Joseph Smith – Prophecies by

Inspiring Stories

 

Consequences for persecuting the Saints in Missouri

Joseph Smith the Prophet once undertook to plead law. I have the name of the man who was under arrest, in my journal somewhere, it it would be a job to find it, and the name matters but little—the story of the Prophet acting as a prosecuting attorney is impressed upon my mind never to be blotted out or dimmed by time, it will be fresh while reason lasts, not so much for the law he quoted, but for the great prophecy he uttered and the divine appearance of the man while he spoke the word of the Lord.

Soon after we left Nauvoo and settled in Commerce three of our brethren were kidnapped by Missourians, taken to Missouri and starved and whipped until they were hardly able to run at all, but they managed to get away and return home.

One of the men who did that wicked, cruel deed was found years after in disguise parading the streets of Nauvoo, and was recognized by old Father James Allred as the very man who took him forcibly from Illinois back into Missouri and there treated him worse than a white man should treat his dog.

The Prophet was mayor, but the kidnapper was brought before an alderman for trial and Joseph acted as prosecuting attorney. When he had just fairly started to set forth the crime that the defendant was arraigned for, he suddenly left the law and declared the word of God with regard to the state of Missouri and its inhabitants. He told what the Saints had suffered at the hands of Missouri and the injustice and cruelty of their suffering, and he went on to tell what Missouri should be called to endure in order to pay the penalty of wrongs inflicted and for the blood of the Saints they had shed.

A portion of the words of the prophecy I will quote verbatim: “She shall drink out of the same cup, the same bitter dregs we have drunk, poured out, out, out! and that by the hand of an enemy—a race meaner than themselves.”

All the time he was delivering the word of the Lord his face shone as if there was a light within him and his flesh was translucent.

The time thus occupied was considerable, for he pronounced two other very remarkable prophecies.

When he had done prophesying he stopped speaking entirely, while he wiped a flood of perspiration from his face and gave vent to his pent-up breath with a long blow, kind of a half-whistle, and after a minute or two he remarked, “Well, where that meaner race is coming from God only knows. It is not the ‘niggers,’ for they don’t know enough, and are gentlemen by the side of their masters. It is not the Indians, for they are the chosen people of God and a noble race of men, but as sure as God ever spoke by me that shall come to pass.”

I have lived to see that prophecy literally fulfilled in the Rebellion, when every family in that part of the state that the Saints used to occupy was killed or compelled to leave their homes by the Bushwackers or Guerillas under Quantrell—a generation of vipers raised mostly after that prophecy was uttered. (Springville, Utah. Oct. 16, 1890) ¹

Impending Death

In Nauvoo, I rented a house on the river bank. While there in business, I saw in vision my grave before me for two weeks; it mattered not whether my eyes were open or shut, it was there, and I saw no way of escape. One day Brother Joseph came and took dinner with us, and as we arose from the table I walked out upon the porch and sat down on a bench. Joseph and my wife followed me, and he came before me and said: “Philo, you must get away from here or you will die, as sure as God ever spoke by my mouth!”

He then turned to my wife and said: “And you will hardly escape by the skin of your teeth!”

I immediately stepped into Joseph’s carriage and rode with him to the south part of town and rented another place, after which I settled up my business as fast as I could, and made arrangements to remove. Many hearing of Joseph’s prediction about me said if they had been in my place they would have remained where I was and tested the truth of it. But I assured them if they had been in my place they would have done just as I did.

After I had settled my business and removed my family, we were one day at Joseph’s house when he said to my wife: “You didn’t believe what I told Philo the other day! Now, I will tell you what the Lord told me. He told me to go and tell Philo to come away from there, and if he obeyed he should live; if not, he should die; and I didn’t want to see you a widow so soon again. If Philo had remained there fourteen days longer, he would have been a corpse.” ²

Candidate for the Elections

While at Far West, Missouri, an election was held to elect an assessor. Isaac Higbee, myself and a Missourian were the candidates. The brethren held a caucus meeting and advised one of us to withdraw our name lest the Missourian might gain the election, and proposed that Higbee and I cast lots for it. Two tickets were put into a hat for us to draw from. There was a large crowd gathered around and Joseph Smith was among them. He said, “I am going to prophesy that Philo will get it.”

Sure enough I drew it. ³

Meteor Shower

On one occasion Joseph was preaching in Kirtland, some time in the fall of 1833. Quite a number of persons were present who did not belong to the church. One man, more bitter and optical than others, made note with pencil and paper of a prophecy uttered on that occasion, wherein Joseph said, “Forty days shall not pass, and the stars shall fall from heaven.”

Such an event would certainly be very unusual and improbable to the natural man, and the skeptic wrote the words as a sure evidence to prove Joseph to be a false prophet.

On the thirty-ninth day after the utterance of that prophecy, a man and brother in the Church by the name of Joseph Hancock, and another brother, were out hunting game and got lost. They wandered about until night, when they found themselves at the house of this unbeliever, who exultingly produced this note of Joseph Smith’s prophecy and asked Brother Hancock what he thought of his prophet now that thirty-nine days had passed and the prophecy was not fulfilled.

The matter weighed upon the mind of Brother Hancock, who watched that night, and it proved to be the historical one, known in all the world as “the night of the falling of the stars.”

He stayed that night at the house of the skeptical unbeliever, as it was too far from home to return by night. In the midst of the falling of the stars, he went to the door of his host and called him out to witness what he had thought impossible and the most improbable thing that could happen, especially as that was the last night in which Joseph Smith could be saved from the condemnation of being “a false prophet.”

The whole heavens were lit up with the falling meteors, and the countenance of the new spectator was plainly seen and closely watched by Brother Hancock, who said that he turned pale as death and spoke not a word. ⁴

Nations of Earth to be Splintered

While celebrating the 4th of July, in 1838, at Far West, there came up a thunder shower, and the lightning struck our liberty pole and shivered it to pieces. Joseph walked around on the splinters and said: “As the pole was splintered, so shall the nations of the earth be!” ⁵

Sidney Rigdon’s False Teaching

On invitation of Father Johnson, of Hiram, Ohio, Joseph removed his family to his home, to translate the New Testament.

At this time Sidney Rigdon was left to preside at Kirtland and frequently preached to us. Upon one occasion he said the keys of the kingdom were taken from us. On hearing this, many of his hearers wept, and when some one undertook to dismiss the meeting by prayer he said praying would do them no good, and the meeting broke up in confusion.

Brother Hyrum came to my house the next morning and told me all about it, and said it was false, and that the keys of the kingdom were still with us. He wanted my carriage and horses to go to the town of Hiram and bring Joseph. The word went abroad among the people immediately that Sidney was going to expose “Mormonism.”

Joseph came up to Kirtland a few days afterwards and held a meeting in a large barn. Nearly all the inhabitants of Kirtland turned out to hear him. The barn was filled with people, and others, unable to get inside, stood around the door as far as they could hear.

Joseph arose in our midst and spoke in mighty power, saying: “I can contend with wicked men and devils—yes, with angels. No power can pluck those keys from me, except the power that gave them to me; that was Peter, James and John. But for what Sidney has done, the devil shall handle him as one man handles another.”

Thomas B. Marsh’s wife went from the meeting and told Sidney what Joseph had said, and he replied: “Is it possible that I have been so deceived? But if Joseph says so, it is so.”

About three weeks after this, Sidney was lying on his bed alone. An unseen power lifted him from his bed, threw him across the room, and tossed him from one side of the room to the other. The noise being heard in the adjoining room, his family went in to see what was the matter, and found him going from one side of the room to the other, from the effects of which Sidney was laid up for five or six weeks. Thus was Joseph’s prediction in regard to him verified. ⁶

Missourian Punishment for Crimes Against Saints

Soon after we settled in Commerce, three of our brethren were kidnapped by Missourians, taken to Missouri and starved and whipped until they were hardly able to run at all. But they managed to get away and returned home.

