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F. Mark McKiernan
(1940-1997) The Voice of... Sidney Rigdon... (Lawrence, KS: Coronado Press, 1971, 72) |
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D. Chase's thesis (1931) | J. White's thesis (1947) | R. Van Wagoner's' biography (1994)
Wm. Whitsitt's biography | Rigdon's own history (1843) | "Rigdon Revealed" (under constr.)
Misc. Rigdon biographies | Knowles' Rigdon thesis (2000) | C. Criddle's Paper (2009)
Note: Entire contents copyright © 1971 by F. Mark McKiernan. Only limited, "fair use" excerpts
reproduced here, pending further web-publication permission from Dr. McKiernan's heirs
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[ iii ] The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness: Sidney Rigdon, Religious Reformer 1793-1876 by F. Mark McKiernan ( ) _______________________________________________________ Coronado Press 1971 |
Note: Entire contents copyright © 1971 by F. Mark McKiernan.
Only limited, "fair use" excerpts reproduced here.
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009 Acknowledgements 011 Chapter 1: The Search, 1793-1826 025 Chapter 2: The Advent of Mormonism into the Western Reserve 041 Chapter 3: Kirtland, the Headquarters of the Early Mormon Church, 1830-1832 057 Chapter 4: Crisis at Kirtland 081 Chapter 5: Mormonism on the Defensive: Dar West, 1838-1839 101 Chapter 6: Nauvoo, 1839-1842 115 Chapter 7: A Stranger Among the Children of God, 1842-1844 133 Chapter 8: Lonely Is He Who Understands, 1844-1846 147 Footnotes 171 Bibliographical Essay 181 Index 191 Appendix
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[ ix ]
[ x ]
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Note: Entire contents copyright © 1971 by F. Mark McKiernan.
Only limited, "fair use" excerpts reproduced here.
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[ 11 ]
The Search: 1793-1826 SIDNEY RIGDON was a man with a vision, a quest, and a mission. His entire life, from 1793 to 1876, was a constant search for the so-called "fullness of the gospel," which Rigdon believed he was called by God to expound to the world. The restoration of Christ's true religion as revealed in the New Testament became a compulsive, consuming passion, which led Rigdon to follow solely the dictates of his own religious understanding and to scorn all other viewpoints. Rigdon believed that he could find in the New Testament the ordinances of Christ's church, which could be established in the nineteenth century through the direction of God's Holy Spirit in the lives of righteous men. He claimed that God revealed to him that he would become a latter-day John the Baptist, a voice crying in the wilderness, to proclaim the establishment of the kingdom of God and the second coming of Christ. Rigdon's efforts to restore Christ's church led him to participate in a variety of religious groups. In 1817 he joined the United Baptists, who were numerous in his native Pennsylvania; by 1821 Rigdon had become a Baptist minister in Ohio's Western Reserve. Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Disciples of Christ, converted Rigdon, and he became an influential and famous Campbellite preacher. In 1830 he withdrew his congregation at Mentor, Ohio, from the Campbellite fellowship because the Disciples of Christ would not implement all of the practices of the New Testament church into their own beliefs; thus, for a few months Rigdon's congregation was not affiliated with any religious denomination. In 1830 he and his congregation embraced the Mormon movement, and Rigdon became one of the most important converts that Mormonism has ever gained. His acceptance of Mormonism gave the sect the prestige which allowed its missionaries to obtain audiences throughout the Western Reserve, and soon the church, through Rigdon's influence, moved its headquarters to Kirtland, Ohio, where rapid growth ensued. 12 Chapter I During the years from 1830 to 1844 Mormonism grew from about a hundred believers in the Book of Mormon to a highly organized church with a mature theological system which claimed nearly 25,000 members. Two of the men most responsible for the Church's success were Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of Mormonism, and Rigdon. Smith claimed to be God's Prophet in the last days, and Rigdon was his counselor, scribe, and mighty spokesman. However, Rigdon was much more to Mormonism than an efficient aide to the Prophet; he was intimately involved in directing every major endeavor of Mormonism during its first decade. Smith and Rigdon blended their energies, abilities, ideas, and dreams for the future to become an exceedingly dynamic and successful leadership team. Rigdon's tremendous contributions came when Mormonism needed them most critically. In the early 1840's Mormonism strayed away from what Rigdon considered the essentials of Christ's church; and in 1844, after the death of Joseph Smith, Rigdon was defeated in his attempt to redirect the course of Mormonism. Rigdon then formed a Mormon schismatic group, the Church of Jesus Christ, through which he sought unsuccessfully to re-establish Mormonism in its former purity; after the failure of this religious group he believed that no church on earth represented Christ's New Testament teachings. The last thirty years of Rigdon's life were ones of religious isolation during which he refused to associate with a polygamous Mormonism, yet remained faithful to the concepts of the Mormonism of the 1830's. Rigdon was a refraction of the religious tendencies held by millions of early nineteenth-century Americans who were greatly concerned about the fate of their eternal souls and joined one religious denomination after another. The Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Campbellites, and Mormons regularly proselytized each other's congregations. Although Rigdon participated in the common activity of changing churches, he cannot be considered as merely another convert since he was a man of considerable ability and, especially, oratorical power. Rigdon changed the entire course of Mormon history when he persuaded Smith to move the headquarters of the Church from New York, where it was stagnating, to the Western Reserve, where Rigdon's reputation and influence provided the sect with the conditions necessary for rapid growth. Some of the reform movements of his time fascinated him. Rigdon espoused the causes of prohibition, anti-tobacco, abolition, and the anti-Masonic movement. He also favored the development of a utopian The Search: 1793-1826 13 experiment which would be modeled after the common-property community mentioned in the New Testament. Like many other influential reform-minded men, he dabbled in politics and practiced law. However, his basic concern was religious reform, rather than secular reform. In order to declare to the world authoritatively the truth which he had found, Rigdon cultivated the skills of a Biblical scholar and an historian, learned to read Greek and Hebrew, and developed his great talent as a public speaker. Rigdon was a dynamic and charismatic leader who always gathered around him a personal following whose loyalty belonged first to him and then to the religious movement he represented. Wherever his religious conscience led him these faithful individuals followed. His quest for the fullness of the gospel compelled him to abandon positions of prestige, power, and financial security. Joseph Smith caught the essence of Rigdon's long and complex quest when he stated, "Truth was his pursuit, and for truth he was prepared to make every sacrifice in his power." [[1 Journal History, III, No. 1, 7-8.]] Sidney Rigdon was born on February 19, 1793, on a farm near St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; he was the fourth child of William and Nancy Rigdon. [[2 John W. Rigdon, "Lecture on Early Mormon Church," Salt Lake City, 19-6, -- Washington State Historical Society, 21 end2]] William Rigdon was born in Hartford County, Maryland, in 1743, and his ancestors were English and Irish. Nancy Briant Rigdon was born in 1759 in Monmouth County, New Jersey, of Irish and Scotch parents. Both the Briant and Rigdon families had joined the westward movement which came through Pittsburgh, and they were looking for new land and a better life. In 1794 alone, 13,000 settlers stayed in Pittsburgh for a short time and then traveled westward [[3 Richard C. Wade, The Urban Frontier. The Rise of Western Cities, 1790-I830 (Cambridge, 1959), 44. end3]] William Rigdon married Nancy Briant and took her to his farm in the rolling, wooded hills about fifteen miles from Pittsburgh, Allegneny County, where all of William Rigdon's children were raised, was dominated by Pittsburgh, which grew from 1,565 inhabitants at the turn of the nineteenth century to a population of over 8,000 in 1815. [[4 Ibid., 43.]] Two of William Rigdon's children were to choose lives similar to his own. Sidney's oldest brother Carvel married and moved to a neighboring farm; Lacy Rigdon married a farmer named Peter Boyer, who lived near her parents. However, Loammi Rigdon was unable to earn a living by farming because some undescribed illness made him unfit to work in the fields. John W. Rigdon, Sidney's son, stated that "it was the rule in the country, that when a boy was too feeble to work on a farm they would send him to school and give him an education." Loammi's 14 Chapter I parents sent him to Transylvania Medical School at Lexington, Kentucky. William Rigdon believed that he could afford higher education for one of his sons if compelled by necessity, but not for more than one. "Sidney Rigdon wanted to go to school and pleaded with his father and mother to let him go with his brother to school but they would not consent to let him go, saying to him, he was able to work on the farm." [[5 Rigdon, "Lecture on Early Mormon Church," 2.]] Sidney Rigdon had attended a log schoolhouse near his home, where he had learned to read. A rudimentary education was generally considered sufficient; as late as 1816 less than a quarter of the school-age youth of Pittsburgh were getting any formal education. [[6 Wade, Urban Frontier, 136.]] Rigdon, however, rebelled against his father's authority when he was not allowed to accompany his brother to medical school. Sidney told his parents that "he would have as good an education as his brother got and they could not prevent it," [[7 Rigdon, "Lecture on Early Mormon Church," 3. (Sidney Rigdon's age at the time he wanted to go to medical school at Lexington is unknown; however, he was seventeen when his father died in 1810.) end7]] and he read all the books he could borrow from his neighbors. His particular interests ran to history and the Bible; these two sources of information became the undergirdings of his intellectual life. William Rigdon was a stern Baptist farmer who had no tolerance for idleness, and he believed that if a young man had a sound body he should not waste his time reading books. Sidney's parents would not let him have a candle with which to read at night, so he gathered hickory bark which was plentiful around the farm. John Rigdon wrote of his father that "he used to get it (the hickory bark) and at night throw it on the old fireplace and then lay with his face headed towards the fire and read history till near morning unless his parents got up and drove him to bed before that time." [[8 Ibid., 3.]] The study of history and the Bible became one for Sidney Rigdon. The Bible told thousands of years of history of a so-called "chosen people," and Rigdon interpreted the history of the world since New Testament times in terms of Biblical prophecy. Rigdon did not share many of the common interests of the other farm youths in his neighborhood. "He was never known to play with the boys; reading books was the greatest pleasure he could get." John Rigdon commented on his father's abilities: "He became a great historian, the best I ever saw. He seemed to have the history of the world on his tongue's end and he got to be a great Biblical scholar as well." In addition to Sidney's constant reading he taught himself English grammar, and "he was very precise in his language." [[9 Ibid., 3.]] Rigdon's knowledge of the Bible and history as well as his command of The Search: 1793-1826 15 the intricacies of the English language greatly aided his career when he chose to become a minister of the gospel. As a young boy Sidney Rigdon was thrown from a horse, and "his feet entangling in a stirrup he was dragged some distance before relieved." His brother Loammi stated that "in this accident he received some concussion to the brain as ever afterward seriously affected his character, and in some respect his conduct." According to Dr. Rigdon, "His mental powers did not seem to be impaired, but the equilibrium of his intellectual exertion seems thereby to have been sadly affected." Loammi claimed that "he still manifested great mental activity and power, but was to an equal degree inclined to run into wild visionary views on almost every question." [[10 Statement by Dr. Loammi Rigdon quoted in "Baptist Witness," March 1, 1875. end10]] Sidney Rigdon suffered temporary insanity on two occasions after his fall from the horse. In 1832 Rigdon lost consciousness when a mob dragged him by his heels over frozen ground, and for several days his conversations made little sense. In 1838, when abused by another mob, Rigdon developed a high fever and prolonged fits of irrational laughter. [[11 Daryl Chase, "Sidney Rigdon -- Early Mormon" (MA thesis, University of Chicago, 1931), 79-81, and 116-118. (Chase claims that Rigdon received permanent brain damage from his childhood fall, causing recurring temporary fits of insanity in 1832 and 1838. Ivan J. Barrett in "More Remarkable Stories of How We Got the Doctrine and Covenants" (Provo, n. d.), passim, expands on Chase's viewpoints in order to exclude Rigdon from having made any meaningful contributions to Mormonism.]] There has been no evidence of psyche-motor damage such as sight, speech, or coordination defects which should have accompanied permanent brain damage and would have caused recurring fits of insanity. Sidney Rigdon could have suffered brain concussions from blows to the head; these injuries could have produced his symptoms. Thus there probably was no relationship between Rigdon's fall and his two periods of insanity in later years. [[12 Interviews with Dr. Lynn Ourth, Research Professor of Neurology, University of West Virginia at Morgantown, on October 5, 1967, and June 9, 1968. end12]] There is no evidence that these isolated periods of insanity ever had any effect on his personality. In 1817 Rigdon professed to have had a conversion experience. The United Baptists whose meetings he had attended regarded a conversion as a prerequisite for church membership, and these Baptists considered the conversion of a sinner a miracle of God. [[13 William Baxter, "The Life of Elder Waiter Scott" (Cincinnati, 1874), 91.]] These religious experiences "were as various as the temperaments of different individuals." [[14 Ibid., 20.]] The exact nature of Rigdon's conversion has not been recorded, but he was able to convince Peter Creek Church's pastor, David Phillips, and his congregation, that the experience was genuine. Sidney Rigdon supported his mother on the family farm after the death of William Rigdon in 1810. The Reverend Phillips encouraged Sidney to become a Baptist minister; thus in 1818 Nancy Rigdon sold the family farm and went to live with her daughter, Lacy Boyer. At twenty-six Sidney set out to find a new life for himself. He spent the winter of 1818-1819 with the Reverend Andrew Clark of Beaver 16 Chapter I County, which bordered Allegheny County to the west. Rigdon read the Bible with Clark and received a license to preach to his Baptist congregation. There were two types of Baptist preachers on the frontier, the licensed and the ordained. A licensed preacher was often a young man studying under the tutelage of an ordained minister who was also the pastor of a congregation [[15 William W. Sweet, "Religion on the American Frontier: The Baptists, 1783-1830" (Chicago, 1931), 37-38.]] This was the relationship between Rigdon and Andrew Clark. Rigdon had joined the Baptists, who were a very popular religious denomination in western settlements of the United States, especially after the turn of the nineteenth century. They recognized the congregational form of church government and tolerated no authority stronger than a loosely-knit association of congregations. Like many Americans, the Baptists demanded the separation of church and state. They regarded conversion as a prerequisite to membership, and most congregations engaged in revival meetings to seek converts. The Baptists