Scott Woodward: Six months before his death, the Prophet Joseph said to a group of trusted friends, “I am exposed to far greater danger from traitors among ourselves than from enemies without, . . . and if I can escape from the ungrateful treachery of assassins I can live as Caesar might have lived were it not for a right hand Brutus. . . . All the enemies upon the face of the earth may roar and exert all their power to bring about my death; but they can accomplish nothing, unless some who are among us, enjoying our society, [who] have been with us in our Councils, participated in our confidence, taken us by the hand, called us brother, [and] saluted us with a kiss, join with our enemies, turn our virtues into faults, and by falsehood and deceit, stir up their wrath and indignation against us, and bring their united vengeance upon our heads.” And then he said, “Judas was one of the Twelve Apostles . . . and through his treachery, the crucifixion [of Christ] was brought about, and we have a Judas in our midst.” In today’s episode of Church History Matters, we look at what we know about those trusted church members who treacherously turned on Joseph Smith and conspired to bring about his death—one of whom, like Judas of old, was an apostle and counselor to the prophet. I’m Scott Woodward, and my co-host is Casey Griffiths, and today Casey and I dive into our second episode in this series about the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Now let’s get into it. Hi, Casey

Casey Griffiths: Hello, Scott

Scott Woodward: Here we go. Round two on the martyrdom

Casey Griffiths: And, whew, this is a complex story, I got to tell you

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: There’s a lot of moving parts here, and I hope this all comes together and makes sense

Scott Woodward: Yeah. Today we’re going to try to get into more of the complexity

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: I mean, last time we dove headlong into the complexity of the external factors that led to Joseph’s death, specifically highlighting who pulled the trigger, Thomas Sharp and company, and what motivations they had to do so, which were primarily political

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. We started with Thomas Sharp in episode one because he’s the guy that pulls the trigger. Like, he leads the so-called mob—

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: —that attacks Carthage Jail and murders Joseph and Hyrum. But we’ve also got to deal with why were Joseph and Hyrum in Carthage Jail? And that wouldn’t have happened without the Nauvoo Expositor and the controversy surrounding it. So this is our internal factors episode, where we’re going to be dealing with, hey, who inside Nauvoo wanted Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith at Carthage Jail so that they could be killed? And I think we can make a pretty good case to say, yeah, they were trying to stir things up so that one way or another, Joseph Smith was removed as president of the church, and the sources indicate there was one way they wanted that to happen: his death

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: And so last week was external, this is internal, and this is where it gets pretty complicated and twisty. So why don’t you give us a little recap of what we talked about last week, and then we’ll dive into the complexities of today’s story

Scott Woodward: Yeah, so last time we tried to emphasize the importance of the Nauvoo Charter in Nauvoo. Because of their history of being persecuted and kicked around without much government protection or assistance, when the saints settled in Nauvoo, they wanted the ability to legally govern themselves without outside interference and to legally protect themselves by establishing their own militia, and the Nauvoo Charter actually enabled them to do that. This was officially chartered from the state of Illinois, and they felt a sense of security with that to try to prevent things like Missouri from happening again

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: And so things were humming along pretty well. They have their own militia, and Nauvoo is growing like crazy. There are some people that are interested in the Latter-day Saint growth, one of which was Thomas Sharp. At first he was pretty friendly with the saints, but then shortly thereafter he’s going to become a political adversary of the saints, especially when William Smith, a member of the Twelve and Joseph Smith’s little brother, actually beats him in a political race, and Thomas Sharp’s going to say all kinds of snarky things about the saints in his newspaper, the Warsaw Signal, and if it could have just died there, that would have been nice, but instead the saints fire back. Joseph even weighs in and fires back, snarky comments back. There’s this banter between Thomas and Joseph, and then William sets up his own newspaper and fires shots at Thomas, saying all kinds of funny and interesting things that we talked about last time, but . .

Casey Griffiths: It’s a flame war, to use the 21st-century parlance here.

Scott Woodward: Yes

Casey Griffiths: That they get into a back-and-forth where they’re just using insults on each other. That’s pretty funny, too, actually, but . .

Scott Woodward: It is, and Thomas leaned into it because he said it sold papers, and that’s what he was in the business of. In fact, shortly after the martyrdom of Joseph he has to close shop because he has nothing much else to write about

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: His paper shuts down. So—

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: Tells you a little bit about how he was riding the wave of this banter back and forth, this flame war with the prophet and his brother, but as you mentioned, this is the man who’s going to become so incensed against the saints that he will be the leader of the mob that storms Carthage. That’s pretty darn clear from the historical record

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: But one of the other factors that we talked about was Joseph Smith’s presidential campaign, and we wanted to be really clear last time that Joseph Smith’s death was a political assassination, and I shared this quote from Elder Oaks. I think it’s worth sharing again. He wrote this: he said, “The murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith at Carthage, Illinois, was not a spontaneous, impulsive act by a few personal enemies of the Mormon leaders but a deliberate political assassination committed or condoned by some of the leading citizens in Hancock County.” And so this has reference to Joseph running for President of the United States. We went into detail about why he would wade into those waters, and to boil it down, it was basically because he had reached out to all the political candidates for president, and none of them said that they would really support the saints in any way. There was still the grievance of Missouri that they wanted some help with to be able to get their property back that had been stolen, and so Joseph’s question to each of them was, “What will be your course relative to the Latter-day Saints?” Three out of the five respond, two don’t, but basically they say, we’re not going to do anything to help you. And so the Quorum of the Twelve, it was their idea that Joseph put his own name in the hat to run as president, and so he did, but he understood that this would be dangerous. He knew that this could lead to his death, actually

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: And he said as much, and you can go listen to the previous episode to grab those quotes from Joseph. But the point is, this added another layer to why, a. People in the United States would be interested in who the Latter-day Saints are, and b. It would earn Joseph more enemies and give people more reason to want him out of the picture

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: So that’s essentially the external factors that we talked about

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. You know, Scott, it’s hard to imagine a presidential campaign where you just don’t really like any of the candidates for us today. But in 1844, this was a real thing. And so, yeah, I mean, that’s a nice little summary of the external factors. So we talked about last time how the Nauvoo charter really kind of gave the saints the first time sufficient means to legally protect themselves from outside forces. They’re kind of safe within Nauvoo. But for Joseph to be taken from Nauvoo there has to be internal dissent as well. So the burning question of today’s episode is who were the main figures within the community of saints that played a key role in the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum? Who are the conspirators that are involved in that?

Scott Woodward: So there is an inside conspiracy to get Joseph into the hands of those like Thomas Sharp and others who would be willing to kill him

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. And so every conversation about internal dissent goes back to one event: it’s the publication of the Nauvoo Expositor that happens on June 7, 1844. And the Expositor, which only has one issue, lists seven dissenters who were the publishers of the book. These seven men are William and Wilson Law, Francis and Chauncey L. Higbee, Robert and Charles Foster, and Charles Ivins

Scott Woodward: So three sets of brothers

Casey Griffiths: Three sets of brothers: the Brothers Law, the Brothers Higbee, the Brothers Foster, and then Charles Ivins. And I want to mention a couple things: first of all, a couple years ago a well-meaning but maybe misguided person from Community of Christ—and I want to emphasize this wasn’t something Community of Christ did; this was just a guy from Community of Christ—said that the publication of the Nauvoo Expositor was the founding of their church, like these righteous people were standing up against Joseph Smith and his ecclesiastical abuse. The historical record doesn’t say that. Like, these guys were not virtuous, and the record leading up to the publication of the Expositor gives ample reason why each one of these people had come to hate and want to kill Joseph Smith. And they know what they’re doing when they publish the Expositor. The Expositor is the spark that lights the fuse that leads to Carthage Jail

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: And so what we’re going to do today is spend a little time discussing them and what their motives may have been in publishing the Expositor. Some of them, like William Law, we know a lot about. Some of them, like Charles Ivins, we know almost nothing about, and some of them, like the Foster brothers and the brothers Higbee, we’ve learned a lot about in the last little while, especially with the publication of the Joseph Smith Papers. And so today’s kind of going to be a collection of several mini-biographies, where we go through and discuss these dissenters and where they were coming from, what was motivating them and their action.