One of the men who did the wicked, cruel deed was found, years after, in disguise, parading the streets of Nauvoo.

The kidnapper was brought before an alderman for trial, and Joseph acted as prosecuting attorney. When he had just started to set forth the crime that the defendant was arraigned for, he suddenly left the law and declared the word of God with regard to the state of Missouri and its inhabitants. He told what the Saints had suffered at the hands of Missouri and the injustice and cruelty of their sufferings. He went on to tell what Missouri should be called to endure in order to pay the penalty for wrongs inflicted, and for the blood of the Saints they had shed.

A portion of the words of the prophecy I will quote verbatim: “She shall drink out of the same cup, the same bitter dregs we have drunk, poured out, out, out! and that by the hand of the enemy—a race meaner than themselves.”

All the time he was delivering the word of the Lord, his face shone as if there was a light within him, and his flesh was translucent. The time thus occupied was considerable, for he pronounced two other very remarkable prophecies.

When he had done prophesying, he stopped speaking entirely, while he wiped a flood of perspiration from his face and gave vent to his pent-up breath with a long blow, kind of a half-whistle.

After a minute or two he remarked: “Well, where that meaner race is coming from God only knows. It is not the Negroes, for they don’t know enough, and are gentlemen by the side of their masters. It is not the Indians, for they are chosen people of God and a noble race of men. But as sure as God ever spoke by me that shall come to pass.”

I have lived to see that prophecy literally fulfilled in the Rebellion, when every family in that part of that state that the Saints used to occupy was killed or compelled to leave their homes by the Bushwhackers or Guerillas under Quantrell—a generation of vipers raised up mostly after the prophecy was uttered. ⁷

Rebellion of William Smith

At the time William Smith and others rebelled against the Prophet at Kirtland, I attended a meeting “on the flats” where Joseph presided. Entering the school house a little before the meeting opened and gazing upon the man of God, I perceived sadness in his countenance and tears trickling down his cheeks. A few moments later a hymn was sung and he opened the meeting by prayer. Instead of facing the audience, however, he turned his back and bowed upon his knees, facing the wall. This, I suppose, was done to hide his sorrow and tears.

When Joseph arose and addressed the congregation, he spoke of his many troubles, and said he often wondered why it was that he should have so much trouble in the house of his friends, and he wept as though his heart would break. Finally he said, “The Lord once told me that if at any time I got into deep trouble and could see no way out of it, if I would prophesy in His name, he would fulfill my words.” He then said, “I prophecy in the name of the Lord that those who have thought I was in transgression shall have a testimony this night that I am clear and stand approved before the Lord.”

The next Sabbath his brother William and several others made humble confessions before the public. ⁸

Twelve to Carry Out Work

I heard Joseph say, “I have rolled this kingdom off of my shoulders on to the shoulders of the Twelve and they can carry out this work and build up His kingdom.” Said he: “I am tired, I have been mobbed, I have suffered so much. Some of the brethren think they can carry this work out better than I can, far better. I have asked the Lord to take me out of this world. I have stood all I can. I have to seal my testimony to this generation with my blood. I have to do it, for this work will never progress until I am gone, for the testimony is of no force until the testator is dead. People little know who I am when they talk about me, and they never will know until they see me weighed in the balance in the kingdom of God. Then they will know who I am, and see me as I am. I dare not tell them, and they do not know me.” These words were spoken with such power that they penetrated the heart of every soul that believed on him. ⁹

Growth of Church

On the 4th of June, 1831, we all met in Kirtland, in a school house built of logs. Here the Elders were seated on slab benches, and the meeting was opened as usual. Joseph Smith began to speak. He said that the kingdom that Christ spoke of, that was like a grain of mustard seed, was now before him, and some should see it put forth its branches, just as the Savior had said. He looked at Lyman Wight and said, “You shall see the Lord and meet him near the corner of the house.” The Prophet laid his hands upon him and blessed him with the visions of heaven.

Joseph Smith then stepped out on the floor and said, “I now see God, and Jesus Christ at his right hand. Let them kill me; I should not feel death as I am now.” . . .

Joseph Smith called Lyman Wight to lay his hands on his head and say what God should tell him to say. He did, and the blessing was so long I cannot write it. . . .

On June the fifth we all assembled on the hill, in a field where there was a large concourse of people collected. The Prophet Joseph said that from that time on the Elders would have large congregations to speak to, and they must soon take their departure into the regions west. ¹⁰

Destruction of Cities

My husband traveled with Joseph the Prophet through many of the Eastern cities, bearing testimony and collecting means toward building a temple in Kirtland, and also toward purchasing lands in Missouri. During this journey the Prophet Joseph often prophesied of the destruction that ultimately would come upon the cities of the Eastern States, and especially New York, that in that city there would not be left a vestige of its grandeur. He said that wars would soon commence in our own land, which last has since transpired. He said to my husband, “If they reject us they shall have our testimony, for we will write it and leave it upon their doorsteps and window sills.”

He prophesied of the desolation by fire, by storms, by pestilence and by earthquakes. ¹¹

Jail Prophecy

On May 30, 1835, I was appointed on a mission to preach the gospel in the East. My circumstances were so reduced that I could not procure clothes to go in. Joseph and Hyrum gave me some gray cloth to make me a coat and a snuff-colored vest and pantaloons. . . . Elder Brigham Young gave me a pair of shoes. I called to see Cousin Joseph. He gave me a Book of Mormon, shook hands with me and said: “Preach short sermons, make short prayers, and deliver your sermons with a prayerful heart.” This advice I have always denominated my collegiate education. Later, while on a mission to England, I went with Elder Richards to visit Elder Theodore Turley, in Stafford jail. We shook hands with him through a large iron grating, which forcibly brought to mind a circumstance which occurred when Elder Turley and myself parted with the Prophet Joseph Smith in Nauvoo. Joseph had blessed us and said: “Keep up good courage, boys. Some of you will look through grates before you come back!” ¹²

Brigham Young to Preside Over Church

In the evening a few of the brethren came in, and we conversed together upon the things of the kingdom. Joseph called upon me to pray. In my prayer I spoke in tongues, which gift I had previously received and exercised. As soon as we arose from our knees, the brethren flocked around him and asked his opinion concerning the gift of tongues that was upon me. He told them that it was the pure Adamic language. Some said to him they expected he would condemn the gift Brother Brigham had, but he said, “No, it is of God, and the time will come when Brother Brigham Young will preside over this Church.” The latter part of this conversation was in my absence. ¹³

Growth of The Relief Society

During our residence in the brick store the Relief Society was organized, March 17, 1842, and I was chosen counselor to the President of the society, Mrs. Emma Smith. I was also set apart under the hand of Joseph Smith the Prophet to administer to the sick and comfort the sorrowful. Several other sisters were also set apart to administer in these holy ordinances.The Relief Society then was small in numbers, but the Prophet foretold great things concerning the future of this organization, many of which I have lived to see fulfilled; but there are many things which yet remain to be fulfilled in the future. ¹⁴

Returning Hospitality

Early in the Spring of 1840 we went to Nauvoo. Here we were all sick with ague, chills and fever, and were only just barely able to crawl around and wait upon each other. Under these trying circumstances my ninth child was born. Joseph upon visiting us and seeing our change of circumstances, urged us at once to come and share his accommodations. We went to live in the Prophet Joseph’s yard in a small cottage; we soon recruited in health, and the children became more like themselves.One day while coming out of the house into the yard the remembrance of a prophecy Joseph Smith had made to me, while living in our house in Kirtland, flashed through my mind like an electric shock. It was this: that even as we had done by him, in opening our doors to him and his family when he was without a home, even so should we in the future be received by him into his house. We afterwards moved upstairs over the brick store. ¹⁵

Zion’s Camp Cursed

Our brethren in Jackson County, Missouri, also suffered great persecution. In 1833, about twelve hundred were driven, plundered and robbed. Their houses were burned, and some of the brethren were killed. The next spring, Joseph gathered together as many of the brethren as he could, with what means they could spare, to go to Zion, to render assistance. We gathered clothing and other necessaries to carry to our brethren.

