2050

Mormon/Death of Joseph Smith

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:NA
Mormon/Death of Joseph Smith
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Autograph letter signed regarding Joseph Smith by Reverend J.T. Tucker of Hannibal, Missouri. Composed on 20 June 1844, just one week before Smith's murder, to Reverend M. Badger of the American Home Missionary Society in New York. In part, ''…the world, the flesh & the devil are driving on their projects of sin and ruin. One grand device of Satan is just now being exploded in our neighborhood with a terrible noise and stench. The Mormon camp is in dire confusion, a party having sprung up in its midst who are preaching a reformation from the abominations of Smith, whom they brand a 'fallen Prophet,' fallen from his high estate, and now, as they say, 'an incarnate fiend'. They have stripped the prophets cloak off most unceremoniously and the pollutions concealed beneath are too vile for repetition. Mob violence among themselves has followed this Exposure. And the prospect is that the scenes of Missouri will be repeated in the expulsion of this miserable sect from their present location…'' Tucker refers to the publication by dissident Mormon elders of the Nauvoo Expositor, revealing Smith's practice of polygamy, which was still an open secret. It also told of his questionable financial dealings, inquisitorial autocracy, and manipulation of the courts. Letter shows several ink spots, as some of the text (none of it regarding Smith) was used for the Missionary Society's publications. Minor splits repaired with transparent paper. Overall, very good.