A Banner is Unfurled
Volume 4
Book Series: A Banner is Unfurled
Title:
Abide With Me
Author:
Marcie Gallacher & Kerri Robinson
Publisher:
Covenant
Publishing
date: 2010
Pages:
233
Number
of Chapters: 17
This Volume spans less than one year Jan 1838-Nov 1838
*Chapter Notes at end of book*
Acknowledgements
The authors thank family and friends for their support as
they have labored over this project. It is only one short paragraph.
Family Chart/The Children
1. Joel Hills Johnson born 1802 (married Annie, 1826) 4 living
children-Sixtus, Sariah, Nephi and Susan or “Susie” in memory of everyone’s
favorite aunt born in Volume 3
2. Nancy b. 1803-died 1836 see Volume 3
3. Seth b. 1805-died 1835 see Volume 3
4. Delcena born 1806 (married Lyman Sherman, 1829) 5 living
children-Alvira, Mary, Albey, Seth, Daniel
5. Julianne born 1808 (married Almon Babbitt, 1834) one baby boy
named David born 1835 but he got sick and died just after he turned one in 1836
see last volume
6. David b. 1810-died 1833
see Volume 2
7. Almera born 1812 (married Samuel Prescott, 1836 see last
volume)
8. Susan b. 1814-died 1836 see Volume 3
9. Joseph b. 1817
10. Benjamin b. 1818
11. Mary b. 1820
12. George b. 1823
13. William b. 1824
14. Esther b. 1827
15. Amos b. 1829
Two short
stanzas by Joel about trials sent by God for our good
January 1838
Delcena Sherman
has come to check on her abandoned house in Kirtland. Picking up where the last
book left off, her husband Lyman left town under pretense of serving a mission
for the church while investigations were being made over the arson fire that
completely destroyed the church printing office after enemies of the church
took control of it. The Prophet Joseph was also forced to leave town and go
into hiding. No one except herself and her younger brother Benjamin (age 19),
know her husband was the one who started the fire to protect the church.
George (age 14)
is also here with her in the wagon. The two brothers get out and go inside the
home which has obviously been vandalized, the front door off its hinges.
Delcena follows them. Furniture is gone and the place is a mess. Her brothers
are glad she has been staying at Mother’s these last few weeks. Their visit is
interrupted by two men Delcena noticed coming up the street. One is Luke
Johnson, former apostle who will be rebaptized later and go with the saints to
Utah but right now his loyalty to the church is questionable. He is of no relation
to the Johnson family in our story. He is looking for Delcena’s husband, Lyman.
Chapter notes say this meeting is fictional. As sheriff, he has a warrant for
Lyman’s arrest. Delcena gathers her courage and lies for the first time in her
life. She does not know where her husband is (hiding in the cellar of a
member’s home in another town. This family was known for harboring many
prominent leaders back in those days as a safe house). The two men do not press
the issue and leave. Luke, however, adds loudly that after their lunch break,
they plan to go arrest Don Carlos Smith, brother of the prophet.
Knowing Luke
was giving them a warning they get back in the wagon and hurry over to the
house where Don Carlos and his wife, who is due to have their first baby any
day now, have been preparing for this very event and are ready to leave town.
They will go to Far West, Missouri with others who have already left. Delcena
hopes to join them, as soon as it is safe for her husband to take them and make
the journey. Then maybe the saints can live in peace.
Almon Babbitt
is in Canada serving a mission which includes organizing the new converts for
the journey to Missouri. His wife, Julianne, is staying with a friend in
Toronto where the change of scenery after the death of their small child in the
last book has been good for her. He will journey back to Far West to purchase
land then return to Canada and lead these saints, who have very little means,
to live on this purchased land near Zion/Far West, Missouri.
Chapter 2
Four lines by Joel describing a tearful farewell
April 1838
Julia Johnson is
now 58 years old. Joseph is 20 and everyone is worried about how the church
will move everyone to Missouri when it has become so dangerous to stay any
longer. That’s why her heart thumps hard when she is awakened from sleep by a
soft knock at the door. It is Lyman. He had to outrun some mean Mormon hating
men from the town where he was hiding out but he made it safe and is back.
Julia directs him upstairs where Delcena is sleeping and goes back to bed.
With the
Sherman’s move to Missouri to join the rest of the saints now official, Ezekiel
Johnson brings Almera over two days later so she can say goodbye to her sister.
Julia is glad to see them both. She was hoping Almera might stay the night but
Almera’s mean nonmember jerk of a husband, Sam, won’t let her see her family as
often as she wants anymore. He lied about letting her live her religion when
they got married and pretty much forbids her from having anything to do with
“those Mormons.” Though Delcena is a grown woman with five children, Father
Zeke calls her “princess” as they hug goodbye. Esther (age 11) shows her father
the apron she made herself. Baby Amos born in the first book is now age 9 with
blond hair and dark eyes. He will return with his father and older sister for a
visit. All three are happy and excited for the extended stay of the youngest baby
brother and child but Ezekiel’s melancholy over not getting to spend as much
time with his beloved children and grandchildren, all clamoring for his
attention right now, are making him crave a drink.
Traveling hundreds of miles across
three states to Zion is not easy. The Sherman family made friends with another
family (*chapter notes* say the authors found this story about life on the
trail to Far West and Zion written by another man named Shurtliff in his
autobiography and figured the Sherman family were probably there too). All the
children play together when the two families are forced to stop due to wagons
getting mired down in wet bogs, practically invisible in the prairie grass
(just like in a Little House book!). Delcena and Sister Shurtliff nurse their
babies but Delcena’s new friend is quiet and doesn’t have much to say for
herself. They do the best they can tending their fussy children with no food or
clean diapers for the babies as they wait in a large patch of burned grass for
the two men-far off in the distance-using the horses and teams to pull their
family wagons out of the mud and wet. This takes all afternoon. Rain threatens
to fall and lightning flashes but they stay dry. Later that evening after
eating a cold dinner as they have nothing to make fires with, a prairie fire
breaks out on the horizon and as it comes close enough to their camp on the
burned grass it turns out to be a blessing from God as the two men can dry
their wet clothes and everyone can warm themselves (too bad marshmallows and
hot dogs haven’t been invented yet!) it is almost festive. Everyone sleeps
well, the next morning is glorious and they can get on their way again to Zion.