Scott Woodward: The backstory of the men who published the paper that got the Prophet killed

Casey Griffiths: Yeah, that’s right

Scott Woodward: And just so everyone’s clear, right, the Nauvoo Expositor is just a newspaper

Casey Griffiths: Mm-hmm

Scott Woodward: And it was full of all kinds of inflammatory accusations against the prophet, which these men very well knew was going to require action by Joseph Smith as mayor, and the city council. And they were hoping as much, right? That they would walk right into this trap, that they would take some action against the press that this was printed on, and that they could therefore press charges and get Joseph, and other leaders if need be, but especially Joseph, into custody in Carthage. I mean, this is the plan all along, and we’re going to dig deeper into the content of the Expositor in our next episode, right? We’re going to go through all their accusations. We’ll talk about the details of what they said that was so inflammatory, but we thought that for today it would be helpful, first of all, to know the backstory of these men, their relationship with Joseph, how it soured, what’s going on with them, why they would have motive to do this, and then that’ll kind of set the table for next week. Is that about right?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. Before we get to the seven men, we’ve got to go on a little bit of a side quest, if that’s okay. There’s one figure that so much controversy swirls around in Nauvoo that if we didn’t talk about him, we’d be leaving out a huge part of the story, because he’s going to get referenced back to again and again and again, and that is Mr. John C. Bennett

Scott Woodward: John C. Bennett

Casey Griffiths: As the police would say, real piece of work. Real piece of work, this guy

Scott Woodward: Yeah. He’s a real piece of something

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: Now, John Bennett’s not directly involved in the martyrdom, right?

Casey Griffiths: That’s correct. Yeah. He’s not in Nauvoo when the martyrdom happens

Scott Woodward: So it’s important we mention him, but also, like, since he’s not part of the martyrdom, why are we mentioning him? What’s he got to do with the martyrdom if he didn’t play into the actual events that lead to Joseph’s death?

Casey Griffiths: Well, he plays a big role in the early founding of Nauvoo, and we maybe need to back the car up a little bit and talk about his background. So John C. Bennett comes from Ohio, and he sort of just, like, shows up when the saints arrive in Nauvoo. The saints are refugees. They’re poor. They’re desperate. And Bennett is this really gifted guy. Like, he’s very skilled. He lives with Joseph Smith for a time. He converts to the church, apparently sincerely. He’s pretty good at what he does, too

Scott Woodward: He was a doctor, right?

Casey Griffiths: He’s a doctor. We’re going to get to that in a minute. But Joseph Smith compares John C. Bennett and his rhetorical gifts to the Apostle Paul. In fact, at one point he says—this is Joseph about John C. Bennett: “Paul was a good orator, but Dr. Bennett is a superior orator and, like Paul, is active and diligent, always employing himself and doing good to his fellow men.” And he really does do a lot of good things. Like, the Nauvoo charter that we talked about, he does a lot to draft and then persuade the legislature of the state of Illinois to pass it. Like, saints have been through all this stuff. Let’s give them some protection. He’s elected as the first mayor of Nauvoo. So he’s practically the leader of the city

Scott Woodward: Well loved, well liked, gifted man

Casey Griffiths: Very, very well respected

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: He’s also appointed the first chancellor of the University of Nauvoo. He’s the quartermaster general, and he’s later a major general in the Nauvoo Legion, which is the militia that the saints set up in Nauvoo, and it seems like, you know, he’s the bee’s knees. Like, he’s just the greatest thing ever, and then his past starts to catch up with him, so—

Scott Woodward: When something seems too good to be true—

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: —it probably is

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. So things start to fall apart for Bennett in March of 1841, when rumors start to reach Nauvoo that his reputation as a medical doctor might not quite be as sterling as some people think it is. They find out that at one point he was selling medical degrees. One person said he was peddling diplomas, “to every ignoramus who could raise $10 to buy one.” So if you give this guy $10, he’ll give you a diploma

Scott Woodward: Doctor certificate

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. Yeah. And not a doctor like you and I are doctors, Scott, but, like, a medical doctor that would treat you for illness. You don’t want a guy who just paid John C. Bennett $10 for a medical degree. And then they also find out that he has a family that he’s left behind, that he’s abandoned

Scott Woodward: And there were all kinds of rumors about his illicit relationships with other women as well, right?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. Yeah

Scott Woodward: So it’s not just that he abandoned his wife and kids, but he’s also been cheating on his wife, right?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. Yeah. And at first Bennett denies these allegations, and the saints even defend him and say, no, he’s really good, but then it starts to become overwhelming, and rumors start to spread that Bennett is involved in a practice called “spiritual wifery,” which you’re going to see pop up a lot in this conversation, too. Now, the confusing thing is that spiritual wifery was happening alongside the introduction of plural marriage, but the two systems are very, very different from each other. Plural marriage was, we’re sealed in a ceremony, we have a relationship as husband and wife. Spiritual wifery was basically Bennett saying, you should sleep with me. And he seduces several women on that account by saying that they’re his spiritual wives

Scott Woodward: As long as they don’t tell, then there’s no guilt, right? How did he say it? That if you don’t have anyone to accuse you, then God won’t hold it against you

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: So as long as nobody knows, as long as nobody finds out, then illicit sexual, you know, kind of one-nighter-type experiences are totally fine.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: Like, that was his pitch. This was “spiritual wifery.” So, yeah, this is nowhere even close, not in the neighborhood of plural marriage, a sealing, fidelity, commitment to multiple wives at a time. Like, that’s not even close

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. And so all of this starts to unravel in March, and then in April something occurs that speeds up Bennett’s downfall. So he is working with the Nauvoo Legion, and in April 1841 he tries to persuade Joseph Smith to take an unprotected position when the Nauvoo Legion is acting out a battle. Like, they’re—

Scott Woodward: A sham battle, they called it, right?

Casey Griffiths: A sham battle, they call it. So it’s like a demonstration

Scott Woodward: Uh-huh

Casey Griffiths: And he persuades Joseph Smith to take an unprotected position on the battlefield. Come and stand over here. But Joseph Smith said that the Spirit whispered to him that there was mischief concealed in that sham battle, and he refuses John Bennett’s entreaties to do this. After that, they hold a church court to try and find out what was going on, and that’s when all this stuff comes out about his unscrupulous medical practices, his illicit relationships, and John Bennett has a breakdown and just basically dissolves into tears and asks to be spared from punishment. He even approaches William Law, who was a counselor in the First Presidency, and says, “that if he were exposed, he would break his mother’s heart. That she was old, that if such things reached her ears, it would bring her down to sorrow, to the grave.” So, like, don’t do anything to me: you’ll kill my mom. And the saints do try to help him, you know?

