Uncut Manuscript of Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, (1977-1984)
COLL MSS 85
Biographical Note of Emma Hale Smith:
Emma Hale Smith was born in 1804 in Pennsylvania. She was the wife of Joseph Smith, Jr. the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whom she married in 1827. Emma was the first president of what eventually became one of the world's largest and oldest women's organizations: the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As Joseph Smith began compiling revelations and teachings that would become the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Emma collected songs for the LDS Church's first hymn book.
Emma did not agree with all the new church doctrines, such as the practice of plural marriage. When Joseph Smith was assassinated in 1844, Emma Smith did not join the church's migration west to Utah. Instead she married Lewis Bidamon, a non-Mormon. Emma believed that her son Joseph Smith III, should lead the religious movement that her husband founded. When this did not happen Emma left the LDS Church and joined the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Emma Smith died in 1879 in Nauvoo Illinois.
Historical Note:
In 1984 Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery published Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith a project that took them eight years to complete. The publication of this book earned them praise, respect, and outstanding reviews both inside and outside of Mormon circles. Their book won several awards including the Evans Award for Best Biography given by Utah State University, Best Book of the Year by the Mormon History Association, and Best Book of the Year by the John Whitmer History Association. However, leaders of LDS church responded to the publication by banning Newell and Avery (both active Mormons) from speaking in church meetings for one year. This was in response to the book’s sympathetic portrayal of Emma and its criticisms of Joseph’s actions towards his wife.
Mrs. Newell lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. She served as a coeditor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought during the 1980s. Dr. Avery is a professor of history at Northern Arizona University.
Sources:
Newell, Linda King, and Avery, Valeen Tippetts, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet’s Wife, “Elect Lady”, Polygamy’s Foe, Doubleday & Company, Inc.,. Garden City, New York, 1984, pp. 394 (available at Special Collections, call # 289.392 Sm55-N)
Ostling, Joan K., and Ostling, Richard N., Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco, 1999, pp. 252 (available at Special Collections, call # 289.373 Os7)
Scope & Content Note:
This two-box collection contains Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery's original, near one-thousand page, unedited version of Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith. Following the first submission of Mormon Enigma to a publisher, the authors were asked to cut the text by one-third. Thereafter Newell and Avery continued to research and refine the manuscript during this revision process. The 1984 published version of Mormon Enigma is three-hundred and ninety-four pages long.
Inventory:
Box 1: Uncut manuscript, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Preface through Chapters 25.
Fd 1: Preface, pp. vii-xx.
Fd 2: Chapter 1: Emma: 1620-1825 pp. 1-17.
Fd 3: Chapter 2: Joseph: 1796-1825, pp. 18-34.
Fd 4: Chapter 3: Moneydigging and Goldplates: 1825-1827, pp. 35-51.
Fd 5: Chapter 4: First Sorrow; First Triumph: 1827-1830, pp. 52-71.
Fd 6: Chapter 5: The Elect Lady: 1830, pp. 72-88.
Fd 7: Chapter 6: A Tar and Feathering: 1930-1832, pp. 89-106.
Fd 8: Chapter 7: A Son that Lived: 1832-1834, pp. 107-131.
Fd 9: Chapter 8: A House of God: 1834-1836, pp. 132-152.
Fd 10: Chapter 9: “Seas of Tribulation”: 1836-1838, pp. 153-178.
Fd 11: Chapter 10: Strife in Zion: 1938-1839, pp. 179-209.
Fd 12: Chapter 11: Sanctuary in a Swamp: 1839, pp. 210-234.
Fd 13: Chapter 12: Eye of the Hurricane: 1839-1841.
Fd 14: Chapter 13: A New Order of Marriage: 1841-1842, pp. 235-254.
Fd 15: Chapter 14: Mormons and Masons: 1842, pp. 273-284.
Fd 16: Chapter 15: In Search of Iniquity: 1842, pp. 285-314.
Fd 17: Chapter 16: Aid to the Fugitive: 1842, pp. 315-340.
Fd 18: Chapter 17: Emma, Eliza and the Stairs: 1842-1843, pp. 341-358.
Fd 19: Chapter 18: The Revelation: 1843, pp. 341-358.
Fd 20: Chapter 19: The Poisoning: 1843, pp. 405-435.
Fd 21: Chapter 20: “Voice of Innocence”: 1844, pp. 436-468.
Fd 22: Chapter 21: A Final Farewell, June 1844, pp. 469-489.
Fd 23: Chapter 22: “My Husband was My Crown”: June 1844, pp. 490-512.
Fd 24: Chapter 23: The Lady and the Lion: Fall 1844, pp. 513-541.
Fd 25: Chapter 24: Inherit the Legacy, 1844-1845, pp. 542-573.
Fd 26: Chapter 25: The Sun Casts a Shadow: Winter 1845-1846, pp. 574-597.
Box 2: Uncut manuscript, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Chapters 26 through Bibliography.
Fd 1: Chapter 26: War in Nauvoo: 1846, pp. 654-681.
Fd 2: Chapter 27: The Major: 1846-1849, pp. 625-653.
Fd 3: Chapter 28: Change in Nauvoo: 1846, pp. 598-624.
For more information: 435/797-2663; Manuscript Librarian.
Special Collections & Archives, Merrill Library, Utah State University Libraries, Utah State University 84322-3000