Our wagons were about full of baggage, etc. Consequently, we had to travel on foot. Every night before we went to bed, we united in our tent and offered up our prayers before the Lord for protection. This was done by all of the companies at the sound of the trumpet; and at the sound of the trumpet in the morning every man was upon his knees, each one in every tent being called upon in his turn to be mouth in prayer.

When we came to Belle Fountain, we discovered refractory feelings in Sylvester Smith. Finding quite a rebellious spirit in him, and to some extent in others, the Prophet declared that as a result they would meet with misfortune, difficulties and hindrances. “And you will know it before you leave this place,” he said, while exhorting them to humble themselves before the Lord and become united.

On the following morning when we arose, we found almost every horse in the camp so badly foundered that we could scarcely lead them a few rods to water. When Brother Joseph learned the fact, he explained that it was for a witness that God overruled and had his eye upon them. He then said that all those who would humble themselves before the Lord should know that the hand of God was in this misfortune, and their horses should be restored to health immediately. By twelve o’clock the same day the horses were as nimble as ever, with the exception of one of Sylvester Smith’s, which soon afterwards died. ¹⁶

Trials if Leave Church

After the Saints settled in Illinois, my husband, Mr. Lightner, got a job cutting cordwood about fifteen miles up the river from Nauvoo. He got a log house and I prepared to move there. The Prophet felt very sad when he knew we were going to leave, and with tears running down his cheeks he prophesied that if we left the Church we would have plenty of sorrow; that we would make property on the right and lose it on the left, we would have sickness on sickness, and lose our children; that I would have to work harder than I ever dreamed; then he added, “And at last when you are worn out and old you will get back to the Church.”

I thought these were hard sayings for it seemed as though things had already been about as hard as could be, and I felt to doubt them. But the sequel proved them true. It all came to pass as he predicted. ¹⁷

Never to be Baptized

Before leaving Nauvoo, there was a general parade of the Legion. Since I was living as a neighbor, Emma came to borrow my dining room table, as the officers were to dine with them. The Prophet came also a few minutes later. He spoke to his wife, then said, “I want you and you (pointing to my aunt, brother Henry and wife, and myself) to go and be baptized.” He added that he had been commanded to baptize us that day.

Emma said, “What Joseph, why is this? They have always been good members of the Church, and another thing, the officers will be here for dinner soon.”

He answered, “Never mind, they can wait.”

Then Emma said, “Well, you certainly are not going in those clothes.”

To this he replied, “No, but you all be ready by the time I return.”

As we lived on the bank of the river, we were soon there. Mr. Lightner carried the baby. Mr. Lightner had never been baptized, and perhaps the Prophet thought he would want to be at that time, for the rest of us had of course been baptized some time before, in the year the Church was organized.

After we were baptized and confirmed, he turned to my husband and said, “Now, Adam, it’s your turn.”

Mr. Lightner said, “No, Joseph, I’ll wait till I quit smoking. I don’t feel worthy. I will some other time.”
I thought Joseph could persuade him, as he tried hard.

As we walked back to the house, my husband went ahead with the baby. Joseph walked by me and said, “Mary, that man will never be baptized in this life, unless it is a few moments before he dies.”

Though he was only then twenty-one and lived to be seventy-three, crossing the plains, enduring all the hardships, and seeing the prophecies of Joseph fulfilled, and often saying he would be baptized, still he never was. He was the kind that looks at the acts of men and lets that influence him, instead of looking at the principles. A few minutes before his death, he seemed to want something and looked all around, then finally settled back and said, “It’s too late now.”

I thought he may have been wondering if he could yet be baptized. So in all of the fifty-two years, the Prophet’s prophecy held good. ¹⁸

Civil War

D&C 87

Revelation Received by Joseph Smith, 25 December 1832

Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls;

And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place.

For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations.

And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshaled and disciplined for war.

And it shall come to pass also that the remnants who are left of the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceedingly angry, and shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation.

And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations;

That the cry of the saints, and of the blood of the saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies.

Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen.

D&C 130:12-13

I prophesy, in the name of the Lord God, that the commencement of the difficulties which will cause much bloodshed previous to the coming of the Son of Man will be in South Carolina.

It may probably arise through the slave question. This a voice declared to me, while I was praying earnestly on the subject, December 25th, 1832.

Ezra Taft Benson

In 1832, he prophesied that the southern states and northern states would shortly be divided in civil war, that this war would be the beginning of world wars which would eventually involve all nations and result in the death and misery of many souls. Specifically, he said that the great Civil War would begin with a rebellion in South Carolina. (See D&C 87.) This prophecy was published to the world in 1851.

As every schoolboy knows, the Civil War began with the secession of South Carolina from the Union, and other states followed. When Lincoln sent provisions to the Union forces at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, the Confederate forces opened fire on the fort. Since that fateful day in 1861, the world has seen as a result of warfare the death and misery of many souls.

The desire of the Prophet Joseph Smith was to save the Union from that bloody conflict. He recognized the iniquity of slavery and urged Congress to abolish it and to pay the slaveholders from the sale of public lands. The message went unheeded, and nearly one-half million souls died in the Civil War. ¹⁹

Wilford Woodruff

Many persons have looked forward to the year 1860 with great interest; and this has been the case with many of the Latter-day Saints. What took place in that year? The dissolution of the American Union; for in that year the South took a stand against the North, and the North against the South, in fulfillment of a certain revelation given by Joseph Smith thirty years before it took place. Joseph Smith predicted that there would be a great rebellion in the United States—the South and the North warring against each other, and that this rebellion would commence in South Carolina, and would end in the death and misery of many souls; and that in process of time—after many days, the slaves would rise against their masters, and that one nation would call for aid upon another, for war would be poured upon the whole earth. I wrote this revelation [ i.e. D&C 87] twenty-five years before the rebellion took place; others also wrote it, and it was published to the world before there was any prospect of the fearful events it predicted coming to pass.

Joseph Smith once said in a speech at Nauvoo, to a company, that whosoever lived to see the two sixes come together in ’66 would see the American continent deluged in blood. That was many years before there was any prospect of a rebellion. The history of ’60 and of ’66 is before the world, and I do not wish to spend time in referring to it. ²⁰

George Q. Cannon

The last time the Prophet addressed the people he predicted that peace should be taken from the earth, and that terrible calamities would come upon its inhabitants, and particularly upon our own nation. He predicted what the results would be of the spirit of mobocracy which then raged, and which had caused our expulsion from our homes, if allowed to prevail. Already, the prediction had been recorded by him, twelve years previous to his death, that there would be a rebellion break out in South Carolina, and a fratricidal war commence between the South and the North. The revelation upon this subject had been written [See D&C 87]; it had been published. It was well known to the great bulk of the Latter-day Saints years previous to this. I, when quite a child heard it, and looked for its fulfillment until it came to pass. And this was the case with the body of the people who were familiar with the predictions which had been uttered by the Prophet Joseph Smith. ²¹

Jesse W. Fox

Speaking about Russia brings to mind a prophecy which is accredited to the Prophet Joseph Smith, concerning this country. Elder Jesse W. Fox, Sr., received the narration from Father Taylor, the father of the late President John Taylor. The old gentleman said that at one time the Prophet Joseph Smith was in his house conversing about the Battle of Waterloo, in which Father Taylor had taken part. Suddenly the Prophet turned and said, “Father Taylor, you will live to see, though I will not, greater battles than that of Waterloo. The slave question will cause a division between the North and the South, and in these wars greater battles than Waterloo will occur. But,” he continued, with emphasis, “when the great bear (Russia) lays her paw on the lion (England) the winding up scene is not far distant.”