Scott Woodward: But he seems to spiral out of control, and doesn’t he even attempt suicide?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. This is in the Joseph Smith Papers, Volume 10, where all the documents that detail this are, but in July of 1841 Bennett tries to commit suicide by taking poison

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: There’s a letter there. It says Dr. Bennett made an attempt at suicide by taking poison, but being discovered before it had taken effect and the proper antidotes being administered, he again recovered but very much resisted when an attempt was made to save him. The public impression was that he was so much ashamed of his base and wicked conduct that he had recourse to the above deed. And so he tries to commit suicide. At this point the church, you know, nurses him back to health, he comes back into favor with the church, but then more and more keeps coming out, and finally they have to excommunicate him from the church

Scott Woodward: Yeah. So he’s excommunicated for adultery specifically, right? On May 11, 1842, he’s dropped from the Nauvoo Legion

Casey Griffiths: Yes

Scott Woodward: And they were hopeful that he would seek repentance and come back, but he leaves an angry, bitter man—

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: —who did not want to leave this alone, right? He was determined to fight back. And so that launches into John C. Bennett’s tirades against the church.

Casey Griffiths: He goes on speaking tours, publishing tours, saying the worst possible things about Joseph, basically accusing Joseph of being guilty of the kind of things that he himself got excommunicated for

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: And, I mean, he’s, he is a piece of work. In fact, when Lilburn W. Boggs, the governor of Missouri, got shot in the head by some unknown assailant, didn’t kill him, but there was an attempted assassination on his life, John C. Bennett’s insinuations were so strong that Joseph Smith was somehow involved that that actually leads to Joseph’s arrest in June of 1843, and he’s cleared of those charges afterwards, but John’s a loud, cantankerous, angry soul after this.

Scott Woodward: He’s kind of a—he’s a scoundrel with women and then a profligate liar afterward

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: Doing everything he can to smear the name and reputation of Joseph Smith

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. I mean, the contradiction with this guy is that after he’s excommunicated, he basically says, oh, I was a double agent the whole time. Like, the only reason why I, you know, lived with the saints and helped them was so that I could expose their wickedness. And then he goes on a national speaking tour where he said he wanted to, “expose the enormous iniquities which have been perpetrated by one of the grossest and most infamous impostors,” referring to Joseph Smith. So, like, this guy. Jeez. I mean—

Scott Woodward: This guy

Casey Griffiths: —this guy, like, leaves town. He starts to stir up trouble all over the place against the saints, kind of like a national thing, but then, oh my gosh, the irony: after Joseph Smith is killed, he shows up in Nauvoo, and basically says, yeah, I’ve identified Joseph’s successor, so . .

Scott Woodward: What a piece of work.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. He’s a real piece of work, I guess we’d say. Joseph Smith comments on him after he goes on his national speaking tour and even says, “I was his friend. I am yet his friend, as I feel myself bound to be a friend to all the sons of Adam. Whether they are just or unjust, they have a degree of my compassion and sympathy. If he’s my enemy, it’s his own fault, and the responsibility rests upon his own head, and instead of arraigning his character before you, suffice to say that his own conduct, wherever he goes, will be sufficient to recommend him to an enlightened public, whether for a bad man or a good man.” So Joseph Smith is like, yeah, just look at how the guy acts. And that’s the thing that is really sad about this guy, is, I think—this is my read on it, Scott, and I don’t know if it’s accurate, but I think he did undergo a genuine conversion

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: And part of the reason is, is that after Joseph Smith’s death he spends so much time trying to get back in among the saints, and when they won’t accept him, because Brigham Young won’t have anything to do with him, he goes to George Hinkle, and then he goes to Sidney Rigdon, and then he goes to James Strang, and each of them accept him for a time but eventually kick him out because the guy is just duplicitous and power hungry, but I think he felt something genuine and spent a lot of his life trying to get back to it

Scott Woodward: Yeah. And by the way, if we can just go back to that quote from Joseph that you just shared, like, talk about a window into the character and soul of the prophet. Here’s John C. Bennett saying the worst possible stuff about you, trying to smear your name and reputation in everyone’s mind that he can possibly get to, and when Joseph is asked back, what do you think of John? His response is, he was my friend, and I’m yet his friend, and—

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: —if he’s my enemy, it’s his own fault, and I’m not going to say anything about his character. Just watch his conduct wherever he goes and you’ll be able to tell whether he’s a good man or a bad man.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: You know, I’m not going to say anything against him, like holy classy, Joseph. What a classy, classy statement in response to somebody that was smearing his name. I don’t know about you, Casey, but if someone’s going around saying those kinds of things about me or about you or someone that I love, like, the natural man starts to prickle, right? And you want to kind of fight back and say not nice things. Like, Joseph could have been so damaging to him right there. He could have said, the reason that he left Nauvoo in such a fit is because he was excommunicated from our church for adultery. This man has cheated on his wife over and over again. You know, he could have just drug his name through the mud, and he didn’t.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: That was classy. Good job, Joseph

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. Now we’re going to get to the publishers of the Nauvoo Expositor, which include three sets of brothers: that’s the brothers Law, the brothers Higbee, and the brothers Foster. And Charles Ivins

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: Who we don’t know very much about

Scott Woodward: The brotherless man

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. Okay, so let’s talk about the brothers Law

Scott Woodward: Okay

Casey Griffiths: Now, Wilson Law we don’t know very much about, except that he came to Nauvoo as a single man. He married, his wife passed away in 1843, so he leaves Nauvoo a single man, too. And it seems like he’s with his brother William in all things. William is the one that by far we know the most about

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: And that seems to be the leader of the opposition, the primary mover behind the movement to publish the Expositor and get Joseph Smith killed. And partially what makes William, too, a central figure is that he’s prominent. He’s a counselor in the First Presidency

Scott Woodward: He’s the second counselor in the First Presidency of the church

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. Yeah. You can find this guy in section 124. He’s referenced in verse 91, verse 126. He’s one of Joseph’s associates, one of his closest associates while they’re in Nauvoo.

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: And even defends Joseph Smith when John C. Bennett starts making accusations

Scott Woodward: He’s there on May 4, 1842 with the first nine men who received their endowment. He’s part of the quorum of the anointed, him and his wife, Jane, are. Like, you can’t get more inner circle than William Law. He is the inner circle of the inner circle.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. And because of that, like I said, he’s the leader that the opposition looks to when he turns against Joseph Smith. And the reasons for why William turned against Joseph Smith in almost every source are linked to plural marriage: that William just did not like plural marriage, but there’s a lot of back and forth over what was going on with William and plural marriage. And so, hmm

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: Where do we start? Where do we start here?

