Joseph slowly shook his head. “Brethren, it isn’t over yet.”
That brought an immediate quieting among the men.
“It has been a constant annoyance which has followed us since we were driven from that state, but I tell you, we have not seen the last of our persecutions. We shall yet suffer much affliction. We shall yet be driven from our homes.”
“No!” someone said in a shocked whisper.
Anson Call had at that moment been reaching into the barrel and refilling his tin tumbler with water. Joseph turned to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Anson, don’t be too free with this wonderful water.”
That brought Anson up and caused even more surprise among the group. They had barely lowered the level of the water in the barrel; there was plenty for everyone. Then suddenly, Nathan started. Joseph was not looking at Anson Call any longer. He was gazing beyond him, as though looking at something very far away. His own cup was still in hand but forgotten now. “Brethren,” he said solemnly, “this ice water that has so kindly been provided for us today is a wonderful thing. The water tastes much like the water from the crystal streams which tumble down from the Rocky Mountains. I see those mountains now, with their snowcapped peaks and the broad and beautiful valleys.”
Nathan glanced at Benjamin with a look of wonder. There was a light on Joseph’s face and in his eyes now that was remarkable. Nathan had seen this before, this transformation when Joseph was wrapped in the spirit of inspiration and vision. “We shall go to the Rocky Mountains and there we shall become a mighty people.”
He swung around suddenly, now looking at them. “There are some of you here who shall do a great work in that land.” His hand was still on Call’s shoulder. “Here is Anson,” he said. “He shall go and shall assist in building up cities from one end of that country to the other.” His gaze swept over them, the blue eyes almost fiery now in their power as he looked from face to face. “You shall perform as great a work as has been done by man. The nations of the earth shall be astonished, and many of them will be gathered in that land and assist in building cities and temples, and Israel shall be made to rejoice.”
“When, Joseph?” Benjamin breathed.
It was as if Joseph hadn’t heard him. “Oh, the beauty of those snowcapped mountains! The cool, refreshing streams that are running down through those mountain gorges!” He turned, as if looking in another direction, and a shadow crossed his face. “Oh, the scenes that this people will pass through! The dead that will lie between here and there.”
Nathan was transfixed. Everyone else was too. Horror and shock filled their faces, and yet it was as though Joseph had set them on fire as well.
Again the Prophet turned his head, seeming to gaze on yet another scene. “Oh, the apostasy that will take place before my brethren reach that land!” Then suddenly there was a confident smile. “But,” he went on, “the priesthood shall prevail over its enemies. We shall triumph over the devil and be established upon the earth, never more to be thrown down!”
The light in his eyes faded and gradually his body relaxed again. He drank deeply from his cup, then set it on the bench that stood beside the barrel. No one moved. Every eye was on him. “Brethren,” he said finally, “I charge you with all the force and power I have within me. Be faithful to those things that have been and shall be committed to your charge, and you will have the promise of all the blessings that the priesthood can bestow. Remember these things and treasure them up, and all will be well.” He paused, and there was a gentle smile. “Amen,” he said softly.
“Amen!” came the amazed and yet answering affirmation from those around him. “Amen!”
On August eighth, a deputy sheriff and two other men arrived in Nauvoo. With them they brought a warrant signed by the governor of Illinois for the arrest of Joseph Smith and Porter Rockwell. The intent of the law officers was to carry their two prisoners to Missouri and turn them over to the authorities there.
When the Nauvoo Charter had been passed by the state legislature, Joseph worked hard to ensure that the city courts would have the power to issue a writ of habeas corpus. This legal document was a powerful weapon in protecting a person from illegal arrests or being dragged off to another venue where the person’s rights would not be protected. Joseph immediately obtained a writ for both him and Rockwell, preventing the law officers from carrying out the arrest. Not sure what that meant, the law officers returned to Springfield for further instruction. Fearing that their legal rights might be compromised, Joseph went into hiding near Nauvoo, and Porter Rockwell took an assumed name and fled the city, heading east.
The failure to arrest Joseph and his “Destroying Angel,” as Bennett had labeled Rockwell, raised a howl of protest from the enemies of the Church. They had long claimed that the Mormons had carved out for themselves an independent kingdom with their Nauvoo Charter. Here, they said, was proof that the Mormon prophet was above the law.
