June 5, 1993

Dear Carol,

Following our conversation tonight I looked up material on

Emma Smith. The following material is for your interest (without

comment or editorializing by me).

Sincerely,

Neal

JD, Vol.15, Pg.136, Brigham Young, August 24, 1872

As for the doctrine that is promulgated by the sons of

Joseph, it is nothing more than any other false religion. We

would be very glad to have the privilege of saying that the

children of Joseph Smith, Junior, the Prophet of God, were firm

in the faith of the Gospel, and following in the footsteps of

their father. But what are they doing? Trying to blot out every

vestige of the work their father performed on the earth. Their

mission is to endeavor to obliterate every particle of his doc-

trine, his faith and doings. These boys are not following Joseph

Smith, but Emma Bideman. Every person who hearkens to what they

say, hearkens to the will and wishes of Emma Bideman. The boys,

themselves, have no will, no mind, no judgment independent of

their mother. I do not want to talk about them. I am sorry for

them, and I have my own faith in regard to them. I think the

Lord will find them by and by--not Joseph, I have told the people

times enough, they never may depend on Joseph Smith who is now

living; but david, who was born after the death of his father, I

still look for the day to come when the Lord will touch his eyes.

But I do not look for it while his mother lives. The Lord would

do it now if David were willing; but he is not, he places his

mother first and foremost, and would take her counsel sooner than

be would the counsel of the Almighty, consequently he can do

nothing, he knows nothing, he has no faith, and we have to let

the matter rest in the hands of God for the present.

HC, Vol.2, Ch.55, Pg.247

At this crisis, some of Joseph Smith's friends instead of

rendering him all possible assistance to escape from his enemies,

complained of his conduct as cowardly and entreated him to return

to Nauvoo and not leave them as a false shepherd leaves his flock

when the wolves attack them. The parties most forward in making

this charge of cowardice were Reynolds Cahoon, L. D. Wasson and

Hiram Kimball. Emma Smith, his wife also sent a letter by the

hand of Reynolds Cahoon, entreating him to return and give him-

self up, trusting to the pledges of the governor for a fair

trial. Influenced by these entreaties to return, and sung by the

taunts of cowardice from those who should have been his friends,

he said: "If my life is of no value to my friends, it is of none

to myself." And after a brief consultation with Rockwell and his

brother Hyrum, against his better judgment, and with the convic-

tion in his soul that he would be killed, he resolved to return;

and crossed over the river that evening to Nauvoo.

Andrew Jenson, Church Chronology, February 11, 1891 (Wednesday)

Lewis C. Bidamon (husband of Emma Smith, widow of the

Prophet Joseph) died at Nauvoo, Ill.

History of the Church, Vol.7, Introduction, Pg.27

PROPHET'S COPY Of THE NEW TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE

"Monday, August 19,---Elder Willard Richards called on Emma

Smith, widow of the Prophet, for the new translation of the

Bible. She said she did not feel disposed to give it up at

present

History of the Church, Vol.7, Ch.20, Pg.260

Monday, 19.----Elder Willard Richards called on Emma

Smith, widow of the Prophet, for she did not feel disposed to

give it up at present. (The Prophet's "Translation" of the Bible

Sought.

History of the Church, Vol.7, Introduction, Pg.27

PROPHET'S COPY Of THE NEW TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE

"Monday, August 19,---Elder Willard Richards called on Emma

Smith, widow of the Prophet, for the new translation of the

Bible. She said she did not feel disposed to give it up at

present

History of the Church, Vol.7, Ch.20, Pg.260

Monday, 19.----Elder Willard Richards called on Emma

Smith, widow of the Prophet, for she did not feel disposed to

give it up at present. (The Prophet's "Translation" of the Bible

Sought.

History of the Church, Vol.7, Pg.617, Footnotes

November 1, 1856: Lewis A. Bidamon, (who married Emma Smith,

widow of the Prophet Joseph, on December 23, 1847), [L.D.S.

Biographical Encyclopedia, Jenson, vol. i. p. 692], landlord of

the Nauvoo Mansion, Illinois, stated to Elders George A. Smith

and Erastus Snow, that the inhabitants of Warsaw, Carthage,

Pontusac and surrounding settlements in consequence of jealousy

that Nauvoo would still retain its superior importance as a town

and might induce the Mormons to return contributed a purse of

five hundred dollars which they gave to Joseph Agnew in consider-

ation of his burning the Temple: and that said Agnew was the

person who set the building on fire.

Philo Dibble autobiography, in Faith Prom Classics (1968), Pg.92

- Pg.93

On the 11th of February, 1841, I married a second wife--a

widow Smith of Philadelphia, who was living in the family of the

Prophet. He performed the ceremony at his house, and Sister Emma

Smith insisted upon getting up a wedding supper for us. It was a

splendid affair, and quite a large party of our friends were

assembled.