Scott Woodward: Do you want me to take a line and go for it?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah, take a line and go for it, yeah. There’s a lot to unpack here

Scott Woodward: Yeah. So let me jump in this way. Accounts vary as to what happens between William and Joseph regarding plural marriage, but Hyrum Smith is also involved in the mix, and the way that Saints tells the story, this is in volume one, pages 511 to 512. You can go and read more about this story, but this picks up in the fall of 1843 while they’re meeting together in this group of the Quorum of the Anointed, it says this in Saints: “William Law hid from Joseph and Hyrum the fact that he was guilty of adultery. In committing this sin, William felt like he had transgressed against his own soul. Around this time Hyrum gave him a copy of the revelation on marriage, speaking of D&C 132. ‘Take it home and read it,’ Hyrum instructed, ‘then be careful with it and bring it back again.’ William studied the revelation and showed it to his wife, Jane. He doubted its authenticity, but she was sure it was real.” The account goes on: “William took the revelation to Joseph, who confirmed that it was genuine. William begged him to renounce its teachings, but Joseph testified that the Lord had commanded him to teach plural marriage to the saints and that he would stand condemned if he disobeyed. At some point William became sick and finally confessed his adultery to Hyrum, admitting to his friend that he did not feel worthy to live or die. Yet he wanted to be sealed for eternity to Jane, and he asked Joseph if that were possible. Joseph took the question to the Lord, and the Lord revealed that William could not receive the ordinance because he was adulterous. Now William’s heart began to burn with anger against Joseph. In late December 1843, he and Jane stopped meeting with the endowed saints. Jane advised that they sell their property quietly and simply leave Nauvoo, but William wanted to crush Joseph. He began plotting secretly with others who opposed the prophet, and not long after, he lost his place in the First Presidency. William declared that he was glad to be free of his association with Joseph, but instead of leaving Nauvoo and moving on as Jane had recommended, he became more determined than ever to work against the prophet and bring about his demise.” So, wow. A lot in there to think about. But he confesses to Hyrum that he was guilty of adultery at some point. He felt like he was on his deathbed, he was going to die, but he recovers, and now Hyrum knows his secret, and when Jane asked Joseph why they couldn’t be sealed, Joseph said to her that he would, “not wound her feelings by telling her the true reason,” which is—again, attests to that same point from another source here

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: Pretty painful

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: Now, there’s different takes on this from the historical record, right, of what happens next. Do you want to talk about that?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah, there’s different perspectives on this, and some come from the dissenters, and some come from the supporters of Joseph Smith

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: So, for example, Joseph Jackson, Joe Jackson, said that Joseph had tried to get William’s wife Jane to be sealed to him, and that’s what caused the breach between William and Joseph. Another saint, and this guy’s on the pro-Joseph side, this is Alexander Neibaur, who you’ll recognize that name because he writes down the last account of the First Vision, Alexander Neibaur is the one that said that William and Jane wanted to be sealed, and that Joseph said he’d inquire of the Lord, and then was told that he couldn’t seal them because William was adulterous. And then Alexander Neibaur says at that point that Jane Law asked Joseph why, and that’s when Joseph says, I don’t want to wound your feelings. And Neibaur says that at that point Jane said, if I can’t be sealed to William, can I be sealed to you? And Joseph turned her down, that he refused at that point. Bottom line is, William Law is opposed to plural marriage, and he makes that kind of the centerpiece of his problems with Joseph Smith, and as the months continue, from 1843 into early 1844, the opposition starts to coalesce around William a little bit

Scott Woodward: And he’s not shy or bashful about his opposition to plural marriage. Like . .

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: I’m paraphrasing, but he said something like, even if an angel of heaven were to tell me to live the law of plural marriage, I would kill that angel, he said

Casey Griffiths: Bold talk, yeah

Scott Woodward: It’s like, okay. All right. There’s that account that comes later from William Law’s son, Richard, where he talks about William having his arms around the neck of the prophet, pleading with him to withdraw the doctrine of plural marriage

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. Let me set up the timeline here just a little bit.

Scott Woodward: Oh yeah, yeah

Casey Griffiths: So on January 2, 1844, beginning of the new year, Joseph Smith confronts William Law with his opposition. William Law writes, “This day I learned from remarks made by J. Smith before the city council police, I am suspected of being a Brutus and consequently narrowly watched, and should I misconceive my motives, my life would be jeopardized.” Then he says six days later, on January 8th, “I was passing along the street near my house, when called to by Joseph Smith. He said I was injuring him by telling evil of him and he could not name anyone that I talked to. Joseph informed William that his service in the First Presidency was no longer required.” Joseph says, we’re going to remove you from the First Presidency. And he’s mad because he says, well, you can’t just do that. There’s precedent. “I confess I feel very much annoyed,” he wrote, “by such unprecedented treatment, for it is illegal inasmuch as I was appointed by revelation. Then he said, “However, I feel relieved from a most embarrassing situation. I cannot fellowship the abominations which I verily know are practiced by this man. Consequently, I’m glad to be free of him.” And sometime around then they have their final break, and that’s where, apparently, William pleads with Joseph Smith. This is what William’s son, Richard Law, said. He said, “With his arms around the neck of the prophet, he was pleading with him to withdraw the doctrine of plural marriage. William pleaded for this with Joseph, with tears streaming from his eyes. The prophet was also in tears, but he informed William he could not withdraw the doctrine, for God had commanded him to teach it, and the condemnation would come upon him if he was not obedient to the commandment.” So that’s the break, and apparently William’s mad because Joseph Smith just removes him from the First Presidency, and he’s saying, well, I can’t be removed because I was called by revelation

Scott Woodward: Joseph was the revelator. That’s a counterpoint to William, but—

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: Yeah, so there’s bad blood brewing between these two

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: On another occasion William told Joseph that polygamy was of the devil and that Joseph should put it down, and even when Joseph attempts to reconcile with William, he asked Hyrum Smith to go reach out to him in March of 1844 and through Almon Babbitt in April 1844, so back-to-back months, March and April, and William said, “My terms are simple: I will come back only if plural marriage is discontinued.” And so those were the last real efforts to reach William Law, and it’s that month of April that he’s going to be excommunicated

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. There is one more: He gets excommunicated, and this is, by the way, a thing that surprised me when I reviewed the sources this time, is that pretty much every one of these Nauvoo Expositor guys Joseph Smith tried to reconcile with after their break. So he sends Hyrum Smith and Almon Babbitt to try and reach out to William. William’s excommunicated on April 18, 1844

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: And then after his excommunication in May 1844, Sidney Rigdon, whose name you don’t hear much in Nauvoo, actually approaches William’s home to try and reconcile him to the church. William, after that meeting, writes in his diary, “I told him,” Sidney Rigdon, “if they wanted peace, they could have it on the following conditions: That Joseph Smith would acknowledge publicly that he had taught and practised the doctrine of plurality of wives, that he brought a revelation supporting the doctrine, [of] the whole system, revelation and all, to be from hell.” So—

Scott Woodward: He must drop the practice and acknowledge it’s from hell

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. Yeah

Scott Woodward: Woo!

Casey Griffiths: And by the way, it’s not just that this guy is morally indignant: there’s several sources that indicate that he’s so livid he wants to kill Joseph Smith. Like, he actually states, years later in 1887, he said, “My heart was burning. I wanted to tread upon that viper.” And that’s several decades removed, but there is a source from the time that talks about William Law confessing that he was openly thinking about just murdering Joseph Smith. Do you want to walk us through that one?