Chapter 3
Four lines by Joel a short prayer to God for grace to get
through a hard time
May 1838
The oldest
Johnson brother, Joel and his wife Annie and their four children still reside
in Kirtland but they hope to leave soon with the next company. A knock at the
door reveals Julianne and Almon, both back from Canada. The children squeal
with excitement at their favorite aunt and uncle and everyone sits back down to
breakfast. Juli and Almon will go over to Mother Johnson’s house next and
everyone will be getting ready soon for the move west.
Learning
from her mother that Sam won’t let their beloved sister and daughter come to
Kirtland to see her family, especially when Juli and Almon will be leaving
tomorrow morning for Missouri and the two sisters will probably never see each
other again, Juli goes to her sister. Almera is milking the cow and weeping
when Juli darkens the doorway and they embrace tightly. Almera is filled with
hope. She fears she made the biggest mistake of her life marrying Sam and would
give anything to be joining the rest of the church in the big migration.
We were
introduced to the Huntington family in the last book. Benjamin and Joe made
friends with daughter Zina (it looks like Ben is crushing on her too!) and her
brother William. Joe teases Ben about his interest in the young lady. He
himself will keep his options open by associating with as many girls as he can.
They are on their way to the camp this morning outside Kirtland where Almon is
preparing to lead his company of Canadian saints to Zion and they’ve come to
say goodbye.
Chapter 4
Poem by Joel about Zion
May 1838
Delcena is
happy to be in Far West, they arrived two weeks ago. She has a cabin of her own
and they are comfortably settled. Brother Joseph is here too and Lyman has just
left to go speak with him. Delcena knows something has been troubling him,
probably his rash decision to burn down the printing office back in Kirtland
but she is very content. She is especially happy because she and Lyman are
going to have another child but she hasn’t told him that yet.
The prophet
and Lyman are interrupted before he can confess what he did but Brother Joseph
reassures Lyman whatever sin or offense he might be feeling guilty of he should
talk to the Lord because as far as Joseph is concerned, the salvation of Lyman
Sherman is made sure and he has nothing to worry about. Now, he needs to go
comfort a family that just lost a fourteen year old son (the father of this
family Apostle Thomas B. Marsh will later leave the church but repent and come
to Utah only to die in obscurity). Emma tells Lyman she will come call on
Delcena very soon as their two little boys are good friends.
It is now
July 4, 1838 and everyone attends the cornerstone lying ceremony for the future
Far West temple and Sydney Rigdon gives his now famous speech standing beneath
the grand flagpole constructed just yesterday and erected this morning from
which the stars and stripes now wave. Sidney boldly declares the people of this
church are not going to take it anymore!
The very next day a storm rolls in
and a great lightning strike completely takes out the flagpole. It is a sign
from God who is not pleased with some of the men murmuring about going to war
to avenge the saints getting evicted from their homes in Independence. Little
do they know their troubles are just beginning.
In the
first novel, young Ezekiel Johnson was gifted a fine gun by a family member. He
still has that gun and now that everyone in the Johnson clan are leaving: Julia
and all the children, including Benjamin and Joseph. Joel, his wife Annie and their
little family. Ezekiel has come to say goodbye to everyone. He gives his gun
“Betsy” to Benjamin who is honored and promises to take good care of it. One
day, he will return it to the Patriarch of this family, its rightful owner.
Zeke just nods and excuses himself to find his estranged wife, Julia, who weeps
along with her other younger children as they say farewell to father and
husband. Almera is here too and she sobs as mother and daughter clasp each
other. It is nighttime in this very large camp and company of saints. They will
all leave early tomorrow morning for Far West and Zion.
Chapter 5
Another poem by Joel about prayer
July 9, 1838
Annie’s
little two year old is not feeling well and her wails let everyone around them
in the camp know it. There is a single, childless sister in the camp who has
never married and was disowned by her family because she was the only one to
join the church so she is truly traveling solo through life. She is twenty-six
years old, tall with blue eyes, big feet and way past her expiration date!
(*Chapter notes* do not mention if this woman was a real person or not. We will
find out in the next book. Makes this reader wonder what singles wards might
have been like in these early days of the church and what profound revelations
the Lord might have given Joseph Smith concerning what the church should do
with saints like Susan!)
Susan makes herself useful helping
Annie set up a camp bed and holding the baby while Annie thinks to herself if
it is better to be married with children that could be taken from you at any
time than to be like Susan-who may never have children at all though her eyes
reflect her yearning. The entire company was forced to come to a halt when
wagons broke down and Joel’s oxen became sickly. A young child in the company
is also very sick like Annie’s and may die.
Benjamin is
grateful his health has improved, unlike the two oxen under his care. He had
feared he would have to stay behind in Kirtland due to his persistent cough and
feeling weak but he is feeling much better now and took the job of driving the
company livestock on the trail. He will follow oldest brother Joel’s
instructions to sell the two oxen if they don’t recover. One does and he brings
back ten dollars for the sale of the other. He finds younger sister Mary crying
because the little baby in camp did die. She throws her arms around the cow
that lived while Ben and Joe smirk and tease her for being so sentimental.
Chapter 6
Two stanzas by Joel-a prayer to Heavenly Father for aid
July 1838
Now six
months pregnant, Delcena takes a bag of caraway seeds dipped in honey and gives
it to her fussy toddler to chew on (except honey really shouldn’t be given to
children at that age but what did the pioneers know about infant botulism and
bacteria) as she’s really in no condition to lift a small child. Just as she’s
wondering where her other little one, Albey, has disappeared to there’s a knock
at the door. It’s Brother Joseph with Albey and his own little Joseph Jr.
returning her son safely from his playdate. Delcena thanks him.
