Pillar of Light

by Gerald N. Lund

  They nodded.

  “Then, as you know,” Mary continued, “in the summer of 1841, Robert died along with Don Carlos Smith, leaving Mercy a widow with a little girl. She continued to live in her own house, but she had to take in boarders to make ends meet. It was a very difficult time for her.”

  “But I thought she moved in with you just a few months ago.” Suddenly Melissa’s eyes went wide. “Do you mean that it’s Mercy that . . . ?”

  Mary didn’t answer that. “You should know something else. Hyrum had a very difficult time with the idea of plural marriage at first too. Not that he ever doubted Joseph, he just did not feel that he could ever practice it himself. Then one day this last summer,” Mary continued, talking in a very hushed voice now, “Robert appeared to Joseph.”

  She stopped, letting that be registered. At Melissa’s expression, she nodded. “That’s right. He was allowed to come to Joseph from the world of spirits. He told Joseph that he did not want Mercy living such a difficult and lonely life, and asked Joseph to ask Hyrum to marry Mercy for time only and to raise up children unto him, that is, unto Robert.”

  The others were staring at her too. They knew that Hyrum had taken a second wife and they knew who it was, but they knew nothing of this account.

  “Joseph went to Hyrum, of course, and told him about Robert’s request. Hyrum was deeply shaken by it, but he felt that under such unusual circumstances, there was no question but what it was the Lord’s will. That’s when he came to me.”

  She had to stop now. Her fingers were twisting around one another; her body was rigid. “I don’t need to tell you how much I love my sister,” she said in a voice so low that it was barely audible, “but this pierced me like a sword. To share my husband with her as his wife?” There was a quick shake of her head. “But just as Hyrum did, I came to ask myself, How can I resist the will of God?”

  She sighed. “Joseph then went to Mercy and told her what had happened. Her reaction was as strong as mine. She loved and respected Hyrum, but only as a brother-in-law. Now, was he to be her husband? She told me that every natural feeling of her heart rose up in opposition to the principle.”

  Melissa was nodding now. That was the exact description of her own feelings. Every natural feeling of her heart rose up in opposition against this. Yes, that was it exactly!

  “And yet, Mercy had an unshakeable testimony of Joseph’s calling. She knew he was a servant of the Lord and that if she rejected his counsel she risked fighting against God. And then there was the matter of her husband. Joseph told her that when Robert appeared to him, he came with such power that it made Joseph tremble.”

  She was staring past Melissa now, and her eyes were shining. “Joseph married them in August. As Robert had requested, Mercy was married to Hyrum for time, but not for eternity. Hyrum had to make a covenant as part of the marriage ceremony that in the morning of the first resurrection he would deliver Mercy up to Robert Blashel Thompson, along with whatever offspring had come of their union.”

  Mary had finished all she wanted to say. After a long pause, she looked at Melissa. “That’s it. I don’t know that saying anything more will make any difference. I don’t know if you believe all of it. All I can say to you is that I know it is true. Otherwise, I would never have accepted what has happened.”

  Just then there was a noise out in the hallway and Caroline raised one hand.

  “What?” Melissa asked, turning.

  “I thought I heard the back door close,” Caroline said. She got to her feet, walked out into the hallway, and stood there for a moment. Everything was quiet now. Finally she turned back with a shrug. “I guess it was just my imagination,” she said.

  When Olivia stepped back inside Lydia’s house, she was greeted with a chorus of disapproval. “What took you so long, Livvy?” Savannah said petulantly.

  “Yeah,” Emily said. She no longer had the baby in her arms. He had fallen asleep and she had put him down some minutes before. “Joshua has told us five Bible stories already.”

  She looked at them, her eyes vacant; then finally she raised the book in her hand. “I . . . I couldn’t find it,” she mumbled.

  “Read us ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ ” Charles exclaimed. “We’ve been waiting.”

  Olivia turned and looked at her cousin. “Could you read it to them, Joshua?” she asked. “I . . . I’ve got a bad headache.”