believed that God held each person individually responsible for his own sins. But the thing which most readily identified them was that they claimed immersion was the only true form of baptism. [[16 Ibid., 43.]] Like most religious groups the Baptists believed that they held a monopoly on salvation and that the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Congregationalists, and later the Campbellites and the Mormons were spoilers and sheep-stealers. The major cause of division among the Baptists concerned how much Calvinism or revivalism should be tolerated among the various associations or congregations. The typical frontier Baptist preacher came from the ranks of the people among whom he lived and to whom he preached. The Methodists developed circuit-rider preachers who covered large territories, but the Baptists developed farmer-preachers who lived among their congregations. Sometimes they were full-time preachers, sometimes farmers who preached only on Sundays [[17 Ibid., 36.]] Sidney Rigdon soon acquired a reputation as a powerful preacher and an effective minister. He was "an orator of no inconsiderable abilities," and according to a contemporary, "his personal influence with an audience was very great." He was "full medium height, rotund of form, or countenance, while speaking, open and winning, with a little cast of melancholy." His actions were graceful, "his language copious, fluent in utterance, with articulation clear and musical." [[18 Amos S. Hayden, "Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, Ohio: With Biographic Sketches of the Principal Agents in Their Religious Movement" (Cincinnati, 1876), 103-104. end18]] He was five feet, nine-and-a-half inches in height and weighed about 215 pounds when he was in good health. [[19 J. M. Kennedy, "Early Days of Mormonism: Palmyra, Kirtland, and Nauvoo" (New York, 1888), 62. end19]] His hair and beard framed a fine-featured face, which mirrored his emotions. The only The Search: 1793-1826 17 picture of Sidney Rigdon which has been preserved shows a stern expression on a face encircled by bushy hair and a beard. [[20 The Latter-Day Saint Historian's Library-Archives at Salt Lake City has a file marked "Pictures of Sidney Rigdon," which contains numerous copies of varying sizes of Rigdon's only picture, taken when he was nearly eighty. end20]] He had a high forehead, craggy brews with deep-set piercing eyes, high cheeks, a long, slender nose, and a firm mouth. His countenance was both handsome and striking. Rigdon's personal manner and friendliness won him many lasting friendships as well as enchanted crowds. He loved to meet the members of a congregation, shake their hands, and tell them his personal testimony. An excellent conversationalist, Rigdon took a genuine interest in the lives of the people he met. He believed it was his mission to urge all to repent and accept the gospel which he preached. He looked, acted, and, above all, sounded like a religious leader. In May, 1819, Sidney Rigdon left the Reverend Andrew Clark's home in order to work with Adamson Bentley, the popular Baptist minister of Warren, Ohio, which was about fourteen miles northwest of Youngstown. The three years during which Rigdon remained in the Bentley home brought about a great change in his life. During this time he became an ordained Baptist minister, which enabled him, if he wished, to be pastor of his own congregation. It was through Adamson Bentley that he met Miss Phebe Brooks, who was Mrs. Bentley's sister, and on June 12, 1820, Rigdon and Miss Brooks were married. Unfortunately, very little has been recorded about Phebe Rigdon, but she apparently loved her husband deeply and was willing to sacrifice her personal comfort and often her security to allow him to search for his own brand of truth. [[21 Chase, "Sidney Rigdon," 59.]] She seemingly became as committed to the various religious movements as was her companion. [[22 "Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints," September 14, 1835. end22]] They lived together in harmony, regardless of the hardships they endured, until she died in 1886. According to the writings of John W. Rigdon, who should have known, Sidney and Phebe Rigdon had a family of twelve children. [[23 Rigdon, "Lecture on Early Mormon Church," 1.]] However, records have been found for only ten of them. [[24 "Journal History," August 21, 1842.]] Rigdon was often unable to support his large family adequately because, although he loved them deeply, his primary commitment was to the search for religious truth. He was much more concerned about the plight of their souls than about the source of their next meal or the physical conditions under which they must live. From Adamson Bentley Sidney Rigdon received a greater understanding of the functions and responsibilities of a religious leader. They started preaching at Warren, Ohio, which was the county seat of Trumbull County, one of the political, economic, and religious centers of the Western Reserve. [[25 Hayden, "Early History of the Disciples," 93. end25]] The north-eastern section of the state of Ohio, which was comprised of the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga, 18 Chapter I Cuyahoga, Lorain, Trumbull, Portage, and Medina, was known as the Western Reserve [[26 Max Parkin, "The Nature and Cause of Internal and External Conflict in the Mormons in Ohio between 1830-1838" (MA thesis, Brigham Young University, 1966), 27. end26]] This tract of land was retained by Connecticut when it renounced its claims to the rest of its western lands granted by its colonial charter. Bentley and Rigdon had chosen a fertile area in which to cry repentance because the land was filled with sinners. Robert Boyd, another missionary to the Western Reserve, claimed that although many of the people came from New England where there was a sufficiency of religious training, once removed from that environment they behaved "like freed prisoners." While in New England, "many of them walked in the courts of God's house," but upon their arrival in the West, "they threw off the shackles of conformity that had previously disciplined their actions." [[27 Robert Boyd, "Personal Memoirs. Together with a Discussion upon the Hardships and Sufferings of Itinerant Life" (Cincinnati, 1868), 184-185. end27]] The Baptist ministers believed that they had the dual function of converting the sinners and continually purging those transgressors who were already members. Each Baptist congregation generally held a business meeting once a month, and the minister usually acted as moderator. The discipline of members often was a major topic at these meetings and included congregational action against such transgressions as drinking, fighting, gossip, lying, illicit sexual relations, stealing, gambling, and horse racing [[28 Sweet, "Religion on the American Frontier: The Baptists," 48-49. end28]] Adamson Bentley was one of the founders of the Mahoning Baptist Association. Baptists on the frontier often organized several congregations into associations in order to protect their groups against heresy, to devise better ways to spread the gospel, and to provide fellowship among the ministers. The association had little official authority over its member churches or individual members, but constituted an advisory council. The Mahoning Baptist Association embraced churches in Columbia, Trumbull, Portage and Mahoning Counties, which were clustered in east-central Ohio [[29 Burke A. Hindale, "A History of the Disciples in Hiram, Portage Counties, Ohio" (Cleveland, 1876), 9-10. end29]] Both Bentley and Rigdon were active in the Mahoning Association; Rigdon enjoyed a reputation among his fellow ministers as a great orator of the Association, and Bentley was elected three times as moderator, the highest office in the Association. [[30 "Minutes of the Mahoning Baptist Association" on August 31, 1825, August 25, 1826, and August 23, 1927, quoted in Mary A. M. Smith, "A History of the Mahoning Baptist Association" (MA thesis, University of West Virginia, 1943), Appendix, 28.]] By 1821 Rigdon was an ordained Baptist minister who attracted large, attentive crowds wherever he preached. However, he had not yet begun to develop a distinctive theology of his own. Like most men, he had borrowed with few alterations the religious beliefs of the men under whom he had studied. The Reverends Phillips, Clark, and Bentley were United Baptists who professed the so-called "five essential principles" of their faith; these were baptism by immersion, separation The Search: 1793-1826 19 of church and state, conversion experience, individual responsibility for sins, and congregational church government. Rigdon's continual search for more religious truth compelled him to compare other religious beliefs with his own. His first contact with religious doctrines outside the Baptist fold was with those held by the Shakers whom he met in the Western Reserve. The Shakers were founded in the 1770's by Mother Ann Lee, who claimed to be the female incarnation of God, as Christ was the male incarnation. [[31 Edward D. Andrews, "The People Called Shakers. A Search for the Perfect Society" (New York, 1953), 97. end31]] The Shakers formed common property communities which withdrew from the affairs of the world, practiced celibacy, and waited for eternal judgment. Rigdon was fascinated by some of their beliefs because they enjoyed visions and healings, professed revelations from God, spoke in tongues, and lived in a type of utopian community [[32 Chase, "Sidney Rigdon," 12.]] These Shaker beliefs had been part of Christ's New Testament Church. The Shakers accepted other beliefs which Rigdon rejected, however, such as celibacy and the dual sexuality of God. [[33 Andrews, "People Called Shakers," 158-159. end33]] Rigdon's interest in their doctrines and communistic communities continued for over a decade. [[34 Doctrine and Covenants (Kirtland, 1835), sec. 65:1. (Sidney Rigdon went on a mission to the Shakers in March, 1831, for the Mormons.) end34]] In the spring of 1821 Rigdon and Bentley read a pamphlet by Alexander Campbell and became determined to ask him about his beliefs. For almost a decade after that time the careers of Bentley and Rigdon were linked with Alexander Campbell. From 1813 to 1830 Campbell and his followers were nominally Baptist but in the latter year formed the Disciples of Christ Church. Alexander Campbell was born on September 12, 1788, in County Antrim, Ireland, near Ballymena, where his father was a Presbyterian minister. [[35 Alexander Campbell, "Memoirs of Alexander Campbell, Embracing a View of the Origin, Progress and Principles of the Religious Reformation Which He Advocated," Robert Richardson, ed. (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1868), I, 19. end35]] Young Campbell was educated at Glasgow University, and in 1809 joined his father in Pennsylvania where the elder Campbell had come two years earlier [[36 Walter Wilson Jennings, "Origin and Early History of the Disciples of Christ with Special Reference to the Period Between 1809 and 1835" (Urbana, 1918), 110.]] Alexander Campbell, whose rugged facial features appeared to have been chiseled from stone, became a powerful preacher in Washington County, Pennsylvania, on the western border of the state. The Campbells claimed that at the center of their religious beliefs was the idea that "where the Scriptures speak, we speak; and where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent." [[37 Campbell, "Memoirs," I, 236.]] This affirmation in the literal meaning of the Scriptures caused Campbell to reject first the doctrine of infant baptism and then the Presbyterian Church [[38 Ibid., I, 238.] Campbell also rejected the necessity of ordained ministers, denied the importance of creeds, and believed that each congregation should be an independent church organization. [[39 Jennings, "Origin and Early History of the Disciples," 127-128.]] A group of Campbell's followers formed themselves into what they called the Brush Run Church. From 1811 to 20 Chapter I 1813 the Brush Run congregation was an independent denomination whose members had withdrawn from the Presbyterians. The Pittsburgh Baptist Association had rejected their application for membership. In 1813 the Redstone Baptist Association accepted the Brush Run Church because Campbell had accepted baptism by immersion as the only scripturally justified form. [[40 Sweet, "Religion on the American Frontier: The Baptists," 70. end40]] The name "Redstone" supposedly came from an old Indian fort on the Monongahela River, and the association included the Baptist churches along the Monongahela west of Washington, Pennsylvania, and in the valleys at the western base of the Allegheny Mountains. [[41 Campbell, "Memoirs," I, 436.]] In 1820 the Pennsylvania Baptists were greatly concerned about the Reverend John Walker, who was converting many Baptists to Presbyterianism. Walker was a former Baptist, and the members of the Redstone Baptist Association chose Alexander Campbell, who was an able debater and intimately familiar with both religions, to defend the Baptist cause. Rigdon and Bentley had become interested in Campbell's ideas when they read the published copy of this debate. The debate between Walker and Campbell took place on June 19, 1820, at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, about five miles northwest of Wheeling, (West) Virginia. The ordinance of baptism and its mode was the topic of the debate. Campbell denied the validity of infant baptism and infant sprinkling because they were not found in the New Testament. "If you demand a law for these practices taken from the Scriptures, we cannot find one there, but we must answer that it is tradition that has established them, custom that has authorized them and faith that has made them to be observed." [[42 Ibid., II, 25.]] In the debate Campbell used his principal idea that if an ordinance did not originate in the New Testament it could not be considered essential to salvation. [[43 Ibid., II, 28.]] As a result of the debate the Reverend Walker ceased to be a threat to the Baptists, but Campbell became a definite danger to certain Baptists because of his fame. There were Baptists who never had extended to Campbell the hand of fellowship because "they regarded him as a religious innovator and adventurer without responsibility or conscience, who had no other purpose than to build up a new sect upon the ruins of the Baptist denomination." [[44 Errett Gates, "Early Relation and Separation of Baptists and Disciples" (Chicago, 1904), 51. end44]] The principal differences between Campbell and the Baptists were over baptism, the Lord's Supper, dispensations, ordination, and conversion. Campbell insisted on baptism for the remission of sins upon a confession of faith that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Baptists always insisted upon an examination of a The Search: 1793-1826 21 conversion experience before baptism. The Brush Run Church celebrated the Lord's Supper every Sunday, whereas the other congregations of the Redstone Baptist Association held it only monthly or quarterly. [[45 Ibid., 21-22.]] While Campbell held to the intolerable heresy that Christians were not bound by the Old Testament but only by the New Testament, the Redstone Association regarded all parts of the Bible as equally authoritative and binding. Campbell did not consider the ordination of ministers essential, as did the Baptists, and he exercised the ministerial functions for more than a year before he became an ordained Baptist minister. [[46 Ibid., 23-25.]] Bentley and Rigdon had heard the rumor that the Redstone Association might take action against Campbell, so they decided to see for themselves what type of man this great debater was. In the summer of 1821 Rigdon and Bentley visited Campbell at his home. They discussed the Bible with Campbell, who was delighted to entertain two interested and potentially sympathetic Baptist ministers. "Beginning with the baptism of which John preached, we went back to Adam and forward to the final judgment. The dispensation -- Adamic, Abrahamic, Jewish, and Christian -- passed and repassed before us. Mount Sinai in Arabia, Mount Zion, Mount Tabor, the Red Sea and the Jordan, the Passovers and the Pentecosts, the Law and the Gospel, but especially the ancient order of things and the modern, occasionally engaged our attention." [[47 Campbell, "Memoirs," II, 44-45.]] Alexander Campbell explained that with the aid of his father and his followers he was trying to establish the so-called "ancient order of things" or the restoration of Christ's church as it was in New Testament times. Campbell informed Rigdon and Bentley that he believed that a doctrine had to have its