Lyman
attends his first meeting of a group of LDS men calling themselves Danites who
have pledged to keep everybody safe, even if it means resorting to violence
against the ever-escalating threat of mob attacks to drive them all out. Their
leader, Sampson Avard, insists these meetings are all approved by Joseph and
since Sampson is also a prominent leader in the church that means he also
speaks for Joseph (and God) but Lyman isn’t so sure. As a presidency of the
Seventy this doesn’t feel right. He expresses his concerns to Sampson and is
allowed to be excused from the rest of the meeting without officially
registering his membership like all the other men here have done though he has
been urged by Sampson to become a member to improve their image. They use signs
and secret words and make solemn oaths to pledge their loyalty to this group
which any reader of the Book of Mormon will recognize as wrong.
Lyman talks to Almon about this
meeting later and Almon agrees Lyman did the right thing. As for himself, Almon
is not going to live with the group of Canadian saints on the only available
land they could find which is many miles north of Far West almost to the Iowa
boarder. Almon has already moved his wife into a small comfortable cabin of her
own right here in Far West. Lyman warns Almon Joseph may not approve of Almon
settling the people he led to Zion outside the actual “Lord approved”
boundaries of Zion. Almon says if it comes to that he will ride up there and
relocate his people right away.
Chapter 7
One stanza by Joel about teaching by the spirit
July 28, 1838
Back with
the Kirtland Camp still on the trail to Far West, this is an actual true
missionary story that really happened to our Benjamin Johnson who went to a
nearby town near their camp to look for work in exchange for food and possibly
money that he could share with friends and family back in camp. He did find
some work and is now on his way back to camp. It is late afternoon and he is
threadbare, no shoes, sweaty and dirty walking down the main street of this
small Ohio village when he is stopped by some folks sitting outside their
residences and businesses. One older man asks him if he is a Mormon. Hoping
he’s not about to be set upon and beaten, Benjamin timidly answers his question
in the affirmative and corrects the man’s misassumptions about the character of
Joseph Smith and next thing he knows the sun has set behind him and he is still
standing there in the middle of the dirt street, hours later, telling all the
people, some of whom have their windows open and are leaning out to hear him
better, the story of the restored gospel and answering their questions, bearing
his testimony. Some of the women listening have tears in their eyes. Realizing
he needs to be on his way (he still has a long 11 mile walk ahead of him) Ben
closes his testimony in the name of Jesus Christ and leaves town, relieved
nobody attacked him. As he walks, Ben also marvels to himself. Who was that
young man back there? Where did he find the courage to speak in front such a large
crowd of spectators? Seth would be very proud.
Next day is
Sunday and as the camp gathers to worship in a small grove that a nearby farmer
agreed to let them use for their meeting, some wagons and buggies pull up. A
few of the new investigators Benjamin met and preached to yesterday have come
wishing to learn more and to find out who the young man (an angel?) was who
came through their town yesterday. Benjamin, now washed and dressed in his
Sunday best looking very different than he did yesterday, keeps quiet and is
both too modest and too mortified to speak up and declare himself as the
traveling missionary who may have planted some gospel seeds.
Julia and
Annie are glad to have Susan Bryant helping them with the evening chores. She
has become almost like an aunt to the little ones and they all comment on the
different personalities of the children and grandchildren who drive them all a
little crazy with their antics but they’ll keep them. Susan declares she is
very glad to be on board with such a crew as the Johnson clan. Later than
night, Julia lies awake, unable to sleep, her mind awhirl with anxious thoughts
for the other grown children not with her. Are Julianne and Almon settled safely
in Far West, are they all right? Will Almera, left all alone back in Kirtland
with no family support, continue to be strong?
(She will, the authors found two LDS families who stayed in
Kirtland and decided one of the those sisters could have befriended Almera who,
with her Papa’s help, overrides Sam and attends a social with these women in
this story. Religion had nothing to do with it. Even Ezekiel pointed out to Sam
some of his best and most loyal customers have always been Mormons so he should
allow his wife to get out and mingle with these other women. Rebecca Winters is
her name and she was a real person.)
Chapter 8
Four lines by Joel about Zion
August 1838
There is to
be a meeting here in Far West to discuss some of the issues with all the influx
of new move-ins to the area. Julianne and Almon hold hands as they disembark
from their wagon once they arrive in town at the new schoolhouse where the
meeting will be held. Almon, ever the dandy, is dressed in his finest outfit
including cravat, and Juli curled her hair with rags overnight so she would
look her best too. Delcena and Lyman Sherman are here and the two couples greet
each other warmly. Brother Joseph takes Almon aside and from where she sits
looking outside the window, it doesn’t look like Almon is taking Brother
Joseph’s mild rebuking well. He enters and sits next to his wife assuring her
he’s fine. Just as Lyman warned him, the Canadian saints will need to be moved
to within Zion’s official boundaries. It doesn’t help that two different
speakers at this meeting remind the congregation of this fact. Never mind other
settlements, like the one at Haun’s Mill, also fall under this jurisdiction,
Almon feels like everybody is against him today. Can’t he do anything right?
This same
day, a group of LDS saints (all men) went to the county seat to exercise their
right as citizens of this country, to do their civic duty and vote. But
violence broke out as the local Missourians did not take kindly to “less than”
citizens coming in to upset the political balance of the state. The latest
report says two LDS men were killed (this will later be found false) and
everyone is very anxious and worried. Brother Joseph and a large group of
brethren which includes Lyman, Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum and Sampson Avard will all
go with Almon to visit the settlements that need to relocate. They leave the
very next day on horseback.