  “Sure.” He got up and took the book; then he peered more closely at her. “You don’t look very good, Olivia. Maybe you’d better go lie down.”

  She nodded numbly. “Yes, that’s a good idea.” And without another word she walked upstairs and threw herself on Lydia and Nathan’s bed.

  Chapter Notes

  In his speech to the new police force given on 29 December, Joseph did not give any names when he told them there was a Judas in their midst. But his speech sent the dissidents, who up to that time thought they were operating without Joseph’s knowledge, into a panic, which in turn brought some of their activities to light. After the city council heard testimony on both sides about the accusations that Joseph had charged the police to kill William Law and William Marks, the conclusion was that it was speculation and surmise, along with a healthy dose of gossip, that led to the false accusations. The whole affair did serve to confirm Joseph’s fears that he did have enemies in the highest councils of the Church. (See HC 6:166–70.)

  It should be noted that as a result of his disaffection, William Law was dropped from the First Presidency during the early part of January 1844.

  In the summer of 1843, while Joseph was telling some of the brethren of the difficult time Emma was having with plural marriage, Hyrum asked Joseph to write the revelation down for him. Though much of it had been received some years before, Joseph had not put it into writing for fear that it might fall into the wrong hands. Hyrum said to him, “Joseph, if you will write the revelation on celestial marriage, I will take it and read it to Emma. With the revelation, I think I can convince her that it is true.” Joseph demurred. “Hyrum, you don’t know Emma like I do.” But Hyrum was certain he could do it. “The doctrine is so plain,” he said, “I can convince any reasonable man or woman of its truth, purity, and heavenly origin.” Joseph then had William Clayton, his scribe, come in and he dictated the revelation to him word for word. When Joseph was done, he had it read back to him and pronounced it correct. With that, Hyrum went to Emma and tried to reason with her. Hyrum returned saying that he had never had such a tongue-lashing in his life. Later, Emma coaxed the copy of the revelation from Joseph and then tore it up. By then, Newel Whitney had made another copy, but Joseph said that the revelation had been so emblazoned in his mind that he knew it by heart and could repeat it at any time. (See Danel W. Bachman, “A Study of the Mormon Practice of Plural Marriage Before the Death of Joseph Smith” [master’s thesis, Purdue University, 1975], pp. 161, 205–6; Restoration, pp. 525–26.)

  The description given here of Hyrum’s marriage to Mercy Fielding Thompson, his sister-in-law, after Joseph had been visited by her deceased husband, is based on testimony given by both sisters (see Don Cecil Corbett, Mary Fielding Smith: Daughter of Britain [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1966],

  pp. 152–54; Bachman, “A Study of Plural Marriage,” pp. 123, 187).

  Chapter 35

  Olivia Mendenhall Steed was mature beyond her sixteen years in many ways. She was a woman now, and a beautiful one at that. She turned heads wherever she went, and there was more than one young man in Nauvoo who lay awake at nights with visions of her face before him. But in other ways she was still a young girl. She was the daughter of one of the most prosperous men in western Illinois. Even back in Georgia, when her natural father died and left her mother a widow with two children, Olivia had lived above the normal standard of living for most girls of her age. To say that she was spoiled would be far too strong, for Caroline went to great lengths to see that she kept a balanced view on life. But there was no denying that she was pampere
d. She had never gone to bed hungry. She had never lived in circumstances where everyone—men, women, and children—rose at first light and worked the fields until dark just so that the family could survive.

  Had she been raised in such circumstances—an experience which can give children a natural maturity by the time they reach puberty—she might have made some different decisions, chosen a more rational way of coping with the shock she had received that night standing furtively in her mother’s hallway. But she had not been raised that way, so in her turmoil her emotions took over. She knew that she had done something terribly wrong in listening to a forbidden conversation, but instead of coming forth and confessing her transgression to her mother, which would have given Caroline a chance to clear up any misconceptions, she withdrew into herself. And as she lay awake night after night, or stared at nothing in the day, the questions multiplied like puddles after a heavy rain.