Scott Woodward: Yeah. So on the 5th of August, 1844, this guy named Jesse Price comes forth and testifies before a justice of the peace that William Law said the following on or about the 18th of April 1844. So it’s right around the correct time frame of when he got excommunicated. He’s excommunicated on April 18th, so follow this timeline here: so Jesse Price testified that William said, “that he put pistols in his pockets one night, and he went to Joseph Smith’s house determined to blow his infernal brains out, and his determination was that he would do it, but that he could not get the opportunity to shoot him then, but he was determined that he would shoot Joseph Smith, the first opportunity.” And he said, “you will see blood and thunder and devastation in this place,” meaning Nauvoo, “but I shall not be here.” So, yeah, I mean, according to that affidavit, William Law was ticked. And that’s right after his excommunication. He puts pistols in his pockets, ready to go shoot Joseph but couldn’t find the opportunity. But then that last line’s interesting, that you’re going to see blood, thunder, and devastation in this place, but I shall not be here, suggesting he wanted to set things in motion to bring about the prophet’s death, but that he would quietly slip away

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: He would not be the trigger man, but he’d like to set things up in such a way that Joseph is no more. And so, yeah, that is a contemporary source that shows you the heart of the man at the time.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: There’s another account that says that he paid Joseph H. Jackson $500 to kill Joseph. There’s another account, an interesting one, that same month of April 1844, where William Law was drunk, and he tried to shoot Joseph, but his gun misfired, and that comes from the account of a girl named Sarah Woodward Stoddard, and I’ve done some research, and we’re not related, dang it

Casey Griffiths: Okay. Okay

Scott Woodward: But that’s another one that fits the right time, April 1844, where William Law is just absolutely beside himself and wants to bring about the prophet’s death

Casey Griffiths: Okay. So I think we’ve clearly established homicidal tendencies in the brothers Law, but we’ve got two more brothers, two more sets of brothers, to cover here. So I’m going to move us on to the Brothers Higbee. Francis and Chauncey. So, it hasn’t been until recently that we’ve done some research on the Higbees and the Fosters, the other two sets of brothers, and I’m going to credit Andy Hedges, who’s a wonderful historian—

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: —wrote a great article called “Joseph Smith, Robert Foster, and Chauncey and Francis Higbee” that was in the Religious Educator a couple years ago. So let’s go with the Higbees, the brothers Higbee, and then the brothers Foster. So the Higbees are the children of Elias Higbee, who I remember when I read that name thinking, oh, I’ve heard of him somewhere. Elias Higbee shows up in the Doctrine and Covenants

Scott Woodward: D&C 113

Casey Griffiths: 113. Higbee submits some of the questions that Joseph Smith answers by revelation about the book of Isaiah

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: And Francis and Chauncey are his sons. These are little boys when his—their family joins the church, and they come to Nauvoo, and their father is presented as an upright figure. In fact, their dad dies the year before Joseph Smith is killed, and Joseph Smith says “his loss will be universally lamented, not only by his family but a large circle of brethren who have witnessed his integrity and uprightness, as well as a life of devotedness to the cause of truth. However, Francis and Chauncey, who are both practicing law in Nauvoo, have warnings given to them before their dad dies. So Joseph Smith, in January 1842, delivers a mild rebuke to Elias Higbee, where he says, “The Lord is not well pleased with you. You must straighten up your loins and do better, and your family also. Make your children industrious, and help build the temple.” We don’t know exactly what’s going on at this point, but three months later, Chauncey, these are young men, is charged formally by George Miller with unchaste and unvirtuous conduct with the Widow Miller and others. He’s brought before the Nauvoo High Council, and it comes out that Chauncey has seduced several women, telling them it was no sin, “to have free intercourse with women if it is kept secret,” which sounds a lot like somebody we’ve already talked about here

Scott Woodward: Yeah. They both practice law, the Higbees, in Nauvoo, and they both served as aides to John C. Bennett—

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: —and Wilson Law in the Nauvoo Legion. And so they are all connected, so—

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: —that line that he said about women, that it’s no sin to have free intercourse if it’s kept secret, is a play right out of John C. Bennett’s book, and so we have to believe they were in cahoots on that line of thinking

Casey Griffiths: And three women come forward: Sarah Miller, Margaret Nyman, and Matilda Nyman. Who formally record their accounts of what Chauncey did, and after that, he’s excommunicated from the church. He’s the first of the Expositor Six, or Seven, I can’t remember how many there are—

Scott Woodward: Yeah, seven

Casey Griffiths: —to be excommunicated. And he’s arrested for slander and defamation the next day against the Prophet Joseph Smith and Emma. So the whole time this is going on, Chauncey’s excommunicated, but he’s still in Nauvoo, causing problems. He’s going to pop in and out of the story as kind of a troublemaker

Scott Woodward: So he gets excommunicated. The next day he goes out and starts to try to slander and defame the Prophet Joseph and his wife.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: And so he’s arrested for that

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: So he’s a little bitter as well, it sounds like

Casey Griffiths: He’s a little bitter over his actions, but the historical record shows that he was involved in some pretty serious transgressions—

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: —was therefore excommunicated. Now, his brother, Francis, we don’t know as much about during this time, but it’s clear that problems are brewing. Like, Joseph Smith’s journal in June of 1842 records, “I held a long conversation with Francis Higbee, who found fault in being exposed.” And then Willard Richards says, “Joseph told the young man he spoke of him in self-defense, after which Higbee appeared humble and promised to reform.” So—

Scott Woodward: Wait, what’s the context? What’s he talking about there?

Casey Griffiths: Well, here’s what we think was going on, and this comes out several years later when things really get sour, but it appears that sometime during the summer of 1841, Francis Higbee, contracted the pox. That’s what the record says

Scott Woodward: “The pox.”

Casey Griffiths: “The pox,” which is probably syphilis from a prostitute that was visiting Nauvoo from Warsaw, Illinois.

Scott Woodward: So we’re not talking about chicken pox here

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. And apparently, this is 1841, he goes to a doctor for treatment, and guess who the doctor is?

Scott Woodward: Is he “Dr.” John C. Bennett?

Casey Griffiths: Dr. John C. Bennett

Scott Woodward: Oh, boy

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. So he goes to get treatment for this venereal disease, and John C. Bennett tells Joseph Smith what happened, so Bennett told Joseph Smith that Francis had also seduced a young woman in Nauvoo, and when Joseph Smith found out, he went to talk to the girl’s parents and tell them what was going on. Then, apparently, both John C. Bennett and Francis changed the story in order to protect themselves from the whole thing, and all of this comes out in a trial that’s held in May 1844. But according to the records of the trial, here’s the list of people that corroborate this story: Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, Porter Rockwell, Cyrus Wheelock, Joel Miles, Henry Sherwood, Heber C. Kimball, and Brigham Young. They all say, yup, this is what happened.

Scott Woodward: Meaning they’re backing Joseph’s story?

Casey Griffiths: They’re backing Joseph’s story, and this goes back to why Joseph Smith set Francis down and basically said, look, you have got to stop doing what you’re doing and quit it, or you’re headed down a dark path

Scott Woodward: And at that point, Francis promises to reform

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: As the record says, he appeared humble and promised to reform when Joseph sat him down about this

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. And Francis disappears from the story because he actually leaves the state and is gone for about a year. He goes back to Ohio and practices law there, but then he shows up again in January 1844 and starts causing problems again. So there’s a court hearing because someone said that Joseph Smith had made threats against William Law and William Marks, and a lot of people testify that these threats were false, that they didn’t happen, but then Francis Higbee takes the stand and says, William Marks and William Law, “could not subscribe to all things in the church, and it might make trouble.” And that’s all he says

Scott Woodward: Oh, so there’s things that William Law and William Marks disagree with that are being taught in the church.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: And it might make trouble. Okay

Casey Griffiths: Francis said this on the stand and doesn’t clarify what he means. He just says, there’s things going on in the church that are going to make trouble, and then he leaves the courtroom without permission. Like, he gets up, and he walks out. And Joseph Smith stands up in the court. Like, it seems like at this point, a lot of Joseph’s frustrations with Francis come out, and he says, Francis has been conniving with Missouri, and “he had denied him the privilege of his house and would not allow him to associate with the women in his home.” And Joseph also said, I had once been asked to lay hands on him, this is the quote, “to lay hands on him when he stank from a cause that he did not like to name.”