(Gerald Lund’s Work
and the Glory series Vol 4 “Thy Gold to Refine” also includes a fictional
character witnessing the big fight that broke out when the men came to vote and
were refused. See Vol 4, chapter 6)
The party
stops at the home of one Justice of the Peace, Adam Black, to peacefully
request he sign a paper stating that the people called Mormons and those who
already live here be allowed to coexist without harm coming to either people.
It is a vague request but granted. Unfortunately, this man will sign another
paper stating the complete opposite occurred: the Mormon leaders threatened him
with physical violence if he did not sign their paper. Lyman witnesses Sidney
Rigdon exiting the home of Mr. Black waving the signed paper triumphantly.
Little good it did.
Chapter 9
Two stanzas by Joel “The Lord bless you”
Cincinnati Ohio,
August 1838
Julia and
her two sons, Joseph and Benjamin are here in Cincinnati because Julia has a
brother and sister who live in this area whom she hasn’t seen in almost thirty
years and she has missed them terribly. She also fears they might be estranged
from her because of her new religion. She wrote them about it but they never
responded. What if she is not welcome in her siblings’ homes?
Nothing
could be farther from the truth. Aunt Nancy bursts into tears of joy when she
answers the door to see her older sister standing there; looking so much like
their dearly departed mother she feared she was seeing a ghost. They are
welcomed into her boardinghouse. A widow of ten years with grown children like
her sister, Nancy also harbors a great secret. This boardinghouse that she runs
also serves as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Nancy’s large, black
manservant, Elias, will take Joe and Ben over to the hog butchering district
later so they can buy meat to take back to the Kirtland Camp. This was part of
their reason for coming.
They get a good price for thirty
hams (when the owner learned he was doing business with the nephews of a
respectable woman in the city whom many know and admire, he agreed to Joe’s
price) and it is dark by the time they return to the house. Since the
boardinghouse is full, the two young men will sleep in the cellar, which
conceals the secret room used to hide the “shipments” coming in. None are here
tonight so the empty beds are a welcome relief to Joe and Ben after so many
weeks of camping out on hard ground. Elias welcomes them to “Sweet Nancy’s
Palace” and confides he has a wife and child hoping to escape their slave
master down south so they can all be together as a free family. The slave state
of Kentucky is just across the river making this city a hotbed of contention
between abolitionists and slave holders looking for their runaways.
Julia lies awake upstairs in the
other bed in Nancy’s room. The room is dark and Julia assumes her younger
sister fell asleep but Nancy clicks her tongue, a childhood signal that the other
was still awake and wanted to talk. The entire afternoon and evening was spent
visiting and catching up yet Nancy is curious why Julia never mentioned her
husband. Julia tells her she and Ezekiel have separated. Seth’s tragic death
broke both their hearts and her husband’s alcoholism only added fuel to the
fire along with her new faith.
It was
never any secret in the family that Julia was the most spiritual-that God was
Julia’s friend. Nancy is a devout Christian as well but she could never join
her sister’s church. She feels her work is here, helping the runaway slaves to
freedom. Julia respects that. Joel is out of town. Julia will miss visiting him
tomorrow in this same area but her sister-in-law, Joel’s wife Rhoda, is very
happy to see them and Julia and her boys stay a second night with her and leave
the following day.
(*Chapter Notes* The details of this quick trip south so
Julia could see her siblings is sketchy. The authors have no evidence that
Nancy Hills Taft was involved in the Underground Railroad or that she even ran
a boardinghouse but census records from this time list Nancy as head of
household along with a number of males too old to be children so the authors
created this situation for her and it makes sense if her husband did indeed
die. Julia makes no mention of seeing her brother when this visit was made,
only her sister-in-law and nephews so for storytelling purpose, they had Uncle Joel
be out of town. See also Vol 1 Ch 4 of this series when Joel and younger
brother David passed through the Cincinnati area. The authors had them visit
Uncle Joel so this is not the first time in the story that Johnsons have
visited their nonmember relatives. Even Almon traveling alone to inquire what
education he needed in order to take the bar in Ohio stayed with Uncle Joel in
Vol 2 Ch 6 and did some missionary work which the authors created as a
fictional event. It is referred to in this chapter between Ben and his cousin
Frank, Rhoda’s son.)
Chapter 10
Six lines by Joel about God watching out for us
August 1838
Almon’s
group from Canada consisted of twenty-two families. All good people. He leads
Joseph, Hyrum and Sidney to the home of Brother John Snider where they are
warmly welcomed in and served a late dinner. Joseph counsels John to move this
settlement closer south to Far West. John will follow the prophet’s council and
is glad Brother Joseph will repeat this same message tomorrow at Sunday worship
services. As Brother Rigdon begins expressing his thoughts on the law of
sacrifice, Almon zones out, he happens to glance up to see one of John’s little
boys still awake peeking down on them from the loft . He holds up a checker set
with raised eyebrows. Almon winks and nods ever so slightly. Brother Joseph
bursts out laughing interrupting Sidney’s discourse. A lively game is just what
this party needs and it’s not every day a prophet graces your home. The boy is
invited to come down. (Chapter Notes do not mention this humorous scene, only
Anson Call’s record mentions the prophet and his party coming to their settlement
on Sunday to preside at the service held in his home and council them all to
move so this probably never took place at the Snider home-but it is fun to
read.)
Another
Danite meeting is held at the schoolhouse. While chapter notes say there is no
record of Lyman Sherman being at this particular meeting the authors decided to
have him there so he could observe Brigham Young’s brother, Lorenzo Young,
standing up to defend the church and openly challenge Sampson Avard if this
meeting really does have the approval of Brother Joseph and the rest of the
First Presidency. Lorenzo gets very passionate about this and the two almost
come to blows but the meeting is adjourned. Lyman goes with Lorenzo to tell
Brigham what just happened.
Almon rides
backwards on his horse, telescope in hand to better see if they are being
followed by men who may want to do them harm. It is nighttime, Sunday, and they
are returning back to Far West but a group of men hearing the Mormon leader was
in the area are gathered in a nearby wood to make an ambush. Like George
Washington urging the colonists to have courage and fight, Joseph cries out to
his brethren to spur their horses and they all ride furiously for many miles,
outrunning the enemy, until they come to safety.