These words were uttered before there was any prospect of war with Mexico, and such a thing as division in the United States was never contemplated. Yet these fierce struggles came, and though Joseph himself was slain before they occurred, Father Taylor lived to witness some of the world’s most remarkable battles. [He died May 27, 1870, in Salt Lake City, Utah.]

The struggle between the bear and the lion has not yet happened, but as surely as Joseph the Prophet ever predicted such an event so surely will it not fail of its fulfillment. ²²

Fate of the Missourians

D&C 121:11-15

Revelation to Joseph Smith while in Liberty Jail, 20 March 1839

And they who do charge thee with transgression, their hope shall be blasted, and their prospects shall melt away as the hoar frost melteth before the burning rays of the rising sun;

And also that God hath set his hand and seal to change the times and seasons, and to blind their minds, that they may not understand his marvelous workings; that he may prove them also and take them in their own craftiness;

Also because their hearts are corrupted, and the things which they are willing to bring upon others, and love to have others suffer, may come upon themselves to the very uttermost;

That they may be disappointed also, and their hopes may be cut off;

And not many years hence, that they and their posterity shall be swept from under heaven, saith God, that not one of them is left to stand by the wall.

Oliver B. Huntington

Joseph Smith the Prophet once undertook to plead law. I have the name of the man who was under arrest, in my journal somewhere, but it would be a job to find it, and the name matters but little—the story of the Prophet acting as a prosecuting attorney is impressed upon my mind never to be blotted out or dimmed by time, it will be fresh while reason lasts, not so much for the law he quoted, but for the great prophecy he uttered and the divine appearance of the man while he spoke the word of the Lord.

Soon after we left Nauvoo and settled in Commerce three of our brethren were kidnapped by Missourians, taken to Missouri and starved and whipped until they were hardly able to run at all, but they managed to get away and returned home.

One of the men who did that wicked, cruel deed was found years after in disguise parading the streets of Nauvoo, and was recognized by old Father James Allred as the very man who took him forcibly from Illinois back into Missouri and there treated him worse than a . . . man should treat his dog.

The Prophet was mayor, but the kidnapper was brought before an alderman for trial and Joseph acted as prosecuting attorney. When he had just fairly started to set forth the crime that the defendant was arraigned for, he suddenly left the law and declared the word of God with regard to the state of Missouri and its inhabitants. He told what the Saints had suffered at the hands of Missouri and the injustice and cruelty of their sufferings, and he went on to tell what Missouri should be called to endure in order to pay the penalty of wrongs inflicted and for the blood of the Saints they had shed.

A portion of the words of the prophecy I will quote verbatim: “She shall drink out of the same cup, the same bitter dregs we have drunk, poured out, out, out! And that by the hand of an enemy—a race meaner than themselves.”

All the time he was delivering the word of the Lord his face shone as if there was a light within him and his flesh was translucent.

The time occupied was considerable, for he pronounced two other very remarkable prophecies.

When he had done prophesying he stopped speaking entirely, while he wiped a flood of perspiration from his face and gave vent to his pent-up breath with a long blow, kind of a half-whistle, and after a minute or two he remarked, “Well, where that meaner race is coming from God only knows. It is not the (slaves), for they don’t know enough, and are gentlemen by the side of their masters. It is not the Indians, for they are the chosen people of God and a noble race of men, but as sure as God ever spoke by me that shall come to pass.”

I lived to see that prophecy literally fulfilled in the Rebellion, when every family in that part of the state that the Saints used to occupy was killed or compelled to leave their homes by the bushwackers or Guerrillas under Quantrell—a generation of vipers raised mostly after that prophecy was uttered. ²³

Latter-day Communication, Transportation, and the Destruction of the Gentiles

Isaac Decker

In 1836, soon after the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, and while the brethren were holding meetings from house to house, breaking bread, consecrating and drinking wine and prophesying, I attended one of the meetings where Joseph Smith, Martin Harris and John Smith were present. Martin said there would not be a living Gentile on the earth in four years. Joseph reproved him and said, “Brother Martin, you are too fast; after messages are sent with lightning speed, with iron carriages drawn by iron horses snorting fire and smoke, with less speed than the messages were carried, then, it may do to talk about the time for the destruction of the Gentiles. But before that takes place they will make wonderful improvements in machinery of every kind, especially implements of husbandry for the working of the land and raising grain, saving a great deal of labor to the saints in building up the kingdom. The Lord will inspire the Gentiles to do this, but they will not acknowledge his hand in it, nor give him the glory, but will take the glory to themselves, and when their destruction comes the wicked will slay the wicked; the saints will not destroy the Gentiles, they will be divided among themselves and destroy one another. But the time is with the Lord. The benefits of all their ingenuity and inventions will be the means of advancing the building up of Zion with greater speed. The Lord will have the glory.” ²⁴

Russia Will Rise Against England

Jesse W. Fox

Speaking about Russia brings to mind a prophecy which is accredited to the Prophet Joseph Smith, concerning this country. Elder Jesse W. Fox, Sr., received the narration from Father Taylor, the father of the late President John Taylor. The old gentleman said that at one time the Prophet Joseph Smith was in his house conversing about the Battle of Waterloo, in which Father Taylor had taken part. Suddenly the Prophet turned and said, “Father Taylor, you will live to see, though I will not, greater battles than that of Waterloo.” The slave question will cause a division between the North and the South, and in these wars greater battles than Waterloo will occur. But,” he continued, with emphasis, “when the great bear (Russia) lays her paw on the lion (England) the winding up scene is not far distant.”

These words were uttered before there was any prospect of war with Mexico, and such a thing as division in the United States was never contemplated. Yet these fierce struggles came, and though Joseph himself was slain before they occurred, Father Taylor lived to witness some of the world’s most remarkable battles. [He died May 27, 1870, in Salt Lake City, Utah.]

The struggle between the bear and the lion has not yet happened, but as surely as Joseph the Prophet ever predicted such an event so surely will it not fail of its fulfillment. ²⁵

US Constitution

Ezra Taft Benson

We are fast approaching that moment prophesied by Joseph Smith when he said:

Even this Nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground and when the constitution is upon the brink of ruin this people will be the Staff up[on] which the Nation shall lean and they shall bear the constitution away from the very verge of destruction. ²⁶

Saints to Move to the Rocky Mountains

Joseph Smith

I prophesied that the Saints would continue to suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains, many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease, and some of you will live to go and assist in making settlements and build cities and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. ²⁷

Mary Ann Weston Maughan

On the 8th day of Aug. 1842, Joseph prophesied that the Saints would continue to suffer much affliction and be driven to the Rocky Mountains, that many would fall, and some would live to go through and assist in making settlements and building cities, and see the Saints become mighty in the Rocky Mountains. This was given to his Masonic Brethren about 5 years before the Pioneers entered the Valley of Salt Lake. (“Journal of Mary Ann Weston Maughan,” in Kate B. Carter, comp. Our Pioneer Heritage, 20 vols. ²⁸

Orson Pratt

After we had again established ourselves in a new country, and built up a beautiful city, and when all was peaceful and prosperity attending us, this same Prophet, on assembling the Elders of the Church on a certain occasion at Nauvoo, told us that we would have to flee to the Rocky Mountains for safety. The fulfillment of this prediction is apparent to all. I might mention scores of others, and in no instance has that man uttered a single Prophecy that either has not already been fulfilled to the very letter, or will not have its fulfillment in the due time of the Lord. ²⁹

Eliza R. Snow

On the 20th of February, 1844, the Prophet Joseph Smith instructed the Twelve Apostles to send a delegation and make explorations in Oregon and California, and seek a good location to which we can remove after the Temple is completed, and “where we can build a city in a day, and have government of our own.”