  Why hadn’t she been told about plural marriage? Everyone else in the family seemed to know about it except for her. She was certain that most members of the Church didn’t know either, so why did her family know? Were they part of it? What were they trying to hide? Was that why her father had been so bitterly opposed to their joining the Church? Was her mother being asked to be someone else’s wife? Who else in the family was living this law? Nathan? Derek? Matthew? That one really caused her to blanch. Kathryn was right there in the home. Had Matthew now married both Jenny and Kathryn? Now Olivia better understood why Melissa had become so distant and strange during this last year and a half. Had she been asked to be someone else’s wife and refused? If so, that would explain why Carl didn’t come to Church anymore.

  On and on the questions went, and she became more and more depressed as the specters danced in her mind. And so finally, as young girls often do, Olivia, after extracting a vow of absolute secrecy, confided in Amy Appleby, her best friend. Amy was seventeen now, and though she was a good girl and a wonderful friend, she was also at that stage where young men and love and courtship filled her mind with fleecy clouds of romantic fantasies. Amy’s horror at Olivia’s revelations about plural wives knew no bounds. That night, still reeling, Amy told her mother everything, swearing her to absolute secrecy as well.

  Unfortunately, Liza Appleby was married to John David Appleby. And John Appleby was good friends with Leonard Soby, a member of the Nauvoo Stake high council. Soby didn’t even let Appleby finish his story. He took him straight to Wilson Law, who immediately called his brother William and Robert Foster.

  When Appleby was done retelling the story, a general rage broke out among the group. Hyrum Smith, long thought to be a moderating influence for Joseph, was clearly right in the middle of it all too. Now what did they do? What more evidence did they need? But Foster, with his usual cunning, let them rage on around him while he half closed his eyes and withdrew into his thoughts. Finally, William Law noticed that Foster wasn’t in on the conversation.

  “Foster, what do you think about all this?”

  Foster straightened, smiling triumphantly as his mind worked it over. He turned to Appleby. “John, here’s what I want you to do. You go back to that daughter of yours. Don’t let her know you’ve told anyone else about this. She told your wife, your wife told you, and that’s as far as it went. But you tell her that she needs to get that Steed girl to go to Joseph Smith.”

  “Are you crazy?” Wilson Law exploded. “That will just warn Joseph.”

  Foster ignored him. “Tell her to tell the Steed girl that only Joseph can give her the counsel she needs. That’s important.”

  William Law was suddenly giving Foster an admiring look. “Yes, he’s crazy,” he said to his brother. “Crazy like a fox.”

  Foster bowed slightly, accepting the praise as his due.

  “I don’t get it,” Wilson said. Soby and Appleby were also perplexed.

  “Tell Amy,” Foster went right on, “to be sure and find out when—and I mean precisely when—this Olivia plans to go see Joseph. And have Amy tell you immediately. That’s very important. Very important.”

  “All right,” said Appleby.

  Now Wilson Law had it too. “I see.”

  “Look,” Soby suggested, thinking he understood, “if you want to get at Joshua Steed, why not just tell him that his wife has been preaching plural marriage right in his own home? That’ll do it for sure.”

  Foster rubbed his hands gleefully. “Oh, brethren, we can do better than that. Much, much better.” He turned again to Appleby. “Remember, as soon as you learn when it is that the Steed girl plans to go to Joseph, you come straight to me, so we can be ready.”

  “Sister Emma?”

  Emma Smith was behind the counter in the store sorting through a box of buttons. There were two women across the room looking at bolts of material, but other than that, the store was empty. She looked up, then immediately smiled. “Hello, Olivia.”

  “Good afternoon. Uh . . . I was supposed to meet Brother Joseph here today.” She looked around. “Is he here?”