Next
morning, Brigham Young, Sampson Avard and other men were riding out from the
city boundaries of Far West to find Joseph and warn him that a local Sherriff
has a warrant for his arrest. They are surprised to meet them on the road. All
are troubled by the news but also thankful they made it back to Far West
without incident. Joseph asks Almon, straight out for some legal advice. Almon
tells him to go home and see his family for in the eyes of the law, Joseph is
innocent until proven guilty and everyone here knows he has done nothing wrong.
Sampson disagrees. If their prophet and leader is hauled off to jail, then all
is lost and chaos will erupt in the church. They must fight for justice! The
last thing Joseph wants is to start a war. They will all return to Far West and
wait and see what happens.
Chapter 11
Two stanzas by Joel
September 1838
Many people
in the Kirtland Camp are sick. Newly returned from his visit to Cincinnati, Ben
nurses one man, a father who already lost his wife. They are camped near
Springfield, Illinois and some are talking of renting a few homes in the area
and staying here for a season or two until things are settled. Julia is one of
them but Ben feels he needs to continue on to Far West so he might be of
assistance to the prophet. Joe will stay to look after their mother and younger
siblings but all will miss Benjamin.
Back in the
Kirtland area, Sam is having a good day today talking and working pleasantly
with Brother Winters as they cut and rake hay while Rebecca Winters and Almera
work in another area in the same field. Rebecca has a letter from Julianne
which she slips to her friend. Both are well aware Sam would not be happy if he
saw it. Sam strikes up a song while driving the horses back home. It is an old
American folk song about Jenny Jenkins who won’t wear certain colors but Sam
changes the name to “Mrs. Prescott” so it applies to his own wife. (You can
find it on YouTube or Google it to hear the tune) Almera smiles but after
singing the verse that accuses the woman in the song of not being true, Sam
abruptly stops singing. He takes her hand and squeezes it, hard. Almera is no
longer smiling.
For the first time in this series
POV switches to Sam who awakens to find his wife gone, sitting in the front
room reading the traitorous letter by candlelight. He grumbles to himself
because he was nice to her the entire way home in the wagon and all evening
long giving her every opportunity to confess her sin hiding the letter. Oh, he
saw Rebecca slip it to her all right! She is a wicked, unfaithful wife going
against his wishes. He is not happy and they argue. He grabs the letter and
reads it growing more and more furious as it mentions him and his negativity
towards their religion. This issue is being blown way out of proportion but try
explaining that to an emotional abuser.
Julia is all settled in her
temporary Springfield home and she is caring for a woman, Mary Cook Hale, whose
husband died a week ago. Now, like her husband, Mary is also succumbing to
illness. They leave behind a ten year old daughter, Mary Ann, their only child.
Julia promised to care for the girl but is torn between waking her now so she
might say goodbye to her mother or letting her sleep. Sister Hale indicates she
wants to see her daughter one last time. Julia wraps her arms around the
sobbing child as she and her mother exchange I love you’s. It is a
heartbreaking scene. Just then, 18 yr old Mary with her long blonde braid and
brown eyes full of empathy enters the room and embraces the girl promising her
she will always have a place with this family and have lots of brothers and
sisters to look out for her. (This really happened. Mary Ann will grow up and
marry Benjamin as a second wife see *Chapter Notes*)
Gerald Lund in Work and the Glory Vol 6 “Praise to the Man” Chapter 15 had his
fictional characters encounter a tall, rail-thin, young lawyer, native of
Illinois by the name of Mr. Lincoln who practiced law. Here, Joseph Johnson
also encounters a tall, long legged stranger answering to the name of “Abe,”
sitting and discussing politics with other men in the local General Store of
Springfield. Joseph likes the owner who has generously let the Mormons have
food and supplies on credit. Joseph needs to ask him for more cornmeal as the
family has nothing to eat and some quinine for all the sick currently staying in
their temporary home in town. The owner is glad Joe Johnson came in. A woman is
looking for someone to teach a winter term of school and the pay is good, all
were hoping Joseph Johnson might take the position as he comes highly
recommended by the Mormons. Joseph can’t believe it-the answer to his prayers!
He’ll take the job and gladly. (*Chapter Notes* say while Joseph’s being in the
same room with our future 16th President of the US here is
fictional, the store owner was a real man who boarded Abraham Lincoln who was
still a bachelor. Men did gather around his stove evenings and discuss politics
and it is very probable the Johnsons crossed paths with him. Gerald Lund has
nothing to say about his fictional characters Benjamin and Nathan Steed’s,
encounter with Mr. Lincoln which he places in 1842 and in a different location
in Springfield.)
Chapter 12
Short poem by Joel beseeching God to keep him until he can
meet with family at home again
October 1838
Benjamin is
not the only one still traveling to Far West while some stayed behind. The
Kirtland Camp is large and spread out over many miles. Everyone is worried how
vulnerable they are to attack now that they’ve crossed into Missouri. A local
met them and warned them a mob had already formed and was threatening their
destination but they needn’t worry long. The Prophet himself has ridden out to
meet them and that makes Benjamin feel better along with the rest of the camp.
Three
nights later, Delcena is relieved her little brother has joined the family,
safe and healthy. He is now in the place called Adam-ondi-Ahman looking over
the land both for a place of his own and to help the saints settle there as
part of the establishment of Zion-Brother Joseph’s orders. Benjamin hopes to
begin courting Zina Huntington so this assignment by the Prophet is not an
inconvenience either! Lyman comes in with a sleepy Albey who kisses his Mama
and as Lyman lays him down and tucks him in, he sings a different version of
Hymn #25 in our hymnal “Now We’ll Sing With One Accord” (I had to look this up
in my copy of Our Latter-day Hymns as
the authors do not give us any info on this song in the chapter notes. Back in
this day when their beloved Prophet was still alive, the words by W.W. Phelps
were not only different but in present tense and have since been altered. Lyman
starts out singing When the world in
darkness lay, Lo, Joseph sought a better way…have not sung this hymn much
and as a choir singer and musician had to go sit at my piano and play it to
refresh my memory!)