. . . Previous to this, the Prophet had remarked to me that he anticipated moving to the Rocky Mountains with all his family, where he could live in peace and worship God unmolested. But other scenes and prospects awaited us. (Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow ³⁰

Claudius Spencer

I am a living witness that Joseph predicted in Nauvoo—”My people shall become a numerous and a mighty host in the vastnesses of the Rocky Mountains.” When those words were spoken they would have tested the credulity of any man of the world, as there was not the least likelihood of their fulfillment at that time. ³¹

Oliver B. Huntington

My father was living in a good hewed log house in 1840 when one morning as the family all sat at breakfast old Father Joseph Smith, the first Patriarch of the Church and father of the Prophet Joseph, came in and sat down by the fire place, after declining to take breakfast with us, and there he sat some little time in silence looking steadily in the fire. At length he observed that we had been driven from Missouri to this place; with some passing comments, he then asked this question: “And how long, Brother Huntington, do you think we will stay here?” As he asked this question I noticed a strange, good-natured expression creep over his whole being—an air of mysterious joy.

Father answered, after just a moment’s hesitation, “Well, Father Smith, I can’t begin to imagine.”

“We will just stay here seven years,” he answered. “The Lord has told Joseph so—just seven years,” he repeated. “Now this is not to be made public; I would not like to have this word go any further,” said the Patriarch, who leaned and relied upon his son Joseph in all spiritual matters as much as boys generally do upon their parents for temporalities. There were then two or three minutes of perfect silence. The old gentleman with more apparent secret joy and caution in his countenance said, “And where do you think we will go to when we leave here, Brother Huntington?”

Father did not pretend to guess; unless we went back to Jackson County.

“No,” said the old Patriarch, his whole being seeming to be alive with animation. “The Lord has told Joseph that when we leave here we will go into the Rocky Mountains; right into the midst of the Lamanites.”

This information filled our hearts with unspeakable joy, for we knew that the Book of Mormon and this gospel had been brought to light more for the remnants of Jacob upon this continent than for the Gentiles.

Father Smith again enjoined upon us profound secrecy in this matter and I don’t think it was ever uttered by one of Father Huntington’s family.

The history of Nauvoo shows that we located in Nauvoo in 1839 and left it in 1846. The Church did move to the Rocky Mountains into the midst of the Indians or Lamanites—or more properly speaking the Jews—and here expect to live until we move to the spirit land or the Lord moves us somewhere else. ³²

Wilford Woodruff

[In 1834] I arrived in Kirtland on Saturday and there met with Joseph and Hyrum Smith in the street. I was introduced to Joseph Smith. It was the first time that I had ever seen him in my life. He invited me home to spend the Sabbath with him, and I did so. They had meeting on Sunday. On Sunday night the Prophet called us all who held the Priesthood to gather into the little log school house they had there. It was a small house, perhaps 14 feet square. But it held the whole of the Priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were then in the town of Kirtland, and who had gathered together to go off in Zion’s Camp. That was the first time I ever saw Oliver Cowdery, or heard him speak; the first time I ever saw Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, and the two Pratts, and Orson Hyde and many others. There were no Apostles in the Church then except Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. When we got together the Prophet called upon the Elders of Israel with him to bear testimony of this work. Those that I have named spoke, and a good many that I have not named, bore their testimonies. When they got through the Prophet said, “Brethren I have been very much edified and instructed in your testimonies here tonight, but I want to say to you before the Lord, that you know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother’s lap. You don’t comprehend it.” I was rather surprised. He said “It is only a little handful of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America—it will fill the world.” Among other things he said, “it will fill the Rocky Mountains. There will be tens of thousands of Latter-days Saints who will be gathered in the Rocky Mountains, and there they will open the door for the establishing of the Gospel among the Lamanites, who will receive the Gospel and their endowments and the blessings of God. This people will go into the Rocky Mountains; they will there build temples to the Most High. They will raise up a posterity there, and the Latter-day Saints who dwell in these mountains will stand in the flesh until the coming of the Son of Man. The Son of Man will come to them while in the Rocky Mountains.” ³³

Joseph Lee Robinson

A pioneer company was organized to search out a land of promise for the Latter-day Saints in the West. The Prophet Joseph had been very anxious to get this people into the Rocky Mountains. He said at one time he wanted temples built all over the Rocky Mountains. ³⁴

Emanuel Masters Murphy

One time while (enemies) had Joseph, Hyrum in prison and church leaders could not get in to talk to them, they asked Grandfather to go with a message to them to tell them they [should?] come and get them out. When he got (to the) jail, [he] asked the guards to let (him) [go] in to see Joe Smith. [When they] asked why, he told them he owed him money for a horse and he had to let them see note before he could get in, as Grandfather made out to guards he was angry with him. He had a five dollar gold piece to put (in) [the] Prophet’s hand when he shook hands with him. Joseph said, “I don’t know when I can pay you for the horse,” and Grandfather told him to turn on temple, and while he talked with him that day he said, “The Saints will be driven to the Rocky Mountains.”

He told Grandfather to go back to Tennessee and sell out and go with the body of the Saints when they moved, as he knew they would be driven out. ³⁵

LDS Women and Bearing Children

Lillie Freeze

We should post ourselves regarding the prophecies that have been predicted. I will mention one in particular that was uttered by the Prophet Joseph Smith, he said the time would come when none but the women of the Latterday Saints would be willing to bear children. ³⁶

Stephen A. Douglas Aspiring to the U.S. Presidency

Ezra Taft Benson

In [a] prophecy, one of the most remarkable pronounced on the head of one man, Joseph Smith said to a young judge named Stephen A. Douglas, in the presence of several others: “Judge, you will aspire to the presidency of the United States; and if ever you turn your hand against me or the Latter-day Saints, you will feel the weight of the hand of Almighty upon you; and you will live to see and know that I have testified the truth to you; for the conversation of this day will stick to you through life.” ³⁷

Stephen A. Douglas did aspire to the presidency of the United States. He did have opportunity to defend the Church. But in a political speech in 1857, he viciously attacked the Church as “a loathsome, disgusting ulcer in the body politic” and recommended that Congress cut it out.

Some have asserted that no one had better prospects for the presidency than did Douglas, but when the results of the election were tallied, he received only twelve electoral votes. The election victory went to an obscure backwoodsman by the name of Abraham Lincoln.

A few months after the election, Mr. Douglas died a broken man in the prime of life. ³⁸

Albert Carrington

[After news of Stephen Douglas’ speech reached Salt Lake City, Albert Carrington replied to his speech in the Deseret News as follows:]

That you may thoroughly understand that you have voluntarily, knowingly and of choice sealed your damnation, and by your own chosen course have closed your chance for the presidential chair, through disobeying the counsel of Joseph, which you formerly sought and prospered by following, and that you in common with us, may testify to all the world that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet, the following extract from the history of Joseph Smith is again printed for your benefit, and is kindly recommended to your careful perusal and most candid consideration.

[The history of the Church containing Joseph’s prophecy was quoted.]

God is not mocked; as ye sow, so shall ye reap. ³⁹

Orson Hyde

[After Douglas’ defeat Orson Hyde wrote to him the following letter, which was published in the Deseret News.]

Judge Douglas,

Will the Judge now acknowledge that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet? If he will not, does he recollect a certain conversation had with Mr. Smith, at the house of Sheriff Backenstos, in Carthage, Illinois, in the year 1843, in which Mr. Smith said to him: “You will yet aspire to the Presidency of the United States. But if you ever raise your hand, or your voice against the Latter-day Saints, you shall never be President of the United States.”

Does Judge Douglas recollect that in a public speech delivered by him in the year 1857, at Springfield, Illinois, of comparing the Mormon community, then constituting the inhabitants of Utah Territory, to a “loathsome ulcer in the body politic;” and of recommending the knife to be applied to cut it out?

Among other things the Judge will doubtless recollect that I was present and heard the conversation between him and Joseph Smith, at Mr. Backenstos’ residence in Carthage, before alluded to.