By late summer John C. Bennett had made an interesting discovery. Sensationalism paid handsomely. After his successful trip to see Lilburn Boggs, Bennett headed east. Writing letters to the editor, composing articles for newpapers, and offering lectures in the evening became his pattern. Louisville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Buffalo, New York, Boston—he moved from city to city, embellishing his story as he went. The claims got more and more fantastic. Members of the Church were required to consecrate all their property—including their wives—to Joseph Smith for his personal gratification. Joseph had often been seen roaring drunk and falling into the sewers of Nauvoo, he said. Joseph claimed to be Jesus Christ and Sidney Rigdon was the Holy Ghost. When Sidney got sick, Bennett told his shocked audiences, he (Bennett) had become Holy Ghost pro tem. There was a secret lodge of women in Nauvoo, ran another of his claims. This was Joseph’s seraglio, his private harem, and the women were totally given over to satisfying Joseph’s every desire.
Though Bennett was drawing huge crowds, not all who read or came to listen were totally taken in by Bennett’s lectures. The editor of the New York
Sun,
though glad to see the delusion of Mormonism exposed, suggested that Bennett was “just about as big a rogue as Joe.” Others asked why Bennett had not come forth sooner to expose the wickedness of the Mormons. Why had he stayed in a leadership position for over a year? Bennett neatly sidestepped that question. The fact that he was making healthy profits from these lectures also was noted with suspicion. One editor said of him, “I know of no man who invents testimony so fast as he who makes his living from his testimony.”
By late August, word of Bennett’s writings and lectures were filtering back to Nauvoo. These kinds of scurrilous lies could not simply be ignored, lest the honest in heart believe that the Church had no answer, no defense for the charges being leveled against it. On August twenty-sixth, Joseph met with the Twelve and decided that it was time to send missionaries out to “deluge the earth with a flood of truth.” Three days later Joseph made his first public appearance since the attempt to arrest him and spoke at a conference of the Saints. There he issued the call for elders to go forth and refute the lies of John C. Bennett. When the meeting was finished, about three hundred and eighty brethren stepped forward to answer the call.
Unquestionably, Bennett turned many against the Church, even some members who lived in the cities where he lectured. But as time wore on something else became evident. Sometimes the suspicious were led to investigate further and found the Church to be something far different from what Bennett was representing it to be. In Chicago, after a debate between Bennett and one of the elders, large numbers started coming to the meetings where the elder was teaching and eventually twelve people were baptized.
Nathan, Derek, and Matthew all stepped forward on August twenty-ninth and volunteered to go out as missionaries. Peter Ingalls also answered the call, but John Taylor persuaded him that his work with the
Times and Seasons
was a mission of its own. The newspaper was publishing a great deal of information about Bennett, and while it wasn’t reaching much of the world, it was an effective voice to the Saints. Reluctantly, Peter agreed and withdrew his name.
Most of the elders left almost immediately, knowing the urgency of the mission. With Joseph’s encouragement, the three men of the Steed family delayed their departure until September fourth. The reason for the delay was that they wanted to be present for the wedding.
On the third day of September, 1842, on a cool, late summer afternoon, Solomon Garrett and Jessica Roundy Steed Griffith were married by Hyrum Smith. Rachel, now a maturing ten years old, and Kathryn in her wheelchair flanked Jessica on both sides as maids of honor. Several families had come from Ramus to share in the celebration, and with the large number of guests from Nauvoo, they decided it would be best to hold the ceremony in the grove west of the temple. Hyrum jokingly told Benjamin that at the rate he and Mary Ann were going, the Church would
have to deed the grove over to them just to handle their family gatherings.
The original plan had been to have Joseph perform the marriage. He had long admired Jessica’s unwavering faithfulness in the face of great trials and wanted to be the one to participate in this happy time for her. But on that very day, as Joseph was eating with Emma and the children, three law officers suddenly burst into the main room of the Homestead. While the intruders were delayed by one of the brethren standing watch, Joseph slipped out the back door and went into hiding again.
