ATTENTION BOOK OF MORMON BELIEVERS!
Have you ever read William E. McLellin’s letters to Joseph Smith III concerning his father’s (Joseph Smith, Jr.) connection with polygamy?
William E. McLellin was a member of the original church from 1831 until May 11. 1838 .and was also one of the original twelve apostles being still unanimously sustained in that position on Nov. 7 1837. One letter was written on Jan. 10, 1861, following a speech made by Joseph Smith III at the April conference in Amboy, Ill. in 1860. McLellin wrote. “I do not wish to say hard things to you of your Father but Joseph. if you will only go to your own mother, she can tell you that he believed in polygamy and practiced it long before his violent death! That he delivered a revelation sanctioning, regulating, and establishing it — and that he finally burned the awful document before her eyes. Elder Marks can tell you that (before its conflagration) it was read in the High Council of Nauvoo, over which he presided. Your mother told me these items when I was in Nauvoo.”
In July, 1872. McLellin addressed another letter to Joseph Smith in which among other things, he wrote again concerning his father’s conduct with other women and the revelation on polygamy. He wrote, “Now Joseph I will relate to you some history, and refer you to your own dear mother for the truth. You will probably remember that I visited your mother and family in 1847, and held a lengthy conversation with her… I did not ask her to tell, but I told her some stories I had heard. And she told me whether I was properly informed. Mr. F.G. Williams practiced with me in Clay, Co., Mo. during the latter part of 1838. And he told me that at your birthyour father committed an act with a Miss Hill — a hired girl. Emma saw him and spoke to him. He desisted, but Mrs. Smith refused to be satisfied. He called in Br. Williams, Cowderv, and S. Rigdon to reconcile Emma. But she told them just as the circumstances took place. He found he was caught. He confessed humbly, and begged forgiveness. Emma and all forgave him. She told me this story was true!! Again I told her I heard that one night she missed Joseph and Fanny Alger. She went to the barn and saw him and Fanny in the barn together alone. She looked through a crack and saw the transaction!!! She told me this story too was verily true…. You referred to polygamy. Now let me tell you my dear Sir. I asked your mother particularly upon this point. She said, one night after she and Joseph had retired for the night, he told her that the doctrine and practice of polygamy was going to ruin the church. He wished her to get up and burn the revelation. She refused to touch it even with tongues (sic). He rose from his bed and pulled open the fire with his fingers, and put the revealment in and burned it up. But copies of it were extant, so it was preserved…. Can you dispute your dear mother? She related this to me, and will if you ask her tell you the same thing.” (Both of these letters are in the R.L.D.S. Library)
It was not until early Feb. of 1879, two and one-half months before her death on April 30, that it was decided by a few church leaders that Joseph Smith should ask his Mother some questions concerning these things about which Mr. McLellin had asked him 18 years earlier to inquire. At this time her mind is such that she is unsure of her age when she married Joseph; unsure of the year of her marriage to him; unsure of where she living when the Book of Mormon was published; unsure of whether Alva Hale acted as a scribe for Joseph; unsure of whether Joseph forbid her examining the plates, unsure of who baptized her and where. Her statements taken at this time by her son, and published seven and one-half months after her death have become her “last testimony”. There is no way to verify or check them. (See Saints’ Herald, Vol. 26, No. 19, Pages 289-290).
The Bible warns, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Another place Christ told us, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (1 John 4:1 and Matt. 7:20).
We desire for all to see that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.” It’s not a church, it’s a Savior that mankind needs. Then the saved become the body of Christ or His church.