origin in the New Testament in order to be essential to salvation; this difference in authority between the Old and New Testaments was a favorable new idea to Rigdon and Bentley. The conversation among Rigdon, Bentley, and Campbell was lengthy. Campbell commented, "After tea in the evening, we commenced and prolonged our discourse till the next morning." Rigdon's conversations with Campbell marked a turning point in his life. Campbell said that "on parting the next day, Sidney Rigdon, with all apparent candor, said, if he had within the last year taught and promulgated from the pulpit one error, he had a thousand." Campbell happily accepted both Rigdon and Bentley as converts to his cause of 22 Chapter I reformation, but Campbell was worried about Rigdon's compulsive nature and stated, "Fearing they might undo their influence with the people, I felt constrained to restrain rather than to urge them on in the word." [[48 Ibid., II, 44-45]] Rigdon adopted Campbell's goal of the restoration of the "ancient order of things" as his own. Rigdon and Bentley invited Campbell to visit the annual minister's meetings held by the Mahoning Baptist Association, which was extremely fortunate for Campbell because from 1823, when he was driven from the Redstone Association, until 1830, he became active in the Mahoning Association. However, in 1821 Campbell still had considerable influence in certain congregations in the Redstone Association. Campbell visited the Baptist church at Pittsburgh, which belonged to the Redstone Association and found this congregation to be a faction-ridden group of about a hundred members. Campbell, who was impressed with Rigdon's ability and his support, induced him to accept a position as pastor at Pittsburgh. [[49 Jennings, 'Origin and Early History of the Disciples," 157.]] Bentley believed that it was a great opportunity both for the spreading of the gospel and for Rigdon's personal advancement [[50 Rigdon, "Lecture on the Early Mormon Church," 5.]] Sidney Rigdon had considerable success at Pittsburgh and his congregation soon became one of the most respected churches in the city [[51 John Jaques, "The Life and Labors of Sidney Rigdon," Improvement Era, III (1899-1900), 98. end51]] Rigdon possessed a "great fluency and a lively fancy which gave him great popularity as an orator." [[52 Campbell, "Memoirs," II, 47-48.]] Alexander Campbell knew that the opponents of his reformation were going to bring heresy charges against him at their next association meeting to be held in 1823. Campbell asked his Brush Run Baptist Church for letters of honorable dismissal from that congregation for himself and his followers, and the congregation granted his request. The reformers from the Brush Run congregation established a Baptist church at Wellsburg, in southwestern Pennsylvania, which applied for membership in the Mahoning Association. It was due to Bentley's influence that Campbell's Wellsburg Church was accepted as a member of the Mahoning Association. Because of Campbell's rejection of the Old Testament and his own literal interpretation of the New Testament, the Mahoning Association was probably the only Baptist association liberal enough to accept the Wellsburg congregation. [[53 Chase, "Sidney Rigdon," 20.]] During the 1820's Campbell wanted desperately to remain within the confines of the Baptist movement until his reformation was strong enough to survive unassisted. The Mahoning Baptist Association became the nucleus from which the Disciples of Christ Church was formed in 1830. Some of the ministers in the Redstone Association regarded Rigdon The Search: 1793-1826 23 as Campbell's outspoken disciple, and they were determined to drive him out of Pittsburgh. While Rigdon's so-called "peculiar style of preaching" had filled the church, certain influential members of the congregation saw in it cause for alarm [[54 Ibid., 14.]] When the Redstone Association met in 1824 the ministers who comprised it brought charges against Rigdon for not being sound in the faith. The ministers who tried him "denied him the liberty of speaking in self defense." [[55 Sworn statement by Carvel Rigdon and Peter Boyer dated January 27, 1843, quoted in Chase, "Sidney Rigdon," 14.]] Rigdon resigned his pastorate and "declared a non-fellowship with them." [[56 Ibid., 14.]] At the time of Rigdon's separation from his pastorate in Pittsburgh he had a wife and three daughters to support. During the years from 1824 to 1826 he worked in Pittsburgh as a journeyman tanner for his wife's brother; this was a scant living when compared to his pastorate, but it provided the necessities of life. [[57 Ibid., 16.]] He would not leave Pittsburgh but continued to stay and proclaim Campbell's ideas about the restoration of "the ancient order of things." Rigdon obtained permission to preach in the courthouse on Sundays, [[58 Ibid., 16.]] and his meetings were attended by a portion of his former Pittsburgh Baptist congregation who followed him into religious exile. In 1826 Rigdon left Pennsylvania to return to the Western Reserve to accept a pastorate at Mentor, Ohio, which was in the Mahoning Baptist Association. By this time he had become a confirmed minister of the gospel, who felt compelled to convert souls to the restoration. No other occupation or profession could satisfy the longing within his own being. Rigdon echoed the plight of Apostle Paul, whom he so often sought to copy: "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel." [[59 First Corinthians 1:16]]
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[ 41 ]
Kirtland, the Headquarters of the Early Mormon Church: 1830-1832 DURING THE LAST MONTHS of 1830 Mormon missionaries swept through the Western Reserve making converts in almost every community. The majority of the Mormons were centered around the towns of Mentor and Kirtland, where Rigdon's followers had provided a nucleus for the gathering of later converts. In 1831 Joseph Smith moved to Kirtland, which became the headquarters of the Mormon Church. The first few years after Rigdon's conversion to Mormonism were dynamic times of spiritual strength interspersed with the organizational problems of firmly establishing the Church in the Western Reserve. Rigdon believed he had found God's latter-day Prophet, who had commissioned him to proclaim the fulness of the gospel to the children of men. After Rigdon became convinced that the Book of Mormon was divinely inspired, he desired to meet Joseph Smith. When Rigdon joined the Mormon movement, he believed in the righteousness of its doctrine and leaders, but he had never met the Prophet. In December, 1830, Rigdon and Edward Partridge, a young hatter from Painesville, Ohio, who had been converted to Campbellism by Sidney Rigdon, [[1 Times and Seasons, November 1, 1843]] called at the house of Joseph Smith at Manchester, New York, about a day's ride on horseback southeast of Rochester. Partridge, although not a Mormon, had read the Book of Mormon and was most interested in the sect because of Rigdon's conversion. Partridge was a mild, even-tempered man who was known for his business sense. Both Rigdon and Partridge wanted personal proof that Joseph Smith, Jr., was really a Prophet of God, as Pratt and Cowdery had claimed. After Rigdon and Partridge had stayed in the Smith home a short while, they attended a service at which Joseph Smith preached: at the end of the sermon Smith asked whether anyone in the congregation wished to make any remarks. Partridge rose to his feet and testified that he had come in order to obtain information concerning the doctrine
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given in the presence of the elders and recorded in longhand by one of them. [[42. Pratt, Autobiography, 65-66. end42]] The revelation first condemned the perpetrators of the religious hoaxes. "But wo [sic] unto them that are deceivers and hypocrites, for thus saith the Lord, I will bring them to judgment. Behold, verily I say unto you, there are hypocrites among you, who have deceived some, which has given the adversary power." [[43 Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 17:3. end43]] The revelation directed Pratt and John Corrill, a faithful elder, to "go forth among the churches and strengthen them by the word of exhortation." [[44. Ibid., sec. 17:8.]] Pratt and Corrill were generally successful in restoring order in the Mormon congregations. The revelation given through Smith gave a general rule to the Elders by which to determine whether or not a certain religious experience was genuine: "If you behold a spirit manifested that you cannot understand, and you receive not that spirit, ye shall ask the Father in the name of Jesus; and if he gives not unto you that spirit, then you may know that it is not of God." [[45. Ibid., sec. 17:7.]] Its meaning was, simply, that if an Elder prayed to feel the spirit which someone else manifested, and he did not experience the same spirit, then the spirit was not of God. Besides the actions of Fuller, Basset, and Riggs, apostasy among the Mormons during their first year in Ohio contributed extensively to the anti-Mormon opposition in the area. The apostasy of Ezra Booth and Simonds Ryder had almost disastrous consequences for the Mormon movement; it was a particularly tragic episode in Rigdon's religious career because he nearly lost his life, and he temporarily lost his license to preach in the Mormon Church. After his conversion Booth induced his friend, Simonds Ryder, a Campbellite minister, to visit the Mormons at Kirtland. There Ryder heard a young Mormon girl predict the destruction of Peking, China; when he read of Peking's destruction in the newspapers a month later, he joined the Church. [[46. Ibid., sec. 17:8.]] Booth was commissioned by Smith as a missionary to Missouri, and Ryder was called to preach in Ohio. In a revelation given on June 7, 1831, Ryder's name was incorrectly spelled "Rider," [[47. Parkin, "The Nature and Causes of Internal and External Conflict of the Mormons," 102.]] which led to his rejection of Smith as a true prophet and his subsequent denunciation of Mormonism. [[48. Ibid., 102-103.]] Ryder apparently reasoned that in a true revelation from God his name would have been spelled correctly. Booth was disgruntled about the Missouri missionary journey because Smith and Rigdon rode in a carriage while he was forced to walk. Booth also rebelled against the Mormon custom of asking for work or handouts in order to sustain himself during his journey. He felt that Rigdon had received preferred treatment, and that this was unjust because Booth's reputation as a
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minister before he joined the Mormons had been comparable to Rigdon's. [[49. Ohio Star, November 10, 1831.]] Both Booth and Ryder left the Mormon movement in disgust.The apostasy of Ezra Booth was good news to the anti-Mormons; the Reverend Ira Eddy of Nelson, Portage County, Ohio, requested Booth to make public his observations and criticisms of the Mormons. [[50. Parkin, "The Nature and Causes of Internal and External Conflict of the Mormons," 103.]] Booth wrote a series of nine letters to Eddy which appeared in the Ohio Star at Ravenna between October 13 and December 8, 1831. On October 6 Lewis L. Rice, editor of the Star, printed an announcement of Booth's series of letters: "We shall commence next week the publication of several numbers on the subject of Mormonism -- being an exposition of that delusion, by the Rev. Mr. Booth, who, as many of our readers are aware, about a year since embraced their faith, but has recently become convinced of their hypocrisy and has publicly withdrawn from them." [[51. Ohio Star, October 13, 1831.]] Booth wrote that his purpose in exposing Mormonism was to prevent others from being converted and to persuade those already snared to leave it. Booth made three major objections of Mormonism: the inconsistencies in Smith's revelations, the despotism of the leaders, and Joseph Smith's unfitness to be a religious leader. Booth claimed that Smith, Rigdon, and Cowdery "can at any time obtain a commandment suited to their desires, and as their desires fluctuate and become reversed, they get a new one to supersede the other, and hence the contradictions which abound in this species of revelations." [[52. Ibid, November 24, 1831.]] A revelation given to Smith on August 8, 1831, declared that Smith, Rigdon, and Cowdery should take the stage to Cincinnati to preach the gospel while the other missionaries walked from St. Louis to Kirtland, two by two. [[53. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 70:2.]] However, after arriving at Cincinnati Smith's party did little preaching, but received another revelation to return to Kirtland. [[54 Ibid., 71:5.]] Booth interpreted these revelations as selfish expedients upon the part of the ruling clique of Mormonism -- Smith, Rigdon, and Cowdery. [[55. Parkin, "The Nature and Cause of Internal and External Conflict of the Mormons," 108.]] Smith was despotic, wrote Booth, because he allowed no one else to receive revelations. [[56. Ohio Star, December 8, 1831.]] "It is clearly and explicity stated, that the right of delivering written commandments, and revelations, belongs exclusively to Smith, and no other person can interfere, without being guilty of sacrilege." [[57. Ibid., December 8, 1831.]] Booth claimed that the elders were obliged to
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conform to Smith's revelations in both large and small concerns and that Mormonism was a conspiracy to subject the innocent to servitude. "But when viewing it as an instance of a deep laid scheme, and the cunning artifice of crafty impostors, designed to allure the credulous and the unsuspecting, into a state of unqualified vassalage," he continued, "it presents a melancholy picture of the direful depravity of the human heart." [[58. Ibid., November 10, 1831.]] Booth described Smith and Rigdon as weak characters who had no business leading a church. He wrote to Partridge, who, he felt, would soon defect and thus add substantially to the anti-Mormon cause, and asked, "Have you not often discovered in him [Smith], a spirit of lightness, and levity, a temper of mind easily irritated, and an habitual proneness to jesting and joking?" [[59. Ibid., November 24, 1831.]] He accused Smith and Rigdon of cowardice because they were apprehensive about the dangers of water travel after an incident in which their canoe overturned. [[60. Parkin, "The Nature and Cause of Internal and External Conflict of the Mormons," 113.]] In November, 1831, the Star declared that Booth's letters were "exerting an important influence in opening the eyes of many of the really deluded subjects of Mormonism." [[61. Ohio Star, October 20, 1831.]] Ambrose Palmer, who had been converted to Mormonism by Booth earlier in the year, noticed that the letters gave the church "such a coloring or appearance of falsehood, that the public feeling was that Mormonism was overthrown." [[62. "Journal History," December 29, 1831.]] The Mormon Church responded by sending out a number of elders, including Rigdon, David Whitmer, and Thomas B. Marsh, to visit the branches, thereby quieting any doubts among the Saints. [[63. The Mormons were most concerned about Booth's attack on their Prophet and their religion, but he was exceedingly mild when compared to anti-Mormon exposes which followed. For example, see Alexander Campbell, Delusions... (note 87 above, p. 153); E. D. Howe, Mormonism Unveiled... (note 75 above, p. 152); John Cook Bennett, The History of the Saints or an Expose of Joe Smith and the Mormons (Boston, 1842). end63]] Rigdon made a public announcement demanding a debate with Booth over his letters, which were, according to Rigdon, "unfair and false representations of the subject on which they treat." [[64. Ohio Star, December 29, 1831.]] The debate was scheduled for Christmas Day, 1831, at Ravenna, but Booth failed to show up. Rigdon pressed his absent opponent with the zeal of a defender of the truth who had just vanquished a bitter foe. He claimed that Booth "dare not appear in their defense because he knew his letters were false, and would not bear the test of investigation." [[65. Quoted in Messenger and Advocate, January, 1836.]] Booth was stung by these accusations and attempted some defense through the Star, but editor Rice realized this would start an endless controversy and so rejected Booth's reply. Rigdon had also challenged Simonds Ryder to debate with him on Christmas Day, but Ryder refused, declaring that Rigdon's "irascible temper, loquacious extravagance, impaired state of mind, and want of respect to his superiors would render him in such a place, unmanageable." [[66. Ohio Star, December 29, 1831.]]