Parley Pratt Autobiography(1985), Pg.295

About this time, President Marks joined with the widow of

the martyred Joseph and some others, in a council in the upper

room of Brother Joseph's house, to try to nominate and appoint a

trustee in trust for the whole Church. I entered this council and

heard Mrs. Emma Smith plead in relation to this matter, the great

importance and absolute necessity of immediate action on this

subject, as delay would endanger much property of a public and

private character, and perhaps cause a loss of scores of thou-

sands. I arose and protested against any action of the kind,

telling them plainly that the appointment of a trustee in

trust was the business of the whole Church, through its general

authorities, and not the business of the local authorities of any

one stake of the Church, and that, therefore, it could not be

done till the remainder of the quorum returned. To this it was

replied that by this delay much property would be lost. I again

repeated that dollars and cents were no consideration with me,

when principle was at stake, and if thousands or even millions

were lost, let them go. We could not and would not suffer the

authorities and principles of the Church to be trampled under

foot, for the sake of pecuniary interest. The council finally

broke up without accomplishing anything.

JD, Vol.23, Pg.131, Wilford Woodruff, May 14, 1882

I will say a few words concerning a certain principle,

and why I say it is because we cannot help looking at the signs

of the times as they appear to-day. I was reading in the NEWS

last evening a speech reported to have been made by Joseph Smith,

son of the Prophet Joseph Smith, in which he accuses us of pursu-

ing an entirely different course from that of his father; that

his father had nothing to do with the endowments which form a

part of our religious faith; and that his father had nothing to

do with the patriarchal order of marriage; and he accuses our

bishops of polluting the women of their several wards so that

they are not fit for wives. This last accusation is so palpably

false and so utterly mendacious as to be entirely unworthy of our

notice, and I believe I ought to apologise to this congregation

for referring to it at all. But it shows how weak must be the

hope and faith of men who pretend to be teachers among the people

when they descend to traduce the character of innocent men by

wilfully lying in the hope of bolstering up and establishing

their own peculiar cause. And with regard to the others: I wish

to say, that Joseph Smith utters falsehoods when he says what he

is reported to have said about his father: for I bear record to

this congregation, and I ask our young people to bear it in mind

after I am gone, that Joseph Smith first made known to me the

very ordinances which we give to the Latter-day Saints in our

endowments. I received my endowments under the direction of

Joseph Smith. Emma Smith, the widow of the Prophet, is said to

have maintained to her dying moments that her husband had nothing

to do with the patriarchal order of marriage, but that it was

Brigham Young that got that up. I bear record before God, angels

and men that Joseph Smith received that revelation; and I bear

record that Emma Smith gave her husband in marriage several women

while he was living, some of whom are to-day living in this city,

and some may be present in this congregation, and who, if called

upon, would confirm my words. But lo and behold, we hear of

publication after publication now-a-days, declaring that Joseph

Smith had nothing to do with these things. Joseph Smith himself

organized every endowment in our Church and revealed the same to

the Church, and he lived to receive every key of the Aaronic and

Melchizedek priesthoods from the hands of the men who held them

while in the flesh, and who hold them in eternity.

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol.1, Pg.692 SMITH, Emma

SMITH, Emma

SMITH, Emma, the first Relief Society president in the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born July 10,

1804, in Harmony, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. She was the

daughter of Isaac Hale and became acquainted with Joseph Smith in

1827, while he was employed by Mr. Josiah Stoal (of Chenango

county, New York), in Harmony, Penn. Joseph writes: "During the

time that I was thus employed, I was put to board with a Mr.

Isaac Hale, of that place; it was there I first say my wife (his

daughter), Emma Hale. On the 18th of January, 1827, we were

married, while I was yet employed in the service of Mr. Stoal.

Owing to my continuing to assert that I had seen a vision, perse-

cution still followed me, and my wife's father's family were very

much opposed to our being married. I was, therefore, under the

necessity of taking her elsewhere; so we went and were married at

the house of Squire Tarbull, in South Bainbridge, Chenango coun-

ty, New York. Immediately after my marriage, I left Mr. Stoal's

and went to my father's and farmed with them that season." Emma

accepted the gospel as it had been revealed through her husband

and was baptized by Oliver Cowdery in Colesville, Broome county,

New York, in June, 1830. After this she shared with her husband

his joys and sorrows, and, together with him, passed through the

persecutions of New York, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois. In a

