One
of the mob that was present when Joseph Smith was shot and killed at Carthage,
followed the Saints west. What was his motive for doing this?
a.
He wanted the chance to kill Brigham Young
b.
He wanted to finish off John Taylor
c.
He wanted to see how the Saints managed without Joseph Smith
d.
He wanted forgiveness and to join the Church
Yesterday’s answer:
a.
$6,000
At
a time when W.W. Phelps was out of the Church we learn, through a letter from Phelps
to his wife, that the brethren may even have tried to bribe their way out of
jail. William states to his wife Sally that Joseph had “bribed the guard with
six thousand dollars.” (William Phelps to Sally Phelps 1 May 1839.) Many years
later, in 1875, The Chicago Times reported
that Alexander Doniphan, the prisoners lawyer, had learned from Alanson Ripley
as saying he had given Joseph Smith $1100, $700 up front to the guards, saving
$200 for travel expenses and offering the sheriff a note for $400. (The Chicago Times, 7 August 1875, p. 1.)
And yet, Hyrum Smith’s diary, the only account, does not mention any of this.
He does mention on 14 April that “all things tend to be favorable to us; the
guard [are] very lenient and kind.”
(Diary
of Hyrum Smith, 14 April 1839. Ms.); New
Views of Mormon History, Edited by Davis Bitton and Maureen Ursenbach
Beecher (Salt Lake City, University of Utah Press, 1987), 41.
No comments:
Post a Comment