Now, Judge, what think you about Joseph Smith and Mormonism? ⁴⁰

Oliver B. Huntington

I will relate a testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet, which was borne by a gentile as witnessed by Brother Packard and told to us that evening, or night. He said that he was in a saloon in the Sweet Water, when gold was first found there, and a very tall lank westerner came in finely dressed in the best broadcloth and everything on him corresponding. He looked rather out of place among a lot of rough miners, and one of his old comrades meeting him asked where he got such fine clothes, or how he could afford to wear such?

The tall man replied that it was because they cost him nothing. His comrade asked how that happened.

The reply was “because Joseph Smith was a true prophet.”

“What has that to do with your getting that suit of clothes?”

The tall man said, “[I] will tell you. I went into a store in Carson, an old friend of mine kept it. I was dead broke and had on next to nothing, and the storekeeper asked me why I didn’t wear better clothes? I told him I’d like to.”

He said for me to “pick out the best suit I could find in the store and pay him when Stephen A. Douglas was elected President.” Now that occurred when Douglas was running for President of the U. S.

A little before the election I told the storekeeper I’d take two suits on them terms, but he said one was all he proposed to let me have.

The interlocutor asked how he dare take them on that condition. “Well, you, see, Joe Smith told Douglas before he thought of trying to be President that he would try it, some day and that if he used his influence against the Mormons he should never set in the President’s chair, and I kept watch and kept thinking of that prophecy, just to see if Joe was a true Prophet. When I see Douglas trying to be President I knew Joe Smith was a true Prophet and that Douglas would not be elected because he had turned against the Mormons. I have watched Joe’s prophecies and never seen one of them fail. ⁴¹

Brigham Young Will Lead the Church

Levi W. Hancock

I was living with Joseph Smith Jr. and had completed the translating room and had seen many new brethren, and had heard Joseph speak many things concerning them, but no observation sunk with such weight on my mind as the one that he made about Brigham Young and Joseph Young. Some time in the month of Nov. 1832, these men came to Joseph Smith in the evening and sung and prayed with us. After they had gone from there Joseph Smith said to me, “how do you like the men?” or something near it. After he had got my answer he said, “these are good men,” and “there is Brigham Young, [he] is a great man and one day the whole kingdom will rest upon him; and there is the smaller one, he is a great man, but his brother [Brigham] is greater. ⁴²

John Tanner & Posterity

At the April conference, 1844, Father Tanner was called to take a mission to the Eastern States. Before starting he went to Nauvoo to see the Prophet Joseph Smith, whom he met in the street. He held the Prophet’s note for $2,000, loaned in 1835, to redeem the Kirtland Temple farm, and in the course of the conversation he handed the Prophet his note. The Prophet, not understanding what he meant by it, asked what he would have him do with it, and Father Tanner replied, “Brother Joseph, you are welcome to it.” The Prophet then laid his right hand heavily upon Father Tanner’s shoulder and said, “God bless you, Father Tanner, your children shall never beg bread.” He went upon his mission, and was in the East when the Prophet and Patriarch were assassinated; he returned early in the fall of that year. ⁴³

Orson F. Whitney

The founder of [the Tanner family] in Mormonism was John Tanner, of Warren County, New York, a flourishing farmer, one of the few well-to-do persons who attached themselves to this unpopular cause almost at its inception, and contributed generously for its support and advancement. His liberality to the poor Saints, when moving to Kirtland, Ohio, their first gathering place, with his donations for the building of the Temple there, and for other sacred enterprises, well-nigh impoverished him. Having expended the greater part of ten thousand dollars—a large fortune at that time—in helping on the work, he found himself comparatively a poor man, though previously he had been considered wealthy. The Prophet comforted him with the prediction that his children should never want for bread. ⁴⁴

Fate of John C. Bennett

Aroet L. Hale

The Prophet Joseph predicted a curse on John C. Bennett. He told him if he did not repent of his sins and sin no more, the curse of God Almighty would rest upon him, that he would die a vagabond upon the face of the earth, without friends to bury him. He told him that he stunk of women. In the year 1850, President Young was speaking about the matter. He said that he had watched the life of John C. Bennett. Bennett went to California in the great gold fever excitement, that Bennett died in one of the lowest slums of California, that he was dragged out with his boots on, put into a cart, hauled off, and dumped into a hole, a rotten mass of corruption. This prediction or prophecy came to pass as well as many others that I heard the Prophet Joseph make. ⁴⁵

Wilford Woodruff

On Sunday, he [Joseph Smith] called a priesthood meeting. The elders all gathered in a little cabin. There I first heard Joseph Smith speak publicly. He called upon the elders to bear testimony of the gospel of Christ. He then arose and said, “Brethren, I am very much edified and interested in listening to your testimony. But I want to tell you that you know no more concerning the result of this work and what lies before you as the elders of Israel, and before this people, than a parcel of little children.”
He told them this work would fill the whole earth, and that all nations would have to hear the proclamation of the gospel. He further said: “This work will fill the Rocky Mountains with tens of thousands of Latter-day Saints, and there will be joined with them the Lamanites who dwell in those mountains who will receive the gospel of Christ at the mouth of the elders of Israel, and they will be united with the Church and the kingdom of God, and bring forth much good.”⁴⁶

Orange L. Wight

After I returned to Nauvoo in 1843, Joseph asked me a great many questions about my mission. I told the Prophet that a man by the name of Brank was coming to Nauvoo. He looked troubled for a moment, and said he had trouble enough with that man. Brank was an apostate. Then his countenance changed to one of inspiration, and he said, “Orange, he will not come.”

He never did come. That was a prophecy which, my having seen the Prophet and heard his words, I can never forget. It was proof to me that he was inspired. ⁴⁷

Anson Call

In the month of September, 1838, I received a visit from Joseph, Hyrum, and Sidney Rigdon at the Three Forks of the Grand River, near Adam-ondi-Ahman, in Missouri. Joseph stated that he had come on a special errand. It was on the Sabbath, and the brethren were congregated at my house to meet with a number of Missourians. After the meeting, he slipped into the cornfield with about twelve of the brethren. He stated that we must leave, for there were going to be difficulties. We inquired from what source. He said it was not for him to say. The message he had received was for us to leave and go to Far West, or Adam-ondi-Ahman.

We unanimously agreed to do so. We then inquired whether it was necessary for us to go forthwith, or whether we could stay and save our crops and sell our farms. He said we need not sell our farms, and he presumed we should have time to get away. But how much time he knew not. These leaders then left us, after the dinner.

We were very anxious to save our crops and we concluded we would do so if we could. It was agreed by the brethren that I should travel through Daviess, Caldwell and Ray Counties, and see if there was any stir among the people. I accordingly started the next day and discovered no excitement among the people. We therefore concluded we could give ourselves sufficient time to secure our crops.

After doing so, we decided we could go bee hunting. After seven days’ hunt, we still found that all was peace. Since we had done so well, we decided to take another hunt.

But on our return we found the whole country in arms, between us and Adam-ondi-Ahman and Far West. Cornelius Gilliam had a company of mobbers placed to prevent the Mormons from going to and from either place. They told us that if we stayed we should not be harmed, but that if we attempted to go away it would be death.

. . .

On the 14th of July, 1843, with quite a number of his brethren, the Prophet crossed the Mississippi River to the town of Montrose, to be present at the installment of the Masonic Lodge of the “Rising Sun.” A block schoolhouse had been prepared with shade in front, under which was a barrel of ice water.

Joseph, as he was tasting the cold water, warned the brethren not to be too free with it. With the tumbler still in his hand, he prophesied that the Saints would yet go to the Rocky Mountains. Said he, “This water tastes much like that of the crystal streams that are running from the snow-capped mountains.”

I had before seen him in a vision, and now saw his countenance change to white; not the deadly white of a bloodless face, but a living, brilliant white. He seemed absorbed in gazing at something at a great distance, and said, “I am gazing upon the valleys of those mountains.”

