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| + | #REDIRECT[[Events surrounding the death of Joseph Smith#Did Joseph and others with him remove their garments in order to avoid being identified as polygamists?]] |
| − | {{draft}}
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| − | =Did Joseph and others with him remove their garments in order to avoid being identified as polygamists?=
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| − | ==Criticism==
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| − | *Critics claim that prior to leaving for Carthage, that Joseph Smith removed his garments, and advised others to remove theirs, in order to avoid identification as polygamists.
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| − | {{CriticalSources}}
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| − | ==Response==
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| − | ===Did Joseph and others remove their temple garments prior to leaving for Carthage?===
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| − | Of the four men who were in Carthage Jail at the time that Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed, three of them had removed their garments. Only Willard Richards was wearing his garments at the time of the martyrdom.
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| − | ===What were the reasons for removing their garments?===
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| − | The commonly believed reason for the removal of the garments was to keep them from falling into the hands of their enemies. Heber C. Kimball reported in his journal that Joseph instructed those of the Quorum who were going to accompany him to Carthage to remove their temple garments prior to leaving. {{ref|hck1}} Sarah G. Richards noted the following in a letter to Zina Huntington,
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| − | <blockquote>
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| − | "[T]he order came that in every habitation where any of the endowment clothes were found, [it] would [mean] death to the inmates -- Olive Frost...came to tear to pieces the garments &c of...Doctor Levi....Miss [Rhoda] Richards separated the parts and placed them among the articles of linen." {{ref|richards}}
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | Later, however, John Taylor responded to this by declaring that garments were sometimes removed because of the hot weather.
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| − | <blockquote>
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| − | Elder John Taylor confirmed the saying that Joseph and Hyrum and himiself were without their robes in the jail at Carthage, while Doctor Richards had his on, but corrected the idea that some had, that they had taken them off through fear. W. W. Phelps said Joseph told him one day about that time, that he had laid aside his garment on account of the hot weather. {{ref|smith.222}}
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | The fact that Willard Richards was the only one who escaped the martyrdom unscathed led to the belief that he had been protected because he was the only one of the four wearing his garments at the time.
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| − | <blockquote>
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| − | Elder Kimball...[s]poke of Elder Richards being protected at Carthage Jail--having on the robe, while Joseph & Hyrum were shot to pieces...
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | ===Was the wearing of garments connected with the practice of polygamy?===
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| − | Did Joseph and the others remove their sacred garments in order to avoid being identified as polygamists? There is no documentation that ties the wearing of garments to the practice of polygamy. It was not required that one practice polygamy in order to receive the endowment. In the case of Joseph Smith, he was easily identifiable whether or not he was wearing his garments. Removal of his garments would certainly have made no difference in his being identified and taken to Carthage.
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| − | ===Were garments used as a means to identify people as "Mormons?"===
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| − | In the autobiography of B.H. Roberts, he relates the story of how "Elder Robinson" removed his garments while in hostile territory in order to avoid being identified as a Mormon.
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| − | {{nw}}
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| − | In his autobiography, he relates how an Elder Robinson wisely removed his garments and twice avoided detection as a Mormon thereby:
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| − | --------------------------------------------------
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| − | "I moved freely about the Hoover home, meeting the inmates thereof and some neighbors from surrounding homes who had gathered in their curiosity about the activities going on. It created assurance in my mind that my disguise
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| − | was sufficient, as none of these people with whom I mingled in former years recognized me. The caskets secured, the journey was continued. Learning at the Hoover home that the roads leading into Kane Creek country from the east were being watched by members of the mob who had done the killing, a swing to the south was made, and the mob-guarded roads both on the north and on the east were avoided. The wagon expedition arrived at the home of Mr. Garrett, a friend of the elders, who lived near the Condors.