Scott Woodward: Whoa, okay. Hold on. I’ve got to process. So when Francis leaves the courtroom, Joseph stands up frustrated and starts to say things like he’s conniving with Missouri to turn against the saints, basically

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: That he only disgraced anyone associated with him, and that further, he had denied him the privilege of his house. Lots of he’s and his’s, like, who denied who the privilege of whose house? Did Francis deny Joseph the privilege of his house?

Casey Griffiths: It sounds like Joseph had basically said, you can’t come into my house any longer

Scott Woodward: Oh, okay. So Joseph says that he had denied Francis access to Joseph’s own house because he didn’t want him associating with any of the women in his home

Casey Griffiths: Mm-hmm

Scott Woodward: Whoo! And then he said that he had once been asked to lay hands on him when he stank from a cause he did not like to name

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: I suppose he’s talking about the pox

Casey Griffiths: Probably. That’s the implication here

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: And this really sets off Francis. Francis writes a letter to Joseph Smith denying that he had an affair, condemning plural marriage, and he says, “Any revelation commanding or in any way suffering sexual intercourse under any form than that prescribed by the laws of our country, which has been ratified by special revelation through you, is of hell.”

Scott Woodward: So I don’t care what you say about plural marriage. I know it’s from hell

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. And then afterwards Joseph gets notice that Francis is going to sue him for $10,000, but this is cut short when Francis is arrested for slandering Joseph Smith. So they bring Francis in for slandering Joseph Smith, and then something really unexpected happens. Apparently there’s a break in the hearings, and Joseph and Francis sit down together and talk, and Francis acknowledges the slanderous letter and said that he’d written many hard things, and Joseph forgives him. In fact, in Joseph Smith’s journal for the day, he writes, “During which time a reconciliation took place with Francis M. Higbee, who had written a slanderous letter concerning me in many hard things, which he acknowledged, and I forgave him. I went before the council and stated that all difficulties between me and Francis M. Higbee are eternally buried, and I am to be his friend forever, to which F. M. Higbee replied, I will be his friend forever and his right hand man.” So, again, Joseph is constantly trying to reconcile with these people, and when they have a moment or two to discuss, Joseph Smith says, you’ve done some hard things, but I want to forgive you, and Francis says, all right, and Joseph and him part on good terms. It seems like they’re okay at this point, but it doesn’t last long

Scott Woodward: Yeah. That peace was short-lived, right?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: One month later Francis served as a defense attorney for Orsamus Bostwick

Casey Griffiths: That is a great name

Scott Woodward: Yeah, that’s a great name—who accused Hyrum Smith of having several spiritual wives, and also accused a number of women in Nauvoo as living as prostitutes. So Joseph was the judge in the case, and he found Bostwick guilty, and he fined him $50. Afterward Francis declared his intention to take the issue to the circuit court in Carthage, so Joseph recorded in his journal, “I told him what I thought of him for trying to carry such a suit to Carthage. It was to stir up the mob and bring them upon us.” So it was shortly after that, then, that the Higbees began meeting in secret with William Law, right?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: And Robert Foster and the other conspirators to figure out a way to get rid of Joseph Smith and his family.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: So, yeah, that Francis Higbee friendship doesn’t last very long with the prophet

Casey Griffiths: No. No. And Chauncey’s kind of lingering on the edges the whole time, so the brothers Higbee are now at this point committed to destroying Joseph Smith because they feel like he’s aired their transgressions and they’ve been humiliated because of it, so

Scott Woodward: Okay

Casey Griffiths: We’ve got the brothers Law, got the brothers Higbee

Scott Woodward: Who’s next?

Casey Griffiths: The brothers Foster. Robert and Charles Foster are the other set of brothers, so we don’t know a ton about Robert before he joins the church, but apparently he joins sometime before Joseph Smith goes to Washington, D. C. to try and get the U. S. government to assist the church over what happens in Missouri, and Robert is appointed surgeon general of the Nauvoo Legion, he’s regent of the University of Nauvoo, he’s also a member of the Nauvoo Masonic Lodge, so he’s connected to Joseph Smith in all these ways, and the historical record kind of shows an up-and-down relationship between Joseph Smith and Robert Foster, where at times they’re friends, at times they’re opponents. For instance, in March 1842 Robert testifies on behalf of Joseph Smith after Amos Davis was accused of using indecent and abusive language against him, so Robert backs up Joseph Smith. In May 1842, Joseph spoke on behalf of Robert in a meeting of the Masonic Lodge after Robert was accused of abusing Henry G. Sherwood and Samuel Smith. And the next day Joseph Smith actually resolves this in the Nauvoo City Council by ruling in Robert’s favor when he was accused of unchristian-like conduct by another person, and that July, actually, Joseph and Robert go on a trip together with several others to look for land to provide timber for all the buildings that they’re building in Nauvoo

Scott Woodward: So so far it sounds like they’re friends

Casey Griffiths: Yeah, so far it sounds like they’re doing okay. But a split in their relationship happens a few months later when Robert voices his support for a non-Latter-day-Saint who’s running for postmaster against Joseph Smith. So Robert basically says, I endorse this guy, William Rolison, and Joseph Smith is upset by this, that Robert, who’s supposed to be his friend, doesn’t endorse him, and he says in a public meeting that Foster is drawing men and labor away from the construction of the Nauvoo Temple and the Nauvoo House by building his own hotel in Nauvoo. So part of it’s a business rivalry. Foster at the time says, yeah, I mean, I am trying to build this stuff, but I’ve also given a thousand dollars to the Nauvoo House, and I’m going to give more, but this kind of stokes some of the problems they’re having. However, there’s times after this when Joseph Smith and Robert appear to be friends, so three days later they have some conversation, Joseph Smith reconciles with him, and it seems like they’re doing okay because Foster actually plays a role in saving Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was kidnapped by some marshals from Missouri, and Robert’s one of the people that goes and rescues him, and after that, Joseph Smith gives a public discourse in front of Foster’s hotel to kind of say, yeah, I’m okay if he’s building this, and in the discourse he notes that Robert stood up to anti-Mormons in the county and had been abused by them, kind of paints him as a faithful saint

Scott Woodward: Okay, so where do things start to sour?

Casey Griffiths: Alright, alright, alright. So where do things start to sour? In March 1844 there’s a confrontation between Robert and his brother Charles—this is where Charles shows up for the first time—and Joseph Smith, where basically Joseph points out that an article had appeared in the New York Weekly Tribune, this out-of-state newspaper, accusing Joseph of misusing funds donated to the temple, and the article called the temple “a splendid monument of folly and wickedness.” Charles Foster approached Joseph Smith if he was suggesting that he was the author of the article, or the source of the article, and Joseph says, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting: that you were the person that gave this bad quote to this New York newspaper, and Charles then threatens Joseph Smith, and Robert jumps in and says, no, there’s no threat, although according to Willard Richards, hundreds of people who were at this meeting all disagree. They see Charles threaten Joseph Smith and Robert try to stop this from happening, okay?

Scott Woodward: And Charles was fined $10 for that threat, wasn’t he?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. Yeah

Scott Woodward: Okay

Casey Griffiths: And this is in the same meeting of the court where Francis Higbee makes his statement about going to Carthage, and Joseph accuses him of mobocracy, okay?