  Emma laughed lightly. “Well, not here. He’s upstairs in his office.” She pointed to the back of the store. “Just go up those stairs.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Emma turned back to the box and continued her sorting. But she had just begun when the front door to the store opened and three men came in. She frowned. It was Leonard Soby, John Appleby, and Francis Higbee. Emma did not know everything that was going on, but she was aware enough to know that these three men were trying to cause trouble for her husband and the Church.

  “Good afternoon,” Soby boomed.

  “Hello,” she said with a cool nod.

  They came around the barrels and boxes that filled the inside of the room. “I’m looking for a good wood plane,” Appleby said, pushing forward to stand directly in front of her. The other two came up behind him. Higbee leaned on the counter and looked at her with open admiration. He had always found Emma to be a handsome woman. He also knew that she intensely disliked him and that his boldness unnerved her.

  “The tools are over there,” she said, pointing down the counter to one wall.

  “Could you show me?” Appleby asked innocently.

  With a shrug, she nodded and started forward. Behind her, Higbee raised an arm and motioned frantically. At the back of the store, the door opened a crack, and then Robert Foster slipped inside. Bent over in half a crouch, he made his way up the stairs and was soon out of sight.

  Appleby, who had been following Emma, suddenly stopped and looked at Higbee, who nodded. “On second thought,” Appleby said, “I’d like to look at some material for my wife, please.”

  Joseph listened to Olivia for almost a quarter of an hour and said virtually nothing. Occasionally he would ask a clarifying question, or murmur an assent to something Olivia said, but for the most part he just listened. He was pleased to note that as she got it all out that her voice gradually calmed and her demeanor became less troubled.

  When she was finally finished, he sat back, pursing his lips and making a steeple of his fingers. “Thank you, Livvy,” he said kindly. “I’ll bet it wasn’t easy for you to come and see ‘Brother Joseph,’ was it?”

  She smiled back at him, looking so much like Caroline that it was eerie. “No, it wasn’t.”

  “Well, I’m glad you did. The first thing I want you to do when you get home is sit down and tell your mother everything.”

  Her face twisted with brief pain but also relief. “All right.”

  “She’ll understand. Your mother is a wonderful woman, Livvy.”

  “I know.”

  “Now, let me say a word or two about what you heard. But before I do, I must ask something of you, Livvy.”

  “All right.”

  “I wish I could reveal all I know to the Saints, but they are not ready to receive it yet. Sometime in the future this will be spoken from the housetops, but for now, we must be wise. Therefore, in a very real way I am about to put my life in your hands
by telling you some of these things. So I must have your word that you will not speak to anyone else besides your mother about what we discuss here today. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Brother Joseph. You have my word on it.”

  “You can’t speak of it to anyone—not your dearest friends, not even Will or your father. Not unless I release you from this vow. If you feel that you cannot keep this promise, then we shall finish now and you will be free to go. I will not respect you any less for not wishing to take the burden of such a vow, for a burden it will be. Agreed?”

  Olivia was greatly impressed that Joseph would even consider sharing such important things with her. And she found his trust strangely exhilarating. “I swear,” she finally said.

  “Good.” Now he sat back, obviously relaxing. “I’m not going to go into all of how this came to be. Your mother can tell you that if she chooses. But since you know about the general principle now, I must say I’m glad you heard it from whom you did. Mary Fielding Smith is an admirable woman, strong in her devotion to the Lord.”

  Olivia nodded.

  “And to have your grandmother and your mother and your aunts there too. You are blessed to be part of a wonderful family, Livvy.”

  “I know.”

  He leaned forward slightly, suddenly quite earnest. “Do you believe what Mary said about Robert Thompson coming to me?”

  She bit her lip, then nodded. “I guess so.”

  “Olivia, I want you to hear it from my own lips. Robert Thompson did come to me from the spirit world and told me to have my brother marry Mercy Thompson. I testify to you that this is true. It is not something I would lie about.” He was watching her closely now. “Do you believe me?”