This was followed by a vivid description of the scenery of these mountains, as I have since become acquainted with it. Pointing to Shadrach Roundy and others, he said, “There are some men here who shall do a great work in that land.”

Pointing to me, he said, “There is Anson. He shall go and shall assist in building up cities from one end of the country to the other, and you (rather extending the idea to all those he had spoken of) shall perform as great a work as has been done by man, so that the nations of the earth shall be astonished, and many of them will be gathered in that land and assist in building cities and temples, and Israel shall be made to rejoice.”

It is impossible to represent in words the grandeur of Joseph’s appearance, his beautiful descriptions of this land, and his wonderful prophetic utterances as they emanated from the glorious inspirations that overshadowed him. There was a force and power in his exclamations of which the following is but a faint echo: “Oh the beauty of those snow-capped mountains! The cool refreshing streams that are running down through those mountain gorges!”

Then looking in another direction, as if there was a change of locality: “Oh the scenes that this people will pass through! The dead that will lie between here and there.”

Then turning in another direction as if the scene had again changed: “Oh the apostasy that will take place before my brethren reach that land! But the priesthood shall prevail over its enemies, triumph over the devil and be established upon the earth, never more to be thrown down!”

He then charged us with great force and power to be faithful to those things that had been and should be committed to our charge, with the promise of all the blessings that the priesthood could bestow: “Remember these things and treasure them up. Amen.” ⁴⁸

William G. Nelson

In the summer of 1836 the Prophet stopped overnight with my father in Missouri. This was the first time I had ever seen him. Some time after this we moved to Nauvoo, where I saw the Prophet quite often. Father and he were personal friends, and he came to our home many times and talked with Father in the presence of the family.

One day he rode up to the gate and called to my mother, “Where is Brother Nelson today?”

Mother told him he was on the Island cutting wood.

“I should like to have seen him. Is your family well?”

Mother answered that one of the boys was sick with chills and fever.

“Tell Brother Nelson that the boy will get well, and you will not have any more sickness in your family as long as you live in Nauvoo,” the Prophet said.

This prophecy was literally fulfilled.

I have heard the Prophet speak in public on many occasions. In one meeting I heard him say: “I will give you a key that will never rust—if you will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles, and the records of the Church, you will never be led astray.”⁴⁹

Christopher Merkley

After the Prophet Joseph came out of prison in Missouri, he called a conference at Quincy, Illinois. While the people were gathering, I was standing near the Prophet when a brother approached him and dunned him for money. The Prophet asked him where he thought he could have money, as he had just gotten out of prison. The man, however, still importuned him. The debt was not the Prophet’s, but another brother’s who had bought land from this man in Missouri. The Prophet had endorsed for the man who bought.

The Prophet told him that under the circumstances he thought he ought not to demand any pay. But the man was very obdurate, and insisted on having it.

Brother Joseph finally told him he had just five dollars in his pocket. If four dollars would do him any good, he could have them. These the man accepted.

Brother Joseph took five silver dollars out of his pocket and gave him four of them, returning one to his own pocket.

While I was walking around with the Prophet, a man came and told him a sister wanted to see him. Brother Joseph went to see her. I followed him. The sister was sick, and her friends had written to her from the East telling her if she would come back they would take care of her. She asked him what she should do.

Brother Joseph asked her what she would rather do.

She said she would rather stay with the Saints, if she was not too burdensome.

He said, “Then stay, sister, and God bless you.”

He put his hand in his pocket and gave her his last dollar. He then instructed the brethren not to let her suffer.

At the close of the conference the Prophet Joseph went to Commerce. On his way he stopped at Lima to take dinner. I met him there and asked him if he would like a little money.

He said, “Yes, Brother Merkley. I am now on a journey of fifty miles, and I have not a dime in my pocket.”

I gave him a sovereign.

He took me by the hand and blessed me, and said, “Brother Merkley, may you never want.”

I never have.⁵⁰

When William Huntington took the Prophet’s place, and his reward

One night the Prophet learned from Shadrack Roundy, who stood guard at his gate, that a mob was on the river. Shadrack Roundy’s “rascal beater,” which we would call a billy club, would not be enough against twenty men. The Prophet went down the street to William Huntington’s house, woke him up, and said, “A mob is coming, counsel me.” William said: “I know what to do. You climb in my bed. I’ll go back and get in yours.” That is what they did.

The mob came and dragged William out. Down by the river they discovered they had the wrong man. Their viciousness knew no bounds. In wrath, they “stripped him, roughed him up, tarred and feathered him, and herded him back into Nauvoo like a mad dog.” [32] When he finally staggered into his own home the Prophet embraced him and said with all the power of his soul, “Brother William, in the name of the Lord I promise you will never taste of death.” That prophecy was fulfilled. ⁵¹

“Brother Joseph,” said William, “you were right to come. You get in my bed and don’t you worry. The Lord will protect you.” In the light of dawn the mob saw their mistake.”When Brother Joseph saw what they had done [to William] he clasped him in his arms and said, ‘Brother William, in the name of the Lord I promise you will never taste of death.’ ” ⁵²

Dimick Huntington’s promise

There was a beautiful moment when Dimick Huntington (William’s son) in a shoe shop was working on the Prophet’s boots. The Prophet recounted things Dimick had done for him, mostly physical and comforting things-rowing the boat across the Mississippi until his hands were blistered, carrying messages, and as the scriptures have it, “hewing wood and drawing water.” The Prophet expressed gratitude and finally said to Dimick, “Ask of me what you will, and it shall be given you, even if it be to the half of my kingdom.” Dimick did not want to impoverish the Prophet. He asked something else. “Joseph,” he said with his whole soul, “Joseph, I desire that where you and your father’s house are [meaning in eternity] there I and my father’s house may be also.” The Prophet put his head down for a moment as if in meditation, and then looked up. “Dimick, in the name of Jesus Christ, it shall be even as you ask.” ⁵³

Physical Calamities

The words of the Prophet Joseph, have been and are being verified, those words he uttered before he went to Carthage. Said he: “I call for the four winds of heaven, the thunderings, lightnings, earthquakes, whirlwinds, the hailstorms, pestilence, and the raging seas to come forth out of their hiding places and bear testimony of the truth of those things which I have taught to the inhabitants of the earth as is promised in the revelations that have been given.” These were some of his last words among the people. And what have we seen? Scarcely a week last summer without a cyclone or hurricane happening somewhere in the States, destroying towns and villages, or parts thereof. ⁵⁴