Scott Woodward: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So if that’s done right in front of Charles Foster, then he knows that he’s got a brother in Francis Higbee

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: So now these two can be in cahoots. They have a common enemy now

Casey Griffiths: They have a common foe

Scott Woodward: Joseph. Okay

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: I’m putting the pieces together here. Okay. This is quite the soap opera so far, Casey, but it’s going to get worse

Casey Griffiths: This is where it gets really dramatic. So shortly after, Robert Foster has something happen that really makes him angry. So around March 15th, he told a man named Moranis G. Eaton that he—someone, he doesn’t say who, someone had visited his home to turn his wife against him and had taught her the spiritual wife doctrine and had tried to seduce her and then sat down to have a meal with her. When Foster came home from his meetings, the visitor greeted him and then left, and then Foster asked his wife what they had been talking about, and she refused to say anything, so, Foster told Eaton, this is Moranis G. Eaton, that he put a pistol to her head and told her he would kill her if she didn’t speak.

Scott Woodward: Oh, okay. This just escalated intensely

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. It gets really intense, right?

Scott Woodward: Geez

Casey Griffiths: So she doesn’t say anything, then Robert Foster apparently gives her a pistol, a double-barreled pistol, and told her to defend herself, upon which she fainted from excitement. This is all in the affidavit. When she regained consciousness, she told him the visitor had tried to turn her against him by preaching the spiritual wife system to her and endeavored to seduce her. So from this point on, there’s guns being pulled. Just spoiler alert. So . .

Scott Woodward: Wait, so who was the visitor? Who was the guy that was trying to seduce her?

Casey Griffiths: He doesn’t tell Eaton who the visitor is, just that this visitor came and tried to seduce her, but Joseph Smith takes it to mean that Robert Foster is accusing him of trying to seduce his wife. So Joseph actually goes to Robert Foster’s home with William Clayton and Alexander Neibaur. They find Foster’s wife, Sarah is her name, at a neighbor’s home. So she’s fled the home. And according to William Clayton, Joseph Smith sits Sarah down and said, have I ever made an indecent proposal? Have I ever talked to you about spiritual wifery? Have I done any of the things that your husband seems to be accusing me of doing? And she says no, and then Joseph leaves

Scott Woodward: Okay, well, now, hold on. Hold on. Because didn’t he tell Moranis Eaton that when he got home he saw the guy, and the guy greeted him, stood up, and left?

Casey Griffiths: The guy greeted him and left, and then the confrontation happens where he pulls the pistol on his wife

Scott Woodward: So wait, so why would Foster accuse Joseph Smith if it wasn’t Joseph Smith? If Foster knows who it is, did he like that the guy stayed anonymous in his story so he could insinuate that it was Joseph without coming out and accusing? Is that kind of the angle he’s going at?

Casey Griffiths: I don’t know

Scott Woodward: To try to get at Joseph? Okay, I’m just trying to follow, like, his motivation. If he saw the guy, why would he accuse the Prophet Joseph?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah, and why not make a public accusation?

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: Like, just say who it was

Scott Woodward: Instead of insinuation

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. Joseph Smith goes out of his way to basically talk to her and say, is this me he’s accusing of doing? Have I ever done anything like this? Sarah Foster says, no, you know, you’ve never done anything like this. So shortly after, there’s a meeting attended by the Law brothers, Robert Foster, Chauncey Higbee, and another Nauvoo dissenter who’s popped in and out of the narrative, this is Joseph H. Jackson, where they basically say that they plan to destroy the Smith family in a few weeks. Two witnesses, one of them is Moranis Eaton, the guy that Foster told the story to, and Abiathar Williams, provide affidavits that those involved in the meeting said that Jackson said he would not be surprised if there was a real muss and insurrection in the city in less than two months, and William said that Jackson told him he should not be surprised in two weeks if there was not one of the Smith family left alive in Nauvoo. So at this point these meetings start happening, and they’re not just saying they’re going to get rid of Joseph: They’re saying they’re going to get rid of the entire Smith family.

Scott Woodward: Let’s get rid of the Smith family. Holy cow.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: So at this point we’re talking an absolute real conspiracy

Casey Griffiths: Yes

Scott Woodward: Between the Law brothers, the Foster brothers, the Higbee brothers

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: And Joseph Jackson

Casey Griffiths: And Joseph Jackson

Scott Woodward: Wow. Okay

Casey Griffiths: So the story gets more complicated. So at the end of March 1844, Chauncey and Francis Higbee, now they’re in cahoots with the brothers Foster and the brothers Law, are charged with assaulting the police.

Scott Woodward: Okay

Casey Griffiths: In fact, this policeman goes and says, I saw one of the Higbees draw a pistol on me. They get acquitted of this, but they’re fined $10 for using abusive language to the marshal in a separate trial, and they continue to have run-ins with the city marshal, who’s John P. Green. And so they keep getting arrested, they keep getting fined. Finally Joseph Smith approaches them and tries to reconcile with both the Higbees and Robert Foster. Like, Joseph Smith’s journal notes that on April 13th—and again, if you’re keeping your timeline in your head, this is around the time William Law’s excommunicated and everything comes to a head—

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: —Joseph Smith approached him and said, have I ever misused you in any way? Foster said, I do not feel at liberty to answer this question under the existing circumstances. Joseph pressed and said, did I ever misuse you? And Foster says, I don’t want to answer under these circumstances. Joseph Smith said, did I ever wrong you or deal personally or misuse you in any shape? Foster replies, I do not feel at liberty to answer. And Joseph Smith says, I’ve treated you in a Christian way and friendly, too, so far as I had the ability. Tell me what I’ve done wrong, and I’ll ask for your forgiveness. I want to prove to this company by your own testimony. So Joseph Smith kind of publicly says, hey, what have I done that upset you? And Foster just refuses to say anything. And Joseph Smith at that point says, I’ve always been Christian towards you. You need to tell me what’s the problem between us. And apparently at this time he also sits down with Chauncey Higbee. He reads to them the statements that Eaton and Williams made about the conspiracy and the insurrection and the plan to kill the Smiths. This is all recorded in Joseph’s journal on April 16th, and then things start to continue to snowball

Scott Woodward: So Joseph is confronting his would-be murderers and saying—

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: —tell me what’s going on, guys. I’m hearing from these other people that you guys want to kill me and my family. Talk to me

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: What have I done wrong? How have I wronged you?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: Okay

Casey Griffiths: Based on those affidavits, a few days later, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Nauvoo High Council, other church members but not Joseph Smith, hold a hearing, and they excommunicate Robert Foster. So he’s the next one to go

Scott Woodward: What were the charges against Foster? Why was he excommunicated?

Casey Griffiths: Unchristian-like conduct is what the record says

Scott Woodward: Unchristian-like conduct

Casey Griffiths: Yeah.

Scott Woodward: I guess a conspiracy to kill the prophet and his family would count as unchristian-like conduct

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: So then things go from bad to worse

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: As reported in the Nauvoo Neighbor, which was a Nauvoo newspaper, a few days later, on April 26, the Foster brothers were involved in an altercation with Augustine and Orson Spencer, so follow this. The city marshal is named John Green. He was called in and arrested Augustine Spencer for assault, but Spencer resisted arrest

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: And so the marshals looked around and saw Robert Foster, Charles Foster, and Chauncey Higbee there nearby, and so he asked for them to come assist him in arresting Spencer, but all three of them refused, saying that they will see the mayor and the city damned. We’re not going to help. So Green managed to get Spencer to Joseph’s office where Joseph, acting as the mayor, fines him $100 and ordered the Fosters and Chauncey to be arrested for refusing to help the marshal. Uh-oh