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Rigdon said that Ryder was the accuser but would not support his accusation in public; "nay, but [he] seeks to hide himself behind a battery of reproach, and abuse, and low insinuations." [[67. Ibid., January 12, 1832.]] In March, 1832, Rigdon visited Smith, who was living with the John Johnson family of Hiram, Ohio. The Prophet and Rigdon renewed their task of translating the Scriptures. Simonds Ryder plotted to rid his community of the Mormons because in "perhaps no other place except Kirtland, did the Latter-Day Saints gain a more permanent footing than in Hiram." [[68. Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, 220.]] The Geauga Gazette stated that a mob of about thirty people, stimulated by whiskey and disguised with colored faces, attacked Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon and tarred and feathered them. [[69. Geauga Gazette, April 17, 1832.]] It was Smith who described the mob's violence, because Rigdon suffered a brain concussion and was unconscious during the ordeal. On the night of March 24 the mob burst into the house where Smith was staying, grabbed him from his bed, and attempted to take him out into the snow. "I made a desperate struggle, as I was forced out, to extricate myself, but only cleared one leg, with which I made a pass at one man, and he fell on the door steps. I was immediately over-powered again." The mob swore they would kill him "if I did not be still, which quieted me." The man whom Smith kicked came at him all covered with blood, muttering, "God damn ye, I'll fix ye!" [[70. Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Brigham H. Roberts, ed. (6 vols., Salt Lake City, 1951), I, 261-262.]] They choked Smith until he lost consciousness. [[71. The man whom Smith kicked was named Waste. According to Luke Johnson, Waste was regarded as the strongest man in the Western Reserve and had boasted that he could take Smith out of the house by himself. "At the time they were taking him [Smith] out of the house, Waste had hold of one foot. Joseph Smith drew up his leg and gave him a kick, which sent him sprawling into the street. He afterwards said that the Prophet was the most powerful man he ever had hold of in his life." Millennial Star, XXVI (1865), 835.]] Smith regained his wits when he was exposed to the freezing winter wind. "I saw Elder Rigdon stretched out on the ground, whither they had dragged him by his heels; I supposed he was dead." The mob decided to tar and feather them instead of killing them, as some urged. "Simonds, Simonds [Ryder], where's the tar bucket?" "I don't know. 'Tis where Eli's left it." Rigdon remained unconscious while he was tarred and feathered,but Smith continued to struggle. The mob yelled, "Let us tar his mouth." Someone tried to force the tar-paddle into Smith's mouth, but he twisted his head too much. "They then tried to force a vial into my mouth, and broke it in my teeth." A doctor named Dennison, a member of the mob, had prepared the vial, which contained nitric acid. The cramming of the vial into Smith's mouth damaged his palate and broke one of his teeth, which subsequently caused a whistling sound when he spoke. [[72. Parkin, "The Nature and Causes of Internal and External Conflict of the Mormons," 251.]] Doctor Dennison had been appointed to emasculate Smith and Rigdon, but seeing the naked bodies stretched out in the snow, his resolve weakened and he refused to operate. [[73. Millennial Star, XXVI (1865), 834.]] Ryder said that the attack on Smith and Rigdon "had
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the desired effect, which was to get rid of them. They soon left for Kirtland." [[74. Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, 220. Smith's adopted son, Joseph Murdoch, caught pneumonia when the mob broke into his home, and the boy died on March 29, 1832.]] Smith visited Rigdon after this violent episode and "found him crazy and his head highly inflamed, for they had dragged him by his heels" on frozen ground. [[75. "The feathers which were used with the tar on this occasion, the,mob took out of Elder Rigdon's house. After they seized him, and dragged him out, one of the banditti returned to get some pillows; when the women [including Phebe Rigdon] shut him in and kept him prisoner some time." Smith, History of the Church, I, 265.]] "When he saw me [Smith] he called for his wife to bring him a razor. She asked him what he wanted of it, and he said to kill me." Mrs. Rigdon left the room and he demanded that the Prophet bring him a razor because he wanted to kill his wife. According to Smith "he continued delirious some days." [[76. Ibid., I, 265.]] Rigdon was removed by his family to Kirtland, where he continued to suffer from delusions. He attended a prayer meeting soon after his arrival and disturbed the congregation with his incoherent ranting and rambling. They sent for Joseph Smith, and Rigdon was tried before a church court the next day for lying in the name of the Lord. Smith told him he must suffer for what he had done and "that he sould be delivered over to the buffeting of Satan who would handle him like one man would another." Smith demanded that Rigdon give up his priesthood license, [[77. Smith, Biographical Sketches, 95-96.]] and Rigdon complied and repented. He believed he must have offended God and was being punished, but he never understood what had happened at the prayer meeting. Lucy Smith, who had witnessed his behavior at the church service and his subsequent humiliation, stated, "One thing is certain, his contrition of soul was as great as a man could well live through. After he had sufficiently humbled himself, he received another license." [[78. Ibid., 95-96.]] The first two years of Mormonism in the Western Reserve had brought Rigdon both tremendous religious experiences and heartaches. He had been exalted by Smith, but also chastened; this was a phenomenon of their relationship which continued until Smith's assassination. Mormonism had grown in the Western Reserve, and its internal contentions and external persecutions had forged a hard core of Mormons who unhesitatingly followed the direction of their Prophet. Rigdon was one of the most faithful of Joseph Smith's followers, and the revocation of his license did not change his loyalties. In 1832 Smith represented to Rigdon the fullness of the gospel because he believed Smith was God's Prophet and the translator of the Book of Mormon. |
Note: Entire contents copyright © 1971 by F. Mark McKiernan.
Only limited, "fair use" excerpts reproduced here.
Note: Entire contents copyright © 1971 by F. Mark McKiernan.
Only limited, "fair use" excerpts reproduced here.
Note: Entire contents copyright © 1971 by F. Mark McKiernan.
Only limited, "fair use" excerpts reproduced here.
Note: Entire contents copyright © 1971 by F. Mark McKiernan.
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Note: Entire contents copyright © 1971 by F. Mark McKiernan.
