Did Emma Smith Attempt To Poison Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith?
The Records Say Yes, Richard Bushman Says No!
In their 1994 book, Mormon Enigma, historians L. K. Newell and V. T. Avery cite “Brigham Young’s address, 7 October, 1866, in Semi-annual Conference, Brigham Young papers, LDS Archives,” [Ms d 1234, Box 49 fd 13]. Newell and Avery point out that “Brigham described a ‘secret council,’ probably the November 5 [1843] meeting, at which he [Young] said Joseph accused Emma of the poisoning and ‘called upon her to deny it if she could… He told her that she was a child of hell, and literally the most wicked woman on this earth, that there was not one more wicked than she. He told her where she got the poison, and how she put it in a cup of coffee; said he, “You got that poison so and so, and I drank it, but you could not kill me.” When it entered his stomach he went to the door and threw it off. He spoke to her in that council in a very severe manner, and she never said one word in reply. I have witnesses all around, who can testify that I am now telling the truth. Twice she undertook to kill him.’ He did not elaborate on the alleged second occurance…”
See below the original document:
Another noted Mormon historian, Richard Bushman, also wrote of this accusation in Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Knopf, 2005), 498:
“Through the late fall and winter of 1843 and 1844, Joseph and Emma’s relationship broke down only once. During Sunday dinner on November 5, Joseph became ill, rushed to the door, and vomited so violently that he dislocated his jaw. “Every symptom of poison,” Richards noted in Joseph’s diary. That night at the prayer meeting, Richards, wrote in code that Joseph and Emma did not dress in the usual special clothing, a sign they were too much at odds to participate. The next day, Richards wrote that Joseph was “busy with domestic concerns.” Years later, in the anti-Emma atmosphere of Utah, Brigham Young spoke of a meeting where Joseph accused his wife of slipping poison into his coffee. Brigham interpreted Emma’s refusal to answer as an admission of guilt.”
Bushman then moves into his interpretation using ‘probably,’ and ‘was’ meaning in his opinion without evidence to prove otherwise; he denies the poisoning.
“Though there probably was an argument, the poisoning accusation was unfounded. Joseph was susceptible to vomiting anyway. He had even dislocated his jaw while vomiting once before; and five weeks after the 1843 dinner episode, he was sick again, vomiting more violently than ever. During this last bout, Joseph said gratefully, “My wife waited on me.””
As Linda King Newell points out in The Emma Smith Lore Reconsidered, the story does seem bizarre. Why would Joseph Smith think such a thing of his wife? How could Emma have done such a thing? However, the evidence seems conclusive that Joseph Smith made the accusation. In his diary entry of 5 November 1843, “Smith describes becoming suddenly ill while eating dinner and vomiting so violently that he dislocated his jaw and “raised fresh blood.” He believed he had been poisoned. Smith recovered enough to attend a “prayer meeting in the hall over the store” that evening. Newell writes, “This was a meeting of the “quorum of the anointed” — those who had received their endowments — and most likely the “secret council” in which, according to Brigham, Joseph accused Emma of trying to poison him. Joseph’s diary records that he and Emma did not dress for the prayer circle that night.”
Historians and church leaders over the years have suggested that the event did not take place and Joseph Smith had an ulcer, or Emma Smith persuaded her husband of her innocence. However, Joseph Smith did not ever tell of Emma’s supposed innocence; thus, the story of Emma Smith’s attempt to kill her Mormon prophet husband is still talked about today.
The bigger question is, what was life like for Emma Smith that she would try to murder her husband?
Not quite the Disney story the Mormon church would have you believe. Perhaps because Joseph Smith was sleeping with underage girls and adding polygamy as a church tenet.
If all was well between Joseph and Emma Smith, why would his immediate assumption be that Emma had poisoned him? People who love and trust their spouses do not immediately jump to the conclusion that they are trying to kill them when they get sick.
Where there is smoke, there is usually fire!
© Stephen G. Arrowsmith 2022
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