seemed to know.”
Carl chuckled softly as he went on. “As soon as I mentioned the Brotherton name, Joseph Fielding just rolled his eyes. It seems that on the journey over they were a very troublesome family. When he tried to warn the Saints that they should not expect that there would be no tribulation once they arrived, that upset the Brothertons badly. Then as they came upriver from New Orleans, the riverboat crew filled their ears with horrible stories about the Mormons. By the time they reached Nauvoo, he said they were highly suspicious of anyone and everyone. They were terrified of meeting Joseph Smith because they were afraid he would demand money from them. So, after a short time, they moved to Warsaw.”
“Ah, Warsaw,” Nathan said sarcastically, “that seedbed of love and gospel harmony.”
“All right,” Joshua retorted tartly, “so Warsaw is a center of anti-Mormon sentiment, but just because a family doesn’t find the Church all that wonderful doesn’t automatically make them liars.”
“Agreed,” Carl said quickly. “And I wasn’t suggesting the family was lying. I was just trying to learn more about Martha and her whereabouts. So I stopped at Warsaw on my way back from delivering a load of bricks one day and looked them up.” There was a rueful chuckle. “They are right in the thick of that anti-Mormon crowd down there, and they didn’t want to talk to me until I assured them I wasn’t a Mormon. But here’s what is interesting. They don’t have much love for the Church, but when I asked them about this story Martha was telling around, they just laughed. Two of her sisters and a brother-in-law told me that Martha has been guilty of dishonesty in the past, that she is
a known liar, and that she had recently been caught in a compromising situation with a young man. They were willing to sign an affidavit to that effect if I wanted. This is her own family, mind you! That’s how they feel about Martha Brotherton.” He set the papers aside now and sat back in his chair. “So there it is. That’s what I’ve learned.”
Finally, Nathan straightened. “Now are you convinced, Joshua?”
Joshua stared at Nathan for a long moment, then turned to his brother-in-law. “Are you convinced, Carl?”
“Of what?”
“That there is absolutely no truth to any of this? That Bennett is lying? That Sarah Pratt is lying? Brotherton? Schindle? All of it is lies?”
There was just a flicker of hesitation. “I am absolutely convinced that Bennett is lying. And the others. I cannot and I will not believe that Joseph is consorting with harlots nor that he is advocating that there is no sin in unrestrained relationships with the opposite sex.”
Joshua sat back, digesting that. “I appreciate what you’ve done, Carl. This has been a lot of work, and not pleasant I’m sure.”
“The question is, Joshua,” Nathan said again, “are
you
convinced now?”
Joshua bent forward, rubbing his hands through his hair.
“
Are
you?” Nathan persisted.
Joshua didn’t look up. “I trust Carl implicitly,” he finally said. “If Carl says they are lying, then they are lying.”
“So you’ll let Caroline and Will be baptized now?”
Benjamin was not watching his two sons. He didn’t see the look of resignation that crossed Joshua’s face. Nor did he wait for his answer. He was watching Carl Rogers very closely now. Carl was staring at his hands, which were lying on the desk. His eyes seemed far away and troubled. “Carl?” Benjamin asked, very softly.
Joshua turned at the sound of his father’s voice, grateful for a reprieve from having to answer Nathan’s questions. Nathan turned too. Both of them saw Carl’s head come up very slowly.
“Joshua asked you two questions, Carl,” said Benjamin. “He asked if you thought Bennett was lying and you said yes, definitely. He also asked if you are convinced that there is absolutely no truth to any of this. Were you answering that question as well?”
For a long moment, Carl met Benjamin’s gaze. There was pain in Carl’s eyes and yet gratitude too. “No, not in the same way,” he finally murmured.
Nathan’s mouth flew open. “
What?
”
Joshua was staring now too. He was suddenly eager. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Benjamin shot them both a fierce look. “You two be quiet for a moment,” he commanded curtly. Then he turned back around. “What is it, Carl?” he asked gently.