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[ 147 ]
(All notes from pp. 147-170 relocated within the text.) |
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[ 181 ]
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Transcriber's Comments F. Mark McKiernan: Rigdon's Second Biographer 
01. Place of McKiernan in Modern Mormon Studies F. Mark McKiernan (1940-1997) in many ways personally embodied the changes in self-image and purpose that swept through the RLDS Church in the 1960s and 1970s. On one hand, he was an old fashioned defender of the religion of his fathers -- always ready to use his knowledge and dry humor to help direct a younger generation's attention back to a simpler, generally more faith-promoting view of the Latter Day Saints' restoration movement. On the other hand, he was a thoughtful, educated RLDS of the new era, struggling to utilize the methods of a professional historian in the midst of a body of believers who still mistrusted "the learned" and were who still wondered if the sacred tales of the Saints were not meant "to confound the wise." Mark was a restorationist in more than one sense of the term. Besides eventually serving as a pastor in South Crysler RLDS congregation of Independence, MO, he also took an active interest in the documentation and physical reconstruction of sites and structures important in Mormon history. His interest in these matters sprang from an Iowa family tradition in the Reogranization and from his own personal historical research, which dated back to his doctoral studies at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. McKiernan's 1968 University of Kansas dissertation was entitled, "The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness: Sidney Rigdon, Religious Reformer, 1793-1876." and the present book review looks at a portion of the published version, bearing the same title. From Kansas Mark moved to Pocatello, Idaho and taught in the History Department at Idaho State University as an associate professor. His close proximity to the historical collections of Utah libraries brought the young researcher into contact with scholars of Mormon history in that state, and, by the Summer of 1970, Mark had gained provisional acceptance for the publication of his Sidney Rigdon study by the University of Utah Press as a part of its projected Biography of Mormon Leaders series. These plans were announced in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Summer 1970), in an introduction to that journal's printing of an excerpt from the dissertation, under the title of, "The Conversion of Sidney Rigdon to Mormonism." 02. The First Published Rigdon Biography As it turned out McKiernan's work never saw dissemination in Utah and he was forced to turn to the Coronado Press at Lawrence, Kansas to get his dissertation into print in 1971. Even shorn of its University of Utah credentials, the book was the first biography of Mormon leader Sidney Rigdon ever placed on the sales rack. Rigdon's history was never a popular subject for LDS or RLDS writers before McKiernan rehabilitated the neglected Mormon apostate with a telling of his story from a perspective that focused largely on Rigdon's supposed role as a forerunner to Joseph Smith, the founding of Mormonism, and a still awaited Millennial reign of Christ. LDS skepticism on the value of such a biography cleared the playing field of other literary contenders and for 23 years McKiernan's Sidney Rigdon was the only substantial report on the Mormon leader available to either the specialized scholar or the casual reader of restoration history. There had been a previous Rigdon biography written and offered to the publishers of the previous century. This was William H. Whitsitt's "Sidney Rigdon, the Real Founder of Mormonism." McKiernan had looked over the manuscript of this earlier attempt at biographical reporting (then available as a microfilm in Stanley Ivins' personal collection in Salt Lake City) but he apparently made little use of its contents. With the Whitsitt effort unknown to all but a few researchers and archivists, McKiernan's volume quickly became the standard reference on Rigdon and it saw repeated limited printings at Coronado Press until McKiernan turned over the rights to the RLDS owned Herald House publishers in 1979. The slender 190 page paperback is still listed for sale in that bookseller's 1998 Catalog. 03. Contents of the Book The chapters of McKiernan's book are as follows: Chapter 1: The Search, 1793-1826 (13 pp.); Chapter 2: The Advent of Mormonism into the Western Reserve (16 pp.); Chapter 3: Kirtland, the Headquarters of the Early Mormon Church, 1830-1832 (16 pp.); Chapter 4: Crisis at Kirtland (23 pp.); Chapter 5: Mormonism on the Defensive: Far West, 1838-1839 (19 pp.); Chapter 6: Nauvoo: 1839-1842 (14 pp.); Chapter 7: A Stranger Among the Children of God, 1842-1844 (17 pp.); Chapter 8: Lonely is He Who Understands, 1844-1876 (13 pp.) These chapters are followed by 24 pages of notes and the book is finished up with a 9 page "Bibliographical Essay" and a rather slight attempt at furnishing an index. As we can see from the above list, less than 8% of McKiernan's reporting is devoted to the 36 years Rigdon spent outside of the Mormon Church following his unsuccessful 1844 bid for the leadership of that organization. In fact, nearly all of McKiernan's basic framework for Sidney Rigdon was derived from Mormon publications written prior to 1850. The author's lack of personal inquiry into primary sources shows up most distressingly at the beginning and the end of Rigdon's story, during those time-periods where the biographer was unable to consult the research of other reporters for detailed information. It was McKiernan's failure to conduct substantial research at the primary source level which limited the value of his dissertation in 1968 and it was this same lack of detailed information (coupled with some spotty and amateurish reporting) which made both necessary and inevitable Richard S. VanWagoner's 500 page 1994 Sidney Rigdon, A Portrait of Religious Excess. I am not saying that Mark's book was not a needed or useful volume at the time of its initial writing. Even as a 200 page extended biographical sketch it offered its readers some good material not otherwise available between two covers. But even the least sophisticated of readers in restoration history might come away from a perusal of this tome wondering how the author ever was able to finagle a Ph.D. degree based upon its contents. Mark was ahead of his time in making selective use of non-Mormon sources (primarily anti-Mormon publications) in his information gathering; his bibliography includes writers from William H. Whitsitt to Fawn Brodie. But he nowhere states the methodology he used to extract reliable information from those sources. Nor does he admit the problems encountered by the serious historian in making reliable selections from "Church approved" Mormon sources. In short, we might say that the writer produced an attempt at projecting the objective inquiry required by his dissertation review committee, while apparently writing an old-fashioned "faith-promoting" book tuned to the ears of an RLDS Sunday School class. Important matters of controversy in Rigdon's life are passed over with only a few comments, while the readers are forced to suffer through useless descriptions of half a dozen Saintly noses and other boring details of physiognomy. Where we might look for an insightful account of Rigdon's obscure personal relationships with Alexander Campbell or John C. Bennett, we come away with an over-generalized opinion of how Rigdon's personal characteristics measured up to those of one of his contemporaries. Such stuff is practically useless to the inquiring student of early Mormonism. Marvin S. Hill, in his Summer 1972 Dialogue review of the book, saw the volume as being "disappointing," and full of "deficiencies," a report that "shows signs of haste: factual and interpretive errors, clumsy writing, poor conceptualization, inadequate research." But, while Hill is quick to point out several of McKiernan's "factual mistakes," the reviewer treads lightly in those areas where McKiernan himself was less than critical regarding Rigdon's possible motives, experiences, and impact upon nascent Mormonism. Hill is certainly correct in saying that McKiernan's work "lacks finesse;" to stumble through his notes (even after numerous reprintings) is enough to make even the most forgiving reader cuss at McKiernan's haphazard use of the critical apparatus. Hill comes closest to identifying what may be the major flaw in McKiernan's reporting in saying that "the book suffers more fundamentally in that the theme of Rigdon as religious reformer is not developed consistently. McKiernan does not tell us enough of Alexander Campbell as reformer nor does he treat early Mormonism as a reformation (or re-formation) of American Christianity. Thus Rigdon's attraction to these movements is not adequately explained." We might suppose that a William H. Whitsitt or a Richard S. VanWagoner would (and did) write massively about just such a topic, and that they would wonder why McKiernan ignored exploring his own chosen thesis so uniformly throughout the pages of this biography. This lack of exposition of McKiernan's part may, however, be partly explained by Rigdon's odd reticence to step forward and claim the glories of latter day leadership, whether as a Reformed Baptist, a Mormon, or as the ostensible head of his own splinter group. Rigdon always acted like a man who was hiding some dark secret and perhaps McKiernan did not care to explore too deeply into what that secret might have been. He offers some bland comments on how Rigdon's probable mental illness was not caused by a childhood injury to the head, but he bypasses the opportunity to inquire into the man's erratic behavior throughout his lengthy life. The author also shirks the responsibility of reporting on Rigdon's reliability and honesty as a spiritual seeker and religious leader. Did he in fact manufacture a conversion experience to gain entrance into the Baptist denomination? Did he "lie in the name of the Lord" both in Ohio and Nauvoo? Were his post-excommunication revelations a product of self-delusion or bare-faced priestcraft? These are the sorts of questions we would like to see answered concerning Mr. Rigdon, but neither McKiernan nor Hill ever took their discussions so far as to provide us with that information William D. Russell, in his Summer 1973 BYU Studies review of McKiernan's work was a bit more forgiving than Hill, but only marginally so. Russell welcomed McKiernan's offering of a "chapter on Rigdon before his contact with Joseph Smith" and noted that McKiernan had some insight into "the effectiveness of the Book of Mormon in winning people to the Church." Here is another segment of Rigdon's life that calls for exploration and explanation. What were the theological and ecclesiastical elements in the Book of Mormon and early Mormon doctrine which so enraptured Sidney Rigdon? How could a Reformed Baptist, just lately broken away from the apron-strings of Alexander Campbell, take such a "new revelation" and almost immediately upon finishing his reading of its contents go about preaching an exuberant sermon on its complexities before a skeptical audience in Palmyra, NY? Russell says that McKiernan did well do portray both "Rigdon and Parley P. Pratt . . . as finding the Book of Mormon convincing because . . . it 'contained answers for many of the problems which had plagued'" these Campbellite apostates. But exactly what was it that the Book of Mormon offered that Alexander Campbell did not offer? And exactly how did Reformed Baptists like Rigdon and Pratt make use of that "new revelation" in bringing forth and establishing the cause of Joseph Smith, Jr.? Russell notes in his review that "there are a number of places where greater editorial care could have helped prevent unclear or confusing statements." It is unfortunate that McKiernan's initial efforts to seek publication through the University of Utah failed -- for the specialized editorial craftsmanship he might have been subjected to that institution probably would have resulted in a total re-researching and re-writing of this sadly aborted Rigdon biography. Russell also points out that "McKiernan seems to show an RLDS bias..." and that he accepts "uncritically" what can only be called the RLDS party line. This perhaps explains why Herald House continues to issue the book, without even taking the trouble to correct its typographical errors. It was the product of immature scholarship and it is continued in its circulation by publishers unable or unwilling to admit that fact, so long as it makes the Reorganized Latter Day Saints look good in their own, limited self-inspection. 04. Some Specific Problems As it my intention to limit the scope of this review to topics germane to the Solomon Spalding Authorship Theory for the Book of Mormon, I'll focus my own attention on what McKiernan had to say about Rigdon's activities as they might pertain to that particular theory. under construction Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought Vol. 5, No. 2 Summer 1970 [p.71] The Conversion of Sidney Rigdon to Mormonism F. Mark McKiernan F. Mark McKiernan teaches in the History Department at Idaho State University. The following article is part of a larger study on Sidney Rigdon soon to be published by the University of Utah Press in its Biography of Mormon Leaders series: A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS: SIDNEY RIGDON, RELIGIOUS REFORMER. This article is printed here with the permission of the University of Utah Press. Late in October 1830, four tired Mormon missionaries reached the village of Mentor, Ohio. Their leader, Parley P. Pratt, had persuaded them to walk two hundred miles out of their way to bring the message of the Book of Mormon to his friend, Sidney Rigdon. It was to be a most opportune meeting for both Rigdon and the representatives of the infant Mormon movement. The Book of Mormon gave Rigdon answers to questions which he had been asking for years. The Mormon movement was to him the end of his quest for the fullness of the gospel as Jesus had taught it in New Testament times. Mormonism found in Rigdon a mighty spokesman and dedicated leader. [p.71 - p.72] Rigdon was one of the best known and respected revivalists in the Western Reserve. He had been an important leader among the Mahoning Baptist Association and then the Disciples of Christ. However, in the spring of 1830 Rigdon had separated himself and his Mentor congregation from the Campbellite fellowship. When the Mormon missionaries visited him, Rigdon was desperately searching for a religious organization which contained the fullness of the New Testament gospel. Pratt and his companions brought to Rigdon and his congregation the claims of a latter-day prophet, a new religion, and a new Scripture. "They professed to be special messengers of the Living God, sent to preach the Gospel in its purity, as it was anciently preached by the Apostles." [[1John Corrill, Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints (Commonly Called Mormons) Including an Account of Their Doctrine and Discipline with the Reasons of the author for Leaving the Church (St. Louis, 1839), p. 7. Hereafter cited as Corrill. end1]] This claim greatly excited Rigdon, as he had constantly tried and failed to establish the "ancient order of things" in Alexander Campbell's religious movement. Rigdon was nevertheless very skeptical of Mormonism because "they had with them a new revelation, which they said had been translated from certain gold plates that had been deposited in a hill" (Corrill, p. 7). Pratt offered to debate the matter, but Rigdon refused; he preferred to learn about Joseph Smith, who claimed to be a prophet, and to read the Book of Mormon. He believed that if this religious body really contained the New Testament gospel in its purity he would know it through inspiration. Rigdon fervently hoped that this new movement would give the solution to his search for religious truth. [p.72] Rigdon's consuming passion for the truth and his pursuit of knowledge began when he was a boy on his father's farm near St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Sidney's brother, Loammi, was unable to earn a living by farming because some undescribed illness made him unfit to work in the fields. "It was the rule in the country, that