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: So apparently all three of them were just outside, and so Joseph says, let’s arrest them for resisting helping you, right? And so the marshal goes out to arrest them, and they, all three, resist arrest, and so now Joseph, the mayor, comes out to help John P. Green arrest these three men, who’s already had so much bad history by this point, right?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: And so, as Joseph tries to help arrest them, Charles Foster immediately draws a double-barreled pistol and presents it right at Joseph’s breast. Robert Foster, his brother, interferes with his brother. He’s like, no. He takes the pistol away from his brother, but then both men launch into a verbal tirade against Joseph. Both the Fosters and Chauncey Higbee started saying stuff like, “They would be god damned if they would not shoot the mayor,” speaking of Joseph Smith, and that they would consider themselves favored of God for the privilege of shooting or ridding the world of such a tyrant.” So Joseph fines Foster another $100, but then issued a warrant for Foster’s arrest after Robert Foster then threatened Willard Richards. So Willard Richards steps in as well, and then Robert Foster threatens him. He shook his fist in his face and says, “You’re another damn black-hearted villain.” Wow. There’s all kinds of really interesting accusations being slung around

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: The mayor, Joseph Smith, is calling on the city marshal to arrest these men. They’re resisting arrest. Guns are pulled. Words are said. Fines are levied. I mean, this is intense stuff. And then the next day, Robert Foster’s brought to trial, and he made some more accusations against Joseph

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: So at this point, these guys are not being reasonable. Joseph wants to talk to them. Joseph reaches out, and Foster agreed to meet with Joseph to create some sort of a settlement, but then he said he’s going to publish it in the Warsaw paper

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: Probably meaning Thomas Sharp’s Warsaw Signal, right?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: To just further foment the masses against the saints. And so at this point Joseph told him that if Foster was going to try to attempt to raise a mob against the saints, then he was not going to meet with Foster. And at that point Joseph, in frustration, declares himself free from Foster’s blood. And he shook his garments and said, I am free of you. So, whoo, Casey, this is not looking good

Casey Griffiths: No

Scott Woodward: The space for reconciliation is just getting smaller and smaller and smaller, and at this point it’s Joseph shaking his garments of their blood like he’s saying, alright, I’ve tried enough times to try to reconcile with you guys, and I’m done with you, right?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: Wow

Casey Griffiths: And isn’t this like a scene in a movie, like, where somebody pulls a gun and they’re holding it on Joseph Smith, and his brother, like, takes the gun away but says, you’ll be damned, you know, we’re going to kill you

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: And these are the honorable men who wish to reform the church by publishing the Nauvoo Expositor, I mean. And by the way, this is all stuff that shows up in the historical record. It’s in Joseph Smith’s journal, which was written the day it happened

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: The altercation’s published in the Nauvoo Neighbor. There’s court records that corroborate the whole story. Like, ladies and gentlemen, these are the publishers of the Nauvoo Expositor. These are the type of men that they are

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: And there’s a further irony here, because the next day—all this stuff happens on Saturday when Robert Foster threatens to go to the Warsaw newspaper

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: The next day, Sunday

Scott Woodward: Okay

Casey Griffiths: And Robert Foster, Francis Higbee, and William and Wilson Law start inviting people to come to their own church that they’ve created, which is based around the idea that Joseph Smith is a fallen prophet, and in the new church the president is going to be William Law, and Francis Higbee and Robert Foster are made members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—

Scott Woodward: Oh, boy

Casey Griffiths: —in that church. And so, I mean, whew, at this point, everybody’s been excommunicated except for Francis Higbee, and Higbee’s excommunicated a couple days later. Council of Fifty actually meets together and says that they’re going to deliver Robert Foster over to the buffetings of Satan

Scott Woodward: Geez

Casey Griffiths: And Francis Higbee tries to get Joseph Smith arrested by complaining against him. At this point, by the 6th of May, all of the brothers have had a break with Joseph Smith: the brothers Law, the brothers Higbee, and the brothers Foster, and then Charles Ivins, who’s out there somewhere

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: It’s the next day that the Expositor press, the press they’re going to use to print the Expositor, arrives in town, and they start their movement towards publishing the Expositor

Scott Woodward: So the next day, the day after all of them were officially excommunicated and out of the church, the next day, the press that the Nauvoo Expositor is going to be printed on arrives in town?

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: I don’t think you can just pick one of those up at Walmart

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: That sounds like this was in the works for weeks, right? This is as they’re trying to think about how they can take down the family of Joseph Smith. Like, this must have been in the works now for several weeks

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: And it just so happened that the day after the last of the group was excommunicated, the press for the Nauvoo Expositor arrives. That’s crazy timing

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. So the Nauvoo Expositor press arrives in town on May 7, and a month later, on June 7, is when the Nauvoo Expositor is published. The Expositor is published, and twenty days later, on June 27, Joseph and Hyrum are killed

Scott Woodward: Yeah.

Casey Griffiths: And so, I mean, it just bugs me that people would sometimes hold these guys up as, you know, like, righteous reformers, when the record, again and again, shows that they’re involved in a lot of bad stuff and that they all have a ton of motives for murdering Joseph and Hyrum

Scott Woodward: Yeah

Casey Griffiths: You know, they’re not the poster children for righteousness and shouldn’t be held up as examples of it. These are the people that are directly responsible for Joseph Smith’s death. They didn’t pull the trigger, but—

Scott Woodward: They set the trap.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. And each one of them has a little episode where they just openly say, I want to kill Joseph Smith. So

Scott Woodward: Man

Casey Griffiths: That’s where we’re at

Scott Woodward: So next time, we want to dig into their “dirty sheet,” as it’s been called

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: We want to get into what they actually said in the Expositor, and we won’t be surprised that they are going to frame themselves as righteous reformers, like you’re saying.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: They’re going to feign innocence. They’re going to say all kinds of things that makes Joseph look as bad as possible and them look as great as possible, but the truth of the matter is, as a result of what they publish, that this is going to force Joseph and the city council to make a decision of what to do about that press, and that decision is going to lead to the arrest of Joseph and Hyrum.

Casey Griffiths: Yeah

Scott Woodward: That, in combination with those on the outside who would be happy to help bring this man down and his political enemies, right, and all of that swirling together and converging for the perfect storm

Casey Griffiths: Yeah. That’s kind of a cliffhanger to leave us on, but we hope you’ll join us in our next episode. Thanks for hanging in there with us. We know that this is dark and twisty stuff, but it’s necessary for you to know to understand the context of this event

Scott Woodward: Yeah. Thank you for listening to this episode of Church History Matters. Next week Casey and I do a deep dive into the Nauvoo Expositor, that exposé newspaper printed by the apostate brothers Law, Higbee, Foster, and Charles Ivins. What exactly did they print that was so scandalous and dangerous to Joseph and the saints? What did they aim to accomplish by printing it? And did it work? If you’re enjoying Church History Matters, we’d appreciate it if you could take a moment to subscribe, rate, review, and comment on the podcast. That makes us easier to find. Also, we’d love to hear your suggestions for future series on this podcast, so if there’s a church history topic you think would be worth exploring for multiple episodes, send us your idea to podcasts@scripturecentral.org. We promise to consider all suggestions. Today’s episode was produced by Scott Woodward, and edited by Nick Galieti and Scott Woodward, with show notes and transcript by Gabe Davis. Church History Matters is a podcast of Scripture Central, a nonprofit which exists to help build enduring faith in Jesus Christ by making Latter-day Saint scripture and church history accessible, comprehensible, and defensible to people everywhere. For more resources to enhance your gospel study, go to scripturecentral.org, where everything is available for free because of the generous donations of people like you. And while we try very hard to be historically and doctrinally accurate in what we say on this podcast, please remember that all views expressed in this and every episode are our views alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Scripture Central or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thank you so much for being a part of this with us