Once Albey is asleep, Lyman returns to the front room.
Trouble is brewing he tells his wife, for Joseph is planning to ride to the
area of di-Ahman tomorrow and he will probably go too as Joseph wants as many
able bodied men to accompany him as can be spared from Far West. Turns out Joseph
does not require him to go and while this faithful man is a little disappointed
he will stay behind to watch out for Emma and his own family for which Joseph
is grateful.
Now that
he’s picked out his own lot, Ben is having second thoughts. While the plot of
land is on a bluff that overlooks the valley-a lovely view-the soil is really
too rocky to grow anything. He shows the area to Zina who declares it
beautiful, never mind all the rocks. She sings a new hymn for him (THIS one I
know! Hymn #49) about “Adam-ondi-Ahman” and later Joseph takes a small group
which includes Benjamin up to this same overlook to show them a few rock mounds
and declare this was the same spot where Father Adam first offered sacrifices
to the Lord as commanded after being driven out of Eden and this was also where
Adam blessed all his posterity. Talk about prime real estate! Any doubts
Benjamin had about acquiring this unwanted plot of land are gone. Joseph also
insists that young Ben share his room at the home of one of the saints instead
of sleeping outside in the cold and snow with the rest. (This is all true)
Brother Joseph explains to Ben that when their beloved older brother David
died, Joseph made a promise to himself to watch out for young Joseph and
Benjamin Johnson but especially Ben since he has always been more tender
hearted and spiritually in tune than Joe. It is a great honor and while the
prophet may not have had this exact conversation with Benjamin Johnson it is
very true that, until the martyrdom, the Smith and Johnson families were good
friends and looked out for each other. There is also the true story of the
snowball fight the prophet initiated to cheer up the camp of men who had to
sleep outside with no shelter and woke up covered in snow and freezing. Brother
Joseph took down Sidney Rigdon and they wrestled resulting in Joseph’s pants
getting torn! Benjamin laughs along with the other men at the sight.
Chapter 13
Short stanza by Joel
October 1838
The
situation in di-Ahman has become a real catch-22 for the saints. The town and
the surrounding area have been literally hemmed in on all sides by mobs who
want them to leave but have also threatened to shoot anyone who tries.
Understandably panicked and fearing their lives, saints from the northern areas
of the state have flocked to the town of Adam-ondi-Ahman forced to sleep out in
the open with no shelter or food or fires. Some of the women have given birth.
Benjamin is horrified when he finds the young wife of the prophet’s brother,
Don Carlos, who reports what the mobs have been doing. Burning, looting,
forcing many helpless, unprotected women and children, like herself, her
two-year-old and newborn child to flee for their lives. Her husband, Don Carlos
is currently away serving a short mission in another state for the church. All
the men know they must do all they can to defend the saints. Some will ride to
get their families and bring them here before the coming battle which is now
inevitable. This will not be like Jackson County, Independence.
Benjamin gets
a front row seat to all the action in this chapter which begins with a squadron
of men to which Benjamin has been assigned led by Brother Cornelius Lott. They
have heard of a nearby home in which weapons to use against the saints have
been stored and if they find this true, they are to evict the women and
children, “mercifully” allow them to remove whatever items they can from the
house then burn it to the ground.
They find a cache of rifles and
ammo hidden in the nearby cornfield. The two women, their husbands, and three
young children, the oldest about six, are escorted from the house. One woman is
very much pregnant. All are sobbing and crying while the men look like their
hearts are failing them. Moved with compassion, Benjamin insists the woman with
child be given one of the horses they confiscated from the barn before it is
torched and when the men exit the house carrying household goods intended for
the refugees back at di-Ahman, Benjamin again insists these women be allowed to
take some of the clothing as it is very cold today. The little boy, reassured
his papa will not be harmed, clings to his father’s waist on his mount before
they ride away and tells Benjamin where some honey is hidden over by the barn
in a pumpkin-a beehive. Being very hungry, Benjamin finds the treat but since
they must move on, he regrets not getting his fill. The house and barn are
burned. Next day, they also find a herd of cattle, forty head, a welcome
addition to the starving camp of saints in di-Ahman where they are gladly
welcomed back. (All of this is true and the authors used Benjamin Johnson’s own
journal in which he recorded in detail these experiences riding with the
vigilantes.
Chapter 14
Two stanzas by Joel
October 1838
Julianne
wakes Sunday morning to find Almon laboring on the unfinished house; he is
outside sawing lumber to make a fake floor to cover the cellar. He intends to
hide their food and other valuable items down there then move their trundle bed
to cover the entrance so when the mob comes, they will hopefully find just an
empty, scantily furnished house with nothing to steal. He will not be attending
Sabbath meetings today; he has no other day on which to complete this project.
Delcena’s
baby is also coming today and Julianne is here to help although her heart is
breaking with her own longing for another child to replace the one she and
Almon lost in the last book. It is a girl, just as Delcena’s mother’s intuition
told her. They will name her Susan Julia after the beloved sister they lost and
the child’s noble and valiant grandmother. Lyman sings a Sabbath hymn to his
new daughter (the rest of the Sherman children are staying at the Smith’s with
Emma) while Julianne slips quietly out the door to return to her own childless
house.
Three days
later the new hiding place in the house is ready and Julianne helped Almon move
all their things down there. Tomorrow he will leave to help the newly formed
militia defend the saints while Juli will stay with the Shermans. They are
about to retire to bed as it is very late when someone pounds at the door. It
is Brother Robert Thompson who is gathering men to come help rescue three
innocent LDS men, one just a young boy, kidnapped by the enemy who is threatening
to kill them if the Mormons don’t surrender and end this conflict which isn’t
going to happen. Julianne begs her “darling boy” to be careful as he joins
Brother Thompson and he leaves.