when a boy was too feeble to work on a farm they would send him to school to give him an education." Loammi's parents sent him to Transylvania Medical School at Lexington, Kentucky. William Rigdon, Sidney's father, believed that he could afford higher education for one of his sons if compelled by necessity, but not for more than one. "Sidney Rigdon wanted to go to school and pleaded with his father and mother to let him go with his brother . . . , but they would not consent to let him go, saying to him, he was able to work on the farm." [2John W. Rigdon, "Lecture on Early Mormon Church," delivered at Salt Lake City in 1906 (holograph manuscript on deposit at the Washington State Historical Society Library). Hereafter cited as Rigdon. end2]] Sidney Rigdon had learned to read at a log schoolhouse near his home. A rudimentary education was generally considered sufficient; as late as 1816 fewer than one quarter of the school- age children in the neighboring area of Pittsburgh were receiving any formal education. [[3Richard C. Wade, The Urban Frontier: The Rise of Western Cities, 1770-1830 (Cambridge, 1959), p. 136. end3]] When he was not allowed to accompany his brother to medical school, Sidney rebelled against his father's authority. He told his parents that "he would have as good an education as his brother got and they could not prevent it" (Rigdon, p. 3). He read all the books he could borrow from his neighbors. His particular interests were history and the Bible and these two sources of information became the undergirdings of his intellectual life. [p.72 - p.73] William Rigdon, a stern Baptist farmer who had no tolerance for idleness, believed that a young man with a sound body should not waste time reading books. He would not allow Sidney a candle by which to read at night, so the boy gathered hickory bark, which was plentiful around the farm. "He used to get it [the bark] and at night throw it on the old fireplace and then lay with his face headed towards the fire and read history till near morning unless his parents got up and drove him to bed before that time." [p.73] History and the Bible became one for Sidney Rigdon. The Bible told the history of a so-called "chosen people," and Rigdon interpreted the history of the world since New Testament times in terms of biblical prophecy. He did not share the interests of the other farm youths in his neighborhood. "He was never known to play with the boys; reading books was the greatest pleasure he could get" (Rigdon, p. 3). In 1817 Rigdon professed to have had a conversion experience. His pastor, the Reverend David Phillips of the Peter Creek Church, encouraged him to became a Baptist minister. After his father died in 1819, Sidney supported his mother on the family farm. During this time he continued to read constantly. He taught himself English grammar, which made his language very precise. At the age of twenty-six, Sidney set out to find a new life for himself, and his mother went to live with her daughter, Lacy Boyer. Rigdon's knowledge of the Bible and history and his excellent command of English greatly aided his career when he chose to become a minister of the gospel. He spent the winter of 1818-19 with the Reverend Andrew Clark of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Rigdon read the Bible with Clark and received a license to preach to a Baptist congregation. Sidney Rigdon soon acquired a reputation as a powerful preacher and an effective minister. He was "an orator of no inconsiderable abilities," according to a contemporary, and "his personal influence with an audience was very great." He was of "full medium height, rotund of form, or countenance, while speaking, open and winning, with a little cast of melancholy." His actions were graceful, "his language copious, fluent in utterance, with articulation clear and musical." [[4 Amos S. Hayden, Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, Ohio: With Biographic Sketches of the Principal Agents in Their Religious Movement (Cincinnati, 1876), pp. 103- 04. Hereafter cited as Hayden. end4]] He was five feet, nine and a half inches in height and weighed around 215 pounds. His hair and beard framed a fine-featured face which mirrored his emotions. His countenance was both handsome and striking. His personal manner and friendliness won him many lasting friendships. He loved to meet the members of a congregation, shake their hands, and tell them his personal testimony. He was an excellent conversationalist and took a genuine interest in the lives of the people he met. He believed it was his mission to urge all to repent and accept the gospel which he preached. Rigdon looked, acted, and sounded like a religious leader. [p.73 - p.74] In May 1819, Sidney Rigdon left the Reverend Andrew Clark's home in order to work with Adamson Bentley, the popular Baptist minister of Warren, Ohio, about fourteen miles northwest of Youngstown. Through Bentley he met Miss Phebe Brooks, Mrs. Bentley's sister, and on June 12, 1820, Rigdon and Miss Brooks were married. Adamson Bentley was one of the founders of the Mahoning Baptist Association. Baptists on the frontier often organized several congregations into an association in order to protect their group against heresy, to devise better ways to spread the gospel, and to encourage fellowship among the ministers. Both Bentley and Rigdon were active in the Mahoning Association; Rigdon enjoyed a reputation as a great orator among his fellow ministers, and Bentley was elected three times as moderator, the highest office of the Association. [[5 Minutes of meetings of the Mahoning Baptist Association on August 31, 1825, August 25, 1826, and August 23, 1827, quoted in Mary A. M. Smith, "A History of the Mahoning Baptist Association" (Master's thesis, University of West Virginia, 1943), Appendix, p. 28. end5]] [p.74] In the spring of 1821 Rigdon and Bentley read a pamphlet by Alexander Campbell and decided to question him about his beliefs. For almost a decade after that time the careers of Rigdon and Bentley were to be linked with Alexander Campbell. Rigdon and Bentley visited Campbell at his home, where they discussed the Bible. Campbell explained that with the aid of his father and their followers he was trying to establish the so-called "ancient order of things," or the restoration of Christ's church as it was in New Testament times. Campbell told his visitors that he believed doctrine had to have its origin in the New Testament in order to be essential to salvation; the idea of a difference in authority between the Old and New Testaments struck Rigdon favorably. The conversation was lengthy. Campbell commented, "After tea in the evening, we commenced and prolonged our discourse till the next morning." Rigdon's conversation with Campbell marked a turning point in his life and he became a biblical literalist. According to Campbell, "On parting the next day, Sidney Rigdon, with all apparent candor, said, if he had within the last year taught and promulgated from the pulpit one error, he had a thousand." Campbell happily accepted both Rigdon and Bentley as converts to his cause of reformation, but he worried about Rigdon's compulsive nature: "Fearing they might undo their influence with the people, I felt constrained to restrain rather than to urge them on in the work." [[6Alexander Campbell, Memoirs of Alexander Campbell Embracing a View of the Origin, Progress and Principles of the Religious Reformation Which He Advocated, Robert Richardson, ed. (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1868), 2:44-45. Hereafter cited as Campbell. end6]] Rigdon adopted Campbell's goal of the restoration of the "ancient order of things" as his own. Campbell induced Rigdon to accept a position as pastor of the First Baptist Church at Pittsburgh, a member of the Redstone Baptist Association. Rigdon had considerable success at Pittsburgh and his congregation soon became one of the most respected in the city. He possessed a "great fluency and a lively fancy which gave him great popularity as an orator (Campbell 2:44-45). [p.74 - p.75] When Campbell was driven from the Redstone Association because of what some of the members regarded as heretical ideas, ministers who considered Rigdon to be Campbell's outspoken disciple were determined to drive him out of Pittsburgh as well. While Rigdon's so celled "peculiar style of preaching" had filled the church, certain influential members of the congregation saw in it cause for alarm. When the Redstone Association met in 1824, the ministers who comprised it brought charges against Rigdon for not being sound in the faith, that is, for being a follower of Campbell. The ministers who tried him "denied him the liberty of speaking in self-defense." Rigdon resigned his pastorale and "declared a non-fellowship with them." [[7Sworn statement by Carvel Rigdon and Peter Boyer dated January 27, 1843, quoted in Daryl Chase, "Sidney Rigdon--Early Mormon" (Master's thesis, University of Chicago, 1931), p. 14. end7]] [p. 75] Because Rigdon had a wife and three daughters to support, he took a job working as a journeyman tanner for his wife's brother. He obtained permission to preach in the courthouse on Sundays, and continued to proclaim Campbell's ideas about the restoration of the "ancient order of things." His meetings were attended by a portion of his former Pittsburgh congregation who followed him into religious exile. In 1826 Rigdon left Pennsylvania to accept a pastorale at Mentor, Ohio. Then Mentor congregation was in the Mahoning Baptist Association, in which his friend Alexander Campbell and his brother-in-law Adamson Bentley had become influential ministers. Sidney Rigdon's reputation as a reform Baptist preacher spread throughout the Western Reserve as a result of the revival meetings he held in Mentor and neighboring communities. In 1827 he held a series of preaching services at New Lisbon and Mantua, Ohio, at which he declared the gospel of the restoration. He was so successful in March of 1828 that Amos S. Hayden, his associate and the Campbellite historian, described his efforts as "the great religious awakening in Mentor" (Hayden, p. 204). In the following year, Rigdon held revivals in Kirtland, Perry, and Pleasant Hills, as well as again in Mentor. [p.75 - p.76] By 1830 Sidney Rigdon had developed a personal theology which, although following the teachings of Alexander Campbell in many respects, rejected some of Campbell's ideas. Both Rigdon and Campbell accepted baptism by immersion as the biblical form by which Christ was baptized and which all men should follow. Rigdon disagreed with Campbell over whether the so-called "manifestations of Spiritual Gifts" and miracles had a place in the restoration. The gifts of the Spirit were the speaking and interpretation of foreign tongues, prophecy, visions, spiritual dreams, and the ability to discern evil spirits. Campbell declared that the miraculous work of the Holy Ghost was "confined to the apostolic age, and to only a portion of the saints who lived in that age." [[8Alexander Campbell is quoted in Joseph W. White, "The Influence of Sidney Rigdon upon the Theology of Mormonism" (Master's thesis, University of Southern California, 1947), p. 127. end8]] [p. 76] Rigdon, however, sought "to convince influential persons that, along with the primitive gospel, supernatural gifts and miracles ought to be restored" (Campbell, 2:346). Rigdon wanted to incorporate into Campbell's restoration every belief or practice which was a part of the New Testament church. He also differed from Campbell over the issue of a communal society. Rigdon wanted to establish a community in which all property was held in common, which he believed to be the practice of the early Jerusalem church. "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need" (Acts 2:44-45). Campbell wanted no economic experiments which involved communal life within his religious sect. Rigdon's and Campbell's theological differences caused friction which grew steadily more abrasive until a complete break occurred in 1830, when Rigdon withdrew his Mentor congregation from the Mahoning Baptist Association. The group was thus not affiliated with any religious body when the missionaries arrived with the news of the Book of Mormon. Rigdon sought evidence which would substantiate Pratt's claim that the Book of Mormon contained the fullness of the New Testament gospel for which he had been searching since 1821. He judged the Book of Mormon the same way he evaluated all material which purported to contain religious truth, that is, by prayerfully comparing it with the Bible. To Rigdon, the doctrine which he found in the Book of Mormon compared most favorably with that in the Bible. Indeed, he found in his new Scripture answers he had been seeking for years. If the Mormon movement embraced the doctrines contained in the Book of Mormon, then he had found the true restoration gospel. The prophet Moroni asked the question which had plagued Rigdon as a disciple of Campbell, that is, whether miracles ceased because Christ had ascended to heaven. Moroni answered his own question by declaring that "angels [have not] ceased to minister unto the children of men" (Moron) 7:29). The Book of Mormon also contained the idea that one must be baptized by immersion for the remission of sins, which Rigdon believed to be the true form of baptism. Moroni told of the gifts of the Spirit, which were wisdom, knowledge, healing, miracles, prophecy, speaking and interpretation of tongues, and the discernment of spirits. Rig don had been unhappy because these things were not manifested among the followers of Campbell. Rigdon believed in the literal return of the Jews to their homeland, as was prophesied in II Nephi 9:2: "And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possession." [[9 John Jaques, "Life and Labors of Sidney Rigdon," Improvement Era, 3 (1899-1900), 100. Hereafter cited as Jaques. end9]] The Book of Mormon also bore witness that Jesus was the Christ and that he established a church in the New World with twelve disciples who were to carry on the work of the gospel after He ascended to heaven. [p.76 - p.77] When Rigdon finished reading the Book of Mormon, he claimed that Mormonism was truly the apostolic church divinely restored to the earth. Realizing that this religious change might bring about economic hardships, as had his removal from the First Baptist Church in Pittsburgh in 1824, he asked his wife, "My dear, you have followed me once into poverty, are you willing to do the same?" (Jaques, p. 586.) Phebe Rigdon replied, "I have weighed the matter, I have counted the cost, and I am perfectly satisfied to follow you; it is my desire to do the will of God, come life or come death.' [[10 Frederic G. Mather, "The Early Days of Mormonism," Lippincotts Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, 26 (August 1880), 206-7. Hereafter cited as Mather. end10]] There was no indication at this time that Mormonism would be acceptable to his congregation, who were in the act of building Rigdon a new house. Rigdon's life-long quest for the fullness of the gospel compelled him on several occasions to abandon positions of prestige, power, and financial security. Joseph Smith captured the essence of Rigdon's long and difficult quest when he stated, "Truth was his pursuit, and for truth he was prepared to make every sacrifice in his power." [[11 "Journal of History" (Lamoni, Iowa), 3, no. 1 (1910), 7-8. end11]] Sheriff John Barr, a non-Mormon of Cuyahoga County, was present when Rigdon informed his congregation of his decision to embrace Mormonism, and he recorded the incident. Rigdon told them that "he had not been satisfied in his religious yearnings until now." Previously, "at night he had often been unable to sleep, walking and praying for more light and comfort in religion." While in the midst of this soul-searching, "he heard of the revelation of Joe Smith . . . under this his soul suddenly found peace." The Mormon message "filled all his aspirations." According to Sheriff Barr, the congregation was much affected by Rigdon's testimony that he had found religious truth (Mather, pp. 206-07). Rigdon's congregation at Mentor followed his leadership once again; this time they embraced Mormonism. Although some members of traditional religious denominations bitterly opposed the principles which the Mormons taught, the missionaries had an opportunity to preach their new gospel in the towns of Medina, Kirtland, Painesville, and Mayfield, where