2020 Joseph Smith Papers Conference

The Church History Library in Salt Lake City is hosting its 2020 conference.

Panel 1: Interpreting

Spencer McBride: James Arlington Bennett as a supporter and future vice-president for his candidacy. Butterfield as representative of Joseph Smith Jr, original attorney for the US govt during the bankruptcy hearings. The core problem is avoiding the 2nd extradition request from Missouri.

Shannon Kelly Jorgensen: George Bachmann (sp?) in Carthage, Illinois, against John C Bennett.

Stephanie Steed, Brett D Dowdle, Angela Thompson and Stephanie Steed also participated.

Q&A:

• focus on JSJr is broadened by connecting him to women, people of color
• it's a tough place to start with the people being so many
• Joseph Smith Jr did meet with Indians in Nauvoo as they passed through

Panel 2: Power Networks

Paul Reeve, "I Dug the Graves" 

Afro-American Jane Elizabeth Manning was baptized 1842, followed by her brother Isaas Lewis Manning (+1913) that same December baptized, in Connecticut, but went to Nauvoo in 1843, eventually joined the RLDS in London, Ontario, then moved to Utah, rejoining Jane, and switched back to LDS, became baptized again.

Recollections about Nauvoo''s Mansion House, where they had lived during the first days in Nauvoo, gave them new clothes lost, hired to work at the Mansion house (laundress & cook), but called him a prophet and would have laid their life down for them.

Sister Sarah also joined, as well as brother Peter, but also mother and aunt.

About 25 black people were in Nauvoo at this point in time, in a city of almost 12,000 people. Smith Jr was convinced that blacks only had worse socio-economic situations, not genetic. But Smith Jr was not a racial abolitionist, later suggest reimbursing for freeing of slaves. Separation of the races in marriage had his support. Priesthood Ordination was rare, but it was not systematic back then and roughly 1/3 held that of the white men.

Manning dug fake graves for Hyrum and Joseph; the actual bodies of the two were in the basement of the Nauvoo Mansion house. Manning then helped Emma move the bodies to the old log house of the river.

"Uncle Isaac" and "Aunt Jane" was their names in the later articles in the Salt Lake Herald of 1899 in Utah ("First Negroes to Join Mormon Church"). Brigham Young had defined Manning's race as cursed theologically; but Manning's personal connection with the Prophet somehow undercut that notion.

Brian Stutzmann, Conflict with Warsaw

Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois was the nemesis of Nauvoo. Demoine Rapids in the Mississippi required lightening the road. Thomas Sharp initially supported that railroad, as the cost was about 500k$ a year at that time. Nauvoo refused to participate because of the economic depression, after effects of 1837, Isaac Galen had only sold them on land only because of the no-money down; the railroad did not have such conditions.

Wrote a history of Warsaw, Illinois, quite hostile to Thomas Sharp, editor of the Warsaw Signal, an anti-Mormon newspaper.

Derek Sainsbury, Cadre for the Kingdom

Joseph Smith Jrs electioneers. Smith Jr advocated aristarchy (-> Council of 50) and theodemocracy.

Editorial in Times and Seasons, The Government of God July 15 1842 (Friday) in Nauvoo.

The Campaign, the Kingdom and the Assassination. Smith Jr wanted to be president in the US, or in Texas, California or Mexico, if necessary.

600 electioneer missionaries went out. Example Joseph A Stratton, electioneered in the East, hopefully thereafter England.

William I Appleby former judge, democratic Whig, saw in Smith Jr the solution to injustice and corruption, believed that the Mormons had been predicted by Daniel, published 2,000 copies of a 24-page book interpreting this.

Franklin Richards made a pillar of stone as a testimony to God's plans.

Q&A

• Smith Jr had to distance himself to abolitionism and race mixing initially (1836), but by the presidential platform was supporting open racial vision (1844), the former in AT and the latter in the NT; Brigham Young 1852 speech is racist, no doubt
• Smith Jr's attempt at presidency is a move for religious freedom, gave the president power to intervene if religious freedom was not protected; context of the Bible riots of Philadelphia, Wenton letter of 1842 was supportive but in 1844 the Mormons had been let down
• Sharp tried to recruit support for the Expositor (June 1844), supports a call to arm to defend the press in Nauvoo; almost every issue he was arguing against Smith Jr; the Warsaw library has the complete Warsaw Signal newspaper issues digitally online
• Marshall, Turning point of Thomas Sharp
• Century of Black Mormons (.org), first temple endowed of mixed-racial ancestry in 1845, probably passing as white

Panel 3: Financial Networks

Elizabeth Kuehn: Was JSjr bad at business?

Admits that the shares were HUGE for the time

Sharalyn Howcroft: The Red Store Book

Oct 1842 and Oct 1843 Emma Smith worked as a clerk at the store

Jeffrey Mahas: Labor Disputes and building of Nauvoo Temple

People who were exploiting build the temple were still happy to be exploited

No single critical question; all hunky-dory; so much for science