While there
is no record of this, the authors chose to have Almon be part of the Battle of
Crooked River and relied heavily on Brigham Young’s brother, Lorenzo Young’s
account and involvement in the battle letting Almon experience most of the
action in his place. Like the battle cries of Captain Moroni’s army “God and
Liberty” is the cry these men give as they charge in the early morning light,
their silhouettes making them easy targets for enemy fire. Lives are lost on
both sides and Almon is attacked by a large Missouri man welding a sword. Almon
fights back but just as he is about to be driven off the side of a river bank,
the water ten feet below, a blow knocks his attacker off balance and he is
forced to jump into the water as Almon sidesteps to avoid collision. His savior
is a young man Almon immediately recognizes, Arthur Millican. Almon stays by
his side until all the wounded men are brought safe in a wagon to the home of a
member in Far West. The Missourians fled so, in a way, the Mormons did win this
skirmish but those who know their church history also know the terrible price
still to come. Julianne finds Almon here and is also glad that young Arthur
will make a full recovery after being shot in both legs near the thighs. Almon
held him while the surgeon, Sampson Avard, still a good man despite leading the
Danite group of which he is no longer the leader perform the crude operation to
remove the bullets. Lucy Smith, the prophet’s younger sister is Arthur’s (sort
of) girlfriend and she is helping to nurse him. They will marry later in
Nauvoo. Juli is shaken by everything that has happened but remains strong for
Almon.
Chapter 15
Short poem by Joel about leaving your darling behind and
saying goodbye
October 1838
Everyone
should have a father like Lyman Sherman. He needs to leave to join the rest of
the men on guard duty in the public square here in Far West. Albey and Mary argue
when Albey asks to go help fight and carry a spear like the others. His sister
scoffs at him and Albey hits her while oldest Alvira sobs but instead of
punishing the children, Lyman chokes back emotion, gently refuses Albey’s
request, hushes the girl’s tears and tells them all to keep the faith and
remember Jesus will always help them. He hugs them all wondering if this night is
the last time he’ll see his family.
The next
day is Halloween but remember nobody really celebrated it back then like we do
now in the 21st century. Tension is high for all. Nobody knows what
is going to happen as the entire town is basically under siege. The prophet has
agreed to surrender himself. Almon physically carries Arthur on his back to his
own home to hide him in the cellar where he’ll be safe as all who were involved
in the skirmishes of the last few days have warrants out for their arrest by
the state militia. Julianne begs Almon to stay safe and not to worry about her.
He needs to flee along with the other men, to stay alive, to keep the faith
that one day they will be reunited again. She will go over to her sister’s and
stay with her and the children.
Thursday, November 1,
1838
Lyman points his rifle at the
advancing enemy who stop just out of range in the standoff-Mormon men versus
the much larger group of Missourians. They surrender as a messenger arrives
proclaiming the news: Joseph wants all his people to surrender peacefully. Lyman
and the other men are marched back to the Far West town square and kept there
under guard while the men are given free rein to enter the homes and take
whatever spoils of war they want. Lyman prays with all his heart for God to
send angels to protect his family. When men burst through the door, Delcena and
Julianne remain calm and while one man is ready to ravish Julianne another man
tells him to leave the women alone and they are spared but all food and
livestock are commandeered. A report comes in that Alexander Doniphan refused,
point blank, to shoot Joseph Smith as ordered and he was taken away instead,
unharmed.
Next day Lyman is free to return to
his family but he only has time to swallow a few bites of food, not that they
have much, as he is anxious to get over to the Smith’s and check on Emma.
Delcena insists on going over there too. Julianne will stay with the children.
The Shermans witness the tearful goodbyes between Joseph and his children, just
as the Lord will remind the Prophet next year in March when D&C 122 is
given that he may be required to pass through even worse things than this
Liberty Jail experience now, even when his own six year old son clings to him
crying “O my father, what are they going to do to you? Why can’t you stay with
us?” That all of this is for experience and for his good.
The authors have no family records
of what the Sherman and Babbitt families experienced during this significant
time in church history so, for purposes of the story, they used the records and
writing of other Saints like in the last chapter and let them experience the
same ordeals.
Chapter 16
Short poem by Joel about God being our guide
November 1838
Almon wakes
up covered in snow, camped out in the open all night with the other men who
escaped from Far West. All agree while not very comfortable, this Godsend
probably saved their lives as any men searching for them did not succeed. Their
tracks are now covered in the fresh snow. Almon decides to set out on his own,
he will travel southwest to Ft. Levenworth Kansas where he has a bachelor
brother, John, who lives there and already wrote to Almon inviting him to come
where there is work and pay for all-even free negroes and Mormons are welcome.
The men wish him well and Almon departs wishing he was taking at least some of
the meager rations they have but understands his fellow brothers need it more.
Meanwhile,
Benjamin is still up in Adam-ondi-Ahman. He is standing guard in the middle of
the night when a wagon approaches, it is an LDS family fleeing Far West and
they report to Ben they did see Lyman Sherman and he was alive and well but all
the saints will have to leave in the next few months. They have been warned if
they even attempt to do any spring planting next year, they will all be
exterminated and driven out so everyone is now taking what they can and fleeing
the area. They also tell Ben what Joseph told the saints, not to fight but to
do exactly what this family is doing.