Rigdon had previously held revival meetings. Pratt, who was spreading the world of Rigdon's conversion to the Book of Mormon, declared that "the interest and excitement now became general in Kirtland, and in the region round about." Mormon missionary activity in the Western Reserve was such a great success that, according to Pratt, "in two or three weeks from our arrival in the neighborhood with the news, we had baptized one hundred an twenty-seven souls, and this number soon increased to one thousand." [[12 Parley P. Pratt, The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts in Prose and Verse from His Miscellaneous Writings (New York, 1876), pp. 65-66. end12]] [p. 78] Rigdon's conversion and the missionary effort which followed transformed Mormonism from a New York-based sect with about a hundred members into one which was a major threat to Protestantism in the Western Reserve. Dialogue, Vol.5, No.2, p.77 - p.78 In December of 1830, Rigdon traveled to New York to meet the founder of the Mormon movement. Rigdon believed that Joseph Smith was chosen to be God's prophet in the last days. A revelation given through Smith revealed to Rigdon that he had been called to be Smith's counselor, scribe and spokesman: "Behold, verily, verily, I say unto my servant Sidney, I have looked upon thee and thy work. I have heard thy prayers, and prepared thee for a greater work. Thou are blessed, for thou shalt do great things. Behold thou wast sent forth, even as John, to prepare the way before me" (D & C 11:2). Rigdon thus believed that God had called him to become a latter-day John the Baptist, a voice crying in the wilderness, to proclaim the establishment of the Kingdom of God and the second coming of Christ. Rigdon acquired a well-earned reputation for being a mighty spokesman for the Lord. Sheriff John Barr described one of Rigdon's baptismal services near Kirtland, Ohio, which he attended with Vernem J. Card, a lawyer, who "was apparently the most stoical of men--of a clear, unexcitable temperament, with unorthodox and vague religious ideas." Rigdon inquired of his audience whether anyone desired to come forward and be immersed in the Chagrin River. The only respondent was "an aged 'deadbeat' by the name of Cahoon, who occasionally joined the Shakers and lived on the country generally." The baptismal service was set for two o'clock in the afternoon, but long before that time the spot was surrounded by as many people as could have a clear view. After Cahoon was baptized, Rigdon, who was still standing in the water, "gave one of his most powerful exhortations." He called for any others who desired salvation to step forward. "They came through the crowd in rapid succession to the number of thirty, and were immersed with no intermission of the discourse on the part of Rigdon (Masher, pp. 206-07). Suddenly Vernem Card seized the Sheriff's arm, pleading, "take me away." Steadying his friend, Barr saw that "his face was so pale that he seemed to be about to faint," and they~rode almost a mile before a word was uttered. Card finally gained control of himself and said, "Mr. Barr, if you had not been there I certainly should have gone into the water," because "the impulse was irresistible" (Mather, pp. 206-07). Besides being an effective preacher of Mormonism, Rigdon was intimately involved with Joseph Smith in directing every major endeavor of the Mormon Church during the first decade of its official existence. He did not share in originating Mormon theology, but the "Hiram Page Affair" illustrated that the infant Mormon movement did not need another prophet. Rigdon became Smith's strong right arm and spokesman. They blended their energies, abilities, ideas, and dreams for the future to become an exceedingly dynamic and successful leadership team. Rigdon's tremendous contributions came when Mormonism needed them most critically. In the early 1840's new developments in Mormonism were seen by Rigdon as straying from the essentials of Christ's church, and in 1844, after the death of Joseph Smith, he was defeated in his attempt to redirect the course of Mormonism. Rigdon then formed a schismatic sect, called the Church of Jesus Christ, which sought unsuccessfully to reestablish Mormonism in its former purity; after the failure of this religious group, he believed that no church on earth represented Christ's New Testament teachings. The last thirty years of Rigdon's life were years of religious isolation during which he refused to associate with a Mormonism which practiced polygamy. Yet Sidney Rigdon remained faithful to the early concepts of Mormonism which Pratt and his companions had introduced at Mentor, Ohio, that October morning in 1830. ===================== McKiernan, F. Mark The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness: Sidney Rigdon, Religious Reformer 1793-1876 Copyright © 1971 by F. Mark McKiernan Coronado Press, 1971 McKiernan, F. Mark. The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness: Sidney Rigdon, Religious Reformer, 1793-1876. Lawrence, Kansas: Coronado Press, 1972. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dissertations: McKiernan, F. Mark. "The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness: Sidney Rigdon, Religious Reformer, 1793-1876." University of Kansas, 1968. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- McKiernan, F. Mark. "Sidney Rigdon's Missouri Speeches," BYU Studies, 11 (Autumn 1970),90-92. The Restoration Movement: Essays in Mormon History. Edited by F. Mark McKiernan (of the Restoration Trails Foundation) Alma R. Blair, and Paul M. Edwards. Lawrence, Kansas: Coronado Press, 1973. 357 pp The next attempt to establish a religious community came at Far West, Missouri, discussed in F. Mark McKiernan's "Mormonism on the Defensive: Far West, 1838-1839." McKiernan presents a succinct narrative based on a combination of primary sources and contemporary and secondary histories. Heavy emphasis is placed on John Corrill's 1839 Brief History of the Church. "A costly failure" is McKiernan's conclusion for the Far West years. In fact, he concludes, "The Mormon leaders would have been exterminated had it not been for [a local supporter] General [Alexander] Doniphan's courage. As it was, most Mormon leaders spent six months in prison before escaping McKiernan, F. Mark. "The Tragedy of David H. Smith," Saints' Herald, 119 (December 1972), 20-22. The Rise and Fall of Courage, An Independent RLDS Journal William D. Russell* Courage: A Journal of History, Thought and Action in the summer of 1973 the journal folded for financial reasons. Two other historical articles dealt with significant leaders in the Church, Mark McKiernan dealing with Sidney Rigdon and Paul Edwards with David H. Smith. Edwards' article won the award for the best historical article in the second year of Courage. The Cutlerite splinter group was discussed by Biloine Young, and Alma Blair wrote an article on the Haun's Mill massacre. McKiernan, F. Mark. "David H. Smith: A Son of the Prophet." Brigham Young University Studies 18 (Winter 1978): 233-245. McKiernan, F. Mark and Roger D. Launius, eds. An Early Latter Day Saint History: The Book of John Whitmer Kept by Commandment. Independence, Missouri: Herald Publishing House, 1980. F. Mark McKiernan, Director of the Mormon History Manuscripts Collection Graceland College, Lamoni, IA (c. 1974) ------------------------------------------------------ Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought Vol. 7, No. 2 (Summer 1972) [p.54] Reviews Edited by Davis Bitton An Uncertain Voice in the Wilderness Marvin S. Hill* The Voice of one Crying in the Wilderness: Sidney Rigdon, Religious Reformer, 1793-1876. By F. Mark McKiernan. Lawrence, Kansas: Coronado Press, 1972. $7.50. When so many biographies of early Mormons are made immaculate (and superficial) by filial piety, it borders on the tragic when an historian seeking to write an objective life of Sidney Rigdon fails in many ways to expand or deepen our understanding. Despite the inclusion of a much needed chapter on Rigdon's post-1844 career, F. Mark McKiernan's The Voice of one Crying in the Wilderness: Sidney Rigdon Religious Reformer is disappointing. Its deficiencies often seem rooted in the academician's perilous prerequisite--publish or perish. McKiernan, professor of history at Idaho State University, may have allowed the pressures for productivity to affect the publication of a study which in many ways seems unfinished. The volume shows signs of haste: factual and interpretive errors, clumsy writing, poor conceptualization, inadequate research. What might have been an important contribution is often no more than a rehash of well known history, history at times related but incidentally to Sidney Rigdon. [p.54 - p.55] Factual mistakes mar the book. Contrary to McKiernan, there is evidence in the ledger book of the Kirtland Safety Society at the Chicago Historical Society that only a few Mormons, and not the major dissenters, lost money in the bank (p. 78). Opposition to the bank and to Joseph Smith in 1837 must be explained on other grounds. Alexander Doniphan's bill to organize a Mormon county passed the Missouri legislature in 1836 but did not, as McKiernan affirms (p. 81), encompass Ray and Daviess counties. Lilburn W. Boggs successfully opposed the original bill and restricted the Saints to Caldwell County. Failure to perceive this makes the Mormon war of 1838 difficult to explain. Joseph Smith was tried before Austin A. King in September, 1838, but in a farmhouse in Caldwell County, where he felt secure, rather than at Richmond as McKiernan maintains (p.90). The names of Joseph Smith and Nancy Rigdon, as Benjamin Winchester suggests, were first linked in Kirtland, not Nauvoo (pp.113-115). McKiernan misjudges the reason for Rigdon's excommunication in 1844, designating it "partisanship" (p. 155). But there was more than partisanship involved since Rigdon had initiated his own movement by ordaining prophets, priests and kings, thus threatening the unity of the Church. Rigdon's letters to Stephen Post, deposited in the Historical Department of the Church archives at Salt Lake City in the fall of 1971 but not utilized by McKiernan, provide evidence that Rigdon was not isolated from all Mormon groups during the last thirty years of his life (pp. 133, 144), but that he remained actively engaged in trying to establish the Kingdom of God. In 1864 he received a revelation which instructed Post, Joseph Newton, William Stanly, and Abraham Burtis to flee the wrath to come and gather at Council Bluffs. [p.55] Was John C. Bennett's sponsoring of the Nauvoo charter, the Legion, and Free Masonry largely responsible for the destruction of Nauvoo (pp. 109, 124)? Or were there deeper antagonisms between Mormons and non-Mormons which would have been manifest without Bennett? Mormon experience in Ohio and Missouri before Bennett joined the Church suggests the latter view. Anti-Mormon literature makes it clear that Mormon collectivist institutions, however modified, were more objectionable than personalities and programs. In writing and organization McKiernan's book frequently lacks finesse. McKiernan tells us (p. 17) that Rigdon died in 1876 but he and his wife, Phebe, "lived together in harmony . . . until she died in 1886." Chapter II deals with the advent of Mormonism to Ohio, but continues for four additional pages to treat the theme of the preceding chapter, Rigdon's relationship to Alexander Campbell. Chapter III terminates in 1832 with the mobbing of Rigdon and Joseph Smith, inferring some special significance in this incident. But the significance is not explained. At several places McKiernan introduces a topic, drops it, and then takes it up again, destroying the continuity of the story (pp. 45, 52-57, 113, 115). In his discussion of the Danites, Rigdon's role is minimized, yet a whole page is devoted to the Danite constitution (pp. 95-96). Rigdon's position on succession is given brief treatment, but Brigham Young's is criticized at length (pp. 128-130). The book suffers more fundamentally in that the theme of Rigdon as religious reformer is not developed consistently. McKiernan does not tell us enough of Alexander Campbell as reformer nor does he treat early Mormonism as a reformation (or re-formation) of American Christianity. Thus Rigdon's attraction to these movements is not adequately explained. Research in the Stephen Post papers demonstrates that Rigdon spent five years at Friendship, New York, studying the prophecies of the Bible and of Joseph Smith, trying to decern his relationship to the destiny of Mormonism and to the destiny of the nations of the earth. [p.55 - p.56] Rigdon as prophet, his mysticism and millennialism are slighted, and thus a basic ingredient of Rigdon's personality is unexamined. This leads to misunderstanding of the succession crisis in 1844. Brigham Young did not win the majority of Mormons merely by parliamentary maneuvers and public disparagment of the man from Pittsburgh. The truth is that there were no better claimants than Young available. Joseph Smith's son was too young, William Smith and Sidney Rigdon were erratic. Strang did not have status enough early enough to win many supporters. Young very wisely affirmed that he would not try to replace the Prophet but to carry out his programs. Rigdon made a similar public statement, but in private informed his followers that Joseph was a fallen prophet, thus casting doubt on his loyalty in the minds of most Mormons. If Joseph had in fact fallen, to whom would the Saints turn? Rigdon would not do. Most Mormons, like Newel K. Whitney, had little faith in Rigdon's prophetic powers. Rigdon preached in 1844 that he held the keys of conquest and that he would triumphantly lead the Saints to battle against the United States and England, preparatory to the battle of God and Magog. Such wild apocalyptic utterances, characteristic of Rigdon, seemed extravagant to most Mormons. They seem to have sensed what Rigdon's son, John W., said in 1859. When some of the elders persuaded Rigdon to leave Friendship and preach at Centerville, it raised the anger of his son: "My father is in no condition to preach to any people he is a Maniac on religion & you did very wrong to influence him to leave his home." John W. may have been guilty of the Rigdon tendency to exaggerate, but a more thorough and thoughtful study is needed before we can be certain. =========================== =========================== BYU Studies, Volume 11--1970-1971 Number 1 - Autumn 1970 [p. 88] The Historians Corner (Published in Cooperation with the Mormon History Association) by James B. Allen, Editor DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH: THREE VIGNETTES FROM MORMON HISTORY "The Historians Corner" is devoted to presenting documents, vignettes, and other short items that add both interest and depth to our understanding of Mormon history. The emphasis of this "Corner" is on individuals, often little-known, whose experiences help give that personal touch to the story of the Church. In this issue we present vignettes from the lives of three dedicated men who found three different ways to defend the faith they have espoused. These men had much in common, although probably none of them ever knew the others. Products of the Nineteenth century, they lived in a time when Mormon-ism was unpopular, both in the United States and abroad. Each was fully devoted to the Church and zealous in his desire to promote and defend it. On the other hand, the different circumstances under which they were called upon to speak out for Mormonism perhaps speak with some relevance to current times. In the early years of Mormon history, it was not uncommon for Church. members to be faced with violence. Mobs drove them from their homes in New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. In the final months of the Ohio period Sidney Rigdon, a counselor to the prophet, reached the conclusion that he must fight fire with fire. Being perhaps the most persuasive of all Mormon orators, with his blazing speeches he could stir the emotions of many. Although he did not advocate direct aggression, his harangues were openly militant and could easily lead to violence. Dr. F. Mark McKiernan, assistant professor of history at Idaho State University who recently completed a Ph.D. dissertation on the life of Sidney Rigdon, and who is a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, summarizes in the first of our vignettes the intent and impact of