Joseph Smith’s Secretary’s Diaries Embarrass Church
By Jerald and Sandra Tanner
In the last issue of the Messenger we reported that
For 140 years the Mormon Church has been suppressing the Nauvoo diaries of Joseph Smith’s secretary William Clayton. These diaries have been hidden in the vault of the First Presidency. Recently, however, quotations from these diaries leaked out, and this has caused great consternation among the General authorities and officials at Brigham Young University.
The Seventh East Press, a student newspaper published just off the Brigham Young University campus, published the following:
A BYU graduate student has accused a member of a bishopric of stealing copies of materials which the student obtained from the vault of the First Presidency.
In doing research in LDS Church history, Andrew F. Ehat, . . . obtained permission to examine the restricted Nauvoo diaries of William Clayton and make notes. He gave a copy of his notes to BYU religion instructor Lyndon Cook, who kept them in his campus office. The notes were taken without permission and photocopied by . . . a member of a bishopric which uses Cook’s office. (Seventh East Press, January 18, 1982)
A religion instructor at BYU borrowed photocopies of these notes and subsequently lent them to a student who made five more copies. When Ehat discovered what had happened he became very upset and according to witnesses he declared, “If this gets out it could destroy the Church” (Ibid.). Ehat tried desperately to get all of the copies back. He went to “BYU security and the Provo Police Department,” but neither of these organizations were able to help him. BYU President Jeffery Holland “appointed Vice-president Noel Reynolds to investigate the matter,” but in spite of all the pressure “various individuals” continued to circulate and make copies of the material. Many copies have now been spread by the Mormon “underground” (a group composed mostly of liberal Mormon scholars) to different parts of the United States. Most of those who received copies were very careful to see that they did not fall into the hands of critics of the Church. The Seventh East Press reported that one man who refused to give up his copy of Ehat’s notes said that “he would never give information to anti-Mormons.”
Finally, several months after Mormon scholars began circulating the typed excerpts, we were given access to a copy of them. These notes certainly tend to confirm our research concerning the deceitful way plural marriage was introduced by the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith. For instance, in Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? pages 206-207, we quote Emily Dow Partridge (a faithful Mormon) as telling how Joseph Smith deceived his wife Emma:
. . . the Prophet Joseph and his wife Emma offered us a home in their family. . . . I was married to Joseph Smith on the 4th of March 1843, . . . My sister Eliza was also married to Joseph a few days later. This was done without the knowledge of Emma Smith. Two months afterward she consented to give her husband two wives, providing he would give her the privilege of choosing them. She accordingly chose my sister Eliza and myself, and to save family trouble brother Joseph thought it best to have another ceremony performed. Accordingly on the 11th of May, 1843, we were sealed to Joseph Smith a second time, in Emma’s presence.
. . . From that very hour, however, Emma was our bitter enemy . . . things went from bad to worse until we were obligated to leave the house and find another home. (Historical Record, page 240)
In William Clayton’s diary, he tells of Joseph Smith having a problem with Emma over the Partridge sisters. He indicates that Joseph deceived her by telling her he would “relinquish all” for her sake when he really didn’t intend to “relinquish any thing”:
Wednesday 16 . . . This A.M. J. [Joseph] told me that since E. [Emma] came back fro St Louis she had resisted the P. [Priesthood?] in toto & he had to tell her he would relinquish all for her sake. She said she would [sic] given him E. & E. P [Emily and Eliza Partridge] but he knew if he took them she would pitch on him & obtain a divorce & leave him. He however told me that he should not relinquish any thing O. God deliver thy servant from iniquity and bondage. (William Clayton’s Diary, August 16, 1843, typed excerpts, page 24)
On May 24, 1843, (page 43) William Clayton told of Joseph Smith holding the door shut when he was in a room with one of the Partridge girls and that this made Emma very “irritated”:
Prest. stated to me that had had a little trouble with sis E. he was asking E. Partridge concerning Jackson conduct during Prest. absence & E came up stairs. he shut to the door not knowing who it was and held it. She came to the door & called Eliza 4 times & tried to force open the door. Prest. opened it & told her the cause &c. She seemed much irritated. He says Jackson is rotten hearted.
In Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? page 245, we show that while Joseph Smith secretly lived plural marriage, he denied it publicly and even published a statement that “Hiram Brown” had been “cut off from the church” for “preaching polygamy, and other false and corrupt doctrines, . . .” (Times and Seasons, vol. 5, page 423). According to William Clayton, Joseph Smith was willing to go so far as to initiate a fake excommunication to cover up the practice of polygamy:
Thursday 19. . . . Prest. J. . . . began to tell me that E. was turned quite friendly & kind. she had been anointed & he also had been a. K. He said that it was her advice that I should keep M [Clayton’s plural wife Margaret] at home and it was also his council. Says he just keep her at home and brook it and if they raise trouble about it and bring you before me I will give you an awful scourging & probably cut you off from the church and then I will baptise you & set you ahead as good as ever. (Ibid., October 19, 1843)
William Clayton’s diaries paint a very unattractive picture of polygamy in Nauvoo. Clayton was continually having family problems because of plural marriage. He tells, for instance, of a problem he encountered when he wanted to sleep with both of his wives at the same time:
Thursday 24. . . . At night I asked mother if M might sleep with Ruth & me she appeared very rebellious & would not consent but said we might do as we had a mind. (Ibid., August 24, 1843, page 25)
Clayton does not indicate how his wives felt about this situation, but it is obvious from the diary that Margaret was really in love with another man. She had been engaged to this man but had been counseled to marry Clayton instead. Clayton felt very bad and asked Joseph Smith if he had done wrong in taking Margaret away from the man she really loved. Smith “answered no you have a right to get all you can” (Ibid., August 11, 1843). Joseph Smith really seemed to believe in that philosophy. At one time he and Clayton were both interested in Lydia, the sister of two of Clayton’s wives. He claimed, therefore, that God gave him a special revelation showing it would be wrong for Clayton to have her:
Friday 15th. . . . Prest. J. told me he had lately had a new item of law revealed to him in relation to myself. He said the Lord had revealed to him that a man could only take 2 of a family except by express revelation and as I had said I intended to take Lydia he made this known for my benefit. to have more than two in a family was apt to cause wrangles and trouble. He finally asked if I would not give L to him I said I would so far as I had any thing to do in it. He requested me to talk to her. (Ibid., page 25)
William Clayton’s diaries certainly throw light on the bad relationship Joseph Smith had with his wife Emma. Most of the problems seemed to stem from the doctrine of plural marriage. Clayton records the following under the date of July 12,1843:
Wednesday 12th This A.M. I wrote a Revelation consisting of 10 pages on the order of the priesthood, showing the designs in Moses, Abraham, David and Solomon having many wives & concubines &c. After it was wrote Presto. Joseph & Hyrum presented it and read it to E. who said she did not believe a word of it and appeared very rebellious. (Ibid., page 20)
On August 21, 1843, Emma was “vexed and angry” because of correspondence she found between Joseph and one of his plural wives. Two days later she treated Joseph so badly that “he had to use harsh measures to put a stop to her abuse but finally succeeded.”