Carl had been debating how he was going to tell them. Benjamin had just solved that for him. He cleared his throat and looked at each one of them. He cleared it again and then began, speaking very softly. “I want to say this very carefully. I don’t want Joshua to make more of it than what it is. And I don’t want Nathan to make less of it than what it is.”
“Go on,” Benjamin said with an encouraging smile. “We all agreed that we are after the truth here.”
“I have to be honest. Part of my hesitation is that I’ve not investigated this in the same way. For two reasons. First, I have been consumed with finding out about Bennett and his cohorts. It has taken my time, and frankly, it has taken far more of my energies than I ever expected. Second, I am an outsider. I’m not a member of the Church. As such, I cannot get the same access to people who would know about this as I could in the other matter.”
“And thirdly?” Benjamin prodded.
Carl finally met his gaze square on. “Thirdly, I’m not sure I want to know.”
“Why? Because it might be true?”
He swallowed once, looking bleak, then nodded. “That and because I think this could be very difficult for the family.”
“If there’s more, I want to hear it,” Joshua snapped.
Benjamin swung on him. “Joshua, I mean it. You and Nathan stay out of this.”
“Sorry,” came the mumbled reply.
“If you have any reservations, Carl, any questions still in your mind, I think we need to hear those too. Then we can decide what to do about them.”
Again the silence stretched out, heavy as a cloud of wood smoke in the room.
“Pa’s right,” Nathan finally broke in when Carl still hesitated. “Whether we like it or not, we need to hear what’s bothering you.”
“I concur,” Joshua added.
“All right,” said Carl. “Mind you, this is only a feeling, a suspicion. I’ve heard things that seem to confirm that suspicion, but that’s all.” His eyes searched theirs one by one. “I don’t believe for one moment that Joseph is teaching that promiscuous relationships between the sexes is acceptable to God. Nor do I believe that he is whisking off young women and locking them into rooms.” Again there was the hesitancy. Then he just shook his head. “But I do believe,” he finished firmly, “that Joseph is teaching that a man may have more than one wife.”
Chapter Notes
One of the difficult things in dealing with the tumultuous weeks in the spring of 1842 is separating truth from rumor, fact from speculation, evidence from innuendo and embellishment. Nauvoo was buzzing with the growing scandal surrounding John C. Bennett and his attempts to put the blame on the Prophet. There were charges and countercharges, accusations and counteraccusations. In this chapter, what happens when Joshua goes to Bennett’s house and what Carl presents as the result of his investigation are based on known historical evidence. The testimony of the Goddard family about Sarah Pratt and John C. Bennett, the Brotherton family’s comments about Martha, the declaration that Melissa Schindle was a harlot, the testimony of the women about Chauncey Higbee, the evidence that Bennett was likely running a brothel and also performed at least some abortions—all of these are drawn from carefully documented sources (see 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. 223–49; Andrew F. Smith, “The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of John Cook Bennett” [unpublished ms., Brooklyn, N.Y., 1994], pp. 119–24).
Chapter 26
At Carl’s quiet statement, Nathan rocked back. Joshua just gaped. Benjamin seemed only mildly surprised.
Carl was steadfast in his demeanor. “I know he has said things, even publicly, about the Old Testament patriarchs having more than one wife. He once even suggested this might be part of the restoration of all things. I wasn’t there, but Melissa was. She said it created quite a furor.”
“Is that true?” Joshua demanded of Nathan.
“Well, yes, he did make a statement like that in a conference once, but it was said in passing. He—”
Joshua dropped back in his chair, his face exultant. “So behind it all there really is something going on.”
Carl flared at that. “That’s what I mean, Joshua! That’s the very thing I feared. You’re so determined to find something—anything!—that will help you stop Caroline from being baptized, you already have your mind made up.”
“That’s not true,” Joshua said, clearly stung by Carl’s attack.
“Isn’t it?” Nathan blurted. “We could all tell how disappointed you were when Carl proved Bennett’s stories false. And these lies are no different.”
“Nathan,” Benjamin said, in a voice that brooked no contradiction, “you have just justified Carl’s other fear. You have already made up your mind that there cannot be any truth to this.”