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| − | There had been two elders laboring in Hickman County, directly north adjoining Lewis County. Their names were Willie Robinson and W. B. Robinson. The wildest rumors had permeated the district where they were laboring, and
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| − | how many had been killed and whether any of the elders had escaped or not was unknown to them. Nor could they find any reliable account of the wild rumors that were passed from mouth to mouth in that sparsely settled country. This determined Elder Robinson to make a journey into Lewis County to Kane Creek itself to ascertain what there was to the wild rumors. Elder Robinson at this point did a very remarkable thing. Of course it was generally known that these Mormon elders wore their endowment garments received in the temple ceremonies. It is quite generally regarded as a protection, morally, spiritually, and even physically. But unfortunately if Elder Robinson should fall into the hands of enemies, it would be a betrayal of him as to his being a Mormon elder. He therefore retired to a densely wooded section of the country and, stripping off these garments, rolled them up and climbed a tree and tied them securely.
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| − | This time he started out alone and went directly into the enemies' country, Lewis County. He had resolved upon the plan of representing himself as something of a special cotton picker hunting a job. This was in order to satisfy those who might intercept his journey and ask awkward questions. Truly enough he met with such an experience. There was a narrow-gauged road extending from Hickman County into Lewis County. This he used as his line of travel, thinking that he would likely not meet so many on this journey. But approaching the neighborhood of Kane Creek where the elders were reported to be killed, the railroad passes over a bit of trestle work over a very deep and quite large ravine, and near the middle of this trestle work he observed three men approaching from the other side, guns in hand. There was nothing left to do than to go right on.
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| − | These men proved to be members of the mountain guard watching for me. On meeting Elder Robinson they questioned him as to where he came from and what his purpose was, and when he told them that he was looking for a job cotton picking they laughed saying, "A damn fine cotton picker you would be. Look at your hands." And, of course, as Elder Robinson had not engaged in physical labor, his hands were white and soft, not at all characteristic of cotton pickers. He then told them of having been sick for sometime, and that accounted for his pallor in his face and hands and that he was just now beginning to get about and was now strong enough to begin cotton picking.
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| − | Hence he was in search of that job. They invited him to sit down while they thought things over. No sooner did he do that when one of the three grabbed his shirt by the collar and tore it so as to expose his body, but they found no garments incriminating him as to his Mormonism and finally allowed him to pass.
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| − | ==Conclusion==
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| − | {{nw}}
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| − | ==Endnotes==
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| − | #{{note|hck1}}Heber C. Kimball, Journal, 21 December 1845, and Oliver B. Huntington, Journal, 22 April 1897.
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| − | #{{note|richards}}Sarah G. Richards to Zina Huntington, 20 September 1890, Church Archives.
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| − | #{{note|smith.222}}George D. Smith (ed), ''An Intimate Chronicle The Journals of William Clayton'', 222-24.
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| − | ==Further reading==
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| − | ===FAIR wiki articles===
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| − | {{JosephSmithWiki}}
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| − | ===FAIR web site===
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| − | *{{tg|url=http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai241.html|topic=Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith}}
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| − | *Lance Starr, "Was Joseph Smith a Martyr or a Murderer?," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, May 2003) {{pdflink|url=http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai241.html}}
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| − | {{JosephSmithFAIR}}
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| − | ===External links===
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| − | * {{EoM|author=Joseph I. Bentley|article=Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith|vol=2|start=860|end=862}}{{fairlink|url=http://ldsfaq.byu.edu/emmain.asp?number=113}}
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| − | *{{Ensign1|author=Reed Blake|article=Martyrdom at Carthage|date=June 1994|start=30}}{{link|url=http://library.lds.org/library/lpext.dll/ArchMagazines/Ensign/1994.htm/ensign%20june%201994.htm/martyrdom%20at%20carthage.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0}}
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| − | *{{1min|article=Was Joseph Smith Really a Martyr?|url=http://www.lightplanet.com/response/answers/martyr.htm}}
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| − | *W. John Walsh, "Was Joseph Smith a Martyr?" {{link|url=http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/response/qa/martyr_joseph.htm}}
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| − | {{JosephSmithLinks}}
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| − | ===Printed material===
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| − | *{{CarthageConspiracy1|start=1}}{{NB}}
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| − | {{JosephSmithPrint}}
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| | [[de:Joseph_Smith_als_M%C3%A4rtyrer]] | | [[de:Joseph_Smith_als_M%C3%A4rtyrer]] |
| | + | [[es:Pregunta: ¿José y otros con él quitaron sus investiduras para evitar ser identificados como polígamos?]] |
| | + | [[Category:Questions]] |
