The Life of Joseph Smith, the Prophet

by George Q. Cannon

Brigham Young always was one of the truest and most intrepid of men; and during all these Kirtland troubles he openly and fearlessly declared to all that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and had neither transgressed nor fallen from his divinely appointed place. His unswerving and undaunted attitude, the plainness of his declarations and the vigor of his defense of Joseph, and his exposure of the schemes of his enemies, aroused their fury. The apostates could not brook this boldness of the Apostle Brigham; it interfered with their murderous designs against Joseph and their hateful purposes against the Church. Threats and cajolery having alike failed to intimidate or divert him, they determined to kill him. But he learned of their designs; and nearly two weeks after the Prophet had returned to Kirtland and was able to assert his own authority, Brigham Young departed for Missouri to escape the assassins who ravened for his life at Kirtland.

In the meantime the work abroad progressed gloriously. On Christmas day, 1837, a conference was held at Preston, at which the reports showed that already the branch of the Church in England numbered about one thousand souls.

The letters conveying these happy tidings had not yet reached the Prophet; and except as hope was inspired in his heart by the Holy Spirit, he had little comfort through the darkness of that night of 1837, for apostasy and transgression strove hard to rule the weak and ruin the staunch at Kirtland.

The experience of 1836-7 in the Church demonstrated as never before, that irrefragable testimonies concerning the divine origin of the gospel and the prophetic calling of Joseph were not alone sufficient to keep men faithful. Unflinching firmness and intrepidity were also indispensable; but preeminent above all other qualities, purity of life was absolutely essential. The half century which has since elapsed has abundantly confirmed this. The virtuous, humble men who possessed steadfastness and faith in the days of trial at Kirtland, have since grown to prominence among the Saints. The qualities which they then exhibited have had ample room for exercise in the subsequent vicissitudes through which the Church has passed. The Lord has tried and proved them; they have acquired confidence themselves; and the people have ever looked to them as leaders who could be trusted and upon whose courage, judgment and integrity they could safely rely.

In this connection it is worthy of remark that the three men who have succeeded the Prophet Joseph as Presidents of the Church, were all distinguished during Joseph's lifetime for their love for the truth and their unswerving affection and loyalty to him as the Prophet of God. President Brigham Young, probably above all men in Kirtland, displayed these qualities during the stormy scenes of the last year of his residence at that place.

President Wilford Woodruff, though not so prominent in those days as he afterwards became, was expostulated with, coaxed and ridiculed by some of his old friends, notably Warren Parrish, who had been his fellow-missionary in the Southern States, for the purpose of inducing him to join them and turn against the Prophet. But the integrity of the man was immovable and all their efforts proved unavailing.

With the dawn of the new year confusion and mobocratic power increased, and on the 12th of January, 1838, Joseph and Sidney were driven from Kirtland to escape mob violence. Their destination was Far West, and they were pursued more than two hundred miles by armed enemies seeking their lives. The weather was intensely severe, and Joseph and his companion, with their families who had joined them, suffered greatly in their endeavor to elude the murderous pursuit. Several times the pursuers crossed the Prophet's track. Twice they entered the houses where his party had gained a refuge, and once they occupied a room in the same building with only a partition between them, through which the Prophet heard their oaths and imprecations concerning him. Thus were they protected by divine power, else murder would have been done, for the long and unavailing pursuit had filled these would-be assassins with a fiendish desire for blood. Owing to the severity of the season two months were occupied in the journey to Far West, which place the Prophet and his family reached on the 14th day of March, 1838, accompanied by Apostle Brigham Young, who had joined him on the way.

His arrival was very timely and necessary. Upon his previous visit objection had been raised to some of the local authorities and they were only accepted by the congregation after having made humble confession of their sins and entered their solemn promise of repentance.

But so soon as the Prophet had turned his back upon Far West to go to Kirtland, the local presidency had again entered into transgression, acting selfishly and arbitrarily in the administration of financial affairs and completely losing the confidence of the body of the people.

While the Prophet had been journeying toward Missouri after escaping the Kirtland mob in January, 1838, a general assembly of the Saints in Far West was held on the 5th day of February, at which David Whitmer, John Whitmer and William W. Phelps were rejected as the local presidency; and a few days later Thomas B. Marsh and David W. Patten, of the Twelve, were selected to act as a presidency until the Prophet should arrive. Oliver Cowdery too had been suspended from his position. Persisting in unchristianlike conduct, W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer had been excommunicated by the high council in Far West, four days previous to the arrival of Joseph.