Next day,
men from Far West arrive. They forced a man to show them the way to this
settlement and since Benjamin’s name is known as one who rode against local
Missourians and participated in burning a house, he is taken to a place
designated for interrogation and questioned harshly. Ben was also forced, along
with all the other men in the settlement to turn over his weapons so he no
longer has the rifle his Papa gave him. (Chapter notes say this is all true and
that Ben wrote in his autobiography that the gun he gave up was not his so it
could have been his father’s. Another person wrote of the impressive weapon
that it was the best and finest rifle of any of the Mormons, inlaid with gold
and silver in the stock and barrel)
Praying for strength and wisdom as
the commander tries to get him to betray those he rode with, Ben feels more
alert despite lack of sleep and a good meal. He is able to answer their
questions without endangering anyone, nevertheless, since Ben is the only one
they were able to apprehend, he will be taken into custody. He is sent outside
to sleep on the cold, hard ground in the open and endures what is probably one
of the worst nights of his life (this is all true). A changing of the guard in
the middle of the night includes a large, truly evil man brandishing a corn
cutter which he openly boasts he used to slaughter one Mormon man and he
threatens to do the same to Benjamin who can only lie huddled on the ground,
terrified for his life, retching what little food remains in his stomach as the
man swears and waves the corn cutter mere centimeters from Ben’s head and body.
The guard is finally changed and when the dawn comes, Ben didn’t get much
sleep. An old negro slave/cook for this camp sneaks Ben a few scraps of food,
promising to bring more when he can.
Delcena and
Julianne freeze when a knock comes at the door, the special knock they agreed
with Lyman that if he were to come to the Babbitt’s with a stranger, to hide Arthur
in the cellar right away. They do so and open the door. Julianne does a double
take for the brother of Almon, whom she has never met, looks very much like her
husband. John Babbitt brings a letter from him which he promised to put into no
one else’s hands but Julianne. She reads it aloud: Almon writes in code (to
“Johnny” obviously his brother) where he is now, where he is traveling to and
where he will be staying when he arrives. Please forward all of this to his
wife. It is signed, “Manny.” Juli is very relieved as they all sit down to
supper. John is, of course, welcome to join them and he takes his spoon and
begins eating before grace is said. He and Lyman will travel to where Almon is
since Lyman needs to flee before he is arrested by the anti-Mormons.
In
Springfield, Mother Johnson nurses George who is very ill with fever (Chapter
Notes say the family all came down with Typhoid fever during this time) she
ends up getting sick too and so does Joe who takes a few sick days from
teaching the school to recover. They have read the reports in the local paper
about the Mormon conflict in Missouri and they are all very worried for
Benjamin. They pray both separately and together as a family for his health and
safety.
Chapter 17
Short four line stanza by Joel about hope in God
No date
In
Adam-ondi-Ahman it is very cold and snowy as Benjamin continues to be a
prisoner of the Missourians. This is also a true story and has been recounted
in two other places including an Improvement Era article when a Missourian
walked up to Benjamin Johnson, pointed his gun right at him, almost point blank,
and ordered him to give up Mormonism or he would be shot right then and there.
Ben refused. The gun misfired. Baffled, the man pointed and tried again but,
again, the gun did not go off. He tried a THIRD time and got knocked to the
ground as the gun literally exploded in his hands. One observer commented maybe
killing this kid wasn’t such a good idea. Certain he was about to meet the
siblings awaiting him on the other side, Benjamin wonders what kind of plan God
must still have in store for him as it is obviously not his time to go. The
wounded man is carried away to a tent so a doctor can treat his burns and
wounds. Benjamin sleeps on the bed of branches his captors allowed him to make
so he wouldn’t have to sleep on hard ground. He doesn’t get much sleep that
night.
Robert Wilson is the commander but
he does not feel as much animosity towards this people as the bloodthirsty men
serving under him. He is doing all he can to prevent a massacre. This young
man, Benjamin, has been their prisoner for six days now and he refuses to
betray his people. Wilson is very impressed at his character.
Outside, Benjamin has a visitor
from town, William Huntington, but his visit does little to cheer Ben up as
Will was sent by the men now in hiding to find out if Ben has given them names
and if they will be the next victims to be held prisoner, like Ben, which is
all they care about. Ben bursts into tears. Of COURSE he hasn’t betrayed his
brothers in the gospel! He tells Will to relay that message. As for him, he
will prepare himself for death for he obviously has nothing to live for if
those he once counted as friends don’t even have his back. Will is sympathetic.
He will tell the others what Ben told him.
That night, Ben has a comforting
dream. He hears a voice as if from a guardian angel reciting the Savior’s words
in D&C 6:36 and later the next morning, William returns to report his
sister, Zina, after hearing his story went out and talked to everyone in town inviting
all to come to a prayer meeting for softening of hearts and the release of
their friend and brother in the gospel who is all alone. Many came, the house
was full and they prayed all night for him. Ben embraces Will and tells him he felt those prayers! Later that same
day, Ben is called one last time into the tent of Robert Wilson who offers Ben
the chance of a lifetime. He is so impressed by his integrity, if Ben would
give up his religion he would be honored to adopt him as a ward or a son as he
is a very rich and prominent man (Wilson will go on to become a lawyer and
senator of Missouri) and he can help Ben do the same. Ben thanks him but he has
a family who loves him and is probably very worried about him. He will stay
with his people and travel to Illinois as his mother and sisters probably think
him dead by now and he can’t do that to them. Wilson understands and Ben is
free to go. They salute each other.
In Far West, a blunt knock at the
door could mean trouble for Julianne and Delcena. A friend would know the
special code knock. Is it an enemy come to do them harm? Julianne grips the
pistol the men left her and asks who it is.
Ben.
The door flies open and “Benja” is
literally sucked into the house by the welcome he receives. Both women are
crying and Ben is so exhausted from walking all the way from Adam-ondi-Ahman
south, a distance of almost 40 miles, he can hardly stand up straight. The
other children, including sister Mary and Delcena’s children help feed him and
ask him a hundred questions. Ben has gone from Hell to Heaven surrounded by his
family’s love and being cared for like this makes Ben want to cry. Their friend
Arthur also listens as Ben recounts his ordeal at the hands of wicked men and
how God spared him, softening the heart of General Wilson. All agree that it
was only by the hand of God this story has a happy ending.
THE END