Rigdon's militant defense of the faith. [p.89] The more traditional way of publicly defending the faith is through missionary work. In our second selection, Dr. Richard O. Cowan, a member of the religion faculty at Brigham Young University, summarizes the intriguing story of Mischa Markow, a lone missionary to the Balkans at the end of the century. Markow was one of those little-known and unsung stalwarts of Mormon history. His odyssey in the Balkans beautifully illustrates the determination of Mormon missionaries in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles. He traveled alone, which seems unusual today but apparently reflects what happened to many missionaries of the time. He was jailed, ridiculed in, and banished from every country he visited; yet he felt a curious joy in missionary service and was willing to accept another call in later years. The Historians Corner , BYU Studies, Vol. 11, No. 1, p.89 Our third story concerns Josiah Hickman, a Mormon student who left Utah in 1892 to study at the University of Michigan. His journal is filled with the dual concern that has faced many a Mormon student now, as well as then: concern for achieving excellence in his educational pursuits, and an intense desire to represent well the Church. Dr. Martin B. Hickman, a grandson of Josiah and currently dean of the College of Social Science at Brigham Young University, has chosen one incident from his grandfather's journal to illustrate the approach that this Mormon student made to the problem of defending the faith. In that day oratorical contests were serious business among both students and faculty, and the use of proper grammatical style, persuasive logic, and dramatic illustrations were all important to the success of the contestant. The way one Mormon student chose to use such a contest to help place Mormonism in a more favorable light is the story of this vignette. [p.90] Sidney Rigdon's Missouri Speeches by F. Mark McKiernan The years of 1838 and 1839 were years of desperation, frustration, and suffering for Sidney Rigdon. After fleeing from Kirtland, he worked with Joseph Smith in attempting to establish another religious community at Far West, Missouri: this in the face of serious internal dissensions as well as external persecutions. Joseph was determined that the Church make a stand and fight the forces which sought to overthrow it; Rigdon was the Prophet's spokesman and counselor in this mission. To both Gentiles and Church members, Rigdon became a symbol of the new Mormon militancy of Far West. Both Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were determined to stamp out apostasy in Missouri. They believed that the entire future of the Mormon movement rested on their success in driving the dissenters from their midst; and because of Rigdon's ability to sway audiences, he became the Prophet's spokesman in the cause of orthodoxy. At Far West on June 19, 1838, Rigdon delivered a scathing denunciation of disloyalty among the members of the Church. No text nor synopsis has remained of his discourse, but reports of eyewitnesses indicated that Rigdon, who could inspire an audience to tears, could also lash them into fury. [[1 John Corrill, Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints (Commonly Called Mormons) Including an Account of the Author for Leaving the Church (St. Louis, 1839), p. 26.]] Rigdon took his text from the fifth chapter of Matthew: "Ye are the salt of the earth. If the salt hath lost its savor, it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men." Joseph Smith followed Rigdon's harangue with a short speech, apparently sanctioning what he had said. [[2 Lu. B. Cake, Peepstone Joe and the Peck Manuscript (New York, 1857), pp. 104-105.]] The salt sermon caused a frenzy of activity aimed at purging the ranks of disloyal members. One unfortunate effect of the controversy over dissenters was the formation of the apparently unauthorized Danites, a secret militant society for the enforcement of orthodoxy. In July, 1838, the direction of the new militancy shifted from opposing dissenters to combating Gentile persecution. Henceforth, Rigdon proclaimed, the Mormons would make their stand with violence of their own. The First Presidency had been militant in attitude since their arrival at Far West, but their intention to fight if necessary was declared to the entire state in Rigdon's July 4th speech. [[3 Elders Journal, August 1838.]] It was called a Mormon declaration of rights. When Rigdon's address was published in neighboring papers it caused great contention among the Missourians; his Independence Day speech helped polarize both the Mormons and the Missourians, and the stage was set for the Mormon War. [p.91] After the disasters of the Mormon War, which included expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri under Governor Lilburn Boggs' so-called extermination order and the Haun's Mill massacre, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, along with other Mormon leaders, were incarcerated. At the end of November, 1838, the First Presidency and some other Church leaders were transported to the county jail at Liberty, Missouri. Rigdon languished in that damp jail, while his body was racked with fever, often leaving him too weak to stand. In February, 1839, Smith's and Rigdon's pleas for writs of habeas corpus were granted. Alexander Doniphan pleaded the cases of all the Mormon prisoners except Rigdon, who acted in his own defense. At Rigdon's trial for murder and treason, the courtroom was crowded with about a hundred excited anti-Mormons who were veterans of the Mormon War. Rigdon was ill and emaciated from his months of incarceration. He pleaded innocent to the crimes charged against him but enumerated the privations, persecutions, and sufferings he had received in his relentless pursuit for religious truth. Doniphan recorded, "Such a burst of eloquence it was never my fortune to listen to, at its dose there was not a dry eye in the room, all were moved to tears." The judge discharged the case against Rigdon immediately. One of the audience stood up and declared, "We came here determined to do injury to this man. He is innocent of crime, as has been made to appear. And now, gentlemen, out with your money and help the man return to his destitute family." The anti-Mormon audience raised $100 and handed it to Rigdon. [[4 The Saints' Herald, August 2, 1884; also see Daily Missouri Republican (St. Louis) February 14, 1839. end4]] Rigdon's fellow Church leaders were returned to jail, but thejudge ordered that Rigdon be discharged from custody. However, Rigdon stated, "I was told by those who professed to be my friends, that it would not do for me to get out of jail at this time, as the mob was watching and would most certainly take my life." [[5 Times and Seasons, August 1, 1843.]] Thus he was held in protective custody until his friends, who included the Clay County sheriff, could arrange his safe conduct out of the state. Rigdon fled from Missouri for his life, leaving behind a shattered dream, a scattered people, and a shackled Prophet. [p.92] Despite Rigdon's abilities and his continued devotion to the Church, his influence waned in the Mormon movement after Far West. This period in Mormon history had been a costly failure. The Mormons' settlements were destroyed, their property confiscated, and they were forced to become refugees from the vengeance of the Missouri mobs. The Mormon leaders would have been exterminated had it not been for the courageous intervention of Alexander Doniphan. Most of the Mormons of importance were imprisoned for at least six months. Far West was a period of no significant religious accomplishments; on the contrary, it was a time of purge within the Mormon movement. Rigdon's enunciation of Joseph Smith's policies in the salt sermon and the Fourth of July speech were associated by the Mormons and the non-Mormons alike only with the fiery character of Sidney Rigdon. Unfortunately for Rigdon, he became a symbol of the militant Mormonism of the Far West period, and it was a symbol synonymous with disaster. ============================================= McKiernan, F. Mark. "The Uses of History: Sidney Rigdon and the Religious Historians," Courage: A ]ournal of History, Thought and Action, II (September, 1971), 285-290 ================================================ BYU Studies, Vol. 13, No. 4, Number 4 - Summer 1973 [p.584] Book Reviews, F. Mark McKiernan. The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness: Sidney Rigdon, Religious Reformer, 1793-1876. Lawrence, Kansas: Colorado Press, 1971. 190 pp. $7.50. (Reviewed by William D. Russell, an associate professor of religion and history at Graceland College, Lamoni, Iowa, and co-editor of Courage: A Journal of History, Thought, and Action.) In a paper presented at the Spring 1971 meeting of the Mormon History Association and later published in Courage (vol. 2, no. 1, September 1971), Mark McKiernan argued that sidney Rigdon has not been given proper respect by religious historians because his search for truth was not compatible with any organized religion of his time. Since Rigdon separated himself from the Baptists, Campbellites, and the Mormons, historians from these three traditions have tended to discount his importance. Historians should therefore welcome this biography of Rigdon, based on McKiernan's Ph.D. Dissertation at the University of Kansas. McKiernan, formerly a professor of history at Idaho State University and now with Restoration Trails Foundation, has done considerable research on Rigdon and deals sympathetically with this important associate of Joseph Smith. McKiernan demonstrates Rigdon's importance to the rise and development of Mormonism. Therefore The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness should help correct the tendency to underestimate Rigdon's role on the early history of Mormonism. It has been this reviewer's opinion that members of all branches of Mormonism need to learn to deal more maturely with those people who separated themselves from the Church. Sidney Rigdon provides a good example. Historians of Mormonism will particularly welcome the chapter on Rigdon before his contact with Joseph Smith and the concluding chapter on Rigdon from 1844 until his death in 1876. McKiernan seems to grasp what this reviewer thinks is the key to understanding the effectiveness of the Book of Mormon in winning people to the Church. He portrays Rigdon and Parley P. Pratt, for example, as finding the Book of Mormon convincing because, as he says of Pratt, it "contained answers for many of the problems which had plagued him" (p. 30). [p.585] McKiernan's book does have some significant weaknesses, however. The author makes statements which seem stronger than the evidence will support. For example, "Smith had always kept men like Parley P. Pratt and Brigham Young in distant areas so that he could be the complete master of his own religious household" (p. 126); "Rigdon changed the entire course of Mormon history when he persuaded Smith to move the headquarters of the Church from New York, where it was stagnating, to the Western Reserve" (p. 12); and Rigdon "seized upon the doctrine [of the coming millennium] and heralded it everywhere" (p. 27). Similarly, while Robert Flanders' Nauvoo: Kingdom on the Mississippi is an excellent book his former professor's book "the finest work on the early Mormon Church" (p. 178). Organizational slips occasionally occur. For example, in his very useful bibliographical essay, the final paragraph should have been placed much earlier (p. 179), and a paragraph on Smith's sense of humor is concluded with a sentence that is out of place (p. 70). There are a number of places where greater editorial care could have helped prevent unclear or confusing statements. McKiernan has a very confusing paragraph on Joseph Smith's revision of the Bible, for example (p.45). He indicates that Rigdon had denounced the Church's participation in the Masonic order (p. 133), but earlier he mentioned that Rigdon became a Master Mason (p. 111). Unfortunately, he does not explain the apparent contradiction. Other examples where clarity is needed are: he seems to use the terms "Calvinism" and "revivalism" synonymously (p.16); he says Sidney and his wife "lived together in harmony" for ten years after Sidney's death (p. 17); in the first chapter Rigdon retires from the ministry in 1824, but at the beginning of Chapter 2 we find Rigdon in that year establishing "a reformed Baptist church at Pittsburgh with the aid of a young school teacher named Walter Scott" (p. 25); rather than stating that Smith later claimed that on 21 September 1823 he had been visited by an angel, McKiernan has Smith claiming on 21 September 1823 that he had received the angelic visitation (p. 32); he says that many of Smith's followers, "including Rigdon, shared the animosity and wrath of the anti-Mormon" (p. 33), which gives the impression that Rigdon was one of Smith's antagonists; it is unclear as to who terminated correspondence between a Mr. Barr and Rigdon (p. 72); he has Rigdon's influence on Mormonism a popular topic among anti-Mormon writers from 1832 until 1947, but the reader is not told why these two dates were selected (p. 171); in addition, McKiernan has Joseph Smith sanctioning Rigdon's "salt sermon" (p. 86), but later refers to Rigdon's denunciation of Smith's policies in the 'salt sermon'" (p. 99). [p.586] When McKiernan quotes the revelation of Joseph Smith, he uses the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants. It would be more appropriate to have taken his quotations from the 1833 Book of Commandments, since many of these revelation were revised for the 1835 edition, including some that McKiernan uses. He also quotes from the 1955 RLDS Book of Mormon when it would have been more appropriate to use the 1830 edition (pp. 151-152) and from the 1952 Salt Lake City Pearl of Great Price when he could have used the original 1851 Liverpool edition. These original editions are easily available, and in fact Mckiernan does cite the 1830 Book of Mormon at one time (p. 61). McKiernan says that the RLDS Church does not have Utah Section 115 in its D&C because its D&C is based on the 1852 edition, which does not contain this revelation. But Richard Howard, in Restoration Scriptures: A Study if Their Textual Development (Herald Publishing House, 1969) says that the first RLDS edition of 1864 was based on one of the Nauvoo editions (p. 223) and was largely a duplication of the Nauvoo editions, which were published in 1844, 1845, and 1846. Occasionally McKiernan seems to show an RLDS bias, as when he writes, referring to Independence, Missouri: "Although the headquarters of the Church would change throughout the years, the location of Zion could never be changed" (p. 59). He also seems to accept uncritically the RLDS contention that Joseph Smith "set apart" his son, Joseph III, at the Liberty Jail in 1839 (p. 127). The statement he cites from the memoirs of Joseph Smith, III, written many decades later, is rather vague. [p.587] Though marred by such imperfections, The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness is nevertheless a book that most students of Mormon history will find both interesting and useful. ============================== BYU Studies Vol. 29, No. 1 [p. 128] Book Reviews ROGER D. LAUNIUS. Joseph Smith III: Pragmatic Prophet. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1988. xii; 394 pp.$24.95. Reviewed by William D. Russell, chairperson, division of social science, Graceland College, Lamoni, Iowa. With this excellent biography Roger Launius, thirty-five years old, has established himself as the foremost historian of the RLDS church. There are other RLDS historians who are better known in the community of Mormon historians (for example, official Church Historian Richard Howard, Temple School President Paul Edwards, and longtime Graceland professor of church history Alma Blair). But Launius, twenty or more years younger than each of these veteran church historians, already has the most impressive array of publications on the history of the Restoration movement of anyone in the RLDS church. Launius's reputation was tarnished at first by his involvement as coeditor (with F. Mark McKiernan) of a flawed publication of An Early Latter Day Saint History: The Book of John Whitmer. [1] But since then he has published four useful books: under construction |
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