Joseph Smith feared that Emma would become involved in the same type of conduct in which he was engaged. At one time he even suspected William Clayton of using “familiarity” with her:
Monday 29 This A.M. prest J. told me that he felt as though I was not treating him exactly right & asked if I had used any familiarity with E. I told him by no means & explained to his satisfaction. (Ibid., May 29, 1843, page 44)
On June 23, 1843, William Clayton recorded this strange entry in his diary:
Friday June 23rd. This A.M. Prest J. took me and conversed considerable concerning some delicate matters. said [a mysterious character appears at this point in the manuscript which Mormon scholars interpret as “Emma”] wanted to lay a snare for me. He told me last night of this and said he had felt troubled. He said [the character representing “Emma” appears again at this point] had treated him coldly & badly since I came . . . and he knew she was disposed to be revenged on him for some things she thought that if he would indulge himself she would too. He cautioned me very kindly for which I felt thankful. He said Thompson professed great friendship for him but he gave way to temptation & he had to die. Also bro Knight he gave him one but he went to loose conduct and he could not save him. Also B.Y. [Brigham Young] had transgressed his covenant & he pled with the Lord to spare him this end & he did so, other wise he would have died. B. denied having transgressed He said if I would do right by him & abide his council he would save my life while he lived. (pages 19-20)
Taken as a whole Ehat’s extracts from William Clayton’s diaries cast early Mormonism in a very bad light. In Mormonism— Shadow or Reality? page 245, we quoted the Mormon Apostle John A. Widtsoe as saying: “The Church ever operates in full light. There is no secrecy about its doctrine, aim, or work.” Widtsoe further proclaimed that “From the beginning of its history the Church . . . has fought half-truth and untruth.” William Clayton’s diaries certainly show that Apostle Widtsoe was incorrect in these statements. The Church was certainly not operating in “full light” and there was a great deal of “secrecy about its doctrine.” Furthermore, Clayton makes it clear that Joseph Smith used “untruth” as a tool to advance his work. Not only was he deceiving the outside world, but he was deceiving his own wife and other members of the Church.
Instead of coming to grips with these matters, Mormon Church leaders have been engaged in a cover-up. They kept the Clayton diaries locked in a safe for 140 years, and after extracts got out, they began to implement very repressive measures to see that no more sensitive material comes to light. In the last issue of the Messenger we gave a report concerning how the Mormon leaders clamped down on the Historical Department and even scrapped the 16-volume sesquicentennial history of the Church because it turned out to be too revealing. James L. Clayton, a historian from the University of Utah, became very disturbed about these matters, and in a speech delivered February 25, 1982, he protested:
More recently, indeed, just within the past few days, I understand that the archives of the LDS Church have been closed to all research in the diaries, the letter books and other sensitive materials of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve back to the 1830s—diaries and letters long open to and currently being used by scholars. Many projects of considerable worth are now stymied or will be finished with incomplete sources. The release of Leonard J. Arrington as Church Historian—the most significant Mormon historian since B. H. Roberts, in my judgment; the apparent refusal to complete already signed contracts with other historians working on a multi-volume history of the church; the movement of the Historical Department from the main source of manuscripts at Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City to BYU, these events raise serious questions regarding the nature and direction of historical enquiry on Mormonism.
The Apostles Ezra Taft Benson and Boyd K. Packer have been warning Mormon historians not to probe too deeply into the past and to concentrate on printing only material which is favorable to the Church. D. Michael Quinn, assistant professor of history at the Church’s Brigham Young University, felt that these Apostles had gone too far. In an emotionally charged speech, he commented that “the Mormon history of benignly angelic Church leaders apparently advocated by Elders Benson and Packer would border on idolatry” (On Being a Mormon Historian, pages 18-19).
Although Dr. Quinn has been the most courageous in opposing the suppressive moves of Church leaders, many Mormon scholars feel the same way. Just after we published the last issue of the Messenger, a researcher who had previously sided against us, wrote us a letter in which he stated:
Thank you for sending me your newest edition of the Messenger. As things are now, there is absolutely no reason to even tint the truth on Mormon history. What the Church has now done, only proves; “that the truth is not in us.” The Mormon Church has been the only religious organization that has showed me the “Truth, the Life and the Way.” But that only goes as far as the first principles of the gospel. I cannot ignore, nor can I condone the actions that have taken place in the Church Historians Office. . . . This whole matter of coverups and lies in the historians office has made me very ill. I wish the Church leaders could feel the pain that is inside me. . . .
As a small boy my father taught me that truth and right were always worth fighting for. . . . But as things are now, I am a soldier without his sword of truth. And without the sword of truth, I am defenseless. I have no position from which to stand. Honesty makes it so . . . truth has delt a fearful blow.
In any case, because the extracts from Clayton’s diaries throw so much light on early Mormonism we have published them under the title, Clayton’s Secret Writings Uncovered. For a complete treatment of the subject of Mormonism and truth we recommend our book Mormonism—Shadow or Reality?
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