The news that their prophet was being hounded cast a pall over the wedding celebration, but Hyrum would not let it linger. Nor would Emma, who, once she was sure Joseph was safe, came to the grove shortly after the marriage had been performed. The Lord had once again delivered Joseph from the hands of his enemies, she said, and this was cause for rejoicing. Legal action was under way to overturn the warrant and prove its illegality. Until then, the Prophet would simply stay out of the grasp of his enemies. Soon the mood brightened again. The festivities celebrating Jessica’s newfound happiness went on until late into the evening.
The following morning, Nathan, Derek, and Matthew kissed their families good-bye and accompanied Solomon and Jessica and the children on their return to Ramus. At Ramus, they split up—Nathan moving south to intersect the Ohio River, Derek and Matthew traveling together on a more northerly route.
The week following the departure of Nathan, Derek, and Matthew, Carl and Melissa received a letter from Kirtland, Ohio. Hezekiah Rogers had taken ill. Carl’s mother was gravely concerned. She and the brothers begged Carl to come home for a visit. This was all the nudge they needed to help them make up their minds. Leaving the brickyards in the hand of his partner, Carl left with his family five days later.
Mary Ann felt a great sense of sadness as she watched the wagon disappear down the road. For many years her family had been apart—Joshua lost to them, Carl and Melissa in Kirtland. But for the last two years the family had been reunited. It had been a season of great joy for her and Benjamin. Now suddenly once again the family was scattering to the four winds. Will was gone to England for at least a year, maybe two. Nathan, Matthew, and Derek were on their missions in the East and wouldn’t return until just before Christmas. Carl and Melissa were now headed to Kirtland for an extended stay. They would not even commit as to whether they would be back for Christmas.
During the Christmas season of 1840, with the help of the Pottsworths and their English Christmas traditions, the Steed family started some traditions of their own. On Christmas Eve they gathered all together at Joshua and Caroline’s house for dinner. Then after dinner, the children made their Christmas stockings and hung them on the fireplace mantel in preparation for a visit from Santa Claus, or Father Christmas. Names had been exchanged among the cousins, and simple gifts had been made in secret over the past two weeks. These were now exchanged to the accompaniment of oohs and aahs, much applause, and happy hugs. Then Benjamin read the Christmas story from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke as the small children acted it out with shining eyes. An occasional unique innovation by this child or that—one of the Wise Men telling King Herod, for example, that if he tried to kill the infants, he’d knock him off his throne—brought smiles to the faces of the adults.
The circle of the family had dwindled now. Nathan had returned just after Thanksgiving, Derek and Matthew two weeks following that, so they were back again, but that was all. The Pottsworths, who had been with them during the two previous Christmases, were not there. With Jenny’s marriage to Andrew Stokes and her new baby, Sister Pottsworth had moved across the river to Zarahemla and rarely came over anymore. Carl and Melissa decided to stay on in Kirtland until the weather broke, even though Carl’s father was better again. Will, of course, was only represented by a letter propped up on the mantel.
Though the absence of Carl and Melissa and their children was a source of sadness to all of them, there was compensating news. Gladly, Jessica and Solomon had come over from Ramus, and in addition to adding their numbers to the circle, they announced that the following July they would have a child of their own. Jessica was thirty-eight now and her child-bearing years were limited, so this was received with particular joy. Lydia and Nathan added their own announcement to that, revealing that they were expecting to add a fifth child to their family in June.
The most joyous surprise came early in the evening’s celebration. All the family had arrived except for Matthew and Jennifer Jo and Kathryn. Dinner was ready and they were all seated waiting for the late arrivals. Benjamin was about to send someone over to Matthew’s house looking for them when there was a sound on the porch. They all turned as the front door opened. A moment later Matthew wheeled Kathryn down the hall to where it opened up into the large sitting room where they were preparing to eat. Matthew and Jennifer Jo—Jenny now again to everyone but Matthew—waved their greetings and offered their apologies as they shed their coats and tossed them onto the bench in the hall. But then to everyone’s surprise, Matthew and Jenny left Kathryn sitting there in the hallway as they came over to the table and sat down. Jenny handed the baby to Mary Ann as an embarrassed hush swept over the group. Peter leaped to his feet to go bring Kathryn in as well, but Matthew grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. “We have an announcement,” he said solemnly.