revelation given through Joseph Smith in July, 1830, she was

called "an elect lady" and commanded to expound Scriptures and to

exhort the Church." (Doc. & Cov. 25:7) When the first Female

Relief Society of the Church was organized in Nauvoo, Ill., March

17, 1842, she was chosen to stand at the head of the same as its

president--a position which she filled with marked distinction as

long as the society continued to hold meetings in that city. When

the Saints were expelled from Illinois in 1846 Emma Smith chose

to remain at her home in Nauvoo, where she was married to Lewis

C. Bidamon Dec. 23, 1847, the Rev. William Haney, a Methodist

clergyman performing the marriage ceremony. Mr. Bidamon, who was

generally known as Major Bidamon, made the Mansion House (which

had been built as a hotel by Joseph the Prophet) his family home,

and there he lived with Emma as his wife for about twenty-two

years. About 1869 they took possession of a portion of the old

Nauvoo House, a brick structure which was partly built by the

Saints before they left Nauvoo, and which for many years had

stood as a ruin on the river bank, reminding the visitor of

Nauvoo's past glory. Major Bidamon completed a part of the house

and moved his family into it, and that historic building now

became Emma's home during the remainder of her days. While resid-

ing as Mrs. Bidamon in the Mansion House and later, as stated, in

the Nauvoo House, Emma was frequently visited by relatives and

friends from Utah. To many of these she seemed restless and

unhappy, but she always manifested great interest in the friends

of her first husband.

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol.1, Pg.692 SMITH, Emma

Her dislike for Pres. Brigham Young is believed by many

to have been the main cause of her refusal to gather with the

Saints to the mountains; and it is also asserted that she on the

same ground, later on, influenced her sons to take the stand they

did in regard to the so-called Re-organization. Sister Emma died

in Nauvoo, April 30 1879, and at the time of her demise the

"Deseret News" said editorially: "To the old members of the

Church the deceased was well known, as a lady of more than ordi-

nary intelligence and force of character. Her opposition to the

doctrine of plural marriage, which, however, she at first em-

braced, led to her departure from the faith of the gospel as

revealed through her martyred husband. She chose to remain at

Nauvoo when the Saints left for the west, and in consequence lost

the honor and glory that might have crowned her brow as "the

elect lady." She was the mother of four (seven) children, all the

sons of the Prophet Joseph, viz: Joseph, now leader of the sect

which commonly bears his name, Frederick (deceased), Alexander

and David. It was mainly through her influence that they were led

into the bypath wherein they have gone astray. She has now gone

beyond the veil to await the great day of accounts. There is no

feeling of bitterness in the hearts of the Saints toward Sister

Emma Smith, but only of pity and sorrow for the course she pur-

sued. May her remains rest in peace."

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol.4, Pg.196 SMITH, Emma

SMITH, Emma Hale, wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith and

the first president of the Relief Society in 1842-1844, was born

July 10, 1804, in Harmony, Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania, a

daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. She was a faithful

wife and mother and during times of persecution her home was

always open to the sick and needy. She supervised the work of

boarding and clothing the men engaged in building the temples at

Kirtland and Nauvoo, and during the persecutions in Illinois,

she, in company with others, journeyed to Quincy, Ill., and

presented a memorial to Gov. Carlin in behalf of her people. She

was appointed to make a selection of hymns to be used by the

Church in Nauvoo, many of which are included in the L.D.S. hymn

book. When the saints were expelled from Illinois in 1846, Emma

Smith chose to remain in Nauvoo, where she later married Major

Lewis C. Bidamon in 1847. She died in Nauvoo April 30, 1879. She

was the mother of four sons and adopted a daughter. (For further

details see Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 692.)

"Last Testimony of Sister Emma," Saints' Herald 26 (1879), Pg.289

In a conversation held in the Herald office during the

early days of the present year, between Bishop Rogers, Elders W.

W. Blair, H.A. Stebbins and a few others, leading minds in the

Church, it was thought advisable to secure from Mother Bidamon,

(Sister Emma Smith), her testimony upon certain points upon which

various opinions existed; and to do this, it was decided to

present to her a few prominent questions, which were penned and

agreed upon, the answers to which might, so far as she was con-

cerned, settle these differences of opinion. In accordance with

this understanding the senior editor of the Herald visited Nau-

voo, in February last [1879], arriving on the 4th and remaining

until the 10th. Sister Emma answered the questions freely and in

the presence of her husband, Major Lewis C. Bidamon, who was

generally present in their sitting- room where the conversation

took place. We were more particular in this because it had been

frequently stated to us: "Ask your mother, she knows." "Why

don't you ask your mother; she dare not deny these things." "You

do not dare to ask your mother!"

LAST TESTIMONY OF SISTER EMMA

Source: "Last Testimony of Sister Emma,"

The Saints' Herald 26 (Oct 1879):289-90.