1. Oliver B. Huntington, The Young Woman’s Journal, II, (December, 1890), pp. 124-125;
2. Philo Dibble, The Juvenile Instructor, XXVII, (January 1, 1892), pp. 22-23; (May 15, 1892), pp. 303-304; (June 1, 1892), p. 345; Early Scenes in Church History (Faith Promoting Series, volume 8) (Salt Lake City, 1882), pp. 79-96; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 72.
3. Philo Dibble, The Juvenile Instructor, XXVII, (January 1, 1892), pp. 22-23; (May 15, 1892), pp. 303-304; (June 1, 1892), p. 345; Early Scenes in Church History (Faith Promoting Series, volume 8) (Salt Lake City, 1882), pp. 79-96; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 70.
4. Philo Dibble, Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 69; The Juvenile Instructor, XXVII, (January 1, 1892), pp. 22-23; (May 15, 1892), pp. 303-304; (June 1, 1892), p. 345; Early Scenes in Church History (Faith Promoting Series, volume 8) (Salt Lake City, 1882), pp. 79-96.
5. Philo Dibble, The Juvenile Instructor, XXVII, (January 1, 1892), pp. 22-23; (May 15, 1892), pp. 303-304; (June 1, 1892), p. 345; Early Scenes in Church History (Faith Promoting Series, volume 8) (Salt Lake City, 1882), pp. 79-96; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 70.
6. Philo Dibble, The Juvenile Instructor, XXVII, (January 1, 1892), pp. 22-23; (May 15, 1892), pp. 303-304; (June 1, 1892), p. 345; Early Scenes in Church History (Faith Promoting Series, volume 8) (Salt Lake City, 1882), pp. 79-96; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 67.
7. Oliver B. Huntington, The Young Woman’s Journal, II, (December, 1890), pp. 124-125; (February, 1891), pp. 225-226; (April, 1891), pp. 314-315; (May, 1891), p. 366; (July, 1891), pp. 466-468; IV (March, 1893), pp. 274-275; (April, 1893) pp. 320-321; (June, 1893), pp. 424-425; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 64.
8. Daniel Tyler, The Juvenile Instructor, XXVII (February 1, 1892), pp. 93-95; (February 15, 1892), pp. 127-128; (August 15, 1892), pp. 491-492; XXVIII (May 15, 1893), p. 332; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 51.
9. Mary Lightner, Diary of Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner; Young Woman’s Journal, XVI (December, 1905), pp. 556-557; The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, XVII (July, 1926), pp. 193-195; Remarks of Mary E. Lightner, April 14, 1905, at Brigham Young University; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], pp. 26-27
10. Levi Hancock, “Life story of Levi W. Hancock,” Brigham Young University Library, pp. 47-49, 73-82; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], pp. 17-19
11. Elizabeth Ann Whitney, Woman’s Exponent, VII (September 1, 1878), p. 51; (October 1, 1878), p. 71; (November 1, 1878), p. 83; (November 15, 1878), p. 91; (December 15, 1878), p. 105; (February 15, 1879), p. 191; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 39.
12. George A. Smith, Zora Smith Jarvis, “George A. Smith Family,” pp. 46, 49, 50, 51, 52, 64, 71, 86, 87; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 47.
13. Brigham Young, Millenial Star, XXI (July 11, 1863), p. 439; Journal of Discourses, III, p.51; IV, p. 54; V, p. 332; VIII, p. 206; IX, pp. 89, 332; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 33.
14. Elizabeth Ann Whitney, Woman’s Exponent, VII (September 1, 1878), p. 51; (October 1, 1878), p. 71; (November 1, 1878), p. 83; (November 15, 1878), p. 91; (December 15, 1878), p. 105; (February 15, 1879), p. 191; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 40.
15. Elizabeth Ann Whitney, Woman’s Exponent, VII (September 1, 1878), p. 51; (October 1, 1878), p. 71; (November 1, 1878), p. 83; (November 15, 1878), p. 91; (December 15, 1878), p. 105; (February 15, 1879), p. 191; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 40.
16. Heber C. Kimball, Woman’s Exponent, IX (August 1, 1880), p. 39; (September 15, 1880), p. 59; (November 1, 1880), p. 82; (November 15, 1880), p. 90; X (May 15, 1881), p. 186; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 35.
17. Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, Diary of Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner; Young Woman’s Journal, XVI (December, 1905), pp. 556-557; The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, XVII (July, 1926), pp. 193-195; Remarks of Mary E. Lightner, April 14, 1905, at Brigham Young University; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 24.
18. Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, Diary of Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner; Young Woman’s Journal, XVI (December, 1905), pp. 556-557; The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, XVII (July, 1926), pp. 193-195; Remarks of Mary E. Lightner, April 14, 1905, at Brigham Young University; Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew the Prophet [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974], 25.
19. Ensign, Nov 1981, 61
20. Journal of Discourses, 14:2 (January 1, 1871); see also Journal of Discourses, 2:147
21. Journal of Discourses, 22:135, July 3, 1881
22. Remembering Joseph, p. 134-135; see also Jessie W. Fox, “A Russian Naval Station,” Juvenile Instructor 25, no. 6 (25 March 1890):162
23. Remembering Joseph, p. 137-138; see also Oliver B. Huntington, “Words and Incidents of the Prophet Joseph’s Life,” Young Woman’s Journal 2, no. 3 (December 1890): 124-25; see also Wikipedia “Quantrell’s Raiders” for a brief history
24. Remembering Joseph, p.132-133; see also “Statement Made by Isaac Decker,” 21 September 1870, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah
25. Remembering Joseph, p. 134-135; see also Jessie W. Fox, “A Russian Naval Station,” Juvenile Instructor 25, no. 6 (25 March 1890):162
26. In Howard and Martha Coray Notebook, July 19, 1840, quoted by Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, comps. and eds., The Words of Joseph Smith (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980), p. 416] (Brigham Young University, 16 September 1986
27. History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5:85
28. Salt Lake City, Utah: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1958-77), 2:363-66. Spelling and grammar has been modernized
29. Journal of Discourses, 18:224, August 26, 1876
30. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Co., Printers, 1884), 76
31. Collected Discourses, edited by Brian H. Stuy, 5 vols. (Burbank, California, and Woodland Hills, Utah: B. H. S. Publishing, 1987-92), 5:35
32. Remembering Joseph, p. 138-139; see also Oliver B. Huntington, “Prophecy,” Young Woman’s Journal 2, no. 7 (April 1891): 314-15
33. Conference Report, 6 April 1898, 57; see also Collected Discourses, edited by Brian H. Stuy, 5 vols. (Burbank, California, and Woodland Hills, Utah: B. H. S. Publishing, 1987- 92), 3:85
34. In Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, They Knew the Prophet, Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1974, 165
35. “A Short History of Emanuel Masters Murphy, by a Granddaughter,” in Don E. Norton, Emanuel Masters Murphy 1809-1871, Ancestry, Life, Children (Provo, Utah: Stevenson’s Genealogical Center, 1980), 20-21
36. Remembering Joseph, p. 135; see also “Remarks at the Y. L. M. I. Conference of Box Elder Stake,” Young Woman’s Journal 2, no. 2 (November 1890): 81
37. History of the Church, 5:394.
38. Ensign, Nov 1981, 61
39. Deseret News, 2 September 1857; Prophecies of Joseph Smith and Their Fulfillment, p.117, 120; spelling standardized
40. Deseret News, 27 November 1860
41. Remembering Joseph, p.136-137; see also “History of the Life of Oliver B. Huntington, Written by Himself 1878-1990,” typescript copy, BYU Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Provo, Utah, 16-17
42. Remembering Joseph, p. 136; see also “Handwritten Statement by Levi Ward Hancock (1803-1882) [n.d.],” LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah. Some grammar and spelling have been modernized. Note: Brigham first met Joseph on November 8, 1832. See Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1:295-97
43. “John Tanner,” Mormon Biography File, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah
44. “Joseph Smith Tanner,” in Orson F. Whitney, History of Utah, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City, Utah: G. Q. Cannon & Sons Co., 1904), 4:379
45. Remembering Joseph, p. 135; see also “Autobiography of Aroet Lucious Hale,” typescript copy, BYU Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Provo, Utah, 6-7
46. Millennial Star, LIII (October 5, 1891), pp. 627-628; LIV (September 19, 1892), p. 605; Journal of Discourses, VII pp. 100-101; Woodruff, Leaves From My Journal, pp. 62-65.
47. Letter written by Orange L. Wight to Joseph I. Earl and Harriet M. Earl, Bunkerville, Nevada, May 4, 1903, typewritten copy in the Brigham Young University Library, pp. 3-9
48. Autobiography of Anson Call, Brigham Young University Library, pp. 6-7, 18-20. Edward W. Tullidge, History of Northern Utah and Southern Idaho: Biographical Supplement, pp. 271-272.
49. Young Woman’s Journal, XVII (December 1906), pp. 542-543.
50. Biography of Christopher Merkley, pp. 9-11.
51. Truman G. Madsen, Joseph Smith, The Prophet, p. 148
52. See Diary of Oliver B. Huntington, p. 9.
53. Stories from Joseph Smith the Prophet, Truman G. Madsen.
54. Franklin D. Richards, Journal of Discourses, 24:283; Remembering Joseph, p. 154